/Here's your next chapter and yes they finally meet... well sort of.. //
Jack's sin filled Sunday was over, it was Monday morning and he felt sick. His stomach growled but not in anticipation of food, it was from the deathly amount of sugar he had inhaled over the weekend. You would think as a medic in training he would have some self-control over the amount of unhealthy foods he eats, but no, Jack had no control over his chocolate urges. Much like a teenager going through a break up Jack found comfort, in fatty foods and crappy chick flicks. Unfortunately Jack never learned and continue to make these mistakes most free weekends. Which although was rare, always went the same way, meaning Jack ended up going to work ill. Just as he began to think about all he had eaten and how little he had moved his phone vibrated, an alarm tone began to play, 7:00 flashed up on the screen, up before his alarm, again. He made a deep sigh and began to shift his feet around In the bed, stretching himself before finally swinging his legs out of the covers into the cold air outside of his home made burrito bed.
He swiped his alarm off and yawned, time to get ready, he walked over to the miniature kitchen in his flat and reached into one of the many cupboards, producing a packet of his favourite cereal, lucky charms. Always the sweet tooth. Slumping over to the fridge he pulled out the pint of milk and checked the date to make sure it was still edible. It was one day over. Eh it'll do, Jack thought as he poured it with his cereal. Today he had more medical preparation for his exam on the Friday, it was going to be a long Monday. The amount of effort he would have to gather up to get himself out the flat was enough to send him back to sleep. Yet he knew what he had to do, ignoring his ever growing pile of dirty dishes he placed the bowl on the side of the counter and wandered back over to his room.
He found some Jeans, that smelt acceptable to wear in public, on the floor and began to pull them onto his lanky legs, they slid on, although the tightest size, they still had wrinkles from where they were too big for him. The rips in the knees emphasised this as they hung down from his knees. He found a blue t-shirt with some random writing on it. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling up little tuffs to make it seem ever growing, looked at himself quickly in the mirror before stumbling over a mound of books to his desk. Just in the corner of his room the desk stood with piles of papers and books on It. Blue tack marked the walls from where his previous study notes had been. It was all a mess now, 2 months back into studying and the amount of work he had received was ridiculous.
Still he piled the necessary books for the day into his rucksack and threw it over his shoulder. Taking one last swift look in the mirror before grabbing his hoodie off the end of the bed and walking back through to his front door. On the kitchen side stood a packet of biscuits left over from the weekend, he grabbed them as he walked past and put them awkwardly inside his bag. The key still in the door he unlocked it and pulled it out whilst his other hand unbolted the rest. It's now 7:30 and he needed to be there by eight, enough time to walk to the centre. The flight of stairs was much easier to defeat going down, so Jack had nothing to dread except work itself. Before walking out the door he slid on his open laced converse and swiftly leapt out the door locking it and taking the stairs two at a time, in case his creepy neighbour appeared once again. He pulled out his headphones to see a tangled mess, Urgh.
Once he reached the bottom of the stairs his headphones where released and placed into his ears. He clicked a playlist labelled 'autumn' and it began to play, his favourite songs for walking. As he walked along the road he saw the café and decided he could really do with a coffee and to say good morning to North. Luckily when Jack walked to work, which was only in autumn and winter, the café was opening, meaning he had the fresh coffee and it was always free. He pushed open the door pulling out his earphones a little bell rang to announce his arrival. "Anyone home?" He hollered in a cheery tone.
"Always for my hard worker! Here's Your coffee lad, have a good day" North appeared from the kitchen holding a take out cup filled with what Jack could only presume was his normal morning order.
"Thanks North, means a lot, it's going to be a long day..." Jack vibrated as he felt the heat of the coffee pass into his hands, smiling at North as he turned to go back out of the café he saw some of the regulars walking down the street, also on the way to the café to get their normal orders, which clearly North had already prepared. Whilst placing his headphones back in Jack turned the corner and continued on his way to work. He took a sip off the coffee and as always it reminded him of this time of year. He would always take a taxi to work in the summer, it seemed strange but Jack hated the heat and would much rather get an air conditioned ride to his air conditioned building. Yet when autumn and winter came around, he would always walk to work, taking in the weather and the surrounding whilst listening to his best playlist.
By the time Jack had reached work he had finished his coffee and would place it in the bin just outside of his work building, today was a day the same as others, nothing was different. It never was in Jacks life, he had it all planned out, he didn't aspire for adventure or anything more. So as he entered the now heated building he pulled his pass out of his rucksack and slung it around his neck, he was 5 minutes early but saw a friend from his class waiting outside the room. "Hey Jamie!" Jack waved as he walked, Jamie turned, he had a round face with brown hair, obvious freckles and a permanent smile on his face.
"Ayup, we're always the early ones" Jamie indicated with his hands, how there was no-one else around them. "Although, I've heard we're getting a practical today, like a real one, going to the hospital and everything" As he spoke a few more people walked into the building, a Few from their course so Jamie smiled as he finished, making Jack turn and see the approaching people. He smiled politely but rarely spoke to anyone else in the class. Jamie was popular he was approachable and kind, everyone liked him. Jack was a quiet moody person, who occasionally made a sarcastic comment which gained him a few laughs, if he said it loud enough. Friends were not his main priority, although he day dreamed pretending to be Walter Mitty and traveling the world with friends. He knew it would never happen, but they were fond thoughts, he was happy with his current life. All seemed to be going well.
Soon the whole course arrived and finally the teacher appeared with a coffee and clipboard in hand. Speculation of the hospital trip had gotten round and immediately questions were asked, these 20 year olds soon turned into 8 year olds once more excited to go on a field trip. "Okay kiddies!" The teacher said in a patronising voice, " We're going to the Northland Hospital and spending the day as interns, to see if you have what it really takes, we will be based in the A & E unit. This means anything from a needle in a finger to a bone sticking out of a leg. You will be supervised by a higher Hospital authority at all times. You must not wander." After a serious introduction he moved back into his sarcastic voice "Now stay close or I'll make you hold my hand the whole way round!"
Jack found his teacher a funny guy but still never really spoke one on one with him. As they mounted the minibus outside Jack stuck his headphones back in, the only person he would talk to was Jamie and there was no way he would be lucky enough to sit next to him. He was cute, in your average white boy brown hair way. Yet Jack knew better than to mix work with pleasure, so continued to live his exiled life by ignoring the lovely blonde girl sat next to him reading her notes about individual A&E cases.
It was an hour ride to the hospital meaning an hour ride back, they would have 7 hours in the hospital before they had to head home for 5:00. As the bus pulled into a parking space, the doors were immediately wooshed open and a dozen medical students stampeded out. Buzzing with the new possibilities of the day, they were used to being cooped up like chickens. Jack was excited but he didn't particularly enjoy a bumpy bus journey to a new location where he would be constantly supervised. However he had to bare that for the experience he would gain. He knew it would help his studies in ways revision couldn't. Bounding through the automatic doors being careful of patients hobbling in and out the group of grown up children were handed white lab coats with badges on, stating their name and what they would be specialising in- Accident and Emergency department.
"Yes you get to keep the badges, you will all be excited to know!" Another patronising comment from the teacher, although everyone was secretly happy about the badges. Entering the accident and emergency centre, it didn't seem too busy to what Jack thought it would be. There was only enough people to match the new interns. Which worked perfectly, until Jack was paired with an elderly man complaining his hip had 'popped out' again. It was a quick fix and within 10 minutes Jack was waiting for another patient. He was hoping for a bit more action but it seemed like only minor injuries this Monday morning. Slowly each intern came back to collect another patient. After an hour had passed Jack had had 5 patients, consisting of two elderly, one small child with a sprained ankle and two teenagers with school boy injuries.
So Jack's attention tended to wander and he looked at the news, obviously only bad news was played at the hospital, who would want to see something positive in a hospital? Jack though sarcastically to himself. This time it was slightly more interesting, a couple of City's over a palace had been robbed, it was breaking news more interesting than his patient's stories. Another hour passed and more patients had come and gone. By now the criminal had been caught within 15 minutes and taken into custody, glad all the services were working properly Jack returned to his newest patient who coincidently had a sowing machine needle all the way through their finger. These always had stories behind them, this man had taken a sowing class to impress his new girlfriend, but it seemed it backfired and made her throw up. Hah. Jack had a silent chuckle to himself.
The lady supervising Jack clearly wasn't happy with the Job she had been given that day as she kept leaving for different sorts of breaks, taking longer than necessary, a cigarette break of 20 minutes seemed a bit extreme, but Jack didn't care, it only made him more efficient. Just as this patient left an emergency announcement was made. Urgent medical attention was needed to a newest patient, as Jack had the chance he seized it, pressing the buzzer, indicating that he was free a red light flashed up onto his monitor informing him of a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Hairs stood on the back of his neck, finally a turn of events! The bed was wheeled into his room and the curtain was closed, three people stood around him, Jack didn't get a clear view of anything yet. One doctor and two nurses stood around the patient, the nurses wired him up and gave him fluids, whilst the doctor cut his clothes away from the wound.
Just as Jack was about to get a clear look at the wound, the sound of thundering boots came down the hallway before a vicious swing pulled back the curtains. There before him stood a tall strong blonde haired woman, wearing combat clothes, with a pitch black dog beside her. "Get that dog out of here! This is an animal free zone!" As the nurse screeched at the woman a parrot landed on the curtains railing, it squawked back at her in a similar tone making the blonde woman laugh. As the nurse began to advance towards the woman and the dog, she waved her hands to shoe the parrot, but it wouldn't budge, the dog snarled, making it look like its native wolf side. She stepped back and glared at the woman. "They're staying and so am I, now patch him up quick so we can leave" The woman scowled commanding the already busy doctor.
Jack stood in shock, how was this possible, his morning had gone from bland to brilliantly insane. He was brought back to reality by the nurse barging past him, mumbling loudly about fetching security. That was when Jack finally got a good look at the patient. Wow. He's ...
Gorgeous.
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