Disclaimer: I own none of the characters you recognise. These belong to the Bleach Universe and its creator Tito Kubo. This story will not keep Byakuya exactly on character as that would not end up well for my OC :P Also the Japanese are through google translate so if there are any native speakers here do send me your corrections!
I started it at the beginning of the pandemic with my mind on the doctors and nurses and I dedicate it to their strife with the hope that it will end soon. I hope you will enjoy it! Stay safe :)
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Minamoto Aoi (亜桜依) was driving on the almost empty road. The sun had not risen yet when she woke up to walk Kuminu, her Samoyed, around the block but she could see the first rays escaping on the horizon now that she was on her way to the Karakura General Hospital for her morning shift. She had a half a decade of experience as a fully fledged doctor but nothing had ever prepared her for the outbreak of a virus at the end of 2019. As a pulmonologist she had been volunteered to the "first line" even if she did not consider herself as senior staff and had been put in charge of one of the specialised teams that treated the diagnosed and vulnerable patients.
As the situation progressed and since the virus did not seem to dissipate more and more nurses and doctors fresh out of the university were drafted to man the ever expanding need for personnel. The reaction of the civilians to their calls for volunteers had also yielded amazing results early in the outbreak and after only a few weeks she was also coordinating a group of volunteers sending them to run errands for older people who were self isolating.
Her phone rang and she pulled to the side to answer it. Safety first she was thinking as the word Ka-san flashed on the screen. She activated the alarm lights and accepted the call from her mother who along with her father had been abroad the past two years after their retirement.
"Moshi moshi! Ohayo gozaimasu, ka-san!" she said somewhat muffled by her mask, greeting her mother who opted to facetime her.
"Good morning to you too! How are you?" said the elderly woman on the screen.
"As good as I can be. How are you and father?"
"We are alright. People here are getting edgy. They have started hoarding several necessary products in fear of this new flu," she said as an elderly man approached from the side and greeted her as well.
"Same here… Can't talk much, I am on my way to work…" she said, ignoring their concerned expressions and they finished their call quickly to allow her to proceed.
Aoi arrived promptly at the hospital and parked before taking the stairs for the third floor. She rushed to the changing area to wear the protective equipment as the leader of the other shift, Yagato Kenji, came to brief her on the events of the night shift. Another death, he had told her and she frowned considering the news.
"Oh, by the way, you have one more nurse and a volunteer that came together," he said as he stood and motioned for the two newcomers to approach.
"Yamada Hanatarou-san and Ise Nanao-san", he said, extending his arm towards them.
"Yoroshiko onegai shi masu," they said in unison as they bowed slightly and she returned their gesture.
"Thank you for volunteering. Who is the nurse?" she asked and Hanatarou stepped forward stating that he has already been briefed, so she assigned him with a few tasks and left him to discuss with the other one.
"Ise-san, I have a list of tasks that you could perform but I, and I cannot stress this enough, would prefer for you to work outside the hospital," she said but Nanao had already produced her signed declaration form indicating that she would be volunteering inside the hospital and silenced the other woman who just nodded at her before assigning several seemingly menial tasks for the day.
Aoi completed her rounds passing from each room on her wing before examining the new patients and felt disheartened as their number grew each day. If that continued, the hospital would be overrun before long. Just what was going on with that virus?
She returned to her office to check her emails from the laboratory. She had been working along with several other doctors and pharmacists in order to find a medicine that worked but there had been no viable results yet. She felt tired. She was working as required and although they had more staff now, the need to pull a long shift was always a possibility and between that and the lab, she was not what you would say well rested.
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_Moshi moshi! Ohayo gozaimasu, ka-san! : Hello! Good morning, mother!
Yoroshiko onegai shi masu : Nice to meet you.