Ch.60: The Nurse
A.N.:
Hey everyone!
I'm sorry for the long wait and short chapter. I had kind of a maniac episode trying to get the last BioShock chapter typed up.
I have decided that enough is enough. I am going to try to get back on the weekly updating instead of the ridiculous monthly updating that I have fallen into. So, the next few chapters are probably going to be much shorter than the previous ones. I will do my best to make them as entertaining as possible.
Anyway,
I hope everyone is having a good start to the new year!
Read and review if you want.
As I burst into the lobby of the Sanitarium, I was greeted with an unusual sight. The maddening sound of typical elevator and office music filled the sterile-smelling air of the brightly lit waiting room. The room was about fifty yards long and ten to fifteen yards wide. The walls were old fashioned ornate wooden paneled though their shine had noticeably worn down with age. The floors were white tiled with green tiles running along the perimeter and also forming the words "Patient Admission" just before the check-in desk forty yards from the main entrance.
Along the left wall was a rather aged yet still eye-catching and functioning grandfather clock, a green magazine rack that was filled with various and likely outdated magazines covering various subjects, and a large green radiator. Meanwhile, along the right wall, I saw a newspaper stand and a bulletin board covered with Missing Persons fliers, though their photos and details had faded to the point of almost being illegible. Chairs with wooden frames and green cushions were arranged in the lobby with several running along the perimeter of the walls and with several placed back-to-back in the center. Two small wooden end tables were on either side of the island of chairs in the center of the waiting area.
Beyond the waiting area was the check-in desk. The desk was the chest high with a large slot cut out of the center to allow an individual to effectively converse with a member of the Sanitarium's staff. Green wooden panels made up the majority of the ten yard long object. Alternating green and white square tiles were inlaid into the wooden paneling along the desk's perimeter. Finally, a white marble counter top capped off the aesthetics of the object.
To either side of the desk were two paths that went to separate wings of the first floor. Huge metal security gates prevented access to these two wings. Above the desk was a green sign that was moored to the ceiling by two metal cables attached to the ends of the rectangular object. Written with white lettering on the sign was the message, "All visitors and patients must be accompanied by a staff member beyond the waiting room. No exceptions."
Running through the maze of chairs, I made my way to left security gate. I found that it was seemingly the definition of overkill as its thick metal construction, reinforced anchors to the wall, and manual tumble-dial lock would not have been out of place in a dungeon. Beyond the gate, I saw what appeared to be an infinite number of patient rooms along a hallway that had green walls and a white tiled floor. Strangely, the rooms all had closed metal doors with only a narrow slit near the top to allow someone to look inside at the occupants.
Frustrated, I grabbed one of the metal bars of the gate with my gloved left hand and then jumped forward. A stab of pain erupted inside my left shoulder as it made contact with the barrier but my assault had little effect upon the gate beyond making it vibrate with a dull metal hum. Backing away slightly, I started to raise my Patten Assault Rifle up to take aim at the lock.
However, I stopped when a woman addressed me from somewhere behind me with a noticeable French accent, "Do you need something, monsieur?"
Upon turning around, I found a woman approximately thirty years old sitting behind the desk. Approaching her, I saw that she had shiny black hair had been tied back in a bun and a white nurse's cap with a green stripe. The emerald green eyes behind her thin black framed glasses with rounded rectangular lenses had most likely once been filled with youthful energy and purpose but were now dulled due to the horrific sights that she had witnessed and been part of during her employment at the Sanitarium. There was a sense of muffled emotional defeat in the otherwise bored professional expression that graced her creamy white face that had a small freckle just above the right side of her upper lip. Her full bright red lips were the only inviting/disarming aspect of her otherwise frigid demeanor as I stood before her on the other side of the counter.
As I stood before her, I was able to see that she was wearing a collared, long sleeve, buttoned up, clean white shirt that had its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a knee-length white skirt, and an unbuttoned, short sleeve green jacket. The shirt's collar consisted of four individual sections that were divided by a narrow cut in the center of both sides. It was pulled out so that it was resting on top of the jacket and, attached to the left collar's lower section, there was a small pendent of the nurse caduceus symbol with a set of wings and two snakes coiled around a pole. Clipped to her jacket just to the right of the left mound of her respectable bust was a name tag with the word, "Chloé".
I laughed in a tired manner before I asked Chloé, "Alright, I'll bite. So, tell me, Chloé, have you seen a man by the name of Chen and a young girl by the name of Akira Wade?"
Meanwhile, behind me, I heard Alma, who must have been looking through one of the magazines that was marketed towards women, comment with a disapproving tone, "Positions to spice up your sex life…boring…boring…that's not how you are supposed to do that...boring…you stole that from Kama Sutra and that is not how you are supposed to do it…it is about him too…geez how outdated is this magazine…when was this 1950?"
Moments later, after looking through the green metal filing cabinets behind the desk, the mysterious nurse nodded her head while examining the contents of a manila folder. Then, looking at me, she informed me with her accented but incredibly flat voice, "Yes, monsieur. Our files indicate that a man with the last name of Chen has been admitted. However, we have no record of a minor or anyone else by the name of Akira Wade. If you are certain that she is in our care, perhaps we simply do not yet have a file for her."
I nodded and then replied, "I am here for Chen."
Calmly walking back to her seat with the file held in the grasp of her right hand's thin, eloquent fingers, Chloé stated, "I am afraid that is not possible at this time, Mr. Wade."
I heard several confused murmurs from the men behind me as well as the sound of a magazine landing on the tiled floor, indicating that my wife had been uncharacteristically caught off guard by the mysterious woman's knowledge of a secret agreement that was only between her and I. Before I could recover from my shock, Alma had moved to stand next to me in her clothed adult form.
Her normally light-hearten demeanor was completely gone as Alma threatened the nurse with her sultry but powerful adult voice, "Enough games. Tell us where Lieutenant Chen is…now."
The temperature of the air around the desk had noticeably dropped several degrees but the woman was unmoved even after being threatened by the incarnation of homicidal rage. After sitting back down, the nurse calmly stated, "He is currently undergoing surgery in the Trauma Wing. I regret to inform you that visitors are not permitted there. I apologize for the…"
Interrupting the mysterious nurse, my wife said, "We will fill out the forms and liability waivers. We need to get to him."
Chloé was quiet for a moment before she nodded and then handed Alma a clipboard with a seemingly endless amount of paperwork attached to it. My wife silently took the clipboard from the nurse and then quickly moved to one of the nearby chairs. Having never once lost her calm demeanor, the nurse began to attend to her nails with a metal file. Both intrigued and frustrated by the madness of the situation, I began to shift back and forth on my feet as I impatiently waited for the raven-haired goddess to finish filling out the forms so that we could gain entrance to the otherwise inaccessible areas of the sanitarium in order to get to Chen.