Chapter 6:
Daybreak entered the once dimly-lit office, revealing faint cyan-painted walls, a dark-brown wood designed flooring, and a grayish ceiling. The office, just as before, consisted of the usual objects inside. A desk with a mound of paperwork, a neat glass table faced by two individual white sofas, and a long white sofa that is a few inches apart.
Nothing seemed to change much over the night, only that the shades and curtains automatically retract to the sides to reveal the large window panes that let in the sunlight when morning comes.
As we can see by a small portion of the room unreached by sunlight, a dark hooded figure continue to snore away, his head tilted downward sideways while his body still continued to be laid back on the office chair. He still seemed to be enjoying his slumber after all those sleepless nights. And across a few meters of him is a young girl who is also enjoying her slumber on the long white comfortable sofa. Her bunny ears tend to be closed as they poked outward from her hair. Her short breaths as she slept were somewhat gentler and mellow than that of the other person in the room. She even made short expressions, sometimes a mix of joy and uncertainty. But that never stopped her from her sleep.
But as a loud noise came from the room like that of an alarm, she jolted upward, wrinkling the blanket that covered her as she does. Her ears even straightened up from the surprise. Unfortunately for the young girl, she is awakened by her own alarm that she set up for herself from last night. Her phone was placed by the desk from what she remembers, but now she hears the sound coming from the table right next to her. She picks it up and opens it to turn off the alarm. Then she reads the alarm's description, 'Rise and Shine' set to ring at 8 o'clock in the morning, exactly as she wakes up.
Amiya rubs her two eyes, hoping to clearly see the 'swipe up' function to stop the alarm then flicks her thumb upward on the screen. Realizing the glinting dust the floated in the sunlight, she opts to get up and look outside for a moment. Standing up, she slowly walks toward the glass pane wall, being engulfed in the heavenly light that passed through. A bit more closer to the wall, she places her hand near her shoulder level, staring towards the towering buildings and some hovering machines that roamed above and close to some of the buildings.
"I didn't know I had a large glass wall in my room", she calmly murmured, still sounding a bit groggily.
However, it was until she realized that she doesn't have a glass wall in her room, nor a bigger room as a matter of fact. Rubbing her eyes again, she looked back and squinted, seeing a familiar room setup that she'd always seen. She scanned the very room she was in from left to right. Confused was the right word she was feeling that moment. She wasn't sure but eventually, she remembered.
She turned her head to her right and she saw somewhat a figure seated on the office chair. It was mostly hard to spot because of how well 'it' blended on the office chair but by walking a bit closer and some speculation, she hurried towards the office desk.
"Doctor, Doctor!", she spoke quite loudly, almost waking him up even.
Rattled, the Doctor began to mumble in his sleep until he started to urge himself to wake up. His eyes felt heavy and sore to open but by just opening one slightly open, his other one did too. But he still wasn't awake yet. He kept hearing this annoying sound that he couldn't make out right next to him. So instead of just waiting for his mind to hear it clearly, he slowly turned his head to his left. To which, Amiya on his left almost squealed when she saw the Doctor slowly look at her.
"D-doctor?", she stammered in question.
"A...miya?", he groggily asked.
"I'm really sorry, Doctor! If I just had the strength to walk myself to my room last night, you would've been able to sleep on your couch soundly.."
"A-aha.. it's all right", he replied in a somewhat drunken tone.
Amiya, still worried about him, tried to get him up and support him as he is being walked by her side towards the sofa she slept on. She didn't feel too much weight while she helped him get to the sofa to at least lie down a bit. She thought that bringing him onto the sofa while he's still in a sleepy daze could help him a bit more. However, realizing that the Doctor needed to be present in an operation he was assigned to, he stopped before he could even get his had on the sofa.
"Doctor, are you all right?", she looked up to him warily. She thinks that he might do something for her rudeness but instead, he carefully stood properly then rubbed his two eyes to clear up his vision.
"Sorry, Amiya. I can't sleep now, but thanks anyway", he nervously looked at her.
Looking back at him, Amiya started to feel pity to see his somewhat sleep-deprived expression. "Uwa..!", she tried to embrace him from his side. "I'm really sorry Doctor..!"
"Ehe... As I said, it's all right", he gently pats her head. "Hey, why don't you go get ready for the day first and we can meet up later in the cafeteria later after I get ready too".
"If it's as you say, Doctor. And if it's really okay with you, then I'll make it up to you at another time", she accepted with relief.
Amiya excused herself right by the office's doorstep before she closed it as she left. Now that she had gone off, the Doctor finally collapsed down on his sofa. His head leaned on the top of the couch's back as his eyes stared up the grayish ceiling. He couldn't get enough of the comfiness of this sofa for many times he'd sleep on it. It's the only bed-like furniture in his office, and the office chair he slept on isn't exactly what would be described as comfy. Still, it was a miracle that he even slept on it during the night. He didn't even have any gaps like waking up from time to time because it was a pain. Nevertheless, he got good sleep either way.
Taking up a few more minutes of sitting down on the sofa, he finally had the motivation to get up and start the day. Amiya must be waiting already in the cafeteria but knowing her, she'd take up more time to groom herself in her own room. So instead of running to the cafeteria first, he proceeded to his personal room and entered the bathroom built next to it. From there, he fills the tub first with water set to lukewarm temperatures. He then takes off his long-sleeved jacket, as well as his white clean coat that is barely seen under his jacket, and puts them up a clothing rack. He also sorts out the clothing found in his closet he chooses to wear for the day or the operation before jumping right in the hot water-filled tub. A pair of black fabric pants and a clean white long-sleeved, a button-down is what he normally picks for another day of work.
Carefully placing them down on a high-stool, he takes off his underwear and takes a dip in the long-awaited bath he filled. The Doctor seemed to reel back a bit from the heat of the water but eventually slides down and sits back as the warm water gets to him. He thought about taking a short nap but if it was going to be short, it would eventually turn out to be an hour or more of napping.
And so he began to scrub most parts of his body. Somewhat to brush and clean off with soap then to rinse himself on the tub. After some more scrubbing and rinsing, the Doctor gets up and grabs the dry towel hanged on a short handrail. All the while he brushes or rubs himself with the towel, he begins to clothe himself up. First his underwear, then his long-sleeved button-down tucked inside his black pants when he pulls them up. He then takes off both of his coat and jacket and neatly fits into them.
This is how the Doctor's days usually start. Some time for grooming oneself in their own quarters, a hefty meal from the cafeteria, and then working hours as per usual. But there were moments he'd miss out on eating meals and even going out of his office. But today was a bit different, something he is certainly glad about. And from there, another day has started.
Slightly poking his head out through the office door, the Doctor could see more people than he did last night walking through the corridor. Last night, there weren't many Infected strolling the hallway, but now there would be about five or six. Even being supported by a nurse or a doctor. One Infected even waved at him, to which he also waved in a slightly surprised manner. Slowly, he walks right out, trying to be careful not to bump into someone as he does. He closes the door behind him and begins to wade through the crowd of buzzing people making their way through as well.
However, on his way through, he had seemed to have felt some kind of thud near him. He didn't exactly notice at first but after hearing a couple of fallen folders and papers on his left, he turned to look at what or who it might be. He didn't see anyone looking at him with a nettled expression that said, 'Watch where you're going'. But by looking down, he recognized someone kneeling down while picking up and grabbing pieces of paper.
"I'm very sorry about that", he kneels down as well, picking up a piece of paper that fell astray.
"N-no need, my apologies for not looking", she spoke, still determined to pick them all up.
"Here, Silence", he hands her the paper he grabbed onto.
"Wh- Oh, Doctor, sorry about that", she looks at him to see who called her name.
"You feeling all right?"
"This is just natural for me. I might've been in a hurry so that's why"
"Just take it slow for a bit", he says while handing another paper to her. She blankly stares at him for a moment then grins, grabbing ahold of the paper.
Rearranging all the fallen paper and then standing up, Silence parted ways with him as she scurried to the other direction where the Doctor is going. She bowed shortly before she even left and then was no longer seen from the crowd. And so the Doctor hastily heads to the cafeteria by then. Hopefully, Amiya hasn't finished her meal before him.
