"Oh! You're quite early today, Fortune" Nurse Coralyn greets and I awkwardly wave her hi
"Ah, well, there was a 'thing' that happened today, so I decided to start my training early."
"Well, since you don't talk about it directly... Yeah I should refrain from snooping around."
Putting on my uniform, she rehearses the things we went through yesterday and teaches me about various medicines and what they're useful for
"Obviously you won't get better instantaneously when you intake them, after all, your body needs to digest them and it can't just take everything all at once - that would be overexerting and that would put your body in grave danger: but it certainly does help!"
"Hmm..."
"It is hard to get supplies though..."
"Hmph..."
"Hello? Is there anyone there?"
"Oh! It's our first patient. Let's examine him, shall we?"
As it turns out, that man is suffering from cold and intoxication. The stench is foul, but Carolyn is unfazed. She lays the patient down on his side and gives him detoxing medicine.
"Drink this, please. This should make you feel better."
"Thank you, nurse... Oh, my saviour *hic*... Achoo!"
"Bucket?" I ask and Carolyn nods. Coming back with the bucket, the patient throws up. Ew.
"Phew... Aurgh... Thank you... Thank you..."
"Please try not to fall asleep. It might make the situation worse."
"Bummer..."
I bring the patient water and he drinks it readily. After that he just stares at the floor to pass time.
"Um... Mister... If you REALLY want to go to sleep, go on."
"I-It's fine... It's fine... Haaah..."
That person is oddly extremely tolerable for someone who's drunk. I still hide behind Carolyn as she watches over the patient.
"I'll write you a prescription, as you should be able to recover at home. Is it alright with you?"
"O... Of course... God... My wife's going to be so disappointed in me... *Sob*"
"H-Hey, no crying, sir. It will stress your body even more. Please calm down."
"Thank you... Is that your daughter over here?"
He points at me and I angrily retaliate.
"No!"
"Oh, he's just an apprentice. He's not my blood."
"Oh... Alright..."
Carolyn writes the prescription and she tells me how it's done.
"Again, as you can see, first we list out the symptoms and through them we can figure out what's wrong. And based on the illness and its severity, we give the prescription. Do kn ow that you need to know as much as possible here, fever can mean a lot of things, not just plain cold, alright?"
"Okay. But I can't tell anything that you wrote here."
"... This is what you get for being a medical student. Someday you'll understand."
She gives the prescription to the patient who is noticeably feeling much better.
"Take these two times a day and gargle before bed, alright?"
"Thank you... Um... I also twisted my ankle... Can you please help, miss?"V
"Hmm... I'll try." I stepped in and start massaging it gently. My sister used to do that to me, and I would also do this to her in return. As I focus, the man groans a little bit "Ow... W-What's this...?"
But then...
"Oh? I-I feel better now here... Wait... Let me verify thi--"
"Careful now."
The patient then moves his foot around and is in genuine disbelief "No, it really did heal!... A-Achoo!"
"Are you sure sir? Sprains don't heal that quickly..." Carolyn asks. Huh? They don't?
"Well... It certainly doesn't hurt as much anymore... Cough..."
"I'll put on some protection and give you some painkillers and you should be good to go..."
"T-Thank you... Achoo!"
After putting on a rudimentary brace, Carolyn helps the patient on his legs and he pays for the medicine. "I-I... Oh god... Sniff... I feel so awful about myself... A literal disappointment... I can't stare at her..."
"Don't be, just focus on recovery sir."
"Once again thank you... Hic... I'm so glad..."
After the patient leaves, Carolyn sighs "Phew... That was surely a handful..."
"? He didn't seem too bothersome to me..."
"Oh well, he is "better" than average, but... It seems he's going through a lot. Either way, I'm burnt, but I still have to hold my spirits high for everyone's sake. Can't really get used to that kindness though."
"I can see that."
"You can rest though. Go play with Cathy if you want, she's quite fond of you."
"Thanks."
I visit Cathy's room and she's playing with some dolls. She's a bit... Drowsy though.
"Oh, hello, Fortune." She smiles and I ask why she's sleepy.
"Hmm... Auntie says that I'm quite a drowser..." Cathy yawns "Fortune... Will you sleep with Cathy?"
"U-Um... Well, auntie did say I could rest, and I had a rough start, so I think it won't hurt."
Cathy smiles and I take off my uniform. Lying on the bed, I ask where auntie sleeps, to which she answers that she sleeps with Cathy too. Come to think of it... I've only slept together with my sister, I never experienced sleeping together with my parents... Though it is VERY clear as to why.
Cathy lies beside me and hugs me tightly "Hmm... Fortune..." As predicted, she dozes off almost instantly. I wonder if she's sleepy due to boredom or due to a health problem... Probably the former, as she doesn't seem particularly sick. Being confined only to your room and nowhere else must really be tiresome, even with all the toys.
Soon enough, I too drift off to sleep, the day's been too rough for me...
~
"My goldilock, say hello to your sister - Mallow."
"..."
"... You're still thinking about her, huh?"
"..."
"I know I've been a terrible mother to her. I wish I could just take everything back, but unfortunately it's all in the past now. There's no turning back now."
"..."
"... I'm a terrible person. Please, if you can look past this, take her."
"..."
~
Why...
~
"Mom, what are you doing?"
"O-Oh... It's nothing really..."
"Please, if you really want to care about us, then be with us. I can't seem to get Mallow to calm down."
"... I'm sorry...
Dear god... I'm so glad that you're a boy... So glad..."
"..."
"... Give me Mallow... I'll calm her down."
~
I'm already tormented with memories of Sylvie. I can't take two of them.
~
"Bwah..."
"?"
"Bwah... Sah..."
"!"
"Bwahsah!"
"Y-Yes?"
"Bwahsah! Bwahsah!"
"M-Mom! Look! She spoke! C-Can I pick her up?!"
"..."
~
Please, no more!
~
"She's pregnant again..."
"Isn't it great?! Wouldn't that mean there would be more of us?!"
"That means there would be more mouths to feed! We're already struggling to keep on living, I don't want another tenant in our house!"
"..."
"... Look, I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine a third person living here. God forbid."
"Then I'll help you! We'll earn tons of money to provide for our sibling! Surely the two of us can manage, right?!"
"... You're so naive... You're kind, but naive. Not saying it can't work..."
"I promise you'll be extremely proud of me once I start making money! We'll be so rich!"
~
No! NO!! NO!!!
~
"... I'm a terrible person... A very terrible person...
And if there's an afterlife...
I hope she tortures me for all eternity."
~
...
"Hey, keep up, now will you?"
Huh?
"Wait for me, sis!"
"And you, stop standing here like a dope. Come on, let's run through the flower field!"
Wha?...
"Brother, come on! Big sis is calling for us!"
Mallow?...
"Well, guess he thinks of himself as a macho man. That means more for the girls."
I don't understand...
"Hee-hee! They're so pretty! I wish we could just live here!"
"Me too, Mallow, me too."
Then, they turn towards me
"You... You still won't move huh?"
Now spoken with genuine sincerity, Sylvie then approaches me
"You used to like flower fields, you know? Let's retreat all of us together to the promised land."
...
"Well, if you want, mom's home, making breakfast for us. Be sure to attend back when you're finished. Now if you excuse me, I would like to run a little bit more."
"... Father?"
"? Who are you talking about? We always lived all four of us alone. Me, Mallow, mom and you."
"..."
"Come on, Mallow, let's run. It seems our brother is not in a mood."
"Yay!"
The laughter rings far away in the distance