Chapter 11: Head Nurse Mary
THE following morning, Henrik was back to his usual self, much to everyone’s relief.
“Mia, I’m going to need your help right away after breakfast.”
Mia nodded, her expression solemn. She was keen to make herself useful here.
Then Henrik turned to Felix and Mathias. “You two can just kick back until this evening. There’s actually a festival going on in town.”
But Felix wasn’t about to be fobbed off so easily.
“We’re here looking for clues, aren’t we? We’ll come along with Mia.”
“Fine. Access rights to the old charts are contingent on us being useful around here. If you really want to help us nurse sick and injured patients, then go nuts, but don’t go fainting at the sight of gushing blood or oozing boils or anything, got it?”
Felix paled visibly at that, suddenly remembering his limits and instantly retracting his offer to help.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE treatment area was located beyond the front reception desk, in the “hole” of the donut. White-clad nurses bustled around the wide space busily, several of them engaged in a heated discussion.
The brass pipes encircling the walls gave off various noises. It was clear the central heating system had cranked into motion to coincide with the clinic opening, heating the entire building before patients came.
The air felt clean and sterile and somehow heavy. Beside Mia, Henrik cleared his throat.
“This is my friend, Mia. Show her the ropes, please.”
One of the nurses in the center of the group whirled around with a smile. Mia rocked back slightly on her heels as she took her in. The nurse gave off an aura of extreme competence and was prettily plump.
“Hello! I’m the Head Nurse, Mary.”
“Mia Baumann…nice to meet you! I’m here as a clinic volunteer!”
As Mia nodded politely, Mary suddenly grabbed her hand and shook it heartily, her lips curving into a big smile.
W-Woah…she’s friendly!
“Let’s get right down to it, Mia! How about cleaning the reception area?”
“C-Cleaning?”
Mia had just assumed she’d be helping out with patients. She couldn’t stop herself from blinking rapidly in shock. She thought about the reception area and how it encircled the treatment center. It was…a pretty big area.
“Oh dear, is that too difficult for you, pet?”
There was something challenging in Mary’s grin that made Mia yelp defensively.
“Not at all! I’ll get right to it!”
“Wonderful! A tidy reception desk puts our incoming patients right at ease! Now, mind you, don’t miss even a single speckaroo of dust!”
“I…I won’t.”
Mia was trying her hardest to hide a sudden urge to burst into tears. She hadn’t expected to be doing mindless grunt work here, not when she had her own skills to offer. She looked over at Henrik for help, but Mary had already got him in her sights, too.
She pointed imperiously at the rows of medicine cabinets lining the walls. “And your job is to put those cabinets in order. We want to see those bottles sparkling, don’t we?”
Henrik closed his eyes for a moment, looking pained.
Head Nurse? More like drill sergeant! But Mia quickly forced herself to adjust her own attitude. She was only here as a volunteer and had no right to expect to be allowed to treat patients right from the outset.
Besides, it would feel good to do something physical after so much studying. The clinic setting reminded her of her days living and working with Dr. Letts and made her feel warm and sentimental. She quickly put on a work apron and tied her hair neatly back.
Let’s get to work!
She felt oddly pumped up for the first time in a while. But as soon as she picked up a nearby mop, Mary pounced on her, tsk-tsking and wagging her finger.
Instead, she brought Mia to the storeroom, where there was a curious round machine with a long metal hose attached. Mia stared at it, eyes wide.
“You need to attach it to the pipes to make it go. Then you use the steam to sterilize and clean, you see? Oh, but don’t scald yourself on it. Wear these gloves.”
Mia did as she was told and put on a pair of thick gloves before attaching the machine to a valve on the wall. Immediately, white steam began to chug forth from the end of the hose. It seemed to work on the same principles as a steam iron for pressing clothing, except this was used to clean the floors.
Wow, that’s amazing…
The dirt and grime melted away to nothingness right in front of her eyes. In seconds, the section of the floor she was working on was sparkling clean. Mia soon became absorbed in the enjoyable and novel task.
Just as the cleaning session was wrapping up, patients began to trickle in. Mary leaped into action. Index finger jabbing the air wildly, she began issuing barked commands to her nursing staff.
There were all kinds of patients. People with injuries and others who were sick. There were people with symptoms of both mild and serious diseases.
Mia had never worked in a big clinic like this, and she could barely process what was going on. It was so busy!
Spotting a child with a high fever, Mary waved them ahead to the front of the line. Then when an elderly man tried to shuffle ahead of the others, she scolded him and shooed him back, barking “You’re fine! You can wait!” at him as he visibly shrank in the face of her sternness.
“Mia, we need a bandage applied here right now!”
“Certainly!”
“Henrik! Bring the antiseptic!”
“All right.”
Mary’s eye was keen, her decisions were sharp, and her hands were swift and skilled. It was clear that she was the sun around which this entire hospital’s operation orbited.