Average to miserable. That was the cycle of events that Scott’s evening seemed to be stuck in once he made it to the hospital to start his nursing shift. Things started okay, quickly became miserable, then managed to inch back toward tolerable, if only barely.
Getting out the apartment seemed to clear up his allergies, at least a little bit. There was a dull ache in the back of his head and his sinuses felt like they’d had concrete poured into them, but he could deal with it until the end of his shift. Or possibly try to beg some antihistamines off of the cute guy at the dispensary, if needed. Certainly wouldn’t be the first time, however, and he was running out of favors.
Scott felt a bit of relief as he took another sip from the bottled drink he’d mixed up before leaving the apartment, which seemed to chase away his headache for a few precious moments. He wasn’t sure when or why he would have bought this particular flavor, with its bitter, herbal tang and barely any sweetness whatsoever, but it was growing on him the more he drank. As a medical professional, he was wary of all the so-called ‘herbal remedies’ being used to treat any ailment under the sun, but perhaps there was something to this one…
“Maybe Luke bought it for his little gym experiment…” Scott mused with a slight smile. He liked Luke well enough, he also suspected that this idea of getting into shape just wasn’t going to pan out for his roommate. But, he was more than willing to be proven wrong, and for the sake of his roommate’s health he hoped he would be. And if Luke really was able to undergo that sort of transformation… Well, Scott looked forward to seeing the results.
Soon, this lull in the ‘excitement’ of the ER shift quickly disappeared, forcing Scott to constantly be on the move form one examination room to the next. Stemming the flow of blood from a nasty cut that went nearly down to the bone, keeping a patient who was vomiting nonstop with a steady supply of IV fluid, prepping a young man for an X-ray after being brought in from a car accident… the fun never stopped, it seemed.
Eight hours into the twelve hour shift, things had begun to level out and Scott was able to catch his breath for a few moments. A rare luxury indeed, and he celebrated with a deep swig of the last few drops of the mixed drink in his bottle. The bitter astringency of the liquid clung to his tongue for what felt like minutes, and the cooling mintiness was just what he needed to chase off his lingering headache for a bit longer.
“Nyaaaaaoooow…” Scott yawned languidly as he sprawled out on the battered couch in the nurses’ breakroom, hearing his spine crack quietly as his limbs extended fully in a wide, full-body stretch. He cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed at the odd noise of his yawn, but luckily for him none of the other nurses were near enough to hear it. Without thinking, he tucked his arms under his chin and curled up in the comforting, well-used softness of the couch cushions, the low rumble of his breathing echoing oddly in his chest as his eyes drifted shut.
-------------------
“Scotty! Hey, get up, man!”
“Nyagh!!”
At the sound of the other nurse’s voice, Scott shot straight up with a high yelping noise, clapping his hand to his mouth and blushing bright red at the sudden outburst.
“...Err, you okay? Didn’t mean to interrupt your little cat nap, bud, but I wanted to ask a favor…” the other nurse said with a sly smirk. His name was Walt, a few years older than Scott but with just about the same amount of nursing experience. They’d shared quite a few tough shifts together by now, and it was understood that if there was anything the other needed, they’d ask without hesitation.
“F-favor? Uh, what is it?” Scott stammered, jumping to his feet.
“Well, uh… There’s this patient in Room 12? And, well…”
“Just spit it out, Walt. You know I’m gonna say yes anyway,” Scott sighed, rubbing his temples and taking a deep breath. “Difficult patient? Something serious?”
“No, I mean, it’s just a cut needing to get prepped for stiches, no big deal, but… Well, it’s just none of the others on the floor are jumping at the chance to handle this one,” Walt said slowly and cautiously. “And I just got called to be up in the ICU in 10, so…”
“So you need me to handle it? Fine, fine…” Scott replied as he headed to the breakroom door. “Room 12, you said? ...So, why the hell did nobody else want to do this one…?”
“Uh, I guess you’ll find out once you get there…”
--------------------
When Scott arrived at the exam room, he very quickly deduced why none of the other nurses were thrilled at the idea of having to deal with the patient in question. For one, he was nearly 7 feet tall, which is certainly intimidating. For two, he was rather hairy, which was always a pain in the ass when stitches were involved.
And for three, he was a bear. At least, an anthro one. Nearly as wide as he was tall, with dark, sandy-brown fur over his entire body. The fur over his eyes was dense and thick, slightly graying at the tips, and Scott guessed that he must be at least in his middle-age, though to be honest he’d always had a hard time telling with anthros. He wore not much more than a pair of loose denim overalls and a well-used white tanktop, and as soon as Scott stepped into the room he immediately picked up the strong, earthy scent of dry sweat. Not a bad smell, per se, and at least it was a change of pace from the usual acrid antiseptic scent of the hospital.
The huge bear’s deep brown eyes widened and he grinned cheerfully as Scott entered the room, one paw holding a red-stained towel tightly against his lower leg. “Heya, doc! I was thinking nobody was gonna show their face ‘round here!” he said in a big, booming voice. “But I tell ‘ya, if I ended up going belly up in here waiting for ‘ya, it’ll be a pain the ass dragging me out of here! Harharhar!”
“Err… Well, I suppose we’d like to avoid that,” Scott replied with a nervous chuckle. “And I’m just a nurse, not a doctor. But, I’ll do what I can to get you out of here, alright?”
“Quite alright, little buddy! Aww, I just feel so dumb, ‘ya know?” the bear sighed as Scott dug around in the nearby cabinet for everything he’d need. “I was workin’ my construction job and wasn’t lookin’ where I was going, caught my damn leg on a nail. Doesn’t hurt much, but it’s a real gusher!”
Scott nodded absentmindedly as he glanced as the patient’s chart quickly. Tetanus shots were up-to-date, at least according to the patient himself. And PIFA insurance was already approved, meaning treatment could proceed any time.
PIFA, the Provisional Identification for Anthros, was a stopgap measure for dealing with the sudden appearance of anthros a few years earlier. When they’d first appeared, nobody was quite sure what to do with them. They lacked any identification or even citizenship of their own, at least none that they were willing to divulge, but likewise there was nowhere that they could really be sent to. Deport them? To where, exactly? Arrest them? For what?
And so, anthros could apply for a PIFA, granting them more-or-less the equivalent of a work visa, as well as medical insurance. There was the usual uproar that was to be expected when these sorts of programs were initiated, but frankly there were so few anthros walking around that the costs to the taxpayer were practically nonexistent.
“Well, you’re all cleared to go, mister…?” Scott asked as he began to pull a surgical glove on.
“Bernie. Bernie Grassley. Pardon me if I don’t shake your hand, kiddo,” he rumbled, winking while still holding the towel tight against his leg.
“Point taken. Lemme just get that sorted out for you, alright?” Scott said, pulling his rubber glove down with a firm tug.
SNAP!
“...Huh?”
That was the usual snap of rubber against skin that Scott had heard a thousand times before. Instead, he glanced down and saw that his fingers had torn clear through the rubber, leaving his fingertips exposed. This was not supposed to happen, of course. Medical gloves were made to be thin, but strong, since the last thing anyone wanted was for them to break during an exam or a surgery. But this time, his finger had poked right through the rubber like it was tissue.
Scott just stared in confusion at what had happened, noticing that his fingernails looked like they might be a bit longer and sharper than he remembered them being. He usually kept them neatly trimmed and very short, for hygenic purposes, but perhaps he’d simply forgotten to cut them like he usually did…?
Bernie had likewise noticed what had happened, and his earlier boistrous and friendly attitude immediately shifted to quiet curiosity. He glanced at Scott’s fingertips before peering more closely at the nurse’s face, a slight raise of his furry brow and a widening of his deep brown eyes the only thing betraying his calmness.
“Ah. I see… You’re…” Bernie murmured quietly, then he shook his head slowly. “Nah, ‘course not… Unless, are ‘ya… new? Far along?”
Scott blinked a few times, unsure of what exactly the anthro was asking.
“New? Uh, no, I’ve been a nurse for about a year and a half now,” Scott added quickly, finding another glove and pulling it on a bit more gingerly this time to avoid another tear. “I guess that’s a bit new, but I’ve had a fair bit of experience in this sort of thing, if you’re worried about that…”
“N-nah, that’s not… I just meant…” Bernie said slowly, his face both confused and apprehensive, clearly unsure how to proceed from here. “Aw, forget it. I’m probably wrong… Just, whatever happens, promise me you’ll be careful, okay kiddo? It’ll be fine…”
Scott frowned, wondering what exactly the bear was going on about. “...That's kind of you to say, but I’m always careful, don’t worry,” he replied as he grabbed a syringe of antibiotics, a styptic solution, and some topical painkiller. “I’ll have this all cleaned up in no time, and the doctor will be in to stitch you up right away.”
Taking a deep breath to chase off the headache that was slowly building up, Scott gingerly undid the bear’s makeshift bandage and started on the sort of work he’d done a hundred times before. And as crummy as the day had been so far, he still enjoyed knowing that he was helping someone. To think, none of the other nurses had wanted to help out a nice guy like Bernie. Acting like he’s contagious or something, Scott thought to himself with a tiny smile as he quickly stemmed the bleeding from the bear anthro’s gashed thigh and gave it a healthy dose of antibiotics just to be safe. By the time he was finished and the wound was clean enough to suture, he was practically purring with satisfaction at a job well done.