Page 125 of Capuleto

I am the new one

Andrey

Iarrived at the hospital feeling unsettled.

I had no fucking idea when the shift change was, but it had to be soon.

As I was driving, I turned on the listening device. I heard what seemed to be the end of a conversation. At first, I couldn't piece together who Irene was talking to; I thought it was Yuri, but it wasn't.

The topic of conversation was a poorly treated wound, it was an infection, and someone had been taken to the hospital where Aleksa was. A few sentences later, the mystery was solved. My boss's brother offered to accompany her and take the opportunity to go up to see his sister. The redhead's role would be to distract someone in the cafeteria.

It had to be Nikita, what had happened to my boss? All my alarms went off. I was several minutes ahead of them, and at the pace I was stepping on the accelerator, I planned to gain more, enough to alert R and save Aleksa.

From what I had heard, my boss's life was not in danger; they were going to move her to a room, but the life of the man I loved was.

I shifted into sixth gear with that affirmation buzzing in my head. If they heard my thoughts in Russia, I would be dead. In my country, homosexuality was not accepted. Parents rejected their children, shunning them like lepers. There was no same-sex marriage, and having a child with my condition was one of the worst disgraces that could happen to parents. Few dared to come out and publicly acknowledge they were gay or lesbian. Those who did risked ostracism and daily beatings.

It was better not to talk, to be discreet, and to try not to get caught enjoying your deviation. Fortunately, I was always good at that.

As soon as I crossed the access doors, I headed straight for the stairs, not wasting time with the elevator. I flew up them until I reached the ICU floor. The measures implemented during the COVID protocol turned doctors and nurses into masked heroes.

Behind the masks, glasses, shields, and uniforms, you could hardly recognize these people on the street.

I needed to get one of those outfits to get in there without raising suspicion.

Visiting hours were over, so I had to sneak in. There was no one in the hallway, so I ventured in, trying to avoid any of the busy professionals noticing my presence, when I bumped into a nurse coming out of a door.

I couldn't avoid her.

"What are you doing here? Visiting hours ended a few hours ago."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't make it in time, my plane just landed and..."

"Well, I'm sorry for you, but the protocol is the same for everyone. I'll walk you out, you can visit whoever it is starting at ten tomorrows."

"Could you please make an exception?" I insisted.

"No, I'm sorry."

It was better if she escorted me out and then I could come back in.

"You do important work." I pointed inside the ICU. She looked annoyed.

"Yes," she replied, starting to walk.

"You can see the exhaustion in their eyes, do they work many hours?"

She looked inside the fishbowl, where a clock was prominently displayed on the side wall. I had noticed that Aleksa seemed to be fine, which relaxed me a bit.

"Too many. Many of them are working double shifts, the staff shortage is evident. We've asked the administration for more doctors and nurses, but you see... Fortunately, in five minutes, it's shift change time.

"Being a healthcare worker today sucks, it's no wonder most want to go abroad. Shitty wages and staff shortages, if it weren't for the fact that many of us are vocational, there'd be no one left here.

"Please, come with me."

The nurse wanted to make sure I left. I walked slowly beside her.

"Don't they rest at all? On TV shows there's always a staff room. Or is that fiction?" When I wanted to, I could get information very subtly. Also, the nurse seemed to like my looks because she was making eyes at me.