Chapter Five: Hospital Visit:

Cephalla peeked out the peep hole. “Who is it?”

A middle-aged woman looked up on the other side. “It’s only me.” The teenaged girl opened the front door.

“Oh, Mrs. Argyris!” she exclaimed. “So nice to see you!”

“Hello dear,” the dark-haired woman said as she helped herself inside. “I brought you some baklava.”

“Goodie!” Cephalla excited. Her grandmother peeked out from the kitchen.

“Who’s there?” she asked. Mrs. Argyris waved at her old friend.

“Eumelia!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re here!” Cephalla’s grandmother raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re not fooling me, Gaia!” she said with her hands on her hips. “What do you want now?” Gaia pretended to look hurt by such accusation.

“Why, Eumelia!” she exclaimed. “I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Gaia!” her old friend said with her arms folded across her chest.

“Can’t I just see an old friend without any motives?”

“No.”

Her friend lowered her shoulders and sighed. “Fine, I have a favor to ask you.”

“I am not going back to the hospital!” Eumelia snapped.

“Please?” Gaia pleaded. “You would be a big help to us there.”

“I already have enough patients around my house,” the other old lady. “I don’t anymore of a workload!”

“But we’re overworked too,” her friend complained.

“I’m sorry,” Eumelia said. “I can’t help you.” Without thinking, Cephalla stepped in and spoke up.

“I’ll do it!” she volunteered. Both old women stared at her. The teenage girl realized what she had just said.

“Oh,” she said. Her grandmother raised an eyebrow at her.

“Are you sure about this, Cephalla?” she asked. Her granddaughter pressed her lips together.

“Yes!” she said. Gaia turned to her old friend.

“Are you okay with this?” she asked. The dark-haired woman shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, I’m just happy to get any sort of help at this point,” she said. She turned her attention to Cephalla. “We’ll take my motorcycle there.”

“Okay,” the teenage girl said. Both of them headed out the door.

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In thirty minutes, Gaia and Cephalla pulled into the hospital parking lot. The latter looked up at the old lady.

“We’re going to the trauma section, right?” she asked.

“That is correct,” Gaia replied. Both of them walked into the hospital. During the ride over, Cephalla secretly hoped to see the patient with the blue eyes again. Maybe I could get a better look at his face, she thought. Gaia approached the front desk with her.

“My helper and I are reporting for duty,” she told the receptionist. The blonde-haired twenty-something woman handed her the form.

“Please sign here and fill out the time you begin,” she said, pointing to the empty boxes on the paper. Cephalla and Gaia followed the instructions.

“We will sign out when we are finished,” the old lady explained to the teenaged girl. Cephalla nodded as she filled out the time.

“All finished?” Gaia asked.

“Yes,” the girl replied.

“Follow me down the hall,” the old lady told her. Cephalla followed her down the brightly lit hall. This hospital had been busy for the past seven weeks since the fighting in the war increased. The teenaged girl looked up at the dark-haired middle-aged woman.

“What exactly do you do here?” she asked. They rounded the corner to the left.

“I basically try to make them more comfortable while they recover and wait for treatment,” Gaia explained in a proud tone. Cephalla gave her an odd look.

“Isn’t that the nurses’ job around here?”

“Yes, but they so swamped with other patients, including our own.” Gaia flipped back her dark brown hair from her wrinkled face. “This is why we need your clinic open.” Cephalla frowned as she remembered the current condition her house had become. She could even see the impatience in her grandmother’s face as of life.

“How bad will it be today?” Cephalla asked.

“Oh, not too bad,” Gaia answered. “Can you take the sight of blood?”

“Yes,” Cephalla answered. “Grandmother has been training me around the clinic.”

“Good,” the old lady said as they came to the trauma center door. “Suit up, we have a busy day ahead of us.”

“Yes ma’am” Cephalla replied. Gaia pushed open the heavy glass doors. Most of the injured soldiers in their beds looked up at the sound. The older woman clapped her hands together with a huge smile on her face.

“Good afternoon, everyone!” she greeted them. Groans filled the room.

“Great!” Gaia cheered. “You will be in good hands today.” As the minor treatments and hospitality began, Cephalla checked the beds from patient to patient. He just has to be here, she thought. I just know it!

“Cephalla, could do be a dear and change the bandages of patient eighteen?” Gaia asked on the other side of the room.

“Yes ma’am!” she said aloud.

“You know where the supplies are, right?” the older woman asked.

“Yes,” Cephalla said again.

“Good deal,” the volunteer nurse replied. The girl went out into the hall and found the supply closet. She came back with bandages in her arms.

“Which patient did you say I needed to go to again?” Cephalla asked. “Was it number eighteen?”

“That’s correct, dear,” Gaia said as she tended to patient number four’s burn wounds on his hands.

“Alright,” the girl said to herself. She made her way down the lines of beds until she came to the eighteenth patient near the back window. Fate changed for her when their eyes met. His baby blues looked just like the ones in her drawing and memory. This time, she got a good look at his face. The teenage girl just had to compare him with a younger George Clooney in her mind. He gave her a pained smile.

“I know I look good, but could you help me out here?” the patient asked. “I’m so sore here.” Cephalla quickly returned to earth.

“Right!” she said aloud. The volunteer nurse got right to work on the injuries of the bright blue-eyed man.