Chapter 2 - The First Calls

• Sophia POV
• I wake up at the sound of my alarm clock going off and yawn. I look at the time and notice that it’s time to get back to work. Apparently nothing happened during the time I was asleep. I get up, take a quick shower and brush my teeth. When I’m done with my post wake-up routine, I change into a new uniform, fix my hair and badge and leave the room.
• On reaching the 42nd floor, I noticed that some of the guards had changed shifts. Joshua is also no longer the doctor on duty. I arch my brow when I see the updates on the tablet I collected from the reception desk.
• "Good morning Julie." I greet my friend.
• “Hi Soph. I’m so glad you’re back.” I hear her relieved response.
• "Did something happen?" I tense, but I don’t take my eyes off the tablet and keep going through the information on each patient. It seems that the majority of the patients, who were admitted to this floor, are not discharged yet. This is due to traces of silver being found in their blood.
• “These people, you know…” Julie spoke in a low tone and I took a deep breath.
• They were the kind of people I hated. They want everything their way and won’t settle for anything less. Money buys many things, but it can’t buy everything.
• “Relax and go home Julie. You need a break.” I tell her while indicating her departure from her shift and asking for her replacement.
• "Thanks Soph! You are a life-saver!”
• I let out a low chuckle and turn around to head towards the rooms where the patients are. I notice the guards trying to intimidate me with their eyes but I just ignore it. I’ve seen worse.
• The first patients could soon be discharged. The medication administered to remove the silver from their systems was already working. When I get to the last three rooms, I notice that there are many more guards stationed at the doors.
• “Tsk…” I can't help uttering the expression before entering the first room. Mr Andreas Lykaios. Admitted with multiple lacerations and stab wounds and a high level of silver in the system. Noted: Good recovery by filtering the blood... I approach the bed and notice a woman sitting in the chair next to it, which, by all indications, appears to be the wife of the patient. He has a large build consisting of almost nothing but muscle. He has several scars, including one that takes up part of the left side of his face. He is someone who many women would fall at his feet for, but I don't care. I check his vitals, drip-lines, and tubes and then ask that the sheets be changed and that the patient be given a sponge bath.
• “You must be the head nurse everybody talks about.” I hear the woman speak while I am checking the patient’s bandages.
• "Yes. It’s me." I answer dryly.
• “Hmm… They say you tend to be more receptive.”
• I lift my face and look at her. She has black hair, olive skin and dark brown eyes.
• “I am. To those who I am familiar with and those who have earned it.” It appears as though she wants to say something more, but I turn around to leave so she keeps her words to herself.
• Next, I went to the second of the last three rooms. Lord Achilles Lykaios. Andreas' older brother. As I enter, I notice that there are two additional guards stationed inside the room, but there was no wife or family members present. He is in a similar condition as his younger brother. I walk over to the bed and start doing the regular checks, such as vitals and so on. Unlike Andreas, Achilles has a smaller build, yet he still had a well-sculpted body and a muscled build. He had dark brown hair, serious features and also had several scars spread across his body. Achilles, however, has no scars on his face and despite not liking this type of man very much, he still attracted my attention.
• 'I am not here to admire my patient,' I chide myself. 'I am here to treat and heal him!'
• I draw in a deep breath as I read his chart in shock. His report indicates that he had twice as much silver in his system as his younger brother. It is a miracle that he is still alive. I type in some treatment suggestions and forward them to Doctor Miriam. They are "alternative" treatments and would need her approval to be administered.With nothing to say to anyone, I turn and leave the room.
• As I approach the last room, I feel my heart start racing. This is the room of the head of the Houroux Family. I am sure it’s just nerves. I can say with certainty that, if anything went wrong with this patient, and he died in our care, the hospital would be in the deepest, most serious trouble, and all involved in his treatment and care would be fired without question.
• When I enter the room, the first thing I notice is a woodsy scent permeating the air. Almost like pine needles and apples mixed with something that resembles aged leather. I arch an eyebrow at my observation. I will have to ask the nurses to come in to clean and air out the room as soon as possible.
• I look at the guards and the woman sitting in a chair next to the patient's bed and ask: "May I ask you to kindly go and have a shower and change? The patient requires a hygienic and sterile environment to heal in."
• I couldn't care less if they take offense to my request. I approach the bed looking at the chart. The patient's name is Perseus Houroux. A 32 year old male. He had light brown, short, curly hair. His body is not as muscular but, nonetheless, the body of a man who trained regularly. He emits a great authoritative aura, even in his state of unconsciousness. He has a very stern look about him, which could be derived from the scars scattered across his body. The chart further states that the doctors were unable to filter the toxins from his blood due to his rare blood type. I raise an eyebrow in shock at the blood type recorded. It is the same rare blood type as mine. The Bombay blood group. It is extremely rare. Phenotypes of this blood group do not contain the H antigen on the red cell membranes and have the anti-H in the serum. It gives a false O blood group result. This was very surprising to me. These patients could only receive blood from donors with the exact same blood type.
• Bombay blood type does not have any A, B or H antigens on their red blood cells or other tissues. It is not as rare as the Null Factor, but it was still a big complication since it could only receive donations from the same blood type.
• I perused the information on the panels, writing down the numbers and making some changes that would have to be approved by the doctor in charge. I twisted my mouth into a sly grin when I saw that Doctor Miriam was now the responsible doctor in charge.
• "Tsk ..." I uttered under my breath once more. I check the bandages and notice that some are stained with blood, which isn’t a good sign. This shouldn’t be happening and could hinder and delay the patient's recovery. Even if the blood loss was minimal, it could still be detrimental.
• I don't know what comes over me, but being close to this man made me want to touch him in ways that weren't professional. I did however manage to keep my professional posture, and also to maintain it throughout the remainder of the check-up.
• “Will he be alright?” A cold male voice asks behind me. His voice is charged with menace.
• “That is a question for the attending physician Sir.” I reply in an informal tone while I finish checking the last bandage, which was wrapped around the patient's abdomen.
• “You should note that using that tone with me could get you fired.”
• I look up to see who is talking to me, although I already have a pretty good idea of who it is. It’s a man who appears to be in his 50’s, and has a striking resemblance to Perseus, but an older version of him.
• “I highly doubt that Sir,” I arch my left eyebrow. "Seeing as I'm the best at what I do and you specifically requested for me to be here. I could easily be at home, sleeping."
• I return my gaze to the tablet and add my findings and concerns to the report. As I head towards the exit of the room, I feel the man grab my arm.
• "If I were you, I would be very careful. Nobody is irreplaceable."
• The man's threat together with the pressure of his fingers on my arm, was almost enough for me to freak out. I take a deep calming breath and slowly count backwards from ten to one. I try to lightly pull my arm out of his grip, but he doesn’t let go.
• “You have two options, Sir. You can either let go of my arm and I will forget about your threat, or you can keep your grip on my arm and regret it.”
• My self-control is slipping. I know that my voice made it clear that I’m very serious about what I said and that I don’t accept being treated the way he is treating me. I also made it clear that I’m not afraid of him. Nor am I afraid of his family for that matter.
• "You're just a girl who..."
• I open my eyes and pull my arm hard enough for him to let me go. When I turn around I hear the door open.
• “Sophia Turner!” Doctor Miriam calls out as she enters the room looking right at me. I just place the tablet in her hands and head for the exit of the room.
• "Doctor Miriam, find a replacement for me. I'm going home." I utter in a calm low warning voice as I walk out of the room without looking back. Doctor Miriam knows that this is worse than me screaming and shouting. She also knows that there is probably nothing that will bring me back to this floor.
• “Soph…” Miriam calls after me but I ignore her and just keep walking to the elevator. I press the button and, as I wait for the elevator to arrive, I remove my cell phone from my pocket to check my messages and emails. The very first notification to pop up is that of the Houroux Family offering to pay anyone who had the Bombay blood type, to come forward to the hospital to make donations.
• “Money can't buy everything…” I whisper to myself and scroll through the rest of the news. The next article I scroll to is the article about the attack at the Olympus Restaurant.
• “Soph… Please...!”
• The elevator pings and the door opens. I get on the elevator and turn around to see Doctor Miriam standing there with the man who dared to threaten me, standing right behind her. He probably threatened her as well and before the door can close one of the guards slips in, grabs me and holds the elevator door open. I look him in the eye and glare at him. He has the audacity to flinch but doesn't let go. I still have my cell phone in my hand and prepare to press the "Dial" button to place the call to the police emergency number.
• “Either you let me go, or I'm calling the police and telling them that the Houroux Family is threatening the hospital staff and keeping us hostage.”
• I calmly move my finger to the call button.
• “Calling the police won't work, you simpleton. Who would believe an unimportant nurse like you?”
• The man's voice is mocking and his eyes show that he couldn’t care about my threat at all.
• I press the call button to place the call, but before my call is answered, a security guard enters the elevator and takes the cell phone from my hand. The elevator door closes while I try to dodge the attack.
• "I suggest you keep your mouth shut or there's going to be a scene right in the middle of the ground floor with more witnesses than we care to have." The security guard warns and disconnects the call before someone can answer the call on the other end..
• “Warn your boss that money and threats won’t buy my loyalty and dignity. If he wants me to come back, he had better beg me on his knees, because I won't accept anything less than that.”
• I straighten my lab coat as I face the elevator door.
• “Um… I'll probably get my jaw broken for saying this, and also because I didn't keep holding on to you but...” the guard stops mid-sentence as though he is choosing his words very carefully. He sounds so serious, but yet also so funny at the same time. A very strange combination for someone like him.
• "You're pretty nimble for ...."
• "A woman? Yeah, yeah… So I've heard. I am quite apt at self-defense.” I reply before he is able to finish his sentence.
• I hear the elevator ping and then the doors open. I exit the elevator calmly as though nothing is wrong.
• “My next shift is at 12:00," I tell him. "If your boss wants to talk, he had better be humble about it.” I finish just as the elevator door closes to return to the 42nd floor.