Rated 12+ for fantasy, violence, and mild language.
The moment the town was in view Anna started at a dead run. “Anna!” Celine screamed after her, and took off as well. By the time the two were at the gate to the town, they were dehydrated and gasping for breath.
The town was surrounded by a rickety, falling fence, as if proving that it would keep out weather and creatures, yet it did nothing of the sort. At the front of the town, there was the main road, covered in cobblestone, that lead down a row of houses. After a block or two down the road, the mayor's house sat with dignity, and the roads snaked off after that, into different developements and more rows of houses. Hardly five hundred souls lived in that town, but many more lived in the farmland offskirting the small developement and by the ocean shore, nearly three-hundred miles away.
“Who goes there?” asked one of the men guarding the town in a thick voice. He couldn’t exactly be called a guard, however, for his clothes were casual and Anna doubted he had a weapon. His face was strong and his eyes were dark, and something about him seemed off.
“You know who we are,” she hissed. “Water, I need water.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll need more than that to allow you in.”
Celine pushed back her younger sister and took the lead. “It’s Celine Mackantoff and Anna Blissil, Jeffery. Don’t you remember?”
Upon seeing the older sister the man smiled. “Oh, yes. You’re the nurses, right?” He gave Celine a smile that displayed the fact that all of his teeth had rotted and moved in closer. A shiver went up Anna’s spine as she faintly remembered that Jeffery had a thing for Celine.
“Yes, yes, we’re the nurses,” Anna affirmed impatiently. “Now can we have some water?”
“Can you?” he challenged, a sparkle in his eye that did nothing more than scare Anna.
“Give me some water,” Anna growled. When he didn’t move she screamed, “Now!”
He started, his eyes wide. He turned from behind him and drew water out from the well and poured it into two wooden cups. There were three more, stationed around the different entrances to the town, in order to ensure a drink to travelers and friends. He purposely gave Celine hers first, making it go as slow as possible, but by the time he turned to Anna to carefully give her her water she merely grabbed it out of his hands and chugged it. Celine made a disapproving sound, but then drank her own water rather sloppily.
When the two were done they leisurely went into town. The water renewed both Anna and Celine, and they were in a rather good moods, so Anna took a shot at a question. “Celine, did you ever think of being anything other than a nurse?”
She blinked in surprise. “No, why?”
“Well, I don’t know. I just don’t think being a nurse is for everyone.” She looked up at her sister. “Especially me.”
Celine grinned. “Oh, Anna. There was a time when I thought I shouldn’t be a nurse, if that’s what you meant, but then I realized that I actually do like helping people. The look on their face when I do something right . . .” She looked off into the distance, smiling at some memory. “I think it’s really good, what we’re doing.”
“What if you don’t like helping people?” Anna pushed further. “What if you simply don’t care?”
Celine looked back at Anna suddenly. “Then I guess being a nurse just isn’t for you.”
It was about then that the clinic came into view. It was a wooden building that had been painted white with the words ‘clinic’ in red at the top. It was white everywhere—inside, outside, even in the secret employee’s room. Neither Anna or Celine hesitated to walk up the steps to the building and start their jobs.
The main room of the clinic was full of beds for patients to lie down in. A picture of a pink flower hung on the wall above a desk which a young, tan, brunette girl was sitting behind. She looked up, her blue eyes sparkling, and welcomed them with a smile so white it was almost blinding. “Anna, Celine! Just in time for your shifts.” She stood up and walked over to them, then did a once spin-around. “How do I look?” she questioned, running her hands over her bright yellow dress.
“Lovely,” Celine said pleasantly.
She gave another one of her blinding grins and then announced, “Father gave me this new dress to wear to work on account that I’ve been promoted. I’m now actually the co-owner of this clinic!”
“Congratulations, Melany!” Celine gave Melany a friendly hug, then looked at Anna expectantly. “Aren’t you going to congratulate your new boss?”
“What’s there to be happy about?” Anna remarked flatly. “Now I just have another person who gets to tell me what to do.”
Melany’s smile disappeared and Celine gave Anna a dark look. “I’m sorry about my sister,” she mumbled to Melany.
Melany smiled weakly and said, trying not to look hurt, “It’s fine, don’t worry.” Then, uneasily clearing her throat, she went on, “Okay, well, Father gave me the schedule for today. Celine, you’ll be taking inventory of all the medicines in the back”—she gabbed her finger towards the only door other than the entrance in the room—“and Anna, you’ll be behind the desk here with the patients.”
“When I’m done with the inventory?” Celine questioned.
“Go make a house call on Ms. Evetta Simson. Poor child still has a raging fever. You know where the files are for street addresses, right?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. We’ve been lucky this year, so there are no other patients we really need to worry about for the moment. I’ll check up on your progress in two hours. If you need me, go to the pub and ask for Henry. He’ll get me.”
Both girls nodded and waved to her as she left. The moment she was gone the two went to their stations—Celine disappeared into the medicine room and Anna sat down at the desk. She always had ‘desk duty,’ as she called it, but she didn’t mind. She pulled open the drawer and twitched out a few files until she found the file with a huge manila envelope. She grinned as she laid it out, and dumped its contents on the table. Detailed pictures, pastels, and pencils fell onto the desk. Immediately she began to go through her pictures until she got to one that had only been penciled in as the vague shape of a shack. Letting a smile tug at the corners of her lips, she began to draw.
Anna was really quite a good artist, and on hot summer days when no patients were there, it was the one thing she could do. She had always loved drawing, even as a child, and only got better with time. She sat there for an hour sketching away at her shack. Celine finished inventory quite quickly, for there wasn’t much to count, and opened the drawer underneath Anna slowly to get out the street address file. She didn’t even comment on Anna’s drawing. She took the file with her, closing the drawer carefully, and went to open the door. Upon hearing a door opening Anna murmured, “We’re closed,” making Celine laugh and almost lock the door behind her.
An hour passed before the door opened again. Routinely, just like Anna always had, she muttered that they were closed, but could see out of the corner of her eye the figure still lingering in the doorway. Sighing, she pulled herself away from her drawing and looked up at the person. “Sir, I said we’re—”
The look on his face made her cut off. He had a dazed, absentminded look, and he wandered in the room without even glancing at her. “Sir?” she questioned, standing slowly. There was something off. The way he wasn’t responding implied that he was thinking, but the look on his face was totally blank. She walked out from behind her desk and towards him. “Sir?” she went on, more curious than concerned. “Are you alright?”
He jerked out of his daze and glanced at her, as shocked as if she had just appeared. His eyes immediately went to his surroundings, and he looked around with a mixture of confusion and distress on his face.
“Sir?” Anna repeated, feeling frustrated, “are you alright?”
He looked back at her again, and she realized quickly that he wasn’t a ‘sir,’ but was rather just around her age. The look in his eyes was deep, full of pain and sorrow, and her heart began to unexplainably ache for him.
“I . . . I don’t know,” he mumbled, his voice faltering. He stepped forward, but before his foot even touched the ground he passed out.
Anna ran forward and caught him before he hit the ground, then wondered, standing there with him in her arms, how she had caught him before his fall. Shaking the frivolous thought out of her mind, she slowly placed him on one of the beds and began to examine him to try to figure out what was wrong.
His face was pale, but other than that, he was perfectly normal. Maybe a little weaker than usual, but still essentially normal.
With a shrug, Anna went back to her drawing. When Celine gets back, she can figure out what’s wrong with him. But until then, he’ll lay there. She silenced the guilt rising up in her heart and let the thrill of drawing take her away.
Only a few minutes later the boy stirred. He moaned, sat up, looked around in the room, and then saw Anna. He was silent for a few seconds, but then called out to her.
She looked up from her drawing, irritated. “What?”
“Where am I?”
“The clinic,” she grumbled thickly. “You should know, you walked in here.”
He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “Are you a nurse?”
“Unfortunately.”
“And I’m the patient?”
“Look whose catching on.”
His confusion melted away to an amused smile. “Look who thinks she’s so funny.”
“Who, you?”
He bit his grinning lip, perhaps to suppress a laugh. “Aren’t nurses supposed to help the patients?”
“Not this one. This nurse is supposed to draw while the patient keeps quiet.” She quickly tried to return to her drawing, but he interrupted her thoughts.
“You could get fired for that, you know.”
“No. Getting fired would be lucky. Nothing that happens to me is lucky.”
“Is that so?”
“Mhm. But, you have a point. Miss ‘Bright-and-Cheery’ can walk in at any moment.” Anna got up, as if with difficulty. “What do you need?”
“First off, your name.” He stared up at her with his intense eyes as she walked over to him.
“You first.”
“Darell. Darell Malle.” He extended his hand. Anna stared at it, considering, then finally sighed and gave in, grabbing it.
“Anna. Anna Blissil.” His touch made Anna’s heart race, and she didn’t know why, so she pulled away quickly. “Seriously, what do you need?”
“Do you have anything for a raging headache?” he asked rather weakly, leaning back in the bed.
“Yeah.” Anna turned and walked into the medicine room, coming back moments later with a spoon full of something that looked like red syrup. “Open up,” she said, leaning over him.
“Wait.” Darell grabbed her wrist as she tried to jam the spoon in his mouth. “What is it?”
“I’m actually not entirely sure,” she admitted, feeling her face go hot. She questioned her embarrassment until she felt him tighten his grip on her wrist.
“And you were going to put it in my mouth?” For some reason unexplainable to Anna, he didn’t seem too surprised.
“Yes, I am.” With one swift movement, Anna pulled out of his grasp and shoved the spoon in his mouth. She beamed as he swallowed the vile liquid, and then pulled the spoon out of his mouth as he coughed from the taste.
“That was disgusting! Are you sure it won’t kill me?”
“Not entirely,” she echoed her words from before with a smirk. “We’ll know by tomorrow morning.”
“That’s comforting.”
Still grinning, Anna sat on the edge of his bed. “Tell me, Darell, can you read?”
“Yes.” His powerful eyes shined confusion. “Why?”
The look in his eyes made her heart flutter, but this time Anna silenced her confused question. “Well, you asked me where you were, but there’s a sign on this building that says ‘clinic.’ And you’re sick, so obviously you didn’t come here by mistake. Would you mind explaining yourself?”
“Yes, actually, I would,” he said swiftly.
“You prefer to stay mysterious, huh?”
He smiled. “That’s right. But don’t act like you’re not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, it’s so obvious.” He sat up slowly, resting on his elbows. “A nurse who hates being a nurse? Not to mention this nurse happens to have a sassy attitude but somewhere, deep down, it’s obvious she cares.”
“As if!” Anna put on her most irritated tone and stood up in disguist.
“Whatever you say,” Darell conceded, leaning back in his bed as Anna went back to her artwork. They kept the silence for a while, until Anna finally looked up and caught him looking at her.
“Stop!” she screeched, making him cringe. She was confused as to why he had cringed, until she remembered the words, “Do you have anything for a raging headache?”
“Oh. Uh.” She didn’t know what to say, because she normally didn’t care if her patients were okay and she never apologized. Fortunately for her, though, before she could say anything he cut in.
“It’s alright.”
Suddenly anger flared up inside of her. “I didn’t apologize.”
“Yes, but you wanted to.”
It was true, so she didn’t speak. She tried to go back to her drawing, but felt his eyes on her, so finally she had to look up to give him a glare.
He stared blankly back. “What?”
“Stop looking at me like that!”
“Like what?” He tilted his head to one side, making himself look more innocent than an angel.
“Like that!” Her face turned red in frustration.
“What, is it annoying you?” He fought desperately with the corners of his mouth, trying to keep them in a serious frown, but ultimately failing.
“Yes, it’s annoying me! Imagine you’re drawing and someone’s sitting there, staring you down like a hound!”
Anna expected him to apologize, but he surprised her. “I don’t draw.”
She blinked at him angrily. “Then what on earth do you do?” she retorted, as if there was nothing else you could do other than draw.
“I’m an actor,” he said casually, leaning back into his pillow. “I also enjoy dancing and singing.”
Anna let out a guffaw. He stared at her blankly as she continued to howl with laughter, nearly falling out of her chair in the process.
“I honestly don’t see what’s so funny.”
“A-A-A . . .” Anna fought to get control of her breathing as she tried to speak. Slowly, she calmed down, and when she did, she only managed to say, “Actor, singer, dancer? You’re into theater!” before bursting out again.
“And what’s so bad about that?” He was genuinely confused, and sat up, his face almost distraught.
“B-B . . . Boys in theater usually . . .” Before she could finish she lost it again. Darell lost his feared expression and changed it to annoyance.
“Tell me! What’s so bad about being into theater?”
“They . . . they. . .” she fought with her breathing. “They usually date other . . . other . . .”
Darell caught on quickly, and immediately he gave her a disgusted look. “I’m not gay!”
She started laughing again, this time actually falling on the floor. He sighed and leaned back, shaking his head pitifully.
“I guess you haven’t had a laugh in a while.”
“No,” she admitted, wiping away a tear of laughter as she hoisted herself back on her seat. “I haven’t.”
The mood in the room changed from hilarity to cold and hard in an instant. “Things aren’t going well, are they?” Darell asked softly.
“You could say that.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
They sat stiffly in silence until the door flew open and Celine rushed in. “Hi, Ann—” she began, but cut off immediately upon seeing Darell sitting there. She stopped, looking from him to Anna, and quickly caught the awkwardness of the room.
“Oh, hello. Do you need help?” As Celine put down her medical bag and returned the folder, Anna tried to subside the biting anger rising up in her throat. Typical Celine. She senses the awkwardness of the room and immediately thinks that I didn’t check up on him. I hate my family.
“No, actually, this young nurse over here helped me.” Darell saved her with his words. “And, I apologize, but you’ll have to refresh me on your name. Blickelle something?”
“Blissil.” Anna spoke tonelessly. “Anna Blissil. And Celine, this is Darell Malle, my patient. Darell, this is Celine Mackantoff . . . my sister.” Darell caught how darkly Anna said ‘sister,’ and gave the girl an awkward nod and a weak shake of the hand.
“Well. Um.” Celine turned to Anna, and began to plunge into a report. “Evetta’s feeling better. Thank God. Her mother’s pregnant, and of course, we wouldn’t want her or the baby to catch her fever. So, for her cough I gave her some of that solution that Melany showed us to make . . . the one you rub on the child’s chest. Remember?” Before Anna could answer, she went on. “Well, it worked wonders! She’s pretty much back to normal. A few more days of bed rest and she’ll be good as new.”
“I couldn’t care less.” Anna was fidgeting with the buttons on her dress boredly, so Celine sighed.
“You could at least pretend you do.”
“I could. But I won’t.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Darell began messily, obviously trying just to put himself into the conversation, “but Anna can act?”
“Oh, can she!” Celine turned to him, her eyes alit with pride. “She was the best actress of her age! She was usually the lead role in all the plays in her school.”
“Is that so?” Darell looked over at Anna, giving an amused smile. She glared back, making him laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Celine looked from Anna to Darell suspiciously.
“Nothing, nothing,” Darell replied, leaning back into his bed with his eyes closed. “Just haven’t had a laugh in a while.”
Anna gave a groan, looking away from him quickly so she wouldn’t see his grin. Shaking off his amusement, Anna addressed Celine roughly. “Go get Melany. It’s been about two hours.”
Celine gave her a void expression. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Are you deaf? Go to the pub and ask for her!”
Nodding, Celine quickly hurried out of the room, leaving Darell and Anna alone once again.
Why did I want her to leave so desperately? Anna had to wonder, slowly standing up from her desk. She stared at Darell as she walked up to him, and then hesitated by his bed.
He opened one eye. “Yes?”
Anna looked down, fumbling with her words. “How . . . how are you feeling?”
He opened both eyes. “Do you care?”
“No,” she lied, “but I can pretend.”
“You care enough to pretend. I guess that’s a start.” He grinned at her.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“What if I don’t want to answer it?”
When Anna gave a heavy sigh, he consented. “Alright, fine. I’m feeling a little better, I have to admit.”
Anna put her hands on her hips. “I’m not allowed to leave you alone, however, until you’ve gone through twenty-four hours without fainting.”
“Or else what?” His eyes shined fanatically, making her breath catch.
“Or . . . or else I’ll be fired.”
“I thought you wanted to be fired.”
She immediately avoided his gaze, no longer able to stand the look in his eyes. “We already established that wouldn’t happen, so let’s stop wishing and start facing facts. I’m the nurse, you’re the patient. I’m supposed to take care of you.”
“Will you?”
Anna looked into his eyes, and felt something that she hadn’t felt in a long time—not ever since she was five years old. It took her a moment to realize, to identify it, but when she did, the pressure of it made her knees buckle and her heart begin its race once again.
“Yes,” she whispered, silently savoring the feeling. As soon as the words left her lips, she felt her throat close, and she had to take deep, steady breaths out of her nose to keep her from fainting. Even so, the feeling was beautiful. It made her feel free from the worries and hatred of the world that had been weighing her down for many years.
That was the moment that Anna began to fall in love.
