Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Insider Threat

The Noxumber hospital card reader blinked twice and then turned green. The hospital door unlocked with a distant click, and they stepped inside to the hustle and bustle of a busy hospital. Nurses, doctors, and orderlies flowed this way and that way over the smooth, white flooring, a slow flow illuminated under the harsh glow of the fluorescent lighting.

A nervous sickness rose up in their stomach accompanied by a sort of tingling thrill.

This was it, this was the day.

"All hail Void."

They muttered the words under their breath as they headed further into the hospital slipping through the maze of bodies before finding their way into the locker room. They recognized other members of the surgical staff, pulling on their scrubs, tying up their hair, preparing themselves for a fourteen hour shift.

No one here really minded

Getting a job at Noxumber Hospital was an enviable position. It was the top ranked surgical institution in the galaxy as of this moment, and there was always some interesting procedure or other being preformed in one of the several state-of-the-art surgical suites.

Most everyone was satisfied.

Most....

They had been working here for a few years now, and in all that time they had been continually passed over. Younger members of staff had received promotions, extra training, or even been given some other important responsibilities and a pay raise, but not them. They had tried to talk to their supervisor about the issue, but they had been stonewalled on several occasions.

They generally considered himself to be a patient, person, patient and talented and generous, and all those things you needed to be to be a good surgical nurse, but the doctors here didn't respect them, and the other nurses didn't see them as the authority they certainly were.

They had more experience than anyone else on their unit, and yet nothing had changed in all the years they had worked here.

But now that didn't matter so much anymore.

They had a new cause.

Someone who would properly appreciate them for what they were about to do. They already had friends in high places. Kazna herself had contacted them, spoken with them privately about what they were going to have to do.

They pulled on a pair of surgical scrubs and hurried to view the surgical board projected above the Nurse's station.

Yes, they were on for this afternoon.

For the most important act of their life.

"Morning, looks like it's going to be a busy day." One of the doctors said, barely turning his pompous head to look at them as he picked up a clipboard from the station, "I saw your name up on the board. You're working with doctor krill today, that must be exciting."

They tried to hide a sneer, "Yeah, a real privilege."

The doctor looked up, a frown crossing his face as if he had heard the derision in their voice. They did their best to control their facial expression and smiled at the doctor. Stupid doctors, all of them were the same, annoying and, big headed and totally unappreciative of how much work the average nurse does in a single day. It was their honest opinion that most doctors had no real idea what they were talking about. The true brains of the operation were the nurses.

Honestly, they could have done all of the diagnosing and prescribing without the help of a doctor. In fact , doctors don't spend nearly as much time with the patients, and so were less likely to know what was actually wrong.