The Apothecary Diaries Book 7

Medical Assistant

The five new medical assistants, including Maomao, would spend the first month of their employment at the medical office near the army training grounds, learning the ropes. Why that particular office? Because it was the busiest by far.

It didn't matter that Maomao had Jinshi's personal recommendation; she received no special treatment. If she wanted to go to the rear palace, she was going to have to prove herself through her work. Every day, soldiers were carted into the office for care. Scrapes, scratches, and cuts were the assistants' bread and butter, but more than once they had to stitch someone up too. It certainly was the perfect way to get accustomed to the job.

Maybe they're more serious about this than I thought, Maomao said to herself. Both the new department, which she'd thought might be purely an outward display, and her colleagues, whom she had assumed were only there to find suitable marriage partners.

Two of them look particularly dedicated. Of the other four new court ladies, two went about their work with noticeable verve: one whom Maomao had taken to be a leader of the gaggle of women, and another who seemed inward and quiet.

As for the remaining, less enthusiastic two women, they fainted at their first sight of blood. After a few days, they had started to get used to it, although they still looked disgusted on a regular basis. Maomao wasn't sure it was the best idea to make faces like that at sweaty, muddy soldiers.

"En'en, grab me some of those bandages."

"Yes, Lady Yao."

So the demure, quiet woman, En'en, appeared to be the attendant of the court lady named Yao. In this office, they were technically colleagues, but it was clear from their interactions that there was a difference in status between them.

Yao was a well-developed and vivacious young woman; even without palace work on her resume, there must have been many people who would have been happy to have her for their bride. En'en was less outgoing, and didn't show much expression, but she had a pretty enough face, and she exuded an unmistakable competence.

Maomao was washing bandages as fast as she could. They were going to be wrapped around open wounds, so they had to be as clean as possible at all times. After washing, they were boiled to disinfect them and then dried.

Maomao's colleagues continued to give her a hard time. They spared her only the bare minimum of conversation—although since Maomao tended not to initiate talk either, it was a little hard to say who was at fault there. The doctors intended to make full use of the ladies, and since Maomao already knew how to do the work, she rarely had to ask for help. She just did things. The result was that she finished jobs without being particularly friendly with anyone.

She was just putting the boiled bandages out to dry when one of the physicians said, "Might I ask you something?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you finding anything difficult about this work?"

The doctor looked familiar. After a second, she realized he was the medical officer she'd become acquainted with while working for Jinshi.

"Nothing specific, sir."

"And I notice you eating by yourself at mealtimes."

"The food here is delicious, if I may say so."

For one thing, it actually tasted like something—the medical office was probably served the same stuff as the soldiers—and unlike at the rear palace, you could get seconds.

"That's not what I'm getting at. Doesn't it hurt that the others are obviously ignoring you?"

"Things might be easier for them if they would ask questions of me, sir, but the reverse isn't really true." If anyone was disadvantaged by the silent treatment Maomao was getting, it was the ones giving it. Okay, so sometimes she missed important messages because no one told her about them, but every time one of the doctors tried to give her a dressing down, he found a freak glaring at him through the window, and eventually the scoldings stopped. The freak's appearances continued, however, such that he had to be dragged away by his subordinates several times each day.