Chapter Text
"Let's see…" Dr. Harlow flipped multiple papers on his clipboard before tapping his pen on the right page. "We have our new Nurse present with us, the Firefighter too, the Intern also, and… a Pharmacist! Finally, another medical practitioner joining our team!" Doctor Harlow exclaimed, which earned a glare from the pink dog in nurse scrubs standing right beside Secret Agent. "Right…My apologies, Nurse. I meant no offense to you."
If it's any consolation, Secret Agent's knowledge of medicine is just as much as the person on his other side, who appears to be the Intern Dr. Harlow pointed at. Just looking at their face sends goosebumps all over his fur. There's no way this is a normal animal with how soulless their eyes are and how their abnormally fixed smile extends from one end of the face to the other. For a split second, he could've sworn he made eye contact with the hare, forcing Agent to immediately turn to his other colleagues. Just ignore them, just ignore them.
There's also the elephant dressed in a blue firefighter outfit right by the end of their line formed in front of the doctor, and while the Nurse already looks exhausted and the Intern is…whatever, she seems to be the most lively out of the bunch. Secret Agent had to double-check the hospital's job listings when a firefighter position was posted on there. When has a hospital ever needed a firefighter? In all fairness, he would've taken that job rather than a medical one, but he needed a position that would allow him to study the patients up close.
So in all technicality, Nurse is the only one in their rookie group with any medical experience. Secret Agent only has a general idea of how treatments work based on hearsay, but he definitely needs a lot of catching up to do if he wants to fit in. He may even need to study the Nurse while they're treating patients.
"By the way," Dr. Harlow's voice snaps him out of his thoughts. "the TVs in all of the rooms are malfunctioning due to an electrical breakage after a mimic crashed into the generator during the last shift. We were able to bring back the electricity for the lights, scanner machines, and computers, but I'm afraid it will take a while for the TVs to be replaced, especially the one for the CCTV." Dr. Harlow eyes the inactive large-screen TV right behind them, slightly tugging down his surgical mask as he continues. "Fortunately, we have our Nurse and Pharmacist here, and if their resumes are anything to go by, then I don't think we will have any issues from now on. Any questions?"
Seeing that no one intends to speak up, Dr. Harlow picks up his suitcase from the check-in counter and nods at the staff, "Good luck. Don't forget to use the taser if necessary." Then, he takes his leave, entering the off-limits door at the end of the hallway.
"I guess that's that." He hears a cheery voice coming from the Firefighter. A bell rings from the hospital main entrance, and everyone turns to see two visitors walk through the door. She proceeds to point at them, "Looks like our shift is starting!"
Secret Agent notices the Intern walking towards the check-in counter, greeting the visitor as they hand over their appointment form. They press a stamp on the paper, snap a photo using the camera beside them, type on the computer, and then a name tag comes out of the printer. So that's the procedure for check-in. Seems simple enough. After Intern returns all of the visitor's items, they look back at the rest of the group. Even though their facial expression remains unchanged, Secret Agent understood that Intern was making sure that everyone was paying attention to their demonstration. The bell on the other check-in window begins to ring repeatedly. The other visitor is growing visibly pissed at this rate. Firefighter quickly approaches the counter. "I can take care of this!"
Since check-in is already covered by two people, he and the Nurse make their way out of the office, finding themselves in front of the general store, with the medical wing on their right and emergency on the other. Secret Agent feels a tap on his shoulder. Turning towards the cause of it, he sees the Nurse fiddling with their paws as they spoke, "I don't really know much about how your profession works, but I'm gonna assume you don't know much about the hospital's tech." They soon offer, "I can take care of rooms 6-8 for now since I'm familiar with the machines. You don't mind doing the patients from rooms 1-5?"
Judging by the heavy eye bags, shaky demeanor, and tired voice, Secret Agent can tell that the Nurse mainly wanted to deal with fewer patients. Actually, this was very much in his favor since patients in the right wing only required treatments rather than full-on medical procedures. Secret Agent happily nods, "I don't mind. Thank you for the consideration!"
The Nurse sighs in relief, "Thank lord- I mean, thanks for understanding. I guess I'll be seeing you around." Nurse waves him off awkwardly as they follow one of the patients to room 7. Secret Agent soon enters room 1, the patient already sprawled on the bed. Looking at the syringes right beside the scanner, he assumes he should take a blood sample from the patient. Should be easy enough.
"Ouch!" The patient cries, "Do you know what you're doing?!"
Oh, the syringe is a bit more overfilled than it should be, if the blood oozing out from the barrel wasn't an obvious sign. He drops the sample into the scanner, which automatically turns it on. Once the scanner reached 100%, the computer beside it made a loud beep. Secret Agent filters through the files to find the most recent one, and opening it reveals the diagnoses.
- Headache
- Bleeding
- Canadian
…Is he reading this right?…. Canadian??? What was he supposed to do about that? Taking another look at the patient, he notices the blood coming out of the puncture he made not long ago was still flowing, to the point where the bed is stained. That must've been his doing… Maybe even the headache as well.
Suddenly, Secret Agent hears the door click from behind. His hand instinctively reaches for the gun hidden inside his coat. When he turns around, he finds the Intern holding a bunch of stuff in one arm while waving the other. His coworker was a much more welcome sight than one of those skinwalkers, though their face still gives him the creep. "My bad! Didn't mean to scare you off, Pharmacist." Intern apologizes, handing all of the items to him.
"Oh, it's just you." Secret Agent lets out a long breath, relaxing his arm as he reluctantly takes all three items from the other. Hopefully, it wasn't obvious to Intern that he was attempting to grab something from his side. "It's okay. I'm feeling a bit anxious since it's my first day and all."
Intern shakes their head. "Hey, I get it! I was just passing by, and I thought you could use some help." As appreciative as Secret Agent was for the assistance, he had absolutely no clue how to apply any of them to the patient. However, as if they read his mind, Intern heads towards the patient, signaling Secret Agent to come closer.
So then, he and Intern spent the next few hours visiting each room while demonstrating to Secret Agent the functionality of each treatment, which treatment belongs to which illness, the most suitable method of applying these treatments, especially the bandages on different parts of the body, and even how to extract blood using the syringe. Secret Agent couldn't fully remove this feeling of uneasiness in fear that his cover was already blown, but not once had Intern questioned him. Instead, when Secret Agent was able to cure the patient in room 5 on his own, Intern lightly clapped their paws and cheered, "Nice work! Let's take a break now. I can show you around Emergency Wing right after."
Secret Agent slightly tilts his head to the side. "Are you sure? I hope I'm not taking too much of your time. I'm sure the others could use your help too."
"Don't worry about it!" Intern reassures him, "Firefighter already got the hang of differentiating anomalies from patients, and Nurse looks like she'd rather work alone. So, I guess you're stuck with me now."
Don't get him wrong, Secret Agent would rather work alone now that he can actually act the part of a doctor, but Intern wasn't as bad of company as he thought they would be. There is definitely something wrong with them; that's undeniable. It's probably nothing too concerning though, since Intern has been nothing but friendly to him and the others. Come to think of it, he wonders if Intern is simply naive… or if there are any motives behind their so-called ignorance?
As they exit into the hallway, a tall, black, shadowy figure suddenly pops out from the doorframe leading back to the check-in area. For a moment, his heart stopped beating, and then it began to pick up the pace as each throb became louder and louder. What the fuck was that?!?!
He shut his eyes and stumbled a step back, but he was caught by Intern when he felt their paw clasping onto his arm. He can hear Intern's voice whispering into his ear, "It's okay, it's okay. Just don't look at him, and you'll be fine." Their hold on his arm disappears soon after, and yet, he felt something gently holding his paw. "You can look now. I promise that it's gone now."
When he opens his eyes, the first thing he saw wasn't the creature or the hallway for that matter, rather, Intern's frame completely replaced the sight. He takes a peek, and just like Intern said, the shadowy figure was already gone.
Intern soon steps away from him, their paw still locked onto his, and they drag him forward. "We should get you a cup of coffee ASAP. Hopefully, Nurse or Firefighter haven't drunk the recent batch."
It only dawned on him now that Intern has been holding onto his paw for a while. He doesn't have the time to process it once they both enter the office, soon discovering that the Firefighter is hiding underneath the counter. Once she notices the two of them, panic becomes more visible across her entire face. "D-Did you guys see that thing?!?! What even was that?!?!?"
Intern immediately lets go of his paw, and for one second, Secret Agent felt a sense of emptiness, but he quickly shakes that feeling away as he watches Intern kneel to Firefighter's level. "That's just a stalker anomaly. He's not hostile by any means, but looking at him does reduce your sanity. How are you holding up at least? Do you need a drink?"
"I think I can manage. I already drank the first batch a while ago. Thanks for checking up on me." Firefighter was still shivering as she said that. "Besides, Pharmacist looks like he needs it more than I do right now."
"Oh, right." Intern stands up and walks towards the coffee machine on the table right beside the wall. He grabs an empty mug, pours the jar over it, and hands the mug to Secret Agent. "You should take this. Gimme a moment to check the store real quick." Intern quickly leaves the office right after.
Secret Agent was very appreciative of the gesture, and basically everything else Intern has done for him so far, but… he doesn't like coffee. He attempts to take one sip, but the second the liquid reached his tongue, he felt the urge to spit it all out. Actually, scratch that; he absolutely despises black coffee. Looking at the Firefighter, who is finally deciding to come out of her hiding place, he thought of handing over the rest of his cup to her as a sign of goodwill and to hopefully strengthen their camaraderie. However, before he could execute his plan, Intern charges into the room with another cup of coffee in his paw. They hand it over to Firefighter. "The shop was selling coffee this time around! I was able to buy a cup for you."
Firefighter frantically shakes her trunk, lightly pushing Intern's paw away. "I can't accept this! You should have it instead!"
Intern, with their usual stubbornness, continues to shove the coffee towards Firefighter. "I insist. So please, take it."
Firefighter looks hesitant to take it, but after more urging from Intern, she reluctantly takes the cup from them. "Thank you… I'll make it up to you next time."
"No need for that." Intern turns their attention to Secret Agent. "How about you, Pharmacist? Are you feeling any better?"
Secret Agent nods, smiling softly as he confirms, "I'm doing good. I want to thank you too for what you did earlier."
"It's no problem, really." He sees Intern's focus shift towards the coffee in his hold. "You haven't finished your coffee? It's gonna get cold soon."
Well…
Secret Agent fakes a smile, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm just a really slow drinker! But you're right, I should finish this before it gets cold." He chugs down an entire mouthful of coffee, and god, it was the most disgusting thing he had tasted in such a long time!
Based on how Intern was looking at him, Secret Agent could sense that he hasn't convinced Intern in the slightest, but the hare was really good at hiding their doubt. "To be honest, I was hoping I could take just one sip from yours… I could use some coffee too."
Yes!!! Please!!! "You can have the rest of it! I'm feeling better now!"
"Well, if you say so." Intern makes a small chuckle, before grabbing the mug from him. "Wait a second." Secret Agent wasn't able to react in time as Intern moves closer, wiping the corner of his mouth with their thumb.
…?
Intern gives him an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, there was a bit of coffee-"
All of a sudden, the sound of the ambulance sirens interrupts the eerie silence that used to surround the entire hospital. An ambulance is parked outside of the entrance, and soon, a line of screaming patients sprints through the lobby, going straight for the hospital rooms.
Firefighter's mouth agape at the sight, "Holy shit, there are so many of them!" Out of the blue, a shriek can be heard outside the office, and it sounded like it belonged to Nurse. Firefighter pulls out her fire extinguisher, "I think I should check up on Nurse!"
Intern takes one swig of the mug and places it down on the table. They proceed to turn to Secret Agent, "I'll join you at Medical. I can do the patients that are in critical condition."
Secret Agent nods in agreement, "I can take care of the rest." Everyone gives each other a look of reassurance before they all bolt out of the office and run towards their respective areas. Intern enters room 1, so Secret Agent takes room 3 and does the exact procedure Intern taught him. Seeing that the patient is suffering from dehydration and the flu, Secret Agent dashes outside to grab the IV bag and cough syrup. He sees Intern entering room 2, so they must be done with their first patient. Once he administers the medicines to the patient, he swiftly moves onto room 4 and repeats everything. On his way out to grab the herb and bandages, he almost bumps into Intern, who was grabbing something from the shelf beside his room. Intern gives him an encouraging nod, and Secret Agent does the same in return. It takes him an embarrassingly long time to wrap the bandage around the patient's head, but at least it looks more decent than his last attempt at bandaging.
All of a sudden, a growl can be heard outside of the room. Intern opens the door, alarmed by the sound. Just then, a mimic appears right behind Intern, mouth wide open and its sharp teeth completely bare. As it was about to attack Intern, Secret Agent abruptly pulls out his gun, shooting straight at it. The bullet flies past Intern's head, landing a clean shot on the mimic. Before the realization of his exposed identity could settle in, he hears another growl, but this time, it's coming from right behind him. Before he could turn around and shoot the mimic, something huge flew past him.
That something turns out to be Intern, and in the blink of an eye, Secret Agent witnesses the mimic being torn apart by the Intern, piece by piece. First, it was the head, which was bitten off in just one large bite. Then, it was the torso, and everything else after that became a blur to Secret Agent. There were only two things that were on his mind.
One, he always knew there was something wrong with that Intern, and two, he should kill this monster before it becomes a bigger obstacle.
By the time he came back to his senses, Intern had fully consumed the mimic; nothing was left of them, barely any blood stains on the sheets, nor were any bones spared from their feast. While Intern was still distracted, Secret Agent raised his gun to their head. Intern froze up, slowly turning around with darkened eyes and a crazed expression, several blood-covered fangs now occupying the used-to-be empty smile of theirs. Secret Agent can feel his paws shake, but he tries to suppress it. That stupid grin on their face grows even wider than before, exposing more of their teeth, and suddenly, Intern wraps their arms around Secret Agent's waistline.
"What the-" Intern was stronger than they looked, because he couldn't pull himself away from them no matter how hard he tried. Secret Agent yelled, "Stay the hell away from me!"
Seeing him struggle, Intern dared to laugh at him before pulling him entirely into their embrace. He could feel their head resting on his shoulder as their breathing became heavier and heavier. Secret Agent tries to push them off, but fails.
"I thought we were friends. I truly did like you a lot, Pharmacist…" Intern scoffs, "Or should I be calling you Mister Secret Agent?"
Gritting his teeth, Secret Agent moves his gun, pointing at the temple of their forehead. This doesn't seem to faze Intern in the slightest. Instead, their grip on him becomes tighter, to the point where he can feel bruises starting to form. Something pointy pokes through the skin around his shoulder. He's next. Soon enough, he won't be any different from that mimic.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Secret Agent commanded, his grip on the gun tightening, "Stand down. Now!"
Intern ignores his warning, caressing his back while muttering, "Now that we know each other's secret, can't we come to an agreement?" It's sickening that this anomaly can sweet-talk their way out of this situation. "I keep yours, you keep mine. It's only fair after everything I've done to help you fit in with the rest of us."
Secret Agent hissed, "I don't care for what you've done for me. You are not leaving this room alive."
Intern giggled at his words. The fucking audacity. "You're stupid if you think your bullets can stop me from devouring you on the spot." Their teeth dug deeper into his skin. "Try pulling the trigger. If I'm going down, I will be taking you down with me."
Before he could respond, Intern's pulls their head back, their mouth greatly widens before it dives back into his shoulder. Secret Agent readies himself to pull the trigger, but the sound of footsteps becoming more audible is what stops both of them from going further. Intern shoves Secret Agent away while he instantly returns the gun to the holster. The door behind him opens, revealing Nurse who is holding the taser, and Firefighter standing right behind them with her blue fire extinguisher.
"We're here!" Nurse proclaims, with deep pants for every word they say. "We heard a commotion coming from here. What the hell happened?"
Firefighter, who was looking equally exhausted, held onto the doorframe as she panted, "Me and Nurse came as soon as we could. There were so many anomalies wandering around the hallway, even attacking some of the patients! It's a good thing she had one of those electric tasers on her this entire time."
Both of them stopped for a moment to catch their breath, resting their eyes and looking down on the floor. He could feel Intern's fixed gaze burning through the back of his head. He narrowly twisted his head, and within his peripheral vision, he saw that Intern looked "normal" again; the craziness in his demeanor had disappeared. Yet, he showed off a ridiculous one-sided smirk. He knew what that meant. If Secret Agent ruins this for them, then they too can ruin everything that he has worked for.
Secret Agent sends them a glare. He will eliminate this anomaly before they could even lay a finger on him, whatever it takes. Mark his words.
Nurse finally catches her breath, replying to what Firefighter said. "Of course I had to get one when it was in the shop!" Nurse's facial expression suddenly shifted to a confused one. "Also, what the hell do you mean by 'she'? I'm a guy???"
…Oh?
Firefighter's eyes widened, "Oh."
Even this stupid intern, too. "Oh!"