Mikasa finished sewing her shirt. When she lifted it, it looked almost as good as new, except for a trail of purple stitches running around her shirt.
"Impressive," Sydney clapped. "If any of my clothes are torn, can you fix them for me?"
"If I feel like it," Mikasa said as she put down her shirt on the table.
"Wish I could sew like that," Sasha said before shoving a few gummy worms in her mouth. "My mama can sew good, especially with a sewing machine. But when I did it, I ended up with a needle through my finger."
Connie laughed. "Are you dumb? How did you end up with a needle in your finger?"
"Have you tried sewing before?" Sasha slammed her hand on the table.
"W-well, uh…no," Connie said nervously.
"Exactly! You don't know how it feels!"
"Just because I don't know how to sew, doesn't mean I still can't make fun of you!" Connie snapped, slamming his hand in return.
Sydney leaned towards and whispered, "Do they tend to get like this?"
"Yeah, they do," Mikasa folded her shirt. "With them, at least you won't get bored. Anyways, I'll go put on my clothes and give back the gown and the sewing kit."
Mikasa walked to the girls' bathroom. She entered one of the black stalls among the row of four stalls and took off her gown. She looked down at her newly healed side before she dragged a finger on it and poked at it.
'I want to know how I got this ability,' She thought before she put on her clothes.
Mikasa picked up her gown and sewing kit before she glanced at the massive rectangular-shaped mirror in front of her that was above the sinks.
She looked at her hair, realising that it was almost hitting her shoulders. She would've noticed the length sooner if it weren't for the mirror being broken in her room. Whoever it was in that room before her needs to take anger management classes.
'Hmm, perhaps I should grow out my hair again?'
But she knew long hair wasn't beneficial for combat. Although maybe if she tied it in a ponytail or a bun, it would lessen the chances of her hair getting in the way.
She pushed open the door and stroked her hair with her fingers. She heard a ding sound and saw the elevator doors open, and two male examinees left the platform. One of them had light brown curly hair with his arm in a sling, while the other had dark skin and braids with his index finger in a splint.
She stepped aside, letting the two men pass as she went inside the elevator and pressed the '1' button. In a couple of seconds, the metal doors closed before she left a drop sensation, telling her that the elevator was going down.
When the elevator doors opened, Mikasa walked out and looked around for the teal-haired nurse. However, with all the commotion around her, it was almost impossible to find her. So she tapped one of the workers' shoulders.
"Yes, how can I help you?"A male doctor asked.
"Have you seen Madison?"
"Which one?"
"There's more than one?" Mikasa asked, puzzled. "The teal-haired one."
"Oh, Dr.Waters! She's busy with a patient right now. Do you want me to take those from you?"
"Yes, you can, but I need to talk to her," Mikasa told the doctor as she gave the sewing kit and the gown to him.
"Okay, well, it's very busy here. It's best to go back to the break hall and wait there," The doctor advised.
"It's important," Mikasa crossed her arms.
"How important is it?" The doctor asked.
"Very important,"
A female doctor passed by and tapped the doctor on the shoulder.
"Mr.Feins, we have new patients coming from the recent test," The female doctor informed him.
'The recent test? Armin's team?!'
"Okay, honey, I'll be there in a minute," Mr.Feins said, giving her a quick kiss on her left cheek before she smiled and left. His focus went back to Mikasa and said, "The best thing I can do right now is tell you where she is. She's on the second floor in room 214."
Mr.Feins jogged away to help out the female doctor, who was probably his wife. Mikasa softly smiled, knowing the cute doctor couple. She turned back and pressed the button with an arrow pointing up. She looked up at the indicator above the elevator doors, showing the letter 'B'.
'It's in the basement,' Mikasa noticed.
If she remembered correctly, there was a keyhole next to the basement. She saw the indicator's symbol change to 1. The doors opened, revealing the teal-haired doctor holding a tray of small metal, cylindrical containers.
"Madison."
"Oh hey, Mikasa. You're finished sewing your shirt?" Madison asked as she left the elevator and turned left.
Mikasa began to follow the teal-haired doctor. "Yes, I gave the kit to Mr.Feins.What are you doing now?"
"I'm going to help the examinees who just finished their test," Madison said as she turned left into another hallway.
"Well, I understand this may be troublesome, but I was wondering if I could help."
Madison stopped and looked at Mikasa, puzzled. "Are you serious?"
"As serious as this," Mikasa said, a bit confident. "The reason why I want to be an Adventurer is to become a great doctor."
"You want to become a doctor? How old are you?" Madison asked.
"15."
"Woah,woah,woah,15?!" Madison said, a bit shocked. "And you want to do stuff like this?!"
"Yes. I've been wanting to become a doctor for a few years now. I heard that experience is the best teacher, and I see that this is a great opportunity to start to get some experience," Mikasa explained.
"I understand that you want to help, but these are people's lives we're talking about. If something goes wrong, I'll be in deep shit for bringing you along," Madison explained.
"Please," Mikasa gave the doctor a saikeirei bow. "I want to help. If I start now, I can save more lives later on in my life. I've read many books on medical tools and biology."
"But when I showed you an electrode needle, you didn't know what it was," Madison reminded."I don't think you're ready for this."
"Then help me get ready," Mikasa said with conviction. "Please."
She heard the doctor sigh before Madison told Mikasa to lift herself and gave her the tray.
"Alright then, if you're that motivated…let's get started."
Mikasa nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"
The duo walked down the hallway as another doctor approached Madison and told her some information about the incoming patients. The doctor looked at Mikasa suspiciously and asked her why she was here.
"Don't worry, Sel. She's my little protege," Madison answered. "Assistant for a day."
"Okay, if you say so..." Sel said, uneasy.
The doctor walked away before Madison gestured to follow her. Madison took out a small tablet and began to skim through the digital document on the device.
"Who are we starting with first?" Mikasa asked her new older coworker.
"His name is Armin Arlert. His injuries are the most severe out of the four. Suffered a direct hit by that wrecking ball made of bone."
"Yeah…I saw that…but I'm glad that he passed,"
"You know him?"
"A close friend of mine."
"Good. I hope you'll do even better since the patient is your friend."
Mikasa nodded as they turned right. She was curious about what was in these jars.
"Madison, what's in these jars?"
"The same stuff that was used to help heal yourself," Madison answered. "My special stuff."
Mikasa hummed in thought before asking, "This is all we need?"
"The rest of the required equipment is in the patient's room," Madison stopped by one of the doors, room 134. "Speaking of the patient's room, here it is. Ready?"
"Ready."
The qualified doctor opened the door. The walls of the room were sky blue with a 32-inch TV mounted on one of the walls. There was another door a few feet away from the entrance door.
'Probably the bathroom.' Mikasa assumed.
She saw her injured friend lying on the hospital bed. He was wearing a blue gown with IV fluids injected in his left forearm. His skin, particularly his arms, had pink blotches with spots of redness.
'Looks like he suffered some first-degree burns,' Mikasa analysed.
Beside him was a vital monitor connected to him with wired white square-shaped patches, showing the numbers for his blood pressure, temperature, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, each with its own colour-coded wavelength.
Madison washed and dried her hands in the bathroom before she walked to the two-shelf grey plastic trolley by the far corner of the room and opened a box of blue latex gloves.
On the top shelf was her tray of ointments, a box of latex gloves for medium-sized hands, and a box of blue disposable masks. The bottom shelf had a stack of white rags with two plastic bowls and a pair of white gauze wrap boxes.
"Alright, my young assistant. Wash your hands, and then we can start."
Mikasa entered the bathroom, rolling up her sleeves before she thoroughly and properly washed and dried her hands. She gently used her foot to pull the door open, keeping her hands slightly above her chest.
When she left the bathroom, her more experienced coworker nodded and gave her a pair of gloves.
"Is medium fine?" The teal-haired doctor asked.
"Yes," Mikasa nodded as she carefully put on the gloves.
Madison opened another box. It had light surgical masks, and the older doctor gave Mikasa one before she put one on herself.
Madison took out a dark blue elastic from her pocket and tied her long hair in a top bun. She gave Mikasa a black elastic.
"Here."
Mikasa took the elastic and carefully looked at it, and noticed a few teal hair strands on it. She gave it back to Madison before she chuckled out of embarrassment.
"Sorry, here." Madison went into her pocket and pulled a cleaner elastic. "Or do you want me to tie your hair?"
"I can do it, but thank you for asking," Mikasa said, tying her hair in a low ponytail.
Mikasa looked at her injured friend. She walked up to the bedside of her injured best friend. She took a few deep breaths and clapped her hands together.
'Don't falter.'
This isn't like the surgeon or doctor simulator games that she played on her computer; this is a real person whom she's dealing with, and this person is one of her best friends.
"Alright, judging by his red minor burns, his arms appear to have suffered first-degree burns," Madison analysed from the other bedside. "Fortunately, the burns are not very big or severe. A bit of cooling and my special recipe can fix that issue," Madison smiled, holding one of the metal containers. Can you get the ice packs?"
Mikasa shook her head. "Ice packs? That's not how we deal with burns."
"Are you sure?" Madison placed her hands on her hips, tilted her head and gave her a confused look. "That's how I always did it."
"We're supposed to rinse the burn injuries in running cold water. But with the patient being unconscious, we should gently wash the wounds with soap and water."
Mikasa bent down and grabbed a white rag from the folded pile and the plastic bowl next to them on the second shelf. When she got up, she noticed Madison with one of her thumbs up.
Mikasa smiled underneath the mask as she gave her older co-worker the rag before she walked into the bathroom and filled the bowl with cold water.
She left the bathroom and placed the bowl on the first shelf. Madison placed the rag into the bowl before she pulled it out and wrung it. Mikasa grabbed another rag and followed suit before going to Armin's left side and gently rubbing his arm as Madison rubbed the other.
She heard groaning, noticing that Armin was tossing and turning a bit.
"Keep him on his back," Madison demanded.
Mikasa carefully pushed a half-conscious Armin on his back. He continued to groan and tried to resist, but he gave up and softly lay on his back once again.
"I'm sorry, Armin, but stay on your back, okay? It's for your sake," Mikasa said softly as she continued to carefully wipe his arm.
A drowsy Armin groaned as the two girls continued to wipe his arms. After a couple of minutes, Madison put the rags in the bowl and twisted the lid open, exposing the yellow gelatinous substance that was in it. She jabbed her fingers in the jar before scooping a bit and handed it to Mikasa.
"Take some and rub it on his arm," Madison instructed.
Mikasa nodded as she took the container and scooped a small amount with her index and middle fingers. She placed it on top of the vital monitor before she rubbed her hands together and rubbed the ointment on his left arm.
"Does he have any other bad injuries?"Mikasa asked.
"Rib fractures."
"There's nothing we can do about that, can we?"
Madison shook her head. "Not really. The best thing that we can do is just rub some of my ointment and let him rest."
"Alright," Mikasa scooped more of the ointment before Madison slightly opened his gown, and Mikasa began to lightly rub the ointment on his chest.