Post by Kioko on Oct 24, 2018 17:06:14 GMT -6
"Here you go," she murmured, handing a wailing bundle to an exhausted, but joyous woman propped up against her headboard. As mother and child bonded for the first time, Kioko wiped the sweat off her brow on the nearest fresh towel. She opened the dingy bedroom door leading down to an even dingier living room in a squalid tenement, waving her arm to catch the attention of a bedraggled-looking man and his children. The man's eyes light up and he bounded to his feet, children in pursuit.
"Mother and baby are both healthy," she reassured him before he could speak. "Mum needs some bedrest for a few days, so everyone has to pitch in a little to keep house, okay?" She glanced around and smiled at the children, who were nodding enthusiastically. "Wonderful! I'll be back in a few days to check on both mum and baby. If you have any questions or if you're worried, please be sure to call the Nai Umareta house straight away and either I, or one of the other midwives will come by."
She finished placing the dirty linens in the special burlap sack she always took with her every time she left Nai Umareta house; most of the patients in the Dragon Flats district didn't have a way to properly clean linens and instruments so the nurses always saved the washing for after they returned to the house. Stifling a yawn, she stripped off the standard issue white gown nurses always wore to protect their clothing and shoved it into the sack, along with the white cap used to pull her hair back out of her face — and more importantly, away from her patients.
Picking up her medical bag, Kioko slipped out of the house silently; the family was too busy welcoming their newest member and there was no need to make a fuss about her departure.
Carefully, she affixed her bags to the back of her bicycle before getting on and slowly peddling her way back to Nai Umareta house. The last thing she wanted to do after staying up all night was to pedal home but the house didn't have its own car — that was something they hoped to be able to get, one day.
She had only gone a few blocks when there was an unholy crash. Kioko slammed her pedals backward and lept off her bike, grabbing her medical bag in the process. A car, apparently attempting to evade the RCPD officers behind it, had crashed into a milk truck. As the police swarmed over the scene, Kioko pushed her way to the front. "Excuse me!" she shouted, elbowing her way through. "Nurse! Make way!"
"Mother and baby are both healthy," she reassured him before he could speak. "Mum needs some bedrest for a few days, so everyone has to pitch in a little to keep house, okay?" She glanced around and smiled at the children, who were nodding enthusiastically. "Wonderful! I'll be back in a few days to check on both mum and baby. If you have any questions or if you're worried, please be sure to call the Nai Umareta house straight away and either I, or one of the other midwives will come by."
She finished placing the dirty linens in the special burlap sack she always took with her every time she left Nai Umareta house; most of the patients in the Dragon Flats district didn't have a way to properly clean linens and instruments so the nurses always saved the washing for after they returned to the house. Stifling a yawn, she stripped off the standard issue white gown nurses always wore to protect their clothing and shoved it into the sack, along with the white cap used to pull her hair back out of her face — and more importantly, away from her patients.
Picking up her medical bag, Kioko slipped out of the house silently; the family was too busy welcoming their newest member and there was no need to make a fuss about her departure.
Carefully, she affixed her bags to the back of her bicycle before getting on and slowly peddling her way back to Nai Umareta house. The last thing she wanted to do after staying up all night was to pedal home but the house didn't have its own car — that was something they hoped to be able to get, one day.
She had only gone a few blocks when there was an unholy crash. Kioko slammed her pedals backward and lept off her bike, grabbing her medical bag in the process. A car, apparently attempting to evade the RCPD officers behind it, had crashed into a milk truck. As the police swarmed over the scene, Kioko pushed her way to the front. "Excuse me!" she shouted, elbowing her way through. "Nurse! Make way!"
