Chapter 15 – — Patient Ward Orientation Handbook
Chapter Fifteen
“Your blood lead will teach you more than any book. Listen to them. They have already made the mistakes you have not yet had the chance to make.”
— Patient Ward Orientation Handbook
It’s been four weeks since the mirror ceremony, and I think I’m finally falling into a routine here.
Jace and I have gotten comfortable spending at least a couple nights a week together, sometimes at my place and sometimes at his.
We haven’t done more than kiss and sleep in the same bed, but it’s nice.
The way things have always been between us but with the added bonus of falling asleep in his arms.
I can’t imagine my life without Poppy now.
We’ve become so close I feel incomplete when she’s tucked away.
The only downside is her and Flick don’t get along, which is odd since they’re basically an extension of us.
Poppy is constantly trying to catch him.
Jace swears she even tried to take a bite out of him once, but I don’t believe my sweet Pops would do that.
As for Draven, he’s kept his distance, other than challenging me every chance he gets in class, which is incredibly annoying but only makes me more determined to excel. Every time he tries to make me look weak, I push harder. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of breaking me.
I’ve gotten comfortable with the curriculum and haven’t had to cut anything yet, so my hands have been okay. The scalpels stay in the drawer for now, except for the one I’ve started carrying for protection.
But today is the first day of clinical hours in the patient wards. After four weeks, we are apparently deemed fit enough to practice on actual patients with a blood lead or Veilguard watching our every move, surely.
I try not to think about what happens if I freeze again. If my hands shake. If I prove everyone right about the human who doesn’t belong here.
“I hope we get assigned the same group,” Lux says as we head up to the second floor of the patient wards building to check in.
“Me too.” I glance over at her. We all signed up at the same time, hoping that would make the odds of us getting clinical hours together higher.
“Do you know how this works?” Ellavee asks from ahead of us.
“Sort of. My dad explained it briefly.” Lux pulls her pink hair back into a ponytail as we ascend the steps.
“We get assigned a blood lead who’s responsible for us during our shifts.
They decide what we do, what we watch, what we’re allowed to touch.
Basically, we’re their shadows until they decide we’re competent enough to be trusted. ”
“So we’re at their mercy,” Jace says from behind me as we reach the second floor.
“Completely.” She grins, but there’s a nervousness underneath it, and I think we’re all a little anxious about the unknown.
We gather in the waiting area, basically an empty room with chairs and a couple of desks. Draven shows up, and I take a step closer to Jace without even looking in his direction. He probably planned this on purpose, signing up when we did to be a dick during clinic too.
Killian and Zuri are already here, sitting in the corner talking quietly amongst themselves.
The double doors into the patient wards swing open, and out comes a woman dressed in all black with a wide medical belt around her waist stuffed with supplies. The red heart and serpent symbol marks her clothes. Blood year.
“I’m Senna. I’ll be helping oversee bone year clinical rotations.” Her voice carries across the room, confident and sharp, until her pale yellow eyes land on me. She almost chokes. “You are here to learn. I don’t want anyone trying to prove themselves early on and killing a patient.”
I don’t understand what her problem is until she turns her head. A lavender streak of hair runs down one side, standing out starkly against long black waves. This is the girl from the alcove, the one Malric had pinned against the wall. The one who ran without looking back.
Her face visibly pales when our eyes meet, but she forces herself to continue.
“If any of you disobey an order from your blood lead, you will be removed from the wards. If you endanger a patient through carelessness or arrogance, you will be removed as well.” Her gaze drifts away from me, landing anywhere else.
“People die in these beds. I don’t say this to frighten you into compliance. It’s simply the truth.”
Lux glances over at me, narrowing her eyes. She noticed how off that was too.
“You will be separated into two groups of four. Your blood lead will be responsible for you every time you step foot in the patient wards. You will report to them at the start of every shift and defer to their judgment in all things.”
She pulls a folded parchment from her pocket and reads off the first group. “Luxanna, Killian, Jace, and Zuri. You’ll be with me.”
“Damn it, I wanted us to be together,” Lux pouts.
“Sorry, I’m still stuck on the fact your name is Luxanna! I’m supposed to be your best friend here and had no idea.” I blink at her, waiting for an explanation.
She laughs, swatting at my arm, “No one calls me that. I’ll see you later.”
She follows after Killian and Zuri while Jace comes over to me. He pushes the hair back from my face and kisses my forehead, lingering there for a moment.
“You’ve got this,” he whispers.
All I can focus on is Draven standing behind him, watching me with those honey eyes. Something about the way he watches me makes it hard to breathe.
“I know.” I give Jace a sweet smile as he pulls away. He leaves with the others. They disappear through the double doors, and I’m stuck waiting here with Draven. Of course he would end up on my team.
Fuck me.
“Making eyes at the vampire, are we?” Ellavee murmurs quietly, winking as she walks up to wait beside me.
“No,” I say quickly. It sounds guilty even to my own ears.
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t blame you.” She tilts her head, studying Draven across the room. “He’s fucking hot.”
I don’t trust myself to respond.
The door bursts open and another guy rushes in, out of breath, glasses fogging from the cold. It’s Miles from our autopsy team.
Great. I have two assholes and a demon menace in my group.
“Boners.”
I cringe at the voice and turn to see Malric strolling through the double doors, letting them swing shut behind him. His grin spreads slow and wicked as he takes us in, eyes dragging over me and Ellavee before landing on Draven.
Make that three assholes.
“Looks like I’ll be your blood lead this year.” He walks over and pats Draven on the shoulder like they’re old friends, because they are. “This is going to be fun.”
Malric leads us through the double doors and deeper into the second-floor patient wards. The smell of herbs and antiseptic is impossible to ignore. I wish I had a mask to help filter the scent. It reminds me of my father’s clinic, and I quickly bury the memory before it can take root.
“Welcome to the wards. Consider this your orientation.” Malric spreads his arms wide like he’s showing off a fucking palace. “Your home away from home for the foreseeable future.”
The corridor stretches far ahead of us with hallways branching off in different directions.
Doors line either side of the space, some open, some closed.
Sconces cover the walls, their steady pale-blue flames casting everything in cold light.
Menders and ward hands pass by us, some pushing carts of supplies, others walking with purpose toward patient rooms.
“Ten floors,” Malric continues, walking backward so he can watch our faces.
His eyes linger on me. “Ground floor is intake. If you’re lucky, that’s where you’ll spend most of your time handling scraped knees and bruised egos, nothing that’ll make you lose your lunch.
Anyone getting hurt in the nearby village or on the academy grounds will find themselves there first.”
He stops at a large board mounted on the wall, a directory of sorts, each floor listed with a symbol beside it. “Second floor is minor injuries and recovery. Third is illness and disease. Fourth is serious trauma. Fifth floor handles fissure injuries. Sixth is crawler cases.”
Ellavee shifts beside me. “Crawler cases, as in people who’ve been bitten?”
“As in people who might turn.” Malric’s smile doesn’t waver. “Don’t worry, you won’t be going up there anytime soon, unless I want to traumatize you early.”
She makes a huffing sound next to me like she’s not impressed. I smirk.
“Seven is long-term care. The ones who aren’t getting better but aren’t dying fast enough to move up.” Malric shrugs. “Eight is surgical suites. You’ll observe from the galleries but won’t touch anything unless asked. You haven’t proven capable enough for that yet.”
He looks over the board like he lost his place for a second. “Right. Nine is critical care, the ones barely hanging on. And ten is restricted. Don’t go there. Pretend it doesn’t exist.”
“What’s on the tenth floor?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Malric’s pale-yellow eyes snap to mine. Something flickers there. Amusement maybe.
“Curiosity killed the cat, Red.” He takes a step closer, rubbing his stubbled jaw as he leans toward me. “And in this place, curiosity kills a lot more than cats.”
I feel Draven shift behind me. I turn away from Malric and cross my arms, putting distance between us.
“Anyway, pay attention to the rules, because I’m only saying this once.”
He starts walking again, and we follow like reluctant ducklings. I can’t believe this guy is going to be bossing me around for hours every week.
He stops in front of an alcove set into the wall. Inside is a large stone platform surrounded by low iron railings. Faint blue light pulses up the walls, humming softly.
“This is the current lift powered by the academy itself. It’s how you move between floors when the stairs are too slow or you’re transporting a patient.
” He gestures to a panel on the railing where swirls of light blue glow within the stone.
“You place your palm here, focus on the floor you need, and the lift does the rest.”