First Day [Complete]

‘Okay, you can do this, just breath.’ Braelyn swung open the door after having stared at the Staff Area nameplate for a moment or two. It had been easy enough to locate the marked room; Braelyn had made sure that she memorized the layout of Axis Memorial Hospital as to not get lost and to look like the new kid.

When she had walked through the automatic doors of the front entrance, her heart had pounded into double-time and she had felt the familiar pressure of an asthma attack against her chest. Braelyn mentally kicked herself for losing control of her excitement as she gasped in a need discharge form her inhaler before actually entering the building.

After approaching the Information desk and giving her name, she had been directed to the room in now which she stood. Gazing around, Braelyn found the brightly lit room with comfy looking couches comforting against her slight nervousness. The room was empty and the wisps of chatter from the hall opposite of the door interrupted the silence of the room, but she didn’t mind the quiet.

The Information desk had told her that she would be able to lock up her personal items here and find her brand new uniform and schedule as well. Stepping a few feet forward, she saw the locker room area and found her own locker. Braelyn changed quickly and stood in front of the mirror when she was done and stared. With her hair in its usual side braid and her light teal nurse’s uniform, Braelyn smoothed out a few small wrinkles in her shirt before she knew that she was ready.

Exiting the change/locker room, Braelyn lingered beside a sun-enriched window, and closed her eyes as the sunlight warmed her face. Suddenly, doubt flared within her mind and Braelyn sighed in silent despair. 'Am I sure that I can do this? I mean, I don’t even know anyone here…’

A footfall fell behind her and someone cleared his or her throat. Turning, Braelyn stopped as she met a smiling face. “Oh!” was all she said in surprise…

Roderich was...actually in a good mood today. The prognoses for the three patients he'd already visited were looking fine, he'd had a quiet enough morning to get all of his current paperwork done, and he'd managed to not get any nasty bodily fluids on him yet (in fact, his trusty bottle of hand sanitizer had remained virtually untouched, a near-miracle in itself.)

So it was that when he came upon the new, nervous-looking nurse, he felt kind enough to make an attempt at comforting her. As she spun to face him, he offered a little smile, inquiring, "Are you all right?"

When Braelyn turned, she found herself facing a handsome doctor wearing spectacles in front of his violet eyes. “Are you all right?” he asked her in a soft voice past the small smile on his lips.
Out of surprise, a small “Oh!” escaped Braelyn’s lips before she quickly recovered her composition. “Je suis désolé! Forgive me, sir you startled me a bit there!...”

Caught off guard, Braelyn felt the burn of a blush as her cheeks turned crimson but ignored the warmth and returned the doctor’s smile, “Please, let me introduce myself: my name is Braelyn Leveque and I just started as a nurse here at Axis Memorial. Today is, in fact, my first day and I believe you caught me in the grasp of the first day nerves, so to speak”. She chuckled lightly erasing all traces of doubt and nerves from her features as Braelyn extended her hand forward in greeting towards the doctor. ‘I’m meeting people already, perhaps I am ready for this’ she thought as the man received her offered hand with a short shake and Braelyn smiled wider.

He raised an eyebrow at the French, mildly intrigued. This hospital certainly was getting a lot of European immigrants lately...

He shook her hand, greeting her in his usual formal manner. "Dr. Edelstein, infectious disease specialist. A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Leveque." Then, to satisfy his own curiosity, "You're French?"

Who knew; perhaps she was native to some region he had visited in the past. He'd been all over Europe in his younger years, after all, as his family had been wealthy enough to afford lengthy vacations.

The warm creep of a blush spread across Braelyn’s cheek, embarrassment pestered her nerves. From her years in private schools and spending vacations across Europe with her mother, the Austrian accent within the doctor’s words was easily recognizable. A small giggle passed by her lips at the thought of one of her professors, an Austrian-born elderly man, who had had a habit of cursing in German almost every class.

“Oui, monsieur, I speak French, though I am actually from Monte Carlo, in Monaco. It is a beautiful city, though I haven’t been there for a long time… not since my mama died four years ago”.

Curiosity sprung up, causing her brow to rise slightly, and encouraging Braelyn to inquire, “Anyhow... An infectious disease specialist? That is quite the impressive title, Dr. Edelstein. How long have you been at the hospital here?”’

"Monte Carlo? I've been there before. It was many years ago, but I do recall the seaside being beautiful."

At the mention of her mother's death, he frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry for your loss."

The doctor in him was mildly curious as to what had claimed her mother--she was young to lose a parent, after all. But of course, it'd be rude to ask. This was not an instance in which he was allowed to think of someone's fate like a story or a puzzle that hadn't been solved in time, like how he tended to think of his patients.

"I've been here four years. It's one of the nicer hospitals I've worked at, so I'm hoping to continue on here for many years to come."

The thought of his profession made him suddenly aware of the fact that he had shaken her hand, and while she had likely just washed it, he still felt a pang of anxiety. He rubbed his ungloved hands together a bit, as though to brush off the germs, trying not to make the action all that noticeable.

“Ah oui… the seaside is quite beautiful. When I was a child, my father used to take me to the shore and we would collect seashells to make necklaces for my mother and I.” Lost for a moment in memory, Braelyn nearly missed the doctor’s term of sympathy.

Caught off guard for a moment, the nurse laughed softly. “I appreciate that, doctor but there really is no need for such words. I never look back, I only look forward and death is of the natural order. You, of many people should be able to relate to that, Dr. Edelstein.”

The maturity, which years of being alone with only strict rules, lessons, and obedience driven professors had established, left a faint crisp at the end of her words and Braelyn hoped that her smile distracted the Austrian from noticing.

“Four years you say... and yes, you are correct indeed; this is quite the facility. I’m eager to see the entire building and to become acquainted with my patients and the rest of my co-workers and…” Braelyn momentarily glanced down at the doctor’s hands. 'A nervous twitch perhaps?’ she thought. “It would seem that you and I share the same ambition, doctor.”

"The natural order..." An interesting perspective, considering that they, as doctors and nurses, were supposed to try their best to defy most of death's mechanisms. And he himself was very guilty of dwelling on the past--not so much because of the aggrieved families and painful demises that had resulted from the times he couldn't save patients, but because of the fact that they were failures in themselves. He didn't cope well with failure, with the notion that, perhaps if he'd been a little more thorough, a little more diligent, more perceptive...

Well. "I suppose," he said, and noted her edge of...bitterness, perhaps? It was difficult to tell.

He did catch her gaze flickering to his hands, though, and he hastily stuck them in the pockets of his coat, his right hand pushing his small bottle of hand sanitizer back and forth. "Mmm, I just happened to be passing by on my way to the elevators. Had to drop off some paperwork on this floor." He half-smiled again. "I have a Salmonella patient to see in the children's ward."

From his tone, Braelyn blinked a few times before she realized at how she must have sounded. Hurriedly, though calmly, she began to explain herself, “Forgive me, doctor if I sounded harsh. You see, monsieur if I have learned anything from my studies both in the medical and historical fields, it is that change is the inevitable; change occurs at every moment of everyday. As my philosophy professor once said, ‘Everyone is born with a terminal illness, they are destined to die.’ I admit that it is a very interesting way at looking at life though it was a contributing factor into inspiring me to proceed and excel in the medical field.”

Odd. It had been a while since she had thought about why she had chosen to follow the medicinal path. Actually, she had lied to Dr. Edelstein, though not entirely. True it was her philosophy professor who had concreted her choice in academics but the true reason for her interest to save lives within hospital wards was because of the only person who had ever cared about her. Again, her thoughts drifted momentarily to the shores of Monte Carlo…

Braelyn stepped over to where she had placed her patient list, sighing slighly. Turning her attention back to the doctor, smiling, she said, “Pardon moi, doctor if I distracted you from your work. I am glad to have met you and I have enjoyed our conversation very much. Very well, until the next time we meet, adieu”. With that she began to head toward the door but before she reached it, she turned to look over her shoulder, smiled, and said, “Perhaps one day we could play poker though I tell you, I’d win!”

"I understand what you mean." It was a coping mechanism, of course, a perspective to meet failures with. He envied it, really. Hopefully she'd be able to sustain her mindset for years to come--he'd hate for her to become like him. He could view patients as projects, as puzzles, but he never could quite get away from the pain that resulted when one of them died when he'd been trying to save them.

"No, you haven't distracted me. Good to have talked to you too."

He gave her a parting nod and gave a light laugh as she brought up poker. Ah, he hadn't played that in years. The last time had probably been when he was an intern, playing with a couple of colleagues while on break--he hadn't won, but he'd come close. He had been quite good at sustaining the necessary impassive expression...

"Perhaps. We'll see."

And so he went off to the Salmonella patient. It turned out to be a pretty unpleasant visit, unfortunately--the infection had progressed to the child's bone tissue, and while he was positioning the child so that a nurse could administer a test, he got...well, some mucopurulent discharge on his hand and sleeve, to put it medically. He managed to keep his wits about him long enough to finish helping and jotting notes, and then he was off to one of the staff locker rooms to viciously scrub the stuff off of him. Pulling out his personal bottle of soap--he didn't like the stuff the hospital supplied; it dried out his skin too much--he rubbed it all over his fingers and well up the length of his sleeve, shedding his labcoat to better get at the filth. Of course, he couldn't continue wearing that coat now--he'd have to get his other one, but still, he couldn't leave so much of the disgusting stuff there--

He was absorbed enough in his washing that he didn't hear someone else happen to walk in...

What a day so far! From administering antibiotics to a young boy with a broken arm and leg (he had told that he had been trying out his new skateboard… on his trampoline) to changing the sheets of an elderly woman recovering from heart surgery, Braelyn had never felt so happy, not in years. Moving about the halls with a hop in her step, she couldn’t keep a smile off her face.

Unfortunately with her increased happiness, it broke her control over her breathing and before she knew it, her quarter full inhaler was empty. Thankfully, she always packed two spare in her purse, just in case. Walking back towards the Staff Area, humming Mozart under her breath softly, she entered the room with way more confidence than she had that morning.

Once in the room, however, Braelyn ceased humming and stopped to listen. She wasn’t alone. A hushed seemingly aggravated voice came from the locker area, suspicion arose within her. Treading forward slowly, Braelyn rounded a corner and her suspicion turned to surprise. His back was toward her and he was scrubbing his hands and arms furiously. He was shedding his coat as Braelyn leaned against the frame to the locker area, smirking with a brow raised. ‘Ah... so that’s why he was rubbing his hands together earlier…’ she thought before she spoke, “Excusez-moi, doctor but if you need some hand sanitizer, I have some in my purse. Melon scented too.”

Roderich paused at the sound of her voice, feeling a blush creep up his neck. Well, this was awkward. He hastily shut off the water and turned to regard her, hands still dripping.

"Ms..." Gosh, what was her name? Lev...Levy... "Ms. Leveque," he said at last, attempting to resume his usual calm, professional facade. "No, that won't be necessary. I have some myself if I need it."

Then, defensively and bluntly--"The salmonella patient had diarrhea." Certainly that wasn't crazy, was it? The desire to scrub the crap out of one's hands after touching something that nasty and laden with pathogens. Her smirk indicated that she, like many people about the hospital, thought he was a bit nuts, and amusingly so, but--heck, he had a better understanding of these things than most people. That, and he came in contact with some of the most disgusting diseases patients could have. Why shouldn't he be exceptionally cautious?

Dr. Edelstein froze as soon as she spoke, turned off the water, and slowly turned to face her; a faint shade of a blush had appeared within his cheeks. She had caught him off guard, with is hands still wet and hair slightly disheveled, he even hesitated while addressing her. Or, maybe did he simply forget her name? Realizing that he did only made her smirk falter slightly but she maintained the grin. What did she expect? He was a busy doctor whom she had just met that day! She didn’t even know his first name!

Stepping away from the wall, Braelyn heard the defensive tone in the infectious disease specialist’s voice and blinked a few times in confusion, her smile faltered fully into a frown. ‘Perhaps, I have hurt his feelings in some way?’ she thought as she realized that perhaps she broached on a sensitive topic to the doctor. ‘Merde’… she cursed silently, that was not what she had intended, she was always told that she sucked at jokes.

She approached the doctor with a step and opened her mouth to speak but stopped mid-breath when something caught her eye, something on the man’s face. Knowing that he probably didn’t want to know, Braelyn silently grabbed a disinfectant wipe from the dispenser, approached the doctor until she was inches away and ordered softly, “Restez toujours!” as she gently wiped a spot of foreign substance from his cheek.

Stepping away to examine her work, she smiled and exclaimed, “All clean!” before she threw away the soiled wipe and disinfected her own hands. She faced the man once more, smiling, and set her hands on her hips. When she spoke, it was with the kind and playful tone she had originally intended, “Now, Dr. Edelstein, I meant no disrespect about the désinfectant and, je suis désolé but, please, call me Braelyn.”

Roderich stared, brow furrowing as Braelyn strode towards him, unconsciously leaning back from her a bit, not knowing what she was up to. He flinched slightly as she wiped his cheek, distracted from what might have been on there by the sheer fact that she was standing well within his bubble of personal space and had brought a hand--albeit covered by the disinfecting wipe--to his face. His blush deepened.

Part of him wanted to snap at her, but her tone was nice and innocently disarming, and he couldn't bring himself to say anything that might upset her. Instead, he fought to come up with a decent reply, turning his head and busying himself with drying his hands for a moment to buy some time.

"...It's fine," he said at last, forcing himself to look at her. "Thank you, Braelyn. I appreciate your concern and I assure you that I'm not offended."

Flustered, yes. Offended, no. He crossed his arms and inhaled slowly, composing himself.

Braelyn nodded in response to the doctor, saying nothing. She didn’t’ know why, but suddenly she found herself feeling shy and couldn’t look the doctor in the eye. Odd, she hadn’t felt shyness since before she began university. Before hence, she had been a rather quiet girl, the physical manifestation of obedience… just like her mother had wanted. University is where she had actually found herself and the person she could be and is today.

“Oui… je suis contente.” She said softly.

Braelyn’s attention was in her thoughts; she didn’t even realize that she had changed tongues. Was it because she had made him blush so deep? She had noticed that he had blushed. She sighed, she didn’t understand men; frankly, she didn’t’ have much experience with them either. Small crushes were about it, the last one being around three years ago, and a kiss or two. Her ballet partner, Stephan, was her only real guy friend and he’d just gotten engaged.

Was it because she got so close that she was shy? Subconsciously, she removed her hand from her hip and began to play with the tip of her braid, a habit of hers, when she remembered the reason why she had originally come to the locker area. Her inhaler. “Excusé-moi, docteur pour un moment…”

Blinking to clear her head, she began to hum Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture as she walked over to her locker to retrieve the full inhaler and to leave to empty one in its place. After reclosing the door and shoving her inhaler in her pocket, realization dawned on her. She was embarrassed! But what perplexed her so was, why she was embarrassed? She truly did not know.

Roderich blinked at the French--he understood it, as he'd learned the language during his school years, though he spoke it nowhere near as well as English--wondering why she'd lapsed into it. She did seem to be embarrassed, so perhaps she'd merely slipped up for a moment? Goodness, this situation was getting more uneasy by the minute.

Luckily, he caught a hint of what she was humming, and seized upon the opportunity to change the subject. "Is that the 1812 Overture?" he inquired, hoping he had indeed heard some of the instrumentals in there and that it wasn't just a portion of the plain old French national anthem. Hmm, if she did indeed know and like Tchaikovsky...he'd have to forgive her for the violation of personal space and whatnot.

Braelyn raised her brows in surprise. ‘The man knows music….’ she concluded silently, smiling at the doctor while she replied, “Very good ears, Dr. Edelstein, I see you recognize Tchaikovsky. Classical music has always sparked my interest and actually that piece was used in my ballet performance last year so, I know it very well.” She hoped that her voice had resumed some of its playfulness and easiness that it had beheld before she had embarrassed them both from a few moments ago; she even made sure that she remained in English this time.

Sunlight brushed her cheek as an invisible cloud moved to reveal the sun, warming her cheek. Her smile grew softer, the sun always reminded her of Monaco. Glancing towards the window, a kink suddenly stung in her neck, causing her to flinch. Gently, she rubbed the spot gingerly but it didn’t seem to help. “Are you interested in music as well, Monsieur Edelstein?”

In spite of himself, he smiled. It was always nice to come upon someone that appreciated his favorite sort of music.

"I am," he said. "I've always loved classical music...I play violin and piano. I'm part of the local orchestra in this area, too. We have practices two or three times a week, and concerts every few months. A month ago we had this wonderful concert in which I played the piano for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3--it turned out so beautifully. I'm quite fond of Beethoven, as well as Mozart, Bach...though my favorites would have to be the romantic era composers, most definitely. Chopin especially. He captured so much emotion in his music, and wrote such moving piano pieces, I just--"

He cut off, realizing that his voice was starting to sound more and more like a lovestruck schoolgirl's. He breathed, trying to quell his stirred-up passion for Chopin and Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky and whoever else he could have easily gone on about for the next ten minutes. He didn't want to make a fool of himself, after all.

"...So you do ballet?" he inquired instead, more calmly and politely.

Her question had made the man smile, causing her to momentarily stop her little massage on her tight neck. She liked it when he smiled... it softened his features. She admitted that he was a handsome man, she had noticed from the moment he had surprised her that morning, and when he smiled it only enhanced his attractiveness.

She listened to him with complete attention; her hand lay forgotten and static on her neck. The more he spoke, the softer his features became; the passion in his words revealed the enthusiasm that she, herself, expressed in her ballet. Too soon however, he ceased his monologue and his face became stoic once again, Braelyn frowned and raised a brow in confusion.

“Umm... oui, since I was young. My former instructors told me that I had “a natural gift” as they called it. Personally, I simply enjoy it solely because of the reason that it makes me happy, not because of what other people have said. My partner, Stephan and I practice every week for a recital next month”.

Indeed…Braelyn thought that the man before her was handsome but she couldn’t smother her curiosity, or rather her confusion, so she inquired, “Doctor, why do you do that, why do you restrain your passion? Music is about expression, is it not? I could tell how much it means to you so, why do you do it?”

For whatever reason, the mention of her partner made his features harden a bit. His mind immediately jumped to conclusions--conclusions that had absolutely no reason to bother him--thinking that she could well be romantically involved with the man. Now, that wasn't necessarily true, he told himself. They could very well just be friends, or even just colleagues. And honestly, what did he care? He'd only just met her, and it wasn't as though...

Her question surprised him, shaking him out of the thoughts circling about his mind.

"I do express myself in my music," he said. "But there's a proper time and place for that sort of expression. I'm not about to walk around at work gushing about the composers I admire, or anything like that. It'd look ridiculously unprofessional."

Besides, if he let down his aloof exterior, let himself relax...why, then he might be tempted to converse on a personal level with his patients, and he couldn't have that. His failures already hurt enough without the bitter sting of a person lost.

Dr. Edelstein’s words stung like a slap; she turned her gaze from the man. Hurt clenched at her chest and she knew it was from what he had said. Foolishness washed over her, because she knew he was right… there was a time and place for such talk and definitely from the right kind of people. She was just a nurse whom he had only met, who did she think she was to ask such a personal question?

Embarrassment, guilt and… disappointment flooded her cheeks, causing them to flush. She had overstepped a line, again… Braelyn mentally kicked herself. Sighing deeply to contain her expression, she turned to face to man once again and tried to simulate a relaxed composure but that failed when her entire face cringed from the pain in her neck.

Grabbing her neck again, a tiny laugh passed through her lips. Braelyn hoped with all her might that he couldn’t see the disappointment through her discomfort, as she managed to say, “I see that I have crossed some line and I… I umm… I need to get back to my ward….” With quick a smile, Braelyn turned, her attention was on the door as she took a step, and her thoughts only voiced her dissatisfaction, ‘A handsome man such as he, should not have to try and hide himself.’

Roderich raised his eyebrows. He hadn't meant to seem angry about her questions, and whatever harshness he'd held in his voice had only been towards himself, admonishing himself for his slipped composure. She shouldn't--he hadn't wanted--

"Braelyn," he called after her, stepping forward. "It's all right. I--I--"

He snapped his mouth shut, containing the stammer that was threatening to force him into awkwardness again. Without thinking, he reached for her, lightly touching the part of her neck she'd been rubbing.

As soon as she reacted, he hastily withdrew his hand. "...You're in pain," he muttered lamely as explanation, hoping it would give her pause. "Did you strain a muscle..?"

When he had touched her, and she flinched, the reaction was more from surprise than due to pain. She had stopped mid-stride and had raised a brow towards him, questioning and with confusion. Why had he stopped her? She had made a fool of herself in a quite unprofessional way, and she had panicked… been rude by not excusing herself properly, she didn’t pardon herself or she shouldn’t have… His question broke through her mental overload and caused her to blink a few times.

“A strained muscle? Oh! Non, non… it is only a tight muscle, a kink. I, umm, just need to loosen it… I’ll be fine.”

She gave him a small smile. She appreciated his concern though, of course, it could have been solely due to the fact that he was a doctor… but still, he had asked and it made her feel oddly good. As close as they were, she noticed that he stood only slightly taller than her, perhaps by an inch. But, what really caught her eye, were his eyes.

“Doctor, has anyone told you that your have beautiful eyes?” Braelyn’s cheeks went bright red, yet all she could do was laugh.

Roderich immediately felt himself blush again. Was she..? Well, it wasn't as though he wasn't ever flirted with--he'd had a few nurses tease and compliment him since he'd been here--but gosh, she was being so blatant about it, and she herself was rather...well.

"I think so," he said, fighting to keep his voice calm. "...Thanks."

And it probably wasn't a good idea in terms of levelling out his emotional state, but he supposed it would be most polite to return the compliment, so...

"You have lovely eyes as well," he ventured, promptly turning his gaze from her so he wouldn't have to see her reaction.

Braelyn’s cheeks burned, from first embarrassment to now, bashfulness. The amount of experience she had had with flirting caused her to be deaf at how she must of sounded. Her barefaced statement she had given to him had been out of habit, to speak the truth. She didn’t however; expect the return compliment that he offered and again, she found herself playing with the tip of her braid.

“Umm… merci beaucoup, monsieur... you are too kind.” Braelyn wasn’t really sure what else to say. Glancing downwards for a moment, she felt that the kink in her neck was beginning to loosen, probably from her constant rubbing.

Returning her gaze at the doctor, she found that his attention was elsewhere; his nametag drew her attention although. “R. Edelstein” it read; the “R” interested her. 'Hmm....’ she thought, 'I still don’t even know his name.’