An Unusual Request (Aerina)

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The door to the infirmary was ajar and the hunched-over figure of Alexander Mullur could be seen in the crack. He’d been working at the school for a mere couple of months and was still accustoming himself to his new office as well as his new job. It was a different atmosphere compared to the hospital he was previously employed to. His hospital was, for the lack of better words, surgical and clinical, not only in appearance but the way the doctors interacted with their patients or the administration with their employees. While here he could hear laughter echoing through the hallways or the hurried footsteps above his head from a student who was running late to class. Although he missed the silence his old job granted, he was glad to get away from the suffocating atmosphere and into someplace new. A fresh start.

Regardless, today was the day he would finally figure out how to use the computer gifted, or rather cursed, upon him by the school’s administration. And from the symphony of curses from his multi-lingual lexicon he muttered under his breath, it was clear that it wasn’t going all too well. It seemed that every time he pushed a key the computer would sputter and churn before exiting out of all its pages and programs, returning back to the log-in screen.

Not again, he thought, as he thumped the laptop lightly with the palm of his hand which only resulted in the screen turning blue as a stream of white text washed over it. He did the one technical fix that he knew how to, holding down the off button until the machine chirped exhaustively, the noises it produced fading away as it went to sleep.

At the hospital there were clerks and nurses to fulfill the more secretarial needs of the hospital; Lex never even needed to fill in information about a patient into the online data-banks.But, now it is up to him to ensure his office was sufficiently stocked, and even using a spreadsheet to inventory gauze was a herculean task. It’s going to be a long year.

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Aerina was still young, she knew, but it was never too early for her to get experience in her field, no matter what she would be doing. Her goal today was to hopefully obtain a position as an assistant for Dr. Mullur, as it seemed he had yet to find one since coming to Hammel. She was still only in her first year of classes at the university, and then only attending part time while she finished up some requirements here at Hammel, but that ought to be impressive enough for him to take her under his wing, right? Aerina certainly hoped so.

She peeked around the corner, her tiny hands grasping against the corner of the wall down the hallway to Dr. Mullur’s office. She stared at the door with his name on it intensely, as though her continued stare would will the doctor to accept her offer. She straightened herself and leaned against the wall, her hand to her chest as she tried to calm her nerves.

Aerina hoped she looked all right. Professional, even. There was little she could do about her unruly hair, so the girl had it tied back in a braid, though that still didn’t catch the stray hairs that curled down to frame her very made-up face. She’d had a breakout this week, so was using an extra layer of concealer to hopefully diminish the acne she was so self-conscious of. Her outfit too, she hoped was professional enough; a pink blouse with a slight ruffle in collar, a knit vest of a rather dizzying design, and denim jeans that fit snugly against her hips. She wore simple black flats over her tiny feet as well. It looked…professional, right? At least, it looked nice. Not childish, she hoped. Even if she was as short as a 5th grader.

With her courage gathered, Aerina finally came out from around the corner and stepped briskly towards the infirmary door, turning the knob and giving the wood a soft rap as she opened it. “Hello, excuse me~” she called out in a heavily accented, though still girlishly sweet voice. “Dr. Mullur, are you here? I have something I want to speak with you about.” She took another deep breath to calm her nerves. It worked only slightly.

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Lex brushed the bunch of curls off his forehead that had gathered there after leaning forward for so long. He hadn’t realized how long he had been at it; until he heard the young girl’s voice, he was so enraptured in his trials and errors that he wasn’t aware of how much time has passed. And even then, he still hadn’t made much progress into his understanding of the blasted thing.

As the girl opened the door, Lex stood up, painfully aware of his stiffness as each vertebra popped and snapped as he straightened his back. This entire situation put the doctor in a foul mood, and he hoped she wasn’t here to tell him someone managed to nearly get themselves killed, or something of the like. The only thing that could make this day worse would be a medical emergency he had to see to.

“Yes, I’m here. Come in and close the door behind you.” He ordered, not feeling up to the transfer of pleasantries. He could vividly imagine his mother’s admonished response to his rudeness, as if the woman herself was here in the flesh. Would want him to offer the poor girl a tea and a biscuit. Instead, he pulled up chair for her and continued, “What is it you want to talk about?”

Normally it was clear what a student’s purpose was to be in the infirmary. Either they were ill, injured, or trying to get out of gym class. The first two normally had physical indicators accompanying their problem and the latter had an air of complete and utter bollocks radiating from them. This girl’s entrance was a bit too vague for Lex to discover her purpose. Of course that could mean…

“This isn’t anything to do with pregnancy or what have you, correct?” he asked cautiously, a cold sweat flooding his senses. Despite the girl looking far too young for that, Lex knew that appearances could be deceiving. He now worked at a school so that was always a possibility, but surely that was more suited for Dr. Neville’s expertise. Crying wasn't something Lex knew how to deal with.

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Luckily for the doctor, Aerina wasn’t visiting for the sake of some sudden medical emergency, though if one happened to occur during the course of her meeting with him, she would gladly postpone it so he could tend to his more prioritized duties. Though if that happened, it might be a good opportunity to show Dr. Mullur exactly how necessary it was that he approve of her request! She was young, and inexperienced, but surely she was capable of helping him out in some way!

However, and she’d heard that this might be the case, Dr. Mullur was intimidating when she found herself face to face with his….Aerina wasn’t sure what she would call it. It wasn’t rude, per se, but not pleasant either. Not very friendly, but still attentive. Rina found she admired such focus in the doctor, that he put such attention into his work that he may not have room for traditional pleasantries. It brought a smile to the young girl’s face.

“Well…it’s something simple, really,” she stared slowly, taking the seat that he’d brought out for her and daintily folding her tiny hands over her lap. When posed with his second question, however, Aerina raised her head sharply in alarm and shook his rapidly. “No, no!” she asserted. “Nothing like that, of course, I’m much too young for something like that.” She wasn’t even married yet! She didn’t even have an intended yet either. So pregnancy was the last thing on her list of worries.

Aerina took a few breaths, hoping to calm her nerves before finally opening her eyes and looking up at the tall man with a sharp intent in her eyes. “I have a very earnest request for you,” she started out with, her gaze unfaltering. “I wish to be your assistant.” A point blank request. Very direct. Her father would have scolded her for such insolence. Aerina didn’t care, this was America after all. Though that didn’t mean her nerves weren’t shaking terribly while she awaited his response.