*Minutes later*
Minutes passed calmly, and unlike before, there was nothing unusual in the hallways. This way, they reached the cafeteria. Haniel was still in the nurse's arms, and it didn't seem like Anael had any intention of letting her walk. Anael would only release her when she found a seat for the young girl, and she would have her lunch in peace.
“Let's see, where can we sit?”
“Nurse Anael, over here.”
“Hmm..? That voice...”
Anael's attention was quickly drawn by a slightly corpulent-looking doctor with short brown hair and a beard resembling a Klingon style. He was sitting at a table for eight people with an abundance of food on it, yet only he and a child who appeared to be his patient were present.
Anael approached the table carefully while still holding Haniel in her arms and made a slight nod with her head.
“Good afternoon, Doctor Epulón.”
“Come on, Anael, don't be so formal with me.. Hahaha...”
With a cheerful chuckle and a friendly gesture, Epulón tried to break the formality gap between them. But his attention quickly shifted to Haniel. After observing the delicate condition of the young girl's body, he quickly turned his gaze back to the nurse.
“Please, have a seat; the little one looks very hungry.”
There was no reason to refuse his offer, so Anael carefully put Haniel down so that they could both take a seat. She glanced for a moment at the vast amount of food on the table, which was really excessive for just the two of them, but she decided not to say anything about it. Meanwhile, Epulón warmly smiled at the young girl.
“My name is Epulón, and as Nurse Anael mentioned, I am a doctor.”
Even though Haniel couldn't see, Epulón made slight hand gestures, indicating himself in his introduction, and then directed his hand toward the boy next to him.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“The boy next to me is named Cibo. Although he's my patient, I'd say he's become like a son to me.. Ahahaha...”
Epulón was waiting for the boy to introduce himself to Haniel, but Cibo seemed indifferent to that and continued eating rather rudely. Noticing this, the doctor's expression changed slightly, reflecting a hint of sadness. So, he tried again, this time with a more honest tone in his voice and a gentle pat on his patient's shoulder.
“Come on, young man, introduce yourself.”
It seemed there was no way to get the boy's attention, but as he was once again ignored, Epulón's expression turned dark, hiding part of his face while a strange gleam could be seen in his one eye. A cold sensation could be felt by both Haniel and Anael as the doctor's voice was heard pronouncing the boy's name.
“Cibo.”
“. . . !”
Finally, there was a reaction from Cibo; he stopped eating and glanced furtively at his doctor while his body trembled slightly. Then, he turned his gaze to Haniel and gave a slight bow.
“M-my name is Cibo, nice to meet you..”
Haniel easily noticed that Cibo was very nervous, and she knew that in a way, it had been due to Epulón's intervention. But it didn't seem unusual from her perspective. Before introducing herself, Anael whispered something in her ear, offering her a little advice.
“It's a pleasure to meet you; my name is Haniel.”
Haniel didn't know how to introduce herself, so, thanks to her dear nurse, she made a slight gesture by tilting her head and offering some polite words. Epulón warmly smiled at this, while Cibo continued to eat as if nothing had happened. Anael, on the other hand, smiled faintly at the young girl.
“Haniel, is there something special you'd like to eat? Or do you remember any favorite foods?”
Haniel tried to recall if there was a favorite food she had enjoyed in the past, but before thinking too much about it, she made a slight gesture with her nose, as if the aroma of something on the table had caught her attention. Noticing this, Epulón scratched his chin slightly while smiling honestly.
“It seems something on the table has caught Haniel's attention.”
“Don't worry and take whatever you like; there's plenty of food on the table.”
Despite not knowing how to respond to that, Anael encouraged her with a gentle pat on the shoulder, and then she tried to help by guiding the young girl's hand to the food with the aroma that had piqued her interest. It was a dessert called “cañoncito de dulce de leche”.
Upon touching it, Haniel warmly smiled at Anael. Perhaps starting with dessert wasn't the healthiest option for the young girl, but the nurse couldn't say no to that smile. Everything was really pleasant, but as she tried to take the dessert from the tray, Cibo suddenly stood up violently, with an enraged expression, and yelled:
“THAT'S MY FOOD!”
Both were quite surprised by the boy's reaction. However, Anael, who looked more frightened, was able to see that Cibo was about to strike Haniel directly in the face. In that instant, she thought only of protecting her dear girl, so she was going to try to take the blow for her, no matter the harm she might incur.