PAVILION - Chapter 63 (Freebird's Stout)_MOON TAVERN: A Fantasy Adventure and Xianxia Style LITRPG

Earlier is not how anyone would want to start the day. Professor Stone was amongst the sane majority, so no one would blame him if he said ‘hah, hell no’.

However, he realized too late how weak his heart could be. That feeling of being unable to say no to a sad puppy. So he went through hell and heaven just to get out of bed, get dressed, get fueled up – coffee and gas, whatever order – and arrived at a certain cabin earlier than scheduled.

“...Why am I doing this?”

God knows, but at least he’s going to heaven for such grand sacrifice.

And given his line of work, he raked up a lot of Good Samaritan Points right? So he was allowed to honk the car horn relentlessly without receiving divine judgment.

“Come on, Kim. You said earlier. Don’t tell me YOU slept in of all times!”

HONK! HONK! HONK!

It was around the 53rd honk did Prof. Stone see his protege waddle out – literally.

“Jesus Christ, Kim!” Prof. Stone gasped after his friend slammed the door shut. “What did you do? Pack Keekee’s whole house into one laundry basket!?”

“Of course not!” Martial Kim snapped back, more confused than angry, “That would be impossible! I would require the manpower of the entire North Cloud Escort Company to ship her belongings in crates! Besides, I have what I need.”

“...Are you sure about that?”

“Why the raised eyebrow Teacher? I got everything you suggested: her clothing, her cosmetics, brush – both the one she uses by hand and the one that blows hot air – some books and even her favourite—”

Prof. Stone pinched his nose bridge, “What about your phone?”

It was Martial Kim’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “My phone? What does my belongings have to do with Miss Keekee?”

“Phone. Give. Now.”

“Teacher. Are you alright? You seem...I wouldn’t say agitated—”

“Why don’t you try living on 2 hours of sleep and ask me again?”

--- Should I tell Teacher I have survived a few days days without sleep all the while pursuing a dangerous convict? Or should I just let him scold me to feel better? Neither option feels good.

Being the good disciple, Martial Kim passed over his phone for Prof. Stone. The young master didn’t know if he has the fastest dexterity in the West – or East, North, South? - but he was sure Prof. Stone caught him by surprise with how quick he yanked the phone out of his fingers.

Blink and he stabbed a wire into the bottom of the phone. A second blink and the phone quivered alive. A third blink.

Charging from a big fat 0%.

“Kim. Let me guess: Keekee always charges your phone whenever you sleep?”

“.......................................”

“The hell man! Did you really believe phones run forever!?”

“I-I seriously thought that was how it functioned!”

All it took was a forehead to give one last honk of the car horn. Make it a very long

hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonk.

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/e5d49d01-e685-46aa-8d92-b07d57dc33fb/didaiyy-7cc70b06-faf9-4771-a24f-b7127efe7b76.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_207/moon_tavern_page_break_by_suimaifiles_didaiyy-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MjA3IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZTVkNDlkMDEtZTY4NS00NmFhLThkOTItYjA3ZDU3ZGMzM2ZiXC9kaWRhaXl5LTdjYzcwYjA2LWZhZjktNDc3MS1hMjRmLWI3MTI3ZWZlN2I3Ni5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.V__LDKPGxPLEElJXKGgxKvmlMcRIG9Nv3hgCGY_VlEE]

I.C.U.

Also referred to as the Intensive Care Unit.

If not the Emergency Department, the I.C.U. could be one of the most stressful environments in a hospital setting. Patients that enter this domain must be under constant supervision – the type where a sigh or drop of a pen could lead to a heart failure or lost of respiration. It would be usually funded and supported with the BEST gear and ADVANCED monitoring equipment available, to make sure the accuracy of life and death could be controlled by more than a hairbreadth.

It would also mean those who work in this area must be the best trained nurses the hospital had to offer. Expectations to work around the clock with little to no chance to get a second wind, dealing with complications as critical as an active volcano, dive into the craziest if not dirtiest situations, and of course all the avalanching emotions that come with their friends and family.

Some would call these nurses hardy, cold, even stoic, but that’s all from experience. Normally people would be proud of having 10 years under their belt; I.C.U. nurses on the other hand, it’s not always golden stars and fancy awards even if you do a great job.

That being said, any I.C.U. could tell you the most bizarre stories that would happen to them.

Let’s take for instance, this Stout Nurse who was taking report from the night shift nurse – regarding about a certain Keekee. Vitals signs are more or less stable, lost a lot of blood so expect frequent blood transfusion, and her status was still reading coma.

People would think, caring for a patient in coma would be the easiest part of the job...it really isn’t. Because it’s not the immobile patient the Stout Nurse is worried about, it’s the visitors she has to deal with.

“..... Excuse me, sir. Yes you with the basket. Are you sure you’re on the right floor?”

“Oh? Am I not? I am here looking for Miss Keekee. Teacher told me to wait here while he attend to uh...what did he say? Getting a ticket for his horse wagon—I mean car.”

“.....Well sir, you can’t coming into I.C.U. with that. Dirty Laundry is on the ground floor.”

“Madame. You are mistaken. These are all clean, fresh from the patient’s closet.”

“.....Wut all that clothing? What are you planning to do, camp here? We may have room for family and friends to sleep, but not like you can come all packed up for an RV trip!”

“I wish for Miss Keekee to be comfortable when she wakes up. I may not know exactly when, but when she does come to, I know she would be happy to wear her favourite clothing to forget that fact she is in a hospital.”

“.....All this? In this one laundry hamper?”

“Correct. Miss Keekee doesn’t like to feel hot when she sleeps, so she usually wears these no-sleeved clothing and pants with no leggings. When she wakes up she fears the cold and usually slips on this long sleeve cloth she refers to as a sweater. Whenever she is on a day off, I’ve always seen her wear this overlarge partial robe – you refer to as a T-shirt I believe – with this man wearing a bat themed costume.”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“..................................”

“I know, this partial robe is rather well worn. The portrait of this cape man is cracked like dried mud bricks. Although I’ve never had the opportunity to ask Miss Keekee why this clothing above all else, I usually see her washing this one more frequently than most. My deduction is, this might be her favourite wear to feel free and unfettered.”

“..... She’s in Room 5, on the right. You can’t miss it...Carry on.”

You’ve heard of the phrase ‘wow, time flies when you’re at work’ right?

Well, when it comes to the hospital – space time continuum moves at the speed of light.

For example, the moment the Stout Nurse finally sat down since the beginning of her shift – it was well past the lunch break. And it’s not easy, getting the ‘lunch break’ now, especially when you have to ‘negotiate’ with other nurses to see who goes first, else the patients would be unmanned for a good bit.

In saying that, the Stout Nurse thought she was the busy one. She finally realized, there was someone 10 times busier than all the nurses combined.

“..... Sir. Back again? You want more hot water? This is what, your 20 - 30th time? Why don’t you use the hot water from the water cooler? You know, the one with the red push button.”

“I prefer to make proper tea, which would require freshly boiled water. The ones dispensed by the machines are not adequate to release the full potency of the tea leaves...or tea bags as you call them. Not only would the flavour be wasted, the above lukewarm temperature would be rendered cold in less than half an hour.... My sincerest apologies, Madam Nurse. I would have made my own fire pit and boil a kettle of water myself, but Teacher forbade me. He didn’t want me to trigger the fire alarm, or ‘invite the fire fighters to a tea party’ as he coined it.”

“..... Y-you know there’s like, a vending machine like right over there. Serves both HOT tea and HOT coffee. No need for all this back and forth right? A-and I know three cups of tea would get me running to the lady’s room – so how could you drink over 30 cups and not walk like your bladder is about to explode?”

“Oh! The tea isn’t for me. It is for Miss Keekee.”

“..... Excuse me?”

“When Miss Keekee wakes up, I know she would love to have something warm to fill her belly.”

“.....”

“Clearly Miss Keekee is in no condition to eat. My hope is she would find some solace in some hot tea. When it chills and loses its steam, I would discard it and make another – with your help in fetching the freshly boiled water from your...automated kettles of course. I would never drink it, even if it be a bit of a waste. Chamomile is, after all, Miss Keekee’s favourite tea. It wouldn’t be right for me to ‘steal’ a taste without her permission. Don’t you agree, Madam Nurse?”

“.....”

The electric kettle was usually well guarded in the staff’s lounge. Only nurses, managers, and the occasional hospitalist were privy to accessing it to make their beverages or heat up a cup noodle or two. Even now, the Stout Nurse had been fetching boiled water IN the lounge, never outside. In a way, the kettle has never left its home since the creation of the I.C.U. unit.

That was until today, where it started being a room-mate for Keekee and company.

What is everyone’s favourite time of the day? Other than Beer o clock?

End of the shift! What else!?

For many, it was the only time a nurse could get a chance to sigh with relief. They’ve clocked in for the day, they’ve done their due diligence. Anything after that was not their problem anymore.

Sure, there was the classic over time or work extension. But, was extra pay worth it? Some would hound after that with a yes, some would just ‘nope’ out of there.

The Stout Nurse was one of the few who prefer to have an easy going life and a healthy sleep schedule. Her days of overtime and burnouts were way behind her, she’s rehabilitated from the system. So you bet your sweet dollars she be clocking out the second her shift was over.

Still, she can’t leave.

No, she wasn’t physically chained to her nursing station, neither was she coerced to stay a little longer. Rather, she was waiting for the night shift nurse to come and take over for report so she was stuck in the floor for a little while longer.

Not like she was the type to play video games and watching videos on her phone could only get her so far in attention span. So, she decided to do a little spying. A good spying, nothing illegal or improper.

Room 5, Keekee’s room.

“‘I shan’t! I shan’t go back. No amount of gold or silver would ever bring me back to that accursed island! For forever in my dreams through the roars of surfs crashing upon the coast, I can hear his voice. The sharp call of Captain Flint, ringing in my soul: ‘Pieces of Eight! Pieces of Eight!’.................. Teacher. What exactly are these ‘Pieces of Eight’? They sound like some sort of Martial Arts Technique.”

“Oh. My. God. Kim! This is what, the third book you read to Keekee? And you still have no idea what they’re saying. L-l-look at the title of this book: Treasure Island! It’s about looking for buried treasure, Spanish Gold!”

“Teacher, honestly. Are you telling me people of this modern era would find interest about seeking foreign gold left behind by a previous dynasty? And have you not seen the power sleeping in your wallet? Merchants and government officials store their golden ingots in strong boxes, escorted by heavily armed soldiers to ward of highway bandits. You on the other hand – you can virtually pay for anything with a tap of that card thing you call a Visa!”

“Kim, that still begs the question. How can you not understand the book – after you just read it?”

“To be honest Teacher, I don’t understand a single page of these books. This is nothing like Confucius’ ‘Four Books and Five Classics’ that educates the principles of Poetry, Documentation, Traditional Rites, Divination and Geomancy, Spirit of Music, and so on.”

“B-but you were reading everything from page one to page finale with such pizzazz and gusto! Here I thought, you memorized the book like an actor’s script!”

“Miss Keekee inherited these books from her late grandmother, who she holds dear in her heart. She even kept them in protected condition for all these times. I may not know which of these book is exactly her favourite, but its clear she has not thrown out any of them when she had the chance. Surely her heart lies in some of these pages. It would be a disservice to read like I was reading a funeral euology, don’t you agree Teacher?”

“I don’t care. Not once have you let me get a wink of sleep. So could you read like a boring school teacher, ju-just once!”

Hours after her shift, the Stout Nurse was still at her workplace.

She’s already given report to the other nurse. And she didn’t clock in overtime. So why was the Stout Nurse still lingering? In fact, why was she hiding in the staff lounge?

Better question: Why was she bawling her eyes out!?

All of her colleagues and close friends all took turns keeping her comfort. Everyone believed the Stout Nurse just lost a relative or her kids got into an accident. Within all the questions, the Stout Nurse barely got out the reason of her mourning.

“20 years of marriage! 20 damn years! And I can’t get my husband to put the toilet seat down! I want Room 5’s man! I want him! UUUUUUUUUUH- UUUUUUUUUUUH- UUUUUUUUUH!”

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PAVILION - Chapter 63 (Freebird's Stout)

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