Queen of The Scalpel - Chapter 20
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Knock knock. At the sound, Grayam spoke in an annoyed voice.
“Come in.”
Creak.
A girl entered with the sound of an old door.
“…!”
Grayam’s eyes widened in surprise. A completely unexpected girl entered!
“Nice to meet you. I’m Rose.”
She was petite and frail-looking. And she was as beautiful as a doll. She was wearing a simple outfit, but her face was like a diamond that would stand out amongst all other jewels. With just her entrance, the atmosphere of the room changed.
“You…are Rose, recommended by Viscountess Kate?”
“Yes, are you Sir Grayam?”
A calm yet pleasing voice. Grayam shook his thoughts away and broke away from marveling at her.
“Yes, I know I am lacking, but I’ll do my best.”
Grayam frowned.
‘She’s pretty. But she’s just a standard noble lady.’
He knew about noble ladies because he had been a part of it when his family went into debt.
A single glance told him she hadn’t been through any hardships. Her hands looked soft, without any blisters. A lot of men would follow her around with her face if she went to a ball, but with that frail body that made a man’s protective instincts kick in, she wanted to be a doctor?
Grayam kicked his tongue.
‘This is unbelievable.’
He could feel himself getting more annoyed by the second.
‘Does dealing with life seem easy?’
He had a deep pride for his profession as he had worked endlessly and tirelessly for this position more than anyone. It was hard to keep his rage in check thinking that the lady was working at a hospital just for fun.
“You’re not the age to graduate from the academy yet, did you attend it?”
“No, I did not.”
“Then what did you study? You didn’t come here without studying at all, right?”
Usually, people stacked up knowledge at the academy before entering a hospital, and that was only after being recommended to be a disciple.
“I self-studied through books.”
“Self-study? Ha.”
Grayam chuckled in disbelief. A 16 year old self-studied from mere books, and entered the hospital?
‘Even if it’s Viscountess Kate from the great Clarence family. This is too much.’
He fought the urge to kick her out right this second.
‘If only it wasn’t for her recommendation, I would’ve kicked her out already. Damn.’
It would be bad to have Viscountess Kate as his enemy. A helpless doctor like him would be fired right away.
“Do you know what being a doctor is?”
“Yes, I do. It’s treating patients.”
“Then I’ll ask one thing.”
Grayam asked in a hard voice.
“Have you ever seen a dead person?”
“…”
But it was after he asked that question that the girl lifted her eyes and looked at him. She had a heavy gaze, not fitting of a 16 year old. She calmly replied.
“Yes, I have.”
Grayam was taken aback at her gaze. What was that?
“You’re confronted with many situations while being a doctor. If a patient you were treating dies, what are you going to do?”
She answered without hesitation.
“I’ll bury them in my heart.”
“!!!”
Grayam shut his mouth.
‘Bury them in her heart? Does she know what that means?’
Among doctors, there was a saying to ‘bury in the heart.’
It meant that they would bury the patient in their heart to avoid making the same mistake again.
‘No way.’
He didn’t think she said it because she knew what it meant. Unless they were a doctor, no one could understand what it meant.
‘Well, since Viscountess Kate suggested her, I have to give her something to do.’
Under normal circumstances, he would take her with him, giving her hands on experience. But he didn’t plan on doing that. She wasn’t a worthy disciple anyway.
‘She’s gonna quit soon anyway.’
He didn’t want to waste time on her. He thought of a good place he could send her. It occurred to him it might be too much for a young girl, but he nodded his head.
‘Making her quit fast is better for her.’
He stood up.
“Follow me. I’ll tell you what to do.”
***
“…”
The place where he took her was a room on the 3rd floor that had an unpleasant smell.
“This is where you’ll be working in the future.”
The door opened to a horrifying scene.
“…!”
Skinny unmanaged patients were laid onto the beds. A disgusting scent.
They all had pale expressions, and they were all patients that weren’t able to recover anymore.
“These patients?”
Grayam responded.
“They’re patients that can’t eat. All the patients that can’t be treated anymore are being kept here.”