Chapter 639: Fiona Fletcher
Chapter 639: Chapter 639: Fiona Fletcher
"Dr. Ford, let me introduce you. This is Dr. Fiona Fletcher. She’s also an OB/GYN, just like you. You two will be working together here from now on."
After the introduction, the team leader turned to the new doctor. "Dr. Fletcher, I have to run, so I’ll be on my way. Since you’re new to District Two, feel free to ask Dr. Ford if there’s anything you don’t understand. Dr. Ford, since Dr. Fletcher just arrived, I’ll have to trouble you to show her the ropes for a few days."
Evelyn Ford raised an eyebrow and nodded with a smile.
After the team leader left, Fiona Fletcher extended her right hand to Evelyn Ford. "It’s a pleasure, Dr. Ford. I’m new to District Two. I look forward to working with you."
Evelyn Ford shook her offered hand. "There’s no need to be so formal, Dr. Fletcher. Welcome to District Two."
"Dr. Ford, I used to work at a hospital in Flumen. During the journey here, I was with the Tenth Team. I haven’t been assigned living quarters yet; the team leader told me to stay in a tent for the time being. Do you live here as well?"
Evelyn Ford pointed to the convoy of trucks in the distance. "I live over there. The three of them will be staying in a tent."
"You live in a truck?" A glint flashed in Fiona Fletcher’s eyes, and her gaze held a newfound curiosity as she looked at Evelyn Ford.
Evelyn Ford nodded with a smile. "I do."
Fiona Fletcher quickly composed herself. She looked at Jane Warren and the other two, extending her hand in greeting. "Hi, everyone. We’ll be working together from now on. You can just call me Fiona."
Jane Warren and the other two seemed taken aback by her friendliness, not even daring to shake her hand.
"Dr. Ford, are they the orderlies here? They seem so young. Oh, by the way, would you mind if I asked your age? I can’t tell with your mask on. The team leader did mention you’re an amazing doctor, though, and that all the residents around here know you."
Evelyn Ford took off her mask, her tone flat. "I’m thirty."
’I’ll be thirty-one in another six months.’
Seeing Evelyn Ford’s face, Fiona Fletcher looked surprised again. "You only look like you’re in your early twenties. I’m twenty-eight. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but my father was a doctor who used to work at the hospital in Flumen. I never had any formal medical training; I’ve only picked up the basics from him over the last few years."
"You’re being too modest, Dr. Fletcher."
"Dr. Ford, are our living quarters in a separate area, or are we squeezed in with the pregnant women?"
Fiona Fletcher wasn’t being precious about it. She quickly adapted, accepting the current conditions. As she looked at the noisy tents, her expression remained calm, showing no signs of aversion or disgust.
"You have a separate area over here. For now, all we can do is build two platforms out of stones, lay some wooden planks on top, and put down some mats. Have you gone to get your mats yet?"
They called them mats, but they were really just straw mats. The nights in Eldoria were quite cold, so having straw mats to sleep on would provide some warmth.
"I came in such a hurry, I haven’t had a chance to get one yet."
Fiona Fletcher felt a pang of frustration. She was supposed to be in a different medical tent. The base was short on doctors, so management had decreed that each medical tent could have only two doctors and five orderlies. Her original tent had six doctors; aside from the two most senior ones, everyone else had been reassigned. Ever since her father died in the earthquake, she had lost her support system. After arriving in Eldoria, her former colleagues were all scrambling to secure their own futures, too busy to look out for one another. Now she was all alone, and when the administration assigned her here, she didn’t even have the power to object.
"Dr. Fletcher, I know where to get them. I can take you there in a bit," Nina York said, mustering her courage to offer the friendly gesture to Fiona Fletcher.
Fiona Fletcher snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Nina York. "Oh, thank you so much. By the way, will the four of us be rooming together? Or do we get our own spaces?"
"All four of us are together, so it might be a little crowded. Do you have a lot of luggage, Dr. Fletcher?"
Fiona Fletcher waved her hand dismissively. "I have pitifully few belongings."
Once the four of them were settled, Evelyn Ford picked up her medical kit and left the tent. She had barely stepped outside when a huge gust of wind nearly knocked her over. The gale whipped up clouds of yellow sand, and she quickly pulled out her goggles and put them on. Several children nearby had been thrown to the ground. Evelyn Ford crouched down, waiting for the wind to subside, before getting up and walking over to one of the kids, pulling him to his feet.
The child had a gash on his forehead and was already bleeding. Evelyn Ford sighed, taking a packet of hemostatic powder and a bandage out of her medical kit for him.
"Thank you, Dr. Ford."
Evelyn Ford paused. "You know me?"
"Yeah, I’m friends with Dotty."
Evelyn Ford remembered now. "Where’s Dotty?"
"She went to try and enlist, but they didn’t take her. Said she wasn’t tall enough or old enough. Dotty’s dad is working at the brickyard, and Dotty’s still looking for a job."
Evelyn Ford looked at the child before her. He was very small for his age and wore a pair of straw sandals. The backs of his hands were covered in cracks, and his lips were chapped and bleeding. He couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old.
"What about you? Are you looking for a job?"
The boy nodded. "But I’ve been running around all day, and nobody will hire me."
It was true that a child his age would have a hard time finding work. The base was in a period of reconstruction; aside from laborers, pregnant women, and infants, you only got to eat if you had a job.
The base wasn’t worried about people trying to get pregnant just to avoid work and get by without effort. After all, both the base and the country were desperately short on people. If someone wanted to have a child and contribute to the population, why would the base object?
"The logistics department should be hiring." The logistics department handled simple, miscellaneous tasks like weaving straw sandals and mats or crafting daily necessities.
The boy shook his head. "I already asked. They said I’m too young and not strong enough. Dr. Ford, I’m really strong! I really need a job. If I don’t get one, I’ll starve."
He was growing anxious, and his words started tumbling out in a jumble.
"Don’t worry. Come with me."
Evelyn Ford brought him to the team leader and explained the situation.
"Sir, if children under eight can’t work, they aren’t allowed to eat at the mess hall. How are they supposed to survive? The base wants pregnant women to give birth to healthy children to bolster our population, but once these children are born, how are they expected to live? Between the ages of one and eight, children without parents to support them will either have to scavenge through trash or take desperate risks, like hunting for grasshoppers on the plains. There could be wolves out on the plains. To survive, they might even resort to robbing and stealing."
The team leader’s expression turned grave after hearing what Evelyn Ford had to say.
"Dr. Ford, I will report this matter up the chain of command. As for this boy, leave him with me. I’ll take him to the logistics department and get him started with some work there. I trust the base administration won’t let this issue slide."
Evelyn Ford was thankful that the administrators were military personnel.
"Alright. Thank you for your trouble."
Evelyn Ford turned to the little boy. "What’s your name?"
"My name is Tim Channing."
"I’ll remember that, Tim Channing. Go with this soldier to report to the logistics department. If you see Dotty, tell her to come find me."