It was the very next morning, and Gabrielle woke up to the sound of her phone’s loud beeping alarm. Yawning, she rolled onto her back and sat up, rubbing the crust out of her eyes. She patted down her nightstand until she found her phone, quickly unlocking it to silence the alarm.

The clock said six thirty, she hoped that would be early enough to avoid morning traffic. Feeling a bittersweet happiness that she couldn't sleep in anymore because her mother was paying rent. Her mother always wanted her to be self reliant, and was so relieved when she was told the news that she got her dream job on top of it. She did miss her parents though, even visiting from time to time wasn't enough.

Completely forgetting about the markings on her finger, she got ready, grabbed her purse, keys, and coat and headed out. She walked past her new 2049 calendar that hung on the fridge. It was finally the New Year. People back in the previous century were practically praying for flying cars, but cars still don’t fly. However, arguing with your car’s AI wasn’t something anyone expected.

Gabrielle walked out of her apartment and felt the freezing cold of the outside hit her. Hunched over and shivering all around, she walked up to her white car and hurried to turn it on. Finally getting it to function, she blasted the heater onto her face, she was sure it froze out in the cold. Then, Gabrielle began her drive to Crayla Town

It used to be something else before 2023. Just a bunch of industrial, process and packaging plants and warehouses that didn’t bother anybody. But the flooding and proceeding mudslide irreparably damaged all of it. What happened after that? They built a town over it, and this was where Gabrielle was to work from now on.

Gabrielle couldn’t believe she got a job at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the entire Pacific Northwest. One of the doctors that worked there, Dr. Gage, was the one that hired her. He Was always trying to find new cures to all sorts of things. From illnesses as bad as cancer to the common cold! He even tried finding remedies for mutations of diseases that could no longer be treated by antibiotics.

Always wanting to help people, she remembers jumping into a program to become a registered nurse as soon as she got out of high school. It was about the feeling she got when she helped someone, it was about giving. A warm feeling welled up in her heart just thinking about it as the warm breeze of the car’s heater slowly drifted over and around her.

Engrossed in all the things she imagined doing, the voices on the radio sounded muffled. She starts thinking back to the big move she had to do after she graduated middle school, and having to leave her best friend Skyler behind, who she knew since kindergarten.

She wondered how Skyler is doing, he was always prone to bad behavior, she remembered how distant he started becoming in middle school, the warmth in her heart ran cold, and and heavy pangs of regret assaulted her, he was the only one she couldn’t help. Physical wounds can be easily healed, but a broken psyche was way out of her league.

She hadn't thought of him in years, why now? She asked herself, shaking her head to snap herself out of it, she had to be dedicated to this job, a white hot sense of bravery welled up in her heart where the cold feeling had just been. A memory popped into her head, the time when she first met Skyler back in kindergarten, he was crying under a cherry tree, his scraped knees were bleeding badly, she felt the need to do something then as she did now, those large band aids and that disinfecting cream were the first steps she took to become a nurse.

She wasn’t doing it for herself, she was doing it for people like him. She won’t ever forget that day, no matter how many years pass. The white hot feeling of bravery in her heart felt like it was bursting over, making her whole body feel warm, like it was vibrating. She liked him; his short black hair, gray eyes, fair skin, and lanky build, he was nice to her, and thinking about it, he might have liked her too, probably more than he let on. Feeling her face get hotter and heart flutter in her chest, she never dated anyone, it would have betrayed her feelings for him. She tried searching his name before, but nothing came up, that’s how badly she wanted to get back into contact with him.

Her car’s navigation system told her that she’s nearing her destination, large dome on top of the building poked out over the rest of the buildings on the street, she followed the road, moving past small trees and little mom and pop shops. Why would a doctor this great put his hospital in an area like this? There were many people coming and going from those shops, some shops even had lines, Gabrielle guessed that having the hospital nearby has to be big for business.

She arrived at her destination. It was a large two story building. four doors at the front, both of them are wheelchair accessible. On the far side of the building there sat an entrance for ambulances, three that are all parked outwards towards the road, no serious injuries this morning, she thought. She drove into the parking lot and parked in an employee only space, getting out and walking inside.

“Welcome to Gage Hospital, how can I help you?” a male’s voice said brightly, She looked over to her left, the first thing that caught her eye about the man behind the counter was, that he doesn’t have a normal nose, it was nose-like in appearance but it turns out to be prosthetic, a square of plating on all four sides surrounded it, with scarring under his right eye that darkened his already tan skin. The dish heater beside him turned on, blowing around his short, light brown hair, messing up his feathered bangs. “Are you ok?” he asks, raising his prosthetic right arm to fix his hair, the prosthesis ending at the elbow.

She catches herself, her eyes widened and she put a hand to her mouth.“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, it’s just-”

“The prosthetics, I know, people are always staring at them when they first see ‘em, you’ll get used to it,” he said, smiling, revealing a dental augment that spanned three teeth wide on the upper-right side of his mouth, evening out until the middle where it’s pointed at the end like a fang.

“Where did you get Nacron technology from? That’s very high end,” Gabrielle asked, wondering why someone with an augment that expensive would be working a desk job.

“Somebody owed me a favor and I got it done, it helps with my other job,” he said, turning off the dish heater. “Are you the new nurse? I can get you situated over here.” He pointed to the monitor on the side of the desk looking outward.

“Oh, yes, that’s me.” Gabrielle went over and slid her card and went through the necessary prompts.

“Good morning, Jack,” a man with long white hair and fair features called out, dressed in the usual doctor garb, his voice was low and sounded aged, but his body looked no older than thirty. “Ah, the new nurse is here. I’m Dr. Gage” He smiled and bowed. “I hope our patients don’t give you too much trouble.”

“I’m just itching to get to work is all,” Gabrielle said, finishing up with her calibration into the hospital’s system and then turned around to face Dr. Gage.

Dr. Gage stood up. “We’ll need you to check on Elaine first, she’s still recovering, you can find out more about her state when you get her file.”

She straightened her uniform. “I’ll be right there, which room is she in?”

Dr. Gage smiled warmly, pointing her to the hallway to the left. “Room 204, I’m sure she’ll be happy to get to know you soon.”

Gabrielle turned towards the hallway but stopped herself in the middle of turning. “Why didn’t you say ‘she’ll be happy to see you?’”

Dr. Gage’s smile faded. “Because she hasn’t woken up yet.”

She turned around towards the door as she heard someone enter. As soon as she saw him, an image of him flashed into her head, he was there before she woke up at Elega, she saw him leaning over her, his hand touched hers, she realized that this was the man who put the markings on her finger, and that none of what she saw, none of Elega, was a dream. He also looked extremely familiar.

“Good morning Skyler,” Dr. Gage said, a smile returning to his face.