Veins of Desire

CHAPTER 1

There was nothing better than waking up with the smell of freshly cooked pancakes and the sun hitting your skin, reminding you that it is another day! Well, there was really nothing better than that until Haliya realized that it was her first day at work.

Smelling the best pancake that she was sure her mother made for the special day, Haliya woke up with a smile on her face.

“Finally,” she said as she breathed in the aroma of her favorite breakfast. A smile was plastered on her face and it didn’t leave her until she was done fixing her bed, brushing her teeth, and doing her morning routine. When she was done with her daily rituals, she sat on her bed and noticed the envelope on top of her bedside table.

“This feels surreal,” she whispered to herself, holding the envelope that brought her the good news.

A month ago, Haliya took her time looking for a job that she always dreamed of and that was working in a hospital. So, she tried looking for different jobs in a hospital, willingly offering herself to be a maintenance staff member, a cleaner, or anything that someone of her age and academic attainment could be useful in a hospital.

Haliya was hoping to get into a hospital to work at. She tried to apply to many clinics but instantly got rejected. She tried to get into huge hospitals, submit resumes, and tried talking to everyone she knew to get her in, but luck wasn’t going on her side. Her hopes ran dry, believing that she shouldn’t be stupid and just finish her studies to get a better job inside a hospital. But life was rough and she had to consider everything she did for her own good and her mother and continuing her studies wasn’t one of them. They can’t. Even with her former part-time job and her mother’s job, they cannot afford to continue her nursing degree.

The days that Haliya gave for the job she wanted to have finally paid off when she received a letter from the prestigious hospital she didn’t expect would be in touch with her. It was Johnsen Hospital – the biggest hospital in Westcoast City and home of many medical experts that Haliya looked up to. It was one of the reasons why she pursued nursing – to work in that hospital.

“I know you are awake, come down now!” Vivianne, Haliya’s mother, shouted, pulling Haliya back to reality. She let go of the envelope she didn’t know she was hugging and after kissing it, she put it inside the drawer of her bedside table and went downstairs.

“Good morning mom!” A warm embrace greeted Vivianne as her only daughter went downstairs. Quickly, she kissed her on the forehead and instructed her to eat.

“It’s your first day and I am very excited for you,” she smiled at her. A melting smile that Haliya already knows the meaning of.

“She’s going to have a little speech,” she whispered, hoping that she was not right. But she was.

“Darling, you were just ten when your father left us, and look at you now. You are twenty-one and you are going to start to work in a hospital. It’s your dream, I know. I’m sorry about that –” Haliya cut off her mother and shook her head.

“No Mom, let us not do this today. I will be late for work.”

Haliya was never comfortable talking about what they were going through every day. She believed that life had hurdles and it should pass, that they did not have to talk about it or even delve into it. It was there, it would pass by, and life would go on.

“Please. After you have enough money to continue studying, please study. I know you wanted to work in a hospital as a nurse. I am so sorry that you have to go through all this. Your father – “Once again, Haliya cut her mother off.

Speaking about her father is one of the subjects that Haliya was avoiding. Her father worked out of the country, and then one day, he just stopped communicating with them and sending support. Without any messages, notices, or signs that he would abandon them. It shattered Haliya and Vivianne, but they had to get through life even with questions devastatingly unanswered in their minds.

“This is just for the meantime, Haliya. You’ll study again once we have enough money, I promise. I will do a double job if that’s what it takes to send you to college again.”

…

Haliya cannot help smiling while she was driving the car that her mother inherited from her parents. It was an old faded green Toyota car that still ran somehow smoothly, a bit chuggy, and smelled a bit of rust. Its air conditioning system was not working but Haliya loved to drive with windows open where she could smell the salty fresh air coming from the sea, which was a reminder that they were still in Westcoast City.

It wasn’t bad to live alone with her mother, Haliya thinks. She grew up with vivid memories of her father and, from what she could remember, they were not really that close. There was no attachment to memories except the fact that he was her father, making it easier for Haliya to forget.

“Thanks for driving me here,” Vivianne smiled, getting out of the car. She looked at her daughter with teary eyes and shook her head. “Are you sure about your clothes? It’s your first day, make a great impression.”

Haliya looked at herself through the broken rearview mirror. Her eyebrows collided and she laughed at her mother. “Is there a problem with my clothes?” She asked, thinking that she was wearing the best and the most comfortable clothes she had – a loose white shirt, baggy pants, and a pair of white rubber shoes.

“I don’t know. You didn’t even tell me what your job is going to be at that hospital,” she muttered, pouting.

“Stop that Mom!” Haliya shook her head and arranged the rearview mirror. “I’ll see you later, love you!”

Panic hit Haliya when her wristwatch told her that it was already a quarter to eight in the morning. She consumed too much time daydreaming about her work and now she will be late! She can’t drive any faster or the car will overheat.

“s**t!” It was the only thing she could tell when she arrived twenty minutes late at the hospital. She parked the car and went straight to the session hall as it was written in the letter that they would have a short orientation before proceeding to their designated workplaces.

It was a nerve-wracking moment for Haliya, but she still took time to look around and be amazed by the state-of-the-art facility of Johnsen Hospital.

Inhaling the mixed smell of alcohol and air conditioner, Haliya tried to look for the session hall.

There were many people inside, most with lab gowns and nurse’s uniforms, and some patients strolling around. In that view, Haliya couldn’t help but be very happy that she stepped inside that hospital again, not as a patient, but as a workforce inside.

Looking at the big clock from the waiting area of the hospital, Haliya continued walking until she finally reached the session hall. She almost got lost, but who wouldn’t? Johnsen Hospital was a very huge hospital with many corridors, halls, rooms, and six buildings, connected to one another as a large compound.

Haliya entered the session hall with her heartbeat racing. She slowly opened the door, hoping not to disturb anyone inside but then she was greeted by a colder air inside, a dark theater-looking room, and vacant seats.

There were no people.

“s**t! s**t! I am late and it’s not a really good thing!” She exclaimed to herself, finally getting inside the session hall. The room was so chilly but she was sweating because of the fear that she might get fired even though she hadn’t started working yet.

Just when Haliya was about to give up and just hope to melt from where she was standing, an old woman with a stoic face came inside the room.

From the woman’s outfit, Haliya was thinking that the woman had been a nurse in this hospital for about fifty years. Why? Because she once heard that when you've grown comfortable enough in a hospital that pays above the minimum and has great benefits – you’d stay in that hospital for the rest of your life. You’d grown to be just like the woman in front of Haliya – old, cold, and would stare at you deadly.

But that day for Haliya, she was an angel sent by the heavens above! No matter what her face or aura looked like.

“Stop ogling around and follow me. You are a foolish one for wanting to be here but showing up late.”

With that, Haliya was sure she really did leave an impression, but probably not a good one.