Chapter Text
Scurrying down the halls at Sinyala as fast as you could while relying on your crutch, you were making your way to an unfamiliar part of the facility. On orders from Dr. Easterman himself, the infirmary treating the Prime Assets had suffered an “incident” and they were now short staffed.
“A promising apprentice like you needs better experience, better patients to work on.”
The words spun around your mind like a carousel, making you feel nauseous from the nervousness spurred on by the expectations coming from your higher-ups. You had only worked with reagents in the past, though mostly just to treat any minor injuries and administering various drugs and vaccines. Working with the Prime Assets was a whole other task.
You had heard horror stories from the reagents, how they nearly lost their lives numerous times at the hands of them. A cold shiver ran through your core at the thought of being in such close proximity to people, assets, so dangerous.
Nervously, you started fiddling with the strap of the bag that was thrown over her shoulder. It was provided, along with the assignment to help with the situation that was placed upon you. You had been dealing with your fair share of violent reagents, but never with anyone, anything, like this.
Reminding yourself that this is what you signed up for when you applied for a position, you took a deep breath and rounded a corner. Your heels and the crutch were clicking against the sterile tiles with each step, while the creaking of your leg brace echoed throughout the hallways. As you approached the infirmary, you were met with a fellow medical staff and as soon as he laid eyes upon you, he rapidly walked up to you.
His attire was covered in blood, reminiscent of a surgeon coming out of a lengthy procedure. Hands shaking, wearing gloves coated in the same crimson liquid, he held a clipboard. He seemed to be shaking, which increased the insecurities and anxieties you were already feeling regarding the situation. His hand reached up to his face to pull down the surgical mask he was wearing.
“You’re what they fucking sent us!?” He observed you from head to toe, annoyance evident in his voice.
You knew well that he was making a comment at your disability, which he most likely assumed meant you were insufficent. You bit down on your tongue to prevent yourself from getting irritated at a possibly higher ranking. As he looked clearly shaken up and panicked, you determined that the best course of action here would be to just brush it off and approach him with kindness.
“Yes, sir. Dr. Easterman’s orders.”
“Then go in there and fix this shit! Oh God, I am not getting paid enough for this.”
Before you could even get an answer out, he had shoved the clipboard against your chest and you were now suddenly holding it. The papers clipped to it were wrinkled from the moisture of blood, accompanied by gloved fingerprints from the man in front of you. Quickly skimming over the first paper, your eyes landed on the scribbled title at the top. Project Lupara.
A scream caught your attention and your eyes landed on the door leading to the infirmary. Fear made your chest feel heavy and your breathing shallow. You bit down on the inside of your cheek. After mustering up the courage, you walked past the man you had just met with the clipboard tucked in under your arm. The commotion inside got louder with each step, making your thoughts run a mile a minute. Your hand reached for the door handle and with slight hesitation, you cautiously opened it.
Inside the infirmary could be described as a battlefield. Two medical personnel laid in a puddle of blood, the red liquid pouring out like waterfalls through slashes in their throats. Gurgling noises echoed throughout the room as their lungs were filling with blood. The color red was splattered on every surface in the room and medical equipment had been tossed around the room as well. Following the source of the commotion, three medical personnel worked hard on suppressing a man. One of them had already tied one of the man’s arms down and another was working on tying down the legs.
“This must be Project Lupara”, You think to yourself. If it weren’t for the scene itself, you would have known by looking at the man being forced down on the infirmary bed. Remembering how the Reagents described one of the assets, short with an enlarged cranium and a bad temper, this was spot on. The only thing missing would be the frequently mentioned shotgun.
“Oh thank God you’re-” One of the personnel turned around to face you, but the relief in their voice changed once their eyes landed on you. “Where’s the usual nurse?”
“Busy, I was called here.” You tried your best to not let the fear slip out through your words. If it were possible, your heart would have made its way up your throat by now with the way you felt suffocated by fear.
The medical personnel didn’t seem very pleased to hear this, one of them even groaning. Your gaze moved to the asset fighting against his restraints, tossing and turning with all his might. Upon noticing you, he seemed to stop his resistance, even if it was just for a moment. The personnel took full advantage of his sudden pause, restraining him down properly.
“Who the fuck are you!? Where’s my nurse!?” He spat in your direction, making you flinch.
“My name is-” you began but was interrupted just as quickly.
“You think I give a rat’s ass about what your name is!? Shut the fuck up, you fuckin’ whore!”
You furrowed your brows and grimaced as that foul mouth of his kept running. Remembering the clipboard in your hands, you started skimming through it for information regarding the asset. A simple task made more difficult by the loud shouting filling the room. At least you knew him by name now, Franco Barbi.
“You know who my father is? The second he finds out what you fucks are doin’ to me, you’ll all get skinned and fucked! Turned into fuckin’ braciole!”
With a heavy sigh, you took a seat in a chair close to the restrained man, resting your crutch against the nearby wall. You removed the bag hanging from your shoulder and placed it on your lap. After digging through it, you found a drug along with a syringe. “This must be what they use to deal with him” you thought to yourself as you pulled it out, filling the container with liquid.
“Here’s what we’re going to do, Mr. Barbi. We’re going to administer some medication, which is going to help you calm down.” You gave the syringe a tap to let out the air bubbles that might be stuck within it. “I need to access your arm fold, are you afraid of needles?”
You looked down at his arm and saw that it was covered by an oversized suit. Your brows furrowed at the belt restraining his arm. It was beyond you how Barbi was not completely exhausted resisting by now, the loud clanking of the restraints hitting against the metal bedframe kept echoing throughout the room.
“You ain’t doing fuckin’ shit to me, you hear!?” His voice was somehow louder than the repeated racket he was causing whilst trying to free himself.
“Just stick it in his neck.” One of the medical personnel chimed in, sounding completely out of breath from the challenge they had just overcome. “Or cut his clothes up.”
Those last couple of words didn’t sit well with the Prime Asset, who immediately started to thrash even harder against his restraints. He was working up a real sweat at this point, his breathing heaving ever so slightly.
“The fuck do you think you are, huh!? Do you know how much this suit costs!? More than each of your pathetic shitstained lives and then some! Don’t you fuckin’ dare touch it!”
You felt some sort of empathy swell up inside of you. It was a strange feeling, sympathy towards someone like Barbi when he’s been doing nothing but spew profanities in your direction. You began to open your mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the staff snatching the syringe out of your hand.
In just the blink of an eye, they had plunged the needle into the side of Barbi’s neck and injected its content into his system. You barely had time to react to the swift actions unfolding before you and all you could do was just sit there with your mouth slightly agape.
“You can’t hesitate. You need to just go for it.”
The Prime Asset kept struggling for another good while and all you could do was sit and watch him. Eventually he started to calm down and slump down against the bed. A couple of more weak little pulls of his restraints and then he fell limp against the surface he was laying on. The silence in the room was almost deafening, the only thing interrupting it was his heavy breathing. Whatever that syringe contained, it had calmed him significantly.
You stared down at him. He was still awake and stared back at you, eyes boring into yours. You quickly averted your gaze, now looking at the lifeless bodies on the ground. The smell of iron intruded into your nose, making your face scrunch in disgust.
“What happened here?” You asked cautiously, turning towards one of the staff members still remaining in the room. They were most likely staying to observe the situation to make sure it is under control.
“Fuck off…” You turned your eyes back to Barbi. He sounded out of breath and he was starting to look tired as well. “Ain’t none of your damn business…”
“He had a bad trial” the medical staff member spoke over him. “Couldn’t kill a single reagent, hell, barely damaged any of them. Started freaking out and lashed out. He grabbed a scalpel and started swinging it at anyone he could reach.”
Barbi let out a deep huff, turning his face away from the both of you. Reaching inside your bag, you pulled out a pen and flipped to a blank page on the clipboard. You start taking notes on his behavior and how much it had changed after being administered the drug.
“We’re not allowed to fully sedate him due to his apnea. Bastard can barely breathe on his own. Otherwise he would’ve been knocked out cold by now.”
“And his reasoning for being in the infirmary?” You didn’t look up from your notes as you scribbled down what they just said to you.
“Respiratory issues.” They replied shortly, taking a breath. “With reagents being allowed to rewire traps, we usually check up on him to make sure the fumes haven’t damaged his lungs.”
The tapping and scratching of the pen against the paper accompanied Barbi’s breathing in interrupting the room’s silence. You had a habit of biting your lower lip as you were concentrating, trying to write as quickly yet as neatly as you possibly could.
“I gotta head to my next patient.” Their voice broke the brief silence and it made you jump slightly. “Since it’s your first time with the bastard, obviously don’t undo his restraints. If his breathing starts sounding worse, use the respiratory device. And don’t die.”
They said that last part with a smirk, obviously a jab at your inexperience in the field. Letting out a deep sigh as they left, you tried to remain calm and collected in front of your new patient. If you were lucky, maybe he would open up to you if you seemed warm and welcoming to him.
You turned to your patient as he was restrained on the bed, all the fight in him completely drained at this point. He stared up at the ceiling, making you wonder if he was conscious or not.
“Mr. Barbi?”
He turned to you, looking in your direction but remained silent. Barbi was cross-eyed, his left eye bulging out of its socket. You wondered if he had trouble with his vision as well. You put the clipboard and pen to the side and picked up a stethoscope, putting it on and holding it up for him to see.
“I’m going to examine you. Is that okay?”
Despite this examination being mandatory, you always liked to give your patients the chance to agree before you get started. Barbi however remained silent, letting out a huff. You took it as he just wanted to get it all over with so you proceeded with the check up.
He was wearing a white pinstriped suit, seemingly a few sizes too large for him, and a stained purple dress shirt underneath. You scanned over his torso for a way to reach his chest without having to undress him to no avail. A gentle sigh escaped your nostrils.
“Is it… okay if I unbutton your shirt? I just need to listen to your heart.”
“Most broads tend to do that to me after a drink or two. But sure, knock yourself out.”
The implications of his words made you shift a bit in your seat out of discomfort. You always had an uncomfortable feeling around male patients for this exact reason.
Slowly standing up and hovering over him, you started to unbutton his shirt. It was covered in blood and other stains, but you couldn’t make out what they were. His chest had grown out a few golden hairs and you spotted a few scars concealed underneath it.
Bringing the stethoscope to his chest, he let out a small whimper as the cold steel made contact with his skin. His heartbeat sounded regular and nothing out of the ordinary. The breathing was another story. With each breath he took, it sounded strained. You took a glimpse of his face as you listened, seeing that he was breathing through his mouth. His eyes looked at you intently as you conducted your examination.
You wanted to listen to his lungs, however you were unable to reach his back without letting him out of his restraints, so you had to take what you could get. Once you had heard enough, you removed the stethoscope from his chest and buttoned his shirt back up. You looked over his frame as you sat back down, picking the clipboard back up.
“And here I was enjoying the view.” Barbi chuckled lowly to himself, his eyes did not break contact with your chest as he was letting his head drop back against the bed. You swallowed down any drips of discomfort you were feeling from that comment and forced a smile on your face. To avoid responding to him, you started scribbling down any notes you had gathered through listening to his chest.
“Do you smoke?” you inquired and looked back up at him.
“Same fuckin’ questions every fuckin’ time. Jeez, don’t you nurses converse together? Share files?”
“Mr. Barbi, please…” You straightened your back, trying your best to formulate your words into sounding as professional as they could be. “I know this process may seem repetitive to you, but it is a necessary part of the examination. I was called here on short notice and I was not handed any files beforehand. Just a simple yes or no will do.”
Barbi furrowed his brows, seemingly agitated, but didn’t raise his voice this time. He simply just turned his head away from you. “Yes.”
You gave him a polite smile in return as he answered and you wrote it down.
“Do you have any other medical conditions?”
His head was turned away from you and he did not answer your question this time. You tapped the pen lightly against the clipboard to try to get his attention again.
“Mr. Barbi?” You ask just as you were about to stand up from your seat to take a better look at him.
“Fuck off… Let me sleep.” His tone was once again agitated, but not raised. You could tell that he sounded tired, which you knew was because of the administered drug. Since his head was turned to the side, you wondered if it was only because he wanted to be left alone, or if it also helped him breathe better.
You remained seated next to him as he dozed off, going through the notes you had made and adding new ones. As he slept, you made sure his breathing sounded as regular as it could with his conditions. While he was sleeping, you were jotting down all new information you had learned about your new patient.
You were so caught up in your work that you did not notice time passing by and a hand on your shoulder made you jump out of your seat. The beating of your heart was felt in your throat and you had to catch your breath for a second.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” It was a woman in a nurse uniform. You did not recognize her, but you assumed her to be the nurse who Barbi asked for, or rather demanded earlier.
“It’s alright…” you breathed out and forced a smile.
“Thank you for your work. You may leave now, I’ll take over from here.” The nurse turned to the restrained patient in front of you both.
You nodded and grabbed your crutch as you stood up, handing the nurse the notes you had made during and after the examination. She quickly looked over what you had written and gave you an approving nod. Looking behind you and seeing the bodies on the floor, you reached the conclusion that your work here had been a success as you were still alive.
On your way out of the infirmary, you tried your best to avoid stepping on anything that used to be alive and any of the pools of blood. Even though those pretty white heels you were assigned with your nurse uniform had been stained red anyway.
Once you had walked down the sterile hallways, away from everyone else, you took a deep breath. You did not realize how exhausted you were until now. If anything, you were just happy that you were still in one piece and had done an acceptable job for a first timer.
Unassumingly, you headed towards your living quarters, completely unaware that this was a big turning point of your life and not the last time you would cross paths with Franco Barbi.