Chapter 56

56 The Second Exam (part 2)

The room door was opened ajar, and two of the exam administrators saw Anne crying on the floor, while the other three glanced at each other. Not one of them spoke any words, they just stands on the corner while Anne suffered on the floor.

“Oh, Gods! The blood! Called a healer, quick!” said one of the administrators. He then dropped onto the floor and tried to assist Anne, “Miss, are you alright? Oh my Gods the finger, calm down helps is on the way.”

While her body was shaken because of the amount of pain that she needs to endure, Anne shook her head and tried to say something to the administrators, “Please... Just... Just take me to the emergency room now, They... Could give me pain... Relief... Reliever and bandage my wound.”

The administrators hold the injured hand carefully. “Alright, I’m going to take you to the emergency room immediately.”

Before the administrator holds her, Anne grabs the collar of the administrator, “But, I... I... Must get back here, my exam... My exam will begin in less than an hour.” Her breath was shallow, not to mention the shiver that came from her body.

The administrator left speechless. He doesn’t want to make a promise to Anne, and that’s when another group of people came into the room.

“What happened here?!” asked an older gentleman with the official garment of the healer, a white robe with a sky-green stripe in every seam. He looks at the blood on the floor and gasped when he saw Anne. “Gods! That’s not a minor wound, Stephan! What are you thinking?! Let’s take the young miss to the emergency room at once!”

Once again, Anne refused to be held and stayed put. “No! Please, Please! You... you need to promise me that I... I will be able to take the exam.”

The older gentleman was in shock. There is only a trace of determination on the young miss face. She was shivering and tearing up, but that was all because she was clearly in great pain. The older gentleman called for one healer that was arriving on the scene with him.

.....

“Nathan!”

A lanky and tall healer, wearing thick glasses, came rushing to his side. “Yes, chief! What can I do for you?”

“Perform the first aid healing and then carry her to the emergency room.” The chief healer of the main hospital gives orders to the healer.

“What about my ex...”

“Let us treat your wound first, and then I will let you take the exam!” said the chief to our heroine, his firm decision finally making Anne give in to his request.

Nathan and the other healers were busy treating her wound, while the chief looked around the room. He saw three other people whispering and looking at the wounded girl with no sympathy at all. He steps away from the group and walks into them.

“Would the three of you care to explain what exactly happened to the poor young miss?” Asked the chief to the three of them.

“It was Rosy, not me!” said the cowardly man of the three.

“No! It was an accident, believe me!” Rosy was panicking, she bite her lips and tears came welling down from her eyes, “I... I just wanted to help her, she dropped her notes, and when I was in a hurry to pick her notes, her hand got stepped on by my shoes.”

The chief was staring at Rosy. He tried to read her face. The girl, however, was undeterred. He gave up, for now. Anne was already being carried to the emergency room. Only the exam administrators and he were inside the room now, besides the three exam participants.

“Chief Hale, what should we do here? The other participants were waiting in the hall.” Said the exam administrators.

Chief Hale observed the room. The blood on the floor will cause panic. He instructed the exam administrators to open another room and close this room.

“Write their name and call the guards. I want this incident to be investigated immediately.” Whispered Chief Hale. He didn’t want the three of them to be alert.

The exam administrator then turns around to see the three of them. “What should we do afterward? About those three.”

“Separate the three of them, but let them take part in the exam. I will observe these three.” The exam administrators bow and excuse themselves. Chief Hale also gave another instruction regarding the three of them. “After the exam, handed them to the guard. I think they were hiding something from me.”

“At once, chief Hale.” said the exam administrators.

Chief Hale stared at the group once more. He felt the gaze of the girl directly at him. Rosy would not back down, she need to shut her mouth. She did nothing wrong. It was an accident. She repeatedly chanted the words in her head and tried to be convincing when they asked them several times.

The emergency room treated Anne with care. She feels grateful for the junior healers that carefully put the medicine in her hand. Chief hale stops by to look at her condition. He asked the junior healers about the right hand.

One of the junior healers explained the condition of Anne’s hand to Chief Hale. “Nothing is broken, but sadly, her nail on the index finger...”

“What happened to it?” Asked Chief Hale while observing the finger. He saw the main problem immediately. “I see, the nail, it is tearing apart. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Said Chief Hale while his face turn into Anne’s.

Anne felt sympathy coming from the chief. His eyes were fixated on her pale face. She let out a sigh and said, “Then please cut the nail. I’ll endure it.”

The junior healers and chief Hale were shocked to hear Anne’s honest request.

“Miss, are you sure? Yes, the nail will grow in a month, but you will need to endure the pain for a while.” The junior healer tried to explain the situation.

“Yes, I am aware, one of my parents had treated this kind of case before, I knew what I should take so that I could endure the pain for a few hours,” Her gaze then goes to chef Hale, “That’s if the administrator will let me eat the herbs, of course.”

He can feel the pleading on the girl’s face. As a healer himself, using unknown or untested herbs was something that he would not recommend to everyone. But seeing her face, make him wonder and curious, what exactly the kind of herbs that she will use to numb the pain?

“Alright, I’ll ask the exam administrator. We will call you here when it is your turn, so get ready.” Chief Hale said it to Anne, and although he doesn’t like Anne’s idea, but her determination wins him over. He let out a sigh and gave further instructions to the junior healer.

When the chief was gone from the emergency room, one of the senior healers came with their small operation kit. He smiled at Anne while preparing to do the small operation.

“Hey, my name is Tim. I’ve heard from my junior that was a ballsy move for a young girl. I’m impressed!” Said Tim, the senior healer towards Anne.

Nervously, and with a throbbing pain in her hand, she carefully asked Tim for his reason, “I am sorry, but I have done nothing impressive at all.”

“Oh, you gave them a firm decision, even in front of chief Hale, that was a brave move,” Tim explained to Anne, he was chuckling and tried to cheer her spirit by complimenting her action, “Not to mention you asked the broken fingernail to be removed when you’re going to have an important exam on your own.”

“Oh, I... I just don’t want to be failed, that’s all.”

“I doubt it, you seem like a very smart girl,” Said Tim while smiling at Anne, he then pick two small knives and gave some instructions to the junior healer beside him, “Did you bring the concoction that she wanted you to brew?”

The junior healer nodded his head. “It will be ready in five minutes.”

Tim glances at the clock. He knows they are going to make her do the exam at the last minute. He begins to apply the salve to the area and re-asses the wound. Tim felt a pair of eyes staring at him, curious eyes.

“Excuse me, could you tell me why you need to apply salve and then let it dry on my finger?” Asked Anne at Tim, her eyes still focusing on the wound.

A bit shocked by her enthusiasm and curiosity, Tim gave her a smile and begin to explain the method to her, he knows for a fact that her wound still hurt a lot and she will need courage and also a will to continue on her exam, he really wishes for her to pass the exam. Tim wanted her to be on his team.

The medicinal concoction is ready. She drank it until the last drop and let Tim finish the most excruciating part of the operation, removing the broken fingernails. The junior healers were keeping Anne in her place, while the senior healer cut and took the broken part away. She was screaming from the excruciating pain. Sadly, in this world, they don’t have a full anesthetic available. After the operation, she felt the throbbing pain dissipate. There was still mild throbbing pain, but she could handle the pain better, and just in time for an exam administrator to go inside the emergency room.

“River Anne? It’s time for your second exam.”