Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 25

Lacy collapsed on her bed in total exhaustion, too tired to do anything else when all she desperately wanted to do was have a cold shower and then find something to eat.

It seemed she had forgotten just how tiring full shifts could be sometimes. She had been so caught up in the adrenaline of it all that she barely remembered just how all the stress could hit one like a train.

The human girl sighed deeply, right as her door burst open. “Lacy!” She turned her head to shoot the Lyken Princess a tired smile, “It’s been a minute since I saw you, your Eminence,” She teased.

“Oh Lacy,” The red-headed she-lyken sighed, closing the door and then the distance between them, “I leave you for just one day and so much has already happened.” She fell on the bed beside her friend. “As much as I want to ask if you have some insane death wish, even I can’t deny that it seems to have gotten you exactly what you wanted, well… not close enough, since you want nothing more than to be out of here, but hey…” She nudged the chuckling human, “It’s a start, right?”

“Right.” She giggled, the action making her g***n out in pain.

“Are you okay?”

“Just knackered. I seem to have forgotten just how stressful nurse practice can be sometimes,”

Anaya sat up in the bed, her green eyes alight with excitement, “Oh gods, do tell me all about it, how was your first day like?” And so Lacy proceeded to fill her friend in, going much into detail… for now, she was a girl without curfew, one who could come and go as she pleased and do whatever she wanted—well, whatever she wanted except escaping. But that everything at least included staying up for as long as she wanted and chatting up her only friend without worrying about time being up or any other gobbledygook of that sort.

It was… nice.

Anaya left sometime after midnight, and Lacy stood up tiredly to lock up and take a quick shower, for she did not want to be breaking down when morning came and she had work to do. Sleep thankfully claimed her as soon as she hit the sheets, and she did not stir until morning.

The human girl made it to the clinic early, a new guard hot on her heels. She was pretty sure Bruno was taking some very much needed rest after being on guard at her door all night. 24 hours without sleep. Lacy couldn’t help but wonder how he did it, especially when she didn’t see him go for a lunch break or a powder room break or anything of that sort. She saw Simone huddled over one of the counters in the nurse’s station, laughing at something on a phone with a bunch of other nurses, and Lacy swallowed uneasily.

She really hated meeting new people.

But the chocolate skinned girl was the only person she had pretty much hit it off with the whole of yesterday. She couldn’t really ignore her today just because she was surrounded by a bunch of nurses she was yet to meet?

Being one of those people who had been bullied for pretty much their middle school life, without finding her voice or her backbone until senior high, she tended to avoid cliques like the plague, for experience had taught her that bullies flourished the most when they had their cliques to back them up. She had attended one of those prestigious private schools, one filled with empty airheads and over privileged children of aristocrats who were spoiled rotten and coddled by fearful teachers who were mostly always on edge because the least thing, and they were given the boot for not knowing their place. For a while, Lacy had been just like all of those children… but she had soon done some growing up, and she had realised that life wasn’t all about shopping and crashing crazy, lit parties.

“Yo, Lacy!” The human girl snapped out of her thoughts to see an excited Simone waving her over, her multicolored braids styled in some intricate Wakandan updo.

Oh, s**t.

Did the girl ever lose her happy go lucky attitude? Lacy couldn’t help but wonder as she made her way over to them, a simple smile pasted on her face, for she had seen the girl in action the whole of yesterday, and even in the gravest of situations, she had been all smiles, offering cheer and comfort with her sunny disposition. “H—hi,” She waved gently as she reached them, nodding to everyone who cared to shoot her a look, which was everyone, in case you were wondering. Lacy counted seven of them in all, three male and the rest female.

“Guys, meet Lacy Reynolds… she joined us yesterday, but I couldn’t introduce her to y’all, seeing as we were sups busy and all,”

Choruses of hi’s greeted her ears, with one of the male nurses going so far as to reach for her hand and k**s it dramatically.

Oh.

“Charmed to meet you, Lacy, I’m Zeff. You and I will be great friends, I can tell.” Lacy chuckled. Now that one was a charmer for sure. With chestnut hair falling into his eyes every now and then and a boyish smile that seemed to light up his entire face, Lacy was sure he had a body count record lengthier than the hospital’s yearly record of patients flocking in and out daily.

“Nice to meet you, Zeff,” She grinned at him, noting how everyone else introduced themselves right after she was done speaking. There was Reiner, Fatimah, Sierra, (who had come off as a tad bit condescending) Abram and finally Brody. “Nice to meet you all, and it’s truly an honor to work with you.” She smiled again, “It seems quite dull here today,” She took a look around.

Honestly, it was. Lacy had expected to be bombarded with the same frenzy from yesterday if not more, but the hospital was practically empty, save for a trickle of patients. Any serious cases were certainly already existing cases and nothing more, and the girl found it very weird. She made her observation known to everyone present, and Sierra answered her, her tone very much rude, “Well we’re not weak and prone to injury like your kind, human… so I’m not really sure what you expected.” The dark blonde with an upturned nose, and practically non-existent lips rolled her eyes for extra measure.

“Sierra!” The chorus of admonishments came from almost everyone, like they knew how she was and were instantly embarrassed that she had let her true colors show like that, and so soon.

But Lacy was not fazed. She had taken down people like her many times, and she’d be damned if she let another bully walk all over her again. “Look, I don’t care what crawled up your a*s and died, but you’d soon learn that not all humans are puny and weak if you keep going off like that.” Lacy said all this with a perfect smile that quickly changed into laughter at how everyone—Including Sierra herself—gasped in surprise, a few snorts disguised as coughs seeping in as well. “I’ll go check in and ask Mrs. Sanders what my duties are today, see y’all later,” She threw at them and walked off, her heart and her steps light in self-accomplishment.

She was glad she had put the condescending she-Lyken in her place.