Sleep Needed

Just as Arthur wondered if he should go and knock on the wooden panel, the partition slid open and the nurse's tired voice said, "Next!"

Arthur stood up from his seat and walked to the window. The opening only reached the young man's chest so he had to lean forward and downward to converse with the young woman on the other side of the wall.

From the voice, Arthur expected the nurse to be a young woman and he was proven right. She had a short bob and blonde streaks in her black hair, something the young man believed was fashionable among the people his age.

Other than that, Arthur noticed she was not wearing a nurse uniform but a normal T-shirt. This meant that she was probably not an actual nurse but a worker hired to look after the business. This confirmed Arthur's suspicion, if the place did not have a real doctor, then why would it have a real nurse. Based on the young woman's age, Arthur believed this was someone who answered an ad in the newspaper. She was not a professionally-trained nurse.

However, this did not mean that Arthur would hold that against her, she was only finding a way to feed herself like many of us were. Until Arthur had concrete proof that she was in cahoot with the "doctor" that Arthur suspected stole the Jade Rabbit's mortar and pestle, Arthur would see the young woman as someone who accepted this job because she needed a quick buck.

The most defining feature about the young woman though was not how she was dressed but how she looked and carried herself. From her voice, Arthur knew she was tired but he had no idea how tired she was until he saw her in person.

There were heavy dark circles in her eyes and she yawned at every intervals of 5 seconds. It was a miracle that she could manage to finish all those sentences considering how often she needed to pause to yawn.

Other than that, she was teetering dangerously like she could collapse at any moment. It sounded rude for Arthur to say that about a lady but the young woman looked like a zombie. It looked like she had not slept in days and she was in desperate need of a good rest.

Considering the state that she was in, Arthur was impressed that she was still functional and had the ability and patience to deal with the lady in the red dress from before. However, as much as Arthur pitied the young woman and wanted to tell her to go back to home, she was the only informant he got to gain new understanding about this mysterious clinic and hopefully the location of the Jade Rabbit.

Hence, Arthur began, "Good evening, can you help me with something?"

The young woman ignored him and went straight into the sales pitch. "These are the pills that the clinic is selling." She paused to grab a plastic pack of pills from the table behind her. She patted the plastic bag with her hands to stress the point. "One pack for one thousand dollars. Just follow the instruction pasted on the packaging and you'll be good as new."

'So that was the plastic crackle that I hear earlier,' Arthur thought. Arthur examined the bag of pills closer. There were about 10 spherical pills inside the transparent plastic bag. The pills were of uniform size, which was about the size of a coin and they had a deep brown color. They did not look that magical at least from their appearance alone.

There was a piece of paper taped to the outside of the plastic bag, and as the young woman had stated, it was the instruction to go with the pills.

Arthur frowned like he was a concerned customer and he asked, "What are these pills made of? Are they safe for consumption?"

The young woman yawned before replying in a tone that sounded like she had answered this question many times already. "They're made from Doctor Patrick's special blend of more than 100 herbs and medicine."

"More than 100 types?" Arthur asked with his brow raised. "Wouldn't that lead to a conflicting reaction?"

"Not with Doctor Patrick's tried and tested recipe. All the components are in compliment of each other and they enhanced each other's medicinal property." This answer sounded like it was memorized by rote as well.

"Doctor Patrick you say?" Arthur paused to look around the grey room and glanced into the dispensary. "Do you mind telling me about his credentials and qualifications? Because I don't see his degree or practicing license anywhere."

A trace of caution crossed the young woman's eyes but it was soon overwhelmed by fatigue. Her hand covered her mouth as she held back a yawn. The woman asked, "Are you a reporter or a police? If you're not going to buy, then please leave."

"About those 100 types of herbs, do you mind telling me a few types..." Arthur tried to draw out more information from the woman but she had had enough. She pulled the wooden panel close but Arthur reached out to stop it. He said urgently, "Please one more question."

The young woman stopped pulling the panel and she gave Arthur the chance to pop his question.

"Have you seen a white rabbit around here? Perhaps it has entered the clinic earlier?" Arthur asked.

"A rabbit?" The young woman was confused and she assumed Arthur was just toying with her. Arthur did not look like the type of person who would have one thousand dollars on him so she ignored his question and continued to pull the wooden panel close. If he was the cops, then he would have showed his id already; if he was with the press, then all the more reason to shut him out.

"Wait a minute!" Arthur called out and before he knew it, he tapped into his power. He needed to do something to stop the wooden panel from closing.

The young woman's hands that held the panel went limb and dangled by her side.