LAYLA

19 year old Layla sat at the edge of a bed of a small girl administering treatment to her. From her smile to the way the light reflected on her brown hair, one might have mistaken her for a goddess or a savior.

"Thank you.", The little girl whispered in appreciation. Layla smiled in response to the girl's words. It was moments like this that made her enjoy her work as a physician. She passed by the girl's parents who likewise offered their appreciation.

Heading downstairs, she noted the scarce amount of patients. The large building was usually filled with a large number of patients but now it looked deserted. It wasn't exactly surprising as it was still early in the morning.

At the lobby, she noticed her younger brother, Nathan helping some of the nurses. He was still young, so he was often assigned to odd jobs like washing the bandages or helping others fetch drugs.

Noticing her presence, the nurses offered a small bow. Her brother turned to see who the nurses were curtsying to. He noticed his sister who was already raising her hand to pat his head. He reflexively tried dodging her but it was already too late.

Layla knew her brother hated being treated like a child but she didn't care. Her actions earned a huge pout from him. Layla leaned towards him and said the magic words.

"Do you want to go to the under city with me?"

His bad mood was immediately lifted as he flashed a huge smile.

"Yes, come on, come on, let's go.", He said dancing around the room with excitement.

Layla wanted to point out to him that he was behaving like a child but eventually decided against teasing him.

The journey to the undercity was a long one as the physician's office was at the heart of the capital city of Wisteria, the City of Bloom. The under city was technically not another city as it was still a part of the City of Bloom, but was given the name since it was the slum of the city. The name wasn't exclusive to the slum of capital city as other cities also named their slums the under city.

Layla turned to look at her brother who was basking in the view of the city. She wondered what he found so fascinating about a route they frequented.

Drawing his attention, she handed him a snack that served as his breakfast. He had forgotten to have it due to his excitement. Funny how his enthusiasm made him skip breakfast. Quickly taking the snack, he returned to viewing the city again completely ignoring her.

'Maybe I should stop bringing him with me, he's being such a bother.', Layla thought as she sighed.

After crossing the gate that separated the heart of the city from the under city, the scenery changed drastically. While the heart of the city had well paved roads, beautiful buildings and people, and clean air, the outskirts of under city had barely existent roads, rotten buildings and people and polluted air.

However, as they advanced into the heart of the under city, the scenery became a little better although still paling in comparison to the heart of the city. The only difference was that the buildings were now mostly industrial buildings and were better looking, the air was even more polluted and roads existed, but with potholes. The industries were the main sources of livelihood for the under city inhabitants and the major cause of pollution of the land and the air.

The eventually arrived the tallest and best looking building in the area, the city hall. The fact that the under city had its own city hall was a testament to how much they had been separated from the heart of the city.

Their arrival was greeted with warm welcomes and smiling faces. To anyone who didn't know, this was unusual as inhabitants of the under city were usually skeptical and wary of outsiders, but Layla's family frequently visited for charity. Layla's recent visits had been rather too frequent, but the inhabitants didn't mind as the development was a welcome since she always brought gifts with her. And besides, she had good reasons for her frequent visits.

Layla turned to one of the men who came to welcome her. He was an important officer in the city hall and would be responsible for distributing the gifts. Layla didn't remember his name so she avoided conversations that required her to use his name. It wasn't that she was being disrespectful, it was just that her profession had dulled her ability to remember names. At the physician's office, she could meet ten people with the same names on a daily basis. As a result, names became an unreliable method to identify patients and she had to rely on patient numbers as a means of identification.

From the corner of her eye, Layla noticed her brother slipping away and quickly grabbed him. He had a job to do and she didn't want him disappearing. Besides, the under city was a dangerous place even if the people still welcomed them warmly. He could be kidnapped for ransom as he was the son of a noble.

It was scary what people could do for money.

After ensuring that the gifts would be properly shared, she headed to a house some distance from the city hall. This was the main reason why she had come here.

The house was a small one, but despite its size, it was well built and comfortable. The owner of the house was an officer of city hall and was currently sick.

A maid led them into the house where they met a girl about the same age as Nathan sitting at the door. She had blue hair and blue eyes which indicated that she was a mage. She was the daughter of the sick woman and had been deeply affected.

"How have you been?", Layla asked her as she picked her up.

"I've... I've been... fine", her voice was quiet and struggled to form sentences. Layla sighed as she dropped her. There was not much she could do herself, so she sent her to play with Nathan under the supervision of a guard. It was the main reason why she brought Nathan along.

She entered the room they had been standing in front of. The woman on the bed was frail and sickly. From a distance, she looked like she was dead.

Layla walked up to Katherine -- that was the name of the sick woman and started administering treatment. She tried getting her to open her eyes and respond to her but she got no response. Layla was worried, her condition was worsening each day.

***

It was already evening when Layla arrived home. She was already tired from her journey and would soon be busy at the physician's office. By night, the office would be swarming with emergencies. She at least hoped she could get a little sleep before the night began.

Before she could sleep, she heard a knock. Layla felt like ignoring it until she heard the worried voice behind the door.

"There's been an emergency at the palace."

                         CHAPTER END