Interlude : The usual day in, day out
She opened her eyes, sat up, and turned to the side, her bare feet hitting the cool stone floor. She stood up and turned to look at the bed; the man was still lying there, unstirring. She reached for the nightstand and pulled a small hair bangle off of it. She brushed her hair back with her hands, tracing the black roots down to the gradient that eventually turned strawberry blonde. She fastened her hair to the bangle quickly, resorting to merely fixing it properly later. She looked around the room. A mirror hung from the wall. She walked over to it, looking deeply at her nude figure semi-transparent in its reflection, her eyes crimson in the reflection. She let out a sigh and walked over. She walked into the small bathroom near the exit to the room, grabbed a towel from the rack, ran it in the water from the sink, and proceeded to wipe herself down. She exited the bathroom, scoured the room for her undergarments, and proceeded to find the mahogany red dress that she had been wearing, hastily put it on, grabbed the umbrella and sunglasses by the door, before slipping her feet into the heels that had once adorned her feet the night before.
She walked out onto the stone streets flanked on either side by buildings. She put on her glasses, opened her umbrella, heels clicking off the stones, and walked past a little playground where some children ran around. She stopped to watch them, the children's parents cautiously watching the strange woman. Back, one of them chasing the other with a toy sword, fell and skinned their knee. The child sat up and began crying. The strange woman walked over and crouched down in front of the child. She said in a soft tone of voice, “That hurt?” The child, between tears, said “yes.” She said again in a soft tone of voice, “Can I see ?” The child, still crying, shook their head and took their hands off the injury. The parents came running. The mother said, “Excuse me, what are you doing to my son?” The strange woman placed her hand over the injury, and a pale glow emanated from her hand. “Just offering a helping hand,” said the strange woman. The child's mother looked down at the child's knee. The injury was gone. “What did you do?” the strange woman began walking off. “Dermal injuries are easy fixes, although I would recommend keeping him home from school tomorrow; he’ll probably be sick in the morning anyway. If he is sick, don't hesitate to stop by Cerise family medicine.” The child's mother looked at the strange woman and said, “Thank you.”
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The strange woman walked down the street, crossing over a bridge, and a man paddling a gondola waved to her, and she reciprocated. She stopped in front of a building with a worn sign out front that said “Cerise Family Medicine.” A small string in cursive on the bottom said, “If we don't fix you the first time, it's free.” She opened the door, and a young brunette woman sat behind the counter, stood up, and said. “Mornin', doc need some coffee?” The strange woman waved her hand and said, “No thanks, I'm wide awake.” The brunette behind the counter said, “Long night again ?” The strange woman walked over and said, “No more than normal.” The brunette behind the counter shook her head and said, “Doc, listen to me, I think it's time for you to settle down. It's not good for your health to be sleeping around every night.” The strange woman said back to her, raising the cadence of her voice to sound enthusiastic, “You know, they call me a maneater for a reason.” She raised her hand and clawed at the air playfully. She exhaled deeply. “Anything on the docket today?” the woman behind the counter said, “The usual day in, day out.” The strange woman started walking to the back. “I'm heading back to change out of these clothes, and then I'm going to take inventory on the blood in cold storage,” she walked past the front desk, a plaque on the wall read “Roma Cerise M.D”