The leaderboards made Ha’suru National Hospital thrive. Its unique Merit system served as an objective parameter. It gave basis and concreteness to an intern’s skills. The huge caveat was that merits and demerits were scarce. Truly, if one received this, they would have to be the epitome of excellence. One merit skyrocketed people to the top. One demerit dragged people down to the abyss. Demerits destroyed dreams while merits built them.

However this year! After just three months since their arrival in HNH, two individuals found themselves tied at the top of the HNH leaderboards. The top two interns: Kaiba Quivers and Alexa Fuse. This built a grudge match of constant one upping of the other. One question was always asked. Who came out on top today?

Duty: Blood Bank Section

Alexa Fuse twirled the small, atypical pen in her hand. If that was a syringe in her hands, perhaps a smile would have accompanied it. The end of dawn in the blood bank approached. She would no longer have time for these morning thoughts. This was merely the calm before the storm.

Tables spread their legs and sprawled all over the blood bank section. A plethora of blood bags piled on top of one another. The test tubes laughed at how ludicrous it was. How cruel fate was it to be a blood bag. Just meant to be filled with blood then drained of its purpose, thrown away, never to be used again. And this woman couldn’t be happier about it. For this only meant one thing. There was work to be done. Her rival, Kaiba Quivers, was stationed in Serology today. A smirk plastered on her face. This is my chance. Yes! A chance to finally overtake her rival. While Kaiba was in a section infamously known to only give out demerits, she was in the section that was famously known for giving out merits!

This was the day she was waiting for. The disparity in work between her section and his. This was the perfect moment to strike. The blood bank mornings were one of the busiest of the whole laboratory, rivaling that of chemistry.

“Ms. Fuse,” the section chief, Stan, called for her.

Alexa dropped her pen instantly and made sure to pay the most attention to her section chief. “What is it sir?”

Her long flowing hair swayed in rebound as she awaited for the instruction. She felt an itch creep up her face. First it was in the chin. Then like migratory birds it traversed to the north, bound to meet her nose. It should have travelled all the way to her forehead. Alas, it did not. The itch fancied her nose to be its new home. It nestled in the deep reaches of her own turbinates. But! I cannot scratch it. She must continue to pay her respects.

“What are you doing?” Stan asked.

Alexa painted a circle with her oddly small and scrunching nose. “This is just how I am sir.” 

Stan raised an eyebrow. Was this girl really the top intern in HNH? He reached for some files and laid them out on his desk.

“Here, these are some of the patients that need cross matching today. The potential donors are already laid out. Make better use of yourself and do some actual work,” he bluntly explained.

Alexa’s face strained but she forced herself to smile. “Yes sir.”

She walked back to her post while finally scratching the itch that irked her so. There was relief. But also irritation. The section chief today is an imposter. She did all the work. He got all the praise. Not even an inkling of merit went her way. In fact, ever since she was stationed here in the blood bank, it felt like she was more of a section chief than that man was. She would just have to work extra hard to get a merit today. 

She looked at the patient’s files. They were all VIP patients from sector 1 and 2. That job normally belonged to the staff. Only furthering her own thoughts on the matter. Not that she was complaining. This was more chances for merit after all. And she was sure that HNH wouldn’t hire incompetent people.

Her hands reached back and gathered her messy hair. One meticulous twist of the scrunchie, one revolution after another led to the eventual creation of a pretty knot. What was once unkept was now a perfectly shaped bun. This signalled work began!

She floated across the room. A ballerina that tiptoed to a glide. She casually picked one test tube as she passed by them. Then another. Her long hair was quelled by her scrunchie and yet, to an untrained eye, it still felt like it danced with her as she worked. An angelic visage suited for far better things than a routine crossmatch.

That itch, and its origin, she finally understood. The busy mind was full of new discoveries. ‘It’s not fuse like in a bomb, it’s more like Fu-say.’ She muttered in her mind. That section chief couldn’t even bother to pronounce my name correctly! And she would just have to let out her own frustration on the poor blood bags.

And it was sublime. It was elegance and excellence personified. This was the exquisite Alexa Fuse at work. Interns, supposedly just passing by, gathered outside. Through the glass plane, they marveled at the woman inside. In the meager three months Alexa Fuse was in HNH lab, she garnered herself a fan club of sorts. Every single intern that peeked in got lulled into her ritualistic dance.

Alexa looked at the growing crowd outside. I will accept that challenge. If they were here to see her, she would not disappoint! In fact, she was driven to exceed those expectations. All the materials were laid out in front of her. The three test tubes. The gel card. The donor’s blood. The patient’s blood. Just another typical cross matching afternoon.

“Ahh!” Audible gasps vibrate through the see-through walls. To the outside, Alexa looked to be making love to the test tubes. A sweet ballet and ballad to the world of blood bank.

Like a maestro of her craft, she handled the droppers with sheer elegance. The liquid gently squirmed as she pinched ever so slightly. The pipette became mere extensions of her own finger. Perfect control. Perfect result. She took a moment to appreciate the perfect amount of blood she placed on the tubes. Yes! Every maestro should take time to appreciate their work. Her eyes gleaned outside, watching for their reaction. But! An odd tingle came her way. A smirk crept onto her face.

A solemn falsetto pervaded the air around her. Aviolin stroked with her movement. It got more frantic the more intent she put into her movements. Her arms swung in seemingly haphazard directions. But she was the conductor. And this was the flow of her orchestra. The sound of the girls heartbeats outside thumped, gave bass and gravity to the situation. Isn’t that right Kaiba Quivers? Alexa’s eyes met with Kaiba. A direct confrontation. A challenge. She saw Kaiba’s strained face. This showed just how great the divide between them was. That large presence slowly faded away. She won. She placed the test tubes in the centrifuge. The final step to her first crossmatch of the day neared. Beep! Neck cracked. She stood idly by  for the centrifugation to be over. 

The blood bank became busier while she crossmatched. There were more interns now that crossmatched. But! They could not possibly match Alexa’s pace. Each section was only assigned with one staff member. On most days it would be the section chief. So it was only natural the interns had the bulk of the work. Though, Alexa Fuse increasingly looked like staff at this point. And this section needed it. Without the cross matching, those in dire need of blood transfusion would be at death’s door. HNH had a daily count of at least fifty transfusions. She steeled her resolve. I need to be faster.

Beep! The timer was done. It was work once again. Though she stopped during centrifugation, this section continued to move. For a second wasted could mean the death of a patient somewhere in HNH.

“Ms. Fuse!” The same mispronunciation of her name called out to her.

A grimace painted on her face as soon as she heard the lambasting of her name. She walked to the section chief’s office. It was perfect timing anyway. She hadn’t resumed her crossmatch just yet.

“What is it sir?” Alexa tried as hard as she could to hide her dissatisfaction.

“Have you finished a crossmatch yet?” Stan asked.

“I just need to extract the serum to the gel card sir. Then I’d be done,” Alexa sternly replied.

“Perfect, I’ll take over from there.” Stan perused the files in front of him. “Please give the donor team assistance. Apparently they have a difficult-to-extract patient.”

The donor section was a subsection of the blood bank. They were the direct source of the donor blood bags they often use for crossmatching. Naturally, not everyone was compliant even though they were willing. A sad paradox of the life they lived in.

Alexa twitched. She did not like the donor section. And there was a difficult-to-extract patient to boot. Returning to her crossmatching was the better play here. Where the chance of merit was highest, that's where she’d prefer to be.

“I understand sir. In a normal circumstance, I would accept. But take a look at the blood bank section as is now.” Alexa pointed to the busy room behind them. “If I were to leave my post, I doubt we could finish all this crossmatching. Most of them are STAT..”

“I know. I can handle it. You are the top intern in HNH. So I thought maybe you could handle this situation and be back before the work piled up.” Stan looked directly at Alexa’s eyes.

“With all due respect sir, as the top intern of HNH, I have the responsibility to my section. And my section alone. If we were in a more benign situation, I would immediately agree. But we are not.” Alexa accepted the section chief’s challenge. “It doesn’t make sense to pull me out now, just because a donor cannot be extracted. They could simply wait for me to be done with my duties if they so wish.”

Stan sighed. I have to get this intern to solve his problem now. The section chief of donor was breathing down his neck. If only she did not have such incriminating photos of me! The intern in front of him was the only one capable of extracting that patient. The section chief could not leave his post during work hours. All the interns weren't as good as Alexa Fuse. It was looking more and more like he had no choice now.

Oh! The silly section chief. He did not know that he had fallen right into Alexa Fuse’s trap. She knew that the section chief of donor, Viola, had incriminating photos of Stan. She knew that one night, while the staff were out drinking, as they usually do. Stan, being the incompetent fool the he was, was completely and utterly hammered. He sent Viola some lewd pictures, definitely unbecoming of a section chief in HNH. Information was power. And Alexa’s network was unmatched!

“I’ll give you a merit if you help them out.”

“Alright sir. I’m on it.”

And just like that, Alexa Fuse manipulated her section chief into giving her a merit. All child’s play. Though her network of information was mostly gossip and grossly irrelevant. She finally had the opportunity to have a return of her investment.

But! There was another problem. The only way she would help donor was with merit. Otherwise, it would not be worth it. It was simple. Just one look at Alexa’s trembling legs as she walked towards the donor section told enough. 

It was a bland room, with three reclining chairs. All were empty except for one. Interns pooled around it. Their hushed tones covered the barely audible whimpering of a man. 

“Ma’m Viola! I’ve been pulled out to assist in this section.” Alexa saluted in respect.

“Thank goodness! I knew Stan would pull through.” Viola smirked.

“Is that the patient ma’am?” Alexa pointed to the commotion.

“Yes, please rid us of this trouble.” Viola rolled her eyes.

Alexa squinted. Section Chief Viola was a skilled phlebotomist that specialized in blood donation. Why couldn’t she have just done this herself? Perhaps this was a bigger problem that staff need not trifle themselves with.

“Uwaaa!” The whimpers grew stronger as Alexa drew nearer.

The interns slowly parted as she waded through them. Each with a glowing admiration of the pretty face that passed them by. She paid no heed to these. This was the norm. There were more dire matters at hand. Something irked and tugged at Alexa Fuse’s heart! Two glaring fears that could not escape her. This is the day I overcome them!

“Uwaaa!” The whimpering was as loud and clear as the day was young.

Alexa watched a grown man crying in front of him. The man’s eyes were red and teary. He was curled into a fetal position, holding a pillow between his thighs.

“How old is this man?” She was poker-faced.

An intern replied, “27.”

Alexa just shook her head. This is a child. She imagined this would be Kaiba’s state once she finally broke their tie. But! This man was too problematic to be dealt with. Staff wouldn’t want to touch him. He was a lawsuit waiting to happen. For interns though it was much simpler. They are essentially contractual. HNH would simply remove them from the internship program. If I were to mess up here, it would be the end of my stint in HNH.

A plan quickly formed in her head. It was a simple three step plan. Step one: calm this person down. Step two: prep him for extraction. Step three: pretend I need to pee and let section chief Viola do the rest! That was the only way. With the patient already calmed down, and the intern assigned for the task occupied in the restroom, the section chief would have no choice but to move. The merit in her mind faded, all that was left was how to run from her fears. She hated to show the chinks in her armor. To show weakness was to admit defeat. That was the mantra in her heart. Perhaps it was better to face this weakness head on. It was perfect. There’s merit.  But Alexa Fuse’s moment was yet to come. I am not ready today.

“Sir.” Alexa smiled.

The man glared back at Alexa. “What?”

Alexa twiddled her fingers, looking at the man with charmed eyes. “Won’t you let me extract your blood today?”

“No.” The man turned away.

This man did not know how lucky he was. A greeting like that by Alexa Fuse was rare. That charming, wide eyed innocence she concealed. She showed to nobody except in dire circumstances such as his. He was sure to be the envy of all the men of HNH. Except for one that is. The rage and the envy of the male race burdened this man. His rejection would further his own woe.

Alexa was sure that would work. She particularly did not like charming people into doing her bidding but if it worked then do it. Sweat slowly dripped from her laboring face. 

“Why don’t you want to?” she asked.

“Because it will hurt!” The man’s eyes widened.

“Then why are you here?” Alexa tilted her head slightly off axis.

“Because they told me I had to.” He pouted.

“Then go away.”

“What?”

“If you don’t want to get your blood taken. Then just go away. We don’t need your whining in this institution.” She looked down at him like a fly that wasn’t worthy of sucking her own blood. Her eyes glowed and reeked of the stench of death. 

One wrong move. One wrong word. The man would be squashed. His whimpers now were barely audible. The gravity of Alexa’s gaze was immense. It only gave him the power to tremble. 

Don’t waste my time. Alexa continued to intimidate the patient. She already had a hard time trying to execute her plan. There was no empathy left in her soul. But! It seemed that her intimidation was also not working. In fact, it only seemed to make this man more frightened. Why even be here? How weak could he be that he was forced to get blood donated? Indeed, a grown man bawling his eyes out at the perceived pain of extraction was ludicrous. This woman’s fears were far more frightening!

“I’m sorry.” Alexa gathered her words. “We are all trying our best. All I want is to help you. By getting your blood, you can help other people too. If you think of it that way, the pain you’d be experiencing won’t be for nothing. It would be for something larger than yourself. It is for the whole of HNH. You’d be a hero.”

“A hero?” The man’s eyes lit up.

“Yes. A hero.” Alexa smiled. 

The man reluctantly showed his arm. Alexa looked at it blankly. That was all it took? This was a shallow man, Alexa Fuse. Dangle the sense of accomplishment from above his eyes, and he would take it no matter what he might be feeling at the moment. For a twenty seven year old man that cried like he was seven, this was the norm.

“Thank you sir.” Alexa bowed.

Step one done! Step two was easy. Alexa prepared five strips of micropore tape to holster the needle’s hub and the tubes in place. A tourniquet choked up his arm. She gently placed her index finger on the crease on the man’s elbow. Easy enough. The vein was found easily, as was the case when dealing with patients from the donor section. She relieved the suffocation from his arms momentarily. The cotton ball between her fingertips frolicked in circular fashion. The cool sensations of the 70% alcohol and iodine mixed to a soothing yet trembling in her hands. She uncapped the source of her trepidation. It’s the size of a boba straw! She examined the needle right between her eyes. The needle seemingly grew larger the longer she looked at it. It wasn’t just that. The whole syringe overwhelmed her hands. Even a two handed operation proved to be difficult. Capping it now was the only relief she could afford. She then cradled the blood bag in her hands while checking for the patency of its connection to the needle. Finally. Step two done!

“Sir I will now be extracting blood.” She fastened the tourniquet for what should be the final time.

“Please be gentle.”

His words would reach no one. This was the most crucial part of her plan after all. Alexa held the syringe with both hands. Beads of sweat draped her forehead. The trembling she sought to contain gradually became more and more pronounced.

“I think I–” Alexa paused for a moment.

There was another tingling sensation that assaulted her. She knew there was an audience brewing outside. The blood bank and the donor sections were always a spectacle in HNH labs. All the more that she was there. But this feeling she had, it grated her very being. As she carefully brought the syringe closer to the man’s arm, something infuriated her. Why was he here? She glanced to the outside. Kaiba Quivers stared directly at her. His mouth jostled with some kind of hard chewing gum. His eyes were lifeless, like he was watching some mundane show on TV. The food in his mouth looked to be more interesting than her. Stop being so irritating!

Alexa breathed a heavy sigh, capped the needle and gently down the table it was set. Tourniquet untied. Sweat, from her forehead wiped. This is impossible. She couldn’t execute her plan while her rival watched. It was simple. He would know her weakness! She would just have to give Kaiba a piece of her mind first.

“What’s wrong, Ms. Alexa?” an intern, watching from the side, asked her.

Alexa’s radiant smile greeted her. “I just have to take care of something.”

She slowly turned the lock on the door. Her irritation, growing as the key pulled on the mechanism. The doors opened just like her mouth was, ready to jaw at him the moment she saw him.

“Hey Kaiba! What the hell–”

Her eyes simply widened. Her shoulder slacked of all held in tension. There was no trace of Kaiba Quivers anywhere. He was standing there! His tall stature. His exasperating presence. She felt it. But the scene before her did not lie. He wasn’t there.

“Excuse me. Wasn’t there an annoying man here just a moment ago?” Alexa asked an intern outside.

“We didn’t notice a thing Ms. Alexa.” the intern replied.

This is annoying me even more! Alexa’s eyebrows caught in a cyclone of twitching. Kaiba Quivers was a man that could make his presence known on a whim. And in that regard, he could also make it invisible. But such silly antics should not have worked on her. She went back to the donor section with fumes escaping her nose. Perhaps it was her own weakness manifesting itself. Or perhaps it was merely an illusion. But it was her thoughts nonetheless. She needed to be primed for her plan if she wanted to succeed. No more distractions.

“It appears that my bladder is really full. I need to occupy one of those comfort room services, “ she blurted out.

Everyone in the room was stunned. Not that Alexa Fuse needed to pee. Everyone does. But at her weird choice of words. Yes! This was one of Alexa Fuse’s weaknesses. She’s not a very good liar.

“Okay I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll make sure no one touches me but you,” the 27 year old said.

“Well you heard the man, Ms. Fuse. You better hurry. For the sake of all of us,” Viola added.

Kaiba’s pseudo presence was the domino that led to Alexa’s plans to topple then crumble. She looked down on her perfectly kept skirt. She just wanted to cry. It wasn’t her fault that she was scared of the needle. It wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t think of a better lie. Her thoughts grated her over and over again. Then she looked at the source of the problem. The man smiled back. Shut up! She had no choice. If she were to go to the restroom now, it would have made no difference. The man already made it clear that only she could finish the job.

Yes! The job. Extraction. Amidst everything transpiring, this was Alexa Fuse’s greatest weakness. Not only were the syringes too large for her to handle,  she also lacked the dexterity to perform venipuncture! It was such a glaring hole in her arsenal that she tried her best to hide it at all costs. But! Right here, right now, she had no choice. She needed to be ready for times like this.

I am not ready! Her hands shook as she held the abnormally large syringe. Everything was set up. Her mind was focused on her fright, she barely remembered how she got the syringe in her hands in the first place!

“Ms. Alexa, I thought you needed to go to the bathroom?” Her co-interns' words might as well have been the wind. 

Her eyes latched solely on the vein. Breathing heavy, she guided the need to its destination. “I am going in sir.”

The rocket ship finally launched at the utterance of those words. It blasted off into the far reaches of the man’s subcutaneous tissue. It was shaky and unsteady as it squirmed around the nebulous skin. Houston, we have a problem.

“Did you miss?” The man closed his eyes as he clutched the sheets.

The rocket ship indeed missed its landing. Alexa’s vision grew bleak. Her heart beat faster and faster. This is the worst possible scenario! A vignette surrounded her, consuming the remnants of her vision. Eventually, there was nothing. Only the darkness and her shame.

But! She jerked backwards with such force; it managed to dislodge the rocket ship to its intending landing spot! The ship may have missed but the crew walked over there instead. The blood flowed from the needle and into the blood bag. Houston, problem solved.

Alexa Fuse jolted a free fall. It was as if strong upward current flung her into the air. It was a peculiar phenomenon. Perhaps it was her fear that made her muscles all contract at the same time. Nonetheless, this was her version of fainting. If the recliner wasn’t behind her, she would be feeling the cold unrelenting tiles of the floor below. But it was. And her body fell to the comfy confines of the donor bed. Her pensive face finally brought to a peaceful slumber. All the fibers in her body were lucid. This was the relief she so desperately yearned for. She just laid on the recliner with an angelic face. No one would ever guess she held such trepidation in her heart a few moments ago.

Whether she liked it or not, the extraction was a success. The merit was hers. And so was the shame that came with it. That event would go viral in the whole of HNH. This was a part of her legacy now. Interns would try to replicate. But of course, none could compare; for this was only a feat the exquisite Alexa Fuse could perform.