2061, 21 Junio
Martes, 6:03 a.m.
Empire State Alliance- La casa de la Bruja
Lucy was in a place unfamiliar to her. She stood at the top of a submerged building, between two taller ones, a body of water about a meter in width, flowed between them. The air was hazey, thick fog rolled over the buildings, along the water, even curled around her feet. The brunette looked about her, confusion graced her features she didn't know where she was and the space was too ambiguous to figure out. So she set foot on finding a way out into a space she knew. As she walked the fog seemed to follow her, keeping her vision short sighted, nothing seemed to move aside from her feet. The silent air was soon filled with a quite moaning, as if one were in pain and suffering alone. As it became louder and sadder, Lucy's heart beat quickened, slow foot steps turned to a fast jog. She was desperate to reach that noise but no matter how fast she ran, Lucy didn't seem anywhere close to the noise. She was trapped on that rooftop between the two larger buildings as the sobbing continued, louder than before, almost drowning her senses with pain and sadness. It was almost deafening, she had to cover her ears but even that didn't help muffle the sound. The tormental wailing had Lucy falling to her knees, curling into a ball as tears filled her own eyes. Her sobs mixing in the air with those of another, sad, ruined, lost.
As wetness touched her face, Lucy's eyes opened to early morning light against her bedroom window. The brunette blinked a few more times, to clear her vision and to make sure she was in the present. 'I must have been dreaming...' she thought to herself as one nimble finger touched the tears that ran down to her cheeks still. She sat up, with a lonely sigh and wiped her eyes. Lucy had been having the same dream for a week now. She did not understand where it came from. No one had died recently at the hospital - at least none she knew of- and her turmoil over her brother had settled. So what then was troubling her?
Before that could be situated Lucy had to make herself cognitive, and to do so she needed a cold shower and some coffee for the day. Her lithe body moved quietly from the bed to the floor. Lucy often moved as if she were a guest in her own home. Everything she did was in a hushed fashion; light foot steps, soft voices, and slow gentle care of everything she touched. If any one were to ask her why she would simply respond, "It's to let the spirits of the house know I am done resting, I reclaim my space without offending them." and carry on about her business.
Growing up in a Dominican family filled with brujas, Lucy came to take the family practice as her own. Often copying the methods she once saw her aunts, cousins and grandmother doing in their own homes.
Upon entering her bathroom, with a switch the room was bright with fluorescent lighting, causing Lucy to squint a little as she made her way over to the shower. A simple over head shower head, surrounded by three walls of tin and a long plastic curtain. After the Deluge many of the building's infrastructures became cracked an warped under the pressure and natural corrosion of the water. Most items Lucy used to fix up her home were made of old drift wood and metal scrapings. She let the water run a bit, so it could reach the perfect temperature and also filter out some the nasty brown water that came with the bad pipes.
While it ran, Lucy took some time to brush her teeth and asses her face in the mirror. Her eyes, were their usual honey brown color, now slightly red and under-lids puffy from crying in her sleep. With some cold water against the palms of her hand, Lucy pressed them against her cheeks, jolting her skin awake and getting some color back into them. Her white sleeping t-shirt getting wet in the process but that didn't bother her, it was coming off soon anyway. Checking the shower for the right temp of luke-warm, Lucy stripped of her shirt and cleaned herself of the sweat and bad feelings her dream left her with.
Now wrapped in a towel, the brunette was clean and felt a lot calmer than before. She went onto the other side of her apartment where the kitchen and small living area were. She had about 325 square feet all together that was split into three rooms, a bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen/livingroom. the third being the biggest space, it's were she kept all her herbs, crystals and other items for her work. In the kitchen she prepared herself a cup of coffee and sat at the small eating nook by the window. It didn't take long before she was starring at the coffee grinds at the bottom of the cup. She could do some tasseomancy to read her own fortune but her aunts often warned her against that type of self reading. It was considered bad luck, so she would have do discover her ailment another way. Putting the cup in a sink she went to get ready for the day. Pulling her mass of locked hair into a half up ponytail, Lucy dressed herself in a green no sleeve turtle neck, grey tunic trimmed with green and gold thread, flared at the elbow because of the hot weather, but could be tied up when needed, light weight black trousers and combat boots. Adding a quartz on a leather strip necklace as the finishing touch, and a charm to trap bad spirits.
Before leaving the brunette made sure to water her aloe vera plant that hung near to her front door. It was a way to keep bad energies from coming inside her home. Being a bruja came with a lot of superstitious beliefs and rituals, well for her family that was the case. Though Lucy believed in modern medicine she also knew some ailments didn't need all the pills and potions the doctors prescribed, a little herbal remedy, mother natures natural cures for most common sicknesses, was just as good as any man made prescription. Her plant was watered, now Lucy could leave. Taking her keys and her rucksack, she left her home with a quick lock of the door and made her way to the ground floor, the street where her house laid.
Because the Deluge was so great most buildings where completely submerged, only the tallest buildings from their past life as a civilization lasted. To compensate for the lack of ground space, large platforms were made between the spaces of the buildings, creating roads and walk ways for everyone to get too and from. Lucy was currently heading towards the Hospital. Being apart of the Empire meant they had the most resources. their government had spawned from the one of old, before the Deluge. Still, it wasn't as grand as the previous hospitals had been but it did its job in treating the people of the Empire State Alliance. Before the Deluge Lucy had some knowledge of medical care. When her mother was still alive she practiced medicine as a nurse at the Children's Hospital in their neighborhood. She would often teach Lucy helpful things the then young girl would practice on her dolls or family pets. But Surgical, such as transplanting a heart or amputating limbs was something Lucy wasn't well versed in and probably would never be without a proper education and license to do so.
From her house by the docks to the hospital near the capital, it was a twenty minute traveling time by dinger, an old run down open cabby. The area that encompassed the E.S.A. was that of what use to be Staten Island. Lucy planned on staying in her piece of Manhattan but the other factions had taken hold of it, quickly after the water settled. It left a sour taste in her mouth, abandoning her borough but she had to do what was best for her survival. Lucy had plans to stay in Harlem for as long as possible. Even before the Deluge struck her state and probably every other piece of land in the U.S., she wanted to give back to her broken community as a doctor or therapist. Now that was a wasted dream since central park and everything above that was submerged in the murky waters. Lucy shook her head as memories of her first encounter with the Deluge began to come to surface. She couldn't think about that now, especially because she had to work.
The dinger stopped in front of the hospital and Lucy got off, paying her fee for the twenty minute ride. The dinger man thanked her and drove off to find another fair. She watched him leave down the street before making a stride to the entrance of the hospital. Once inside she adorned herself with the typical doctors coat, white with the Empire's insignia etched in blue on her breast pocket. It was now seven, the sun was even higher in the sky, but not high enough to scorch the earth with its heat. The perfect time to get as much more as possible done. As coworkers past, they greeted Lucy with 'hellos' and 'how do you dos', typical morning commotion. The hospital itself was split into three areas, the elderly ward, general population and soldier care unit, and lastly newborns, children, and expecting mothers ward. Lucy was often placed in the first and latter, her calm aura was usually appreciated by both parties. Lucy herself enjoyed working in those sections of the hospital, she had many little cousins in the past she would babysit and her grandfather lived with her immediate family before he passed, so when her mother wasn't home, Lucy was in charger of caring for him in his old fragile age. Her experience served her well, but she liked doing this type of work out of her apartment. Lucy was very much a home body, she practically spent all of her time at home or an a boat when she wasn't needed at the clinic.
In the hall Lucy was stopped by doctor Francis, an actual doctor with an actual degree, he was the head of the pediatric division of the hospital and her boss. "Good morning Lucy, I trust your commute went well. You're needed on floor C room 218, we have a new patient in urgent care and I need someone to take the blood work."
Lucy nods respectfully, her expression non-changing as she addressed her superior. "Good morning Doctor Francis, the commute was exceptional, as usual. I'll get right on those blood works for you. Will Janise and Patrick need my assistance with check ups later?"
Francis looked past her as he began to think then focused on her once more. "No, I assigned Truance to help with that. For now blood work is on your schedule today, then you will move onto a 2 o'clock surgery with me."
Lucy gave another respectful nod then parted ways with the doctor, with her body now fully up running to get the job done. There was always something to do in the new Empire.