Chapter 68 A Busy Night
In Stoneford Town, people's diets leaned heavily toward large portions of starches and meat, with very few vegetables—and vegetables cost more than meat. The restaurants here served mainly beef, pork, and turkey, while green salads were actually the expensive option.
After sitting on buses for hours today and then working among vomiting food poisoning patients all afternoon, Matilda had no appetite. She walked into one of the town's diners and asked the owner for a bowl of beef stew and a slice of cornbread.
The diner owner was a woman with that distinctive Northwestern look—thirties, wearing a small feathered hat with her hair in loose braids, carrying a unique kind of charm.
Her English carried a slight Northwestern accent. Seeing Matilda sitting alone in the corner, she walked over and asked, "Are you traveling by yourself? Here for tourism?"
"No, I'm the new doctor," Matilda replied.
"Oh, we get visiting doctors for support every now and then, but they're almost always men. Female doctors are rare, and they never last long—say it's too rough out here." The owner shook her head.
Matilda smiled, thinking to herself that she'd at least stay for the full year and a half.
Soon the beef stew arrived, with thick chunks of beef and carrots floating in it. The owner's cornbread was enormous—one slice wider than Matilda's face. She asked, "Could I get half a slice?"
"Of course." The owner brought over a knife, cut it in half, and laughed. "You girls from out of town all have small appetites—can't even finish half."
While eating the cornbread, Matilda asked, "Are there a lot of outsiders coming through lately?"
"Yeah, we're close to the state line. Two years ago, state police and militia from the neighboring state had a conflict—made big news. After that, content creators started coming here to film, almost daily now."
"There's military nearby?"
"There's a National Guard post, but it's about fifteen miles from here. Civilians can't get in. Those content creators go to the old outpost—it was an Army border station back in the 1940s, abandoned now, but the buildings are still standing. We locals don't see what's so special about it, but tourists love taking photos."
Matilda asked, "Besides the outpost, are there other places to visit?"
"Sure, there's a veterans memorial, an old stone fortress, and farther out is the desert where you can go treasure hunting."
"Treasure hunting?"
"The desert sometimes has semi-precious stones or old silver coins. Some are worth money, but they're usually hard to find—just for fun, really."
Matilda smiled. "With all these tourists, business must be good for your diner."
The owner laughed. "It is, except some people don't eat properly. That group that came yesterday camped out in the wilderness last night and picked wild mushrooms to eat—ended up in your clinic today."
Matilda smiled and finished her stew. She couldn't finish the cornbread, so she said, "I'm on night duty watching those patients, so I'll save this bread for a late-night snack."
"How can you just eat bread? If you get really hungry, knock on my door and I'll heat something up for you," the owner said warmly.
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
"Not at all. Besides running this place, I don't have much else to do. Consider it making a new friend."
Matilda smiled, thinking she still wasn't used to inconveniencing others.
Back at the clinic, Levi showed Matilda to the back courtyard.
The courtyard had several rooms—one was a medical equipment storage room, one for miscellaneous items, and two were dormitories for doctors on call.
Levi opened one of them, turned on the light, and said, "This is where you'll live from now on. Previous visiting doctors left quite a bit—blankets, pillows, cups, and a water pitcher. Buy whatever else you need from the shops on the street."
Matilda nodded. "Okay."
Levi added, "You take the first half of the night, then wake me for the second half. I'm next door."
"Got it!" Matilda agreed readily.
The older Levi had been busy all day and really couldn't hold out any longer. After giving instructions, he went next door to sleep.
Matilda looked around the room. Everything was organized, and while the blankets were old, the dry climate meant no musty smell. She decided to make do for now and buy new ones tomorrow. She unpacked, boiled water, charged her phone, and went to start her shift.
The clinic nurse Sarah stayed with Matilda until 2 AM. Sarah was in her thirties with kids and couldn't stay up any longer—she had to go home and rest. So Matilda was left alone in the clinic.
Fortunately, the patients' conditions had stabilized, so her workload wasn't too heavy. In the early hours, some improved patients went back to the motel to rest. For the remaining few, Matilda brought out old blankets from her room, spread them on the floor, and let them sleep.
The patients were incredibly grateful, blaming themselves for eating random things and keeping her up all night.
Stoneford Town got very cold at night. Luckily Matilda had brought a thick down jacket. Wearing it, she continued working—changing medications for patients, cleaning up the clinic's mess, mopping floors... staying busy until dawn.
Levi got up, came out yawning, and saw that the patients had all improved and the clinic was spotless. Seeing Matilda dozing in a chair, he looked at her a few times with approval in his eyes.
He didn't wake her, going straight to prepare for the new day's work.
Matilda slept for two hours, woke up to see Levi taking patients' temperatures and blood pressure, and said, "Good morning, Dr. MacAllister."
"Why didn't you call me last night?"
"I could handle it myself, so there was no need to wake you."
"You stubborn kid." Levi scolded her with an elder's tone.
Several patients had improved and were chatting about last night's events. A young man said, "We didn't actually want to camp out there, but since there's a National Guard post nearby, we figured somewhere with soldiers around would be safe."
Levi asked, "Then why did you go eating random things?"
"There were lots of mushrooms in that area. Someone in our group said they were edible, so we ate them."
"Bold move. Good thing National Guard soldiers brought you in, or you'd have been in real danger!"
Matilda asked, "Is the National Guard post far from here?"
"Not far, about fifteen miles. I heard there's a platoon stationed around here. Soldiers occasionally come to town to shop or see a doctor. When you see tall, sturdy guys, they're probably them."
"Do they come often?"
"Often, but not the same group—only when they're on leave." Levi looked at her. "You seem very interested in military personnel."
Matilda quickly shook her head. "Not interested, just curious."
The young patient laughed. "All girls like soldiers."