Heisa Byouin

I can't be late for Houjou's checkup, so... I tried to slip past Shima, but she spotted me right away. "Hosokawa-san, is it really okay for you to be wandering out of the pharmacy and slacking off?" That's her way of saying hi. "Don't say stuff that makes me look bad." "So where are you headed?" "I'm going for my health check." "Oh yeah, today's the staff physicals." "You done already?" "I haven't had time! We've had two internal medicine surgeries since this morning-it's been chaos!" Shima let out a big sigh. She acts like she runs the whole ward or something. But actually, Shima's just the lowest-ranked nurse on staff, so there's no way they'd let her anywhere near an operation. "You're ten minutes late!" When I walked into the exam room, right away, Miss Houjou's irritated voice hit me. I glanced at the clock on the wall. 2:10. Crap. I clicked my tongue in my head. Getting here took way longer than I thought. Everyone at the hospital knew Miss Houjou was a stickler for time. Just being alone in a room with her, someone I can't stand, is awkward enough, but now that I'm late, I feel even more self-conscious about it. I kind of blamed Shima for talking so much and making me late. "Hurry up and sit down!" Miss Houjou snapped coldly.