0.4

when karla opened the door, gwendolyn had no clue what to expect. it wasn't every day that she would find herself in an odd situation like this.

meeting her eyes was a tall daybed window, with cushions sitting on the small surface. some empty hospital beds, others with people in them— were connected to the long IV stands beside them. as soon as they walked in, all eyes turned towards them.

an older woman dressed in a black dress with her hair framed in a black bob walked up to the two. "good morning, ms. valentin." she motioned her hands towards gwen. "is this the new addition you were talking about?"

karla nodded her head. "i'll let you take it from here, yes?"

as karla left the room, the dark-skin woman turned her gaze towards gwen. "i'm mrs. andrews, the head of this place." ms. andrews reached her hand out for a handshake.

"i'm gwendolyn, but uh- you can call me gwen, i don't mind." smiled gwendolyn, shaking mrs. andrews' hand.

showing gwendolyn the ropes in the infirmary, the older lady walked her around the room. "we usually have pairs around to take certain shifts, so i'll pair you with madeline."

"you called, ma?" a girl with red and black braids popped out from a side room with sharp eyeliner in the corner of her brown eyes with white latex gloves on her hands.

"yes. this is gwendolyn, she'll be working with us now," explained mrs. andrews. "and i told you not to call me that at work." she hissed, grabbing her daughter's ear.

madeline winced."ouch! you're just too serious, mama." she looked back at gwen. "and i love your outfit."

"ah, thank you!"

mrs. andrews cleared her throat and looked at the two girls. "enough pointless chatting. get to work. and madeline, don't distract her."

"alright, mrs. andrews. whatever you say," groaned madeline. "follow me gwendolyn."

the moment madeline entered the room, she rolled her eyes. "ignore my mom. that's just how she usually is, you know—all work no play." madeline glimpsed at gwen. "so, how'd you get here in the first place?"

"well," gwen gave an awkward laugh. "it's a long story."

"i don't mind," shrugged madeline. "i have all the time in the world, not much to do around here anyways."

so gwendolyn told madeline the whole story of how she got in the valentin mafia in the first place and ended up in the infirmary.

under her breath, the brown-eyed girl hummed. "so you're stuck here?"

"i think so," admitted gwendolyn. "but honestly i... i don't feel angry or anything. i don't have anything but work and school that i left behind. i'm just terrified of being killed... or worse."

"please!" clamored madeline. "she wouldn't do something like that— bringing your hopes up and then killing you like that. she's really straight forward, trust me."

as the day passed, the girls chatted with each other, each learning new things, and soon forming a bond that would last to the end of time.

▢▢▢

after her first shift at the infirmary, gwen felt her back ache. the sun had already set, leaving the sky a dark purple with the moon illuminating in the sky.

madeline had already left with her mom, hugging gwen as tight as she could and making sure to give her number so the two could talk after work.

"okay," she said to herself. "where was my room again?"

gwendolyn endlessly walked down hall after hall, every room looking the same with different pictures hanging on the wall.

i'm 100% lost right now, thought gwen.

a tall glass door led outside when she turned another corner. pushing the door open, she was met with a lush garden, almost similar to a courtyard.

a thin gravel path weaving in between each plant. gwen followed the path slowly, admiring the tall evergreen trees, the purple and blue hydrangea bushes, and narrowly avoiding any bugs along the way.

gwen turned the corner of the garden and spotted a lone rose bush in its stone planter, away from all the others. the stem had turned from a vibrant green to brown, with wilting leaves slowly turning crisp at the end.

how could a garden full of healthy flowers have roses that were in this condition?

just as she reached to touch the petals of the roses, a deep voice stopped her.

"what are you doing here?"

gwen whipped around, her heart jumping out of her chest. she saw the same man who had brought her here: ezra.

his blonde locs were now curled along with his more casual look of grey sweatpants and a black shirt.

"well i— uh," stammered gwendolyn. "i was just looking at the flowers— i swear i wasn't doing anything."

he rolled his eyes. "for you to be out in the open like this... it's almost as if you're trying to escape."

gwen gulped and fiddled with her shirt sleeve with a small pout on her lips. "i-i wasn't trying to."

"i know you weren't. stop freaking out," he snickered. "believe it or not, i've been observing you this whole time. i gotta check on new recruits so they don't get... how do i say this— out of place."

unable to ask a question about what she just heard, ezra diverted the conversation. "from what i understand, you used to work at a flower shop?"

gwen's face lit up. "mhm! it's so nice to see the seeds that you plant grow into pretty flowers!" she hesitated before continuing. "and... it feels nice to take care of something."

ezra's eyebrows lifted at the girl's soft voice. "i take it that you're a lonely person?"

the freckled girl sighed. "i guess so when you put it like that. school takes up most of my life anyways."

is my life that bad that i have to rant to his random— yet attractive— man that i don't even know?

the tall man hummed at her words. "i see." they sat in awkward silence before he broke it. "other than mafia work, i like to come out here and take care of the flowers," he admitted, stunning gwen.

"oh, really?" beamed gwen. "you take care of this whole place by yourself?"

he nodded his head. "it's relaxing to me. it's the feeling of taking care of something, you know?"

gwen shyly nodded. "y-yeah! i get it."

an unexpected duo, yet they bounced off each other perfectly.

․°🌹°․

karla leaned back in her chair, propping her feet on her desk. "how was her first day?"

ezra sat on her desk and chuckled. "from what i've heard from ms. andrews, she's already gotten close to madeline."

karla hummed. "as expected. elle a l'air d'une gentille fille." (she seems like a sweet girl)

"i saw her outside in the garden, and we talked a little bit."

"about?" she raised her eyebrow.

ezra smiled slightly. "well, she used to work at a florist shop, so we talked about flowers and—"

"sounds like a load of fluffy bullshit," sneered karla.

"it does to you, you bitter bitch," he retorted. "it was nice to talk to someone about that."

"why'd you keep on talking to her in the first place? she's nothing special."

he paused. "she looked lonely. not to mention she's very cute." a seductive smile was placed on ezra's face.

"fermez-la," rasped karla. "i'd never mess with her like that anyways. she's too... forget about it."(shut the fuck up)

but later in the next month, she found her eyes wandering.

┈┈┈┈․°🌹°․┈┈┈┈

yesss... 😏

also before we get further into the story, i like to think that gwen has a chubby body type

do what you will with that information, i just wanted to share 🤷‍♀️