Chapter Text
A massive outbreak of the Black Death grew increasingly worse and more worrying. Not only did the Toons have to worry about vampires, demons, and werewolves, but they now had to pray that none of their best hunters caught the disease.
Worse still, the very doctors who were tasked with finding a cure ended up dying from the plague.
It's a shame that the kingdom where a young roll cake grew up was infested with the plague, and he had just finished his medical studies, which was both good and bad for him.
Cosmo dedicated himself to studying medicine to become a great doctor, one who dreamed of finding a cure not only for the plague but also for vampire and werewolf bites..
His motivation came from when he and his cousin were children, playing outside the great wall during the day, since no evil creature would dare walk in the sunlight.
But unfortunately for his cousin, she was bitten by a werewolf while picking flowers under the trees… she was sent to the best doctor of the time, who didn't have the knowledge to cure her cousin.
He only gave her harsh medications and even tried to cut off the part where the werewolf bite was.
Unfortunately, she didn't survive and died after so many attempts to "cure" her.
This same doctor died of the Black Plague. Cosmo couldn't explain how he felt about it. He still remembered that this doctor was to blame for his cousin's death, but he was also an elderly man and didn't have much medical knowledge at the time.
But he remembers very well the screams and pain his cousin endured during these procedures.
He didn't want that to happen to him or his friends... His initial plan was to become a doctor, but he ended up becoming a nurse. He confesses that he was very upset that someone else was chosen over him, but he was grateful because he met wonderful Toons who became his friends.
So it was unlikely he would leave this position.
Another reason was that doctors were more exposed to the Black Death than nurses, which ultimately led to the rapid death of all the doctors in that kingdom.
By order of the queen Teagan, all Toons who worked in the medical field had to wear long-beaked masks and long robes. Cosmo and his friends found these masks macabre and joked that if they wore them, no Toon would dare go to the doctor.
Over time, everyone got used to it, but doctors continued to die, which worried the entire kingdom...
The queen had no other option. In a moment of desperation, she called the royal messengers, Flyte and Flutter, to deliver a letter to an acquaintance of hers who lived in a secluded spot in the forest.
Cosmo was cleaning the backyard, it was autumn and the orange leaves kept falling, even though it was more work to clean this place, he preferred to clean the backyard than the side yard where the cemetery was.
Cosmo shivered just remembering that many of the graves were buried with Toons who died of the Black Death.
It was no wonder the cemetery had to expand with so many graves the gravedigger had to dig. Worse than cleaning the cemetery was going outside the walls to gather some herbs.
"Cosmo! You won't believe what I just heard!”
The roll cake is startled and turns around. He sees a nurse who looks just like him, wearing a white mask. He has robes just like yours, only they're a very light shade of yellow that could be mistaken for white. Unlike Cosmo, who has some brown details on his white robes.
"Glisten! Weren't you buying the medicines that were missing?!"
"Yes, yes! I was, and that's also where I found the queen talking to one of the knights.”
Glisten paused dramatically, making Cosmo anxious and irritated, hoping the reason he'd eavesdropped on a conversation instead of buying medicine was a good one.
"She called a doctor from outside the kingdom to come here!”
Cosmo rolled his eyes behind his mask and continued cleaning the courtyard. The queen always did this, and it always had the same result... she called a doctor, and he died shortly afterward. What difference would it make if she called someone from outside?
Glisten couldn't stop chuckling, and even with the mask covering his face, Cosmo felt him smiling. He didn't understand happiness... which puzzled him.
"Yes, she's been doing this for years... what's new?"
"Well... I heard he's quite reserved, lives alone, and... he's known for curing some Toons in the past... maybe he has the cure for the Black Death..."
Cosmo stopped sweeping and looked at Glisten.
"That story didn't make sense! How can someone cure someone if they live alone and are secretive? And why didn't the queen call him sooner? It would have prevented so many deaths."
"He's an acquaintance of hers, apparently, and like I said, he used to heal in the past, then he went into seclusion and never do this again, and only now did she find out where he was.”
Glisten looked around and whispered to Cosmo.
"Don't you think it's strange that we weren't informed about this?"
Cosmo thought about this, which made him even more anxious. This was noticed by his friend, who groaned with joy when he heard a trumpet sounding, signaling the iron gates to open.
Cosmo heard it too.
"Let's go! I think everyone's waiting!"
"DID YOU TELL EVERYONE!?"
"Of course! We should have known! But unfortunately, Tisha keeps everything to herself.”
Not that Tisha kept everything to herself, leaving everyone surprised in the middle of the hour, she was the leader of the nurses, that is, she knew her subordinates very well... telling news like that would make everyone so anxious that they would forget all their tasks, they would even not take proper care of the patients because a gossip was more important to some than a life.
Cosmo and a few other Toons were more focused on caring for patients than most of the other Toons who were nurses.
But that doesn't mean they were great nurses; sometimes Cosmo would get the medicine wrong or forget to sterilize medical equipment before using it on a patient.
"And let's keep this between the nurses! She knows absolutely nothing!”
Cosmo nodded and was pulled by the arm by Glisten, leading him to the main entrance where all the nurses were there whispering and laughing as they all looked out the window without anyone outside noticing.
"Cosmo! Glisten!”
One of the nurses waved to them both, they recognized it was one of their friends named Shelly, not only by her happy and energetic voice, but also because her clothes always had some dirt stains on them, as she was always out there digging various holes to try to find some discovery like ancient vases and artifacts.
Tisha would have scolded her for being in this state, but she saw that all the clothes were the same (even the masks), and the only one that had a hint of a different color other than a lighter color that could be mistaken for white is Tisha, she let it go, since it allowed her to identify everyone.
She only ordered her to clean her clothes when it was time to see a patient.
"Come on! I saved a seat for you two!”
They both thanked her and stood beside their friend. Looking out the window, they could see a nurse in black and white robes, holding her hands behind her back as she watched a royal carriage come toward the front courtyard.
"Oh~ how fancy! The queen made sure someone picked him up."
Glisten spoke in a high, sarcastic tone, making the nurses listen and laugh. Cosmo lightly slapped him on the head.
"Hey!”
"Shh... she'll hear us! And he better have taken the carriage. If he and the coachman made it back here alive, that means he won't die any time soon."
Glisten huffed through her mask and was about to argue, but when the carriage stopped and the coachman got out to calm the horses and open the door, a million murmurs came from the nurses.
Questions and anticipation filled the room. They were talking about what the new doctor might be like.
"I hope he's handsome"
"I hope he's not like that grumpy old doctor... what was his name again?"
"I hope he's strong! I can't handle carrying boxes of medicine!"
"He'd be so cute if he were charismatic and had a sweet voice!!!"
"If he's tall, it'll help me get a lot!"
"I wonder if he'll have the same personality as the old doctor?... I miss him so much-"
Silence stretched across the room as the carriage door opened and all the nurses squeezed in to see who the new doctor was.
And when the new doctor finally emerged from the carriage, the room fell silent, which was strange because everyone would normally start talking and commenting on the new doctor's appearance.
"He... is... strange…”
Shelly was the one who spoke, it was true, he was tall and thin in an abnormal way, looking like he was a sick patient and not a doctor, he walked calmly and with an erect posture, always looking alert and his feet dragged on the ground as if he was too weak to lift his feet and walk normally.
Not only was his demeanor strange, but he also emitted a negative energy. Not only Cosmo, but all the nurses peering out the window were looking at each other, silently confirming that they all thought the same about the new doctor.
"He looks like he crawled out of a grave in the cemetery..."
"Yeah…”
"Isn't he a patient in terminally ill?"
"If he were one, he wouldn't be dressed all in black and wearing a mask."
While the nurses whispered among themselves, Tisha approached the carriage and asked the coachman for something. Leaving the new doctor and the head nurse alone in the courtyard, she extended her hand, and they shook hands and chatted briefly.
"Okay... he's the new doctor-"
Suddenly, Tisha looked at the window with a frown, causing all the nurses to back away. Before they could leave, Tisha said something to the doctor, leaving him alone in the courtyard as she climbed the front steps and quickly opened the door.
"May I ask why your guys aren't doing their tasks? By the way, which of you knew about this and told everyone?”
Everyone remained silent. Tisha crossed her arms and looked at all the nurses with her head down.
Even though each had their own circle of friends and some didn't get along with others, they stuck together so no one would be punished. Unless Tisha found out who the culprit was.
"Luckily, the new doctor arrived, and I don't want him to have a bad impression of this place, especially of the nurses!”
The nurses nodded silently, only one of them coming forward. Cosmo was stunned and recognized the dirt-stained robes.
"Ms. Tisha... are you sure he's the doctor? He looks sick-"
"Don't you dare say that around him. I know he looks sick, but I can guarantee he's 100% healthy."
"He doesn't look like it. He looks like he died last week, not to mention he's strange."
Glisten stepped forward and said this, prompting the nurses to speak as well, which gave Tisha a headache.
"LISTEN! We had over ten doctors here, and they all died! Either you accept this new doctor, or it won't just be the patients who die!”
Silence fell in the room, Tisha sighed shakily, everyone was aware that they didn't have to argue with Tisha in this state, what she said didn't have to be questioned now…
“The queen said she knew him in the past and heard news of him through the messengers… he is our hope and I heard he is great at what he does… please… treat him with respect.”
Tisha didn't wait for the nurses to agree; she left and went back to the courtyard, inviting the doctor in. Not only Cosmo, but everyone felt a weight in the room, as if a ghost were staring at them when the doctor entered.
"I want everyone to meet Doctor Sprout Seedly... he'll be living with us until the plague subsides…”
“Please… just call me Sprout and I’m happy to be able to work with several Toons, you all will make my services easier by being here, I hope we can all get along!”
The nurses remained silent, lasting only a few seconds before Tisha clapped her hands together, drawing everyone's attention. She pointed to three nurses standing next to Cosmo and Glisten.
"You guys, I hope you've finished cleaning the doctor's bedroom."
The three of them looked at each other and hurried to the hallway where the old doctor's bedroom was. As Tisha had guessed, they hadn't finished that task. She sighed and caught Sprout's attention.
"Come on... I'll show you around."
Tisha looks at the rest of the nurses and raises her voice.
"The rest of you will have to get back to finishing your tasks before lunch!"
They all nodded and parted ways.
Cosmo and his two friends looked at each other, both sharing the same discomfort. Glisten approached Cosmo and Shelly and whispered softly.
"Whatever it is... stay tuned…”