I made a little more lore for her character, I hope this allows everyone to get to know her better.
General
Name: Latte/ShuXin Wong
Age/Birthdate: 24, born in March, 2003
Eye Colour: Dark brown
Hair Colour: Black
Hairstyle: whatever shaggy mess she cut for herself(short wolf cut?)
Height: 5’3 on a good day
Body/Build: Top heavy, slight muscle tone from doing Pilates and lifting heavy patients.
Blood type: O positive
Profession: Nurse
Childhood/Life
Latte, born ShuXin, was born in a city hospital to an average Chinese couple. Her family immigrated to Canada when she was a baby due to her mother being pregnant again during the one-child policy. Her life in Canada wasn’t lavish but it was decent for her little family. She had a talent and love for singing. Her mother also loved singing, and upon realizing her talents, placed her in singing lessons. Latte was hoping to become a singer of sorts in adulthood. She grew up helping her parents in their restaurant. And she also cared for her little brother, Viktor. As the eldest, she was pinned down by a lot of expectations and unfortunately became parentified quite heavily by her parents and circumstances.
ODIN
When Latte was 14, her entire family was caught in the unfortunate event of ODIN during a Vacation down to Seattle, Washington. They weren't in the direct area that was hit, but near enough that her parents died from the complications and Latte and her brother were moderately injured. She was later sent back to Canada with her brother to live with a family friend, but she had to stop her extracurriculars due to financial reasons.
Professional Experience
Latte did an LPN program for nursing in Canada, She transferred to the States to be near her brother, Viktor, who is in the military. When she was transferred down to the States, the healthcare system was quite literally in shambles and there were a ton of employment opportunities. The healthcare system is low on nurses, doctors, and other essential staff alike, especially in the military. Many nurses and care aides also quit because they can’t handle the intense workload anymore, causing more shortages. She still dreams of singing but knows that it's unrealistic, you can find her singing quietly while she charts when there's a rare moment of downtime.
Personality
Friendly and patient, she has a great professional front, but can occasionally seem anxious when deep in thought.
She rather knowledgeable and intelligent.
Tends to spiral and overthink when overwhelmed.
She's an extrovert. She loves meeting new people and has gotten a stern talking to by her manager because she would waste time interacting with the patients.
Yapper ™. Latte sometimes talks too much and accidentally lectures ppl
A saviour syndrome/mother hen. Latte’s upbringing causes her to feel like it is her life goal to make sure everyone else’s needs are met before hers. Her mother’s words “Make sure you are considerate to others.” Often echoes in her head. Making sure everyone around her is satisfied. Often mother or nag Viktor even in adulthood. Causing Viktor to be occasionally a little avoidant. She accidentally blurs the line between a sister and a mother a lot.
Apologizes for everything, but that's partially because she's Canadian. But it does give the impression that she doesn’t think highly of herself.
Dynamic with Hesh
The first time they met, Latte thought he was adorable and had some butterflies in her belly but thought that was anxiety from Hesh holding her hand. And the second time they met, the feelings came back, and she was stammering and struggling to concentrate. Especially when she saw his well-built body, all rationality out the window. Latte felt an indescribable connection with Hesh. A mutual understanding of struggles with expectations from parents, being the responsible one for the younger siblings, and carrying the will of the family. But never allowed to break down yourself. She's able to be vulnerable and open with Hesh. Confiding in each other about their struggles with finding themselves, and how they aren’t just someone's son/daughter or brother/sister.
The only issue concern might be that Hesh is used to expressing his disapproval/demands since he is in the military. He is unaware of how intimidating he can come across. So he can be a little too direct and unconsciously make her anxious with his words and body language. On the other hand, Latte tends to hold back her complaints, but because Latte doesn’t express her needs or feelings, she tends to bottle up and then break down.
Skills
She is a great singer, has a soothing and smooth voice and can put you to sleep with her singing. Also a great voice for emotional ballads or musical numbers.
She is fast and efficient with her hands and is great at physical tasks with small or intricate details, due to her experience helping her parents in the restaurant. She is also a great cook because of this, but the downside is everything she cooks becomes Chinese or a Chinese fusion dish (not done on purpose).
Nursing skills since she is a nurse! Things like wound dressing, IV inserts, and medication admin. However, Her soft skills are where she shines. Her ability to de-escalate patients, comfort, and establish trust, and her bubbly personality make her the go-to person for unhappy patients and families.
FUN FACTS
Tends to speak to herself in Chinese when alone. Often receiving weird looks.
Able to speak, sing, read, and write in her native tongue. Latte is very connected with her culture. Makes Chinese holiday foods for the team.
Enjoys rock and upbeat music. She is an “any song as long as I vibe with it” type of music listener.
Had a weird edgy/emo phase from 13-15. Tried to teach herself how to metal scream. Ruined her voice for a week.
Not great at math, and was banned from being a cashier at the restaurant.
Very scary when actively angry. But the idea of her being openly angry is strange because no one in her professional life (Minus Lauren the manager and Viktor) has tasted her repressed and built-up wrath.
She LOVES the fries and cheeseburger combo. A good cheeseburger with tomato, sweet pickled onion, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, regular pickles, and a side of nice crispy fries is all she wants sometimes
(Thanks for reading!! Any feedback is welcomed!! Thanks for all the love you guys showed me on my previous Fic and OC posts <3)
When Logan saw Latte’s form emerge from behind Merrick’s brick wall of a body, he knew that he had met her at the hospital back in January. She was the nurse who treated Hesh when he came out of a procedure for a rather nasty combat injury. He watched as Latte’s gaze swept across the room and abruptly stopped on Hesh. He shifted his eyes back to Hesh, attempting to discern whether Hesh himself remembered her or not. Hesh’s eyebrows raised in confusion, his eyes locked on Latte, but there were no signs of recognition.
Latte breaks off her eye contact first as she has to introduce herself. Logan laughed, realizing that Hesh didn’t remember her and, by extension, the hilarious events of him coming off the anesthesia from his procedure.
The brothers observed from a distance as she set up her little station on the lone table across the room. She takes out Blood pressure cuffs, a pulse oximeter, and some other equipment that they don't care much for the name of. Elias calls for a volunteer, and Merrick decides to go first and “get this shit over with.”
Logan takes this moment to nudge Hesh on the arm. Hesh looks back over at him.
“Hmm? What's up?”
“You remember her?” He questioned, tilting his head towards where Latte was seated.
“The nurse?” Hesh asked, confused.
“Yeah, Latte.” He chuckled.
“Don't think so, Logan. I’d remember if someone with a name like Latte ever spoke to me.” Hesh confirmed he wouldn’t forget someone with such a unique name, and now that he is thinking about it, he wonders if it's a nickname.
“You really don’t remember her, huh? I don’t blame you. You were pretty out of it from the pain at the time and on pretty heavy drugs.” He recalls, snickering at the memories,
“Good thing Dad didn’t see you goofy on those meds, reaaal embarrassing.”
“Logan…what, what did I do?”
”Heh Heh.”
”Logan, come on, spit it out.” Hesh said, growing more concerned. Upon seeing his brother get antsy, Logan relented.
“….I think it's better if you see for yourself.” Logan pulls out his phone, pulls up a video after a moment of scrolling, and puts in one earbud, handing the other to Hesh. Hesh eyed Logan wearily, knowing how mischievous Logan could get, before taking the earbud and putting it in. Logan hits play on the video.
In the video, Hesh is lying in a hospital bed. A cacophony of machine beeps and the whirling of air vents can be heard in the background. The camera pans from Hesh’s face to his hand, and his hand is gripping onto the wrist of someone standing by his bed.
“This is crazy… sorry, miss. He has never acted like this before.” Logan’s voice comes up, apologetic and baffled in tone.
“Come on, David, let go of the nurse. She has a job to do!”
“NOoooo, I wanna hold hands…give me yur hannd” Hesh slurred and moved his hand from her wrist to her hand, holding tight.
“I-it’s okay. People say or do strange things because of the anesthesia all the time.”
A feminine voice said. The video pans toward the nurse’s head, the voice belonging to Latte.
The very nurse who was here to assess their health. Hesh’s eyes widened.
“Logan, what—“
”Shhh, keep watching.”
“I have to take your vitals, sir. Mind if I hold your hand after?” Latte, in the video, attempted to negotiate with Hesh.
”MMm nO, youu are holding my hand wrong. Hold it like this.” The drugged-up Hesh proceeds to intertwine and lace his fingers with Latte’s.
Hesh’s face began to burn a bright red as he continued watching the recording. The only words in his mind he could conjure up were ‘HOW?’ and ‘WHAT?’
”Hesh no!” Logan’s desperate voice calls out. The camera shakes as he stands up to walk over and help pry Hesh’s hand off poor Latte.
“LATTE THERE YOU ARE.” Latte’s manager’s voice can be heard off-screen.
“Room 12 is asking for his water and painkillers, Room 11, bed 4, is upset because you said you’d get him a blanket, but he hasn’t seen one in hours, and Room 13’s family is looking for you again. You have to Speed it up!” The camera pans to Logan’s face, his concern and awkwardness concealed by his mask, before panning back to Hesh and Latte.
“Sorry, Lauren, I will be out in a moment. I just need t—“
“I don’t care! We.Are.Short.Staffed. And no one is working fast enough. Now call bells are ringing up and down the damn unit. Either you little nurses in your pretty little scrubs are ignoring these poor people, or you are not hauling ass enough. Get —“
”LAUREN SHUT THE FUCK UP.” Latte’s voice is sudden, sharp, and loud. The room is silent except for Hesh’s incoherent babbles and machine beeping. The manager managed to let out a few stutters before Latte spoke again.
“Since you are short-staffed and desperate, how about you convince me to stay here? After all, you NEED me to pick up shifts. You NEED me to keep working here so you are not even more short-staffed. Every day you blow up my phone when someone else calls out with bullshit reasons! Nurses get snatched up everywhere, so why don't you convince me to stay?” If looks could kill, Latte would have ODIN-ed Lauren into smithereens.
“…I will go answer the call bells and talk with room 13’s family…” was all the manager could say after a pause. The recording cuts off there.
“Soooo, that was it. You remember now, Hesh?” Logan chuckled, and he glanced back at Hesh.
“… Hesh?”
Hesh’s current state of mind is the personification of the word ‘Mortified.’ His face was a deep crimson, eyes wide in disbelief, and Jaw still dropped. Frozen in his seat, it was as if his soul waltzed out of the room, went to buy milk, and never returned. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, but no sound comes out. Logan can see the tips of his ears burning red. When Hesh finally was able to move, he slapped both of his hands over his face and groaned into his hands.
On Latte's end, she had just finished taking Merrick’s vitals and assessments and now moved on to questioning Merrick.
“Following the MRE consumption, did you experience any vomiting?”
”Yes.” Merrick answered. “I think most of us did.”
“That doesn’t sound fun. How long did the vomiting and nausea persist?”
“I was okay after the 4th or 5th day.”
“I see. How about bowel movements? Did you experience GI symptoms such as intense stomach pain and or diarr—“
”No—No, none of that! Just the vomiting and nausea.” Merrick answered quickly,
“Could you have asked me that any louder?”
“My apologies, captain,” Latte politely responded to Merrick’s grumbling, ignoring his attitude change. She understood Merrick did not want to drag this on for too long or expose his bowel habits to everyone.
“I recommend that you increase your intake of electrolytes and replenish lost fluids. Dehydration from all the vomiting may also be a reason for your slight blood pressure elevation. Thank you for your time, Captain Merrick." Latte quickly jotted down some notes of her treatment recommendations.
After Hesh recovered a little from his shock, he weakly looked at Logan, ”Oh god… I can't believe it. I just— what do I even say to her when it's my turn?? Do I apologi—” Just as Hesh was trying to calm himself and ask for Logan’s advice. Elias's voice interrupted him.
“Hesh! You go next.”
The colour drains out of Hesh’s face, and seeing his brother’s crisis, Logan placed a hand over his mouth, trying to muffle the snort of laughter escaping. Hesh darts a glare towards Logan. But Elias's voice came again before he could demand Logan to stop laughing.
“Hesh?”
“Y-yea, right away, dad.”
“Don’t scare the pretty nurse this time!” Logan whisper-yelled at him. Hesh rolls his eyes at his brother before walking over to the table where Latte is. Latte opens a new page on her notepad and looks up to Hesh as he gets closer. ‘Mutton chops, mutton chops, buzz cut…where have I—‘
She suddenly remembered him, letting out the tiniest gasp. ‘The hand-holding guy!!!' she yelled in her head. She smiled warmly beneath her mask and greeted Hesh as he sat beside her. Latte is always fond of seeing familiar faces, especially previous patients.
“Lieutenant David Walker, correct? Your brother called you David during your stay with us at the start of the year. I remember you! How have you and Logan been?” She beamed at Hesh, eager to chat a little.
“Oh gosh, I uh—been great, Logan too. I’m sorry about that whole thing. My brother showed me the recording, and I have no idea why I was so determined to hold your hand.” Hesh said, sheepishly rubbing his buzzed head.
Latte laughed a little at his flustered state, shaking her head a little.
“It's fine, Lieutenant.”
“Please, Hesh or David is fine.”
“Hesh, it is then. It's totally okay that you reacted that way! Plenty of people do silly things coming off of the drug. It's a common side effect.” She smiled warmly under her surgical mask, eyes squinting.
“Can you please put your finger in here? And do you have a preference for which arm to use for blood pressure?” Latte opens the oximeter for Hesh. Hesh inserts his index finger in the pulse oximeter, and shakes his head no at her question.
“Whichever is easier for you.” He replied, watching her palpate his arm for his artery. As she felt along his muscular arm, He felt his stomach flutter, and his face heated up a little at the proximity. Hesh studies Latte’s face as she works on getting the BP cuff sorted out. Hesh notes a scar peeking out from under her chin where her mask didn’t cover her that trailed down towards the back of her neck. Shiny layered black hair and nicely shaped eyebrows, a notch in her left ear, a mole under her upturned eyes that squints when she smiles—
“—esh, Hesh? Can I use your left arm?” Latte’s voice startles him back to reality. Realizing he had been staring directly at her, he immediately breaks eye contact. Hoping she didn’t notice him staring.
”Y-YEah, sure thing.” Hesh clears his throat and tilts his left arm towards her, his voice cracking slightly. He turned his head to where Logan was, and of course, Logan had a shit-eating grin and made a hand-holding gesture by dramatically raising his hands in front of himself and slowly lacing his fingers together. A blatant attempt at mocking him. He shot a glare at Logan, mouthing a ‘fuck you,’ earning a middle finger back from Logan. The brothers only stopped when Elias cleared his throat and gave them both a questioning stare. At the same time, Latte rolled his T-shirt sleeve up and tried her damn hardest not to drool over Hesh’s well-toned bicep.
The sensation of the BP cuff inflating brought Hesh’s attention back to Latte. She slid the bell of her stethoscope over his brachial artery, skillfully pumping the BP cuff up to 150 on the gauge and letting it drop. She listened intensely and watched as the needle of the BP gauge ticked down. In less than 30 seconds, she managed to get a reading of his blood pressure. She removed the BP cuff and pulse oximeter and reached for a temporal scanner. She quickly scanned Hesh’s forehead before jotting down all his vital findings.
“Just a few more things. I Need to listen to your chest and stomach.” She puts on her stethoscope and waits for Hesh to lift his shirt.
“Sure.” He sat there waiting for her to do what she needed. Latte looked at him expectantly. He looked back, confused, wondering why she was stalling suddenly.
“Oh, sorry! I forgot to mention that I’ll need you to lift your shirt.”
“Oh! Right, yeah.”
He pulls his shirt up, and Latte leans to place the scope on his chest. But Hesh flinches at the cool metal and accidentally elbows her under her chin. She lets out a small ‘eep!’ of surprise while he rushes to apologize.
“Sorry! Are you hurt?!”
“Sorry! The scope is a bit cold.” They apologized to each other at the same time.
“Wait why are you sorry? I bumped into you.”
“…I’m Canadian.”
The two sat in a moment of awkward silence. Hesh has never been this flustered around a person before. He is sure that if he turned his head back, Logan would be there trying to hold back his laugh. He just prayed that his father didn’t witness his idiocy. On the other hand, Latte was kicking herself internally for saying ‘I’m Canadian’ like a goofball instead of offering a proper response. She placed the stethoscope bell in her hand and warmed it up.
“… Are you ready to be auscultated now? It should be less cold this time.”
“Uh, sure, yeah.”
She leaned in again and gently placed the bell on his pec. She moved in a ladder position down his chest and to his sides. She then moved to his stomach, listening for sounds in all four quadrants. From the outside, she was calm, but as she continued to assess him, she suddenly realized something: He had a really well-built body. This sudden realization sent her reeling. She has seen countless soldiers and inspected countless other athletic bodies, but this is the first time her heart has jumped like this.
‘NO! THAT'S YOUR PATIENT STOP!!!’ The rational portion of her mind screeched.
‘But… he’s hot…” The less rational part countered. Latte chose to redirect her mind to the sound of Heshed breathing instead of her inner dialogue.
“Lung sounds are clear, heartbeat is good, active bowel sounds in all four quadrants…” Latte mumbles her findings. She was attempting to distract herself.
“Does it hurt when I press on your stomach?” She palpated his belly with the flat of her hand, feeling her heart leap into her throat as his muscles twitched under her touch.
‘This is just a routine assessment. This is just a routine assessment. This is just a routine—‘ Latte chanted repeatedly in her head as her hands touched across his abs. Hesh shakes his head no.
“Good. I have just a few questions left, and that's about it. What symptoms did you experience last week?”
Hesh pauses to ponder momentarily. “stomach pain…and maybe headaches? Not anymore, though.”
“Okay, any other GI symptoms? Things like dia-”
“No! Uh, I mean, there's none.” Hesh frantically responds before Latte can finish her question but realizes he may have appeared rude. He lets out an awkward laugh.
“That's good. Your baseline is fine. Just make sure you hydrate and monitor for any more symptoms. You are free to grab someone else for the assessment.” Latte beams at him before wiping down her equipment in preparation for the next person’s turn.
“Thanks, Latte.” Hesh flashed her a crooked smile, and Latte felt her stomach do another small flip at his smile. She quickly dismissed the feeling, opting to remain professional, and sent him off with a small ‘No worries!’. He got up and returned to his seat.
“You sure took your time. And your ears are reddd~” Logan’s taunting voice confirmed Hesh’s suspicion that he was observing Latte and Hesh’s interaction throughout the assessment.
“Shut up and go, it's your turn, Logan.” Hesh took out his beanie and tugged it over his ears before putting his arms on each other and laying face down into them, ignoring the strange looks from his teammates.
“So, Logan, is it? Nice to see you and your brother again. I just need you to—“
”Are you single?”
“I...I am, but why are you asking?” Latte managed to squeak out, shocked at his directness.
”No reason; I'm just curious since you asked lotsa questions about us, so it's fair, no?” Logan grinned knowingly.
After a short while, Logan returned to his seat, and Keegan went up for his turn. He nudges Hesh again, and Hesh peeks at Logan with a half-glare.
“What now?”
”She's single.”
“What? How did you—“
”I asked, and she said she is. Go for it.” Logan gave Hesh a grin.
****************
After everyone had been assessed, Latte packed up her bag. Hesh watched as she spoke a little with Elias. Elias thanked her for coming up to the base, and Latte waved her hands and told him it was no big deal. She pulls out a printed piece of paper with information on the location of her hospital and contact details for her unit in case there are any questions. Before she could step out, Hesh mustered up the courage and walked up to her, offering to walk her back out of the base.
The pair silently strolled through the base and stopped just outside the gate, out of earshot of the soldiers guarding it. Hesh stood with his hands in his pockets, and Latte fidgeted with her bag strap. She was about to say goodbye to Hesh when he suddenly spoke up.
“So…Latte, is that a nickname?”
”No, haha. It's actually my English name. My mom saw it on a café poster.”
“What's your actual name? If you don't mind me asking, that is.”
”Mmhmm, I don’t mind, it’s Chinese, spelled S-H-U-X-I-N. Kinda hard to say to non-Chinese speakers, so I just go by La—”
”Shu..Xin? Is... that right?”
Latte froze. She looked straight at him in surprise. He said it right. HE SAID IT RIGHT.
“Ye-yeah, that's the right way to say it!!” She almost cheered.
Hesh flashed her a big grin before looking a little nervous. He took a big breath, “Say… Latte, I still feel terrible about what happened that day. I mean, I know I was not in control of my actions ‘cause of the meds. But you nearly lost your job, and I need to make it up to you somehow… Are you free this weekend?” Hesh held his breath, staring at Latte and waiting for her answer,
“Are you... asking me out?” Latte’s bewildered expression jumps out before she can control her face.
“It's okay if you don’t—”
“No! No, I am free. I will make sure I am!”
Hesh lets out an enormous sigh of relief, suddenly really thankful for having a brother like Logan in his life.
“It's a date, then!” he exclaimed. He grabbed his phone and exchanged contacts with Latte. The pair said their goodbyes before Hesh returned, almost skipping into the base like an excited teenager again, leaving the gate guards confused.
This is the first meeting of my OC Latte with the Ghosts. A big shout out and thanks to @blacktacmopsi for allowing me to reference the MRE fic she wrote! It's my first ever fic; please be kind to me and enjoy (^ V ^ )!!!
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Hiking up the trail leading to the nearby makeshift military base was not how Latte expected to spend her weekends. Well, it's not like she had any expectations for the weekends. She's always called back to the hospital for work because of a lack of nurses after the ODIN event or because the unit is understaffed. Whenever she was promised a day off, her manager called her to get to the unit and help. So when the phone call came at 6 am, blasting her out of the peaceful sleep she was in. She was surprised that her manager tasked her not with coming into the unit to help but rather with a travel shift day.
“Some special task force is coming to the base near us for a check-up. They said it was food poisoning related.” her manager said.
“Isn’t it usually the RN or the nurse practitioner’s job to travel out of the hospital for checkups?” Latte asked a slight protest in her voice.
She’d much rather stay in. Yesterday, she had a shit show of a shift, and her manager promised her she’d get today off. Although, her manager says that every time she's supposed to have a day off, only to call her anyway. So, unfortunately, Latte is used to her manager’s shenanigans by now.
‘At least she's speaking nicer to me after I threatened to quit that one time,’ Latte thought, attempting to find the silver lining.
“…We all did a lil’ vote and decided you should volunteer!” She said as if she was congratulating Latte for winning the lottery. “Since you’re so polite, we figured a little Canadian niceness would be better for these folks!”
“Lauren… I don’t even have words right now.”
”Sorry, but there are only 2 RNs here today, and our nurse practitioner is sick. We can’t afford to send an RN out. Anyway, I sent you the details and the location of the base. Good luck!”
Her manager then hung up faster than you can say, ‘Labour law violation.’ She let out a sigh before she began packing her essentials. “Stethoscope, portable pulse monitor, manual blood pressure cuff, a temporal thermometer scanner, penlight, notepad, and pen…So much for letting me have the day off, huh?” She grumbled as she listed each item being shoved in her sling bag. She looked at her comfortable room before sadly walking out, locking the door behind her.
“I think I'm almost there…” Latte mutters, looking up from her GPS and taking in her surroundings. The forest around her is a gorgeous green, dewdrops glistening in the beautiful early morning light. The lush vegetation and the crunch of gravel under her boots are a refreshing change from the narrow hallways and nose-stinging disinfectant-scented floors of the hospital unit. She was even able to see a chipmunk today.
‘It has been a while since I could take a nice walk.’ Latte smiled, pulling down her surgical mask and inhaling the crisp morning air. A gentle breeze brushed against her face. ‘Maybe today won’t be so bad after all.’
She finally arrives at the temporary base after a rather pleasant 20-minute walk. She energetically greets the two soldiers standing guard at the entrance. Latte explains she was assigned to do nursing assessments for some soldiers here—something about a bad case of food poisoning. The guards exchange a glance, confusion and suspicion evident on their faces.
“Weren’t told anything of that sort. You don’t look like the usual nurse I’ve seen from the little hospital down the trail. Name?” The older-looking of the two soldiers chimes in sternly, narrowing his eyes at her. Taking aback by the sense of hostility from the soldiers, she quickly tried to explain,
”Uh…My name is Latte. I was sent here by—" She attempted to show them her ID and explain before being cut off.
”Latte? Like the coffee? Look, Lady, If you are messing with us. It ain’t funny.” The soldiers begin eyeing her suspiciously.
‘Jesus, they are not bullshiting about the security here!!’ Latte panics internally. She wasn’t sure what to do. The longer she stammers for an answer, the more suspicious the soldiers are of her. So far, any attempts at an explanation have been shut down. She wanted to say fuck it and go home, no call, no show, get fired, and maybe she won’t have to answer her inconsiderate manager’s calls, and won’t need to show up to the shitty unit the next day, and won’t need to work overtime without pay again and—
”Easy fellas, we asked for a nurse.” A different voice stuns her out of the little exhaustion-fueled spiral her mind was funnelling down. Her head whips at mach speed towards her saviour—no, saviours. She took in their appearance: an older man with short white hair followed by a man with no hair, but at least he's got a beard. The pair strolled up to where Latte was standing. The white-haired one gave her a reassuring smile before nodding to the soldiers guarding the gate,
“We called for the nurse. Some of our boys aren’t feeling too great. Sorry for the mix-up.” The soldiers guarding the gate backed off with a quick ‘yes commander,’ allowing the two men to lead Latte into the base.
“Sorry, kid. Our men are just cautious. We can never be too careful with the feds still crawling around.” The older gentleman with white hair piped up after a little walking. The bald man behind Latte grunted in agreement.
”Ah- Where are my manners? I’m Elias Walker, the commander of Task Force Stalkers.” Elias glanced towards Merrick. “And that's Merrick, my captain.” Merrick nods at Latte.
"It's nice to meet you, commander and captain, um...my name is Latte, Latte Wong." She often feels a little embarrassed introducing herself. When her family first immigrated to Canada, her mom saw the word 'Latte' on a quaint little local café's menu and decided it was cute enough for her two-year-old daughter. She wishes she received a regular English name like her little brother Viktor. He was lucky their mom didn't see his name on a café menu. Sometimes she wishes he received a dumbass name, too, so he could match her, like Americano or Muffin. She could go by her birth name, Shuxin, but that would mean countless butchering of the pronunciation. Plus, as stupid as 'Latte' may sound, this name is given to her by her late parents, and she's reluctant to let go of it.
“Latte? A special name you got there.” Elias chuckled, “That a nickname?”
“No, commander. My parents didn’t speak English, and my mother thought it was cute?” she answered, nervousness creeping up her back as she tightened her grip on her bag strap.
“You got family here?” Elias spoke up once more as they approached a building with a smaller gate. While Merrick went up to press the buzzer and verify their Identities, Elias looked at her, waiting for her answer.
“It’s just me and my little brother after ODIN, commander.” She responded honestly. Elias nodded knowingly at her, sympathy and perhaps empathy in his gaze. Before anything else can be said, the gates open, allowing the men and her to enter the building.
The two of them led her into a large meeting room of sorts, two of the three tables pushed near each other, making a larger table on the left side of the room, multiple giant screens mounted to the wall in front of the larger table, the last table on the other side of the room. The men sat around the larger table, some donning different yet similarly designed masks. Some notable men were one seated with a skull mask with his eyes closed, one in a white-streaked black mask, another with his mask on the table in front of him, a man with a buzzed head and an interesting facial hair style sitting next to a dark blond that looked similar to him. The one in the black mask and painted white streaks looked up from his computer at the sound of the door opening.
“Ah Commander, and Merrick, welcome back.” He said, amused, “That didn’t take long.” The other men quieted their chatters and looked at their leaders, waiting for orders or explanations. Latte filed into the room after them, hiding behind Merrick’s stature. “It was a quick walk, Kick. We said we would be back soon.” Elias responds to Kick before turning to address the rest of the group.
“Boys, after the review we sent back to DOD, the heads decided that a health checkup must be completed to ensure that no one has lingering side effects from eating those MREs.” As Elias began, the faces of the men around the table contorted into disgust and pain at the mention of said MREs. Elias shot Merrick a glance, and Merrick moved to the side, revealing Latte’s short form. With the spotlight suddenly cast on her, she can't help but feel a little out of place under the gazes of these elite soldiers. But when her eyes scanned across the room and landed on a familiar-looking face, the buzzed head, mutton chop facial hair… She was stuck staring at him for a while as she jogged her memories to recall where she had seen him before.
“The head sent us a nurse from nearby,” Merrick commented, then looked at Latte, expecting her to introduce herself. Realizing that the attention was directed at her again, she snapped out of the impromptu staring contest she accidentally held with mutton chops.
“Uh…Good morning everyone…My name is Latte. I was instructed to come here at the last minute by my manager Lauren. I am from the hospital—The small one just by the base.” Latte stammered through her introduction, feeling ridiculous once more about her name and praying that no one was secretly thinking, ‘What dumbass name is Latte?’ Or smirking under their masks. “I understand that usually a more experienced nurse or a higher calibre nurse would be the one to do out-of-site visits, but something must have come up on the unit!… So, I was sent. My manager didn’t explain why, but I will do my best to assess you guys.” Latte attempted to hide the shakiness of her voice and smiled reassuringly at the men in front of her.
“So…Uh...Let's get started! If it’s okay, I will set up a little questioning and assessment booth at that table on the far side of the room.” She looked at Elias, waiting for his approval.
“Sure.” Elias agreed, and before he could offer his help, Latte sprung into action, grabbing two extra chairs, hauling them to the unused table, and beginning to set up. Elias looked back at the group, “So, who wants to go first?”
