Chapter One

A chloroform mask was placed over the patient, his eyes staring up at the doctor's blood-stained apron and the two nurses assisting him. Three days ago, Joseph Hales was brought into St. Bartholomew's hospital with a head injury and two stab wounds. He was to be released early this morning, but the nurses discovered that his left leg was black and swollen from gangrene. Joseph was scheduled for an amputation and to remain in the hospital for three weeks – much to Joseph's dismay.

His heavy eye lids slowly closed and the doctor began his work.

The procedure took 23 minutes to slice around the infected area and saw through the bone. A red haired nurse cauterized the wound and begun bandaging it carefully. With the amputation a success, the nurses moved the patient by lifting the sheet under Joseph and moved him onto a rolling table.

Kora strolled him carefully down the hall of the surgical theater with the other nurse following behind. They took him to his room and moved Joseph again onto the hospital bed, taking the bloody sheet from underneath him.

Kora Hart had been working at Barts for four years. She had seen every bodily function and waste to last a lifetime and plenty more. Her duties as a nurse were to assist the leading male doctors, bring patients their meals, clean out chamber pots, change old bandages, and give medicine. For 12 hours a day she would work in the under staffed, stress filled hospital of the mentally ill and sick. Luckily those who were mentally wrong in the head would be gone within a day or two – sent off to the asylum.

In the nurses' quarters, Kora washed her face in a bowl of clean water and fixed her long bangs behind her ears. She then walked over to her locker and took out her meal for the afternoon. As she was finishing, more nurses came into the quarters. One in particular was Elizabeth Finley. Ms. Finley came from a middle class family where her parents had paid through her courses in nursing school – unlike Kora who worked odd jobs around town to pay off her education. Elizabeth was beautiful – long brown hair done up in braids with pretty blue eyes and a heart shaped face. She had always been a favourite of the patients – always asking for Elizabeth to help change their attire, their sheets or bandages. But when it came to emptying chamber pots or cleaning up vomit from the floor, she would always make another nurse do it instead. Which was usually Kora.

"Oh, Kora!" Elizabeth sang as she walked over. "The chamber pots need to be emptied on floor three. Be a dear and go do your work." Elizabeth smiled before walking away to her locker.

Kora subtly rolled her eyes and folded up the handkerchief that carried her lunch. There was no point arguing with Elizabeth. There was one thing Kora had that Elizabeth didn't – an intelligent response. She also knew when to wield it. The last time she told off Elizabeth, the doctors got involved and took Elizabeth's side. Kora almost got suspended for a week. And that deducts from her pay. Kora couldn't afford to mouth off.

For the rest of the afternoon, Kora went room to room on floor 3 changing chamber pots. Once she had finished that task, she took the lift to floor 4 and started again from room to room. She finally came to the last room on the floor and walked over to the bed, kneeled and noticed the chamber pot was empty.

She turned to leave when the patient spoke up, "Excuse me, Love. But I've been waiting hours for a change of bandages. Would you mind?"

Kora glanced at him and nodded, "Aye. Sit up for me."

The chamber pot duty was the last thing she had to do before ending the day. But she couldn't leave a patient waiting, it was her duty as well as her job to help the needs of patients. She walked back over to the metal bucket of waste and placed it outside the door. Walking over to the water basin on top of a trolly, she washed her hands and dried them with a towel. She pulled the drawer open and took out a fresh roll of bandages.

The man sat up slowly, moving the pillows against his back. His right leg was uncovered by the blanket and was bound by bandages around his ankle and foot. With a broken ankle, he was going to be here for three weeks. If he was annoyed by the nurses now, he was going to be more angry with them through the weeks ahead.

Kora started at the slip knot and slowly began unraveling the injury. The last bit of bandage slipped off revealing a long stitched cut where they had opened his ankle to re-align it. It was puffy and red, dried bits of blood clung to the stitches. Kora discarded the bandages onto the trolly behind her and examined it closely.

"Is it bad?" the man asked softly.

Kora shook her head, "No." she then walked over to the water basin and rolled it over to her side. "I'm just going to clean away the blood stains before bandaging it." she took the cloth she used to dry her hands and soaked it a bit. Dabbing lightly, she washed away the bits of blood and grime.

"May I ask how you got this injury?" Kora asked.

The man grimaced and thought for a moment before replying, "I 'fell' off a carriage."

The red haired lass frowned lightly as she stole glances at him.

He was very handsome, square jaw with the stubble of a beard growing in. Dark brown hair brushed back and away from his face. Hazel eyes focused on his injured foot, wincing when Kora pressed on the wound. And a coin necklace dangling from his neck.

Kora placed her focus back on bandaging the wound and she pushed the trolly back in place. She collected the soiled bandages and before she could turn to leave, the man grabbed her wrist gently, "Could I trouble you for a favor?" He held up a folded piece of paper, "I need you to deliver a message."

Kora replied, "I'm sorry, I am a nurse. Not a courier."

"Yes, I know that. But I really need you to do this for me. I will be ever in your debt." He smiled gently at her. Kora frowned as she stared at the message, she could already feel herself unwinding to do it. But how could he trust a stranger to do it?

"How do you know you can trust me?" Kora asked, "How do you know I won't just throw it out?"

The man pulled the note away from her reach, "Then I'll have to ask another lovely nurse to do my bidding. Although she may not be as kind and pretty."

Kora's cheeks flustered as she sighed, "I'll deliver your message."

"Ta. Now give it to a Rook. A person dressed in green and yellow. Tell them it's from Jacob Frye and I need it delivered to my sister, Evie Frye."

"A Rook? You mean that gang that's slowly taking over London?" They are the reason walking home from work has been far safer then running into Blighters and having to switch sidewalks to avoid them. Kora wasn't sure if she wanted to get mixed up with a gang... she had enough problems in her life now. But he seemed like a nice fellow...

Jacob smiled, "Yes."

Kora hesitated before taking the letter.

She pointed a thin finger at him, "Just this once."

Opening her locker, Kora placed her apron inside on a hook. She took out the letter from her apron pocket and slipped it into her dress pocket. She pulled the hairpins tightly securing her bonnet and placed it over the hook. She fixed her braids that were pulled in a neat bun behind her head as the gossip of other nurses came into the nurses' quarters.

"... Did you hear about that man who was brought in yesterday? He broke his ankle from falling off a moving carriage. What on earth was he thinking?"

"Perhaps he was saying that to impress you."

"Well, he'll have none of that from me. I heard what he did to Elizabeth. He was trying to escape the ward on crutches and 'fell' forward into her! His face was in her bosom! Luckily two security men hauled him off of her and took him back to his room. Poor, Elizabeth was embarrassed the rest of the day!"

The nurses continued their banter as Kora closed her locker door and headed out. She passed through the long hall into a wider room towards the front desk. She walked into the booth and wrote off the hour before leaving. Kora bid the front desk girl good night and left the hospital.

She passed through the archway as her eyes searched the street for green clothed gang members. She took the next street down, crossing the road towards the Whitechapel district. You would think for a gang that had recently taken over, you would see them all over the streets. But alas, Kora was half way home to her flat when she just happened to look across from her.

There stood a rook with a bowler cap, yellow lined and green uniform. The stitched emblem of a rook's claws deep on a knight chess piece could be seen wrapped around his arm. Kora looked both ways, waiting for a carriage to pass as she crossed the street and approached the rook.

"Excuse me," Kora started. But her words were lost when the rook turned and stared at her, waiting. It was a women! Kora had mistaken her for a man! The female rook blinked and replied, "What? Speak up, lass."

Kora took the message out of her pocket. She handed it to the female rook and spoke, "Jacob Frye is in Barts Hospital with a broken ankle. He asked me to deliver this message to you to take to his sister, Miss... Evie Frye?"

The Rook stood up straighter and took the message, "Ta. I'll personally make sure it gets to her."

Kora watched as the rook walked down the street and vanished around the corner. Then proceeded to walk back across the street and into her flat. The thoughts of a bath and late dinner beckoning her.

Writer's Note: Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review! Questions and Critic are very much welcomed! xoxo