CHAPTER THREE

December 19XX

Shell Harbor, Bahamas

From Cass' perspective, being a doctor in a war-stricken world as a woman is sort of being discriminated against. After all, women aren't allowed to do work that is mainly for men. That's why as soon as their group was deployed and were welcomed by the commander, a curious gaze and murmurs were circulating them. And all of it was directed towards her, seeing her wearing a lab gown amongst the group of young men who wears the same clothing. Her uniqueness made others ostracize her but be amaze her at the same time, thinking that she's foolish enough to do it.

Even the nurses who were sent there first were jealous of her accomplishment. But some patients, especially the males, are hesitant to be touched by her, being a woman and a doctor.

No one let her stay in some small bunk that is for her as a doctor, even the nurses were avoiding her like a plague. On the island where she grew up, all genders share equal rights, according to the rank of your clan.

And her, the only daughter of her clan, also the remaining person, wasn't treated like a fragile glass nor like a plague. Whatever she does on the island, as long as she hadn't disobeyed any rules, everything is fine. That's how they regulate everything.

But the human norm is different: women aren't allowed to do laborious works, they are only to stay inside the house, taking care of the household and the family. Cassielle wasn't raised in that manner: whatever her father and uncle do, she will also do it. After all, the task entitled to them is pretty simple: protect the inhabitants of the island from the dangers of the outside world.

She won't mind staying outside, she sometimes sneaks out of their house just to spend the night stargazing as she rest. Her only bag containing her spare clothes sitting beside her will serve as her pillow. But her plan to stay outdoors failed when someone took notice of her solitary figure, being shadowed by the night, sitting at the sea wall. No one was willing to take her in. A woman in her late twenties came up to her. 

"You're the new doctor dispatched at the base, right?" The woman smiled at her. "Why are you here? Do you have no lodgings?"

Cass stared at the woman who came up to her like was an object who fell from the sky. Even the locals were wary of her, but a woman has the courage of a bull to talk and come near her. "Uhh..."

"Silly me! I'm Amanda Beaufort. One of the pilots on the base is my husband, we're kind of lucky he wasn't dispatched to somewhere far, at least I wouldn't worry much. By the way, what's your name?" The woman, Amanda, asked.

"...Cassielle Elise," Cass answered before deciding whether to tell her family name or not. In the end, she decided not to. Even without her family name, no one will still know her.

"Wow, Doctor Elise or Doctor Cassielle?" Amanda's eyes were sparkling from admiration.

"...Cass would do." She quietly answered. "I'm off duty, so no one will call me doctor."

"Well, Cassie," Amanda smiled widely. "How about you stay at our home? It's not extravagant, but we can still accept another person to live with us. Also, if you're sleeping outside, it's dangerous since we don't know what might happen. It would be a shame if in your first day here you got into trouble.."

"...Why?"

"Why, you ask?" Amanda, touched her chin like she was thinking too. "You're a single lady, alone and without any shelter to stay too. Also, where's your family? For a young woman like you, I'm sure they are worried sick that you came to this place."

Cassielle never tolerated noisy people, unless it's her Uncle Michael who loves to travel around and tell stories of what he found. But the woman in front of her has the same aura as her Uncle Michael, just in the body of a woman, and it didn't make her ran out of patience listening to. Cass finds it easy for her to talk to Amanda. "My dad is missing after he and uncle went to fight after the death of my cousin. I don't know where they are both."

"What?!" Amanda almost shrieked. "Oh no, now I won't be offering our home, I decided that you will stay with us, whether you say you don't want to. Your family is missing, wait, where is your mother?"

Cass shook her head. "Who knows? I never asked," She put her gaze back to the sky. "Our butler is also looking for dad, and we separated ways. So I decided to come here for a change of scenery. Also the purpose of looking for him."

Amanda picked her bag. "Come live with us, I'm sure Charles will be glad to see another person living at our home, I'm getting lonely sometimes when he stays longer at the base."

Ended up with no choice, her things were already in Amanda's hands, she followed the woman until they reached a small bungalow, enough for a family of five to stay. A lamp lights one of the windows, where a man is currently staying. 

"Dear! Look what I saw while on my way home! The doctor!" Amanda chirped as she entered the house. The house isn't big as what she had been accustomed to, but it felt like home to any other house she had been to.

A guy wearing a brown long-sleeved polo and jeans looked in their direction. His eyes lit up when he saw Amanda with Cass. "Oh, the doctor! Come in!"

"We can let Cass stay here, dear, right? She doesn't have any lodgings to stay for the night, and she's sitting at the sea wall, I don't know how long has she been there." Amanda raised the bag she's been holding. "Besides, it's more fun to have another person in the house than us."

"Sure, besides, it will be unsafe for the doctor staying outside, who knows what will happen." The guy didn't even hesitate for once when Amanda decided. "But I'm curious, why did you choose to become a doctor than a nurse?"

"...It's my father," She replied honestly. "Before he and uncle went missing after the fight, he's already sick from the previous fight with my other uncle. Perhaps I can find a way to cure or alleviate it a bit."

"I see, but why does your father is missing?" Charlie asked.

Cass shrugged and Amanda beat him to it. "The talk about her life shall continue tomorrow, dear. Can you clean up the spare room, please? Cass, are you hungry?"

"I'm fine. I don't feel hunger." Cass replied.

"Are you sure? We still have butter and bread here. And soup too. I think you should still eat," Amanda made Cass sit and walked in another direction. When the former returned, she's holding a tray of food: a bowl of soup, bread, potatoes, and a glass of water. "I'm sorry if we can't give you a decent one."

"Thank you," Cass stared at the food. "This is a lot for me."

Amanda grinned widely. "You're welcome, Cass! For a person who was used to have a butler, you like simple things."

"That stupid butler isn't for the household; he serves my father only," Cass murmured when she took the bowl of soup and took a sip. It was delicious, compared to the meals she had to eat many years ago. "This is good."

"Oh, you flatter me, Cass. It's just a home-cooked meal, it's nothing special." Amanda was flustered, keeps fanning her face.

"I'm telling you the truth, I'm sure your husband is agreeing with me," Cass replied.

Sure enough, Charlie is standing at the doorway, grinning from ear to ear. "Even the doctor likes your food, now you know I'm not fooling around, dear."

"Fine, you are not! But it's still unbelievable, my parents never liked my food." Amanda said.

"Well, it's their loss," Cass said as she wiped her mouth with a cloth. "A hearty meal is rare to find at home infested by war. It's one of the things that a man who's going to war will yearn most, next to their loved ones. Charlie is indeed lucky to stay with you here on the island."

Amanda who's entirely surprised at Cass's comment was still staring at the regal composure of the woman in front of them. 

Who would have thought that she will meet people who will accept her as who she is and never turned their backs against her for what she is?

And she would find a new level of a certain emotion from a different person, and to a mere human, as what the aristocrats say.

But the journey she will have with them will be a roller coaster of tragedy and failure, that leads to problems in the future.