The alarm clock rang out extra loud, Elle rolled over and groaned as she hit the snooze button, not even bothering to glance at the time that blinked on the digital monitor. She debated going back to sleep and calling in sick, she'd been up extra late last night trying to finish her research paper on the project she'd found herself in the midst of. But Elle knew that if she didn't turn up for her 12 hour shift in triage, that someone would notice there was something going on. So, for the purpose of solely keeping up appearances, quite literally in this instance, Elle pulled herself out of her bed. Elle rubbed her eyes furiously, trying to remove the remnants of last nights sleep from her appearance. Sliding her feet into her slippers that she kept at the side of her bed, she stood up and headed over to her vanity desk. Dropping herself into the desk chair she had haphazardly put in front of her peeling old desk, she'd tried to put a coat of paint over an old writing desk in an attempt to feel brand new again. Elle sighed at her reflection in the mirror, there was a slight crack in the glass, she couldn't remember how it had happened but it felt strange to think of it never actually having been there. Elle put on her foundation, and a small amount of lipgloss to make herself look almost human. She pulled her long hair from the headband she put on to sleep in, and brushed her hair. The brush caught on some of the knotted parts and she grimaced slightly with the short sharp pain that followed the snagged hairbrush. Once she'd brushed her hair, she put it into a fishtail braid and wrapped it into a cute, tight ballerina style bun. It was the only way to keep her long hair manageable and out of the way whilst she was at work. She stood up once she felt like she looked acceptable and meandered over to her closet and pulled out clean underwear and her work uniform, a blue button blouse, and dark navy blue fitted trousers, and put on a clean pair of socks, and put her black work shoes on. Once Elle felt ready for work, she walked into her kitchen and pulled out a clean cup and clicked on the kettle. Her mind wandered slightly as she looked out of her window out into the small garden that sat behind her little bungalow. Birds perched on the branches of the tree in her garden, the leaves were beginning to fade to their autumnal colours. As the kettle brewed and clicked off she came back to the present and poured the boiling water into her cup ; adding a spoonful of coffee and sugar to the mix and stirring it. Elle brought the cup to her lips and blew softly, and sipped the hot drink, feeling the warmth flow through her insides and wake her from her slumber.<br/>As she finished her drink, Elle pulled on her thin cardigan and picked up her keys and headed out the door, locking it behind her.<br/>Elle walked the half mile to the hospital and smiled at the people as she walked through the door... if nothing else, these people could do with something to cheer them up. And she believed that a smile was the best medicine for those who came into her office. Elle began her long shift in the hospital, waiting for those times to pass to when she would have some free time.<br/><br/>Patients came and went from her office, and by lunchtime she filled up her paperwork, and closed her office door. Realising she wouldn't be able to get everything done and eat lunch, she decided to skip it. Firing up her computer she needed to put all the information she'd collected from her patients onto their online medical databases, so that their employers, government officials and other medical professionals would all know what had happened today. Every single person had an online medical database that only those who needed to see it could access someones entire medical history. Although Elle didn't completely morally agree with the whole thing, she had to follow protocol. Even though she remembered a simpler time, the government had decided this was for the best, and would stop people from claiming illnesses when they didn't have them. Maybe it was just propaganda, but Elle definitely thought it was something else entirely. Her watch bleeped to tell her that she would have patients flooding through her door soon. She filed away the last of the paperwork and then put it into the cabinet and locked it tight. Reopening her office door as though she'd just come back from her lunch break, she hoped the afternoon wouldn't have too many patients so she would be able to finish on time and get something to eat before heading down to the lab.<br/><br/>Afternoon soon passed and Elle clocked out of her shift at the hospital and made sure her office door was fully locked. Although the hospital itself did have locks and security, Elle would like to make sure that there was no way a data breech could be made and her take the fall for it. With a  slight sigh, she headed out of the hospital waving bye to those who where coming in for the graveyard shift, and headed out into the street. The crisp evening air hit her with a refreshing blast. Elle walked into the city centre  and back out again, almost 3 miles, in total and came to a grey and blank looking building with nothing but a orange cross on the front of it. A Private health clinic that specialised in sleep disorders, or at least that was the front it put up. She swiped her card at the front door and headed into the lobby.