CYOA Page 96
Sep. 13th, 2013 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12"Let's just leave them there," you say to Joel. "Maybe someone's doing an experiment... like, see how long it takes them to starve to death? Or if one will eventually eat the other?"
"Cute. All right then, let's go see if Danny's here. An' stay alert."
"I know, I know -- cities make you nervous."
"They should make you nervous, too."
"Maybe they would if most of them weren't also abandoned like pretty much every other place we see," you snark at him. And also if I was ALONE... but you don't say that out loud. You know Joel enjoys feeling like your protector -- well, being your protector -- but you also need him to see you as a capable, mature, confident, old-enough-to-have-sex-with adult.
You don't see anyone leading up to the hospital... or even inside the hospital, at first. And it's not very welcoming in there. The lobby area looks pretty big -- or, rather it used to be big -- but the hallway is completely blocked off, and the window at the greeting/reception desk is reinforced with a board.
"Maybe we're not supposed to come in this way?" you suggest. Although you did just walk through two sets of sliding doors stuck in the open position.
"Maybe... but there's this." Joel approaches the counter and points to a little silver domed thing on the edge. It looks like a...
"Oh! Is that a bell? Like you can press the little button?"
"Yeah. There's usually a 'ring for service' sign or somethin', though." He shrugs and dings the bell.
"Let me do it!" You press the thing five more times. "Someone can actually hear this back there?"
"I reckon so. I think I hear people back there." Joel nods at the window. "There's a little hole in that board. Like a peephole in a door. So they can see who's here."
"I know what peepholes are for." You giggle a little and add in a whisper, "So you can spy on people."
Joel smirks. "Movie?" Because if you show knowledge of anything Joel doesn't feel you should know about, like alternate uses for peepholes, he assumes it came from a book or a movie. (Usually, that assumption is correct. But who doesn't know about peepholes?!)
"Real life," you say coyly. "You never noticed the one in the wall of the shower, huh?"
"Uh, no." He doesn't believe you. You didn't expect him to.
"Yep! So, now that you know it's there, you can spy on me in there if you want," you offer with a grin.
"You're a naughty girl. None of that here, now," he reminds you in a low voice.
"I knoooow," you groan. Hasn't he noticed how you're keeping your hands to yourself? Except for the one by the bell -- you ring it again, a few more times.
"Maybe we should look for another way in," Joel suggests.
"Helloooooooo!" you call out. Your voice is louder than the bell. The bell is pointless, really. "Oh, I think I hear someone!"
"How can I help you?" asks a male voice behind the boarded window. You don't see his eyeball through the hole, but the glass does make it kind of glare-y there. "Is anyone hurt?"
"Nope, we're from Jackson and we're here to visit someone!" you answer. You launch into a detailed explanation of the reason for this visit, and before you even get to the part about fulfilling the request for volunteers--
Joel cuts you off. "We'd like to speak to Danny, if he's here."
"I was getting to that," you mutter.
"I think he's still here, yeah," the voice replies. "Walk out that door, turn to your left, then left again, and I'll let you in the first door you come to."
"Cool -- thanks!"
Joel still seems a little... high-alert-y, but that's not unusual. You're not; you decide that he has enough paranoia for the both of you right now. If anything, that dude inside should be more suspicious of you than you are of him, or them as a whole; you're the outsiders seeking entry, after all.
The man is at the door, holding it open for you, before you get there. You introduce yourselves, and you learn his name is Rafael. He seems perfectly nice. And it's reasonable that he would take a moment to size up you and Joel... "No weapons inside," he tells you. "I'm sure you understand."
"Well, we ain't leavin' 'em out here," Joel grumbles.
"Of course," says Rafael. "You can put them in that room over there for safekeeping. Your knapsacks, too."
Joel doesn't look too thrilled at that prospect, either. You suppress a giggle; if only Joel could see what he must look like to strangers! He's wearing... what, five or six guns? plus the flamethrower, bow and arrows, and a big-ass pipe (more shit than you would ever need for such a short trip, but he likes to "be prepared"). And he's not like, huge... but he's muscular enough, and when he scowls like that...
"No problem," you chirp; you try to sound extra friendly to make up for Joel's natural surliness.
Rafael walks you over to what looks like an examination room. You don't like leaving your weapons unattended, either -- especially when you're around other people with guns (and if you noticed the gun beneath Rafael's lab coat, you're sure Joel did, too). But what choice do you have? "At least it's not right by the door," you reassure Joel as you start to unstrap your holster. "No one can see them in here."
"That don' mean no one knows they're here," Joel replies. " 'Specially if this is the designated holdin' area. Hey, don't take that off, just leave your gun." He's referring to your holster.
You do as he says, though you'd rather be free of the thing when it's serving no purpose. You pause with your hand over your pocket... should you leave your switchblade here? Joel seems to read your mind; he gives you an almost-imperceptible shake of his head. You could always claim that you "forgot" if the dude pats you down. ...Actually, Joel would probably deck him if he so much as touched me -- and then we'd get thrown out. Ugh! You turn to Rafael. "So how many people do you work with?"
"Total staff? Nine. -Eight," he corrects himself.
You don't ask him if there used to be nine; you assume it's so. "How many patients?"
"Inpatient, three at the moment."
Joel quirks an eyebrow but doesn't comment.
He's probably thinking the same thing you are -- but you figure you may as well ask the obvious question. "Wow, do you need that many people to take care of three patients? Or is it like... slow right now?"
Rafael chuckles. "It's never all that busy. We're mostly outpatient. Treating injuries... sometimes just diagnosing people and sending 'em on their way. But not all those people are doctors. And we're not always treating patients. I'd say most of our time is spent on research."
"Oh! What kind of research?"
"Ellie, I'm sure the man's got better things to do than answer a bunch of questions," Joel chides you before Rafael can answer. "An' we really just need to see Danny. That's it. Come on." He walks out of the room, then glances back at Rafael. "Which way?"
"I'll show you. Follow me."
The two of you follow Rafael... to an elevator!
"Whoa... does that work?" you ask excitedly.
"It does indeed," Rafael answers with a smile.
"We'll take the stairs, if you don' mind," says Joel-the-killjoy.
"Aww, c'mon, he said it works!" you plead.
But Joel just gives you a Look. You've gotten past The Look before, but since you can't use... well, physical persuasion this time, you know you're fucked.
The hospital is pretty big, but you're still a little surprised not to run into anyone else on your way to Danny's mom's room, which is on the third floor. But then two boys come racing down the hall toward you, giggling. They give you a wide berth but barely glance at you. "Keep it down," Rafael says to them -- although compared to the young boys you know, those two were being pretty quiet.
"Are they part of the eight?" you joke.
"Heh. Yeah, no, our families live here, too. Upstairs. Elaine's room is right down here..." Rafael taps lightly on her door and pushes it open slowly, then tugs it shut again. "She's asleep. The radiation really wipes her out. Her son's not in there."
"Oh." You glance at Joel. "Should we just wait here, you think?"
"If that's all right with him," he replies.
Rafael seems undecided about that.
"We're friends of hers," you assure him. More like acquaintances, but 'friends' sounds better. "We won't wake her up or bother her or anything, I promise."
He nods, apparently deciding that you haven't come all the way up here to harm a poor sick old woman. "Okay, yeah, that's fine. I'll be downstairs -- ground floor -- if you need anything. We have a cafeteria down there, too, if you're hungry." He turns to leave.
"Hang on a moment," Joel stops him. "You said radiation. Does that mean she's gettin' better?"
You think it's an odd question, as you didn't know Joel cared enough about this woman to even remember her name. But Rafael doesn't seem to find it strange. "I would say so. No guarantees, of course, but she responded well to the chemo -- and she's the first person we were able to use this particular kind on. She's only on the second week of radiation treatment, so not out of the woods yet."
"Second week, out of... what, six?" asks Joel.
"We're thinking eight. Then we'll reevaluate her."
Joel dismisses Rafael with a "thank you" and starts pacing, but it's like... idle pacing. Ambling? Whatever. "Why were you asking about her treatment?" you ask him.
"Well, we were wonderin' before if Danny's been gone longer this trip 'cause he's waitin' to take her home, or waitin' for... the end. It don't look like either is the case."
"Hmm. Yeah." You digest that for a moment. "But these treatments are hard, right? Maybe he just wants to be here for support?"
"He apparently didn't do that for the chemotherapy, though. He usually only stays a few days. It ain't like it's a real long trip."
You snort. "Not to us, but maybe two and a half days is long to normal people. Maybe the radiation is like... worse to go through?"
"If she's jus' sleepin' a lot anyhow... I don' know. Where's he at?"
"What, you expect him to sit there and watch her sleep? Would you just sit there and watch if it was me?" you challenge him.
"Of course," he says lightly. "I'd never leave your side."
"Even to get something to eat?"
"Even then."
"What if you have to pee?"
Joel chuckles. "If I don't eat or drink nothin', I reckon I wouldn't have to go."
"Ha! That's just great. So I'd be laying there, fighting to get better, and you'd be sitting there beside me... wasting away to nothing." You sigh dramatically.
"Don't get sick an' we won't have this problem," Joel suggests.
"I'll keep that in mind." You smile at him... you so want to kiss him, but you don't want to piss him off. He's not even letting you stand as close to him as you usually do. Like he's afraid you might do something?
"Hey, did you see where those boys went?" asks Joel.
"No, why?"
"I wonder if they went downstairs."
"...You're worried about our stuff?"
"A bit, yes."
"Rafael went down there, though."
"We don' know where he went, either. No one was watchin' them."
"Well, they're not like... toddler age." You're not that good at guessing people's ages, but you'd put these two in the six-to-eight years old range.
"Still. I don't like it." Joel frowns. "Why don't you hang out here while I go check? I'll see if Danny's in the cafeteria while I'm at it."
"I'll go with you."
"No, you should... stay on this floor," Joel says, as if that makes any sense. "Maybe she'll wake up. Or he might come back to the room. You should wait right here."
"...Okay, but when he comes back, he'd prob'ly be--"
"Stay here." Joel drops a kiss on your head and walks away, like he wasn't even listening to you.
Typical. When he gets some strange idea in his head, anyway.
The hallway is boring as fuck, and your backpack, with its albeit-limited entertainment options, is downstairs. You can't even fiddle with your knife because you can't risk getting it confiscated.
You kind of want to go look around. Partly just to be contrary (Joel clearly doesn't want you to), and partly out of genuine curiosity. You could always explain to Joel that you were just looking for Danny, no big deal.
On the other hand, Joel probably won't leave you alone for long. He'll be back any minute now, perhaps with something yummy from the cafeteria. Surely you won't die of boredom in such a short span of time. And he might freak out if he comes back and finds you gone.
If you explore the second floor, turn to page 167.
If you dutifully wait by the room, turn to page 173.
Carlos
Date: 2021-04-08 12:14 pm (UTC)RE: Carlos
Date: 2021-04-08 01:28 pm (UTC)