"OK." Josi finally answered Zac, her decision reached. Kait stood up and left the cafeteria as Zac nodded at Josi.
"Good." Then as a second thought, he looked at her. "You ever been near the front?"
Josi's already pale eyes seemed to grow paler as she contemplated her answer. "Uh..no," she stammered. Zac appeared unmoved.
"Well, your going to."
"Why?" The panic in Josi's voice was evident. Zac stood and picked up his ruck, slipping it on.
"Because that's where we are going. Trust me." Josi's eyes were huge. The prospect of going to the "front" was frightening. An adventure was fine, but sheer madness was another. Josi contemplated her own fate as the work of tending to the emotionally battered continued in other places around the hospital.
Nurse Terra had been working with Garth on his memory troubles, reminiscent of something her father went through. She set thoughts of herself and her Father aside, however, because her patient needed her. She finished typing up his blood, then smiled softly at him.
"Can I get you some water, maybe?"
Garth nodded, the relief on his face instant. Terra rose and moved to the staff refrigerator, getting a scarce bottle of water. She was wrapped up in her work and did not hear Kait asking for, then returning to the cafeteria in a huff when she did not receive, her shower card. Terra moved back into the cubicle and handed the water to Garth.
"Here ... drink some of this."
"Terra. I can't see you," Garth said, his voice quavering. His vision was still slightly blurred. Terra frowned a bit and tried to calm him.
"First take a couple of deep breaths. Then we'll see what is wrong." She set aside the appointment book she had in her lap, making a note that Garth would need regular treatment. She typed in some code on her system, then strapped several pace monitors to his wrist.
"I'm going to just check your vital signs. I need to see what's going on." Her voice was rhythmic, calming. Garth nodded, then looked up at her.
"You might want to sedate me. I can get very violent," he said, almost with sadness. Terra remained professional, reaching to the cabinet for a syringe pre-filled with mild sedative. As she turned back to him, he began to scream.
"Anna!" His wails were petrifying, heart wrenching sadness pouring through the cubicle. Terra quickly injected him, her eye on his pulse rate. It was spiraling upward even as she pushed the needle in.
"Garth. Its OK. Calm down." Terra hoped using his name would calm him. She let out a slight sigh as his pulse began to drop, even though his tirade was not over.
"I can take you ALL on!" Garth yelled, thrashing around in the chair. Terra continued to work with him, her consuming patience a forefront of her professionalism. Unbeknownst to her, oddities lurked below, in places visitors to Rydynn Memorial never went.
The basement was a shadowy place. It housed the usual rubbish one would expect to find in a basement: mops, broken machinery and critters who enjoy the dust. The basement of Memorial was, as was every other aspect of Sabatt, unique in its patronage. It was the holing place of the hospital's usually unseen custodian, Limer, and his pet roach, aptly named Elliot -- after the computer. Limer was feeding the roach some candy, contemplating his boss, the mortician Rictor. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear Rictor screaming. This caused him to frown. To shake the thoughts, he concentrated on the orange light of the hard drive system in front of him. Elliot's hard drive. In his mind, the orange light was Elliot's eye. Limer did not seem to understand Elliot was a computer and not a human. To Limer, Elliot was godlike ... and worthy of his worship. A tear rolled down the lumbering man's cheek as he mumbled the insult he had heard so many times : "I'm only a Limer." It belittled him and made him feel worthless. St. John, otherwise nicknamed Homebody, poked his head through the basement door.
"You all right, honey?" It would be an understatement to say that the cross dressing mortician was a bit odd looking; but, his heart was somewhere close to the right place. Limer jumped a bit at the voice, then nodded dully. St. John smiled, then moved back to his work in the morgue. Limer sighed sadly, then reached out to touch the mainframe. He accidentally flicked a switch, then his big brow curled in confusion at the computers silence.
'Elliot tell Limer story?" His question was childlike and innocent. He looked at the mainframe a few minutes, then a light seemed to dawn. He put a thick finger to his lips, looking at the roach.
"Sssh. Elliot sleeping. Me sleep too. Love you, Elliot," Limer said, then set the roach down. He curled up to the mainframe, the computers heat warm on his back. He fell into a deep sleep, his thumb tucked securely in his mouth. As he slept, the hospital above him continued to frenzy in activity.
"Kait, please come to the ER. Your shower card is ready!" Elliot's voice chirped over the ceiling of the cafeteria. Kait jumped up and headed to the lobby, her voice barely floating back to Zac. "Finally! Now I'm off to get a charger!" Kait grabbed the card and left.
Josi looked up, glad to see Kait leaving. She didn't like the girl, in fact she found her incredibly irritating. It bothered Josi that Kait was not the shot she was. A lot of things bothered Josi. She tended to be a harsh judge of character, especially since she was none to pleased at herself for having to basically sell herself to Zac for food. The man in her thoughts looked up, Kait out of his vision by that time and his visible brow drew in toward his nose. He could hear Garth's ravings. The words, the fear, began to drift through.
Zac knew that voice, recognized it, but had never heard it in quite that way. Concerned, he rose, glancing to see if Josi was following. When she didn't, he pushed through the cafeteria doors anyway, looking sideways to see where Garth was being held. As he moved down the hall, orderlies rushed by with a new patient on a gurney. Neatly shoved aside, Zac stopped in the hall and looked down at the patient, as medics Zac didn't know buzzed about him. The gurney waited, stopped, as the orderlies moved off. They found and conferred with Terra about room placement.
The man's name was Hogoodoon. He had come in, loss of blood severe from a knife wound in his shoulder. As Zac looked him over, Garth's shouts continued to sound from the closed cubicle.
"I'll get you for what you've done to Momma!" The Commander's voice was high, the sedative slow but finally taking effect on him. Terra, speaking in low tones to the orderlies, requested that Garth be helped to a bed.
"I'll get you Violator!" Garth's saddened voice trailed off, and Zac realized he was under competent care, but his concern remained etched in his one-eyed face. He looked at the bleeding man on the gurney. Zac raised one hand, about to take the knife from Hogoodoon's wound when the orderlies finally returned, and whisked him off to surgery.
"Killing someone?" Josi said, her voice smart as she noticed the man on the gurney going to surgery. He didn't flinch at her accusation, but his face was tight at the prospect of losing a free blade. As he turned to move back to the lobby, the doors swung open and more patients were brought in. Zac looked at Josi, then nodded to the outside. He did not care for the mass confusion and would return when it had settled down. As he left, Josi followed him outside, the doors swinging silently behind them.
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