Hello! Sorry it's been sooo long since my last update! I know, I've been atrocious...
Rest assured, 'The Troubles with Youth' is being updated extremely soon (actually, I'm trying to get the next chapter up tonight).
Well, I'm back again! Thanks so much for all your reviews! I'm glad you all liked the first chapter :)
All your guesses as to who the man is (though it was probably pretty obvious; it was meant to be) are about to be proven (or disproven)! Yay!
Now, I would like to publicly thank Gwedhiel0117 for her help in this chapter. I wasn't sure what style to write it in and she gave me some pointers! Thank you! :D
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The Ranger's Apprentice series and its characters are the intellectual property of John Flanagan. I own nothing... *sniff*
The patient stirred as Nurse Parker walked in. He let out a slight groan and murmured something again, as he had been doing most of the night before. Unfazed by the action, the nurse checked his chart; his temperature had remained relatively normal through the night, and if he regained consciousness today, he would be discharged tomorrow – excellent.
The middle-aged man stirred again, slowly opening his eyes. He looked up at Nurse Parker with hazy eyes, then shifted uncomfortably, trying to pull his arm free of the straps tying it to the bed. He seemed to give up pretty quickly, though. Apparently he'd put up quite a fight several times last night, so his dull reaction today must have just been the after effects of the weak sedative he'd eventually been given.
Nurse Parker picked up the thermometer and moved up beside the man, "Sir, I just need to take your temperature."
She went to place the thermometer in his mouth, but he pulled away, frowning, "What?"
"I need to take your temperature," Nurse Parker repeated patiently; the man was obviously still waking up. "Could you please open your mouth?"
The man obeyed, and she gently placed the thermometer in his mouth. After a few moments, she pulled it back out again and checked it; his temperature was fine. She walked back to the end of the bed and recorded the information on his chart.
"…Where am I?" man asked after a long pause.
"St. Luke Hospital in Beggar's Bay, Sir," Nurse Parker replied. "You arrived last night after a car accident. You should be out tomorrow, fortunately."
The man didn't answer. He just frowned in utter incomprehension.
She decided to move the conversation on a little, "We need to know some details about you, if that's alright. You didn't have any identification on you last night, but we have to put this up on your medical record."
"…Medical record?" the man repeated.
"Yes. You'll need to fill out some forms and whatnot, but it can wait a while. Could I ask your name for now, Sir?"
"Halt."
"Excuse me?" Nurse Parker thought she'd misheard.
"My name is Halt."
"Oh," she wrote it down, clarifying the spelling with him first. "And your surname?"
The man didn't reply for a while, as if he was actually thinking the simple question through, "O'Carrick."
The nurse raised an eyebrow, "And how do you spell that?"
The man spelt it out for her, then asked, "What happened?"
Nurse Parker realised she had probably moved a little too fast, "I told you Sir, you were hit by a car. You had severe concussion and I believe you broke some ribs, but apart from that, you were very lucky."
The man still looked confused. Soon, the hazy look in his eyes cleared, and he stared around the small curtained area. His dark eyes moved from his bound limbs to the intravenous line in his arm. Nurse Parker swallowed; she'd heard about what happened when the man saw that. Sure enough, he let out a short cry of astonishment and violently tried to pull free of the straps holding him down.
"Sir, please calm down!" Nurse Parker rushed forward.
"What the devil have you done?" the man shouted, his eyes wide with horror.
"Please, it's just a drip!" the nurse tried to explain.
The man paused and stared at her in disbelief, "A what?"
"It keeps you hydrated. It's transferring fluids – and some painkillers – into your bloodstream. It's keeping you healthy, sir, not hurting you."
What was wrong with him? Hadn't he ever seen drip before? Nurse Parker couldn't imagine living in today's society and never knowing what such a simple piece of medical equipment was. The man hadn't said anything yet. He was staring in incredulous awe at the other equipment – particularly the monitor – around the bed.
"Sir, are you alright?" Nurse Parker asked uncertainly.
"What is all of this?" the man finally asked.
"It's just hospital equipment, sir. Surely you would have seen it all before?" the nurse frowned.
The man didn't answer. After a few moments, he looked the nurse up and down, an appraising glint in his eyes.
"What are you wearing?"
Nurse Parker couldn't believe it, "It's my uniform, sir."
What was wrong with it? She looked down at the blue blouse and navy trousers she wore, just to make sure everything was neat. She was satisfied, but the man's odd look still left her doubting herself.
"Anyway," Nurse Parker decided to change the subject. "We need to know the contacts of your immediate family so we can inform them of your accident."
The man thought for a moment, then looked up at her a little sadly, "I've no immediate family." Nurse Parker frowned sympathetically. She couldn't imagine life without family herself. Before she could speak, he continued. "You can, however, contact Baron Arald of Redmont Fief and my apprentice, Will," that name suddenly seemed to spark something in his memory. "Wait, where is he? What happened to him?"
"I'm sorry sir, I don't know," the nurse really did feel bad that she could be of little help to the man. The worry in his voice didn't make her feel any better either. "Is there something wrong? Is he in some kind of trouble?"
The man looked up at her uncertainly, silently shaking his head.
Nurse Parker then realised what he had said before that, "Excuse me, but did you say the Baron of Redmont Fief? Where is Redmont?" She was a little worried the man mightn't be all there in the head.
"South-west Araluen," he replied, as if it were extremely obvious.
"Er… Araluen, the ghost town? In New South Wales?"
"What?"
"Uh," Nurse Parker was nonplussed. "Well, I'll get on to that. Do you know their numbers or… anything?"
"Their whats?"
"Their… never mind," she realised the man's concussion must still be messing with his mind. "Just rest. You're being discharged tomorrow, if you recover by then. If you need anything, just press this," she gestured to the small blue remote hanging next to the bed. "And the red one's for emergencies. One of the other nurses will be in later in the day with your lunch if you're feeling up to it, and the forms you need to fill out."
The man nodded, then blinked a couple of times. His head bobbed up and down a little, as if he were struggling to stay awake. Nurse Parker turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.
"Before you go," he said. "Would you mind untying me from this… bed?"
"This is lunch?" the man looked pleasantly awestruck.
Nurse Johnson liked that. Usually, he'd only get complaints. After all, the hospital menu wasn't the most extraordinary one around; patients, if they were well enough, only received soup, bread and juice for lunch. The man looked up at him, a little irritated.
"Do I get a drink with this?" he asked.
Nurse Johnson frowned, "That would be the tetra pack, sir. It's orange juice."
"What the devil is a tetra pack?"
What, had the man been born yesterday? Nurse Johnson picked up the orange tetra pack and shook it, producing a muffled liquid sound. He then pulled the straw off the side of the packet and pushed it into the foil circle to pierce it.
"There," the nurse stated. "A tetra pack, commonly referred to as a popper."
The man just stared strangely at the popper of orange juice, as if it were some kind of enigma.
Nurse Johnson decided to move things on a bit. "Well, when you're finished with lunch, we need you to fill out these forms," he placed a clipboard and pen on the table next to the bed.
The man picked it up to inspect it, "What's a diabetic?"
Nurse Johnson's eyebrows shot up, "You don't know what a diabetic is?"
The man flared angrily, "No! Why should I?"
"What, have you been living in a cave your whole life?"
"Apparently I have."
"A diabetic is someone with unusually high glucose levels, normally because they don't produce enough insulin."
The man blinked.
"Is there anything else you don't understand?" Nurse Johnson asked.
Of course, there were plenty of things the man didn't understand. Nurse Johnson ended up having to go through practically the entire form with him, which was no quick process. Some of the questions were skipped because the man had simply found them too confusing to answer, while others were skipped because he was appalled the hospital wanted to know such things. When they were finally done, the form was barely half completed.
"By the way, Sir," Nurse Johnson said as he collected the now empty food tray and the form. "One of the doctors noticed a growth on your left hand that could potentially be a cancer spot and he recommends you get it removed. You can book an appointment before you leave if you like."
"Alright…" the man sounded a little uncomprehending, and Nurse Johnson wasn't surprised.
"It's not a melanoma skin cancer, fortunately, but it's always best to remove cancers as soon as possible."
"Yes, yes…"
Nurse Johnson nodded and left, striding towards the exit of the room of hospital beds. That was definitely one of the most bizarre patients he'd ever met. How could he not have known half of those things? He'd heard about how the man had been last night from some of the other nurses, but they'd all assumed it was just a side-effect from his head injury. Perhaps this was too. Since Nurse Johnson had started his shift this morning, the patient had pulled the nasal cannula out of his nose, which sent doctors in a mad hurry to his bed, fearing he'd stopped breathing. After all, they weren't sure whether or not his lungs had been damaged during the car accident, so they still had him under observation.
He must be mad to do such things!
But in the man's own opinion, he was the only sane one in the hospital.
*Gasp!* Halt's in hospital! And everyone think's he's mental! And what's happened to Will that's got him so worried? Find out next chapter!
Ta Daa! What did you think? Please Review!
I once again wish to apologise for my long absence. I'll try to update a lot sooner next time!
See you next chapter!
