Author's note: Thank you to all who fav'd my story and left reviews. Also, thank you to the guys from LJ that responded to my posts at Arkham Asylum. I enjoy the reviews. I'll try to stay on top of my grammar and keep some things consistent (I even fixed the earlier chapters). I just got excited and posted a few times without really checking the work. This chapter is short, sorry. I'll try to make it up with the next one.
And, on another note, I moved Crane's office to the second floor. I fixed the first few chapters to reflect this.
And, just FYI, I'm planning on going all the way through the first film. I have some ideas for Cady, but don't know how they'll pan out. I don't know if I'll go into the second film yet, it depends on how things fall into place. Don't worry, I don't write romance, so it's not going in *that* direction!
Chapter Three:
His smell. Cady wrinkled her nose as he held her hand. He was wiping antiseptic across some abrasions she had somehow obtained when she'd fallen. Although the antiseptic was pungent, his cologne was sharp enough to cut through the medicinal fog. He had taken his charcoal blazer off when they had entered the empty infirmary (the nurse who normally worked on the weekends was apparently on a break). That made his scent stronger. The few times Cady had come there the whole room always smelled like antiseptic and stale air. Now, however, all Cady could smell was his spicy cologne. If Dr. Crane knew how his smell was effecting her he didn't show it. He cleaned her injuries with the same detached expression that he normally wore. As her mind tried to shut out the intoxicating scent, he had moved his attention to her shin. She had already rolled her pant leg up when she sat down, anxious to see the damage. Dr. Crane had chastised her for overlooking the more pressing open wounds of her palms. Because, somehow, he viewed an open cut more serious than a potential broken bone. She didn't even need bandages!
Crane touched the sore spot of the large bruise on her leg. Cady flinched, breaking her thoughts. She noticed the doctor glance at her from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to examining her leg.
"As I said before, it's not broken. You'll have that bruise for a few days, though." He straightened up as he spoke.
Cady nodded. What an understatement. She thought to herself.
"Should I see a physician, just in case?" she asked, suddenly tired.
Crane shot her "that look" as he shrugged into his coat. "It won't be necessary, Ms. Clein. You'd just be waisting your time. I've had enough experiences with broken bones to see very plainly that its not serious."
She nodded again looking down at her leg. The bruise was horrid. Big. Purple and black. Thank goodness it was pants season. She was so lost in thought again that she didn't notice Crane move. He had walked over to help her up from the stretcher she had been sitting on. Cady jerked, surprised.
"Lost in thought again, Ms. Clean?" The question in his voice was more a scold than a concern.
Cady chewed her bottom lip for a moment. "Yeah, sorry. Just a lot of things on my mind."
"Would you care to elaborate?" His expression did little to hide the detached look as he helped her off the stretcher.
He moved to drape her arm around his neck again like he did when he helped her walk earlier. Cady pulled away, not wanting to be any closer to him than necessary.
"I think I can walk by myself, thank you."
Crane's lips thinned as he watched her move away. "Seeing as there are no crutches available, and for fear you might injure yourself further, I think it wise if you let me help you."
Cady shook her head. She stretched out her leg a bit. "It's doing better, I'll be fine."
He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before he addressed her. "Ms. Clein, I have a lot of work to do. We will discuss the nature of your situation in a few hours. Until then, I will assist you to your desk."
All Cady could do was nod as he moved her arm back into position. Before they left the room, he grabbed an icepack from a refrigerator on the opposite wall and made her hold it. The extra few steps made her leg throb when they finally made it all the way to her desk. She kept her humiliated and exasperated thoughts to herself as she tied the icepack around her shin.
Thankfully, Cady had her own little cubby hole space that allowed her some privacy. It was attached to Dr. Crane's office as well as having it's own door to the main hallway. The room was a rectangle shape and had wood paneling painted white. No doubt done by someone trying to make the space seem bigger. At one time it could have been an overly large closet or bathroom. However, all the doors and any other identifying features had been taken away long ago and the only thing left was the framing on the wall to separate the two rooms. When Cady started, Dr. Crane had kept his files in there. The four black filing cabinets were still lined up perfectly along the far wall, but now a small desk graced the empty space between the frame and the end wall. This gave the doctor and Cady enough room to access the files and still have room for Cady to sit behind the desk. She couldn't sit unless her back was against the wall. It felt unnatural to do otherwise. Cady had also spruced up the space with a large picture of a sunny beach. Crane never said anything about it.
Once Cady had settled in and gotten comfortable with the icepack on her leg, she began working. It was obvious that she couldn't file, so she kept herself busy with updating the notes on the files he gave her. Dr. Crane rarely saw patients on Saturday, preferring to catch up on notes and other related activities. That was, when we was actually in his office. Most of the time, he left the secretarial work to Cady and wondered off to do his own thing. He'd come back at odd intervals to check up on her and give her more work or send her home. Whatever he was doing, he never spoke about it and Cady never asked. She heard his chair creak and his footsteps as he walked towards his office door. It opened and closed. He always kept his door shut so Cady could always hear when he would come and go.
Sighing, Cady drummed her fingers on the keyboard of the laptop she was using. She hated not being able to walk around. At least when she could file she had the chance to move about. Even though she had a few pages of notes to write for different patients, being confined made her feel bored. It was the same feeling she got when she had a lot of homework to do and all she could think about was going out. Yawning, she went back to her work.
A while later Dr. Crane came back into his office and walked into her area. Cady glanced up at him. He placed a water bottle on her desk along with a small Styrofoam plate that held a bagel with an apple on it's center. A plastic knife was sticking out of the apple.
"Thank you." She smiled at him.
"You'll feel better after you eat. I'm sure you didn't have time to eat anything before you came in."
She nodded, looking down at the food. She was confused by his sudden hospitality. It was also exactly what she always had to eat there for her breaks. Cady looked back up, but the doctor was gone. She heard the door shut behind him. She shrugged and picked up the apple, slipping the knife out of it's side. She noted as she bit into the apple that there were even two little packets of butter. She never ate in front of him, preferring the cafeteria herself so she could gather her thoughts away from her desk. Creepy. Her thoughts rang in her head.
It took her no time to finish her food, so she sat, nursing her water and typing away. She could hear him come and go. After what seemed like an eternity (and she had to pee), she decided to test her leg. Untying the now watery icepack, she set it on the edge of her desk away from any potential dangers, and stood up. The pain was no more than a dull ache. Excited, Cady stretched and carefully made her way out of the office. Crane had left so she was alone to make her way to the bathrooms. Although the bathrooms were close, Cady walked slowly and limped slightly. She didn't want to risk making her leg feel any worse. On her way back from releaving herself, she made her way to the large window at the end of the hall. Outside it was cloudy. From this view all she could see was out into the small "walking" area the nonthreatening patients used for exercise.
"Your leg is doing better, I see."
Cady jumped at the sound of his voice. The sudden movement made her move wrong and she felt the sharp pain run up her nerves. Instinctively she balled her fists so she wouldn't let loose any profanity. How does he do that? She thought angrily. She turned around to face him.
"Yes, it felt much better until you scared me." she said in between gritted teeth.
The faintest trace of a smile flashed across his face before he regarded her with a fake interest. "Ms. Clein, if it's still bothering you, why would you get up?"
He spoke as if it were an obvious statement. It was, but Cady wasn't going to give up that easily. Not in the mood she was in right now.
"Would you of helped me to the bathroom?" She raised an eyebrow, curious of his answer. She also knew her tone was slightly mocking of his.
"I'm sure you'll understand that this," he glanced down at her leg while slipping off his glasses to glare at her directly in the eyes, "is as much of an inconvenience to you as it is to me. Maybe next time you'll be more observant of the patients I label as violent."
Cady frowned.
"Now, I trust if you made it out here with no problems, you can make it back to your desk without help. Once you have finished with the notes and filed the loose paperwork away, you may leave for the day." He didn't put his glasses back on as he walked away.
Cady grumbled, limping back to her desk. Dr. Crane had left to go...wherever it was he went to, so she was alone in his office again. She frowned again, this time at the quietness. But, now with a clear end in sight, she quickly went back to work. She hoped the day would scoot by faster.
*
As Cady finished the last set of notes, she noticed a small, wrinkled slip of paper with sloppy handwriting on it stuck to the patient's file. It looked like Dr. Crane's. The letters were formed the same way as his, but the handwriting was sloppy-especially the last line. Very uncharacteristic of his neat, almost calligraphic, style.
10ccs's, no change
15cc's, no change
20cc's, slight response
3 5 ccccc's, PeRFect!
Cady's head perked up as she heard him enter the office. Standing, she wanted to catch him before he left again.
"Dr. Crane?" she called out.
There was a loud sigh. "Yes, Ms. Clein?"
She slowly walked out into his office area, holding onto the piece of paper.
"I found this in Mr. Adkinson's file. Does it belong there?" She held out the piece of paper for Crane to see.
He had his glasses back on. He took the piece of paper and inspected it. Cady noticed his eyes enlarge then narrow.
"No. It's just trash." Dr. Crane said flatly as he balled the seemingly offending paper up in his hand. "Are you finished?" He looked down at her.
"Um, no. I need to file." Cady shifted, uncomfortable under his gaze. Her leg didn't fight back too much. It probably felt his icy glare was worse than any pain it could muster up.
"Nevermind. You can finish that later. You may go now."
Cady nodded, noticing he was biting off the end of each sentence like he was mad. She hadn't made him that mad, had she? He didn't seem that upset earlier in the day. If he was mad at her, Cady didn't want to hang around any longer. She saw no use in making the situation worse. Gathering her things, she left out of the file room's door.
