August 21, 2010.
A/N: Sorry, Solacers! I completely forgot to update last week! D: I'll update twice this week as compensation.
Only 2 reviews until 50, guys! We can do it; SfS's had over 200 hits this month! Please review. It'll take two seconds. Promise.
On a random note: today is the Australian Federal Election, so I have to go and vote (for the first time EVER!), since I'm now legally of age :D How exciting! Shame I have little interest for politics XD
That's all. Happy reading :)
Searching for Solace
- SEVENTEEN -
March 17 – 19:42
Amy closely examined the labelled vials on the shelves before her. Cool air brushed across her face, swirling from the freezing refrigerator. She reached for one vial and lifted it from its tray, hoping to make some sense of it. Unfortunately, she was no medic, and didn't understand any of she was looking at.
"Got anything?" Brody asked.
"No," she replied, tossing her red fringe out of her face. "I don't know what any of it is."
"Let me see." Nick appeared at her side and bent down, his grey eyes curious. He glanced shyly at her and away as quickly, back to the vials. Understanding, Amy crawled back and stood up to give him access to the fridge. The neon light in the door reflected off the many piercings invading his face.
To her right, Brody was examining the spines of books shoved roughly on the shelves. He looked altogether too big for the small room; like a giant squashed into a normal-sized kitchen. Fi, Fie, Fo, Fum…
"Manuals," he muttered in frustration, his surly eyebrows frowning down over his eyes. "Nothing useful."
"They're mostly standard vaccines," Nick's soft voice declared. Amy glanced at him; he was closely examining several vials, his eyes bright. "Flu-vax. Hep C. Boostrix. But these…" He held up a clear vial with a plain white stopper and minimal details on the sticker. "I don't know what they are."
Brody lumbered over and snatched one of the vials in question, narrowing his eyes at it. "Hand-written."
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Abnormal."
The door sporadically opened behind them, and in one smooth movement Brody had swept the newcomer to one side, his iron-strong arms locking them to his chest so they couldn't move. Amy and Nick had both sprung backwards in alarm. The door swung shut quietly, the only noise in the heavily tense room.
The person in Brody's arms gave a small, frightened whimper. They all looked at her closely. She was very small and very slim, garbed in the green scrubs of an intern getup. Her round black-brown eyes were wide with fear and alarm, a few strands of wiry black falling across her smooth, olive forehead, straying from underneath her cap. She glanced from Nick to Amy in fright and whimpered again.
"Let her go, Brody," Amy said, exhaling. "I think she's okay. Block the door though, in case she tries to bolt."
Moving to barricade the door with his huge form, Brody slowly loosened his arms from around the Asian intern, letting her wriggle away.
"Hi," Amy said, smiling cheerfully. Her heart thudded frantically behind the friendly façade. They were in deep trouble now. Who knew who this little girl would run off and report to? There was no point in trying to act innocent when they'd been so obviously caught red-handed. She swallowed and tried to work out the best manner to approach the situation.
"Who are you?" the Asian intern stammered, her voice sharp. Her eyes, however, betrayed her gentle nature and her fear. "What you doing here?"
She sniffled through her flat nose. Chinese? Amy wondered. Korean?
"Inconsequential," Brody said gruffly.
"Who are you?" Amy asked in a more gentle tone. She shot a warning glance at Brody, who frowned a little in response. He wasn't one to trust easily; she could see in his expression that he wanted out as soon as possible.
"Li Guan-Yin," the intern replied. "I work here. You should not be here."
"No shit," Brody muttered under his breath.
"But this is perfect," Amy said brightly. He glanced at her in confusion. "We can question her. She'll be able to tell us stuff."
"If she talks," Nick's voice came quietly from her right.
"I tell you nothing!" the intern gasped in alarm, her eyes searching the door frantically. Amy could visibly see the anguish in her eyes when she confirmed there was no exit. "Ask me nothing! I cannot tell."
Amy grinned at Brody. "She'll break. Look at her; she's already freaking out."
Brody lowered the suspicious little vial still in his hand, holding it in front of Guan-Yin's face. Her black eyes widened in surprise and undeniable recognition.
"What's this?"
She shook her head vehemently. "I do not know."
"Yes you do," Amy replied calmly. "We're just curious. Nothing suss. We know what everything else is." She nodded towards the fridge. "Just not this one."
"It not important," Guan-Yin said firmly.
"So what does it do?" Amy asked again. "If it's unimportant it shouldn't matter if we know what it is, right?"
Guan-Yin squirmed under her gaze. She fidgeted anxiously with her hands. "You should go. This not safe place. Very dangerous."
"Well, yeah, we figured that out," Brody replied with a short barking laugh.
Guan-Yin glanced up at him. "So what you doing here?"
Amy grinned at her. "Exploring."
"She knows too much about us already," Brody said gruffly. "She'd recognise us now if she saw us again. What do we do with her? She can't be let loose in this place if it's as dangerous as she says. Someone might figure out who we are."
"Or what we are," Amy agreed. Guan-Yin glanced between them. Amy could see she was putting the pieces together, and practically pin-pointed the exact moment the last piece fell into place.
"Oh!" Guan-Yin's face was shocked. "You are… mutants!"
"Nice work," Brody growled at Amy. "Now we have to either dispose of her or take her with us."
Guan-Yin didn't like these options at all. She tried for the handle of the door, shoving her arm vainly behind Brody's back. He glanced down at her, shoving his weight against the wood. After a moment of flailing, she gave up, sagging against the wall. "What you want?"
"We want to know what this is," Amy repeated, pointing at the vial in Brody's grasp. Guan-Yin looked between them, searching their firm expressions, then visibly caved, wringing her hands anxiously.
"Okay… I tell you."
March 17 – 19:46
"Well, it doesn't look severe." The doctor brushed the shiny pink skin on Morgan's hand with light, gentle fingertips. "How did you acquire this burn again?"
"Steam," Morgan blurted, praying it was the same excuse she'd given before, when she'd babbled their way out of trouble in the hall. "From the kettle. I got too close when it boiled."
The doctor nodded to himself, grunting a little under his breath. The eyes behind the oval glasses were crinkled with age at the corners. He blinked contemplatively several times, turning her hand over in his fingers. Morgan prayed he wasn't suspicious of where her injury had really come from. Please let him just buy the story, she worried silently.
In the corner, Daniel was watching, his eyes tense. He still couldn't believe the doctors had believed Morgan's bullshit story about them hanging in the hallway, waiting for the doctors, hoping they could examine her 'burns'. It was a load of crock, and surely they'd seen through it. No-one would actually believe such obvious crap. He was expecting the doctor to leap up at any moment and declare that the game was up.
Mind you, he wasn't sure what the doctor was going to accuse them of, other than loitering in the corridor and acting suspicious. Could he call the cops over that?
"Make sure you change the dressing daily," the doctor advised, carefully wrapping the gauze back around her hand. Daniel glanced at her damaged fingers and looked away again. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight.
"Any certified nurse can re-dress it for you," the doctor continued, barely even acknowledging Daniel in the room. "Wound management is always bulk billed. And you might want to try some Aloe Vera. Massage it gently into the burn. It'll sting a bit, but it'll help the skin heal faster."
"Okay, thanks," Morgan replied with a grateful smile Daniel wasn't entirely sure was faked. The doctor rose from his chair.
"You're lucky you caught me between patients."
Morgan forced an easy laugh. "We're in a bit of a rush," she lied. "Waiting rooms always take forever. Thank you for looking at my hand so quickly."
He smiled and nodded at her. "You're welcome. Excuse me for dashing off, but I have a tight schedule." He made for the door.
"Of course. Sorry," Morgan called after him. The door closed swiftly after him. She let out an audible sigh and looked at Daniel, relief in her eyes.
"Now let's get the fuck out of here before they send people after us," he said tersely. They made their way into the corridor and back-tracked the way they'd come. The spare room was only a few doors down from Andy's room, and Morgan immediately stalked towards it.
"Morgan, we have to go," Daniel grumbled, catching her up and grabbing her arm. "We don't have time to play here anymore. People will get suspicious."
"Two seconds," she promised, yanking her arm free and pulling open the door. "You keep watch."
Inside, she walked to Andy's bed. He was still sleeping; his face peaceful. She gazed at him for a second, listening to the silence of the room. After several heartbeats, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Something wasn't right. The silence was… too silent. That's what it was. She strained her ears for the sound of shallow breathing, but found none.
Five patients in the room, and she couldn't hear a single breath. Her heart hammered furiously, drumming heavily with instinctive alarm. She moved closer to Andy's side, leaning down over him, her cheek close to his lips. Nothing. No breath at all. She leaned back, her mouth suddenly dry, and reached for his wrist, feeling the colour draining from her cheeks.
Something was terribly, terribly wrong here.
The lack of pulse under the sallow skin wasn't a surprise. It only confirmed her fears. Dropping the hand like it was a deadly snake, Morgan skittered away from the bed, her skin prickling with horror. No way. He couldn't be… She forced her suddenly rubbery legs to the next bed, daring herself to check the next kid's pulse without letting herself really think about it.
Again, absent. Nausea swilled in her stomach. She refused to let herself believe that every patient in the room was–
"Morgan, we've gotta bounce."
Daniel's voice made her jump so violently she crashed into one of the beds. He stared at her as she pulled herself together, straightening the stretcher with violently trembling hands.
"What?"
"G-go," she stammered. "Let's go. I'll–tell–later. Just go!"
She pushed him into the corridor and stumbled out after him, hurrying off up the hall without a backward glance.
"Morgan, what the hell?" Daniel demanded, striding effortlessly beside her. He glanced down at her, taking in her colourless face and wild eyes. She licked her lips continuously, her fingers jammed in the pockets of her jeans. Her shoulders were tensed up.
She opened her mouth to reply but a door bounced open just to their left, and they threw themselves aside to avoid colliding with the small procession of people that poured out. The first, they realised with surprise, was Amy.
"Hi," she greeted, smiling through her own surprise. "Fancy meeting you guys here."
"Who's that?" Daniel demanded, tilting his jaw towards the small Asian girl in their company. Morgan's eyes widened, her suffering stomach dropping all over again.
"You!" the Asian exclaimed, staring at her in shock. "I remember you!"
"Okay, well let's host this reunion later over tea and biscuits," Brody grunted sarcastically. "We've gotta get outta here."
"Agreed," Daniel replied. "But who is she?"
"This is Guan-Yin," Amy said cheerfully. "She knows stuff."
"Great," Daniel said sarcastically, as they all started moving. "Why is she with us?"
"Tell you later," Brody replied over his shoulder. "But we have to take her with us. It's too dangerous to leave her here."
"I see." Daniel didn't look too pleased about it. "That reminds me." He turned back to Morgan, who looked very distant and consumed by her own thoughts. She was chewing her lip anxiously. "What the fuck was happening back there?"
"Tell you later," Morgan muttered shortly.
Daniel threw his hands up in the air in defeat. "Why does it feel like I'm the only one who has no idea what's going on?"
No-one replied. They all just kept walking.
CULTURE NOTE
Boostrix - Do you guys have Boostrix shots? I can't explain what they're for, exactly, but it's a standard shot in Australia. Costs about $24AUD for the injection.
Nothing suss - Nothing suspicious. I think everyone says this?
Load of crock - Load of shit, basically. Do you guys even use that phrase, or is that something else that's Aussie? 'Load of shit' is like... 'that's bullshit', etc.
Bulk bill - Again, I reckon all medical systems would have it. Yeah? Bulk bill... you don't have to pay for the appointment because the doctor claims his service from the government...? Well, we have it here. Darned useful :)
Biscuits - I have it on good authority that in America, you don't really have biscuits like we do. To us, a biscuit is sweet - an Oreo for example, is a biscuit. We have loads of different kinds. Plain sweet biscuits, jam-filled bisuits, biscuits with icing, chocolate biscuits... Mmm. It's quite an English thing; it must come from our heritage ;)
NOTES
Aloe Vera - I looked this up. Apparently it IS very good for keeping the skin healthy and moisturised, and for the gentle maintenance of light burns. I wouldn't, however, trust this note if you ever burn yourself. Go to a doctor and get some professional advice XD;;
A/N: And so Nicholas the mute finally speaks! Yes, readers, I decided it was time for the poor child to have a voice :) So Nick has become a more solid part of the story. But what's the deal with Guan-Yin? What exactly does she know? And what's the truth behind everything Morgan found in that depressing hospital room? Well, perhaps you'll find out later this week.
Until then, please do leave a review. You honestly have no idea how appreciated they are these days.
Love,
Cherrie xx