Double update for the start. Woo, right?
Adia walked into the hospital around four for the early evening shift. She welcomed the heat of the building as she slid her coat off her arms. She was just about to pour herself some coffee when one of the other nurses hijacked her.
"Good. You're here, he's being impossible again." Abby said, taking Adia's arm to drag her off down the hall.
"Why sweets, coffee?" Adia commented disorientedly.
"Look, he was supposed to go in at three, but he won't come out of his room. I don't know what to do anymore. Erickson is about to come down here himself." The woman shook her head.
"Which 'he' Abbs, slow down." Adia sighed, picking up her pace so she wasn't being dragged so much.
"Oh yeah, forgot you're queen bee around here. How the hell do you get them to listen to you?" Abby sighed, "Anyway it's Grandie. He won't leave his room. Nothing works on him."
"Oh, okay." Adia mused, continuing to walk even as the woman let her go, "No promises, he does what he wants. See what I can do though."
She stopped at his door and gave a gentle knock even though it was cracked open already.
She was met with silence but that wasn't unusual. Cristof had made it clear on more then one occasions that he didn't exactly treat it as his own, real personal room because he didn't have control over who came and went or even the contents his room held. Furniture was often moved to accommodate all the rooms and he very loudly stated how he didn't like it.
He had pushed his bed against the wall and sat there, looking out the window. He concentrated on the little pictures he drew from the heat of his breath and ignored the nurses coming and going and their begging to get him to go one place or another.
"Are you not here today?" Adia asked
Cristof hummed slightly, glancing towards the door when he heard her voice. "Hello Adia."
"Hey there sweets." she smiled at him, taking her time approaching him, "So what's going on? Feel like messing with the other nurses today?"
"Usually. Too easy." He said in a partly complaining, partly serious tone. "But not exactly either."
"What is it then?" she moved to sit next to him.
"I'm taking a mental health day." he chuckled, but the sound wasn't his usual good humor. "I don't want to see the doctor today. Any of them."
"You only see him weekly sweets, it'd throw off his schedule if he couldn't see you today." Adia said softly.
He shrugged. "How? I'm giving him a break if he skips me. I don't see why that's so bad for him. He can lounge around or spend more time with someone else. I don't want to see him."
"He needs to see you apparently. Don't ask me why, I don't know, but it is what it is." Adia shrugged, "It won't be so bad."
Cristof looked her in the eye and leaned forward into her personal space. "No-oo." he said slowly.
"What if I said please really nice?" she reached up to poke his noes instead of flinching away as most would do.
He shrugged. "If you were my doc, sure. You're not. So no." he turned to gaze back out of the window. "I'm done."
"What if he says please real nice." she chuckled.
"I don't like him, Adia." He said stubbornly. "I refuse, refuse, refuse. No, no, no, no more I'm done. Ding."
"Why don't you like him? He wants to help you get better so you can go home. Don't you want that? I know you do sweets," she said softly.
"I don't need him for that. I won't be a tool anymore," he said softly, reaching out to grab his pillow and draw it closer to him. "No more."
"You're not a tool, sweets." she touched his arm gently, "I don't know where you got that idea. You're a patient we all wanna help get better. Specially cuz you're such a sweetie."
"Adia is so silly." he smiled a little, refusing to tear his eyes away from the window. "I like Adia, but not enough to see him today. I'm sorry. Don't be mad."
"I'm not mad at you, sweets." she promised, rubbing his arm.
Cristof hummed softly for a moment. It filled the silence that would have been there otherwise. "Maybe I believe that, yes."
"Maybe? Maybe?" she poked his side, "Maybe nothing. Maybe makes me pout."
"Maybe is better then what I usually get." he said, pressing is forehead against the window. He couldn't hide how unhappy he was anymore.
"Hey." she leaned forward and turned her head so she could see him. She'd never get so close to another patient for fear of personal injury. You never quite knew what they'd do, try to bite your face for all you knew. But he seemed content with closeness, "I always give you a straight answer when I know what the answer is, sweets."
"But Adia doesn't know the answer for this, no." He said, smiling for her benefit. "I know the answer. Always the same here."
"Sure I know the answer. You gotta go see the doc." she rubbed his back, "And I'll be right there when you're done."
"Nope." he said stubbornly. "Adia can take the appointment for me. I don't wanna have anything with them. Too much white. Too much everything. I'm done, cooked and baked."
"You're not baked, sweets." she laughed genuinely, the thought striking her funny, "And I would if I could but they don't care about my head they care about yours."
He smiled. "Silly Adia. That's what I said. I'm merely a tool to a means. An effect from a cause. No more. They will either come here or leave me be, and they can't leave me be ever."
"Sweets, you're going to get yourself in trouble and I won't be able to help you no matter how much I wanna you know that." she said softly.
Cristof turned and leaned towards her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "What are they gonna do? Keep me in a white room? Tell me when I can go somewhere? When I can eat? Lock me in?" he whispered softly. He broke out into a sweet smile. "No more. Nope."
"They wouldn't lock you in isolation if you weren't being violent but yes, they could take something away. Not that you ever do anything anyway. Need to find you a hobby so you'll listen once in a while." she chuckled, turning her head until she could kiss his forehead. It was the most unusual relationship she'd had with a patient but he really was a sweetheart beyond all his stubbornness and she found it delightful. She was just as friendly to other patients, never cold. She was sure that was why they listened to her more if they even did, but she could almost consider him a friend.
"That's a little mean." He chuckled. "Adia wants me to have a hobby so I will obey these cretins? No. My hobby is daydreaming and no one will ever take that away. Ezra said so. Ezra promised even. I don't want to see these doctor's anymore. I don't like them near me. They're not nice."
"Have they hurt you?" She asked a bit more softly.
"Define hurt?" He blinked.
"If I have to then they haven't, sweets." she smiled gently, feeling better with the reassurance.
"Silly Adia. There are lots of ways to hurt someone." He sighed, pressing his forehead back to the window. "Can I go outside?"
"There are lots of ways to hurt someone. But there are ways we don't forgive and ways we accept because we have to, sweets. You can go outside after you see the doctor. We'll take a walk but you need a bigger coat this time." she said.
"So silly Adia." he said softly. "And I wanted to walk outside."
"We'll see how the rest of today goes before you can go out." Dr. Erickson said, shutting the door behind them. He was an older doctor who had a near spotless reputation around the hospital. "You're misbehaving again."
Cristof made a sound and continued peering out the window, not even attempting to turn and greet the doctor.
Adia rubbed Cristof's arm gently, turning to look at the old man, "Evening Dr. Erickson. He's having a little down day I think."
"So I've heard." Dr. Erickson said, nodding to her in greeting. "A stubborn day."
"Needs some coffee like the rest of us." she said jokingly to lighten the mood as she stood to leave.
The doctor chuckled, fully aware of the fact that Cristof was ignoring him. "That's probably true." he agreed, slipping off his white doctor's coat. Cristof never hid his dislike for the color. "And even still, it looks like we're going to have to have his appointment here today since he won't be moved."
"Looks that way. Everyone has their days." she reminded him coyly, meaning the patients by the word 'everyone'.
"Seems Mr. Grandie has been having a few lately." Dr. Erickson said, moving to lean his hip against the foot of the bed.
"Mr. Grandie is my father." Cristof muttered, sliding his eyes shut.
"I think we have a little more to talk about then that." The doctor sighed. "You need to listen to me, Cris. This is for your own good. I know you like your walks but if you're going to keep giving the nurses a hard time then they will be limited."
Cristof stayed silent, not acknowledging him further.
Adia herself bit her lip then. That would be hard for him, she knew, and she felt terrible especially not being able to help him. She touched his arm one last time before starting out the door.
"Thank you very much for taking the time, Nurse Black." Dr. Erickson said as she was leaving.
"Bye Adia." Cristof muttered, sounding just this side of heart broken.
"I'll be here when you're done sweets," she said, repeating her promise to him before pulling the door shut behind her.
His appointment lasted longer to make up for the time he'd squandered away and he was miserable through most of it. It was the same as all of his other more recent appointments and the only thing that could be heard outside of the room was his raised voice when he refused to comply with the doctor's suggestions or treatment idea's.
Dr. Erickson sighed when his time was over. "We'll continued next week, Cris." He said, opening the door to step out. "You try to get some rest for now."
He was answered with silence and the tension that had been in the room seemed to seep out into the hall.
The silence lingered for a few more minutes until Adia walked in carrying a tray like she often did.
"So I figured you wouldn't want to join everyone else for dinner and besides, it might make them jealous if you ate in front of them." She sat the tray that contained the usual food as well as a wrapped Wendy's burger to the side.
"Gonna need you to eat at least a lil of the cafeteria crap so no one thinks you're starving yourself." she offered him a small smiled, "Okay?"
He was curled up tightly in a ball, his head resting on his knees as he as turned slowly to look up at her. "Okay." he mumbled, looking like a kicked puppy.
"Come eat." she held a hand to him.
"I hate white." he muttered softly. "I hate it."
"I know sweets, we can talk while you eat, hm?" she offered.
"I'm tired of talking." he muttered, voice almost breaking as he sat up and reached for the tray. He was getting worse after each appointment.
She lifted it and handed it to him, "We don't have to talk then. Whatever you want sweets, I have some time."
He looked up at her, laying the tray in his lap. "I'm so tired of lies, Adia. Why do people want to lie to me so much."
"Who do you think is lying to you Cristof?" she asked softly
"Almost everyone." he said, inhaling slowly before starting to eat. "Most just assume I don't notice."
"I suppose I understand that." she said softly.
He smiled at her. "Some version of that Adia understand well. Nobody trusts."
"That's not true. People trust they just only trust certain people. I trust you not to tell people I bring you things. I shouldn't because I can lose my job over it but I do and the more I'm proven right the more I do. Now you gotta stop breaking rules so I can get you that field trip."
"He'll never let me wander far, Adia. Not knowingly." Cristof sighed. "Damned puppet master. I'm thinking of cutting my strings, you know? The more I think about it the more it sounds nice."
"Not when you won't work with him sweets," she offered, sliding up to sit on his desk.
"I don't want to work with him. No more." he said softly, taking a bite from the burger she brought him and smiling wide. "Mm!"
"I'm glad you like it, you can hand me the tray, you don't have to eat anymore of the other stuff." she smiled softly.
He licked his fingers in between bites and smiled. "Thank you Adia. Knowing Adia is good."
"Knowing you is good too" she chuckled."
"Huh..." He chuckled. "Odd Adia, but I like odd. I would have liked to walk outside with Adia again."
"Maybe tomorrow, hm?" she offered.
"Hm, hm, hm." he smiled faintly, finishing his burger slowly. "Thank you for the food and the company."
"You are sincerely welcome sweets, gimme the wrapper" she chuckled, "They're crazy enough to go through the trash sometimes."
He nodded, passing everything over. "All of it." he sang softly. "And now I am full."
"Well good, you're too thin," She teased, balling it up to shove it in her pocket. It'll be fine in the lounge trashcan; anywhere near the patients however and hell would be raised."
Cristof laughed. "Maybe. Anyone would be eating that stuff." he pointed to the tray.
"Well I'll bring you goodies when I can. I gotta get back to my job, visit you before lights out, okay?" she promised.
"Lights out. Yes. Then. Okay." Cristof nodded. "Fine. I'll wait."
"Should join the others, I think they're watching a movie." she said be as she gathered the tray.
"No thank you," he said softly, leaning back against the window frame
"Okay." she shrugged, stepping out of the room and pausing, " Don't sulk too long sweets, it'll give you wrinkles." And then she left down the obnoxiously sterile hallway.
Thanks for reading. Please review.