Second chapter this week. I didn't forget! woo.
Ezra sighed heavily, setting his things down as he got home from work. He was a little later then planned but it was only just dinnertime. He checked messages on his machine and sighed almost in relief to find nothing new on it. The soon the police stopped trying to contact him the better.
Keeping his promise he only planned on being home for a few minutes before going to see brother. He hadn't had another dream but something bothered him all the same. Cris looked fine but there was still something gnawing at him he couldn't place.
He was grabbing his coat again when there was a knock at the door and he groaned inwardly.
Adia stood at the other side with her red coat. For once though she wasn't wearing scrubs. Instead she wore jeans which were tucked into a pair of black boots. She couldn't rid herself of her anxiety over even being there but she didn't really have a choice.
He pulled the door open and stared for a moment until he could remember her face. "You're...Adia?" he muttered, not moving to let her in. "Why are you here?"
"Well...I've been thinking, I'm still sort of doubting Cristof's really missing," She said.
Ezra raised an eye. "So he just disappeared?"
"No, I think you have him." She said bluntly, not waiting for an invitation to walk past him into the house.
Ezra scoffed. "The hell do you think you are?" he said, slamming the door behind her and turning to face her. "Believe me, I wish he was here."
"Well my bad, you either talk weird or you cover up badly." She mused, looking around.
"Should I pretend to know what that means?" he stared, looking agitated.
"You can do what you want. The cops may not be able to get in here without a warrant but I can and the withdrawal that man might go through is worth the effort I think." Adia shrugged, wondering to another room.
"Cops can't get in without a warrant, but you can get arrested for fucking trespassing." Ezra nearly growled. "He's not here."
"Okay, well then you got nothing to worry about do you? Less you're hiding some sort of meth lab." she chuckled, not pausing for a moment so he was forced to trail after her.
"This the kind of shit nurses are paid for now? Cris isn't here. You can't just barge into people's homes." he said, voice louder then a normal speaking tone, but then he was pissed off.
"I wish I was getting paid for this." She muttered.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ezra sighed loudly. "He's not here. The hell are you even looking for him for? It's none of your business."
"You can say he's not here all you want but until I see he's not here, it won't mean anything. And I made it my business; therefore it is my business. That's why I adored him, he totally got that." Adia smiled lightly.
"Have at it." Ezra glared. "Then you can fucking leave when you get that he's not here."
"Okay." she shrugged.
"Bitch." he grumbled, walking away from her before he let something slip. She couldn't find what wasn't there. Walking back into the living room he let the irritation really sink in. He wouldn't be able to see Cristof with her around.
"You'll come to ignore the rough edges." she called to him as she walked away.
"I can ignore a lot but not someone roaming my house like they own it!" he yelled.
"Rough edges sweets, rough edges!" She hollered from farther away.
"What a bitch." He muttered, slumping down in the living room to wait for her. He wasn't about to follow her around when he was already anxious. People just didn't show up with assumptions. "The hell does he like her for."
In another room, Adia was picking through the cloths she'd dumped out of his laundry bin. She'd already skimmed through his drawers and her next stop would be the closet. She was used to these kinds of searches but she used to do it looking for cash. She'd already seen cash and skipped right by it. She stopped her search cold when she saw a blue sweater that looked too familiar. She lifted it and held it so she could see the collar, looking for the small crest that represented the hospital.
Patients were allowed to wear their own cloths but they were given a few pieces regardless. Like the sweater she was holding. She sighed quietly, relief swelling in her as well as anxiety. She was happy beyond belief he was safe but torn that she'd have to find him.
It only took a couple minutes for Ezra to get impatient and he ended up calling Beth, feeling sorry that as if late all of his calls were him calling to check on his brother rather then her.
"Hello?" she answered after a few rings.
"Hey." Ezra muttered, speaking softly. "How is he? Better?"
She laughed a little. "Yeah. A lot better I think. He ate the first time I asked. He's been sleeping a lot though. Getting it out of his system I guess. I try to coax him outta the room but he doesn't seem to be all that interested."
"That happens." Ezra said a little too quickly. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to get there tonight."
"Why not? Something come up?" she asked, not sounding overly concerned.
"Mm." He muttered. "Someone's here asking about him. A nurse. Just not gonna deal with that shit tonight. Gonna stay in."
He was met with silence for a few seconds before she responded. "That could be what he was babbling about. He seems to think someone's out to get him."
Ezra sighed softly, wondering which of his dream he should be paying the most attention to. "Yeah, maybe."
"Nurses don't just go off and decide to look for missing patients. It's not their business. Something's not right." Beth said, reinstating what he already knew.
"I'll fix it, or at least stall it." He said, speaking softly still. "I'm not worried. She can search all she wants he's not here."
"Wait, she's there now?" Beth said, "You shouldn't just let her wander around, Ezra. You don't know what she could be doing."
"I don't really care right now. Not about her. She doesn't care about Cris more then I do so I don't care much why she's here, even if he does like her. Apologize to him for me." Ezra said quietly, rubbing his eyes.
"I will." She said. "Don't worry about him, Ezra. I'm taking good care of him."
He sighed. "Thank you, Beth."
"Can thank me later." She chuckled. "I'll see you soon."
"Yeah, bye." He sighed, hanging up. At least he could count on that.
Adia stood in the hall, listening to the last half of his conversation. As he hung up her mind started to churn and rethought her idea of directly confronting him. She walked quietly back to his bedroom and dug the shirt into the cloths she'd stuffed back into the hamper before returning to the room.
"Okay, I'm satisfied."
"Great." he said in a dull tone. "Can get the hell out now."
"So crabby." she sighed.
"How about I go over your house looking for Cris and go through your shit." Ezra said, getting up and moving towards her. "He's not here. Same damn thing I told the police. Doors that way."
"You're welcome to look though my apartment, that's what I told the cops. Let em in too, which they said you didn't do." she shook her head, patting his back lightly before letting her hand drop to slip his phone quickly and discreetly out of his pocket. "I just had to check."
"Great. Don't you have a job to do or something? My brother wasn't the only patient you have." Ezra muttered tiredly.
"Clearly my shift isn't till later," she gestured to her jeans as she shoved her hand which still held his phone into her pocket.
"Uh huh, and we're not old friends so you can go now." Ezra stared, looking unhappy with her lingering.
"If you say so." She turned walking away toward the door. She pulled the phone out as soon as she was out of his sight and scrolled to the call log. She clicked into the contact and was delighted by the fact that the address was listed in the GPS section. She stopped on her way to the door at his desk, grabbing a pen and writing the address on the back of her hand. Canceling out of the application, she entered into the one labeled 'parents home' and opened the GPS on it, leaving it for him to think that's what she was looking for. Crime wasn't anything new for her but all of it had happened years ago, when she could get caught and get a slap on the wrist for being under aged. Then she found other ways.
The address was enough for now but it would pose problems for her later. She wanted to find Cris but for what cause? She didn't want to drag him back but there was an urge in her to see for herself that he was all right.
She made it back to work with a near immediate message to return to Dr. Erickson's office. The doctor's were, for whatever reason, impatient and it gave her little time to procrastinate, or at the very least little time to think about what she had already figured out.
Adia didn't knock like she usually did; she opened the door and walked into his office, her mind reeling over the situation.
"Ms. Adia." Erickson said, looking up at her with a fairly sincere smile. "Good of you to stop in before you started your shift."
"I wasn't aware I had a choice." Adia chuckled.
"That's a bit of a dreary way to look at things." he mused. "Have you paid Mr. Grandie a visit?"
"I have a witty response to that too but I think you'd call it dreary" she mused "Yeah, I saw him, pissed him off looking through his house. If I go to jail you better bail me out or I'm finding your house and burning it down." Adia mused.
Erickson actually chuckled. "No need to be hostile, Adia. I understand perfectly. Any news on Cristof?"
"He was there at some point. I even looked in the crawl space; he's not there. Might be at some hotel or something though." she shrugged.
"It is possible he would go to the trouble of hiding him." Erickson sighed. "You're sure he was there?"
"Yeah, some hospital pieces there. And he should hide him, a smart person would. Cops have been there every day, you know? Sooner or later they're gonna want to come in." Adia shrugged.
"Maybe that's true." Erickson conceded. "I do have a list of his parents properties for security and contact reasons. Perhaps there's a chance he's hidden in one of those places. You could look into that."
"Why don't you do it, why am I doing all the dirty work?" Adia sighed.
"You know exactly why." Erickson said. "You are the most capable for the job, and it is a way for you to work off certain deeds."
"You have a creepy way of talking." she pointed out, "Fine. Whatever."
He laughed softly. "I'm sure you can work this out for your benefit. Getting Cristof back would restore much of your past here. All of it more then likely. It's a sure way to pull yourself up higher amongst our ranks."
"I don't want to be higher in ranks. I like being a nurse. I like working with patients." Adia shook her head, "I don't need more stress."
"That much is obvious." Erickson said flatly. "Continue searching for Cristof. He needs to be found."
"Fine." she stood up. "Can we go without the daily meetings? I'd like to not have a rumor start that there's something between us. Would be weird."
He rolled his eyes. "To say the least. I want to be kept updated on your progress."
"Don't you have a cell phone?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Adia." he said. "I want to be kept informed. Things like this never turn out well when technology is involved. I won't leave a paper trail in this."
She stared at him for a moment, "And you call them crazy? The other hospitals do not care if you are looking for your patient, the police will not care that you are looking for your patient, no one cares that much about you, no offence intended. The only case that would come in handy with would be if I get arrested and need some proof but I won't need proof because I won't be involving the police. I'll be burning down your house. I don't see the issue."
"You don't need to see the issue, Adia." Erickson said. "If you did, I would share that information with you. You concentrate on finding Cristof."
"I am not coming in here again so you better find another way for your updates then." she frowned, "Not my fault you're afraid of your own shadow, you go right ahead and make your own life hard, don't drag me into it."
"It's a bit to late for that, Adia." he said, leaning back in his chair comfortably. "Get to work now."
"Don't call me in here again or I'll come out of this office filing a sexual harassment suit against you. Believe me I can pull it off. You are not the only one with threats and mine are probably a hell of a lot better." she said before turning around and heading for the door.
Thanks for reading!
Sadistprincess- Cris in one of a kind in most things he does, yes. He is very blunt with what he's feeling and what he's thinking. He catches onto things quick. Doctor's….well…there you are…
Cristof: Ms. Writer. I'm hearing voices that are unfamiliar to me. I should invite them to tea….
…you do that Cris. Tell Ezra first…
Silverbolts- Lmao. They shared a bed all the time when they were little. They don't..care…lol. Thanks for reading.