Chapter 24 - Hospital Visit

USP played with her hands as the helicopter slowly descended. She took a slow breath and followed Ursula out. Ursula was in her street clothes, and USP had been stuffed into something more 'girly', as Ursula had put it, to 'bring some sunshine' to Bryant. The two didn't look out of place, but USP certainly felt like they did. "Did you leave your gear at base?" Ursula asked over her shoulder.

"Yes ma'am."

"And did you make the changes to your IFF?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And did the others show you how to mimic a biological signature?"

"Sort of? I can only do it for a few seconds." Ursula shrugged.

"Good enough," she winked and stuck out her tongue, "you are my ticket in here, so get ready." They approached the hospital.

"W-wait, wha-wha?" Ursula winked and gave her a signal. USP sighed and did her best. They nervously walked through the first door. The sensor beeped and turned green as they passed. USP glanced to the side and noticed a small sign by the door. 'NO DOLLS ALLOWED'. She swallowed hard and felt the panic rise. The armed guards glared at her. USP couldn't shake the feeling that they knew. Ursula just waved politely at them and put a hand on USP's back and gently guided her to the Receptionist. The young man smiled.

"Good Afternoon. How may I help you?"

"We're here to visit a patient; Zachary Bryant?"

"I'm sorry, I can only allow family members to visit him right now."

"This is Yulia Bryant. I'm her caretaker, Ursula McRoy." The receptionist turned to his keyboard and entered their names. USP looked up at Ursula with a look of panic.

"C-c-c-" Ursula pinched her and shot her a glare. USP yelped softly and looked down. The Receptionist was too busy to notice. He finished typing and gave a slight smile to Ursula.

"Alright, all signed in. He's on the eight floor, room 8011." Ursula nodded and thanked him. They passed through another security checkpoint and entered the elevator. Once they were inside, USP turned to Ursula.

"You used me!"

Ursula nodded with a devilish smile. "I did indeed."

"You lied, too!"

"Of course. Sometimes humans lie. That's life." Ursula shrugged.

"But, to a Doll, thats…." Ursula smiled.

"Lies aren't always bad. But I guess if it's your programming, there's nothing we can do." USP thought for a second.

"S-so…I should say…I'm 'Yulia' while I'm here?" Ursula nodded.

"Is…is that an order?" Ursula nodded again. USP tugged at her shirt and frowned. "Ok then…I'll do my best." The elevator opened, and the two stepped out. Ursula led the way to the room. USP looked inside the rooms as they passed. Some were filled with the dying, some were empty. A few were filled with mourners, and others with smiling and laughing families. Such a contrast was slightly jarring. The two walked in a careful silence until they reached the room. The door was shut slightly, and hushed voices came from within. Ursula knocked and waited.

"Come in. I'm almost done." Bryant said, his voice stronger than the last time they talked. The two entered the room. A pair of doctors were fitting something to the stump where Bryant's arm had been. USP and Ursula stood in silence while they finished. The room was quiet while the one doctor hooked up a sensor and adjusted several dials. He kept turning one, while the other tracked his responses. Bryant took his left arm and made a gentle gesture. "Okay, yeah, I feel that." One doctor wrote a note and they took the device off.

Bryant leaned back in the bed. "You've grown a lot, Yulia." Bryant said, a significant amount of sarcasm in his voice. He was wired up to several machines, but he looked to be in good spirits. The doctors politely excused themselves and left. USP and Ursula sat next to him. Ursula smiled softly.

"You would be proud: she got in here all by herself." Bryant chuckled softly. His face twisted in pain, but he smiled after the pain passed. "Although, it was dicey there for a few seconds." He chuckled again.

"As expected," He sighed and propped himself up, "you like to cut it close to the wire." He took a few shallow breaths before giving one of his characteristic smiles. "Glad to see you didn't screw up." Ursula rolled her eyes.

"Can we skip the pleasantries and discuss the elephant in the room?" Bryant's smile fell instantly. He sighed and looked at the wall behind USP.

"My shoulder and elbow were blown apart. Couldn't be fixed. Radius broken in seven spots; ulna pretty much turned to dust." He winced and twisted his left wrist. "Major muscle tears, wrist severed internally." He handed Ursula a package of x-rays. "But hey, if you connect the dots in my ulna x-ray you get a giraffe." USP and Ursula frowned.

"So...are cybernetics an option?" She asked quietly. He shook his head.

"My body rejected them. I'll need four or five months of gene therapy before they even want to try again." He turned to USP. "I'll be counting on you especially. I'm going to be borderline useless for a while."

USP inched closer. "You mean…. you're coming back? "

"Of course. Alchemist and I are one-for-one. We have to settle the score for real this time." His smile returned as he changed subjects. "Helian told me about the ECHO system though. I'm not 'eager' to try it out, but hey: safety net." Ursula and USP made a face.

"How did Helian get in here? Family members only." Bryant cocked his head. "You….you do know Helian, yourself, and Kalina are all down as family members, right?" Ursula slowly turned red. "How the hell did you get in here?!" Ursula quietly toyed with her hands.

"I…" Ursula said, "had SAR hack into the system and add USP as your daughter and myself as her guardian during your injury." She hid her face in her hands. "And then I had Kalina help me teach USP to be more human to avoid being spotted."

Bryant broke out in a deep bit of laughter. The monitors attached to him went crazy, and his laughs were interrupted by whines of pain. Ursula yelled out. "It's not funny! And you'll hurt yourself. " Bryant sighed.

"Oh, this is the most fun I've had all day." He settled down and a nurse came in to scold them. After a few minutes of pleasantries, it was time to go. "Oh, Ursula, did you bring the things from Kalina?" Ursula nodded and rummaged in her purse for a second. She handed him an old phone.

"You only have three minutes left on it." Bryant chuckled and struggled slightly to take it. He smiled and gave a villainous chuckle.

"Perfect. That's more than enough." He leaned back and tucked the phone under his pillow. "Take care on the way out. I'll see you soon, Yulia." USP blushed slightly. It felt weird to be called by a human name. "Um...yes. s-s-see you soon, then." Bryant waved to them and settled back into bed.

"What did Bryant want?" USP asked softly as they entered the elevator.

"An old burner phone without a GPS. Why?"

"That's oddly specific. "

"Bryant is an oddly specific man." Ursula said with a shrug before the doors opened. USP could not argue with that. Ursula and USP left the hospital quickly after doors opened. The less they dealt with security, the better. The sensor turned green as they left, and USP let out a sigh of relief. "I was so nervous. Thank goodness they didn't figure us out." USP put a hand over her heart and sighed again.

She then turned to Ursula in a rage. "Tell me about these things before hand! I need to prepare" she stamped her foot, "if I were still a civilian protector model, I'd arrest you here and now!"

"Wait, what?" Ursula asked. USP puffed herself up as much as she could. A smug smile formed on her face.

"I was a proud civilian protector for eight months before joining G&K." Ursula sighed and put her head in her hands.

"So, you still have the IFF settings?" USP nodded proudly. Ursula sobbed and covered her face. "Civilian Protectors have access to hospitals and police stations! All I'd need to do is show my Griffin ID!" USP got angrier. She pouted all the way back to the helipad. While they waited, Ursula pulled out Bryant's x-rays. The two of them looked at his arm for a bit. "Damn thing does look like a giraffe."

Alchemist sat in the command center and waited. That's almost all she ever did. "Alchemist." The communicator lit up.

"My my, a call from our dear Agent? So good to see you back in one piece." Agent did not respond. There was a slight pause.

"Is everything set up?" Alchemist nodded.

"Nearly. How are the others doing?"

"Hunter is in pursuit of AR-15 and the M4 SOPMOD II. Intruder followed M16 into the mountains. They won't escape. "

"Ah, to be free to stalk again. How I miss it. And Executioner?" Alchemist asked. There was another pause.

"Killed in action. M4A1 was rescued by a Commander from Griffin." Alchemist was silent for a moment. "We are currently changing strategies, but it will take time."

"Which Commander was it?"

"No one you would know." Agent said. "That playmate of yours is dead, yes?"

Alchemist started to answer, but a message came through the emergency channel directly to her. The encryption and security on the message was insanely high for such a short message. Alchemist switched over to receive it. "I lived, bitch." And the message was over, the line severed. Alchemist felt something. A burning fire within her chest and throat. Was this what the humans called 'rage'? Whatever it was, Alchemist did not enjoy it.

"Alchemist?" Agent asked her question again. Alchemist stopped and smiled.

"If he isn't, he will be. Very. Very. Soon."