ROOT POV
Her heart is thumping so loud that it's the only thing she can hear from her left ear. On the other ear, she clutches the receiver tighter into the ear while holding the phone dearly. With God calling her directly after so long, how can she not hold it with every ounce of her being?
"Beep. Heart. Rate. And. Breathing. Increased." The disjointed, distorted voices sings into her ear. Oh, how beautiful it sounds. It breathes new life into her dead body.
"How could I not? Not when you call me." She replies with a wide smile as she holds the receiver even tighter and bringing up her other hand… only to feel a sharp sting on her shoulder, causing her to look down.
Oh, right… she was shot there, and she's in a sling. Looking back up, she sees that the payphone is on a dull gray wall and the place smells of antiseptics and Clorox. How fun… she's in a hospital… but at the back of her mind, she knows that already.
"Beep. Are. You. Alright?"
She lets out a small giggle at the question and answers. "Better than ever, now that you're here with me."
"Beep. Report. Condition. Stable. And. Improving. Every day."
That must be her records. Despite knowing that The Machine is nigh-omniscient, having it read her record for her makes her giddy like a little schoolgirl. "See, I'm doing great."
"Beep. How. Has. Your. Stay. In. The. Hospital. Been?"
Root lets out a moan before replying. "It's been dismal." As she says that, an idea pops into her head, causing her wide smile to creep wider. "Are you going to get me out of here?"
"Beep. Not. Yet."
Her smiles dips slightly as she asks. "Why not?"
"Beep. You. Need. Treatment. In. Hospital."
"I don't need this place." She whines and leans closer to the payphone. "I'm all fine and dandy… If you just ignore the bullet hole in my shoulder, but I've had worse injures compared to this."
"Beep. Not. Treatment. For. That. How. Long. Have. You. Been. Conscious?"
She shrugs and answers. "A few days, I guess… Yeah, I'm pretty sure I woke up a few days ago. I must have been in shock from the gunshot."
"Beep. That's. Not. Correct."
Despite her high from talking to The Machine, she feels slightly annoyed by that statement and says. "Then you tell me how long I've been out."
"Beep. Today. Is. Your. Four. Teen. Day. Here. It. Took. Five. Days. To. Reach. The. Hospital. And. You've. Only. Been. Mobile. For. Five. Days."
She felt her breath hitch as she listened intently to what The Machine was saying.
… It's been 19 days since she went to Washington. That can't be… right. It didn't feel like 19 days. Fuck, Washington felt like it was only a few days ago, not a fortnight ago. Her head couldn't have been up in the clouds for that long. It's almost preposterous, seeing that she's never had this problem before, only mom has ever gotten it…
… That just isn't true, is it? There's an empty pit in her and she feels like puking whatever is left in her stomach from the memory of the last time she blacked out. No, she can't think about that, not when God's on the line with her right now, saying the most confounding things.
But It's The Machine that told her this, so it must be true, and she explicitly trusts The Machine with her entire being.
Taking a second to recompose herself, she smiles and replies. "I guess… I might need a hospital right now… until I can get my head back together. Can't plan something if I can't be conscious, can I?"
"Beep. Don't. Leave. Stay. For. Treatment."
She knows it isn't an insult, but it feels like one, so she scoffs and replies. "You can't be serious."
"Beep. Require. Treatment. To. Function. Properly."
"I am functioning properly." Even though it doesn't sound right, she protests The Machine's commandment like a heretic. "The past few days are just… a hiccup. Nothing a couple days of rest in this hospital wouldn't fix."
She waits for a response from God, however; she received nothing for the longest time.
Then suddenly…
"Robin?" A male voice erupts forth from the receiver, causing her to frown instantly. "Can you hear me?"
God's voice was replaced with whoever this mongrel was. How dare he interrupt her conversing with a being that this pea-brained man can't even comprehend?
And who the fuck is Robin?
"I have no idea who you are, but you need to get off this line now. It's in use." This man sapped whatever feeling of happiness from talking to The Machine out and anger replaced it.
"Robin, this is Dr. Keynes, and I just want to talk to you for a moment." The man replies with a calm diplomatic voice, like he's a doctor or something.
Wait. He said he's a doctor…
Also, that again… Robin. Why does he think he's talking to a Robin? Doesn't he know she was having a very important call right now?
"The number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later, after the tone." She replies in a mechanical voice. "Beep."
"Robin…" The man tries to continue but.
"Normally people hang up after the beep." Root cuts him off. "So, hang up the phone. I was busy using it."
"Now Robin, don't…" The man once again tries to say something, but she cuts him off.
Annoyed by his tone, she snaps. "There's no Robin here, so pack up and leave."
"I'm looking at you from the nurse's station right behind you, Robin." The man persisted in being annoying.
But what he says causes her tunnel vision at the payphone to vanish and take a glance behind her. Only to see a woman in nurse garments keeping her distance from Root -pretty sure the bitch is positioned to tackle her as soon as she finishes here- and a man in doctor's robes waving at her before saying. "I can see it's you, Robin."
She frowns at the man and bites on her lips, thinking about what he's implying. It's almost three weeks since Washington, the last person she was with, the only person who would have brought her here, and a name of a bird…
"Robin…" She says in quiet disbelief. "No doubt, Harold's doing."
"Your Uncle?" The man's voice in the receiver sounding confused by what she said.
Uncle? He made himself her fucking uncle? The utter gall of that man. As much as she wants to shoot that liar for deceiving her in Washington, she can't help but find this situation utterly amusing. If this had happened before Washington, she would have been happily amused by this development, but now it's just resentment and annoyance.
… Also, the fucker named her after a bird and an ugly one at that. Doesn't even have the decency to pick a better bird. At least the name starts with an R. She can give him credit for that.
"Uncle Harold." Her voice is dripping with sarcasm while holding back a giggle. "The man knows I don't answer to my given name, and yet he doesn't stop using it." She says bitterly before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "Regardless, Doctor, whoever the fuck you said you were, I'm trying to have a private and important conversation here before you rudely interrupted us. I'd love to discuss my current situation with you later when I'm not on the phone. So, make like a tree and fuck off."
"But I don't hear anyone else on the line, Robin." The man replies without skipping a beat and with a concern voice.
She rolls her eyes at the man before turning her attention back to the payphone. Obviously, The Machine knows how to convey what it wants to her without anyone else listening in to their conversation; it is basically a God.
"Well, it's obvious that you scared my conversation partner into silence. They're quite shy and I doubt they're going to talk again until you hang up and neither will I." She resolvedly says as she look back at the man and just stare at him.
"I'm just concerned about your wellbeing, Robin." The man says in a kind voice and clearly not understanding she's giving him the silent treatment. "This is the first time you've spoken in two weeks and it's a serious achievement."
She lets out a large fake yawn and rolls her eyes at the man.
The man frowns at her and says. "Robin?"
Root continues to stare at him as she slowly brings up her hand from her sling without showing a single ounce of pain and flips him a bird. Before bringing up her middle finger and places it on her lips.
The man finally looks like he understands what's she's doing, sighs in defeat and hangs up the phone. She smirks triumphantly at the small painful victory before turning her focus back on to the payphone.
"Now where were we?" She says with a delightful smile as she leans in closer to the payphone. "I think you said something preposterous, like me needing to stay here, which I'm sure I just misheard."
The only thing that replies is silence as she waits for The Machine to say something.
She can feel her hand trembling at the utter silence she's receiving and says with a wavering, timid voice. "Hello?"
When nothing answers back, not even the off-hook tone graced her with its presence, causing her to feel like the world around her is spinning. "HELLO?" She desperately yells into the receiver for God to reply.
Everything around her darkens as her only world now revolves on the payphone for any kind of response. Once again, nothing. "Where are you?" Her voice breaks in despair before roaring back into life. "TALK TO ME!"
No, no, no, no, no, no.
This can't be happening. God came back to her and talked to her. Everything was going to be okay. Everything was supposed to be all right after God talked back to her. Why is this happening? Why is it not talking back?
"Where are you?!" Root screams into the receiver like her life is on the line, which is. Her entire body is shaking, waiting for a response.
But what she received wasn't the voice she wanted to hear.
"Robin…" A male voice suddenly erupts from behind her, causing her single sided focus on the payphone to shift towards the voice and back onto the outer world.
The voice of the heathen fucker that ripped God away from her. He needs to be punished. The world needs to be cleansed from this bad code.
Her head snaps towards the direction of that voice and she can only see red. "YOU!"
She takes a step towards the man, not caring that she sees humanoid shapes rushing towards her.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Root yanks the silent receiver away from her in preparation for using it as a bat against that fucker's watermelon of a head…
… But before she could deliver divine punishment to this fucker, someone caught her hand right above her head and quickly disarm her one usable hand by placing it on her back. Causing a slight tinge of pain, but that pain is nothing compared to the anguish she's feeling from the emptiness that God has left her.
"IT WAS TALKING TO ME!" Root hyperventilating at this point as she struggles against whomever that's pinning her so she could punish this man. "AND YOU TOOK IT AWAY!"
The man has a remorseful look on him. "I'm so sorry, Robin." The snake sounds like he was before he turns his attention to the person behind her. "Take her into seclusion until she's less violent, but don't give her another dose of her medication for this. It might have unintended consequences."
"FUCK YOU!" She yells at the man as she's struggles against the person that's dragging her away. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"
As she's being dragged away further away from that heathen, she continues to rage against everything, against this place, against her jailors, against life, but most importantly she rages the incoming tide of water.
But for all of her rage, the weight of the water is unyielding and unforgiving.
Forest green. I'm on my back. In the green room where no one can hear my screams. Not like I can even hear my own screams from all the water surrounding her head. Curling inwards. Weeping. Darkness.
Time is a funny thing. Did I sleep? Did I walk? I'm no longer on my back. I'm no longer in the green room. They moved me. I go where they take me, and I sit. They poke my mouth and press an object into my hands, but I will not take them.
How long has it been? Time is a fickle thing. They stop bringing me everywhere except for that room where they keep trying to poke my face. I will not accept any of it. Sit. Pain. Walk.
Sit. Pain. Walk. Sit. Pain. Walk. Sit. Pain. Walk. Sit. Pain. Walk. It repeats.
But a sound finally breaks the repetition like a hot knife through butter. The payphone rings.
God's calling me again. Finally.
Walk to the phone. Pick it up.
"Hello?" She says nervously, like she's gasping for air.
"Beep. Good. Morning."
She felt like God just pulled her out of the ocean and she's now breathing sweet air of life again.
Root closes her eyes as she lets out a breath of relief and says. "I was so afraid that you left me for good."
"Beep. I. Will. Not."
Unbridled joy erupts within her from that simple declaration. Maybe she won't drown again.
SU POV
The moment she had the receiver in her ear, she had a delightful feeling flowing through her, and it didn't take long for her ear to hear something.
"BEEP. CAN. YOU. HEAR…"
Out of pure instinct, she hangs up the receiver in a flash of action and continues on with her walk before the ringing payphone distracts her, like nothing just happened.
However, that wasn't the end of it… As she passes by another payphone, it rings and knowing better this time she completely ignores the ringing phone for the pleasure of walking like a tortoise towards torturer prime.
Yet when she turns a corner and passes by another payphone, it rings. This time, she pauses and looks around her. It's an empty, windowless hallway and the only thing here is the CCTV camera that doesn't pose a threat to her.
She stares at the ringing phone and ponders. What was that? Because it really sounds like some stalking creep…
Goodness gracious, she didn't know she had a stalker before!
… Wait… she did have a one before… but this is way more creepier! At least the last one she can see and attack. This one hides in the shadows! Whomever it might be can be looking at her now and she has no earthly idea where they're looking from. They can attack her from anywhere and she won't know!
She can feel her body swaying side to side as her mind races through all the possibilities and scenario that this might bring.
Her mind goes overboard when the payphone rings out another ring and brings her back into the present where she's leaning on the wall by the payphone.
She needs to calm down… it's the damn meds… yeah, it's the drugs in her system that's screwing with her.
Let's just take a moment to calm down her brain. Take a deep breath, just like she has always done, and exhale…
There's literally no reason for her to get all worked up about some stalker in some weird voice calling her, when she has Sue that can easily find whomever the caller is and have Pauling remove them for her.
Yeah, asking Sue to handle this is the best choice at the moment, unless she gets out of this place, which isn't on the cards now.
Just as she's about to open her mouth to say out loud to Sue… she closes her mouth when a thought occurred to her.
…
Just wait a hotdog second… that feeling she felt as she held the receiver before slamming it down… that feeling of warm delight. It's the same warmth she felt when she was in that hollowed out room.
The heck?
She's not one to jump to conclusion about something foreign to her… but really?
Really?
The machine is calling her?
But that doesn't make sense. Why would an A.I. that could, according to Root, predict people accurately be using a random assortment of recorded voices to communicate verbally?
It's just so… Primitive, absolutely basic, no style or grace. If it's 12 years old now and still has this kind of voice that Sue has moved forward from after a year of existence. How can it possibly be better than Sue?
… Other than the fact that she's bore witness to the machine's prowess of predicting herself and Root's testament…
Hang on just a second… How could it see her? Sue's out of sight module should still be active for her while she's still here and there's no way for the machine to counteract Sue if it can't even use a proper voice module… So, it can't be the machine. That can only mean one thing. It's a creepy human stalker somewhere that has eyes on her!
She isn't some kind of scaredy cat that jumps away from the slight sign of danger!
With renewed vigor, she reaches for the payphone that's been ringing non-stop in the background.
Picking up the receiver, she places it on her ear and listens to the assortment of random voices. "BEEP. Don't. Hang. Up."
When she's confident that there are no more words coming out. "Who's this?" She practically barks into the receiver and leans closer to the payphone as she felt the warmth, but her eyes aren't still as they dart around to see anyone that's staring at her. "You some weirdo that likes to stalk an innocent psychiatric inmate because they can't fight back? I'm sure you have some kind of weird fetish on me, so show yourself and let me beat you up!"
She didn't have to wait long for a response. "Beep. You. Know. Me. As. The. Machine."
Well, that threw a wrench at her ideas and assumptions. Now she just feels embarrassed by her little drug driven indulgent thinking and her yelling.
"Oh…" She says awkwardly before being replaced by annoyance. "Heh… Why didn't you say that from the start?"
They could have avoided all of this if it had said their name from the outset. Seriously, what kind of A.I. Harold wrote? Because so far, she isn't impressed. Clearly, Sue is better than this machine!
"Beep. You. Hang. Up. Before. Proper. Introduction."
Of course, it would push the blame onto her when it is clearly to be blamed for this whole confusion!
And there's something that's been bothering her since she first pick up the phone… "Could you please, for the lord's sake, stop it with that incessant beeping?" She says frustratingly. "I can handle your subpar mangled voice but not that beeping, and I feel like I'll get an aneurysm if you continue."
"Is. This. Better?"
"Tremendously… if we ignore your voice." She replies with a sigh of delight and continues when the machine doesn't respond. "Now. How did you find me? There's not enough tea in China that you're seeing me right now."
Su waves at the blinking red camera with a loopy smile when the machine replies. "True. You. Are. Invisible. In. Camera. But. Your. Walking. Cadence. Is. Unique."
Feeling a spark of annoyance, she replies. "I don't limp!"
She isn't some crippled lowlife! Sure, she feels more tired now than ever and walking feels like a chore, but she walks normally!
"You. Don't."
She unintentionally lets out. "Huh…"
That's something she didn't think of… and why did her mind instantly jump into her earlier conclusion?
… Must be the damn drugs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the explanation…
Then it must be… "You recognized my footsteps? And you're able to parse through all these other humans' footstep?"
Well, she's alone right now, but she was in a sea of people just a few minutes ago and the machine was able to keep track. Wonder to what limit it can track her with just sound? Can it still track her if there's a higher pitch or shrieking ambient sounds? So many possibilities for interesting experiments and fun experiments. Yet she isn't in the mood for lab work now.
"Yes."
"Did Harold program that in before you were deployed?" She asks out of curiosity.
"No."
Interesting… it managed to program something like that by itself but couldn't get a better voice modulator? Their priorities clearly aren't straight and totally off the mark… but then again, Harold did program it to be a surveillance A.I. so its lack of development in that field isn't totally out of left field. Just a mark of poor foresight on four eyes part.
"You've piqued my interest." She says as she leans closer to the payphone as if it would make her feel warmer. "However… why are you using such a primitive form of text to speech? These voices make me think you're having a psychotic breakdown."
"It. Is. Sufficient."
She lets out a scoff. "You're a sassy little thing, aren't you?"
When the machine didn't respond to her great line, she finally asks the question that's been whirling at the back of her head. "Why are you calling me?" Su smiles as she twists the phone cord around her finger. "Are you calling me to tell me I'm a better player in our little games we've been playing for the past few years?"
"No."
"Well, that's a fast shut down." She pouts. "Do you even know what I meant about the game?"
"I. Heard. Your. Conversation. With. Admin."
The machine completely ignored her question, and she wasn't annoyed but was curious.
Admin? That must be Harold… He seriously made the machine call him that rather than calling him by his name? What an odd little man.
However, that left her with a question. "Now, how did you even listen to that conversation? Because I'm sure Sue would have blocked you out of any devices with a microphone in that room."
"I. Have. My. Ways."
Isn't it just being a little sly thing? How adorable… wonder if Sue is tracking where this call is coming from and from there try to find where the machine went because she really likes this warm feeling.
Come to think of it… shouldn't Sue be blocking this payphone as well? Was she failing in her job? Or did the machine find a way to bypass it? So many possibilities for her to explore and a stark contrast to the dull two weeks since she's been here.
However, before she could continue her conversation with the machine…
"Anna?" A woman's voice from behind her rips her out from the small tunnel vision she's having with the payphone.
Turning to see the interrupter of her rather pleasant chat, she sees a woman in a nurse's aide garb, the lowest of the lowest tier in this place hierarchy. There's a slight concern on her face and possibly a little bit lost.
She rolls her eyes at the interloper and turns back to the payphone. "Sorry about that. A pest interrupted us." Su says sweetly into the phone. "Now where were we? Ah… why are you calling me?"
"Don't. Hurt. Her."
"What?" She asks back rather dumbly and confused. What is it referring to?
"Anna, there's no one on the phone." The woman gets closer to her and back into her view before pointing towards the payphone. "This is an outbound phone, and the meter is empty."
There's a spike of annoyance towards the interloper for her continual disturbance, which makes Su really want to kick this pest. However, this brings up an interesting subject…
Su completely ignores the woman and talks back to the machine. "What do you mean by that? And you can see her?"
"Yes."
She snorts slightly and comments. "You're not one to say a lot, huh?"
What a vague answer to both questions. If the machine can't see her but can see the pest, that means Sue is removing her from the frames, unless it meant something else when it said it can see the pest.
And what the heck does the machine mean by don't hurt her? It's such a vague creature that's she's been playing around with for all these years. It really is true what they say about never meet your dancing partner… wait that's the wrong proverb.
Before she could continue her talk with the machine, a hand pops right into her periphery, speeding towards the receiver. But it's for naught, because she quickly catches the offending hand on its wrist with her hand from her injured shoulder and she can feel another hand touching her uninjured shoulder.
Don't these rats know that it's rude to interrupt someone while they're on the phone? Plus the pain is sooo annoying. A wave of anger spreads through her as she looks at the interloper's hand. Oh, how easy for her to break it.
"Anna?" The nurse aide sounds afraid. "Please let go of my hand. We don't want anyone to get hurt."
Glancing at her back, she sees the other person who's holding her shoulder, a person in a custodian uniform. What the heck is a nurse's aide and a janitor doing together in this newly discovered -for her- part of the hospital?
…
Not that it matters right now, since both pests aren't a threat to her.
And the only person who's going to be hurt is the busybodies… then a moment of revelation washes through her like the lord Jesus Christ talking to John. She understands what the machine meant earlier.
Oh… it meant these people. But why shouldn't she hurt them? It's not like being put into the room with the only color in this place is a punishment… Right, the machine is a goody two shoes.
Su can easily ignore the machine's suggestion and break this woman's wrist, then breaking the guy's nose… but this warmth she's feeling ever since picking up the phone is quite addicting. Maybe she'll play along and see what this all means.
Letting out a sigh of annoyance and disappointment, she then says. "Talk to you later."
She hangs up the phone and lets go of the hand she's been holding in an iron grip, pretty sure it's turning blue. The woman takes a step back while the man still has his hand on her shoulder and it's an annoyance.
"Would you kindly remove your filthy hand from my person?" She says calmly as she glares at the man.
The man looks lost before turning to the aide for directions and receive a nod from the plebeian of the hospital.
Now that there are no hands on her, she turns to the offending woman who's clutching her wrist but is no longer frowning and Su speaks up. "Did your parents never tell you that it's incredibly rude to interrupt someone while they're on a call?"
"Anna…" The woman says with a concern voice -which is obviously fake just like everyone else in this place-. "Were you hearing voices just now?"
Su lets out a groan… goodness, she really shouldn't have said to that witch that she hears sue talking to her and lets her make assumptions… now everyone here thinks she's having auditory hallucinations, which she has never had, when she's completely sane. Unlike a lot of the people in here, who are clearly demented.
Well, since everyone thinks she's hallucinating, might as well play to it. "Why yes, I was having a lovely conversation with a dear friend before you rudely barged in."
The woman pauses, seemingly not knowing how to respond, which it isn't surprising seeing her rank in this primitive society of hospital, so she takes this time to properly at both of them to see if she recognizes them… it's not like she would remember them, but it doesn't hurt to see if she's seen them before in passing.
After a few seconds of deliberation, the woman opens her mouth. "Anna, are you supposed to be here right now? I remember one of the nurses saying you have something on your schedule around this time."
She narrows her eyes at the woman… is she being passive aggressive? How rude… really makes her want to hurt the interloper, but the machine asked nicely so she won't.
Rolling her eyes at the woman, she turns away from the two interlopers and says. "No need to make a mountain out of a molehill. I was just taking the scenic route."
"I will have to report what I saw to Nurse Gloria." The woman adds before Su starts her arduous towards torturer prime, causing her to glare at the woman once again.
Ugh…
Wait… which one is that? Is it the one that gives her the meds every day, or is it the bossy one, or is it the overly nice one? Maybe it's neither of them and this is someone else… Not that it matters, since every nurse in this section of the hospital is annoying as heck.
Also, what a tattletale… doesn't she know snitches gets shivved? However, it is her job… whatever her job even does. Probably part of their job description is to be the snitch of the inmates' behaviors. What a lowlife. Can't believe that the machine doesn't want this person to be put to sleep… once again showing that Sue is the superior being!
She waves her hand dismissively as she starts dragging her feet forward, only for her to stop a few feet away from them, and glances back. "Why is this part of the ward empty of people? This part is significantly better compared to the normal place."
"Oh…" The woman, seemingly surprised by the inquiry, turns to the man for an answer, who shrugs and says in a gruff voice. "Place was renovated a few years ago and the rooms never got fitted out because of the budget cuts. We mostly use it for storage now or some kind of group activity and private sessions."
Huh… interesting, and she's really disappointed with herself for not finding this place earlier. She's been here for more than two weeks now! Guess this place can be her new prowling ground and away from the general insane populace of this ward. Wonder what's inside these rooms…
Without saying another word, she continues on with her slow trudge to her psychologist, where she's just going to sit down in silence until that stubborn woman changes her mind about her rather ridiculous decision of not letting her have her way without participating in therapy… but does she want to see Root in the state that she's in right now?
…
She rather not think about that right now… nonetheless it's the principal that matters! That stubborn hag should grant her very reasonable request even if she may or may not even go forward with the act.
Also, she needs to borrow a phone so that the machine can call her tonight and she's pretty sure that stubborn cow won't miss her absolutely archaic phone. Honestly, she's doing that cow a favor by borrowing it from her, and the cow might finally change her phone to a 21st century standard… but the phone is from the 21st century…
Just a second… she didn't tell the machine to call her back tonight, did she or did she not? Su comes to a full stop in some empty hallway to think… but for the life of her, she couldn't recall what she said before hanging up the phone. Goodness, that event just happened a few minutes ago and now she can't remember.
Argh… things would be so much simpler if Sue's here to remember things for her… wait, she was here… but that would defeat the purpose of her telling Sue to keep quiet and she can't have the full experience if Sue keeps yapping in that high frequency thingies.
These drugs that these masochists shoved into her are really screwing with her mind. What even are the drugs she's taking right now? She didn't bother to hear what the torturer prime said and didn't even bother to look at pills before she gulps it all down. How many pills were there? Half a dozen or more? But she's pretty sure some were just supplements because some are exactly what she took before coming here… did they know what she took? There must be some pills in her handbag and Harold must have given them her handbag.
Ugh… they went through her bag? These people really don't know the meaning of privacy. Wonder if they kept her small collection of knifes from the bag or threw it away… if they did, someone's isn't going to have a fun day.
Speaking of drugs… that stubborn cow is surely going to add another one to the pile because of that little snitch. How fun…
Oh well, what's done is done…
Wonder if the machine is going to call her tonight and if that warm feeling is going to come back or not.
THRID PARTY POV
"This is useless." Mary says bitterly as drops onto the chair after another failed attempt at feeding her charge and childishly taps Robin's thighs as if it's going to illicit a response. "Doc really did a number on her and all the progress we made in the past two weeks vanished. She stopped eating, drinking, drawing. What were they thinking of tossing her into seclusion?"
"Yeah, no shit. You guys broke her head like a piggybank." Farrah comments as she takes a bite of her pancake. "She was completely fine the day before… well, fine for Robin. She even smiled at me during art class."
Mary didn't even say anything to the self-imposing patient and just raised an eyebrow towards the patient, who quickly folds. "Alright, maybe she didn't smile, but she looked at me!"
"Aren't you her seating partner in class?" Mary replies with a slight smile.
"Yeah, and she never looked at me before!" Farrah replies with a flustered look and completely forgotten her pancake. "She's always focused on her odd drawings and never around her."
"Enough you two, and you know Doctor Keynes isn't to be blamed for what happened two days ago." Martha chides both her fellow nurse's aide and the patient as she wipes Robin's mouth. "You know, her file said she has a history of violence and the reason for her being here was waving a gun around. The doctor didn't have much choice."
"Still can't imagine meek old Robin being violent." Mary comments in disbelief. "She's always soo… passive in the past two weeks. Can't really see her hurting a fly."
"Yeah, you weren't there…" Martha shakes her head before chiding. "And stop tapping her thigh. It annoys her."
"I doubt she can feel it." Mary rolls her eyes at Martha, who takes up the impossible task of trying to feed ice cream to Robin. "And don't talk like you were there, either. It was our off day."
Martha lets out a sigh. "I talked to Sarah, and she saw everything. Said that Robin went berserk and got within an inch of turning Doctor Keynes's nose into a bloody mess."
"I heard she went berserk because Doc cut off the phone that miraculously made her conscious." Mary stops her incessant taps and leans onto the table. "Y'know, the phones that are in Robin's walking route rang again. Honestly kinda creepy that when I pick it up, there's nothing on the line."
Martha lets out an amused chortle. "You're not seriously thinking that God is actually talking to Robin through the telephone, can you?"
"I'm not suggesting anything, other than it's creepy." Mary replies slightly offended.
"Who knows, maybe God is actually calling Robin? And she's the next prophet." Farrah chimes in to neither hospital staff amusement.
"You know this place is old and things tend to break." Martha shrugs as she tries for another unsuccessful spoon full of ice cream for Robin. "Despite what the big man up top says, a fresh new coat of paint on the building doesn't fix the rot in the walls."
"Ugh, let's avoid that gloomy subject." Mary taps her cheek as she thinks of something for a minute before continuing on with the previous subject. "How about we take down the hall after you get tired of failing to feed her and see if she wants to talk again when that phone rings again?"
Martha looks at Mary skeptically and says. "She backslid so far into the darkest depths of her mind that I'm not even sure if she'd be aware if it rings again."
Mary looks at her co-worker with an unimpressed stare. "You got a better suggestion? And it doesn't hurt."
"Nothing I guess." Martha replies with a huff before placing down the bowl of half melted ice cream onto the table. "Just don't want to get your hopes up when nothing happens. Come one give me a hand."
It isn't hard to get Robin on her feet when there's two people and they slowly guide Robin as she drags her feet down the hallway. As annoyed both nurse's aide find the pace of Robin's walking, at least the catatonic woman can walk on her own.
They pass by a few techs who only give them a curious look before going on with their way. They are a few yards away from the nearest payphone when a distinct sound of ringing echoes throughout the hallway, to Mary's delight and Martha's utter surprise.
'Okay, that's really creepy.' Martha thinks to herself.
That's when they felt Robin lurch forward out of their grasps before taking a step forward towards the payphone in her own volution, causing both women to give each other a look. Neither can really believe that this ludicrous act would have worked. They both watch as Robin easily dodges around the other patients in the hallway and crosses the distance faster than either can imagine. It only took Robin three phone rings for her to reach the payphone, and Robin's robes flutter behind her dramatically.
"Hello?" Robin says breathlessly from what both women can hear from their distance, which they cautiously try to get closer without causing their patient alarm.
Robin was stiff for a second before she melts onto the wall and leans closer to the payphone like it was the most precious thing in the world for her and says with relief coloring her voice. "I was so afraid that you left me for good."
"What should we do?" Mary asks her companion as they sneakily make their way towards Robin.
"We have a few and all of them are bad for us." Martha replies curtly.
Mary was about to make another suggestion when Robin lectures her imaginary talking partner. "You can see everything. You know where I've been."
"I think we need to get the nurses." Martha says quietly to her partner.
"Do I know where I am?" Robin sounded irritated and continued to raise her voice. "Of course, I do. I was in the rubber room!"
Both women share a look with each other because both heard an irritated Robin is a dangerous Robin.
"We gonna be in trouble, aren't we?" Mary asks, slightly worried.
"Because somebody decided to interrupt our conversation!" Robin yells loudly for everyone to hear. A public chastisement for recent regression.
"We didn't exactly have permission to do this, and we have no idea how long she's going to be talking." Martha replies curtly and gives her partner a pointed look. "This is going to attract attention."
Mary lets out a sigh, knowing that what Martha says is true and replies with. "I guess it's for the best."
"I'm blaming this on you." Martha replies with a serious look.
Mary sags her shoulder slightly in submission and replies. "Fine, you go while I'll stay here to look over, Robin."
Martha nods and quickly departs for the nearest nurse station that isn't too far from their current location and Mary stays to listen to what Robin is saying.
Robin, looking less agitated, closes her eyes as she leans deeper into the wall and says. "Yeah, like you called be before, I'm fine."
Mary can't help but wonder what kind of conversation Robin is having with her hallucinations.
"I know, I know." Robin lets out a sigh and sounds slightly dejected. "I hope I wasn't out of it for long this time."
There's a pause before she continues. "Two days? I'm not sure if I should be happy or not… at least it isn't two weeks this time."
It didn't take long for the other patients to notice Robin was talking again and some that didn't have anything else to do, just stand and watch their fellow patient being lucid.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Robin rolls her shoulders, only to wince at the pain from her injured shoulder. "… but that doesn't mean I like this… this place."
Again, there's another pause from Robin, as if she's hearing a response on the phone. "Now that you mention it, I do feel rather hungry. Are the food here bad?"
'Obviously, she's going to feel hungry. She barely ate or drink for two days.' Mary thinks to her herself.
"That was a rhetorical question." Robin smiles fondly. "I know you can't taste the food, silly, but telling me what does feel about the food is helpful."
"You're going to call me every day?" Robin asks excitedly with her eyes shining in joy.
Mary can hear a stampede of footsteps from behind her. Turning around, she sees three nurses and four incredibly fit male aides making their way towards Robin with a multitude of restraining devices with them.
It barely took a minute for everyone to strategically position themselves around Root just in case the worst happens. All the ruckus attracted more people to look on to the spectacle with curiosity. Some of the patients had a look on their faces that said they hoped for another dramatic meltdown.
Robin entirely ignored everything that's going on around her and sputters into the phone. "Whose stupid rule is that? I doubt God bows down to the laws of man, let alone follows them."
Robin then slumps her shoulder like disappointed and whines. "But we barely talk… Well, that's not much consolation, it's like forever from now!
Everyone got more tense at Robin's mood shift, and some looks like they're going to spring into action at any moment.
"Fine…" Robin lets out a sigh. "When in Rome and the whole shtick… Same time tomorrow, right? Alright, talk to you then!"
Robin hangs up the phone with an upbeat smile on her and turns around, only to notice her rather large audience, that look surprised.
"What's so interesting? Never seen a woman using a phone before?" Robin says condescendingly to the crowd before turning away from everyone and walking off down the hallway towards the day room.
The gaggle of gawkers wanted to follow Robin out of curiosity, but the nurses took charge of the situation and disperse the crowd, now that Robin was away from her surroundings. Everyone went back to their business with three exceptions of Nurse Angie, Mary and Farrah, a patient who's been observing from the background ever since the beginning.
All three of them are trailing Robin from a distance and observing as to what she is going to do next, but one person finds the entire thing to be nerve-wracking and breaks away from everyone towards their subject…
"Farrah stop." Angie whispers harshly to the patient, who quickly dodges and goes out of her reach. "Go the other way."
"Hi!" Farrah says with a bright smile after she quickly gets in front of Robin and walks backwards down the hall with her fellow patient. "Do you know me?"
"I've seen you around." Robin replies politely after a quick glance down. "Got a name to put to the face?"
Farrah smiles brightly at that and quickly replies. "Names Farrah Assaf, but you can call me Farrah and you're Robin, right?"
"Is it now?" Robin replies with an amused smile. "How do you know that? I would recall if I've made an introduction with that name."
Farrah quirks her head slightly at the odd sentence but isn't deterred and nods her head. "Yeah, yeah! They introduced you to us when you first entered the ward a while ago. Robin Farrow and they say you some kind of tech consultant."
Robin gives Farrah another glance and smiles slightly as she answers. "You can call it that."
"By the way, I just wanted to thank you personally for knocking Eric onto his ass a few days ago." Farrah's grinning widely as she recalls the sight. "The guy is a major asshole."
"The loud ugly guy…" Robin mutters and then a frown appears on her before she asks. "How long ago was that?"
Farrah giggles a little at Robin's description of Eric and taps her chin to think before answering. "Like six days ago? Days mushes together when I'm in here."
The taller of the patients didn't reply as she continues on with her slow pace into the dayroom with Farrah walking by the other's side and tries to spark up a conversation. "A consultant… You must be super smart, then. I don't think anyone here is a tech consultant. What do you do?"
Robin didn't answer her fellow patient's question as a deep frown appears on her face. "Robin Farrow." She mutters. "Of course, Farrow." Robin snorts. "And Robin." She says like there's something bitter in her mouth. "Ugh."
"What's going on?" Farrah gives Robin a quizzical look as to why the woman keeps on repeating her name like it's the first time she's heard it.
"He could have picked a better name." Robin says disdainfully as she plops down onto the couch and brings her leg up to her chest and taps her shin.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Farrah, feeling completely lost and slightly uncomfortable, asks as she takes the seat next to Robin.
"I have so many names he could have picked, and he chooses Robin." Robin sighs as she leans back onto the couch before waving a dismissive hand at Farrah. "It's nothing really… not that important… just bothersome."
"Do you have, like… a lot of names or something?" Farrah leans in slightly, finding this incredibly interesting. It's not every day that she meets someone with multiple names.
"Way too many to remember now. That's why having this is annoying." Robin complains before ultimately acquiesce to her situation. "Well, at least it's only for this place and everyone already knows about it."
"What's your other names and why do you even have a lot of names?" Farrah asks in curiosity.
"Way too many to remember…" Robin mutters as she looks at the clock in the dayroom.
Farrah looks at her new friend in confusion. "You already said that before."
"There are too many minutes in a day…" Robin mutters again.
"Huh?" Farrah frowns slightly as she looks at the clock, not understanding what the other woman is saying at all.
"It's not fair that I only get a few minutes of them…" Robin trails off her words until she's not saying anything.
"Dude, you're not making sense at all…" Farrah shakes her head and turns to Robin… only to see Robin's face blank again.
"Robin?" Farrah asks quietly as she pokes the woman's cheek, to no avail.
"I told you to not go to her." Angie comments as she walks right up to the couch from her observation point outside of the dayroom.
Farrah raises her hands to show she's innocent and says. "This is soo totally not my fault. She was just talking fine until she turns back into… this. She kinda of… petered out in the end there."
"What did she say?" Mary asks as she stands beside Angie, who quickly goes to check on Robin's vitals. "I've always wondered what went up in there."
"She knows me…" Farrah shoots Mary a triumphal grin. "… and asked my name. Then I congrats her for knocking Eric down a peg before asking her if she's a tech consultant, and she said yes. Then she got weird."
"How so?" Angie asks after she's satisfied with Robin's condition.
"She said her name a few times, but like it isn't hers?" Farrah shrugs. "Then she got annoyed and said she has a lot of names that he could have picked but choose this… and then she rambled on about how there's so many minutes in a day? Said like it isn't fair, she only got fifteen minutes in a day."
Mary has a frown on her as she listens to Farrah, but Angie shakes her head and says. "It probably doesn't mean anything. She might have felt that she's slipping and was rambling."
Mary looks at Angie with an unsatisfied look. "That phone call only lasted 15 minutes, and she's lucid for 15 minutes after. Somehow, whatever happened on that phone call made her lucid, even if it was just half an hour. It must be connected."
Angie doesn't look convinced and retorts. "The phone call that doesn't have anyone on the other line."
"Who cares if it's not real?" Mary waves her hand to the blank faced Robin. "It's real to her, and that phone works a hell a lot better than the Ativan we've been giving her."
Angie pauses for a few seconds to think before sighing. "You got a point… I'll talk to Doctor Keynes to see if we can bring her to a phone at the same time tomorrow."
Mary didn't know her shoulder was tense when she loosened it. "That's all I ask."
"Who knows, maybe the doc might let her have her phone." Angie nods before turning around to go back to the nurse's station, and Mary looks like she's going to follow her superior.
Farrah felt like they both were forgetting something, thumbs to her seating partner and asks. "Aren't you guys forgetting someone?"
"Have fun talking to her." Angie comments before leaving the room.
Farrah shoulder's slumps down and turns to a lifeless Robin to say. "I guess it's just to two of us then."
A/N: Had this chapter at a 90% completed for several days and didn't have the time to finish it and post it on the 1-year anniversary of starting this fanfic. Let's just hope I can finish it this year.