Nightshift 62: F-A Block Hallway

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

Taura was passing the door to the bathrooms when a thought occurred to her. Could that have been what Okita had been worried about? Did he know something had started? He hadn't looked especially well, come to think of it, but he'd never looked terribly energetic, except in the middle of a fight.

But if he'd known this was coming, why hadn't he said anything? He didn't have to use his own handwriting -- if he'd wanted to, he could have let them all know that something was coming without tipping his hand.

Or it could be something else. Politics. Loyalties. She hadn't expected him not to have any, but she wished he'd been willing to explain. Did he think she'd be disappointed? Maybe she would have, a little, but she would have listened to what he had to say. Did he -- no, he didn't think her unworthy of trust, but perhaps he hadn't been able to turn that same regard to himself? Or maybe it's just embarrassing, Taura.

[to here]

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

Maybe she should check. It couldn't hurt, could it? Don't answer that, Skye. Of course it would hurt, seeing Ema's bed empty, or worse, filled with another young woman she couldn't help any more than she'd helped Ema.

Her hand tightened on her flashlight, keeping it steady. It felt like her first night here. She didn't know where to begin again, but she couldn't go back. Only forward.

She was so tired. And possibly turning into a monster, but somehow that seemed like the least of her worries. She'd been a monster, after all, in every way that counted. Ema had forgiven her. And if Landel wasn't just trying to frighten them, well, she had a gun. There were ways to solve any problem, if you looked at them from the right angle.

[Gumshoe]

[ham_fisted]

[from here; sorry for the wait!]

He was reluctant to slow down when he got to the F Block entrance, but he still managed a brisk walking pace as he passed people. Before he started jogging again, the beam of his flashlight hit upon a familiar head of hair.

"Ms. Skye!" He lowered his flashlight and hurried over. Then, something he had sort of expected to happen, happened. The urge to apologize suddenly hit him, leaving him at a loss for words for a moment, and his face fell. Just looking at her brought on an overwhelming pang of guilt. "I..." Th-There'd be time for that later! He had to pull himself together. "D-Did you hear that announcement just now!?"

[fourstonewalls]

"It would have been very difficult not to hear it, Detective." She would have folded her arms, but the flashlight in one hand and the candlestick in the other made it a little unwieldy; instead, she tucked them both behind her back and pointed the flashlight at the floor; light haloed out around their feet.

"Tell me you have somewhere we ought to go tonight, will you?" It had the bite of an order behind it, even if it made very little sense as orders go. She didn't have a destination in mind; she didn't really want to see Ema's empty bed, and Ilia was covering the morgue, which left her at loose ends. "What do you think that announcement implies, hmm?"

That Landel wasn't at the switchboard was about as far as she'd gotten; he hadn't broadcasted where he was, unless it had something to do with the pounding in her head and the part where some of them were going to turn into monsters.

[ham_fisted]

"Well, um..." Why did his mind always have to go blank whenever she spoke to him like that? He did what he normally did and tried not to meet her eyes. "I was thinking of heading to the Med Wing for supplies. I mean, if the stuff I gave to Mr. Javert didn't get passed around, the rescue group are going to need more. The Paramedics are running low on them, too." But I wanted to check on you first. Better to leave that part out.

"That one way or another, Dr. Landel wants to shake things up!" In an attempt to keep his voice from shaking, he fidgeted with the flashlight in his hand as he spoke, turning it in his palm and tapping it against his thigh. "If people start turning on each other because of this, we're in big trouble, Ms. Skye."

[fourstonewalls]

"That...is an excellent idea, Detective. And an accurate observation." Not an especially astute one; patients turning on each other was already a major source of trouble. And, well, they were already in big trouble; while it could certainly get worse, it was already bad enough.

Or perhaps she was letting her own personal feeling cloud the issue. Or the fact that her head was pounding, and she wasn't sure how ill she could be before she could conceal it under a curtain of presumed grief. She'd already told Faraday, but he was feeling it as well; he would keep her secret. "I suggest we not wait around here for trouble to find us."

[to here]