Day 64: Waiting Room/Lobby 2 (Fourth Shift)

[freewill]

The time spent with Izaya hadn't led to much, but that might have also been due to the fact that Castiel wasn't functioning at full energy. If he'd been sharper, if he hadn't had his body holding him back every step of the way, maybe he would have worked harder to try and get some information out of the other patient.

As it was, Castiel had spent most of the day dealing with aches and pains on random parts of his body. None of it seemed to follow any pattern, and the rash on his hand was still there, making itself obvious to the rest of the patient body. He was, to be frank, exhausted -- and while part of him wished to fight against that because angels weren't supposed to get tired, the other part felt this urge to lie down.

He remembered how Dean had explained to him that he needed a certain amount of sleep each night. He also remembered how it had annoyed him at the time, how he had seen it as a waste. He would have apologized to Dean for his ignorance now, if he could have.

While the idea had been to spend the last shift in the Sun Room so he could at least lay down and rest, the nurses had another plan for him. He was told instead that there were some visitors who had come to see them, and before he knew it he'd been placed in some sort of waiting room. Castiel remembered looking into this room once before, though it had been night at the time. Now he knew what its purpose was.

He stood there awkwardly for a few moments before his nurse urged him to take a seat. Castiel found a chair and settled himself onto it, but he couldn't relax. He placed a hand against his injured shoulder, prodding at it for a moment. Who would possibly want to come visit him? There were a few options, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

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[madeinthehrl]

Soma had spent the last shift asleep. Part of her had wanted to watch the movie, if only to get a general idea of what 1970s moviemaking had been up to (and there was that conversation with Honey in the back of her mind, the one about never really having seen a movie before), but she might have passed out halfway through it anyway. The mighty supersoldier, taken out by a head cold.

Her nurse had woken her up after the shift change, because apparently she'd slept through the intercom, and told her she had a visitor. That, if anything, only made her feel worse.

She pulled on a sweatshirt and followed the woman out the door and down the hall, her mind whirling with possibilities. Was it Senna? Or another one of her friends, trying to make her feel better? Or a member of her "family" again? It had been exhausting enough pretending to be Maria for her therapist. She wasn't sure she'd be able to do it again.

Still, her tense posture relaxed slightly when she spotted Lingormr a short distance away, and Castiel nearby. If she was going to have to go through this, it helped that she had friends nearby.

[damned_visitors]

It was with a certain degree of trepidation that Stefan approached the visitor waiting room this afternoon. The last time he'd come by, things had... been awkward, at least. A little disheartening, too - which is why he hadn't come back for the last few weeks. But Hilary had reminded him that even if it was hard on him, it would be good for Maria - and right now, she was what mattered. And he did miss her, when it came down to it, even as uncertain as he felt about dealing with this whole situation right now.

So when he came into the waiting room and spotted his daughter, he gave her a small, but genuine smile, and headed over towards her.

[madeinthehrl]

Lingormr's visitor was the first to arrive, and Soma watched with growing concern as her friend shot to his feet, paling noticeably at the sight of the tall blond man. She'd warned him, or she'd tried, but really, there was no preparing for things like this. She wondered who his visitor was--someone from his village, almost certainly. Hopefully, there wouldn't be trouble. She'd be more than willing to lend a hand if it came to blows, but she doubted the nurses would understand.

Filing that thought away for later, Soma returned her attention to the door just in time to see the lieutenant colonel walk through it.

She tried to ignore the feeling of her heart dropping into her stomach--as if this hadn't been bad enough the first time--and forced herself to focus. Returning the smile came first. That was the easy part. It was good to see him, even if something inside her twisted at how he didn't really recognize her anymore. At least he was otherwise unharmed.

"I didn't think you'd come," she said quietly, but there was no accusation in her voice. "I'm glad you did."

[damned_visitors]

He knew she hadn't meant it as an accusation, but he could still feel that small stab of guilt anyway as he took a seat across from her. The smile fell a little, apologetic now. "I'm sorry. I should have come sooner." No excuses were offered - he knew they'd be poor lies, and he couldn't quite bear to admit the truth to his daughter.

"How have you been?"

[madeinthehrl]

"Better," she said simply. "I've made some new friends here."

One of whom was currently looking increasingly distressed, but she didn't dare draw attention that fact. She could always ask Lingormr later.

"Anyway," she added, "you know I'd much rather be at home. How are Mother and Alexei doing? I hope he's enjoying his internship."

Lies were supposed to be easier the second time around, weren't they? These weren't. But she widened her smile a little and kept her back straight anyway. She wasn't much of a liar, but if she told him what he wanted to hear, maybe he wouldn't notice.

[damned_visitors]

Stefan hoped that her new friends were actually helping, rather than just feeding her delusions - but he didn't want to push too much. She'd been so withdrawn after the accident. Even this much was some improvement, even if he knew deep inside he was grasping at straws.

The fact that she'd brought up the rest of the family before he did was a good sign, though. His smile softened, wasn't quite so forced. "He is, though I feel like he's barely ever at home these days. They both miss you too, though."