Day 66: Sun Room (Third Shift)

[freewill]

When the shift changed, Gabriel didn't hesitate to take his leave, and Castiel couldn't blame him for that. He likely had other people he wanted to talk to, and as a newer patient, he might even be curious about some of the other areas. Castiel had seen it all multiple times by now, so when his nurse asked him if he wanted to move elsewhere, he declined.

It seemed better to remain in one spot for as long as he could and stay still so that his body wasn't pushed past its limits. His nurse couldn't argue with that, so instead she went to go get him some more painkillers, which he swallowed down instantly.

Relying on human drugs... It seemed ridiculous, though Dean had once given him a whole bottle to take. He wouldn't mind doing so again, but with the way his body was right now, that likely wasn't a good idea. So he'd just have to go along with what the nurses allowed him.

"Though Michael, you should really try to eat," his nurse insisted as she set a brown bag into his lap. "I know you're hurting a lot right now, but you'll feel better if you can get some food down."

Maybe she was right, but when Castiel stared at the bag, it seemed like a trial to even open it. Maybe if he just drank something... Slowly, he lifted his hand to push the bag open and reached inside to see what was there.

"There we go," the nurse encouraged him with a smile. "I'll be close-by in case you need anything."

At that point, she walked off, and he was left alone again. Maybe after he drank something, he could even see about getting some rest. Humans could sleep sitting up, couldn't they?

Comments

[asteroidbelt]

The nurse had a long-suffering look on her face when Ryusei finally finished sticking his head into all the rooms. "Sorry. Were you busy or something?" She didn't answer, but just gave him a look that made Ryusei not want to ask any more questions. What's that all about? Normally Ryusei wouldn't chafe under an authority figure who was strict, but he'd like some communication to go with it.

Speaking of, Tachibana.... Ryusei felt certain he would have left his Switch and Driver in the care of the Club when he received the news of where he was headed. Possibly even before then, when he would have—and he would have—realized what he'd exposed that led to all this. Daimonji or JK could drive Powerdizer, so Ryusei had no cause for concern. Right? Twice Leo Zodiarts had chosen to leave rather than finish him off; as long as Leo was after something else, the Club wouldn't be in danger.

No, stay focused. Ryusei had his own worries right now that he had to resolve as quickly as possible; he'd have to trust the Club to take care of it in his absence. For now, he wanted to check the bulletin board. Which was a mistake, as Ryusei soon saw. Just what is going on here, he thought as he moved to a seat. The other guy in the room looked pretty sick, too. Wasn't this not that kind of hospital? If it were, Ryusei would have been released by now. He couldn't ask the nurse, because she wouldn't talk to him. It was all starting to feel like some sick joke.

[The Scarecrow]

[scarefaux]

[Sorry for the wait! D:]

Scarecrow took a deep breath as he attempted to relax, tried to keep his spirits up despite the overwhelming evidence that all would not be okay after all. His chest felt as though it were bound with a rope- he coughed almost as soon as the air filled him, the room spinning around him again. He pawed at his eyes, trying to rub the sensation away with no success, instead finding they were watering for reasons he couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Though his nurse returned to him with a brown sack of food for lunch, she made no attempts to encourage him to leave, knowing he was feeling far worse than under the weather. Instead, she tried to find him company, knowing he did best when around other people. With a pat on his back, she insisted he sit near another patient in the room, one he didn't recognize. She answered his unasked question for that immediately: "He's new, and maybe he could use some help getting adjusted."

With a nod, the Scarecrow rose from his spot on the couch and crossed the room, taking a seat near the newcomer and trying to look far better than he felt. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here," he said in a raspy tone, putting on a smile. "I thought you might like some company."

Though to be honest, he was the one who didn't want to be alone with the infection, especially now that he knew what might happen.

[asteroidbelt]

What had Ryusei even said? Gentarou had better not be pranking him, he'd think, but no one in the Club had that sense of humor, and no one else in the school knew him well enough—didn't at all know him, not enough to fake a prank like this, much less get his parents in on it. And they had to have been; Ryusei was a minor. And if he'd been discovered as Meteor despite his care, it'd be Tachibana reprimanding him right now—

—Someone was near. Because Ryusei was irritated, a more fake than usual smile flickered onto his face when he looked up. "Hello—"

Okay now turn it off. "Are you okay?" he said as he sat up. "Is there something going around?" I thought this was a mental hospital. Why do you and that guy over there look so sick? Maybe they'd come in here like that, but wouldn't they have been admitted to a regular hospital in that case? "Should I call someone?"

[scarefaux]

The Scarecrow frowned, wishing he didn't look so dreadful. No amount of brave smiles and insisting he was well could hide the fact he was the sickest he'd ever been- and it might still get worse, unfortunately. There was no telling until he either started getting better or changed into a monster himself. His stomach grumbled on that last thought, seemingly unsettled by the mere notion of what might occur once the sun went down.

He shook his head. "There is something going around," he replied— and with his general inexperience with both his humanity and how infections affected the human body, it had never even occurred to him that simply being near someone was a way to spread such ailments— "but there isn't anything the nurses can do. I don't suppose you've been here long, if you haven't heard about it already."

[asteroidbelt]

...Okay, Ryusei had given him that one. And anyway, the intercom announcement had mentioned an ailment, but Ryusei thought that had been referring to a cold; nothing like this. If the nurses were letting this guy walk around, it either must not be contagious or the nurses were pretty lax on this kind of thing. With the several warnings about the nurses now.... No, he shouldn't give those reports credit.

"Um—no," he fumbled. "I—uh, I'm Sakuta. —Nice to meet you!" Should he change the subject? Seemed a little rude, but if there wasn't an infirmary here where this guy could rest and there wasn't anything the nurses could do, and as Ryusei was empty-handed but for his lunch— "—Have you eaten yet?"

[scarefaux]

He smiled a little, always happy to make a new friend. "You can call me Frank. I do wish we were meeting under better circumstances, though."

He paused after giving Sakuta his name, looking at the sack in his lap sadly. Of all the human sensations he'd come to see as luxuries he'd never have in his original body, taste was one of his favorites, every meal a delight as he discovered the wonderful qualities of food. It was unfortunate that with the illness had come a certain aversion to it, his body seeming to reject it more and more every day until he felt he ought not risk eating at all, lest he want to risk upsetting his stomach again.

And that was the case at that moment, his grumbling middle feeling less like hunger and more like sickness. It was hard to distinguish the two, at times. "Oh, I would, but I'm afraid it'd just come back up again," he said plainly.