As the shift neared its end, the staff once again began to make preparations to escort patients to their next activities. The rain outside, meanwhile, continued to fall heavier than it had earlier that morning. Still, the Head Doctor wasn't deterred by the gloomy weather outside, and the cheery intercom jingle sounded at the same time it always did.

"Hello again! I hope some of you have been enjoying our visitors day. Family and friends will continue to visit with patients at the front of the building for the remainder of the afternoon. We'll also continue playing our movie selection in the Sun Room for those who didn't get a chance to watch it last shift. Since this shift is also a free choice for most of you, the nurses will happily escort you wherever you wish to go -- within reason, of course."

For a moment, it seemed like he was about to bid everyone farewell for the time being, but then the Head Doctor spoke again.

"By the way, staff will also be issuing letters to those who received them. Since we know the Institute is so far away for some of your friends and families, we hope you'll enjoy this opportunity to hear from them, even if they couldn't make it in person to see you this week.

And that covers just about everything! Enjoy."

The intercom clicked off, and in some rooms the Head Doctor's voice was replaced with the steady patter of rain.

((Please read here for Mail Call information. As usual, visitors will continue for fourth shift, so please check the Visitor Shift Schedule if you're not sure whether your character is getting visited during 3rd or 4th shift. Let us know if you have any questions!))

Another rainy afternoon. Another slow afternoon.

After his appointment with the boy, Daedalus had made a quick round of the hospital, which involved taking a stroll around the building and engaging some of the staff in conversation. But as the last activity shift of the day began in proper, he was inevitably drawn back to his office.

It was that time again. Time to entertainment another patient and see what floated to the surface.

Leaving the office door open, Daedalus settled back into his chair to wait, fingertips tapping a tune against the arm rest.

... ... ... ...

It was shock, like failing to recognize some heavy injury following a traumatic accident. Zero's mind was reeling, still trying to accept the fact that Ciel - or else, someone who looked and sounded exactly like her - had been standing right before him, calling him by a different name. She'd spoken untruths, supporting the Institute's idea that he was mad, but her face, her voice, her mannerisms...! It had undeniably been Ciel!

No, his mind couldn't accept that. Not yet. The so-called superior thinking power of the human brain couldn't do anything to help him.

And so the once-Reploid slowly walked out of the visitation room as if in a trance, following behind his forever cheerful nurse. She, of course, thought that there was nothing wrong and began chattering to herself about how healthy that visit must have been for him.

'Healthy'.

On any other day, he would have let out some sort of displeased grunt or, better yet, some rude remark about just how 'healthy' such a visit had been for him, but any sort of response became impossible when his brain was too busy just trying to process simple facts. So he simply stared past the nurse instead, only vaguely aware that she even existed. (Not that she seemed to notice. In fact, she probably took his lack of rudeness as a good sign. Wouldn't be surprising.)

Thankfully, it was only a very short walk back to the Sun Room and, therefore, only a short amount of time spent with that woman. Zero abandoned her and then slipped into the library in order to find some peace and quiet. He could sit in a chair somewhere and try to think about what just happened...

...He ended up standing in front of a random bookshelf mindlessly staring at the rows of paper-made novels in front of him rather than sitting, but oh well. His mind was in the same place either way.

[Long Hair Brigadiers UNITE!]

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.

Guy had to admit that as hard as it had been for him to follow some of the things that had gone on during Jesus Christ Superstar, it had been more enjoyable than The Great Escape. One reason was because of the music, which had given it a more lighthearted feeling despite the heavier subject matter that had been taking place. The other thing was that it hadn't mirrored their own efforts as closely as The Great Escape, so even though it had ended with a death, it hadn't been quite as depressing.

Of course, the whole issue of betrayal was something that he understood very well, so in some ways he had felt for Judas. Granted, Guy had never sold anyone out in the same way, but he couldn't let himself forget his past transgressions so easily, even if most of it had never progressed past carefully laid plans.

Still, he left the Sun Room in a decent mood, though he couldn't quite forget the fact that Anise was ill. The good news was that night would be coming soon -- he, Claude, and Anise could meet up, discuss her situation, and try to form a plan for how to deal with it.

For now, he still had one more shift to get through before dinner, and given the option, the obvious choice was the Game Room. Guy was thrilled when he stepped inside and realized that not only was he the first person there, but there were some devices connected to larger screens to play on. He had never had the chance to check it out for himself, and so he approached without any delay.

[Free!]

Aidou wasn’t in the habit of chasing after humans, but jeez! Half the day had passed already and he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Sasuke, which was off putting, to say the least. How was he supposed to hear other perspectives on what had been going on if the boy was never around? Of course, precision required multiple sources, not just one in the form of a blind ninja, but…

It wasn’t like Aidou had regular contacts, and he was tired of making them; they all seemed to disappear after a while. It was like buying disposable sponges over and over again. Once he had squeezed a certain amount of information from them, he had to go out and get replacements. It was a never ending cycle of waste! Hence why he definitely preferred the thought of spending a shift with Sasuke over… watching a movie in the Sun Room with a bunch of strangers. But the problem was--no Sasuke. Making a comprehensive search of the building wasn’t precisely going to happen with needle-happy staff around every corner, regardless of privileges, which left a lot of areas for a sullen little bastard to hide in.

Given that, the vampire was rather undecided on where he should spend his time. There was no place in the hospital that was really worth his time. Keeping an eye on foot traffic in the hallway at least offered a little solitude, if not entertainment. Maybe Sasuke had a visitor? He could always wait and see.

He still had a lollipop on him, and as he leaned back against a wall, he peeled the wrapper off and popped it in his mouth.