Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

[notachick.livejournal.com]

Okita hadn't been expecting it when his nurse suddenly appeared in the Game Room. He'd expected to be left alone like last week, but instead she gently took him by the arm and told him he needed to say goodbye to Kaden for now. Okita assumed it was time for his visitor and waved goodbye to him, only to be led off himself. The swordsman had followed obediently into the Sun Room, but when he tried to go off to another room, she stopped him. "Not today, Julian."

Not today? Something about his nurse's demeanor seemed off, almost as if she were worried about something. It wasn't until she led him out of the Sun Room that he understood what was going on. He had a visitor. There were only so many people that would come to visit him in a place like this. His sisters, Tetsu, Kondou or... Okita didn't want to think about the last option.

Taking a step into the waiting room, he stopped at the door and turned to look at his nurse. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?" he asked, feeling actual fear for the first time in a long while. If this wasn't some strange punishment/joke for behaving poorly in the chapel, he didn't know what to do. Badou's graffiti was still on his hand and he quickly slipped that hand into his pocket. He could feel the pen there, clipped to the inside of his waistband. The nurse shook her head and moved to the side of the room, keeping a close watch on him as he stayed by the door, trying to hide his anxiety by feigning interest in the strange magazines on a table nearby.

Comments

[damned-visitors.livejournal.com]

Konrad bristled at that comment, the sound of the nail polish bottle falling into his palm one last time seeming to echo despite the ambient noise in the room. "You know perfectly well why I made the choice I did, but I might as well remind you of those reasons. First, you were actively suicidal. The police confiscated the poisons they could find, but no one knew whether or not you had something else up your sleeve.

Second, juries do not take well to insanity pleas. The Prosecutors' Office has been almost desperate for a test case for the Jurist System, and they would have taken yours. You would have had me risk a jury trial, Bruno? I think not."

He didn't think he would need to explain the third reason. That ought to have been obvious. He hadn't wanted to be the one responsible for sending his brother to a certain death. No amount of shock could erase that fact.

The final reason was something that also defied explanation. There was a certain amount of blind hope in the decision to not pursue a trial. Sending his brother to prison would have meant giving up on the idea that with the right kind of help, he could turn things around, and not want to hurt other people anymore. It was a sentimental reason, but no less valid because of that.

The strain of telling the story had made him forget the bottle of nail polish in his hand, until that last statement. He held it out to Bruno, without commenting on the tone of his voice or the look in his eyes.

[dasgift.livejournal.com]

Blue eyes followed the bottle almost hypnotically, words of suicides and poisons passing through to the man's mental back burner. Why even entertain the subject? He wasn't the brother Konrad believed him to be, not while he existed in this place. Suicidal? Kristoph had his pride even in captivity. There was no need to resort to death, particularly one so overdone and needlessly melodramatic.

He, however, had to pause at the second reason (the third hadn't even graced surface thoughts), his right hand hovering over the bottle in his brother's hand. "Jurist System?" Kristoph repeated, his expression and voice a perfect example of surprise.

[damned-visitors.livejournal.com]

"...I know you know about the Jurist System. You even called an all-staff meeting to discuss it." There was a slight touch of exasperation in his voice. "I suppose I can explain it, though."

Konrad sighed, settling back into his chair. "It's simple enough. Instead of the judge simply declaring a verdict, six jurors watch the trial over closed-circuit television. They have access to all of the evidence and can replay testimony as needed. When all the evidence has been presented, the judge turn the final decision over to the jury panel. It's a challenge for both sides - who can capture the hearts of the jury?"