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 Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:49 pm
Azzo looked at her listening, "Well look... uh...." He tilted his head at Joanna, "I still don't know what to call you."
He coughed, "Anyways there's nothing you could do about those deaths... Nothing anyone could do." He sighed sadly, "However there's more than meets the eye sometimes."
He tilted his head, "I.... Na- I mean Mr. Araya would've wanted to be remembered as he was, not dead with... whatever they're saying it was."
He looked down at the ground and nodded, "Listen, I'll find out what's going on sooner or later... but don't blame yourself. I know this is horrible, and something that should never happen in schools. But sometimes, bad things happen, we have to meet them with a smile. And trust those around us to keep us safe." He said pausing before looking towards her.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:29 pm
"I apologize for failing to introduce myself," Joanne said quickly. Usually she didn't want people to know her well enough to call her by name, but if she was going to share her feelings, the least she could do was share that. It wasn't as though most people stared at the student roster, trying to learn names in hopes of avoiding most of them. "I'm Joanne Bard. Freshman in Leprosy House."
Really, those names. It was as though the school was asking for disease to run rampant.
She could tell that he was trying to help, really. But nothing Azzo said was making Joanne feel any better. "Of course this shouldn't happen!," she practically shouted. "The school knows what's happening now. Why aren't they doing vaccinations, or testing students before the disease becomes deadly? Why isn't it being stopped?"
And why did it sound like they were talking about totally different scenarios? Joanne frowned, but met Azzo's gaze for an entire three seconds before looking away.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:41 pm
Azzo nodded, "Ahh Joanne, I can call you that right? Huh and we're in the same house too."
He watched her for a second and shook his head, "It's not something they can treat." He muttered hanging his head Naico's face flashing through his vision as well as his assistant from last year. "The only way to treat it.... is to find the source."
He sighed, "It's confusing, I know, but what they say is the cause.... is well. There's more to it..."
He shook his head as they walked, "It's not being stopped because no one knows how unfortunately."
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:51 pm
Joanne nodded slowly. "You may." He was her senior and a man, so it wasn't as though she could argue. But she didn't really mind.
What she did mind was what Azzo was saying. "Of course it's treatable," she said stubbornly. Joanne didn't spend hours upon hours online for nothing. After the first deaths, she had done a search on bacterial meningitis. "Not only is it treatable, there are vaccines for common strains." She had expected the school to roll them out after it was clear the disease was loose in the school. But no, all they got were public service advisories. 'Wash your hands,' they said. 'Cover your mouth.' Nothing truly helpful.
Then, for a moment, Joanne thought her heart would stop. Surely he couldn't have meant what she thought he meant. That couldn't be it. But what else could it mean?
"Do you mean... they're refusing to stop it?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:17 pm
He looked at her sadly, "I'm just saying there's more to this strain than they're saying... I watched Araya... die..."
He trailed off looking at her, "Things... well it's just better to be careful, and ever vigilant." He said as he turned away swallowing. "Damn this choking sensation." He muttered as he shook his head, "Lets see, nurses offices..."
There was a slight mist in his eye, however there was something else. As if he was looking for more than the nurses.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:31 pm
Gasping, Joanne put her hands over her mouth. To be upset over the deaths was one thing, but to watch someone die was entirely different. She was stunned- and slightly amazed- at his ability to even talk about it. "I... I had no idea."
Even though she wanted to argue, to say that there was some kind of action they could take, Joanne couldn't. He sounded so sure, so resigned... and what little hope she had started to drift away.
"Choking?" she asked, her voice dropping to its usual, almost inaudible volume. "Do you need water? Should I get a teacher?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:51 pm
Azzo looked at her, "Considering he's the second death I just... watched...." He said and shrugged just letting his sentence fall.
He smiled softly when she asked, "It'll pass. Something that happens when you say too much." He glanced at the school as if to wished it'd implode or something.
He looked at her, "Look, things happen for a reason sometime. Perhaps when all is said and done the majority of the school will be fine." He smiled again, albeit sad. "It'll stop..." He nodded, looking up to the sky as they reached the building they were headed for.
"I'll find a way to stop it if I have to." He nodded, dead set on stopping this. His plans, he knew would eventually lead to his death. But perhaps also truth, and a halt in the deaths.
"I never realized..." He said softly as they entered the building where the nurses were stationed. "How large this campus was..." It'd seemed as if he went to muse on another train of thought. "And how... mysterious and beautiful it all really is sometimes..."
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:04 pm
As if she hadn't just seconds before, Joanne gasped and put her hands over her mouth. Watching someone die not once, but twice! If that had happened to her, she wasn't sure that she'd be able to deal with it. Not that she was dealing particularly well with the current situation, but that was another matter. More pressing was the fact that Mr. Araya was the first to fall to the meningitis outbreak... so if Azzo saw someone else die...
"Oh my." Joanne was at a loss for words. "I... I'm so sorry, Mr. Azzo."
His next words, however, scared her. Choking when he said too much? Only a chance that the school would be fine? Having to stop it himself? "With all due respect, Mr. Azzo, what could you possibly do? You're not a doctor, you can't cure people.
"Or..." Pausing, hesitating to voice this thought, Joanne took a deep breath. "Or is there something else going on?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:29 pm
Azzo smiled softly, "Misdiagnoses, have been known to happen."
He shook his head, "No, sometimes it takes a less rational act to accomplish what should have been accomplish in the first place."
He nodded, "I'm not a doctor, however I am a hypnotist." He added, with even more of a grin. "One day, a great one. Even if infamous within the school walls."
He held out his hands as he was away from her a bit. "Sometimes, if things work out in my favor I can put in a suggestion or two." He grinned, it was finally go around playing their cards. "If I find the one to suggest it to... I'll be sure to put them under my spell and be positive that the others are safe."
He nodded, "You don't need a doctor's degree for such a thing."
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:56 pm
"Misdiagnoses?" This didn't seem like a simple mistake to Joanne. If it was, how could it be misdiagnosed not once or twice, but five times? Either it was meningitis or it wasn't. There had to be something that Azzo knew, but wasn't saying. She could practically see him dancing around the truth.
But then, Joanne wasn't sure she really wanted to know the truth, if it was that frightening.
"I had there was a hypnotist here," she said instead. "I had no idea how strong it was, of course, having never witnessed it." And she didn't really want to witness it now. The thought of her body moving not under her control, but someone else's, was frightening as well.
There was still a problem with his logic, which Joanne was compelled to bring up. "I don't see how hypnotism, however powerful, can stop disease."
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:02 pm
Azzo looked at her, head tilting. He smile as he saw the nurses. "Hypnotism can stop it, by telling them to treat for such a thing."
He gave a nod, "Since they aren't stopping it. Cutting it off at the head. Someone has to tell them to do so." He looked at the nurse who looked slightly baffled.
He grinned, "A minor wound when not treated will turn into an infection, possibly a plague, if left for the mind to wander. As back in the old days they did."
Giving a nod, "You know as well as I do they know how to treat it." As he nodded to her with a bow. As he turned to retreat. "AND TREAT IT, THEY SHALL. Even if I have to bloody make them do it!!!!"
Perhaps the hypnotist was starting to crack.... perhaps he was ranting mad... and even perhaps that dream, had become real to him. So real that now the other deaths were as well confused with a dream. Which ever it was he left the station staring at him, flabbergasted.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:19 pm
Joanne paused a beat. Then another. While part of her thought that Azzo had a good idea, most of her thought that he was... confused, at best. Not that she blamed him. She had merely been related to people who died, and she wouldn't vouch for her own mental state. He had witnessed more than one death, it was only natural that his mind would be somewhat frazzled.
Still, she didn't especially want to be part of his plans, in case they went awry.
"I see." Joanne swallowed and did her best to smile. "I wish you the best of luck, then. While I cannot say I feel better... I know you tried to help, and I am truly grateful to you, Mr. Azzo."
And if he was next... no, Joanne refused to linger on that thought. It was just meningitis. The school would catch on. They had to.
"Thank you," she repeated, hurrying away. She couldn't go to the nurses now, so she limped back to gym. Surely the teacher would let her sit out rather than risk an infection. They were there to teach, not to risk the lives of their students. Right?
Right?
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