Meadow Heights Managed a distinctly clinical feel about it, between the dim lighting and the low ceilings and the coarse manner in which they treated visitors. Every day, Isaiah checked his wallet, keys, cell phone, and other paraphernalia into a bag with their security. Every day, he stepped through a metal detector and received a localized sweep to detect the two plates and sixteen screws in his left shin. Every day he went into the elevator, emerged at the proper floor, pushed the buzzer button, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
He knew the hospital staff didn't care about punctuality. He expected that they cared very little for their jobs, too, or that the brunt of their duties stemmed from activities that weren't directed toward the patients. Part of him wanted to assume that the Negaverse was behind it, that they commanded the staff to conduct experiments on the prisoners[/strike patients. But he was a donor to this hospital, and the few staff that recognized him knew to treat him with respect, and yet none of them offered any alternative explanations. Half the time they didn't recognize him for who he was, but Isaiah couldn't complain - half the reason he still lived within Destiny City was because the Negaverse treated him as a forgettable entity.
One of the nurses finally buzzed him in, and opened the door with a smile that suggested she refreshed herself on the list of sponsors. She greeted him with an accented hello and looked to the small gift box Isaiah held in his hands. "Is that for a patient?" Apparently she didn't remember the sole patient that he visited.
"Yes." Isaiah pulled the ribbon apart and opened the box. "It's a pair of gloves. If you could have them checked, I'd like to hand them over myself."
She obliged. She disappeared. Another twenty minutes passed.
Upon returning, she handed Isaiah the box in pristine condition. The bow was tied on in a slightly shoddy, but well-meaning fashion. Isaiah looked over the gold and red box for a moment before he started down the long hall that led to the unit. She buzzed him in, he nodded his thanks, she took him to Lorne's room, and unlocked the door. He nodded his thanks once more, he went inside.
All was perfect routine.
""Lorne," he started as he entered the room. "It's good to see you. Getting chilly out, isn't it?"
frayedflower
