|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 10:37 pm
So they had caught him the first time he tried to escape. This time he knew more, and he was confident he could get out. It wasn't like he wasn't going to come back: he just needed to get out of the room. Maybe wander the hall a bit. Something.
Anything was better than the bed.
He hadn't been idle that long, really, but it felt like decades. An intolerable amount of time sitting around, when he was so used to being constantly occupied at the library. That was why he had tried his first escape. It hadn't gone very well. He had successfully managed to detach himself from the machines without setting anything off, after carefully watching the doctors and nurses through the day as they adjusted things and helped him to the bathroom and such. They hadn't realized he was taking notes on how the machines worked.
He had gotten himself out of bed and hobbled on his booted, thickly cast leg, as numb as it was from a heavy dose of pain killers, to the doorway. And then he got caught by a nurse coming in with his terrible lunch. So now he had to time it better.
Already sitting at the edge of the bed for his second attempt, he knew things would be much quieter. It was later in the day, no where near a meal time, and his nurse had only just come in to check his medication and the IV. Getting up with some difficulty, he limped to the door and peeked out. No one around so far. There was a wheelchair nearby, which he had every intention of stealing. All he had to do was push away from the doorway and limp those few steps over there, unsupported.
That would be the difficult part.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:08 pm
Destiny City Hospital always seemed to be in a state of disarray or panic; always too many patients, not enough beds, nurse staff strained to breaking. Pretty much like any Canadian hospital, just far more expensive. The trauma center was always packed and their patients sort of leaked in to places where they didn't belong-- errant beds packed in to the Bone Setting Room at night, cardiac patients lining the hall, their monitors steadily beeping. Aside from the trauma center, business was as usual for the rest of the hospital staff, minding their own business and ignoring the girl sitting in a corner of one of the care wards, reading a book listlessly.
The man whose bed she sat beside snored loudly, and she eyed him under her lashes, watching his nostrils flare with bored curiosity; Era had sat her in the chair the hour before, rushing off to go give old people sponge baths with love and joy in her heart.
It had been like this since she had come home, her parents very thinly veiled attempts at keeping Sidra by one of their sides at all times. She loved her family but it was just too much, the four of them eating dinner together every night, all four of them watching Grey's Anatomy, the four of them just on each other's case at every moment of a given day. It was tiring and all of them were strained from smiling and keeping up the charade. Everyone was worried that the moment they'd turn their backs, Sidra would run away like a bizarro ghost from Super Mario Bros.
Sidra had wanted nothing of the sort, but no one would believe her, choosing instead to shadow her every move, making her feel like a criminal, making her WANT to run off and fight terrifying baddies.
But here she was, sitting beside thunder snore, and reading a ratty Danielle Steele book she had found in the small lounge area. Era was off giving sick people a spoon full of sugar, and wouldn't be back for another hour-- maybe two, if they were swamped-- and there was just nothing to do. If you weren't sick, or didn't know anyone who was sick, the hospital was an appallingly boring place to spend time.
There was a crash from outside the room, and Sidra stuck her head out, wondering at the commotion.
Thundersnore shook the room with a particularly nasally intake behind her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 8:52 am
Tony was pleased his plan was going so well. Sure, he had needed the bed, the side table, two chairs and the wall to hobble to the door, and now he had to risk walking without any kind of support for a couple of steps, but how hard could that really be? Thankfully they had given him proper, loose fitting clothes, more like scrubs than the hospital gowns that make comedies out of endeavors like going to the bathroom or receiving visitors.
He didn't know how thankful he would be for this for a couple of minutes.
For now he was in the doorway, considering his timing. Taking a deep breath, he made to exit, limping one step before releasing the doorway and then limping another one unsupported.
And then he fell.
Groaning in pain, he rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling for a moment as a sense of 'what the hell were you thinking' settled over him. So this had been a very bad idea, and he hadn't been silent in his fall. He looked around, stuck, surprised that no nurses or doctors were hurrying over. Instead, all he saw was a girl poking out of a nearby room.
"Ah... excuse me?" he called, blushing and reminding himself he was glad he was not wearing a gown, "w-would you mind, terribly, helping me up...? O-or maybe fetching someone who might... or... no, I'm sorry, I don't mean to impose." He shook his head. Just because he was a bit banged up didn't mean he had to go asking strangers for favors. That was just rude. He tried to sit up, wanting to get to the wheel chair so he could at least complete his mission.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 9:31 am
She was gaping. It was not every day that you see a man (apparently) crash-land out of a hospital room-- she made a move to open her mouth to call a nurse when he called her. Stopping mid-breath, Sidra checked to see if the coast was clear and skid along the wall until she was closer to the man, one hand clutching the errant fabric of her skirt to her thighs, saving them both embarrassment.
Offering her hands, Sidra smiled a little uneasily at the man.
"I think I can manage helping you up, but whatever you needed you may need a nurse for."
Sidra was all about helping strangers, but not so much about helping strangers to the washroom. Which was the only reason she could assume someone would be up an about like this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 9:41 am
Tony smiled pleasantly as she came to help him, laughing in a self derisive way. He was a grown man who had just fallen down, and someone had witnessed it: he was embarrassed and trying to hide it. Taking her hand carefully, he managed to get himself up off the ground enough to hobble over to the wheel chair nearby, settling into it with a sigh.
He looked at her, though, after her words sank in, trying to figure out just what she had meant when she said he might need a nurse for what he was trying to...
"Oh! N-no, I don't... uh. Sorry! I am actually trying to avoid nurses at all costs at the moment. I need to get away from my room for a bit. It's driving me crazy, sitting in there." He looked her over, wondering if she was a patient here. If she were, he imagined she would match him in apparel. Did she work here? Volunteer? Or was she visiting someone?
"Thank you for the help. I'm Anthony Darrow. It's a pleasure," he smiled brightly, as he did at the library, when greeting new patrons or those he knew quite well. He offered her his hand again, but this time for a hand shake. "Though it might be better if this weren't a hospital. What brings you here?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
