ways_infirmary | (no subject)

Increment the count by one. Ray elbows the door open. He's got a blond kid over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Got any room for a case of nervous collapse?" he asks wearily.

She turns, and sucks in a breath.

"Jesus, who's -- Draco? Yeah, over here."

There's a free bed, and she gestures Ray over to it.

"Found him in 2342. Apparently he decided to check up on his handiwork after all." Ray snorts and heads over to the bed. "He's got a pulse and he's breathing, but honestly, at this point I'm almost tempted to put him in front of a pinball machine because he's about as responsive as Tommy Walker."

"His handiwork?"

She helps him guide the boy onto the bed.

Once Draco is securely in place, Ray backs up several steps. He's past the point of being angry at Draco, and right now just feels mildly to moderately disgusted. "He sold out a friend of mine to Blodwen Rowlands," he says. "Danny got forcibly turned over to the Dark Side by Blodwen's magic, and stayed that way even after her spells were broken. This is the first time I know of since then that he's so much as bothered to find out what kind of shape Danny was in."

Draco meanwhile was still breathing shallowly. His skin was so pale it seemed grey. His eyes continued staring sightlessly, but his limbs were easily moveable, not stiff at all. Poseable even. But he was completely unresponsive to outside stimuli at the moment. Signs pointed to a type of catatonia.

Nita swears under her breath.

"Danny -- pale kid, intangible?" She shakes her head. "The Rider was attacking Draco -- Danny and I stepped in, and Draco tried to warn us off. But . . ."

Trailing off, she shakes her head again and reaches for Draco's limp hand. "Never mind. Let me see if I can wake him up."

She closes her eyes and starts murmuring, slipping a little of her conciousness inside his body. Once in, she starts nudging his body chemistry into something resembling stability -- adrenaline down, get him to breath a little deeper . . .

His breathing did seem stabilise some at her efforts, breathing more evenly. His dull grey eyes still stared at nothing.

Somewhere, his consciousness, what was left of it seemed to have fall down a hole. Tattered pieces of it like confetti across his mind.

His eyes started to blink a little, but that was the only response.

"That's him," Ray says. "Normally Danny's as solid as you or I, with blue eyes and black hair. The intangible thing's a power of his." Ray's eyes stray to Draco. "Apparently His Nibs here had a pre-standing arrangement with Rowlands, and decided to back out of it at the last second. At least, that's the impression that I get from this whole thing."

He rubs at his face with one hand. "I wish I could say I feel sorry for him, but right now that's a little beyond my capabilities. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some dinner and see if anybody the kid knows is in the Bar."

Malcolm is dropping by the infirmary just as Ray is leaving.

"Ray? Something wrong?"

Then seeing a young man on a bed with Nita nearby, he starts over toward them.

"What's happened?" he asks, to anyone who's willing to fill the doctor in.

Ray jerks a thumb at Draco. "This is the kid who sold Danny out. Apparently he went into 2342 to finally see what he'd done, and found out, and keeled over somewhere along the way."

Ray does not sound like he thinks very much of the kid, and that is putting it mildly.

Nita is not really paying attention to Ray, or Malcolm when he comes in. She frowns.

C'mon, Draco. If I can tie someone's soul to his body when he's literally walking towards the light, I can sure as hell wake you up. But I'd rather not fight you.

Draco, wake up. Hiding doesn't solve anything. Trust me, I know.

Come on . . . come on, talk to us, let us try and help.

She puts a little more power into the call.

She might be glowing. Just a little.

Malcolm nods, understanding why Ray would feel the way he does and seeing no reason at all to question it. Not right now anyway.

Seeing the infirmary quiet, Malcolm slips into physician mode. Funny how his medical degree has had more of a workout after only a few months here than it ever got in ten years of psychiatry practice back on Earth.

"Has he been responsive at all? Anybody check his vital--?"

Malcolm stops, noticing Nita, and then steps quickly but quietly over to the bed. He glances back at Ray and asks in a loud whisper, so as not to disturb her:

"What's she--? Is Nita going to be all right doing that?"