ways_infirmary | (no subject)

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Day in, day out, all is routine.

Others come in a regular ebb and flow. Old fluids, new fluids, clean this, tidy that, make sure things aren't getting worse, hope things are getting better.

He's still breathing, the only movement he's done himself since his arrival. He's still feverish, if not as bad as he was at first. He's still, even if the shadows seem like they're winding here and there.

But today, something new happens. Or it happened. Who knows if anyone actually witnessed it happening? It was so quick that one could argue it didn't happen at all except for the obvious evidence that it did.

Lucas is most definitely not awake.

But his eyes are open.

[ooc: Have a lump post. Threadhopping encouraged. Psychic/magic/whatever pups answering the previous request for help, have a dragon!]

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There isn't a good way to answer this.

Lucas would want to say yes. Lucas would want to give an answer and see his friend.

But the friend wants Lucas to answer. He is Lucas, but he's not who the friend is looking for, either! And he can't imagine an introduction going well, not when the friend isn't seeking him out the way Katrina did.

Awake is too much for Lucas. He can't be roused now.

So he waits.

Autor stares at the boy, waiting to see if there's any change. After about twenty minutes of nothing, he sighs and turns to one of the rats, to deliver the news to Enzo.

Enzo comes pelting in in prompt response to the summons. "Is something up with Lucas?" he demands. (He's getting better at understanding the rats, but some of the nuances still escape him.)

"Yeah, he... He opened his eyes," Autor says, gesturing to him. "See for yourself."

Enzo does so with alacrity. "Any other response? Lucas?"

He peers into Lucas' eyes, then holds a hand over them to test for a dilation response.

"No," Autor says. "I tried to get him to blink at me, but he didn't do anything for about twenty minutes or so."

Another friend brings another dilemma. But at least there are friends for Lucas.

This one wants something from Lucas's eyes. Lucas isn't using his eyes. Lucas probably shouldn't use his eyes for a while anyway. There is a lot to this place, a lot he's had to shut his eyes to before.

This friend is different from the other friend. He belongs in the safe place, not just visiting. This is work.

Lucas's pupils widen just a little.

His eyes still work.

Enzo gives a small sigh of relief. "Well, his eyes are functional. Still doesn't seem like anyone's home, though."

"No one's home?" Autor says, voice tinged with the slightest bit of panic. "What does that mean? Did the fever hurt him?"

"I don't know what it means," Enzo replies, trying not to sound completely miserable. "It could be... that... or he might be fine but still unconscious. Just with his eyes open. I don't know. I'm just an assistant."

"Asleep with his eyes open," Autor murmurs. "I wonder if he can actually see anything. Do you think this is the first stage to him waking up?"

He purses his lips. "I should probably grab one of the doctors here, too, and ask some questions."

"I hope it is. But yeah. We need a doctor. Code, Lucas..."

The panic is back even though there was relief just moments before. Something's amiss.

Lucas can't be here. He would be but he can't.

What would you do if you could? is asked of the sleeping Lucas.

The answer doesn't help.

So that hopefully-comforting incense scent is up a bit on Enzo's wavelength. There is quiet. There is quiet. There is stillness.

There is the unheard request, Be calm.

Enzo isn't conscious of smelling the energy any more strongly than usual, nor of being calmed by it, but he settles down a bit.

"Well, anyway. Opening his eyes can't mean he's any worse than before. I mean, it's something happening. Not much, but something, right?"

Autor's shoulders loosen unconsciously, and he unclenches his fists. "That's a good point," he says. "Maybe the next stage really will be his waking up."

He glances back to the boy in the bed. "I wonder if he'll close them once in a while."

"He really hasn't been blinking, has he? I'd better give him some eyedrops. Work Experience, where are those? Just the kind to keep his eyes wet."

The rat assists in locating the saline drops.

Everybody wants to give him fluids. That is, one could suppose, part of being human.

Being asleep was easier.

It would be inconsiderate to let the eyes go dry and prickly. It won't happen either way.

But an out of place shadow passes through them.

And luckily, Autor happened to be looking. "Whoa," he says. "Did you see that? There was a shadow."

"I saw something..." He leans over Lucas again. No, his own shadow doesn't move like that. And Minus is over there, investigating a shelf. No clear cause for what they just saw.

"What was it that you mentioned before?" Autor says, furrowing his brow. "Magic or gods? Do you still smell the incense?"

"Energy, but around here it's usually one of those. Yeah, it's still there. It's been pretty constant."

"All right, so last time we established that the energy you're smelling now is different from his normal PSI," Autor says. "What if this is just a form of it working to preserve him?"

"It could be," Enzo agrees. "It still smells positive, whatever it is. I'm sure it's not doing any harm." A little sigh. "That's like the one thing I am sure of."

"At least you can tell that," Autor says, nodding. "And I appreciate your coming, too. I'll go back to watching him, then, and let you know if anything else changes. Here's hoping he wakes up soon."

"Okay. Let me know if you need a rest."

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herr_bookman - 2014-02-07 06:23 (UTC) - Expand

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