rainbowlounge | The Hospital

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roleplay: open

The Hospital

The hospital is sterile and sprawling, its hallways and patient rooms painted a glaring white. The floor is made of something hard and shining, and the lights are that peculiar kind of flourescent that makes everyone look ill.

The first floor consists of the lobby (painted a sickly green), an emergency room, and several surgery suites, all stocked with cutting-edge, even futuristic, technology and supplies. There is a cafeteria, though the buffet line is empty; the only consumables seem to be stocked in a line of vending machines along one wall. There are no stairs, only elevators, to the upper floors, which all consist of patient rooms: made beds, glazed windows, dying flowers, and the hard plastic orange chairs that are a constant in hospitals.

The whole building smells like antiseptic and death.

((Please mark your healthcare professionals as such, and enjoy!))

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The kid had it bad. Ahava let her smile widen-- he was just so adorable! "I bet she likes you," she said. "That's what it usually means when nice girls bring you flowers. Especially from her mom's garden."

"Well," Conall said, a little sheepishly, "I hope she does, at any rate. You know, that's how I got myself in this mess in the first place. She gave me the flowers, and I was an idiot and didn't even ask her out then and there. I wound up chasing her down the hall just to see if she'd have dinner with me."

He leaned in a little closer to the doctor. "You know, I said I was taking her out as a thank you for saving my life, but I really wouldn't mind if something came out of this."

Oh, boy. Ahava pressed the bridge of her nose with one finger for a moment, and then asked, "Would you like a little advice about girls? This would be in my purely nonprofessional capacity as a girl."

"Well...yeah, I guess," Conall replied. "I really like her, so any advice would be appreciated."

"If you want her to go out with you as a thing, don't tell her it's just to say thank you," Ahava said, patiently. "Tell her you want to go out with her to go out with her. Girls appreciate honesty, and also, we like it when people think we're awesome."

"Oh," Conall said. "Yeah, I did say she was cute, but...hmm. Do you think it's too late, now? Or could I tell her when I come back?"

"You can tell her when you get back. You can even tell her on the date if you want, because she probably likes you back so she won't feel tricked or anything." Ahava shrugged. "Just be sure to take no for an answer. Although from what you said that won't be a problem."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks," Conall said. "Sorry for unloading this on you, it's just--it's just been a while since I've dated anyone, and I really want this to work out. As in 'I'd sacrifice goats' want."

Ahava laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I have six younger siblings. Romantic woes is the least of their problems." Then she sobered- it was not the least of Duncan's problems. "It's actually kind of nice. To have someone asking about something good. No goats required though, kiddo."

"Really?" Conall didn't know if it was the conversation at hand or, again, the IV drugs kicking in at long last, but he was feeling less jumpy. "What's going on over at your end? That is, if you don't mind talking about it," he added hastily.

She made a little face and shifted in the chair. "My best friend's going through a divorce right now. It's no fault, they grew apart, but it's still really rough on everybody, and their daughter's only seven, she doesn't really understand."

"Aw, that sucks," said Conall. "I'm sorry. My dad died when I was little, and I still remember how bad it was for Mom and me."

"Yeah, it's gonna be hard on the poor kid." Ahava sighed. "It's kinda rough on Duncan-- that's my friend, it's rough on him too. His parents and mine and basically everyone we've ever seen married has this long and stupidly happy marriage. He feels like he's letting everybody down. Especially Safiya. Even though he's really just doing the best thing for everybody involved."

"It will be, I'm not gonna lie," said Conall, "but I think she'll be okay in the long run. I had a friend whose parents divorced, and he was really angry about it at first, but the last time I talked about it with him he said it was better that way."

"I really hope so," Ahava said. "She's my goddaughter. Was there anything..." She hesitated a minute, then laughed a little, not amused. "I'm a psychiatrist and I don't know what to say to her. Was there anything you said to your friend that helped, maybe?"

Conall shrugged. "All I did was listen whenever he needed to talk about it. He had a lot of people saying it wasn't his fault, or that it was for the best, or how much it sucked. He--he didn't want that. He just wanted someone to listen, and once he got it all out, he was okay afterward."

"I guess that makes sense," Ahava said, reluctantly. "I've just been in her life ever since she was a baby, and I just... I want to make it all better for her somehow. I know that's not possible, I know usually all you can do is listen, but... she's just a kid."

Conall was quiet for a while. "You know," he finally said, "I was probably in kindergarten when I lost my dad, and listening is really all you can do. Or at least take her seriously when she's talking to you, I think. Kids see through that 'when you're older' or 'you're too young to understand' crap, you know? But in the end...you probably can't make it one hundred percent better for her, even if you really want to."

"Yeah, I know, I just--" Ahava cut herself off, and laughed a little more genuinely. "Love is totally irrational, isn't it?"

"You know that girl I fell for?" Conall said. "We spent the first month or so at each other's throats. I'm still not sure what happened."

"Opposites attract," Ahava said, and shrugged. "Or so I'm told. I think there's got to be some compatibilites myself."

"Just like the Paula Abdul song, huh. But you're right," Conall said. "If there weren't any compatibilities, I doubt I would have asked her out. Or that she would have said yes."

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The Hospital

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