Who: Hannah and JD What: Visiting the wounded When: August 5, 2019 morning Where: The Facility Hospital and outside Rating: Low Status: Complete
It was all kinds of crazy after the hurricane, not only was he still doing his guard duties but because of his size and strength JD had spent quite a bit of his free time helping move debris and other things that required some muscle to shift. But there was a bit of a downside, he was so focused on the recovery that it had taken him awhile to find out that Hannah - the quirky woman who worked in the Military Base and lived just down the hall from him and Ian - was in Medical after getting found unconscious out in the middle of nowhere.
All of his work was done for the day and after a quick shower at the base and changing into his ‘civies’ he walked into the Medical building, asking at the desk for which bed Ms Ryers was in. With a smile he thanked the receptionist and walked down the hall towards the room number that he was given, stopping at the door, he knocked on it softly and waited for a reply before he would enter.
__
After two weeks and one unexpected surgery since the storm, Hannah was finally beginning to feel a bit like herself again. She knew they were going to discharge her from the hospital soon, and she was not at all looking forward to returning to the barracks and to work. Once she was out of this hospital bed, things were going to go back to the way they’d been before. She just wanted to go home, to her real home, back in Brooklyn with her siblings and her parents. She didn’t even care about DJing or partying anymore, she just wanted to feel safe and sound again. That wasn’t ever going to happen here.
Hearing the knock, Hannah assumed it was just another doctor or nurse coming in to do their job. Sitting up a bit with a wince, she pushed her hair back out of her eyes. “Come in.”
---
Hospitals were never really somewhere that anyone wanted to stay in longer than was absolutely necessary, each hour seem to crawl and there was only so much of the hard mattresses and sterile environment that could be handled. JD knew this well, weeks were spent in and out of different hospitals around the world after Afghanistan, and more spent because of Ian's long recovery.
Pushing the door open slowly JD popped his head in. "Hey Hannah." He stood at the door but didn't step into the room, not sure if his visit was welcomed or not. He was ready to step back and leave if he was told to go.
---
Secretly, Hannah had been hoping that Jake would stop by. But in reality she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since the Memorial Day barbeque, and even then he made it clear he was interested in someone else. So, she hid the disappointment when she saw it was someone else.
It took a moment for her to recognize the guard who’d been nice to her, but then she smiled awkwardly and waved him in. He was one of the few she wasn’t terrified around, but she certainly didn’t expect him to be the one coming to see her now. Unless something was up. “Um… hi. Come on in.”
---
He knew that he really wasn’t the person that most people wanted to come and see them in the hospital, or elsewhere for that matter (save for Ian) but he knew that sometimes just seeing a familiar face would make things feel a bit better, even if only for the length of his visit.
Closing the door behind him JD took one of the plastic chairs that was near the bed and pulled it out just a bit, not wanting to invade Hannah’s personal space as he sat down. Somehow when he sat down, he didn’t look as intimidating, or at least he hoped. “I’m glad to see you are on the mend. Though the food here is probably a bit better than what they serve in the Mess Hall.” It was an attempt at a joke to hopefully settle Hannah’s nerves a bit, he remembered that in Europe the hospital food was so much better than what they got in the VA after arriving Stateside, he could only imagine what the food was like in the hospital here, thankfully the food deliveries were back up and running so at least that was something positive.
---
Propping herself up on the pillows, Hannah smirked a little. “I don’t know about that. But it’s definitely better than prison food. Now that I can eat, anyway. How are you?” She wondered why he’d bother to visit when they barely knew each other. Maybe she was still not herself, or maybe she just didn’t care anymore, but she wasn’t as suspicious or wary of him as she would have been a few weeks ago. If anything, she was just curious.
---
“Yeah that’s true, though MREs weren’t all that appetizing.” Another thing he didn’t miss about the Army, the food and he remembered how bad the food was in the few short stints of Juvie that he did. “Work is work and there’s still some cleaning up to be done, they keep finding heavy things they want me to lift and move, who needs the gym!?” JD grinned a bit, not that he minded helping out, this place had become his home as much as it had everyone else’s. “Any idea when they’re going to let you out of here?” Although they didn’t really know one another she was still a fellow employee and after hearing that no one else had bothered to drop in to see how she was going.
---
Hannah shrugged a little at the question and sighed. “Tomorrow. At least that’s what they said this morning. But then they said something about needing to check test results first, so who knows. I’m anxious to get out of here, but then leaving just means getting back to work and all that, so…” She was ambivalent about it. Being stuck alone in a hospital bed wasn’t much better than being stuck in a room full of monitors. But at least here she could sleep and feel relatively safe, if not just lonelier than ever.
--
“Hopefully there’s nothing that keeps you back here but you’re right, they don’t like giving any time off unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Which was true, he was occasionally lucky to get the morning off if he had a rough night with PTSD but getting a whole day off? Only if things were really bad. “Stuck in front of monitors again? I can’t blame you.” Another small smile. “Though lying here staring at off white walls isn’t that fun either. If I had known you were here earlier I would’ve bought you some books or something to read.”
--
Hannah shrugged a little with a half smile. She thought it was nice of him to be thoughtful like that. No one else had even visited, but she supposed that shouldn’t be surprising. “It’s okay, it’s kind of nice to just be able to chill. It does make me wish I could go home. It’s been so long, it’s probably not the same there anymore though.” She idly played with the frayed edge of her blanket, trying to think of something else to talk about.
---
Quite a while had passed since he had gone back to Louisiana and while he missed his mother and siblings, the place still had a lot of bad memories. “The last time I went back it made me remember that summer in the south is humid as all hell.” A thought came into JD’s head just then and his mouth spread into a smirk. “Want me to grab a wheelchair and bust you out of this room? The weather isn’t too bad outside.” He remembered the dozens if not hundreds of times he had wheeled Ian out of the sterile hospital rooms and outside or anywhere else that wasn’t the same four walls.
--
Hannah smirked a little. “It gets hot in New York too, but it’s probably not the same.” At the offer, she arched a brow. “Are you sure you won’t get in trouble?” She wasn’t totally sure she wouldn’t get in trouble, but at this point Hannah felt like there was no way to avoid it any more.
---
“Not really, I reckon New York would be more of an oven with all that concrete, glass and roads.” The heat of any of the big cities was definitely different to that humid heat of the south that seemed to cling to every pore and draw out every ounce of energy, but for nearly two decades it had been JD’s home, that was something that would never change. “Taking someone for a walk around? If they want to make trouble for me doing that, then they’ve got too much time on their hands.” Plus the fresh air and sunlight might make Hannah feel a bit better.
--
Hannah hadn’t thought about it like that, but he had a point. Then again, Hannah never really thought about the weather or had small talk about it like this. It had been a long time since she just talked about little things. “Well, I doubt they’d let you get into too much trouble.” But Hannah also knew that she could get into a lot of trouble for just breathing wrong. But it would be nice to get out of the room for a little bit. “I guess we can give it a try.”
--
Despite everything JD was still a nice guy, he’d help anyone that needed help despite of race, skin colour, background or in the case on this island - genetic mutation. He knew that he was supposed to put himself on some kind of pedestal here, most of those higher up believed that they were better than the residents and mutants were less than human or some kind of threat, but JD thought otherwise. “Great, I’ll go find a wheelchair.” He said as he stood up, with another smile he left the room and found a wheelchair, there wasn’t any real complaints about it, not many people were game to tell him no. With his prize he wheeled it back to the room, knocking again before pushing it into the room.
--
Hannah was surprised that he was actually willing to do it, and wasn’t just being nice. When he left in search of transportation, Hannah scooted out of bed to find a robe. No need to have her ass hanging out for everyone to see if all she went out in was the hospital gown that became her recent uniform. By the time he returned, she was seated on the edge of her bed, ready to go and appropriately covered.
---
Hospital attire was never going to win any fashion awards, he knew the logistics of the hospital gown but seriously why did they use them for people who were obviously able to dress themselves? One of those unanswered questions of life. “Anywhere in particular you want to go? Or just a general tour?” Not having anywhere in particular to be or a time frame in which to stick to he had plenty of time to just cruise around wherever it was Hannah wanted to go, although it would pushing their luck to go near the barracks.
--
“Anywhere. I don’t get out much. And not just because of being stuck here. So, anywhere you feel like going is fine with me.” The fact that someone wanted to not only talk with her, but help her out and make her feel a little better, Hannah felt like it was too good to be true. She was going to try to enjoy it while it lasted.
---
He offered a hand to help Hannah get into the wheelchair and when she was comfortably seated he took the brakes off and started out of the room and down the hall. There was the odd person who gave them odd looks and one of the medical staff who might have been a doctor asked what they were doing, JD told them he was taking her outside for a while and maybe it was his tone or just his imposing nature but they didn’t stop him. Once outside of the medical complex he looked around and started off towards a section that was open, airy and seemed like a nice place to start, maybe just spend a few minutes in the sun.
---
Hannah was a little unsteady on her feet, mostly just due to spending a lot of time in bed lately. She still had pain, but she was able to hide it easily enough once she was seated more comfortably in the wheelchair. She looked to the staff warily, but was surprised to see them just allow them to go. Once outside, she took a deep breath, happy to be away from the constant monitoring for a little while. “People don’t really mess with you, do they?”
---
JD didn’t stop once they were at the starting spot, instead he continued to slowly push Hannah along at a snail’s pace. It brought back so many memories of the times he had busted Ian out of the VA hospital to just get some fresh air and sunshine, before his friend had gotten the prosthetic and learned to walk again. “I’ve had some people try, but I guess my size intimidates them.” Not a lot of people had gotten the chance to get to know him, if they did then they’d find out he was really a big softie. “They think I’d lift them over my head and break them in half or something.”
-- Hannah looked around, actually enjoying the views of the area for once. She listened as he spoke and then smirked. “That sucks. But I guess it’s better than people thinking they can do whatever they want to you and you can’t stop them.” At this point, she was used to it, mostly because it was true. Even though she’d been trained to weaponize her abilities, Hannah never wanted to hurt anyone. Even those who hurt her. What was the point in it, it wouldn’t take it back or make it better.
--
There were nice places on the island, he discovered quite a few while he was on patrols or on general walks around in his free time, although most of them happened to be out in the wilderness that surrounded the small clearing that the settlement sat in, or the lighthouse for that matter, for now they’d stick to the area around where they were. “Yeah, I had that too. I wasn’t always like this, I used to be a bit of a gangly teen and lived on the streets for a while. They’re always full of people wanting to take advantage of you.” His history wasn’t something that he talked about much but it made him into the man he was and if it made Hannah feel more at ease, it was worth it.
--
Hannah glanced up at him as he spoke, a little surprised to hear that. She didn’t have many ideas about who he used to be, but she wrongly assumed he’d always been the big, bulky, hero type. It was odd to think that someone so nice could have had a difficult past, then again experiences changed you in strange ways. “What made you change?”
---
They were still moving along slowly, taking not really moving with a destination in mind but just ambling along and enjoying the sunshine. “The Army.” He said, his body straightening a bit as he spoke. “I was given the choice of joining the military or I probably would’ve ended up in jail. Turns out it was probably the best decision that I ever made. The Army taught me discipline and gave me structure in my life.” The incident or his rehab he didn’t really want to talk about at the moment, that was the hardest part of his whole story.
--
She listened carefully and nodded, not passing any judgment. Not that she had any right to even if she wanted to. “Are you happier now?” Shifting in her chair with a wince, she looked ahead thoughtfully as she waited for an answer.
---
“In a way. I’m happier than I was when I was a teenager back south but I could’ve done without Afghanistan and almost getting blown up.” He could joke about it now, enough time had passed but he knew that the war was still a trigger for him. “That’s one thing that they don’t tell you when you sign up, the horrors that’ll get burned into you memory or the flashbacks.” It was something that even ten years later he was still trying to deal with.
--
Hannah frowned a little as she listened. “I’m sorry that happened to you. And I’m sorry that you’re stuck here, where you probably don’t get the respect that you deserve.” Hannah felt badly for any time that she’d ever been disrespectful to him, it at all. She usually just avoided most people, but that could be taken wrong.
---
“The rest of the world aren’t exactly that respectful either, I know that as guards we’re supposed to be the face of authority and I know some of the other guards want everyone to be afraid of them but we’re not all like that. I’ve had people lower their heads and almost run away when I walk past them or when I try to say hi to them.” But that wasn’t his fault, that was the fault of the government for putting the fear into the residents and the others didn’t help matters, which was one of the reasons why he and Ian tried to show that they were different and secretly wanted to help. “Some of us just want to help.”
--
“I wish that wanting to help attitude was contagious. But I guess we should be lucky to have you and the few good guys.” Hannah sighed and looked around again. “I know I’m a coward, but I’m afraid to go back to the barracks. I know what’s going to happen and I’m not strong enough to fight it off right now.”
---
“The guy you usually see me around with - Ian Marsh - is one of the good ones too. He’d literally give you the shirt off your back if you needed it.” JD smiled warmly, Ian really did have a heart as big as Texas but that smile turned into a frown when Hannah said she was afraid to go back to the barracks. “I’m sure there’s a few places still ‘out of commission’ from the hurricane that we might be able to sneak you into for a bit.” The hurricane had damaged some places and others it had just knocked out the security cameras and they were too busy repairing other damaged structures to worry about those for now.
--
Hannah nodded. “I met him once. He was nice to me.” She hadn’t run into him since, but she figured he was busy with things, especially lately with the storm. “That’s really nice of you, but they keep pretty close tabs on me. I think they’ll notice if I don’t go back to where I should be. It’ll be fine, I’ll get over it and deal with it. I... don’t really know why I said anything, I shouldn’t have.”
----
“Well, Ian and I are just down the hall if you need us.” He offered, he didn’t know what it was Hannah had done to deserve this kind of treatment but he knew he couldn’t do anything to help, he had his place and as much as he wanted to question it rocking the boat was not a good idea. “And I can stop in after my shifts, if it’d make you feel any safer.” It probably wouldn’t, but he put the offer out there anyway.
--
Hannah nodded with a faint smile. “Thanks, I really appreciate that.” She knew they couldn’t stop everything and everyone, but at least she knew she had someone she could go to if things got really bad. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. “I’d offer something in return, but I’m probably pretty useless to you.”
--
For a moment JD stopped walking, remembering that Hannah worked with technology on the island and from what he had heard she was quite the IT genius. A thought entered his mind, remembering about how Ian was talking about Daryn and the baby that was taken from her, but he couldn’t ask Hannah to break the rules and search for anything that might be hidden on the system, she had a big enough target on her back without adding to it. “If I think of something, I’ll let you know.” He’d drop some hints but he wasn’t going to risk her safety.
--
Hannah looked up to him when he stopped walking. There seemed to be something on his mind, but she didn’t want to pry. She nodded with a faint smile and looked around again with a sigh. “Thanks… for this. It’s nice to get out and be almost like a normal person for a little while. I appreciate it.”
---
He started walking again, moving a bit further away from the building that housed Medical and other services and into the sunlight. “It’s no worries, really. I remember what it’s like getting stuck in a hospital room, staring at four walls with nothing much to do at all as day blends into day. It sucks.” And getting stuck in a wheelchair because of a broken fibula and countless shrapnel wounds after returning stateside after the ambush. “At least it’s sunny today, we’ve had some clouds and showers since the hurricane but it hasn’t been that bad.”
--
Hannah tried to appreciate being outside and away from work and the hospital. “Were a lot of people hurt? It doesn’t look like the damage is too bad, but I’ve also been stuck in there a while so I probably missed a lot.”
--
“Not as bad as it could’ve been I think.” There had been damage but over the past few weeks that Hannah had spent in hospital a lot had gotten cleaned up and buildings fixed if minorly damaged or torn down if the damage was too bad, compared to something like Katrina or Sandy the island had gotten off pretty lightly. As for injuries or deaths he wasn’t privy to those figures but he did know that not everyone had survived. “We’re still cleaning up some places but no one seems to be in too big a hurry, the main things were fixed first and just moving down the list of priorities.” He said with a shrug, although Hannah wouldn’t be able to see him do that.
--
Hannah nodded a little as she listened. “Well, hopefully no one trees tried to kill anyone like they did me.” She smirked a little at her own bad joke. “It sounds like everyone was working together, so that must be a nice change of pace.”
---
JD smiled, Hannah being able to laugh at herself and the misfortune was a good thing. “I haven’t heard about trees attacking anyone else, but there was quite people with small cuts from shattered glass and bruises from flying debris.” They were still moving, now in the sun and enjoying that bit of warmth which JD guessed Hannah hadn’t felt since before the hurricane. “It’s nice to see everyone working towards a common goal, I guess disasters can bring people together.”
--
“Most people, anyway.” She was still disappointed she hadn’t seen or heard from Jake, and as much as it hurts, she knew he’d never really be interested in her anyway. It was just a nice little fantasy, but she knew the reality was that they were barely even friends. Which made her feel really stupid. Shaking off the thoughts, she sighed. “Yeah, but I bet it means they’ve got you going overtime. More than usual. Keeping an eye on things along with all the heavy lifting.”
--
There would always be those who didn’t want to contribute or just didn’t get along with people in general, it was a fact of life and nothing could be done about it. It was just in JD’s nature to help anyone at anytime, the soldier in him didn’t go away when he left the Army. He let out a soft chuckle at the mention of overtime “What else is there to do on this island when you’re off duty?” Other than hit the gym or sit around watching the countless DVDs he had smuggled onto the island. “And they always seem to find something heavy for me to lift, I wonder why?” A joke, he knew why they got him to do a lot of heavy lifting and honestly he didn’t mind, saved a gym visit sometimes. --
“Just like they always manage to find something they want me to hack.” She just smirked and shrugged. “I guess it’s better than having nothing at all to do, I guess. I have no idea what I used to do with myself when I could pick what I wanted to do. But maybe that’s because I was high most of the time.”
--
They always found something for them to do when on duty which was why JD liked it when he had a day or two off, usually it was around the time they had to go to the mainland for the food deliveries. He could get away and go hiking or whatever crazy idea Ian wanted to do that particular time, the two kept each other sane and he was grateful to have his friend here with him. “There was a lot more to do out there before the island, you’re pretty limited as to what you can and can’t do here. Even something a DVD rental place would help boost the morale for the residents, the movie theater is good but sometimes you just want to stay home and binge watch a series.”
--
“Yeah… the problem is, they don’t want us to have good morale.” Hannah shrugged, she was used to that long before coming to the island. Things in Riken had been far worse, even though this was nothing like real life. Real life felt like a dream. “It looks like some people seem to still be able to enjoy life a little. At least that’s what I see on the monitors anyway.”
---
It was sad that the residents here were treated like this, ignored by those on the mainland and looked down upon by most of those in charge. They didn’t ask for this, uprooted from everything they knew and forced to live on this island with no real hope of ever getting off it. “I suppose when there’s no real hope of a normal life anymore, you have to make the best of what you’re given.” It was a sad way of looking at it but it was the truth, finding friends or love was hard at the best of times, let alone within such a small population.
--
“Yeah. I guess.” Hannah frowned and sighed. She was tired of feeling with way, tired of feeling so trapped and hopeless and struggling to connect with any of the mutant residents. But something distracted her, and she looked around, trying to find the source of that nagging feeling in her brain. Rubbing the back of her neck, she took a deep breath to try to refocus. “I think we should go back.”
---
There was a slight frown on JD’s face as Hannah said that they should be getting back, it had been nice getting out into the sun and warmth but maybe it was all a bit too much for her. “Okay.” He started wheeling the chair back towards the building. “I hope you enjoyed the bit of sunshine, they used to tell me that sunlight has healing properties but I don’t know if it’s true or not.” It had made him feel better though. He took his time taking her back, even an extra minute outside was better than those sterile four walls. Eventually they were heading back down the hall towards her room.
--
“No… I did enjoy it. I just… it was a bad idea.” Suddenly uncomfortable, she kept her hand on the back of her neck. She wasn’t sure what caused it, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that washed over her out of nowhere. “I appreciate it. Really. Can… can I ask you a favor? You can say no if it’s too much.” The closer they got to her room, the more tense she felt.
--
“Sure. Ask away!” He said without hesitation, he did a lot of favors for residents with his underground postal service and Ian with his supply ‘network’, what was another one? “Want to wait until you’re back in your room or out here?” The room might be bugged knowing his bosses.
--
Hannah just shrugged, it didn’t matter if anyone overheard. At least, she didn’t care anymore. “If… if something happens to me. Will you get word to my family? I know I haven’t seen or talked to them in forever. I just… I don’t want them to think I didn’t care or I didn’t think of them.”
--
That was a weird favor to ask, did she know something that he didn’t? “Of course.” When they stopped he pulled out the notebook and pen that he always kept in the pocket of his pants, who knew when he’d have to make a note of something or someone. “Just tell me who to contact and what to say.” He said as he handed it over to Hannah, although he didn’t want to say it JD had a few letters hidden away to send to families Just in case.
--
Taking the pen and notebook, she carefully wrote down the names and addresses of her parents and two siblings, barely keeping her hand from trembling. “Just… tell them that I missed them and I loved them and I’m sorry I was a disappointment.” She didn’t want her family to know everything she’d been through since they saw her last. She wanted to spare them the heartache of it all, but she also wanted the chance to say goodbye. If it came to that.
--
Taking back the notebook he added that note to the bottom before pocketing the notebook and pen again, he knew the kind of words to say if he ever had to write that letter, hoping that he never would but it gave Hannah piece of mind anyway. “Will do. I’ll tell them we work together.” Which was the truth and didn’t give any kind of secrets away. “I’m sure they know that you love them.”
--
Hannah frowned again and just shrugged. “I don’t know anymore. I was kind of an obnoxious bitch when I last saw them. I mean, that was forever ago, and I was young and stupid but… yeah.” She rubbed at the back of her neck again, wincing this time. “Thanks, though.”
---
“We were all young and stupid once, despite all our flaws most of our family will always love us.” JD noticed that Hannah was rubbing at her neck, again. Was it just stiff or was there something else wrong with it from her accident weeks ago? “You okay? Sore neck?”
---
She glanced up to him with a little shrug. “I’m not sure. I’m not feeling well all of the sudden.” Hannah was thankful when they finally made it to her room. She carefully moved out of the wheelchair, but by the time she climbed into bed, she was curled up in pain.
---
He knew the look of pain all too well, it was something he often saw on Ian’s face during or after a long shift even when the other man tried to hide it. “I’ll go and get you some painkillers.” Before Hannah could say yes or no, he was already out of the door, taking the wheelchair with him as he searched for a doctor or someone to get some painkillers from. It took a few minutes but eventually he was able to get something and returned with the pills and a bottle of water
--
By the time he returned, Hannah was hardly able to sit up. Her nose was bleeding and she had a hard time opening her eyes. Carefully taking the medication and water he offered, it took her a moment to swallow them. “Thanks.”
--
Taking the bottle back he put it on the stand behind the bed, within reach if Hannah needed it. “Rest. I’ll drop in tomorrow morning before my shift.” She really didn’t need him sitting around keeping guard on her, though part of him was concerned leaving her like this but she was in the best place.
--
Hannah had a hard time nodding, so she just offered a weak smile. “Thanks again, for everything. It really made a difference… a good one.” She knew she should probably tell him not to bother dropping by, but it made her feel a little better knowing that someone would check on her.
--
He offered a small smile in return, being a man of his word he’d drop by in the morning to see how she was feeling, especially after this random onset of pain and a nose bleed. “Bye for now Hannah.”