Depends. Well that was a helpful response. A sigh was the only sign she was irritated, but it was minor irritation. Johnson wasn’t the first drunk she’d ever encountered. Her younger brother was a functioning alcoholic, after all. People drank for various reasons and people handled the intoxication in different ways. Lilah would’ve turned that into some complicated an unnecessary equation, while Leah…
Well, Leah went straight to the source. Her involvement with leadership things had been considerably less of late, but even if that wasn’t the case, whatever position or influence she had wasn’t the reason she’d stopped. Granted, a lot of it had to do with the fact he was drunk and spent the majority of his time in the infirmary, so it was concerning to see him in this state.
“Because one of the hallways leading to the cafeteria is a good place to be alone,” Leah pointed out, arching an eyebrow. The cafeteria was one of the most widely visited places in the compound. “Not my fault your plan to be alone got foiled.” Her tone wasn’t unfriendly, but it wasn’t entirely sympathetic either.
When Johnson made an attempt to stand and failed, Leah instinctively put a hand on his arm to slow his fall. She dropped her hand back to her side and took a step to lean against the opposite wall. The man’s legs weren’t in the way anymore, so she could’ve easily continued on her way without another word, but ignoring someone who’d, thus far, only done things to help people, wasn’t how she wanted her daughter to see her. Marigold was at home now, but if she’d been there with Leah, she would’ve insisted her mom stop and help.
With a longing glance toward the cafeteria, Leah sighed and turned her attention back to Johnson. “That’s funny, ‘cause you sure as hell don’t look fine. Look, I’m not asking you to share your problems, especially if it’s personal shit, but if you’re in this state ‘cause a patient of yours died? It wasn’t your fault. I’m sure you did everything you could.”
“I hope you don’t make a habit of being drunk in the infirmary,” she added sternly.