Who: Ettie and Dylan! Where: The third floor When: Morning Notes: Continued here!
The only thing Ettie knew for certain about her situation was that she was awake.
Well, probably. You weren't supposed to feel pain in your dreams, right? The ache in her neck, the uncomfortable tug on the IV in her arm, and the fact that she'd been wiggling her toes with such a nervous ferocity that a charlie horse had developed in her leg were all proof that she wasn't having some weird dream, right?
She jumped and grunted as pain shot up her thumb, realizing she'd bitten the nail down to the skin as she finally pried her eyes away from the glass eye on the camera aimed at her from above. The tip of her thumb now bled slightly, and it distracted her enough that she clicked her tongue quietly in disappointment at it. She hadn't bitten her nails since she was nine, and her mom had explained just how unsanitary it was.
And this room was probably unsanitary for a hospital. If that's what it actually was. Not that it wasn't nice, or clean, but...well...it wasn't a hospital room. Or at least not like any of the, admittedly few, she'd ever seen. Then again, she'd never seen one in Japan, so maybe this was normal? Either way, she sure as heck couldn't remember what had actually happened to land her there, and aside from her already noted discomforts and a clearing grogginess nothing seemed too out of the ordinary.
Her arms shook slightly as she wrapped them around her upraised knees, scooting back against the pillows and the headboard to wait. If this was some kind of a weird hospital then someone was bound to come by eventually and check on her, right? Let her know what was going on? Or maybe....
She gasped a little as inspiration hit her, and she moved carefully to not disturb the line in her arm. Laying on her stomach, she lowered her head over the side-edge of the bed, peeking around for remote with the button on it that would call the nurse that had probably just fallen. They were supposed to be attached, right? She felt around blindly with her free hand, grunting in frustration as her fingers found nothing. Her eyes however, locked on a strange object she could partially see resting on the floor beyond the food of the bed, and with a confused frown she lowered herself a little more to get a better view in the space between the bed and the floor.
"Open Me," she mumbled out loud as she read the letters in her upside down state, chewing lightly on her lip as she contemplated that new development. Only when the rush of blood to her head grew uncomfortable did she settle back into her former position, her attention now focused on figuring out how to move toward the box without disturbing her IV. After a few minutes of testing the limit of her range, and what she had nearby at her disposal, she realized that there really wasn't any way to do it unless she unhooked herself.
"No," she muttered, shaking her head with conviction as she settled back on the pillows again. "Someone will come. They have to check...like...every two hours or something to do vitals or whatever, right? Someone will come." Her shake turned to a nod, right up until she realized she'd already started to scratch at the medical tape holding the IV in place. She clamped her hand over it as if to tell it to stop, her knees bouncing nervously. "You'll get in trouble, and they'll be mad, and probably don't know enough Japanese to say "I'm totally sorry I just turned myself into a medical emergency because I'm impatient and dumb." Well, she actually did, but then they'd probably expect her to understand whatever medical jargon or whatever they used to explain why she was there in the first place. She might. Or they'd probably have someone who spoke English, right?
When she realized she was scratching at the tape again, she grunted finally decided to just pull it off, mulling over in her head the phrases she could use to essentially ask for forgiveness instead of permission, and that they really should have checked the camera if they were going to keep the door closed and not send somebody in at regular intervals. Despite her quiet squeak of alarm when the IV pulled free, it really wasn't as dramatic as she'd thought it would be. There was no endless spurt of blood, and it didn't hurt, and no shrieking alarm sounded. Still, it took her another few minutes to gather herself up, holding onto the wall for support as she edged her way towards the box.
"Sorry," she sheepishly told the camera as she gave it a light wave with her free hand, growing more and more certain that someone was probably going to be super angry with her after all of this.
She couldn't help the wave of relief that hit her when she saw the contents of the box were filled very familiar things. She hugged her coat, inhaling the faint smells of her dorm room and the plethora of scented things she kept in it. Hunting a little more, she frowned to herself at the notable absence of her phone, her wallet, her keys. Why would anyone have taken those if the rest of her things were here? Who would have taken them? She could figure that out later. She moved to begin pulling the hospital gown off, for the moment not caring if anyone had a problem with her doing that, but stopped when she remembered the camera. She frowned at it, as if it was watching her on purpose (even though that was technically it's only job), then carefully stood again. Quietly, she began checking doors. A closet, a hall that looked less like a hospital than even the room she was in, and a gorgeous bathroom that she probably would have wanted to live in if it were in any other situation. She dragged the box into the smaller room with her, pausing to leave the "Open Me" note on the floor in front of the door just in case anyone stepped into the room and panicked when they didn't see her. Worrying that it would be seen as an invitation as much as a indication of where she was, she dressed quickly into everything, including her coat, despite the comfortable temperature in the room. She could stand being a little warm if she just felt a little more secure.
She felt a little more confident as she entered the main bedroom again, her nerves abating just enough for her to appreciate the decor in there as well. As she passed, she pressed a hand into one of the cushions of the sofa to test the firmness, wondering if maybe this was some kind of wellness spa hotel instead of a hospital. People got IVs when they were getting over hangovers, right? But she sure as heck didn't remember actually agreeing to something like that.
She partially opened the door to the hallway, half hiding behind it as she peered up one end and down the other. She didn't see or hear anyone else, but if it was a spa was that really unusual?
"It's not a spa," she whispered at herself like she was stupid, closing her eyes briefly and shaking her head. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled in a sigh, clearing her throat and gathering her confidence as she more loudly called out. "Hello? Is...uh....is anyone here? Oh, shoot-" She shook her head again, this time repeating the same, this time in Japanese. She didn't really think it would matter which she actually used at that point, someone would come or they wouldn't.