Who: Athena & Callie What: Admiring the foliage When: Saturday afternoon Where: UW Botanical Gardens Warnings: Droopy roses and an equally droopy doctor
Things were turning out to be very odd, and Athena couldn't say she liked it. There were gaps here and there, things she struggled to remember. It was as if she went to bed on Tuesday and woke up on Friday, and the confusion was concerning. She needed time to center herself, to think and set things right. The botanical gardens would provide some comfort she knew. Their roses in particular were usually uplifting.
She dressed warmly in jeans, a white t-shirt and a thick, gray, wool sweater. A black purse hung from her shoulder, filled with all the necessities required of a trip away from her apartment. She had been feeling bored as of late, less patients coming through meant more paperwork being done. The various ERs and shelters she worked at seemed to be conspiring against her, informing her that she wasn't needed. They were concerned, of course, because she felt as if she needed to be doing something. Even just the night before she had sat herself on the roof of Bathos with her medical kit, hidden in the shadows to see if an injured mask would appear. That was a sad commentary in and of itself.
The taxi ride had been in silence, with Athena looking out the window as they drove through the streets. She wasn't really seeing though, lost in thought over her life and the missing days she was trying to focus on. She paid the driver and entered the botanical gardens on autopilot, navigating herself to the section of roses with relative ease. She lost herself in them, the scents and sights. All the beautiful colors and fragrances. She fingered each color lovingly, reciting the facts she knew about them to herself. The centered her, made her feel whole. She felt better in their presence.