Answering the Call Who: Leto and a surprising talk with some NPCs When: Around 9:30 Where: Her room, the medical station
Leto hadn't slept much, and neither had her son. The hours that had followed since midnight of the first had been spent in utter hell. Levon's behavior... had been absolutely terrifying ever since. It wasn't what he was doing or saying that bothered her - it was what he wasn't. He wasn't her energetic, brave little boy who spent every waking second exhausting those around him. All of his attention was dedicated to his visitors, and he apparently had a lot of them. He'd barely said a word to her in the last three days, and before this, he'd barely shut up ever since he learned to talk.
She hadn't told her father or her brother about what he had said. When her father had commented on how oddly distracted Levon seemed, it had been easy to say it was from the trauma. She didn't want them to know about this. She wanted to take her son home, and get him away from this horrible place.
She had attempted to talk to Azi again, the one person who she felt was probably prepared to deal with this, only to find out he was one of the people that had gone missing. Her plan now was simply to get through this. She hated herself for ever bringing him here.
The phone ringing jolted her from her thoughts, and she hurried out of the bedroom to grab it. Levon hadn't slept much either, but he was actually sleeping now, and she wanted it to stay that way. "Hello?" she asked, voice soft as she quietly closed the bedroom door behind her.
"Ms. Wood?" a polite, young-sounding female voice asked at the other end.
"This is,"
"Ms. Wood, this is Genny St. Vincent, with guest services. Would it be convenient for you to come down to the medical station? One of our doctors on staff would like to speak with you."
"With me?" The connecting door between her room and her father's was open - as it usually was - and she had heard him just moments ago. "Is my brother okay? Has something happened?"
"Oh, no- I mean, that is, yes, he's fine - he's not here. The doctor would like to speak to you regarding another matter. If you are able."
Leto's mind boggled at what the 'other matter' could possibly be. She'd had a doctor look Levon over, and he was fine, and so was she for that matter. So what else could possibly be happening? Would someone she had met on the ship ask for her? Not freaking likely! The only thing she could possibly imagine was that something had happened to Micah, and even then... she was pretty sure he would have rather died than call her. Despite that, she heard herself agreeing to come right down. After asking her dad to watch Levon, she grabbed her room key and set off. In five minutes time, she was at the medical station.
Genny turned out to be an overly thin redhead who didn't look a day out of high-school whose nametag read Genesis. She carried a clipboard that looked to be at least as heavy as she was, and the stack of paper it carried twice as thick as her arms. She was smiley and cheerful, but all in all, appeared extremely overwhelmed. Leto imagined she was, with what had happened.
She asked Leto to have a seat in the exam room, which Leto did, and Genny stood near the door - never sitting, always shifting from one leg to the next or looking at something. She nervously tried to make cheerful smalltalk, which Leto tried to respond to politely. She was dying for Genny to just come out with it and tell her what was going on. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long. A brown-haired man in a doctor's coat with a long, thin face entered the room and gave a faint smile as he closed the door behind him. "Ms. Wood, I presume?" It wasn't the doctor that had seen Levon.
Leto nodded, and shook his extended hand. "I'm Dr. Taylor." he introduced himself. "Thank you for coming. I won't take much of your time." He pulled one of the stools closer to where Leto sat, and seated himself across from her. He appeared to struggle with his words for a moment, as if he wasn't completely sold on how he wanted to do... whatever it was he was doing. It wasn't particularly comforting to Leto's current state of mind.
"I had Genny check the passenger list for people working in the medical field." he finally started. He opened his mouth as if to say more, but Genny cut him off.
"We keep certain things on file for emergency purposes - normally the information is completely private, but with things how they are-" Dr. Taylor shot her a tired look and she closed her mouth. Sighing, Dr. Taylor looked to Leto again.
"You work at..." he checked a piece of paper before going on. "the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, yes?"
"Yes, I do."
"Very good hospital." he replied, clearing his throat lightly before pocketing the paper in his coat. "What do you do there?"
"I'm an RN, I work in the pediatric oncology ward." Leto answered.
"How long have you done that?" Dr. Taylor pressed. Any other day, Leto might have asked him why in the hell her credentials were being checked. But she had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what was happening. The air in the room suddenly felt very heavy.
"Three years," she answered. "The two before that I was an ER nurse at The Albert Einstein Medical Center of Philadelphia."
Dr. Taylor nodded. "Ms. Wood, we have an adequate medical staff here, but we are under extreme circumstances, and most of our staff have been... injured." he said, exchanging brief glances with Genny. "We are extremely short-handed here, and what I'm about to ask you to do is-"
Leto sighed and cut him off. "What do you need me to do?" Dr. Taylor met her eyes and appeared to be somewhat relieved. Leto judged by his expression that he hated this situation, but he seemed willing to do whatever he had to. He took a few minutes to explain to Leto what he needed, which was basically checking on patients and being a good judge on whether or not they needed to see a doctor. In the end, she couldn't help but ask, "Why do you need me for such a simple task? You have tons of nurses, they were everywhere the other night."
Dr. Taylor cleared his throat again. "As I said... they've all been injured."
Leto paused. "They were all fine." she said, clearly not buying it.
Dr. Taylor and Genny exchanged looks, and it seemed to Leto like there was a lot being said without the use of words. Dr. Taylor had a hint of warning in his eyes, and Genny started fidgeting. Dr. Taylor seemed to realize he was losing her. "Genny-" he warned.
Genny squeaked. "They're all gone!" she blurted out. "We can't find them!"
Dr. Taylor stood swiftly to escort Genny out of the room. After shutting the door, he turned back to Leto, looking a bit like he wanted to go slap Genny.
"What did she mean gone?" Leto demanded.
"Does it make a difference?"
Was he kidding? "Yes, it damn well does." she replied. "You want my help? You tell me what's going on."
Dr. Taylor sighed heavily as he sat back down. "It's just as she said. We cannot find them. We are down to myself and two nurses. The rest have been missing since yesterday." He paused before going on. "It's possible they jumped overboard."
"Jumped?" Leto asked, incredulously. "That many people don't just decide to commit suicide together, not outside of a cult in the 80s!" she snapped, even if she tried to hold it back. "You're telling me that more people went missing after the storm? That's what you're telling me?"
He nodded. "That's what I'm telling you."
Leto stood up. "I have a son to take care of. I don't need... whatever this is." she said. "I don't need to be the next person to disappear." Before she could leave, Dr. Taylor stopped her.
"Ms. Wood, please. You won't be. You're perfectly safe, and there are people here that need help. Will you really say no to them?"
...Shit. Leto didn't say anything, just stared at him for a few long moments. She felt a bit like she was at war with herself. A nagging voice told her it would be good to have something else to focus on for a little bit, though she felt bad for feeling that way at all. Sighing, she took a step back and grabbed her notes. "You people owe me."