Savannah Posey (jurisdoctor) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-10-09 09:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [10] october, lalita singh, savannah posey |
Who: Savannah Posey and Lita Singh
Where: Lita's office at UMCB
What: An interview about Lita's zombie incident
When: October 3rd, late morning
SAVANNAH: [after she sets the coffee cups down on Lita’s desk and they hug it out, she takes a seat and motions for Lita to do the same.] So let’s get this interview out of the way. I think we can all agree the sooner we never have to talk about this nightmare, the better. [takes out her clipboard and pen for note taking.] Where were you durin’ the outbreak on September 6th? LITA: [nods and gingerly sits at her desk, keeping a steady hand at her still tender middle. She’s eager to put the incident behind her as well so after a sip of her own coffee, she begins.] Before the outbreak, before anyone knew anything was wrong, I was on my afternoon rounds at the UMCB. I was running behind with my appointments, which is actually pretty par for the course for me. SAVANNAH: So there wasn’t anythin’ unsual happenin’ that was holdin’ you up? Did you notice anything strange before in incident started? LITA: It was the noise inside the patient’s room that made me stop. I mean, you’re in a hospital, you expect a fair amount of noise when you work there. People barfing, snotting, expelling various bodily fluids. It’s normal. But something about the noises the patient was making seemed strange. It sounded...God, I want to have some sort of impressive medical jargon for it but the only thing I could think of was off. I picked up the chart, saw the patient was a fellow doctor and that it was a psych eval, and thought I’d at least poke my head in just to make sure she didn’t need anything before I went on my way. She looked, well, like shit. She was sweating buckets, pale, had phlegm and mucus running from her nose and mouth, mumbling and tripping over herself. I had just entered the room when Dr. Montgomery, Rose, also arrived. It was obvious to the both of us that something was very wrong, both physically and mentally, but we knew the patient had been through the bite screening so we tried to wrangle her back into bed so we could try and make heads or tails of it. That’s when the patient coded. SAVANNAH: [frowns at Lita’s response, not liking that her friend had witnessed such a terrible thing.] So you were then when she started to turn? Did you have any direct contact with her? How did you get injured? LITA: Yes, I was there when she turned. The conversion was almost instantaneous after her heart stopped. The sound of the code, plus me and Rose’s shouting, was enough to alert a few nurses and orderlies. They wanted to get the crash cart but they hadn’t seen what we had seen, they didn’t know what we suspected. I was on top of the exam table, shouting for someone to get restraints and trying to call off the code when the patient turned. She lunged at me and the table flipped; the stainless steel edge caught me right in the torso. The weight of the table plus the thrashing infected on top of it broke a few ribs and lacerated my spleen. The pain was...shit, I hadn’t felt anything like it since my car accident. Someone managed to tear the patient and the table off of me, saving me from any scratches or bites...though someone did step on my face in the scuffle. An orderly wasn’t so lucky. He had his throat ripped out but I barely saw it...I was losing consciousness by then. Rose, thank Christ for Rose, pulled me out of the way so I wouldn’t be trampled or ripped into. I passed out before I could see how the geek had gotten passed the other orderlies and security personnel. SAVANNAH: [she, of course, knows what happened next because it landed Pete in quarantine, but she scribbles down some notes, then asks:] Do you think anythin’ could have been done to prevent the incident or anythin’ you’ve learned from that incident to prevent somethin’ like that from happenin’ again? LITA: [makes a rude, derisive sound] How about orderlies that know how to goddamn listen when I tell them I need restraints on a patient? [she sighs; she knows it's not the orderlies’ fault, or anyone else’s really. That doesn’t stop Lita from feeling frustrated and upset about what had happened to Pete and the rest of the people who had been caught in the convert patient’s swath] There needs to be a complete overhaul on admittance procedures, for one thing. A significant amount of money, time, and manpower put into developing early detection tests for infected. Personal defense courses for doctors, staff and administration. The list is endless. Who knows where one would even start? SAVANNAH: [nods and makes note of Lita’s answer.] I’ll certainly bring up these suggestions and let you know if we want further detail or insight on any of that. Ain’t exactly easy to summit Mount Everest on the first climb so maybe focusin’ on just one to begin would help, but still manage to have an impact on the issues you identified. Is there anythin’ else to add or any questions you have for me? LITA: I’d be glad to go into more detail on any of my suggestions if you end up deciding any are viable. [a pause] Questions for you? [Lita straightens in her chair, wincing slightly] None that are pertinent to the interview. I do want to know what’s going on in your neck of the woods, though. Being out of commission for so long I feel like I’m out of the loop. How are the girls dealing with things? Nathan? Still driving you crazy even from quarantine? SAVANNAH: [reaches forward to end the recording of their interview before saying:] Liv’s goin’ crazy in quarantine. Maizie misses her like crazy. Nathan and I are… starting to talk again. [shrugs.] Things’ll be better once everyone is out of quarantine. LITA: [shakes head] I can’t see Olivia being cooped up like that. It’s gotta be rough for her, and for Maizie. Good to hear you and Nathan are talking, though, even if he can be a pain in the ass for you sometimes. Maybe it’s the whole absence makes the heart grow fonder thing? I don’t know how that works but people say it a lot, so it must be true. SAVANNAH: Nah, pretty sure we’re only talkin’ because his ex-wife rolled into town because she saw my name in the newspaper a while back and it felt wrong to not tell him. [lets out a sigh and runs a hand through her hair.] I guess we both decided we were out of line in that fight, but I dunno if somethin’ like that goes away overnight. LITA: [cocks her head to the side as her eyes go wide] Nate’s ex-wife is in town? Holy shit, that’s...it’s good, right? Wow, kind of cool that she came all this way just from seeing your name in the paper. [Lita reaches out and pats Savannah’s hand. She knows it can’t be easy for her best friend to have her brother’s ex-wife arrive in town alive and well when Savannah’s boyfriend had no chance of showing up on her doorstep ever again. No matter how he and Savannah felt about each other at the end of his life, Gray was gone but somehow Nate had gotten a second chance at a love he lost. Lita knows it has to be bittersweet for Savannah, even if she’s not quite sure how to go about comforting her about it.] That’s sweet of you to call a truce to tell him, not that I expected any less of you. Tell me about her. SAVANNAH: I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I don’t think she was expectin’ anything in particular. She just wanted some answers. I think you’d like her, actually. She’s real matter-of-fact like someone I know. [she smiles and adds:] And she’s a clothin’ designer. Said she was mostly makin’ wedding dresses these days, where I assume there’s the most money to be made. But she makes other stuff too. LITA: [Lita’s eyes go wide with obvious interest] A designer, you say? That is interesting. God, what I wouldn’t give for a new pair of tailored cigarette pants...or a new suede skirt for fall...and the things I could do with a fitted blouse where the buttons aren’t popping open to flash people every five minutes…[she seems to realize she’s gone off on a tangent and shakes her head, trying to grasp the threads of their conversation again] Sorry, I was in the middle of a very steamy fashion fantasy. You’ll have to give me her number. You know, when she’s settled in. [a pause] Is she sticking around? Or just tying up loose ends with Nathan before heading back to a city where people wouldn’t appreciate her clothes as much as we would? SAVANNAH: [laughs and rolls her eyes as Lita goes on and on (and on) about clothes. Besides the whole medical situation Lita helped her with, fashion was something that they’d easily bonded over when they first began their friendship. She knows how much it would mean to Lita to get some new digs.] I’ll give you her info but she might be shippin’ it to you from Oklahoma. Didn’t seem like she was plannin’ on stayin’ much longer than she had to. She knows Nathan won’t be out of quarantine until the 8th, but I don’t know how much longer she’ll stay after that. LITA: [knowing that a purveyor of fine clothing will, in all likelihood, be leaving before Lita got to take full advantage of her trade leaves Lita a bit deflated] Well, if your brother was smart or wanted to help a sister [gesture to Savannah] or a sister’s sister [gestures to herself] out he’d give this girl a good reason to stay but IDK his life. I do know I could use new and pretty and if I have to get it shipped from Tulsa then I guess that’s what I’ll have to do. [They’ve moved passed the professional portion of the chat but something niggles at Lita’s very small and underdeveloped conscience so she spits it out before she can push it aside and ignore it. She’s not so great with expressing gratitude, or feelings, but its easier with Savannah than with anyone else.] Just, uh, before I forget, I just wanted to say I appreciate it you coming down here to do this whole interview thing, as opposed to anyone else on the council. I know it probably wasn’t all that easy for you, what with what happened to Pete...and Nate...and Olivia. So, thank you. And I love you. And let’s go get some coffee before I expire from lack of caffeine. SAVANNAH: [pointedly ignoring anything related to the mess that was Nathan and Paige’s relationship, she glazes over that to skip right to the part where Lita is outwardly sweet and grateful towards her. She knows her friend has it in her, but sometimes it can take a bit of prodding to get there -- but here Savannah is on the receiving end without even really doing anything at all!] It’s not a problem, sweetheart. I know you’d do the same for me. And besides, coffee is 99 percent of the reason I came here anyway. [she teases before standing, and says:] Let’s go get some coffee before I regret it. |