Staffing up
Characters: Cal and Violet Setting: Clinic, evening
It really was stacking up into one hell of a day for Cal, not an awful one so much as a much busier one than he’d anticipated. Or, really, busier than any day he’d had since his arrest. On some level he welcomed it, loved the chance to dive back into the work he’d spent his whole life getting to, but on another? He wanted to hide away, shirk the pressure for a little while, and just write up psychiatric evaluations of his fellow residents.
He had to admit, if only to himself, just how sad of a method of stress relief that was though. But it was hard to connect with these people, to listen to their worries and fears, and still feel like he had any objectivity in analyzing them. Still, Cal was determined to do that sooner or later as he puttered around the clinic, sealing up his medical waste from Susanna’s visit in a biohazard bin and starting to gather his papers from the day.
Violet found the underground tunnel thing a little strange, but then so was the farm, so was seemingly everything else. So, she was forcing herself to take everything in stride, and greet every new strangeness with a smile and open mind. So far, that was working out for her. As she found the clinic, she called out. "Hellooooo!" Her voice echoed a little in the space there, the tunnel, but she was determined not to think of crypts.
Turning at the sound of the voice, Cal’s smile still hadn’t worn down from the day yet, though there was a hint of weariness in his tall frame as he moved to get a good look at whoever was in the door. “No no no,” he chided playfully, getting his first glimpse of Violet, “You’re s’posed to be like ‘Marco!’ an’ then I yell ‘Polo’ and try to fit in a closet or somethin’.” Chuckling richly, Cal moved to grab his water from his desk, waving her inside with his other hand before offering it over. “Gonna guess you’re Violet, and not some other new person who’s lookin’ for medical attention?” he greeted with a wink, “Cal Royce, welcome to the strangest, sometimes-coolest prison in the world.”
Giving a warm smile and a little giggle, Violet beamed at him. "Well next time I certainly will!" she told him, already deciding if this was the Doc, then they were going to get along smashingly. She headed inside at his beckoning, and shook his hand as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I am indeed Violet. That annoyingly happy nurse that hums as she does her rounds. It's a pleasure to meet you, Cal, and thank you. I'm...still dealing with the farm outside my door strangeness, but I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough."
“Got you over in the new block, hey?” he asked, shaking Violet’s hand and just... just enjoying the moment of warmth she exuded. No trauma, no concerns about her health, it was nice for the ten seconds Cal had before he realized that if she was here? Something had happened. “I haven’t been able to scope that out yet myself, but I know it’s a trip,” he agreed, “My first day here I just... I stood there for ‘bout ten minutes before I bothered pickin’ my jaw up off the ground, then spent another twenty walkin’ barefoot in the grass. Wish I could say it got easier, but every time it seems like it might? Folks runnin’ the show add another dash of strange to the soup.”
"I arrived with someone else, and it was very...interesting! That's what I'm going to go with!" Violet said brightly, laughing. "I was planning on going for a walk myself soon, but really wanted to get acquainted with this area first. My passion in life has always been nursing, and so to get an opportunity like this again is amazing for me." she said.
Grinning widely at that, Cal was quick to nod in understanding. “Preachin’ to the choir, doll,” he assured her playfully, “I busted my ass in school, you know? And I loved everything that came from it, even the stuff most folks couldn’t handle, so when I lost it? Hell...” he trailed, shaking his head, “I was goin’ outta my mind for a hot minute. Gettin’ all of this dropped in my lap was like ten Christmases with a birthday on top.”
He stepped back towards the smaller, enclosed rooms, gesturing with his free hand for Violet to poke around. “Check it out as you like, for real. Get a feel for it, it’s a little tight in spots? Like, if we’re in a crisis we might trip over each other or somethin’, but it’s totally workable,” Cal assured her, “And who else did you get dropped in with? Seems like we’re pullin’ at least one new face a day, lately. Gotta be over thirty of us now...”
Violet smiled. "Oh, that's the perfect analogy!" she said. "Ten Christmases with a birthday on top--exactly! Very much that. Just...a whole lot of joy at the mere thought. So, I will probably wind up bothering you with being here all the time, and wanting to be in on every little boo boo anyone happens to get." she added. "And don't worry about me, I'm kind of tiny, I don't get in the way and I can dart around like no one's business." she promised.
"As for who I came in with, this man named Jeremy? I guess we're neighbors. He was...a little strange." she said hesitantly. "Not that I'm speaking ill of him! Just he was slightly odd. To me. Possibly not to other people."
“Violet, it’s okay, really,” Cal assured her quickly, grinning at the rapid clarifications. “This whole deal’s slightly odd, and I think all of us got at least one moment every day where we come back to the fact that everyone here’s got a record. Some of us, it’s pretty low-key stuff, but others... well, there’s a few in here I worry over, if I’m bein’ honest.” Meg Ravin and Zhang Wu Ji were the big risks in his mind, but the punishment that Ryan had been hit with still lurked in Cal’s mind. Something had happened there, something beyond whatever his confession touched on. “But Jeremy, y’say? I’ll have to keep an eye out, see what kind of impression he gives.”
"Oh, I haven't even gotten there yet." Violet said. "Though, I suppose I will. Are there people you think I should try to be extra nice to? Or just avoid?" she asked, eyes slightly wider as she paid rapt attention to him. "I would trust your answers. If we're going to be working together we need to trust each other and I hopefully will be able to prove that in short order."
Cal mused on that, sipping his water again as his eyes narrowed in thought. “That’s not the easiest question to field,” he admitted, “The high-profile ones I’ve heard of, the folks I thought I’d have to watch out for? They haven’t kicked up much dust yet. But there’s a couple of folks to just... just be ready for things to turn sour with. Lady named Kasper was down here today, I guess she picked a fight upstairs? I’m lookin’ into a regimen of mood stabilizers to try with her, crossing my fingers that I won’t have to go to full-strength anti-psychs.”
He felt it necessary to share that, avoiding the guilt with the idea that she’d be working down here, she’d be at risk if she didn’t know. “Since we’re on the topic, you mind me asking what you’re in for?” Cal ventured curiously. “I’ll save you the time of bouncin’ that question back: I got arrested for possession with intent to distribute.”
Nodding, Violet accepted that, and made a mental note about a Kasper as well as Cal's conviction. "I was going to offer the information myself, but since you've asked now, I will. I was point zero zero one over the legal limit when I was in a car accident that was deemed my fault. A lot of people were hurt, including myself. It was around New Years. I was in recovery for a while, but wasn't in lock up for very long before being sent here."
Frowning at the information, Cal couldn’t help scowling at the injustice of it. He knew the system, and as a result he could’ve guessed how long Violet probably would’ve been in prison. Really, with good behavior? It would’ve been nearly nothing, though her record afterwards would’ve tainted her career. “Well if we’re sharin’ the finer points?” Cal offered with a humorless smile, “I got busted for dope someone else stashed in my kit, never even saw it before it got pulled out in front of me.”
But he wasn’t going to dwell, not after this day and not with Violet here and clearly giving it her all to brighten things up. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry to hear that you went through that. Doesn’t make a lick of sense to bounce someone from a hospital bed to a prison bunk, but I’m glad you pulled through the accident.”
Violet looked at him with sympathy, imagining that the odds were definitely against Cal in that. "I'm sorry, that sounds awful." she said sympathetically. "And thank you. It was a little hard, I did lose my right kidney, which might be pertinent just to know for your own records and the like. But I'm physically sound now." she assured him.
“Yeah, I’ll make a note of it,” Cal agreed with a look of surprise. ‘Hurt’ didn’t quite cover losing a kidney in his mind, but everything Violet put out as far as presenting herself backed up her words; she was stable, energetic, there was no obvious worries to be seen. “So, you’re keen on working down here?” he segued with a chuckle, “I won’t lie, some days it’s been damn slow, which I know is a good thing. It means everyone’s doin’ okay and all, but it gets a little stir-crazy when I’m down here all day just in case, y’know? At least we’ve got the computers, so if you’re big on chattin’ online there’s that.”
Violet smiled and looked around. "I think anything that says 'clinic' and has a blood pressure cuff in it I'm game for." she told him. "And hooray for the computers! But I could see why someone would get a little lonely down here. I was going to suggest we take turns being 'on call' as it were down here? I'm happy to take shifts, days where I could hermit down here and you can go get some sun in."
That was music to Cal’s ears, though he figured his work would suffer for it. Still, he’d been sequestering himself away too much, he could learn more out in the mix with the others and maybe help prevent a repeat of everything that had gone wrong today. “Won’t find me sayin’ no,” he agreed, “We can get a solid rotation goin’ between you, Becka, and myself. She’s the other RN, I think you two’ll get along jus’ fine.”
"Sounds lovely." Violet said with a smile. "I'll be sure to meet her as soon as I can as well. But we'll work it out nicely, I think." she said with confidence. It looked like it would be a nice working environment, and trusted things would go smoothly.
“We’ll figure out a chance for that real soon, then. Barring any major catastrophies round here,” Cal agreed, silently wishing for some wood to knock on. Aside from Kasper’s scrap and Adam’s hand, there hadn’t been anything serious so far, but Cal knew that was going to change. It had to just by basic laws of probability, and that was before factoring in all of them being convicts. Sooner or later, they’d really need everything in the clinic, though he kept on hoping it’d be later rather than sooner. “C’mon, I’ll give you the grand tour, catch you up to speed on the existing conditions ‘round the house,” he urged with a little nod back towards the private treatment rooms.
Violet gave a dutiful smile and nodded. "I'll learn everything as quickly as I can." she promised. And she would. She took her job incredibly seriously, and it looked to her like this was a place where she was going to need to know as much as possible as fast as possible. She took that as a direct order.