Emily Owens (itsemilynotpits) wrote in vascaptiolog, @ 2013-12-28 16:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | emily owens, joey mccoy, tate langdon |
Who: Emily Owens, Joey and Tate
What: Emily arrives at the museum bringing medicine and supplies.
Where: The museum.
When: Day 47.
Rating: Mediumish.
Status: Complete!
It had been a long couple of days, but Emily Owens was used to those considering she was a first year surgical intern. She’d managed to get a few hours of sleep curled up in the thrift store the previous night, after spending the day there taking care of Carl Grimes and Beth Green. The place’s entrance had been blocked off and she’d stood outside for a few minutes trying to figure out how to get inside because she’d been picturing the worst: two dead young people who literally couldn’t answer the door. Thanks to one Clark Kent (whom she was still kind of struggling to wrap her mind around -- Superman was REAL and in Vas Captio), who’d managed to x-ray the place and see how many were inside, and then pry the door open, she’d been able to get inside and help the kids.
Once the two of them were both conscious and she’d gotten Carl to stop having seizures -- at least temporarily, Clark had graciously agreed to help get them to the gym so they could be under Will’s supervision. She knew from talking to other people that there were more supplies at the gym than there were in the thrift store, and much like a hospital, it would be easier if everyone who was sick was in the same location.
But she knew there were still sick people out there. She made her way to the museum that morning, because she’d heard there were a lot of people staying there, and she knew that at least one of them was ill. Like the thrift store, the museum door was locked and she sighed softly, tucking some hair behind her ear before lifting her hand to knock loudly. She just hoped that someone inside was conscious and able to answer the door, or she was going to have to yell for Clark’s help and that just seemed so very strange to Emily. But that was one of Superman’s abilities -- super-hearing. This place was strange.
The museum was uncharacteristically quiet this week and Joey thought maybe it was because everyone was trying to suffer in silence. The idea of that was disconcerting, but there it was. She knew that she seldom left Tate unless she needed to use the bathroom or retrieve supplies; more vitamins or food or water. Tate wasn’t doing well. In fact, she was fairly certain he was doing even worse still than he already had been, which was saying an awful lot.
Because of the silence, the knock on the door felt loud and out of place. It made Joey physically startle and, subsequently, profusely apologize to Tate for the movement because she knew it’d hurt him. “I’m gonna get that, okay? I’ll be right back. I promise I’m not leaving you,” she told him insistently. “I’m just gonna see who it is. It might be a supply runner for Dr. Collins or something; he knows Simon has a ton of medical stuff here,” she added softly.
She felt badly leaving him, even for a minute, because she’d promised she wouldn’t and every time she had to felt awful. But she didn’t want the knocking to continue, because she worried it might bother the other sick residents in the museum. So she slipped out of her room, leaving Tate briefly behind, and made her way to the front door, calling out to see who was there.
The sound of the woman’s voice and the name she gave made Joey wonder if she was looking for supplies; she’d said she’d known a Dr. Will Collins. Maybe she really was his friend from home and, if so, she’d be here for some of Simon’s stash, Joey was sure.
Joey opened the door and gestured Emily inside, closing it quickly behind her to keep out the cold. “Simon’s just down the hall,” she said dismissively, starting back toward the room she shared with Tate, just wanting to make sure that he wouldn’t think she’d abandoned him when he wasn’t well.
Emily followed Joey inside, momentarily confused. “Who’s Simon?” she asked uncertainly, watching as she shut the door quickly. She shifted the blankets in her arms and frowned, starting to follow the younger woman down the hall. The girl didn’t seem to be sick, but she did look tired. And sometimes tiredness was the first symptom of oncoming illness.
Joey paused in the hallway just outside her door. “You’re here to see Simon, right? He’s got all the medical stuff, if Dr. Collins sent you. I’m sorry, I’m busy...my friend is sick. Simon’s just down there,” she said, pointing with one hand lazily in the direction of where Simon and Kaylee were holed up before she headed back into her room.
“See? I told you, I was only gone a second, Tate, I wasn’t leaving you.” She moved further into the room to approach the side of the bed. “I think she’s just here for Simon, like I said.”
Tate was irritable — well, that was if one wanted to use the term loosely. He was downright unbearable to be around at some points, now, but Joey had made him a promise and she intended, still, to keep it. She wasn’t going anywhere. She tried to endure the offhanded slights in silence as though she hadn’t heard, processed, or been upset by them, especially because sometimes she didn’t think he realized that his complaints could or would be taken personally. Joey worried that getting back on the bed was just going to make him more angry, so she hovered at the edge of it, instead, chewing her bottom lip with nerves.
Tate shut his eyelids tightly when Joey moved off of the bed, letting out a long muffled exhale as he waited for the radiating pain to subside. His eyes cut wearily over to her as she left the room. He didn’t bother answering her as she left him to answer the fucking door even though anyone else in the fucking place could’ve gotten it without making him feel like there giant shards of jagged glass being wedged in between his joints; but sure, Joey, be the one to volunteer to get the fucking door.
He heard the sound of the stranger’s voice and footsteps entwined with Joey’s from all the way down the hall and immediately he felt a wave of anger flush over him, warming the back of his already burning neck. Whoever it was better not walk through that doorway. He gave her a light smile when she walked back in alone, he knew she’d be back, it was the company that he wouldn’t have had the patience for. Laying there on the bed looking at her with her lips stuck between her teeth made him feel a little better. She was adorable when she made that concerned face.
“Come here.” Tate said softly and rubbed a spot on the bed beside him.
When Tate gave her a small smile, Joey visibly relaxed a little and she let out a soft sigh of relief. He’d been in terrible moods the past couple of days, moreso even than before, so the fact that he wasn’t angry with her for having gotten the door was absolutely a relief. She returned the smile tentatively.
She hesitated a little before approaching the bed, because even though he was inviting her back onto the bed, she didn’t want to hurt him or make him angry but at the same time, she was glad to see he still wanted her there, in spite of it. So Joey carefully crawled back onto the bed and bit back an apology because she thought that even if she did that too often, she would irritate him.
“I know they’re not doing a lot of good, but...it’s time to take another vitamin and more Percs...you wanna wait a little bit or…?” she asked tentatively, trying to keep her voice down so that the woman out in the hall for Simon wouldn’t overhear. Simon hadn’t appeared to have noticed that she had taken the Percocets and Joey preferred to keep it that way as long as possible.
Emily hesitated for a long few moments in the hallway. The young woman definitely hadn’t seemed interested in her presence, but she was probably stressed from the experiments that people kept talking about. She set down the extra blankets she’d brought over and carried the bag of medical supplies and drugs into the room where Joey had gone. She could tell just by looking that the young man laying on the mattress was ill. Very ill, if she wasn’t mistaken.
She was right, the pills were doing jack shit, but he took them anyway. There wasn’t anything else he could do anyway. Besides, it was giving Joey practice in being a nurse so there was an upside to all of this horrible scurvy bull shit. “Okay.” He answered, aware that it wasn’t definitive response but leaving it up to her to decide.
When the woman appeared in the doorway his attention was immediately ripped away from Joey, he settled into a silent glower at the intruder, feeling the immediate effects of a sudden wave of anger flushing over his already burning face and neck.
Tate’s answer was less than definitive, she thought, but it appeared to be his way of letting her make the call, so she took it. Sliding one hand under his head to lift it enough for him to be able to drink without choking and she reached blindly down toward the floor with her other hand to grab the water bottle. Handing him that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the pill bottles, starting with the Percocets. “Gimme your hand,” she said quietly, meaning to dump the dosage right into his hand this time. She was so engrossed in the caretaking that she didn’t notice the way Tate’s expression darkened right away. When she finally noticed, though, she turned her head to look over her shoulder, following his eyes.
She immediately noticed the woman who’d been knocking on the front door. “Can I help you?” she asked almost defensively, her brow creased with concern. Joey didn’t want to be interrupted while she was trying to help Tate and she knew Tate wouldn’t like it, especially the way his moods had grown darker with the illness. “Four doors down. On your left. That’s where Simon and his stash are,” she clarified, in case the woman was just uncertain and wanted assurance that she was headed in the right direction.
“I’m not here for Simon or whatever stash he has,” Emily said uneasily. “I’m a doctor.” She arched her eyebrows. “I came here to help with whoever here was sick and...your friend looks pretty sick. I brought some supplies and medicines from the pharmacy. It isn’t a complete diagnostic kit or anything, but it should help some.” She took a couple more steps into the room. “What symptoms have you been experiencing?” she asked, looking at Tate with concerned eyes.
Tate continued to stare at the apprehensive woman as she delivered her tentative introduction. He didn’t ask for any outside help and he knew for a fact that Joey hadn’t invited her in; he didn’t have any patience for interlopers regardless of what they were pushing. Oliver and Chloe already stopped by with pain meds from the pharmacy a few days ago and unless she found a miracle drug stashed away in there since then, she was useless.
“Lady, unless you got some opiates in that bag I suggest you save all of us the time and energy.” He growled.
Joey cringed a little on Tate’s behalf. Really, he was a nicer guy than that, in her experience, but he didn’t feel well and while she didn’t blame him, she also thought making an excuse for him while he was lying right there would be a poor decision on her part. So, she went with the cringe and hoped that was apology enough to the woman, even if she really didn’t have any business having followed her to the bedroom and looking in at Tate like she was.
“He’s got scurvy,” she replied flatly, turning back to Tate and nodding for him to give her his hand to dump the pills into. “We’re fine. I’m fine. I already got what I needed from the medicine stash and he’s not feeling well, he doesn’t want visitors, and thank you, but...it’s fine. We’re fine,” she insisted over her shoulder.
“That’s just what they do here, they do terrible things. They want us all to suffer and now we are. He’s gonna be fine,” she went on, looking back over her shoulder at Emily as she pocketed the pill bottles again and went back to absently stroking Tate’s hair the way she had been before there had been the knock on the front door at all. Joey wasn’t entirely sure who she was trying to convince of it, though...Tate, the woman, or herself.
Emily had dealt with Cassandra Copelson for most of her entire life. She wasn’t going to let a couple of teenagers talk her out of helping them when she had the ability to do so. “Is he taking Vitamin C? Because that’s the only way he’s going to recover from scurvy.” She moved closer, picking up a bottle from the bag she was carrying. She’d grabbed a pretty wide variety of medications from the pharmacy before trekking across the snow to the museum. “And I’m assuming he’s also been taking something for the pain.”
Tate caught a glimpse of Joey’s cringe in the corner of his eye and stroked his hand over her knee before turning it over to receive the goddamn pills. He looked back at her when she said that he was going to be fine and flicked up his eyebrows. You’re damn right I’ll be fine..
Nothing he or Joey said seemed to phase the fucking lady at all because she kept on coming. “Jesus-fucking-Christ, lady can you take a hint? We don’t want your help. Get the hell out of here!” He was bordering on pissed now and almost moved to sit upright, but it wasn’t worth the pain.
Joey’s lips pursed at the question from the other woman. She understood where the woman was coming from. Most teenagers wouldn’t know how to treat scurvy of all things and the only reason she did was because of Felicity’s tireless studying. She paused, trying not to cringe again at Tate’s outburst. “Tate…” she whispered reproachfully before turning her attention back to the woman in the doorway.
“Yes, I know. He’s taking Vitamin C. He’s taking Percocets. He’s getting lots of rest and I’m keeping him hydrated, but the Management wants him sick, so he’s staying that way. Nothing’s helping; you can’t help. I can’t help. It just is and when the experiment’s over, he’ll be fine,” she replied.
Taking a deep breath, Joey let it out in a soft sigh. “Look, I appreciate your concern, really...but I’m handling it. I’m a nurse,” she lied. Close, but no cigar. The woman didn’t need to know that. Maybe Joey just looked younger than she was. “I don’t mean to be rude, but,” she started and immediately heard her father’s voice in the back of her head interjecting but you’re going to be, aren’t you, JoJo? before continuing forward, “we’re fine. I’m handling it. And Tate really needs his rest but he can’t if you and I are sitting here talking about him like he’s not right there hearing every word,” she pointed out skating the thin line between being frustrated and trying to remain polite in the wake of Tate’s outburst.
Emily wasn’t phased by Tate’s anger, but she was worried for Joey’s well-being. She wondered if the young man was like this all the time. The way that Joey jumped to his defense, to intervene and try to keep his anger at bay was all too familiar of a scene she’d seen before. She also knew that in a case like that, sometimes the best thing to do at the time was back off until she had a chance to speak with the young brunette girl alone. “I see. Well, when your friend is better, we should discuss medicine.” Emily dug into her bag and held out a bottle of pills to Joey. “These are iron pills. One of the worse side effects of scurvy is developing iron deficient anemia. That should help prevent it.” When Joey took the pills, Emily shifted her gaze to Tate momentarily, then back at the girl. “If anything changes and you need more help, send me a message. I’ll be at the gym with Dr. Collins.” She turned and headed for the door, troubled.
Everything about this situation was rubbing him the wrong way, but the way the doctor was looking from him to Joey was the most unnerving. He didn’t want her anywhere near Joey, feeling already that she could be a threat to their bond. The woman didn’t like him because he didn’t want her fucking help and now she was going to try to take Joey away from him. Tate’s heart pounded heavily against his chest as the woman made her way to the door. He wouldn’t let her take Joey.
Tate turned his attention back to Joey allowing tears to glaze over his eyes, clouding his vision. “Joey? Joey?” He whimpered as the tears began to run down his face.
Joey gave the woman a small, tired smile and nodded. “Thanks,” she said, taking the pills. Briefly, she considered saying that she knew about the possibility of the iron deficient anemia, but figured the other woman would see right through her. “Okay, thanks,” she added in response to the offer for any help later. She watched the woman leave and she was tempted to get up and close the bedroom door, but then Tate was saying her name and when she turned to face him, her eyes widened a little at the sight of tears.
“Hey...it’s okay, I’m right here,” she insisted, taking his hand in hers and wiping his face with her thumb to clear away the tears. “I’m right here. Look, let’s lay down and rest, okay?” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “We need to rest. You’ll feel better.”
At that, she started to settle in beside him. Screw the door. Piper and Silena wouldn’t bother them, Kaylee and Simon wouldn’t bother them, the other woman had taken the hint, and the others weren’t around. Curling up beside him, Joey tilted her head to lean hers against his, giving his hand a squeeze.
Tate let a shallow breath and sniffled as she settled in next to him again. He gave her a thin line of a smile and nodded, with a slight wince and shiver for good measure. He took her other free hand in his other and laced his fingers in hers, it was a painful gesture but he moved slowly and looked into her eyes with tenderness as they both drifted off to sleep. Nothing, nothing would ever come between them. Ever.