Leslie had adopted a mantra in her head while she was holding onto Ann's hand. Focus, Leslie. Just breathe. That's it. You got this. And for a little bit it worked. She felt calm, like nothing in the world could hurt or Ann because they were together and this was not a spooky place. She really hoped that that was true, and that all her positive thinking would make a difference.
But fear had already taken seed from the moment the light flickered. Her heart was beating a little bit faster in her chest, and with Ann's hand wound tightly around hers... well, Leslie was sure this was just the beginning of the worst. Ann had amazing instincts for these sort of things, and if Ann was on edge then Leslie was as well.
The sweet, wild, and majestic unicorn that was Ann Perkins was putting on her bravest, most practical nurse voice and Leslie completely appreciated it. She held onto Ann just a little bit tighter, and nodded at what she said. "You're so right, Ann, we have seen it all. I mean, we're practically experts at whatever this place has in store for us." Leslie laughed, a tinge of nervousness in her voice. Her voice echoed down the hallway, and again she gulped down the fear that was catching in her throat. The echo sounded strange, like it wasn't an echo and that someone was really laughing back at her.
"You know, we're going to need to take some Xanax if we find any," Leslie said with determination. She wasn't going to let this place scare her even if she was already just the tiniest bit scared. Or a lot scared. She couldn't really tell anymore. She followed Ann's lead down the hallway, and looked at the flickering light.
"We really gotta get that fixed. I mean, we don't want patients falling over stuff because it's not working." Leslie was going to drown out her fear with logic, and practicality, and organization. She was going to approach this realistically, and do her very best to ignore the shadow that lingered just at the edge of the darkness.