[X] Get some medical attention
--[X]Ask Shiho first to make sure she doesn't have a better idea (Dm's discretion as to what counts as a better idea)
Of everything on the map, the big hospital logos here and there stood out to you the most. The pain in your arms, the bruising across your body, and the exhaustion of your everything made you want nothing more than the sweet relief of morphine.
You'd take Tylenol, but the stronger stuff would be nice.
That said, you weren't the only one in need of it, and definitely not the one most injured at the moment.
"Shiho, look at this," you said, holding your phone out for her to see. "There's a hospital just a few blocks away, I think we should get treated."
A look crossed her face when she took a glance at the phone, quickly looking away with a displeased appearance.
Did you have any idea why she might react like that? No. Did you want your friend upset after everything you'd been through in the past half-day? Double no.
You amended your words. "We can just stop by a pharmacy or something instead if you'd rather do something else. What do you want to do? You're more hurt than I am."
Her frown just turned down lower as she avoided meeting your eyes.
"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "A hospital is fine. I would've said the same thing, but I just…"
Shiho trailed off, leaving you to pull your phone back and look at it idly while giving her a moment. For some reason, it seemed like she needed to gather herself.
"I don't like hospitals, and I'm not too sure a freaky mind control doctor will do us much good, but I'm fine with us going to one. I- Let's go to a hospital."
Even with an agreement, she didn't sound happy. You wouldn't let her do it just because you brought it up first. If there was something wrong with the idea, or some danger to it, you wouldn't risk Shiho on it.
"Shiho, we can do something else, just-"
"It's fine!" She snapped. Shiho finally looked back at you, something angry and scared in her eyes. "Just not that hospital, okay?! I don't- I don't have good memories there. Just pick any other one and I'll be fine."
You know what? That sounded like a great reason to pick another hospital and not pry into that. Maybe some other time, but not when you were both hurt and exhausted.
Within just a couple of moments, you found a close hospital in the exact opposite direction. Time to get walking.
—
By the time you and Shiho arrived at the hospital, you were both cursing a multitude of different things. The largest targets on your lists were the beings responsible for kidnapping you both without bringing your bags along, as well as yourselves.
In the future, you would both be sure to save your card information on a taxi app rather than needing to enter it manually. That mistake cost you nearly an hour at the pace you could both walk.
"Akiko, remind me to smash any pumpkin decorations that show up around Halloween."
You nodded. It was a great idea.
"Any idea what it's going to be like to deal with people here?"
While you had plenty of memories of your time being one of the people controlled by…whatever force was doing everything, you had no interaction with those people yet while awake. Shiho, hopefully, did.
"Yeah, no idea," she responded. Your hopes were dashed. "They should act 'normal,' usually. We'll probably get medical attention at a very average level, so nothing too nice or too effective, just…fine? Maybe?"
"Good enough, let's go."
It took just another minute to find the check-in desk, where things went both better and worse than you expected with the woman manning the place.
"The doctor will see you within the next two hours," she said plainly.
Her blank eyes showed no understanding of your state as she looked at you, uncaring of the blood soaking your entire body nor the burns all over Shiho.
You sighed, Shiho groaned. Neither of you had an idea for how to deal with it other than just accepting it. Any medical attention was better than none, right?
By the time you both made it to the waiting room, Shiho looked even worse. Nothing particularly scary, but the bags under her eyes were starting to look like she got punched in each eye rather than just being tired.
From the difficulty you had in thinking, let alone walking and moving around, you assumed you looked nearly as bad.
You helped Shiho into a soft-looking seat and heard snoring within seconds. It brought out a chuckle, as well as a sigh of relief. Sleeping through the next two hours was a good idea.
It took just a few moments spent staring longingly at the chair next to her to decide you couldn't afford to do the same. It already was going to take two hours before either of you could be seen, you didn't want both of you to sleep through being called and end up having to wait longer because they thought you left.
Time to pace around the room while hoping you didn't collapse. Fun.
——
Over half an hour passed as you walked around the room. Your exhaustion didn't get much worse, but it certainly didn't improve, either. You tried to familiarize yourself with the other patients to keep your mind active, hoping it would keep you more awake.
(Knowledge Check Learned+: 95+11=106 Critical Success!)
(Due to the critical success, Knowledge has grown! Knowledge increased from Learned+ to Learned++, bonus to roll increased from +11 to +12.)
With all the time in the world, you could feel your mind clearing from the exhaustive fog you felt in the tunnels. Things were clearer, and that allowed you to start making connections.
There were four other patients in the room.
Patient One: Some sort of cold, wearing a mask and still covering their mouth with their arm during the occasional cough or sneeze.
Patient Two: Nothing apparently wrong until noticing the broken finger that he did not react to. Sitting still and waiting for attention despite the fact that he must have been in significant pain.
Patient Three: Holding papers for a request for a change in medication. It seemed it needed to be signed by a doctor, nothing else apparently wrong with them.
Patient Four: Some form of cancer treatment, appearance suggests currently undergoing chemotherapy. The conclusion is further backed by anti-nausea medication held idly in hand while waiting.
None of the four patients had matching severity in their need for a doctor's appointment, and they were all sitting next to each other closest to the entrance, seemingly in the order they arrived.
When just a few minutes into your wait, you watched as the clock ticked to Midnight and a nurse walked in to bring back the first patient. The timing was…strange, but it gave you thoughts about how the hospital may be operating.
Thirty minutes later, you were proven correct. Another nurse walked in at exactly half past midnight, gesturing to the man with a broken finger to come back. He mechanically got up from the chair and followed her.
The reason it would take two hours to be seen was solely that they only took in the patients at predetermined times of every half hour, sticking to a schedule. It would be exactly an hour and a half before anyone got to either you or Shiho and possibly two hours for you if they only took Shiho first.
Things were being operated in a strict, 'correct' manner, with no emotion to it. It lined up with your memories of class for the last four months, walking in and doing only just what you needed to rather than anything extra.
As you tried to consider what this would mean in other scenarios, someone walked into the waiting room.
The instant you saw the white coat indicating them to be a doctor, you knew something was off. Doctors wouldn't even normally approach the waiting room, leaving that to nurses. Why would a doctor in this state of the world break practice in such a way? They might if they were a patient, but they wouldn't wear the coat if they needed to check themselves in.
Taking a further look at the women, you started to get a thought in your mind.
Rather than normal clothing alongside the coat, her manner of dress was…somewhat dramatic. A black dress with a mid-thigh length skirt, studded red belt, studded choker, necklace with a vial around her neck that gave off the appearance of being custom, as well as tall and black strappy heels.
You thought back to the fashionista girls at your school. After December, all of their uniform-breaking accessories and outfits were gone, replaced with just standard school uniforms. Everyone you and Shiho passed on the streets was similarly plainly dressed. No one would wear something like this, especially not a doctor.
This woman was either awake like you and Shiho, or she was tied to the ones responsible for this.
You needed to handle this carefully.
[X] Take Shiho and Leave: You two came here for medical attention, not to have to deal with someone that might be able to send a demon after you or something.
[X] Act Casual (Composure Check DC0 with Success Improving on Roll): Acting like a normal patient and pretending that nothing is amiss couldn't lead to anything bad, right? It might even let you see a bit more of what this woman is like before you come to conclusions.
[X] Confront Her (Guts Check DC45): You and Shiho need answers or allies, one or the other. If this woman knows anything, you need that information. You'll do whatever it takes to get it…even if doing so might lead to getting attacked. (On fail, Akiko will continue under 'Act Casual' as if she rolled a very low result.)
-[X] Write-in: How will you confront her? (Bonus added to check based on strength of write-in concept by DM's discretion.)
[X] Write-In: Do something else for handling this situation.
