Hope-Ful Visits

Medical City Hospital
Bright, wide lights hang from the ceiling, casting the clean and sterile surroundings with brilliant light. A reception area sits centered before the door where people can check in, or ask for directions to other areas within the hospital. Past the desk is a small hallway with elevators leading to the upper floors, and signs that point to radiology.

Two large metal doors to the left of the entrance lead outside to the ambulance loading dock. The doors are marked 'EMERGENCY ONLY' in large red letters.


Day has now drifted into night, the first shadows of darkness tickling at the windows of the hospital. Hope should have been able to go home by now, and she would have… if everything had been fine. Just before dusk, she broke out in a fever that the intern told her it was an infection fever, and that she had to have some antibiotics. But this was a while ago, and the nurse hasn't been by with the medication yet. Which means that fear is currently gripping the Fellowship's poster girl, as the last she heard of anyone getting feverish after a bite? Well… he died.

Otherwise, she's just laying in the hospital bed. Curled up. Trying not to think on it too much.

Since the story was covered up in the papers, it wasn't until Tasha reported for work that the more interesting details about this case became apparent. Since then, she's been keeping as close an eye on the patient as her rounds will allow, waiting for an opportunity to present itself to talk to her directly. Word was passed along to James, asking him to meet her here, and now she lingers at the nearest nurses station, using the desk to sort through a few patient files while she waits, keeping an eye on the length of hallway between it and the room.

Donning plainclothes-wear, James appears, though there's no fanfare or the like at his entrance down the hall. He's tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and he steps with a decisive purpose, pausing only long enough to speak with Tasha and bring her along once he knows which room is which; beyond that, he makes it a point of heading for Hope's room and once there lifts a hand in order to knock at the entrance. Officer Young's polite enough to wait a moment before stepping in further, hands at his hips and near to the badge and handgun located there.

The knock to the door causes Hope to roll toward it. A sheen of sweat can easily be seen on her forehead, but she notes the badge and does her best to nod and smile. "You're not the same guy they sent last night." Not that she remembers much of last night through her shock anyhow. "Were there more questions?" Her eyes close and she pulls the thin blanket up around her a little more. Shivering from the infection fever.

And Doctor Cox follows the officer into the room, her scrubs and ID badge marking her as a resident here at the hospital. Playing to her own strengths, she moves in closer to take up the chart and give it a quick study, leaving James to deal with the question of questions, though she looks up from the chart to glance over at him. "I'm Dr. Cox," she introduces herself at an opportune moment in the conversation. "How are you feeling?"

"I sure hope I'm not," James breaks into a brief grin at that jest before stepping further aside for Tasha to step about the area. He glances briefly down and then begins to move forward while bringing up his arms in order to fold over his chest, casually for the time being while he looks a touch thoughtful. His brow and gaze relaxes as he speaks up, "I'm James, Young, I just have a few questions about all of this. They can wait a moment." He inclines his head in the doctor's direction, with health being more important at the moment.

The questions begin and Hope just nods. Doctor Cox is someone new, and since she's got the chart the blonde Tyler twin is not going to go into a whole lot of details. "Feverish. There were supposed to be antibiotics, but I guess I got forgotten." She doesn't seem to be upset about it though, just oddly shivery. "More questions than last night? Alright. I can…" There's a bit of a strange, dizzied look on her face and she flumps down onto the pillow. "… try to remember."

Tasha glances aside at James, expressing non-verbally her doubts that antibiotics are going to do a whole lot in this instance. But looking back to Hope, she gives a nod, flipping between a couple of pages to compare vital stats. "I'll look into it," she promises vaguely, of the forgotten medication, before lapsing into silence, giving a little nod towards the patient to indicate that James can go ahead with his questions. There's not much more she can glean from the chart, but she continues studying it, since it gives her an excuse to listen carefully.

James returns the look that's given to him and he responses to Tasha with a small roll of broad shoulders, not too savvy when it comes to doctoring people other than the apparent need of helping. He glances over his shoulder towards the entrance and takes a handful of steps back in order to close the entrance and as he moves back in the direction of the hospital bed he begins. "Just a few questions, nothing to worry about; but, first things first, have any kind of relations with anyone by the last name of Cornett?" He comes to a stop at the foot of the bed.

"Well if I didn't, it'd be pretty bad that I was going to their house." Hope is honestly trying to make light of a very serious situation, because the question catches her off-guard. Not at all certain what she should be telling the man. "Robert Cornett is a friend, he goes to the same church as I do." It's more than that, but she's pretty sure the nice police officer doesn't need to know all about messy breakups and attempted friendships. "I'm also sort of friends with his two sisters. One of whom also got attacked. I read that in the paper."

Tasha's eyebrows go up slightly as that link is confirmed, though by all appearances, she could just be concerned about something on that chart, for she waits a beat before looking up, glancing over to exchange a meaningful look with James, and then glance down at Hope, before returning her gaze to the chart, the wheels turning as she considers this.

"Yeah, one of them was attacked. So were a couple of other relatives. We," James takes a moment to gesture with a hand towards Tasha and include her, "Believe that this involves the Cornetts somehow. It'd help if you could elaborate on all of these relationships." He says it with reluctance though and stiffens up as a frown creeps upon his features, just because he's now prying into areas that may or may not lead to something.

"Two of them were attacked," Hope says, without even thinking about it. "I mean recently. His parents were attacked too, and his father succumbed to his injuries." Frowning, she looks toward the doctor. "You should have a file on Bobby. He said he came in, but he's been on really heavy duty pain meds so he may have just imagined coming in." She clears her throat a few times and then turns back to Officer Young. "He's my… it's quite complicated, so friend is just really the best way to explain it. I was bringing over something for his new puppy, when a large black wolf lunged at me." She seems to go through another dizzy spell, eyes closing and her body just continually shivering and shaking.

"I'll check our records," Tasha agrees, nodding as she makes a note of this. "It may not have gotten flagged." She assumes he wouldn't have suffered the same 'infection' fever in that case. As Hope begins to have another bad spell, the doctor sets down the chart, moving over to check the other woman's pulse and vitals, her touch actually somewhat gentle compared to her brusque tone. "Do you remember which way the wolf went? If it was injured at all? Any distinguishing features whatsoever?" Of course someone being attacked by a wolf would pay attention to these things. Of course.

James nods and then nods once more, first with regards to the amount attacked and then next to the complications of the relationship between Hope and Robert. He smiles reassuringly and then takes a half-step back, reaching into a pocket for his cell phone in order to make a quick call. "Hey, yeah, I might need some additional help around here - don't want anyone else attacked, do we? Worst yet if they're attacked twice," he looks to Hope and then towards Tasha while the questions are asked, listening.

It doesn't even register as odd that the doctor is asking her questions about the wolf. "I don't know if I hurt her. Sprayed the mace…" Hope's pulse is quick, and her temperature is definitely up. She's otherwise fine, just struggling with the fever. "…don't think I nicked her with the knife… I have a permit for it," she mentions preemptively. "Didn't see where she went though. Ran off when she saw the knife." In a sort of murmured foggy, and fevered voice she adds, "She seemed to be waiting. Now I might be a monster, all because I wanted to help Serenity…"

Tasha glances over towards James, listening briefly to his phone call, though most of her attention is on Hope and her answers. The vitals don't really give her much to go on, but they are a further excuse to loiter while seeming purposeful, so they're noted down on the chart just the same. "Serenity?" she repeats curiously, not quite sure if she should chalk that up to fevered delusion, or if it has actual significance. "No one is a monster here," she adds, not comforting so much as matter-of-fact, and then she's right back on target, though she is keeping a careful eye on the patient, not wanting to push her too far. "Had you told anyone you were going? Who would have known to expect you there?"

"Yes, I'm serious. Look, I need to finish things up here, I'll call you when I'm done," James pauses to listen to the other end of the line and then nods absentmindedly before abruptly hanging up. He snaps the phone shut and then pockets it while turning his attention back to the others, stepping back into place and soon enough burying his hands back down into his pockets as well. "Don't worry about the permit," he's quiet for a lingering moment. Gaze cast downwards, he continues, "You sure it was a wolf? And… well, I'll hope it really was female right now… as crazy as all of this seems."

"The puppy," Hope replies normally once more. She's fighting the fever as best she can. "No. Bobby didn't even know I was coming. It was a spur of the moment purchase. I just…" Well like she said before, it's all very complicated. "… showed up." Her muddled gaze turns from the doctor to the cop and she nods. "Positive. Large, black wolf. Dogs just don't get that big. It wasn't foaming at the mouth either." She made sure to tell them that last night, but she still had to suffer a rabies shot. "It was female. There were no dangly bits." That she recalls that piece of trivia seems to make her snicker.

Tasha is silent for a moment as she frowns down at the chart. "You're sure that no one knew where you were going? Didn't mention it in passing to anyone?" The mention of dog-sizes does make her consider something. "How long has he had this puppy?" she asks idly, as she jots down a final observation and then looks back up from the chart, glancing back over at James for a moment, her eyebrows raised to also inquire without words if the phone call went all right, not paying too much heed to the feverish laughter.

James fidgets long enough to take his hands out of his pockets and place them at the edge of the bed, leaning against it while he looks to Tasha and then to Hope, nodding with a light smile. He shrugs at the wordless questioning. "Large, black, female wolf, you've been a great help, by the way." He's trying his hardest to not laugh himself, the amusement lacing his tones. The smile fades though and he adds in retrospect: "I'm going to have an officer be posted outside, just in case anything happens, or you need someone to talk to, or anything." He leans back in order to reach into a side pocket of his jacket, pulling out a contact card. He offers it to Tasha in order to offer it to Hope, "And this, in case you need immediate help."

The feverish snickering continues right up until the next question is asked. Hope frowns at the doctor. "Is that relevant to my injuries?" It's extremely confusing that she's being asked questions by Doctor Cox. Not that she's got anything to hide. "No one but me. Unless someone at the pet store figured it out? It's the only place I stopped after leaving the park." Maybe she was followed? Doubtful, but maybe. "A couple'a days? I think he said his sister gave it to him. He called asking me for names." Not that it's important at all. "He was going to name it Hope!" Which just causes her to giggle again. The fever seems to really be getting to her head in an odd way. "Huh? Oh, straight line to the police? That's kind've nifty." As though expecting the officer to already be outside, she makes a face. "Do I need to give you a list of people to let in?"

"When you've eliminated the impossible…" Tasha replies, managing a faint smile as Hope asks about the relevance of her questions. "Really, it's unlikely, but considering the fever, it's a good measure to gauge your recollection and cognitive response." Since she's getting the answers anyway, she isn't too worried about scrambling for a terribly convincing cover story, but then her lie is so blase and unconcerned, it almost makes it that much more believable. She adds one final mark to the chart before moving to return it to the place it goes, taking the card offered by James with her free hand, and then straightening back up to offer this to Hope.

With the card out of his hands, James stands back up into the fullness of his height and folds his over his chest. He offers a small shake of his head to Hope, smiling briefly. "That'll lead straight to me, but I'm one of the lead investigators into this case," so it ends up being a direct line to the police anyway. He glances over towards Tasha and then turns his gaze back towards Hope. "No need for a list, either, just a precaution I hope won't be necessary." The cop has a handful of puns running through his mind now but with the questions ending, he focuses on the task at hand.

The card is taken, looked at, and held tightly. She's not going to let it go at this point. Since Bobby's not here, it's her safest bet for protection. Not that she needs it. This was just a coincidence. Had to have been. Hope offers them both a weak smile and then wrinkles her nose. "Okay. Just maybe tell whoever is watching the door… no vampires? They kind've really don't like me." At least when she mentions vampires, they won't think she's as crazy as if she mentioned werewolf.

That request actually gets an approving nod from Tasha, no fan of vampires herself. Bunch of self-important drama queens. Her pen is tucked back into the pocket of her scrubs and she moves back down towards the end of the bed now, having finished all she came here to do, both genuinely and in cover. "You should probably rest now. Is there anything else you need?" she inquires in a professional tone as she readies to leave.

James gives a passing glance to the card and then nods to the idea of no-vampires-allowed. He can promise that much. He does take a few steps in retreat now that things are being drawn to a neat close, but the officer lingers as well in order to answer anything else. "Don't hesitate to call that number if you remember anything or something happens either," he adds that after a thought.

"The antibiotics?" Because Hope doesn't think she'll be able to sleep at all through this fever. She becomes a rather large baby when ill and will drive the nurses crazy. "I'll be okay otherwise. The nurse will come with the pain medication in about twenty minutes. I can survive until then." It's not as though her leg was gnawed off either. It's a fairly clean bite and all. "I won't. I'll probably give the number to Bobby when he gets back too, if you don't mind?" Then she just sort of closes her eyes, since their questions seem to be done, and she's been told to rest.

"Right. I will investigate the hold up," Tasha promises, as to the antibiotics. From her tone, she suspects it's just your usual ineptitude that most people are plagued with - people who aren't her, anyway. To that end, she really doesn't mind if Hope drives the nurses crazy, but she takes her job seriously (even if Hope isn't technically her patient), and so some hapless intern will be getting a strip torn off for falling asleep at the switch. She moves to the door now, lingering as she gives James a chance to address the matter of the phone number, but otherwise on her way out, to meet him in the hallway instead.

"Not at all, Miss Tyler - I don't mind," answers James before bowing his head respectfully and turning to make his own departure from the room. He glances over his shoulder in order to make sure things are well enough and then passes through the doorway and out into the hall, hands placed at his hips once again. He gives a look down each length of the hallway and then turns to Tasha. "Thanks for calling me," he trails off briefly, "I'll head back over here when I'm off."

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