Metropolis General
Metropolis General is an perfectly capable hospital, but for the life of him Caleb can’t figure out why his parents saw fit to stick Amelia here, of all places. When you have their kind of money, you can afford any hospital in the world. Shouldn’t his Birdie get the best doctor’s their fortune can buy? Doesn’t their only daughter deserve the best?
But then again, for all the talk about how much they love her, Lyosha and Elizabeth Zukov haven’t even paid her a visit. Sure, they were plenty broken up about it all back at the house, and for a time he even believed in their sincerity. But placing her in a common hospital, and then not even bothering to visit her?
This is low even for them.
Caleb hasn’t left the hospital since arriving a heartbeat behind the ambulance almost two days ago. And however odd it is that said ambulance brought Amelia to this facility, he is grateful for it. Caleb has always felt that the more expensive doctor’s care more about the bills than their patients - an opinion that doesn’t extend to the obviously overworked yet visibly dedicated staff bustling about the floor, concerned with their myriad of activities.
And in the room with his comatose sister is Caleb, sitting quietly, and waiting. The anticipation is absolutely overwhelming, especially with the doctor’s not bothering to tell him anything.
For all his worry, Caleb is consumed by boredom. He peruses the magazines and picks up the occasional newspaper, but no distraction is or ever could be sufficient for the situation. Half of his world is laying lifelessly on the table, the rhythmic sounds from the machines hooked up to her the only sign that she hasn’t yet passed on.
No yet. Forget yet. She’s going to wake up. She’s going to be perfectly fine. She has to wake up. Wake up, Bird, just ... just wake up.
He wanders into the hallway, feeling the need to stretch his legs, and change his surroundings for just a few minutes. Caleb’s soda slips from his hand, and without even thinking Caleb reaches out his hand, and commands it to return to him. It obeys immediately, rolling back towards his foot. But as he bends over to pick it up, Caleb notices one of the nurses steadying herself. To his extra senses, she feels somehow less than those around her. She didn’t earlier, though. He was here, in the 4th floor lobby, for the shift change about an hour ago, and she felt fine then ...
I was using my power when Bird fell down the stairs, come to think of it...
His every other thought and feeling falls away, leaving only the observation. She was fine, feeling to him no different then those around her. He used his (presumably) meta-human power, and now she feels less.
That’s all fairly circumstantial. I need to either establish or disprove a cause and effect relationship. Casually he looks behind him, into the lobby, where a score of people wait for their own loved ones to recover from whatever afflicts them. Families, friends. Groups.
His eyes settle on a walk man laid at the edge of a coffee table, and with a thought he nudges it, causing it to fall onto the floor. And, like clockwork, the teenage girl in the adjacent chair begins to feel like less. Evidently not very much, though - if she’s even noticed, she isn’t giving any outward indication of such. And why should she? He didn’t do anything particularly difficult. He just nuzzled a walk-man.
But two days ago, he was trying to trans-place large beds that were separated by many, many miles. The thought drains all the color from his face as the panic settles in. He darts up the stairs, dashing past doctors and patients alike, moving just as fast as his able legs can carry him, retuning to his sister’s side.
And when he arrives, his fears are confirmed: Amelia Zukov doesn’t feel distant - she doesn’t have a feeling. In an instant, the young, care-free Caleb Alexis Zukov ceased to exist, replaced by a pale imitation of his former self. Part of him would forever be locked in that room, staring at a corpse to stubborn to just die.
But then again, for all the talk about how much they love her, Lyosha and Elizabeth Zukov haven’t even paid her a visit. Sure, they were plenty broken up about it all back at the house, and for a time he even believed in their sincerity. But placing her in a common hospital, and then not even bothering to visit her?
This is low even for them.
Caleb hasn’t left the hospital since arriving a heartbeat behind the ambulance almost two days ago. And however odd it is that said ambulance brought Amelia to this facility, he is grateful for it. Caleb has always felt that the more expensive doctor’s care more about the bills than their patients - an opinion that doesn’t extend to the obviously overworked yet visibly dedicated staff bustling about the floor, concerned with their myriad of activities.
And in the room with his comatose sister is Caleb, sitting quietly, and waiting. The anticipation is absolutely overwhelming, especially with the doctor’s not bothering to tell him anything.
For all his worry, Caleb is consumed by boredom. He peruses the magazines and picks up the occasional newspaper, but no distraction is or ever could be sufficient for the situation. Half of his world is laying lifelessly on the table, the rhythmic sounds from the machines hooked up to her the only sign that she hasn’t yet passed on.
No yet. Forget yet. She’s going to wake up. She’s going to be perfectly fine. She has to wake up. Wake up, Bird, just ... just wake up.
He wanders into the hallway, feeling the need to stretch his legs, and change his surroundings for just a few minutes. Caleb’s soda slips from his hand, and without even thinking Caleb reaches out his hand, and commands it to return to him. It obeys immediately, rolling back towards his foot. But as he bends over to pick it up, Caleb notices one of the nurses steadying herself. To his extra senses, she feels somehow less than those around her. She didn’t earlier, though. He was here, in the 4th floor lobby, for the shift change about an hour ago, and she felt fine then ...
I was using my power when Bird fell down the stairs, come to think of it...
His every other thought and feeling falls away, leaving only the observation. She was fine, feeling to him no different then those around her. He used his (presumably) meta-human power, and now she feels less.
That’s all fairly circumstantial. I need to either establish or disprove a cause and effect relationship. Casually he looks behind him, into the lobby, where a score of people wait for their own loved ones to recover from whatever afflicts them. Families, friends. Groups.
His eyes settle on a walk man laid at the edge of a coffee table, and with a thought he nudges it, causing it to fall onto the floor. And, like clockwork, the teenage girl in the adjacent chair begins to feel like less. Evidently not very much, though - if she’s even noticed, she isn’t giving any outward indication of such. And why should she? He didn’t do anything particularly difficult. He just nuzzled a walk-man.
But two days ago, he was trying to trans-place large beds that were separated by many, many miles. The thought drains all the color from his face as the panic settles in. He darts up the stairs, dashing past doctors and patients alike, moving just as fast as his able legs can carry him, retuning to his sister’s side.
And when he arrives, his fears are confirmed: Amelia Zukov doesn’t feel distant - she doesn’t have a feeling. In an instant, the young, care-free Caleb Alexis Zukov ceased to exist, replaced by a pale imitation of his former self. Part of him would forever be locked in that room, staring at a corpse to stubborn to just die.