The intercom came on and the Head Doctor began speaking in his normal, cheery voice. It seemed he had recovered from last night's troubles, at least outwardly
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The nurse standing in the door was not entirely unexpected, and stood as reasonable confirmation that this was, in fact, a hospital. She was older, matronly in a battle-axe sort of way, and looked rather like someone who would be very difficult to sway toward any direction in which she wasn't already headed. Tony wondered if the assignment was deliberate, then decided it almost certainly was. She opened her mouth for what he was certain would be an irritatingly well-meaning admonition to lie down and get some rest. He cut her off, uninterested. "All right, I'll just sign out with you. Where are my clothes?"
The nurse's irritated look was priceless. The expression that followed, one that looked suspiciously like pity, was anything but. "I'm afraid you can't check yourself out. You're here until you get better, Mr. Sandia. I'm sure that will be in no time."
"Stark," he corrected absently, then gave her a narrow-eyed look. That he might have been checked into a hospital without being aware of it was something he could believe, if only barely. That it would be one staffed by people so incompetent as to forget their patients names, however? "Who put you up to this?"
The look was definitely pity. There was no mistaking it. "No one. You were in poor shape when you were brought in. I suppose it makes sense you don't remember. This is Landel's Institute, Mr. Sandia." He didn't miss the stress on the mistaken name. "The doctors here are very skilled at treating your sort of problem. Now, you've slept through breakfast, but lunch isn't far off. Until then..."
He cut her off again. "It was Rhodes, wasn't it? Tell him this doesn't count as a sense of humor. He should have at least hired someone who can get my name right."
This time, the woman ignored the interruption completely. "Until then, you can get some air and mingle with the other patrons."
She didn't leave him time to argue before heading out through the door. If it was a joke, he was almost certain his moment of speechlessness in her wake had to be the punchline.
The nurse's irritated look was priceless. The expression that followed, one that looked suspiciously like pity, was anything but. "I'm afraid you can't check yourself out. You're here until you get better, Mr. Sandia. I'm sure that will be in no time."
"Stark," he corrected absently, then gave her a narrow-eyed look. That he might have been checked into a hospital without being aware of it was something he could believe, if only barely. That it would be one staffed by people so incompetent as to forget their patients names, however? "Who put you up to this?"
The look was definitely pity. There was no mistaking it. "No one. You were in poor shape when you were brought in. I suppose it makes sense you don't remember. This is Landel's Institute, Mr. Sandia." He didn't miss the stress on the mistaken name. "The doctors here are very skilled at treating your sort of problem. Now, you've slept through breakfast, but lunch isn't far off. Until then..."
He cut her off again. "It was Rhodes, wasn't it? Tell him this doesn't count as a sense of humor. He should have at least hired someone who can get my name right."
This time, the woman ignored the interruption completely. "Until then, you can get some air and mingle with the other patrons."
She didn't leave him time to argue before heading out through the door. If it was a joke, he was almost certain his moment of speechlessness in her wake had to be the punchline.
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