Day 47: Recreational Field [Second Shift]

[vsyourface]

Scott wasn't really what one would call the sporty type, at least not currently. In the past, maybe. He could have called himself a hockey player at one point - in grade two (it totally counted). And he had been a jock in high school, hadn't he (he had at least played a lot of Track & Field for the NES, anyway)? Regardless of what his athletic

Comments

[otnemememento]

Leonard let the nurse escort him outside before wandering from her, curious to get a look around. Okay, what am I doing out here? His eyes landed on a kid with a crutch kicking a goal post. Sports. He looked back toward the building and the nurse-lined wall. Odd activity for a hospital, but maybe it helps the healing process. Don't think it's helping that kid any, though.

Only a few people were scattered around the field, and there didn't seem to be an organized activity going on. Content to watch the patients stumble the grounds, he found an empty spot along the wall and had a seat, leaning against it for support.

[Harvey Dent]

[unheroed]

As insufferable as Jason could be sometimes, Harvey usually felt refreshed after talking to him. It had nothing to do with Jason's attitude and everything to do with the fact that they were usually actively working toward something during their chats. It beat the monotony that usually came with the day and gave him something to think over for the rest of the wasted time before dinner came around

[otnemememento]

Just as people were starting to gather in the area, Leonard found himself joined by another man- another blond, and it looked like he might've had some bandages on his face, though Leonard had some trouble telling from where he was sitting. Can't imagine what he could've done to himself here that would've caused his face enough damage for bandages. Maybe he's here for self-mutilation. Maybe I'll find out.

He glanced to his left, quickly giving the other man a friendly nod and waiting for a response.

[unheroed]

A nod wasn't much, but it also wasn't like the guy was ignoring him or giving off the vibe that he didn't want to be bothered. Harvey wasn't really sure how he felt, but in the end he didn't think there was much of a point to sitting in silence. As much as he found the majority of the patient populace to be a bunch of half-sane morons, some of them were worth talking to. Maybe this guy would be an example of that

[otnemememento]

"Leonard Shelby," Leonard replied, turning back to the field and assuming he and Dent weren't already acquainted in some way. "Sports aren't really something I keep up with anymore." No point. "I am surprised to see they have these sorts of activities at a place like this," he admitted, still watching that poor kid with the crutch. "Though you'd think some of these people would be better suited for physical therapy than a soccer field."

He turned his attention to the other man again, trying to read him. "You been here long?"

[unheroed]

That was a normal enough name, and the guy sounded like he was American to boot. It gave them a few more things in common than just hair color, at the very least. Harvey nodded when Leonard made his comment about sports. That was more or less how he felt about it. Especially with all the kids around, it would have just felt odd trying to get back into what had been a college interest for him.

"Well, it's a way to make us feel like we've got a little bit of freedom. If you don't work off that excess energy it'd just make you more crazy," Harvey pointed out. He got more than enough action just with his nights, but maybe that wasn't the case for others.

When the question about his time here got brought up, Harvey sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He'd started to think less and less about the passing days, mainly to not depress himself. "Week and a half, maybe? What about you?"

[otnemememento]

"I really don't know," Leonard answered honestly with a brief smile. Time really did seem to stand still for him- no matter how many days passed, it seemed like only a single day since he last saw her. He closed his eyes, and he could still see her face, lying before him- the last memory he had, etched permanently into his consciousness.

"I have this condition," he said, opening his eyes to the field again, squinting as the light erased the image of his wife from his mind's eye. "I can't make new memories. I don't know how long I've been here or what I've done today, and if this conversation lasts too long, I won't remember how it started."

[unheroed]

The way the man said that he didn't know had a strange tone to it, as if he actually meant that rather than just saying it because he'd lost count of the days. Harvey frowned, but Leonard was quick to clarify. It wasn't the sort of thing someone heard every day, and Harvey found himself straightening up in response.

Short-term memory loss, huh? It was supposed to be rare (he'd read up on a few court cases involving it, if he remembered correctly), but Landel's seemed to be a place that collected off-center people. Harvey found it hard to imagine living like that, but apparently Leonard was managing. Still, his head was just spinning with the thought of it. "You mean you won't remember me at all," he clarified.

"How did it happen?" It seemed like the obvious question, and Harvey wasn't one to beat around the bush. Though his next question was definitely going to be about how Leonard even coped.

[otnemememento]

Leonard wasn't surprised by the Dent's reaction. He was sure he got it a lot. He looked forward, catching sight of the the words tattooed on his hand- Remember Sammy Jankis. Disbelief is a natural reaction. After all, I didn't believe Sammy.

"Burglary," he said, eyes still on his hand. "Two guys broke into my house in the night. I had a gun- shot one of them. The other guy came from behind me, hit me hard." He touched his head, feeling the wound that was no longer there. "That's the last thing I remember. That, and my wife."

He paused, trying to swallow those feelings of ire, isolation, and grief that stemmed from those events. "I pulled through. She didn't." He shook his head- he was wasting time being stuck in an institution. He didn't know how long he'd been there, but every passing hour was another hour her killer was free. I don't belong here. Sammy didn't have a system. He deserved what he got, but I can manage."So yeah, I can promise you I won't remember you if we meet again later," he said, reaching to his

[unheroed]

It was no surprise that Leonard's words immediately resonated with Harvey. A crime performed on him, and from what he could tell, it seemed like it was completely unexpected. Probably even more than in Harvey's case, where he'd realized full well that he'd been earning the hatred of almost all of Gotham's criminals.

But what Leonard mentioned last -- his wife -- was what really gave Harvey some pause. In a situation like that, he couldn't imagine it was a good memory that Leonard had of his loved one, and he almost considered asking (the guy wouldn't remember his rudeness, anyway

[otnemememento]

A quick flash, and the photo was ejected from the camera and in Leonard's hand. He habitually shook it before taking his pen to the space at the bottom:

[unheroed]

Glad that Leonard didn't bother to show him how the picture had turned out, Harvey resumed his previous position against the wall and glanced over the field. A system. Well, there was probably no other way to get by; chances were that Leonard wrote down everything little thing, too

[otnemememento]

"Getting out of here would be ideal," he said. He knew that truthfully, he belonged somewhere like this, somewhere like Sammy Jankis had ended up; however, he wasn't willing to accept that as good enough, as the end-all answer. Doctors and nurses and everyone could think he couldn't manage for all he cared. He could make the system work. It had to work. And he'd find a way out of here with or without their approval.

He had no need to look through his notes or examine his tattoos to know what he had to do, what he lived for. It was scarred into his mind, a new layer burned when he saw the face of his wife before him, struggling for her last breaths. "I'm going to find the bastard who did this, the guy who destroyed everything I had: my wife, my memory, my ability to live. I'm going to find him and kill him."

[unheroed]

In the end that was what everyone was after, wasn't it? Harvey hadn't met anyone who wanted to stay here, obviously. He was annoyed by the fact that even with so many people working at it (and while most of the patients here were idiots, there were enough sharp people to make a difference), nothing had come of it so far. The facts were sobering, but Harvey had never been the sort to give in no matter the odds.

When Leonard first started talking about finding the person who had landed him with his condition and murdered his wife, Harvey had figured he'd end it all by saying that he planned to get the guy convicted. That was, after all, what normal people would have done. It was human nature to want justice after having something so terrible done to you, but then those last words came through loud and clear: I'm going to find him and kill him.The words could have easily come out of Harvey's mouth (with the caveat that he gave them a fifty-percent chance of living, anyway), and he was genuinely shocked to have found someone who shared

[otnemememento]

Leonard eyed the nurses, who seemed to be mostly ignoring the two men along the wall, despite their grim conversation. They probably don't put too much thought into it, he assured himself. I know I wouldn't. It's easier to write it off as insane ramblings. If only they knew.

He turned his head toward Dent, curious. "What do you mean by that?"

[unheroed]

It had been cryptic, and Harvey knew that, but it wasn't like the words were easy to get out. Normally he wouldn't have told anyone who didn't already know, but Leonard had been through almost the exact same thing. He at least had some idea of what it was like, especially with that revenge apparently burning up in him.

"She wasn't my wife, but I lost someone very close to me." Rachel had even said she'd wanted to get married, but that had been in those last moments where she'd probably just wanted to say something that would last, that would stick in his memory. He couldn't know for sure how things would have turned out if she'd lived, which made the whole thing painful rather than relieving.

"No, I didn't lose her," he corrected himself. "She was taken from me." Harvey still didn't make any attempt at eye contact. Not now.