Day 52: Intercom, Dawn

[damned_intercom]

There was no telling if the next announcement came hours or minutes after the previous one, but regardless of that, it did come on with the onset of dawn. Like clockwork, like always, someone was there to greet the half-groggy patients as they woke up in their beds

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Re: M79

[pullstrung]

He had no idea who "Wheeler" was, but Woody wanted this lady to leave so he could have his freak-out in peace, thanks. Unfortunately, she had other plans, and soon she was standing right over Woody's still body. Her presence wasn't nearly as towering as it ought to have been, and yet he didn't move a single muscle even as his eyes and chest began to burn.

At least, he tried not to move a muscle. The strain to keep his eyes from blinking was bad enough, but it was the need for air that made him break his cover. Before he'd realized it, he'd gulped down a sharp breath.

"There, now..." The woman's voice had an almost soothing quality that reminded him of Andy's mother as she reached to grab his arm, her smooth hand wrapping around his wrist.

"Woah, woah, woah--" Woody pulled away from her, and a frown replaced his earlier blank expression from seconds ago. "Who are you? And, and--" He gestured wildly around the room, then at the body that wasn't his. "What's all of this?!"

Never mind that it felt incredibly wrong to talk to a real-looking woman like this, but there were a lot of other wrong things that he couldn't ignore, either. Like having hair, and feet, and not knowing where his friends were, and--

"You're at Landel's Institute, Mr. Wheeler," she politely informed him. "Your family checked you in here, but I'm sure you'll make a speedy recovery once we get you the proper treatment."

"My family," Woody echoed as he stared at the nurse with a skeptical look. "But, I don't--and my name isn't--" It was so hard to sort all of this out that his sentences were starting to stick together.

"There, there, Mr. Wheeler, I know this is all quite a shock to you," she assured him as she tried to pat his hand, but Woody just pulled himself away from her again. "I promise if you come with me to breakfast all of this will start making more sense. There are others like you here, so I'm sure you'll meet plenty of new friends. Doesn't that sound nice?"

No, it didn't, because he wasn't interested in meeting new friends, he wanted to find the old ones he was worried about. Woody was about to open his mouth to say as much, but something the lady said made him take pause. "Wait, others like me?"

Did that mean there were toys going through the same thing? Maybe toys who'd shared the same fate as him?

Buzz, Jessie, Slink...as terrified as Woody was of all the strange things that had happened to him, his concern for his friends, and the possibility of finding them, helped him push all of that aside for now. Woody swallowed hard and nodded before giving a belated, "Okay...yeah, I'll go." Maybe he'd find the others, and then they could figure out what the heck was going on.

"Very good," the woman replied with a smile. "I'm sure you'll feel better once you get something warm in your belly, hm?" Woody gave her an uncertain look, but it was too late to back of it now. She'd ushered him out of the bed and grabbed a pair of slippers for him. In no time they left the room, the woman shutting the door behind him.

Re: M79

[pullstrung]

((To here.))