Already bored.

[evillurks]

Once the chest tube is out, and various tests have revealed extensive damage to his shoulder that his continued activity has prevented from healing, The Shadow is returned to his bed in a private room. He is very clearly not happy about any of this, but never once does he complain, which would only invite criticism for his not seeking medical

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[sarah_branigan]

Later in the day, The Shadow has another visitor, but this one is not here to bring him books. Nurse Branigan is dressed more appropriately for her role this time, in a forties era nurse's uniform. She has her stethoscope with her, and a small platter of cookies covered with plastic wrap.

That's right. She made him cookies.

If he's sleeping, she'll simply look over his chart and then come back a little later.

[evillurks]

He has made a few, very brief naps between visitors, but the dosage of painkillers has been cut back and he sleeps very lightly. Her footstep in the hall is enough to rouse him, because he recognizes her by it. Everyone has a unique step for those observant enough to note it. By the time she enters he has lifted the book he was reading before he dozed off.
"Good afternoon, Miss Branigan. You missed Crumrin..." He looks up, then, and notes the plate of cookies with mild surprise.

"That doesn't look much like hospital food..."

[sarah_branigan]

"Good afternoon," she smiles, before looking somewhat disappointed. "I did? Ah, well." Her desire to speak with Courtney seems a little more urgent than earlier, but not so urgent that it can't wait a few more hours.

"That's because it isn't." Her smile returns, somewhat wry. "I was a patient here once. The food isn't bad, but I found it rather utilitarian." She sets the platter of cookies on his bedside tray. The guns give her pause, but only for a moment.

"I thought I'd give a listen, see how your lung is doing." She returns her attention to him and taps the end of her stethoscope.

[evillurks]

"Hm. It does leave one craving green vegetables..." He looks bemused, suffering a brief craving for Chinese food. Not the overcooked rubbish tourists ask for, either, but something properly cooked with rice and vegetables that still crunch. He will certainly accept cookies, however, and perhaps her efforts will keep him from losing any weight he can't afford to lose

[sarah_branigan]

"Oh? I should have brought you something from my garden, then. Maybe next time." It's just not as much fun to make a cucumber salad as it is to make cookies, but she understands the craving.

She warms the end of her stethoscope with her hand before placing it on his chest, listening carefully as he breathes in and out. "Deep breath, please," she requests. "Hold it... okay, exhale slowly. Thank you."

She makes a few more notes on his charts, nodding to herself. "And you're willing to stick around?" There is no judgment in her question, just curiosity.

[evillurks]

"You're hardly obligated..." He murmurs, but his look is an interested one nonetheless.

The Shadow takes slow, deep breaths as she directs him, eyes closed. There is a faint wheeze there still, from pain, and the sediment of ages stirred up by the trauma. He does not seem in danger of a relapse, however. When she picks up the chart his gaze follows it, knowingly. He has already stolen a chance to read the contents.

"The depends for how long you mean. I'm aware it's going to be several days before they consider me safe to return home alone. I'm not about to go 'chasing down criminals', as you put it, the moment I'm released." There is a hint of mockery and annoyance in his tone, but it is mild. "I wasn't planning to last night. I've been restricting myself to investigative legwork ever since I was shot. I was only intending to question the boy, but when he ran... I reacted instinctively." In retrospect, he feels some embarrassment over that.

[sarah_branigan]

She shrugs. "It's no bother. I was a little overzealous in what I planted. My boyfriend and I can't possibly eat everything."

She looks over the chart once more, while he speaks. "I believe I used the term 'evil-doers'," she notes dryly, unfazed by his tone. She does seem to take him at his word, that he was only caught up in the moment, and as she places his chart back on the end of his bed frame, she asks quietly, "What had he done? The boy?"

[evillurks]

Of all the many things he has done in his life, The Shadow has never had a vegetable garden. He wouldn't say no to benefitting from hers, however.

The Shadow looks tired, still settled back against the pillows from her inspection of his lungs. "His father, I'm fairly certain, is guilty of murder. I believe he may have aided him in some way." coordinating his network of agents to pick up the thread he was unexpectedly forced to drop has proven to be difficult and strangely taxing, although at his end it consists of a stream of text messages. It frustrates him to have what was going so well go so horribly awry in the space of a single breath. He is accustomed to setbacks, but they are usually brief.

[sarah_branigan]

"And the police can't track down the father themselves? Or are they just too overwhelmed?" Although from her expression she is merely curious, she elaborates for The Shadow's benefit: "We don't have anyone like you in our City. Who is actively fighting crime. The only time the police can't help is when the criminal is from the Nexus." Like, say, a certain reality-warping psychopath.

[evillurks]

The Shadow sighs, and toys absently with his ring. The nurses never saw a reason to remove it, or possibly realized he has worn it so long that taking it off would be difficult. "Conventional murderers leave a trail, make patterns. I would not belittle the police, most of the time they're very capable. This was a hate crime, an act of private grudges made worse by racism. It was not premeditated. The man is a businessman, with a family, well-liked at work, pays his taxes. That means he probably has left some careless clue I can feed the police to lead them to him, once I unearth it, but it also means that without that clue he's not the kind of man the law is used to suspecting of anything." His gaze has shifted to the ceiling, his expression mildly pained. The devastation this man's conviction will create in his family and his naighbourhood has not escaped his thoughts, but justice must be done.

[sarah_branigan]

She listens to his explanation, and seems to accept it, although there is a hint of puzzlement when he uses the term 'hate crime'. Racism is something that happens in other cities. The Strangers didn't seem to think the color of a human's skin was relevant to their experiments.

"I hope you can bring him to justice," she says finally. "The victim's family deserves that. And... well, I'm no psychologist, but someone who would be willing to kill someone else based on such petty things... I wouldn't want someone like that walking around free."

[evillurks]

Having traveled the world and immersed himself in many cultures and languages, The Shadow has seen racism from all sides. He has never engaged in it, himself.

The thin lips twitch briefly, and a muscle on the left side of his jaw clenches. "The entire family was victim. I suspect this was committed by several people, but the man I'm seeking first was the perpetrator. With any luck he'll squeal on his companions, but if not I'll have to seek them out one by one." There is the power of conviction in his tone. The Shadow does not lie down on the job... metaphorically speaking, at least.

[sarah_branigan]

Sarah looks horrified. "I.. I'm sorry. I had no idea. But it wasn't premeditated?" Why would a group of otherwise respectable people suddenly decide to kill an entire family? The thought sickens her. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Y'know, besides re-inflating his lung and all that.

[evillurks]

His gaze lowers to her face as he calms himself. "If there's little racism in your world, I'm glad for you. It's a mentality that allows men to see other men as little more than beasts. It allows them to dehumanize others." He hesitates to explain the genocidal purges of the Germans, or any number of other distressing examples. To hear of one crime, and know it is not an isolated incident, is more than enough horror to throw into her life.
"This is not the first of such crimes in my world, and I'd be a fool to think it was the last." The lines about his eyes deepen slightly, in a tired, strained smile. "I appreciate your getting me back into shape to try to combat them."

[sarah_branigan]

Sarah knows a little of some of the major atrocities in other versions of Earth. It makes her incredibly grateful for her simple little City. "We don't have racism in our city at all. For a long time, we were controlled by aliens, our memories taken from us. They didn't seem to think our skin color was an important variable in their little experiments." She looks down at her hands. "Never thought I'd be grateful for something that They did."

She smiles a little, almost sadly. "Doesn't seem like enough, sometimes."

[evillurks]

"It shouldn't be important, or not in the way it is in my world. The family in question was from a country we're slightly at odds with, at the moment, but they had nothing to do with that. They were American citizens. I'm sure they face persecution every day, and that's bad enough by itself." Simply explaining this has put a tone of weariness into his voice, one which has little to do with the recent injury. This is a war he cannot hope to win, no matter how many battles he fights against it. By the time he has a hand in this kind of justice it is already too late for the victims