[OPEN] It's not dying that's scary

[fallingjunkyard]

Characters: Joshua, the doctors of the Convoy and anyone else who happens to drop by.
Content: Joshua's stuck in the infirmary while he's recovering from being shot in the leg in the most unlikely of ways. Joshua gets bored easily.
Setting: In the Convoy's infirmary.
Time: Backdated to after this log but before the Convoy arrives in Balisier for

Comments

[penny_dancer]

Luckily for Joshua, it was Penelo's turn to take a shift. She did check ups on the other patients, and then went to Joshua's bed.

"Mr. Kiyru?"

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua huffed a little before opening an eye. Ah, the doctor he didn't know very much about. He opted for a cautious, "Yes?"

[penny_dancer]

"I'm Penelo, the doctor on shift right now. Can you tell me exactly what happened? I'm getting three different stories," she explained. Sometimes it was really difficult being a doctor.

[fallingjunkyard]

Okay, it was really uncomfortable talking to people while lying down, so Joshua slowly sat up, wincing a little from the complaint his left leg made. He still gave Penelo a wide smile. "Is it really a doctor's business to know the details of their patients' lives?"

[eighthmelody]

There were many ways to start your day, and Ness would have never guessed that he'd be starting one passing a crewmember in the hall who told him, "Oh yeah, your boyfriend's been shot."

Not one to take things like that as a joke, Ness made an instant dash for the infirmary. Was it true? What happened? Why didn't anyone tell him earlier!?

Opening the infirmary door, he could, in fact, see that Joshua was there.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua was only just waking up for the first time since he'd been shot, and frankly his whole body ached all over and details of everything was rather hazy. He kept his eyes closed as he tried to put together what happened last night. The insistent pain in his left knee was a good starting point. Yeah he'd been playing backgammon with Jean and then he'd been shot and then Jean carried him back to the Convoy's infirmary (oh, so chances were that he'd be there) and then there was Mamma.

He couldn't quite figure out where the pink alligator fitted into all this.

Joshua could hear someone come in, but he really didn't want to make the effort of opening his eyes just yet. His throat felt like something had died in it.

[eighthmelody]

Before even making it over to Joshua's bedside, Ness knew this must have been serious. After all, Joshua was still, probably asleep, and most importantly, not complaining about anything. Once he made it over, he touched Joshua's shoulder before withdrawing his arm. It wasn't best to disturb him, even if that's what Ness wanted to do.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua reflexively shied away from the touch. He... vaguely remembered panicking and Mamma holding him down and everything after that was a blur. But his throat was scratchy and irritated and complaining. Maybe he could tell whoever was bothering him to fetch him something to drink.

So he slowly opened his eyes, turning so he could speak, but the words immediately died in his mouth when he realised who was at his bedside. This could only be slightly worse than waking him to Mamma's sharp toothed grin.

Oh whatever, he wanted that drink. "Would you be a dear and fetch me something to drink?" he asked Ness. Or would have. What came out instead was a hoarse cough.

[miraclehymn]

It occurred to Paula that maybe she shouldn't have been there.

They had gotten off to a questionable start, after all. That wasn't any reason for Paula to put distance between them, though. Quite the opposite really. Especially now that she had already met Ness, right in this room in fact. Her worries had been put at ease, and she could use that energy for something else.

Like worrying over Joshua's well being instead.

She walked in quietly, unable to tell if he was sleeping. That was alright. There was a small glass of juice in her hand, and she placed it near his bedside.

[fallingjunkyard]

When you live in the same space with the same people for a long enough time, you can tell who it was by their footsteps. And the footsteps Joshua heard were certainly not Ness'. He didn't think they were any of the other doctors'. So, who was it placing things on the bedside table?

Curious, Joshua opened one eye. Paula. Paula Polestar. Immediately, he thought dirty thoughts, just as an extra precaution against potential intrusion into his mind. Not bothering to sit up, he said to her, "If you're looking for Ness, you're just a little too slow."

[miraclehymn]

Someday, Joshua. Someday she would see those dirty thoughts and it would be a fabulous time. But not this day.

Paula glanced at him in mild surprise. So he wasn't sleeping after all. "It's alright, I already found him," she replied softly. She wouldn't have to run quite so fast anymore. "You're the one I was looking for this time, actually."

[fallingjunkyard]

She was looking for him?

Joshua sat up, fighting to keep a wince from his face as a twinge of pain ran up his left leg. "And why would that be?"

He reached for the glass of juice.

Let's say that the last day he's in there overlaps with Joshua coming in

[son_of_time]

Someone was brought in last night and Sam was curious. He nibbled on a cookie that was left from the pile Paula had brought earlier and perched on his bed, looking over at the other occupied one.

He was pretty much good to go, but the doctors wanted him to stay a little longer just to make sure.

SURE, WHY NOT

[fallingjunkyard]

[ooc: Just a note so I don't forget and drive myself nuts with the timeline, this takes place before the Ness thread ! :3 ]

Unfortunately for Sam, after Joshua's panic attack that resulted in Mamma sitting on him and shoving unknown liquids down his throat while Joshua had telekinetically misfired and flipped a backgammon board off a table among other things, Joshua really was not very interesting. Maybe it had something to do with the brew Mamma had given him, but Joshua was out for a long time.

By the time he woke up, Joshua felt like he'd been run over by a horse and cart, to the point even opening his eyes was an effort. So he didn't, at least while he tried to sort through what had happened last night. When he was ready to open his eyes, he only opened one and did so slowly.

He spotted a blur that eventually focused into Sam. Swallowing before he spoke in an attempt to ease his scratchy throat, he said quietly, "Do you usually spend your time people watching, or am I a special case?"

[son_of_time]

[OOC: Noted!]

There wasn't much to do in here, people watching was slightly more interesting than looking at the ceiling. He had already tapped out his messages to the relevant people on his journal and was getting bored of just reading all day.

"There's not much else to do in here and they don't seem to like me walking around."

Sam hopped off the bed and brought over a glass of water. He was well aware on how it felt.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua carefully sat up, biting his lip as he moved his injured leg in a way that it didn't like. He took the glass of water, feeling slightly better when he downed half of it. After that, Joshua took a slower sip, observing Sam. Well, at least to the best he could when he was still groggy and seeing a pink alligator somewhere in his vision. Thankfully, the latter faded away after some water.

Sam didn't seem injured, or even sick at all. Why was he in here, then? Before Joshua could ask, he slowly recalled a journal entry a few days ago and changed his question to something more relevant. "Perhaps to prevent the consumption of suspicious things. But maybe they had nothing to worry about; it seems your experiment with pink, glowing objects has gone remarkably well."

[gypsymothdance]

Did Jean really want to visit him in the infirmary?

Truthfully, she didn't. She really didn't. Joshua was one of the most aggravating people that she had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He wasn't even obnoxious in a funny way: his presence seemed to exist for the singular purpose of being at the expense of others. Frankly, she was content with not seeing him again for however long he was stuck in the infirmary.

And besides, there had been no word about him being dead yet, meaning he was surely recovering nicely. Probably. There was no reason to check on him, right?

But despite all that, she had a sense of obligation to go and see how he was doing, if only to make sure she hadn't done something stupid and crippled him for life or anything like that. Besides, if she was lucky, perhaps the pain medication had taken the edge off his attitude as well...

So, she stopped by to visit in the mid-afternoon, after lunchtime had already passed.

[fallingjunkyard]

By this time, Joshua had shaken off most of the aftereffects from the drink Mamma had given him, and was sitting up when Jean walked in.

Joshua wasn't sure how he felt about Jean at this moment. He hadn't decided yet. Oh, he was still interested in her, that was for sure, which meant the teasing and mockery would continue. But the fact Jean had carried him all the way back to the Convoy's infirmary when she could have left him at the gambling den for the doctor to return wasn't lost on him. And he did dislike feeling like he was in debt to someone.

He greeted her with a small wave. "My saviour!" Admittedly he still felt sort, but overall, much better than he had when he first woken up. "Still envy me, Jean?"

[gypsymothdance]

It seemed Joshua was still his old self. Well, at least Jean could rest assured that he hadn't suffered any mental damage from his injury.

"That was why you brought me along, wasn't it?" she pointed out, trying to brush away the flattery. It seemed a little funny in retrospect, however, since apparently he had only requested her as a bodyguard as an excuse to play games with her. Who would have thought that he would end up actually needing a bodyguard for the night?

And it was just her luck that he would remember that. She pretended to not know what he was talking about: "No, I can't say I'm particularly jealous of getting shot in the leg."

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua laughed at her response, shifting his injured leg into a more comfortable position. Even though it was hurting, some earlier medicine was making it feel better. Better enough to snipe at Jean.

"It's a sign you didn't do your job very well," he said primly. "You'll have to make up for that failed favour some other way."