[Friday, August 27, 2004.] [It's late afternoon! Very late. Say about 6:00. Charlotte might have had dinner, but she might not have... either way, it's still a beautiful but hot day.] [Charlotte's at the hospital nearest to her school! She's come in at the very tail end of visiting hours. It looks pretty peaceful... no doctors running around and demanding help, but maybe this is because she's not in the emergency area.] [In any case, it's lightly carpeted, there are some potted plants, and a few secretary types behind some desks to one side. And computers! That they are typing on. And files! That they are writing on.] [There are halls to the left and the right, and elevators along the opposite wall, and a waiting area that a few people are sitting at.] [Mini Start.] * Charlotte makes her way over to the secretary types. She's changed her clothes for some brown cargo pants and a black tank-top over a red t-shirt. She smiles a Charlotte smile! ... that's the pleasant kind, not the sneering kind. "Excuse me?" [The secretary type Charlotte's addressing looks up. She's not wearing glasses, though a pair is hanging around her neck. "Yes?" she asks, her fingers gradually slowing to a stop on the keyboard.] * Charlotte keeps her smile. "Hi! I wonder if you can help me? I'm looking for two patients: Jeremy Prescott and Camila Lopez." [She blinks, then goes back to her keyboard, type typing away. "Mr. Prescott has been moved to a normal room. Ms. Lopez is still in emergency care..." Her voice takes on a slightly more soothing tone. "I'm sorry, dear, but unless you're family, we can't allow you to see her at the moment." ] * Charlotte looks disappointed. "Oh." How is she? [The lady frowns at her screen. "She's in stable condition, but they're not ready for her to take visitors yet."] * Charlotte nods. "That's good... Do you know when she will be?" [She shakes her head. "I'm sorry." And then she straightens. "Mr. Prescott can have visitors, if you want to see him."] * Charlotte nods. "Okay." [She jots a room number down on a piece of paper and hands it to Charlotte. "Just take the elevator to the third floor, then go down the hall until you see the potted plant, make a left, and follow it five doors down," she says, handing it to her.] * Charlotte nods. "Thank you." She takes the paper and heads towards the elevator. [The elevator sits there like a docile elevator beast.] * Charlotte pushes the button, foiling its plans. [It dings and opens! Charlotte wins!] * Charlotte wins! She heads to the 3rd floor, and looks for Jeremy's room. [Charlotte goooooes.] ( Zoom! ) [She reaches Jeremy's room! It's pretty plain. Jeremy's in there and watching Seinfeld. He's wearing a hospital gown, and his arm and chest are bandaged. There are a few vases of flowers. He looks over and smiles. "Hey Charlotte."] * Charlotte smiles warmly. "Hi Jeremy." She tries not to let her eyes wander to the flowers, since she didn't bring any. "How are you feeling?" [He shrugs with his left shoulder. "Better. The doctor said I can go home tomorrow."] That's good. How's your arm? [He looks down at it. "Burned?" He tries flexing the fingers of his right hand and succeeds!] ["It should be better by the game, they said."] ["I'm gonna have to miss practice, though." He sounds a little annoyed.] * Charlotte nods. "But at least it's nothing permanent?" [He shakes his head. "Nope! Shouldn't even have any scarring, they hope."] That's a relief. * Charlotte takes a seat. "I found Ivy, by the way." [He perks, looking to Charlotte. Poor Seinfeld! "You did? How's she doing?"] She wouldn't go back to school. [He nods. "She okay?"] I think she felt guilty about what happened. Are you mad at her? ["Um, no. Why would I be?"] Well, she seems to feel responsible for what happened. [Jeremy scratches at the back of his head with his good hand. "I'm not... really mad at her, no. It's not her fault."] What happened? [He shrugs, not looking very comfortable. "Just got shocked when trying to catch up to her. I think it was a fluke from the lights, or something.] (") * Charlotte brushes some red locks out of her eyes. "That's not what she told me." I mean, not *told* told me, but... -herring.sandwich.net:@#secondstring- Ardweden invited Dicesuke into channel #secondstring. * Dicesuke has joined #secondstring d10+9 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Charlotte (d10+9) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 18. [Jeremy shifts a little. "What'd she tell you?"] That it was her fault. That she did it to both you and Camila. And that she didn't mean to and feels really bad about it. * Charlotte adds, "And she's afraid to go back to school and afraid to face you." [Jeremy blinks, then he says, carefully, "She didn't say that."] Well, not with words. * Charlotte smiles sheepishly. "She hasn't spoken to me yet." d10+9 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Charlotte (d10+9) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 17. ["She didn't say that," he repeats. "You think she did that to Camila?"] * Charlotte blinks a few times. "Well..." She runs a hand through her hair and looks down. "I *thought* that's what she was trying to tell me..." ["Ivy would *never* do something like that," Jeremy says, very clearly, and he sounds sure of it. "Ever. If you're tryin' to find someone to accuse, look somewhere else."] * Charlotte sighs. "Jeremy, I'm not trying to... I want to help! Ivy's miserable right now, and I don't know what to d o." * Charlotte sighs again. "I'm sorry." d10+9 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Charlotte (d10+9) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 15. ["Yeah, well, go help someone else for a while." He slumps back against his headrest. "I'll see you at school."] (Bedrest? Bedhead? Thing?) * Charlotte looks up sharply at that, eyes wide. "Y... you mean that?" [He eyes Charlotte. "Yeah, I'm totally gonna be at school on Monday."] d10+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Charlotte (d10+6) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 13. * Charlotte sighs. "You must be mad at me. I guess I deserve it. And you're right, Ivy wouldn't do that. If she did, someone would have noticed. What was I thinking?" ["I dunno. What were you thinking ?"] * Charlotte rubs her eyes. "Camila was a friend of a friend of mine, and ... and then that happened, and Ivy ran off and you got burned too, and the way Ivy was acting..." she sniffs. "I-I guess I wasn't." [Pause. "Guess so." He sighs and looks away, towards the window.] * Charlotte gets up. "I guess I better go. But Jeremy... Ivy feels guilty about it. Even if you make it clear you don't blame her, that won't stop her from being afraid of hurting you again." [Jeremy shrugs. "I'll talk to her when I get out of here."] * Charlotte nods. "I will too. I really do want to help." She forces a smile, even though he's not looking at her. "And I'll prove to you you can trust me." She heads for the door, rather quickly so he can't see her eyes tear up. "Goodbye." ["Yeah," Jeremy says, "Bye."] d10+9 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Charlotte (d10+9) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 12. * Charlotte gets out of there and tries not to cry much. ( Done! Unless Camila's suddenly available. :P ) (End here?) (Ha, nope. She'll be available later, though. SO YOU THINK.) [Mini End!]