Vivamus, Moriendum est (Rorschach x oc)

27. I think it's gonna be a long long time

Mary's P.O.V.

Two officers waited outside the front of a police station encompassed by desert.  As the patrol car pulled alongside the curb, they descended upon it.

Roger and Ollie were roughly dragged from the back seat, one officer for each of them. They were cuffed, hands behind their backs. The police grabbed one arm each and hauled them off.

Ollie did not look back. He marched on forward with no regard for the situation. He was ushered through the station first. Roger took longer because he kept looking back at me over his shoulder. He paused on the walkway, forcing his officer to drag him along. Roger didn't face forward until he was forced through the doors.

Giggling, I pressed my fingers against the glass staring after him.

Gently the original officer who had picked us up, pulled my hand away from the window. He then threw the car into gear and peeled away from the curb.

An onslaught of desert landscape unfurled before us. Red gold sand glinting in the over present sun and similarly colored high rise rock formations. 

Later we arrived in front of a whitewashed building, appearing like a sore thumb in the golden desert landscaped.

The officer pulled along the front of the building and came to the passenger side. He opened the door for me and extended his hand. Hesitantly, I accepted his hand and stepped from the car. Taking one step I seemed to miscalculate where my foot needed to go and ended up on my knees. I would have fallen further if not for the officer locking onto my arm and holding me up.

With a deep sigh he hauled me off the ground and into his arms.

Inside the building was dim lighting, a disturbing overpowering smell of a chemical cleanliness, and a strange damp feeling. In the entrance to the building was a tall desk, also white like everything else appeared to be. Behind it sat an older woman with long gray hair loosely pulled back.

"Yes?" She asked coolly.

The officer cleared his throat and indicated toward me, still in his arms.

"I found this young woman. So, far a Jane Doe. She uh was on the side of the highway with two odd fellas I picked up entering into the county. Can't be more than early twenties I suppose. Heavy head trauma, someone did a real number on her."

"Alright, wait here. We'll have someone come get her for you." The attendant instructed, still appearing perfectly unbothered.

We didn't have to wait long. A nurse hurried into the waiting area pushing a bed on squeaky wheels. The officer carefully set me down onto the bed. He held my hand a second, staring down at me.

"Good luck, young lady. I promise we'll find out what happened to ya." He smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with the desk attendant before wandering back out the way he came.

I was wheeled into a room, the bed's wheels squealing with protest as they rolled over the polished white floors.

The room I had been admitted into had little to no color. A simple white bed, a sad little white chair beside the bed, white walls, and a white floor. A plant clinging to life sat perched on a white windowsill.

The nurse who had wheeled me here was rather petite but seemed to have no trouble lifting me off the wheeled bed and into the stationary one. She did so unceremoniously, and I felt much like a sack of potatoes.

She scrunched her nose in disgust as she began inserting tubes into my arm. We weren't alone for long. Two other nurses admitted themselves into the room a few moments later. Another young, pretty petite one, and a third older more experienced appearing nurse.

The experienced tsked when she saw me.

"IV's in?" She asked the original nurse.

She gave a simple curt nod in response.

"Well, something did a number on this one." The experienced nurse huffed, shuffling into the room. She came closer than I would have liked to my bedside.

"Skin's pale, weak pulse. Face is a mess." She poked at my nose, "Nose if definitely broken, maybe even infected. We'll need to correct alignment. Some acetaminophens will do her good. And help with this fever, she's burning up."

The other two nurses began shuffling about the room.

She leaned down to me, "can you talk, ma'am?"

I managed a weak grunt in response.

The nurse shook her head, "of course she can't Molly. She's delirious."

"Girls!" She called. The other nurses came rushing over.

"Hold her arms down, I'm going to realign this poor girl's nose." 

They did as they were bid. In a panic I began squirming in the bed, but the nurses once again proved much stronger than they looked. I kicked my legs out and thrashed but to their credit they held me firmly in place.

The seasoned nurse pressed her hands down onto my nose and wrenched it into place. I squealed and thrashed. The most noise in a while that I had managed to produce. Fresh blood oozed from my nose. 

"Good, administer that acetaminophen and make sure she gets some fluids." She cleaned of her hands, straightened herself up and marched from the room.

The other two nurses fluttered about the room, placing cool cloths over my forehead and forcing things down my throat. An hour later they left me alone in my room. The shades were drawn blocking out any light. I whimpered sinking down into the bed, my eyes heavy and my head no longer throbbing but subdued into a dull ache.

My eyes fluttered open and closed throughout the whole night. A fitful sleep befalling me.

I was confined to the bland hospital quarters for two days. IV's pumped through my arm and the only noise was the clock chiming on the wall.

I wasn't conscious much except for short stumbles to the bathroom. My meals were turned to smoosh as my pain was too high for any solid food. 

Hospital living proved to be a dreary existence. Even if I was delirious for most of it. 

The third morning I woke to people standing in my room. Three to be exact.

A tall boy with a mane of dark curls and a slender shorter boy with lush long blonde hair. The third figure in my room was a girl. One I'd never seen. A girl nearly as tall as the curly haired boy. She looked like she had walked right off of a pinup poster. Her hair was long and just nearly more luxurious than the blonde boy's hair. 

"Another stray, James?" She asked coyly. She had the same English accent as the two boys.