Alive or Normal: Chapter One: (Being Human [SyFy] FanFic)

Josh burst through the OR doors, pulling off the blood-soaked apron and stuffing it into a biohazard bin, along with his gloves. He tried to ignore the images that popped tirelessly behind his eyes, but but they were too potent to be avoided: the girl, barely recognizable as human, being carried into the ER; the flesh of her neck and chest, ripped carelessly; the white of the gurney she was hastily placed on slowly sucking up the blood that never seemed to stop flowing as she was wheeled into the emergency operating room. He strode quickly, afraid to stop because he knew he would collapse, crossing the ER waiting room to a men’s restroom. To his right, he saw a young woman, the one who had carried the girl in. Her eyes still held the animal panic that had nearly taken over her when they had arrived. He saw the blood on her clothes, and pushed his gaze elsewhere, but it was too late--she was already getting up and moving towards him. 

No, no, no, he thought, not now. Please God, I can’t look into those eyes again. He continued walking, hoping the woman would turn her pain-filled eyes on someone else and leave him alone. He felt a slight sliminess in his min, the way your eyes slide over the words on a page when you’re very tired. He rubbed a hand over his eyes--Maybe I can wash the pictures out--and tried to hold himself together.

“Josh?” His name was called from behind him, and he knew who it would be, even as he was turning around. It was the woman, and Josh choked back a gasp that was almost a gag. She was drenched in blooded, reeked of it (though there was something below that scent)-- the blood was tacky and half-dry, and her own clothes were ripped in places, the blood gluing the cloth to her skin. Her hair was crazy, flying every which way, the bangs smeared across her forehead, held in place by muddy sweat. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but they did not drive him mad as he had feared--there was hope there, mixed with fading panic and a deep sorrow.

“Your name is Josh, right?” The hint of desperation in her voice was pushed down when he nodded, then crept up again. “Is she--is she alright? Or, or going to be alright? That girl? Will--” She swallowed and then her voice hardened, although her last question was barely more than a whisper. “Will she live?”

“Um, yes, it seems, well--nothing’s one hundred percent, but it would appear...hopeful.” He ended this as a sort of half-question, and jumped when a rough hand clapped his shoulder.

“I’m going home,” Aidan said from his side, and just the husky, deep tone of his voice was enough for Josh to know that Aidan was battling his thirst viciously. 

“Yeah, yeah, that would--” Josh was cut off by a growl form the girl.

“I didn’t realize that it was sanitary for mosquitoes to be in hospitals--don’t they carry diseases?” Her face was set in a snarl, and her eyes, which had been a light brown, were now unabashedly gold, narrowed and wild in anger. 

Aidan sighed and tried not to look as annoyed as he felt. “Look, I understand your reasons for hating me, but I’m different,” he started, jaw clenched. “I’m clean, and we” He gestured to Josh and  himself “are friends. Roommates, in fact. Now, if you want to talk about this later, fine. I’m sure it’ll blow your mind. But I’m leaving now.” he rolled his eyes one last time and left.

She stared at Josh, who shrugged his shoulders and tried to look apologetic. “Um, I should uh--I… I gotta go.” the girl watched him hurry to the restroom, then turned back to the waiting room. It was mostly quiet, and so she grabbed her duffle bag and walked back into the rain-cleansed night.