The World After

Chapter five: Diagnosis

The stairs creaked as she descended, a sniffling Max still audible behind her. Mieli felt bad for being cold to Max. He'd done nothing wrong, he was just worried. Her mind wandered to the sinner. Did his frail condition mask a man capable of such atrocities? Had she just saved a monster? Her stomach clenched with anxiety as she descended the second flight of stairs to the third floor. the weight of her decision to save him suddenly hit her. Her hand gripped the hem of her faded green t-shirt, knuckles whitening. She shook her head violently, loose red curls whipping about. Her usual calm self slowly returned. They could always kill him later. After a trial of course.

She paused near the third flight of stairs and untied the leather cord that bound her journal shut. The worn leather cover fell open to reveal pages packed with words. In the very beginning, was the blue cursive script of the previous owner, which gave way to Mieli's own green neat print. She flipped about fifteen pages to the page marked "Max Williams" and began to add in the new information under the current entry. Once she finished writing, she paused for a moment, then flipped until she found a blank page. Hesitantly, she wrote:

"INNOCENT SINNER"

Name: unknown

Age: unknown

Found aboard a sinner ship, taken aboard due to the word 'innocent' carved into his arm. Frail, unconscious.

She lifted her trusty green pen from the page, and closed the worn journal and tied the leather cord tightly. She could hear Pach yelling in German from the nearby common era. Followed by Jorstad's retorts in Danish and Yun's cackling laughter. She turned her back to them and descended the final set of stairs.

The infirmary was on the fourth level of the ship, it was below the water line and was always cold. Muffled laughter and singing and conversation wafted eerily from the ceiling, it just emphasized how lonely the fourth floor was. Mieli left the stairs behind as she headed towards the infirmary. The infirmary was to the right of the staircase, and to the left were the briggs. Empty, as usual. The wire mesh cots were all neatly made inside the nine prison cells, collecting dust from years of un-use. As a salvage ship, they didn't have a great need to imprison people.

One cot had a thinner dust layer than the others, Mieli had always been curious about that. But when she asked, silence greeted her. Along with grief-stricken looks, and tears threatening the eyes of Ocean, Ellery, Pach, And Jorstad. So she never mentioned it again.

She pulled hard on the ridiculously heavy iron door. How did Donovan and Daisy pull it open? It finally rattled open, settling into it's slider with a solid thunk. Three faces looked up at the noise. Donovan's precisely made up face, the round face of Daisy, the nervous, kind nurse and the frowning face of their best gunslinger, Ellery.

"Hello, Darling girl!" Doc's voice rung out in a sing songy manner. He sat bedside of the sinner, in a metal folding chair, a blood pressure cuff inflator in one bony hand.

"Come to see the sinner? I thought so!" Doc wiggled his eyebrows.

Apparently, Delia was not the only shipper. Mieli simply wrinkled her nose and held up her journal.

"I'm here on business." She stated matter of factly.

Doc clicked his tongue, a slightly disappointed look on his face. Daisy merely gave a nervous smile, she held charts in her tiny hands, presumably info on the sinner. She stood awkwardly against the counter, eyes flicking between Ellery and the sinner. Come to think of it, what was Ellery doing here?

Ellery wore her usual pout, and she was seated on the foot of the sinner's bed. Her slender arms were crossed, a dark glint in her ice blue eyes was apparent as she stared at the frail creature in the hospital bed. Mieli was not the only one to see it.

"Ellery, love, why don't you go?" Doc said, in a false polite voice that made it clear that staying wasn't an option. Ellery's delicate hands shifted to the flintlock with gold filigree and pearl inlay at her waist.

"Why don't you go suck a dick? Oh wait! and daisy, god damn, stop looking like a beaten puppy and go back to your happy little nurse play." As usual, filth poured out of Ellery's thin lips, finished off by a signature eye roll.

She sighed, jumping to her feet. At only 5'5", and 128 pounds, Ellery wasn't that big, but what she lacked in stature she made up for in meanness. She kicked the metal bed frame with her sneakers, jolting the occupant. Doc began to stand, but Ellery held up her hands.

"I'm going." She turned, stomping to the door. Once there she paused and gave a mock salute.

"Bitch Princess, Lady Useless, and Duchess Sociopath. I bid you adieu." She yanked the iron door open easily, stepped through and slammed it behind her. Doc pursed his vibrantly painted red lips.

"It's Bitch QUEEN. QUEEN, damn you, you filthy little Jack Nasty Face." He muttered angrily. Daisy flushed a delicate pink. Mieli ignored it and moved toward the sinner, she noted that both his emaciated wrists were handcuffed to the hospital bed. They think he's dangerous. She pushed that thought down and looked down at him. His sandy blonde hair was unkempt and matted against his skull. His face was sunburnt and peeling, his lips cracked from dehydration. His high cheekbones and strong jawline paired with lack of nutrition gave him a skeletal look. Indeed, he probably should be dead.

"What's wrong with him?" Mieli asked, eyeing the IV jammed into his arm.

"Nothing." Doc answered. Mieli gave him an exasperated look. Doc merely shook his head.

"Genuinely nothing. Aside from dehydration, malnutrition and severe sunburns, he's clean--er medically-- as a whistle." Doc sounded amazed as he told her his diagnosis.

"How'd he survive when everyone else died?" The figure on the bed now had Mieli's interest. Doc and Daisy exchanged worried looks. Doc cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Speaking of, Mil, you should go get lunch, love." Doc suggested. Mieli was about to argue, but the stern look on Doc's face stopped her. She shrugged, she could always come back.

She straightened up and headed for the iron door. After much yanking, it opened a bit. She sidled through, and as she closed it behind her, she could have sworn she saw the sinner's bony finger twitch before relaxing back into hanging limp.