Jay and Crow set their trays down and settled comfortably on the floor of Crow's room, with their backs against the wall. Facing the door, of course. They were still getting used to the hospital food but they didn't dare waste it. He looked at her with a small smile as she transferred half of her chicken onto his plate. "I don't think you're supposed to do that." He said, remembering the look of disapproval that had crossed the nurse's face when she had first caught Jay doing it.
"What are they going to do? Beat us?" She replied dryly, "That would undo all of their hard work."
Crow chuckled. He felt bad, accepting her food when she needed it, but the routine was so familiar that it provided them both with a little comfort. In truth he was anxious; all he really faced at the moment was uncertainty. A couple of days ago, a doctor had come to see him. He had said that he was a psychiatrist and he had asked a lot of questions.
How was he feeling? How was he sleeping? How much did he remember from before his abduction? Did he know what he was going to do now?
Crow hadn't uttered a word.
It was that final question that troubled him most. Because he had no idea. He had no family. He had no friends. Were he and Jay friends? He wasn't sure, somehow 'friends' didn't quite fit, it felt shallower, lighter, than what they really were to each other. From what he remembered of friends, most hadn't killed to protect one another. And then there was that kiss before the fight. Neither had brought it up but it played on both their minds.
So no, he had no idea what he was going to do now.
He was drawn from his thoughts by a sudden utterance from Jay.
"How long has it been since you last saw sunlight?"
The question threw him. He had to think about it. All his fights were at night, as were the body runs. The only times he had been outside, it had been dark. There were no external windows in his room in the hospital, or in the corridor that linked his with Jay's.
"Not since my auction in Philly, so… a year and a bit, I think?" He said, frowning slightly, disturbed by the thought. Thank goodness for UV days, when the Watchers would stick the Ghosts in a room with UVB lights and leave them in there for the day. Either way, he knew both of them looked sickly pale, if otherwise fairly healthy. He paused. "What about you?"
"It's hard to keep track. Almost 18 months? Washington… finished with me later than usual." She grimaced slightly. "When they were transporting me back to the compound, I saw the sun rise." At that thought, a gentle smile graced her lips "Do you think… do you think if we asked, they'd let us go outside? Just for a little while?"
"I don't know…" He wasn't sure how they would react if they started asking for things. He doubted they'd be happy about it. Maybe they'd be angry? Perhaps if they asked Morgan? He cared about Jay, maybe he could talk to the staff so that they didn't get into trouble. Of course, first they would need to be able to talk to him, which neither of them could. He was just as paralysed by fear as Jay was when he attempted to speak English.
Maybe, oh what was her name? Emily, that was the one. The drugs they had him on made keeping track of thoughts difficult. Emily seemed to care about Jay as well. He didn't know the others who visited her; they didn't visit him. Not that he blamed them, they didn't have the benefit of history with him. He wasn't good with new people anyway.
Both Ghosts flinched as the door clicked open; both were tense, fingers itching to reach for knives which weren't there. For them the reaction was natural, ingrained, but they could see how it unnerved people. Morgan and Emily were better at masking their unease than the staff.
