Carnivore, Animal | Louis

6. Medical Bay

Kisa denied herself the right to look at Louis throughout the performance. She had too many feelings invested in the play and in Louis. Busying herself with the stage management tasks, Kisa felt the production fly by.

It was the final scene, the only time that Kisa had nothing to do. She turned to watch the final monologue – if anything was to go wrong it would have already happened, right?

"Right." Kisa whispered to herself.

She watched on from the side of the stage as Louis stunned the crowd with his closing speech. After his conclusion there was a silence, which befell the audience. The curtain began to fall, letting the crowd erupt with cheer and screams for the red deer.

In the wings, the other actors and stagehands cheered silently waiting for their curtain call. Kisa smiled at herself, she was glad Louis made it through. However, she felt relieved too soon. Just as the curtain touched the stage, Louis collapsed causing a panic to rush over the drama club.

Without thinking, Kisa ran forward and straightened Louis out. While the others called for assistance, Kisa checked his pulse and tried to get a response – he was out cold. Security picked up Louis' body and carried him to the medical bay. The drama club vice president instructed the actors to line up for their bows.

Kisa followed on behind the security carrying Louis, they asked her what had happened. She omitted part of the truth. Once inside, the nurses assessed Louis' foot by taking x-rays. Kisa sat outside Louis' room and waited for the drama club to arrive.

When they did, Kisa pretended not to know what the problem was, but the nurses soon confirmed the diagnosis. They were all eventually ushered into the room as Louis began to wake up. Louis was confused when he opened his eyes – he wasn't on stage, but was surrounded by his club mates.

"I want you to play Adler, Bill." Louis had passed off his role fluently and seemingly without emotion.

Bill was excited and thanked the deer before he left to rehearse his lines. Once the others cleared out, Kisa remained.

"Are you here to say 'I told you so'?" Louis sneered.

"No, I'm here to say 'You're welcome'." She retorted.

"And what am I thankful for?"

"I told everyone and the medical staff that you tripped on stage and not prior to the performance." Kisa sighed, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

Louis looked away from her, cheeks burning with embarrassment. He felt guilty about treating her poorly.

"Thank you." He whispered.

Kisa leaned back on her hands, letting her head fall back.

"You're welcome."

The red deer reached out to her, trying to seek some affection from Kisa. But she stood up instead.

"You need rest and I need to help Bill. I'll see you tomorrow, Louis." She smiled.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Louis confirmed softly.

The next afternoon while the club was preparing for the performance, Kisa was busily moving objects and sets when she felt Legosi tap on her shoulder. She swung around to meet him, but a finger was placed against her lips.

"I smelt something strange on Bill. I can't shake this feeling like something is wrong." Legosi whispered.

"Okay, I'll follow your lead." Kisa replied.