When the two arrive at the Argos Medical Clinic, they find a mass of media reporters and holocams at the entrance. “I wonder what’s going on.” Jenos nods as they get closer to the building. He starts paying attention to what they say and figure out what was going on. “Just a few minutes ago, the naturalist Irving Stephens was brought here to undergo treatment after being stung by a Strike Fish about three kilometers southeast of the city. His status is unknown at the moment, but it is not believed that he will survive.”
Jenos stops paying attention as they enter the building, figuring he’d find out sooner than the reporters will if Stephens died. Raine checks in and is told it’d be roughly half an hour before she’s seen, as most of the attention of the doctors and droids are on Mr. Stephens. The pair take a seat and look around the mostly empty lobby. “Rather quiet, isn’t it?” Raine asks, feeling awkward with the absence of people here. “There’s a good chance that people are thinking the news reporters will find out his condition and want to hear it. That, or hoping for a chance at being on television.” Raine smiles at that and leans back into her chair.
“Do you remember some of his shows?” Jenos shakes his head. “I rarely paid attention to him. Only time I did was to make fun of his accent. I still don’t see why he was here on Corellia instead of a real water planet like Mon Calamari.” Raine shrugs lightly. “Who knows, maybe it’s because most of us don’t explore the sea like the Mon Calamari and Quarren do on theirs.” Jenos leans back and crosses his arms, getting comfortable for the long wait. “Maybe, it’s a possibility.”
A medical droid enters the waiting area and heads to the pair. “Hello, I am Emdee forty-seven. We are ready for you now Ms. McLeod.” Raine nods and gets up, looking at Jenos. “I’ll see you soon.” He smiles at her and places his hands behind his head. “But of course.” She smiles back and turns to follow the medical droid behind the inner door. Jenos gets comfortable again, knowing it would be a while before she got done. He closes his eyes but remains conscious.
The droid and doctors do a few different tests, including scanning her brain for possible damage and checking her blood. In between tests, Raine tries to relax and not be so defensive about the clothing she had to wear. She had worn it quite a few times before in the past, but she never liked the feeling. Every time she had to go to another room, it felt as if someone was staring at her not completely covered backside. When she did look, there was no one there, much to her initial relief.
However, the fact there wasn’t anyone there yet she still felt it made her paranoid and questioning if this was real. She tells herself something Jessica had said, “Normal people might think they are crazy, but those that are crazy never think they are.” It made little sense, of course, but Raine was keeping the statement as reassurance that she was fine. She told the droid she had to use the refresher, and the droid points her in the proper direction. While refreshing herself, she turns to flush the toilet, but notices it looks red. She panics, knowing it wasn’t the right time of the month for her. She becomes lightheaded and disoriented, staggering until she crashed against the wall and slide down it. She closes her eyes and holds herself as she swims through the darkness she felt.
The doctors finally get the door open after hearing a scream coming from behind it. They see Raine on the ground, forehead on the ground, holding herself tightly. One of the nurses notice the toilet wasn’t flushed, and flushes it, not seeing anything wrong with the water. “Wait, don’t.” A doctor says, too late. The nurse looks at him and he sighs. “We could have tested it to see if there was something in her waste.”
A stretcher is brought in and they place Raine on it. She is brought out and taken back to her little area to be checked out again. The tests come back negative, leaving the doctors and nurses puzzled as to what had occurred. She comes to and is very disoriented, groaning and blinking her eyes as she holds her head. A nurse places her hands on Raine’s shoulders and tells her to lie back down. “Just stay down, miss.” Raine looks at the nurse. “What happened?” The nurses pushes lightly on Raine’s shoulders, who gives in and lies back down. “We heard a scream and when we entered the refresher, you were lying on the ground holding yourself but not aware of anything around you.”
“I blackened out?” The nurse nods. Jenos slides his head through the curtains, looking at Raine. “Hey.” Raine blinks and looks back at him. “Hi…” The nurse looks at Jenos then nods. “Right, they asked you to come back here and keep her company as she’ll be here a while.” Jenos walks in and arches an eyebrow at the nurse. “Why is that?” The nurse explains what happened. “And that’s why we decided to keep her here to keep an eye on her and find out what’s wrong.”
Raine sits up. “I’m fine.” The nurse motions for her to lie back down. “People that are fine don’t blacken out while in the refresher.” Raine sighs and lies back down, not wanting to debate the topic. Jenos sits down beside Raine, patting her shoulder. “The nurse is right Raine. If something is wrong, we need to check on it and correct it so it won’t happen again.” Raine looks at the nurse. “Could you give us a minute alone please?” The nurse nods and goes through the curtains before pushing them back together.
“What is it?” Raine looks back at Jenos before answering. “Do you think there’s something wrong?” Jenos shrugs lightly. “I’ve got no medical expertise, so I haven’t a clue. Though it does seem like something’s not right.” Raine sighs lightly before sitting up and leaning on Jenos’ shoulder. He wraps an arm around her and hugs her, trying to comfort her. She closes her eyes and whispers. “I keep having these weird dreams and thoughts… I keep seeing you die in a pool of blood.” Jenos looks at her, his eyes slightly wider than normal, though he remains silent. “I don’t understand why I see it, but it scares me, a lot. I don’t want you to die… I don’t want to lose you.”
Jenos adjusts his seating so his body is facing her. “Raine, someday I will die, just like everyone else, we’re all mortal. If for some reason I do die like you say, try not to blame yourself, it would not be your fault.” He pulls her into his arms, as she wraps her arms around his chest and hold onto him tightly. Jenos lightly kisses the top of her head. “Know that no matter what, I still love you.” Raine smiles lightly and tries not to cry. She leans up and kisses him before resting her head on his shoulder as he holds her.
The nurse reenters the curtains and Jenos tenses slightly, a sudden anger in his eyes before it goes away, seeing who it was. “I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you two, but I just wanted to tell you that you’ll probably be staying overnight here.” Raine looks at the nurse. “What? No, I can’t…” “Why’s that?” Raine bites her lower lip and looks away, putting her face in Jenos’ neck. He rubs her back and looks over at the nurse. “How likely is it?” “Very likely, I’m afraid.”
Jenos nods lightly and looks at his cousin. “Raine, it’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything.” She looks back at him, nodding. “Thank you.” He gives her a big smile before getting off the bed. He motions to outside of the sheets. Once out of Raine’s earshot, he asks the nurse. “Is there any clue why it occurred?” The nurse shakes her head. “No, we haven’t the slightest idea. She has past medical problems, but none explain the episode she had.” Jenos frowns lightly. “Thank you anyways. Please let me know if anything happens to her again.” The nurse nods. “Of course. It’s nice she has a boyfriend like you.”
Jenos opens his mouth to say something but thinks better about it. “Well, I’m just glad to have her in my life.” He smiles slightly, glad to have not said the first thing on his mind. “Take care then, and don’t worry, she’ll be fine here.” “Thank you.” Jenos nods to her before taking his leave of the hospital. Once outside, he puts his sunglasses on and looks at the afternoon sky. I do hope she’ll be fine. He places his hands in his pockets and heads home. Raine lies down on her side, facing the dividing sheets. “Jenos…”
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