This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#Hospital – September 4, 2015
Damien eventually arrives at the hospital, striding his way in. First order of business is to find that nurse. Now, two options are open to him. Either he can ask about and search the whole damn hospital. Or, he can break into the security office and hack into the cameras and find him that way. Both options not really preferable...
The waiting room has a turian and a human couple in it. The VI receptionist appears to be offline - one of the nurses, the asari, is manning the desk.
Damien takes a gamble and approaches the desk. He stops at it and smiles to the asari. "Hi there, I was wondering if you could help me?"
The nurse is leaning against the desk, idly fiddling with her omni-tool. She looks up, an incredibly bored look on her face. "Of course, it would be my pleasure." She says with the most unenthusiastic smile this side of the Hegemony.
Damien mentally notes that people behind desks seem to genuinely hate their lives. "I was wondering if you could help me find someone who works here. A male nurse who assisted a surgery on one Leah Mercier. I just want to thank him for helping get my friend back on her feet... Literally."
Damien cocks an eyebrow. Well that's thrown a spanner in the works... And he really didn't even consider that. Well done there, lad, well done. "Oh. Well can you tell me when he will next be in?"
Damien mentally sighs. Bugger. Right, plan B. To the security office! "Alright, thank you for your invaluable help." He says. "One more question, could you point me to Halisi's office?"
Damien nods and starts off down the hallway. Such amazing service here. He continues to wander down the hallway, keeping an eye out for any signs directing him to the security office.
Damien mentally curses. Well this seems to be a fruitless endeavour. He continues to wander around for a bit, walking like he has a purpose. There has to be a security office in this hospital, there just has to.
Damien groans in frustration and turns about face, retracing his steps. Well, now what? He can't exactly ask where 'Jerry' lives. And he can't exactly bring anyone else into this likely paranoid conspiracy. So now what the hell does he do?
Damien rounds the corner and starts walking down the hallway that houses Halisi's office, still absorbed in his thoughts to be paying much attention.
Halisi sits in her office, head resting in her palm while she's looking over readouts of the status of Jason's new arms that are scrolling across the screen of her computer terminal.
Damien pauses outside of Halisi's office, a thought coming to the forefront of his mind. Medication. Might as well while he's here. He straightens up his shirt and palms the panel on her door.
Halisi approves the door opening soon after the chirp is heard. She spins around in her chair. Upon noticing Damien she smiles. "Hey."
Halisi gestures for him to come on, sliding her chair back a bit to give him some space. "I, uhm... I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."
Damien nods his thanks and walks in. "I was in the neighbourhood and decided to drop in. Make good on that offer from earlier. Was kinda wondering if you have anything that can help me sleep at night?" He asks.
Halisi nods. "Of course." She grabs a datapad from the desk, typing for a bit and then handing it to Damien. "Give that to the nurse at the counter and she'll give you the meds. I'd offer to book you a session with the therapist, but... we don't actually have one." She says, scratching her neck.
Damien takes the datapad and nods as he reads the prescription. "Odd that a hospital doesn't have a therapist," he remarks, glancing up at her. "But then I suppose a backwater such as this doesn't really have much draw for one."
There's a lot of things we don't have. We make do best we can. It's not ideal though, that's for sure...
Damien hums and glances back at the datapad. "Well if it's any help, I think you do a great job. I mean, you got me, Leah and Jason up and running again. That's no mean feat."
Halisi sighs, her smile creeping back slowly. "Thanks. I... I appreciate that. I... want to think I'm doing some good here, at least." Her gaze moves away from Damien, first out the door and then down to the floor.
Damien grins over the datapad. "Y'know, I was wondering on what you thought about Leah's recovery? I mean, her getting some high-tech cybernetics all the way out here was pretty amazing in itself, but you being able to get her prepped and ready on such short notice... Pretty darn amazing." He repeats.
Halisi chuckles slightly, although the mention of Leah seems to bring her mood down a bit. "I can't really take credit for that. Dr. Decker handled the surgery, and from what I understand the cybernetics were given by a family member."
Damien nods slowly. "I see." He doesn't really add much else, still conflicted on whether to tell Halisi or not about his suspicions. No, she'd just think him crazy. Which, all things considered, he probably is. "Well, he did a good job." He adds eventually.
Halisi nods. "Yes, he-... he did. He's a skilled surgeon." She furrows her eyebrows, her gaze now focused squarely on Damien again. "Something wrong?"
Damien 's head snaps up. "Not at all," he says, though a little too quickly to pass off as a casual reply. "Why'd you ask?"
Damien blinks. "What, no!" He says, shaking his head fiercely. "No, not at all! It was nic- I mean it was unexpected but it wasn't un- what I'm trying to say is...". He stumbles around his words, a slight blush rising to his cheeks.
Halisi 's face lights up with a smile again, unable to supress laughter. "Great, because I was wondering if maybe you'd like to do something tomorrow? The mission is coming up and... who knows how that's going to go down? I was hoping to get away from work a bit more before then..." She swivels slightly back and forth in her chair, head tilted as she watches Damien.
Damien can just feel himself sinking into the hole he is continuing to dig. He needs to tell her. He needs. To. Tell. Her. "Halisi... Look, um...".
Damien | Tell her! "I...". He sighs and leans back against the wall, looking down at her. Oh fuck it. " I think I'm becoming paranoid... And I'm... Fabricating these insane theories about Leah. That planet... My injuries... They've fucked me up bad, Halisi." His eyes start to shimmer as water forces it's way out. "And it's... Made me so cruel...".
Halisi blinks, her fading smile turning to concern as she stands up, putting her hand on Damien's shoulder. "Hey, hey... it's okay. Talk to me."
Damien shakes his head, gritting his teeth. "Leah doesn't deserve what I'm doing to her... I believed she was acting differently ever since she got out of hospital. More secretive. False. Shifty. And I... Started thinking that she was hiding something. I became fixated on it...".
...I don't even understand! Christ, Halisi, I'm leading her on to fulfill some fucked up non existent mission!
Halisi 's face contorts in confusion. "What? You're not, that's ridiculous. But you're not making any sense, Damien... come on. Sit down and try to explain."
Halisi sits down as well, grasping Damien's hand and stroking it gently in an attempt at reassurance. "Okay... try again."
Since Leah left hospital, I believed she was acting suspicious. Shifty and secretive, that kind of stuff... So... After a few nights of no sleep, I got to believing she was hiding something. Something bad. But I had no evidence to support it so I-
Damien finally manages to spit it out in a hoarse whisper. "I led her on. Tricked her into believing I was... Into her. And earlier on she asked me on a date and all I saw was an opportunity to gather some evidence for this fucking theory that I cooked up when I couldn't sleep for the hundredth time...".
And I came here to find a nurse who was there during her operation... To try and force information out of him...
Damien looks up, a tear spilling down his cheek. "I'm loosing it, Halisi... I'm just hurting people now and...". He drops his head into his hands, his fingers digging into his skin. " I'm scum...".
Halisi shakes her head. "No. No, Damien... you're not scum. You need help. What you've been through, it's-... it can change you. You need to step back, get a grip of yourself. The medication will help with your sleep, and... we don't have a therapist, but I'm here to talk. The fact that you're talking about it at all shows you know something is wrong."
Damien tries to stifle a sob unsuccessfully, a droplet of blood dribbling down where his fingernails are biting into his skin. "She doesn't deserve this, Halisi... What I'm doing is cruel...".
Halisi reaches up to try and guide his hands away from his face. "We'll sort it out. It'll be okay. She'll forgive you."
Damien 's got a solid grip on his skin and he isn't lacking in strength. "I don't deserve to be forgiven...". He hisses, his arms trembling.
Halisi is starting to look rather worried, not entirely sure what to do. She continues to try and pull his hands away from his face, but unwilling to put any real force into it. "Damien, p-... please... calm down. You're hurting yourself. You're not thinking straight."
Damien continues to apply pressure into his skin, blood now starting to pool freely around his fingers. However, Halisi's pleas eventually reach his ears and he relents, allowing her to pull his hands away. Where his metallic fingers have pressed are bruises, next to the small cuts into his skin.
Halisi looks over Damien with a loud sigh. "It'll be okay." She stands up, letting go of his hands. "I'll be right back. I'll get something to clean that up, and something to help you calm down." She moves towards the door in a hurry.
Damien takes a deep, shaky breath as Halisi hurries out, her look another dagger to his heart. Another person he has hurt. Add it to the chalkboard. He looks down at the blood on his fingernails, feeling a droplet effortlessly glide down his cheek. He would have to tell Jason... He wasn't combat fit for the mission.
Halisi soon returns, a white cloth in one hand and a small injector. She sits back down, grabbing hold of Damien's biological arm, injecting the calming substance into it and then starting to gently clean his hands with the cloth.
Damien sits there in numb silence, refusing to even look at the woman. The substance soon takes effect, his body slowly relaxing. But there is still sadness in his face, guilt in his eyes. The man clearly hated himself at this point.
Halisi moves on to cleaning the cuts in Damien's face, studying him in silence as she moves the cloth over his cheeks.
Damien simply stares down at his hands, not speaking, not moving. He has stopped crying by this point, but his aura is one of sheer depression and trauma. And what he's been doing hasn't helped one bit.
Halisi finishes cleaning Damien up, just sitting there for a while and looking at him with a sad concern. "Maybe you should stay in the hospital. I'll be here if you want to talk, and it's a... safer environment than the Respite. Put you in a calm room, let you rest. I think... rest would do you good."
Damien nods numbly. "I'm sorry, Halisi," he says after a moments silence. "I'm just putting more pressure on you that you don't need. It's selfish of me...". He clenches his hands into fists.
Damien looks up at her finally, his mouth parting to ask the same question he asked earlier that day. "But who helps you?" He searches her face, for a moment his sadness brushed aside with concern for the woman before him.
Damien 's omni-tool chimes with a message. Sender: Leah. He opens it up and reads it, his eyes again brimming with tears. "Fuck," he says, his voice hoarse.
Damien turns his omni-tool for her to read it. Message for Damien Monroe>>>Sender: Leah Mercier>>>Subject: Let's go Maestros, let's go!>>> Alright! Game starts Monday night at 7! Sooooo how about you get here at, let's say, 6:30ish?
Halisi runs a hand through her hair, leaning back with a heavy sigh. She stares up at the ceiling for a few seconds and then suddenly speaks. "I'm going to speak with her. Explain the situation. That you're not... well."
Halisi stands up, gesturing for Damien to come with her as she moves towards the doorway. "Come on, we have an empty room that you can have all to yourself. I'll have one of the nurses bring in something to help you sleep."
Damien stands up and follows her at her request, his actions slightly slowed by the substance in his system. He keeps his gaze firmly locked on the floor
Halisi leads Damien to an empty room with a window that looks out into the forested patch of land behind the hospital. There is a bed, a small table and two chairs, as well as a TV. "You'll be fine... you just need time."
Damien steps into the private room, a small ways from Halisi, allowing himself a moment to look around. He finally turns and looks back at her, a simple nod in response to her statement.
Halisi puts her hand on his shoulder, studying him for a bit. "Try to get some rest, alright? What you need is to stop your mind from running wild. Take some time to calm down and recharge, sort out your thoughts."
Damien 's hand twitches towards hers, but he suppresses it, keep it firmly by his side. He looks down at Halisi, his face almost expressionless to her. "Okay," He says. "When- when you tell Leah... Please make sure you tell her I'm sorry and that I'll understand if she wants nothing to do with me...".
Halisi nods. "I'll explain. We've... all been through a lot. I'm sure some part of her will understand." She removes her hand, starting to head toward the exit. "Just rest." She says before leaving the room, door closing behind her.