Participants:
| Scene Title | Visiting Hours |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Despite having no memory of her, Noriko visits Gillian in the hospital. |
| Date | January 20, 2010 |
St. Luke's Hospital is known for its high-quality care and its contributions to medical research. Its staff place an emphasis on compassion for and sensitivity to the needs of their patients and the communities they serve. In addition to nearby Columbia University, the hospital collaborates with several community groups, churches, and programs at local high schools. The associated Roosevelt Hospital offers a special wing of rooms and suites with more amenities than the standard hospital environment; they wouldn't seem out of place in a top-rated hotel. That said, a hospital is a hospital — every corridor and room still smells faintly of antiseptic.
As morning turns to noonish, Gillian gets a tray of hospital food brought in. She's not really liking the food that sits before her, but she eats it anyway. Mushy and luke warm, it could be much more filling, but it's good. And it's better than how she ate in Argentina. So there's that plus. The bed is sitting up. There's some flowers and cards sitting on tables in her private room. The chair next to the bed looks well used, and the television overhead is turned on. Too bad the only thing that's on at this hour is game shows, talk shows and soap operas. Gameshows are what she's turned to. Watching people guess prices is easier than watching people whine about relationships…
Noriko slips in to the hospital room, her eyes looking around while she stands there for a moment, before she finally looks back at Gillian. She blushes lightly before saying, "I know you know me, but… I'm afraid I don't know you. But, they said you were with me when we got hurt? So, I thought I'd say hi and see how you were doing?" Yes, this is hard for Noriko to do when the woman in bed is pretty much a complete stranger to her.
Looking away from her unappetizing meal, Gillian spots the Asian woman and looks surprised, but then nods. "I heard you lost your memory," she says, looking back down at her fork, before deciding to leave it behind in the mashed potatoes so she can focus on the slightly older woman. "We were hurt at the same time, yeah— wish I could explain all of what happened, but… we're not supposed to talk about it. You doing okay? With the memory loss and everything?"
"I'm alright, I think. Not too much going on for me, I suppose. Just, getting settled in to my new apartment and trying to, get through things, I guess," Noriko manages a smile, even as she rubs her arm a little and says, "I just don't know what to do really. Everything is so… strange now."
"I know that feeling," Gillian says, managing a hint of a smile, but she doesn't look as if she feels much like smiling. Her eyes are a little red, upon closer inspection. "I got a scholarship, so I'm going to go back to school, though I'm not sure what to go back to school for. I already have a degree, it's just not anything big. One of those associates from a community college. I could probably get better." There's a pause, then she checks the knot in the back of her head before reaching out to offer a hand. One with a bandage. Kind of like her bandage, "I'm Gillian."
Noriko has her own arm in a bandage, thanks to a bullet to the shoulder, and she takes the hand to shake it. She smiles lightly and says, "Its good to relearn your name, I guess, Gillian." She offers something of a smile, before she looks at the TV and makes a face, "Don't they have anything better on for you to watch? Those kinds of shows aren't even close to what you need to get better."
"Between soap operas and talk shows, this is a little better. What else am I supposed to watch, the weather channel?" Gillian asks, shrugging her shoulders. The hospital doesn't exactly have a big cable package. "I just wanted something to watch while I ate, that's all." She says, before looking at the woman again. "We didn't really know each other that well. We met to practice for the mission. I had to teach you to handle my ability— which is basically to make your ability stronger. You held the ocean apart for me a bit and I went out and picked up fish for us to eat."
"Well, I… didn't know," Noriko says after a couple of moments of silence. She shrugs her shoulders a litle and replies, "I didn't come to see if you had any answers, I just… wanted to be sure that you were okay." Her eyes looking at Gillian, and there is a definite softness there that wasn't before the memory wipe.
"Oh," Gillian says, looking down at her bandaged hand for a moment. "Sorry." Why exactly is she apologizing? Everything seems to be worth apologizing for right now. "I'm alive. Doctors say I should be able to leave soon, and that I'll be okay." Okay is relative, in this case. Some parts of her are more okay than others.
Noriko shakes her head a little and says, "Its alright, I don't want to seem like I'm mad. I just, I don't know what to do anymore, and I thought coming here to see you was something I could do. And you might appreciate the visitor. I can leave, if you'd rather."
"I'm just not sure what to talk about," Gillian says, looking up at the television, and reaching for the remote to turn it off, while stupid people start jumping up and down at their prizes. "I've had a few visitors." Never the one she wants. Not that she'd know what to say to him if he did walk in… "Didn't they give you something, like a scholarship?"
Noriko nods her head a little before she says, "They did, but… I need to relearn how to read first, or at least figure out if I can even do that again. Seems my memory wasn't the only thing affected."
"What, you can't read?" Gillian asks, looking rather surprised. "Wow— I'm sorry. That's… gotta suck. I'm a librarian, I can't imagine losing the ability to read." The very idea seems to bother her quite a bit, in fact. "But I'm sure there's some people who can teach you how— and if you really can't, there's audio classes and stuff."
Noriko nods her head a little, and twirls her finger next to her face. "Brain damage, they said. Lucky to be alive, they said." She shrugs her shoudlers, and just looks down before she says, "But what kind of life is it? I can't even remember what happened a day before I woke up in a hospital bed."
"But you do remember something, right?" Gillian asks, keeping her eyes on the other woman's face, no matter how much her waterballoon like boobs might attract the eyes of others. "Like your name and… other stuff. You also kept mentioning a girlfriend."
"Did you catch her name? Sarisa kept insisting that I was going out with Angel, because of the agreement, but that's a lot of time to have passed," Noriko mumers before she replies, "Its mostly just cut off… right before something bad happened. Sarisa mentioned jail… I had just killed a man… accidently, I really didn't mean to. He was gonna rape me…"
"I don't think the name was Angel," Gillian says, trying to think back on that, even as she grimaces at the description. She kind of wishes she had asked more about it. "I'm sorry, I don't really remember it well. It was something pretty and girly, but not Angel."
Noriko nods her head a little and says softly, "The search for the mystery girlfriend continues then." She shrugs her shoulders, before she looks around the hospital room once again, before finally saying, "I am sorry, that you got hurt."
"I might be able to find out," Gillian says, trying to be helpful. "One of the people we were working with seemed to know her. If you leave me a number I might be able to find out and contact you when I get the name."
Noriko nods her head before she recites the number from memory for Gillian. "If you want, I can get you a nurse so they can write it down…"
As soon as she starts, Gillian leans over as much as she can to grab a notebook and pencil. And starts writing it down. "No problem. One of the first things I asked for was something to write with and write on… I used to keep journals all the time, so I wouldn't forget things… Though I never thought it would be as literal as what you're going through."
Noriko nods her head a bit and says, "Yeah, its.. weird." She shrugs her shoulders and then looks at Gillian, before turning her head to the side a bit, and then saying, "If there is anything I can do to help you, just call, please."
"I don't really need help," Gillian says, shaking her head a bit. It's hard to explain what she needs. "But thanks. I'll let you know if I find out her name."
Noriko nods her head and says, "Don't think of it as an offer to help you now, Gillian. Just, if you need something, I'm around."
"I know," Gillian says, smiling faintly, but not quite enough to make the dimples show up too much. "Thanks. Maybe I can show you how to go fishing Moses style sometime in the future."
Noriko nods her head and smiles back at the other woman, "Maybe. Take care of yourself." With that, the Asian turns to go ahead and leave the other woman to heal.