Participants:
Also Featuring:
Mira and Rhett (played by Abby)
| Scene Title | Welcome to Surrogate Motherhood |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After a council member falls ill, Delia is charged with the responsibility of one of her babies. |
| Date | March 7, 2011 |
Bannerman's Castle — Non Flu Infirmary
The good news is that very few people actually day to day get hurt enough to require more than five minutes in the new infirmary in one of the converted dorm rooms while the other is housing Evo-FLu afflicted individuals. Doesn't mean that people don't come in. Already this morning, Delia's dealt with someone who sliced their finger in the kitchen, the sniffles in a kid who belongs to a family on the island, someone with a migraine and one toenail that was hanging off a fairly nasty looking toe that had been a victim of a pot of cold water that got dropped on it. The afternoons tended to be quieter, but who knew what might happen any given moment with the Ferry. Like right now.
"Delia"
Someone's calling her from the doorway of the non-flu infirmary, not coming all the way in. Why? She's soon to find out, but right now, the dark haired woman who helps out around the Ferry named Mira is beckoning the red head over this morning, a grim look on her face, before being tugged out of sight.
Looking up from a few notes she's making on a makeshift chart, Delia furrows her brow and stands from her stool. The papers are shuffled away and stacked into a neat pile before she tucks her hands into the pockets of the long sweater she's wearing over her scrubs. It only takes a moment before the redhead is near the door and then peeking out of it to see the woman being walked by a dog.
"Uhm.. I'm uh… not a vet, is he sick?" Those are entirely different sets of classes and the young nurse is really not comfortable with how much animal husbandry she has. Dissecting cats for anatomy is not at the same calibre as treating a sick dog. Especially a sick large dog. But this one doesn't seem sick. Just… rambunctious.
"Nope" She's got both hands on the leather leash, reeling the dog in who lifts his head, seeing Delia and bounds over, bounce in his step and sniffing at her shoes. All tawny haired, black nose and perky ears, his nose travels around her ankles and sniffing heavily.
"His owner is though. Abigail Caliban? Megan brought her into the infirmary, she's caught the flu and she apparently said to bring the dog to you and that you could take care of him? His name is Rhett apparently"
"She did? I uhm… okay.. I've babysat a dog before." Delia looks a little more than confused and seemingly helpless in the face of the responsibility. Casting a quick glance from the dog over to Mira and then back again, she chews on her lip nervously. "Cheza was more of a .. uhm… sleeper than a runner though. Is Abby going to be okay?"
The young woman bends down to ruffle the thick fur at the dog's neck and smiles at him. "Hey Rhett, hi there. Are you a good boy? Huh? Are you? Yesh I think you are! Such a good boy!" Baby talk comes quite quickly in the face of the canine.
Liiiiiick Right up the front of her face over lips, catching the tip of her nose up the bridge and her eyebrows, ending at the hairline before canting his head to the right and looking at the woman. "Megan's giving her some of the tamiflu that she brought back with her, she hopes it'll help, but…" But this isn't like last year and everyone here knows that of the people who go into that infirmary… so far the only ones coming out have been doing so dead.
"I think Abby's going to write some instructions when she's got some sleep in her but she said the dog would behave" The look on Mira's face says otherwise as she holds out the leash. "It's not a runner, I can tell you that"
"Megan's a good nurse, Abby will be okay." The worried expression on Delia's face makes her statement seem like she's trying to reassure herself and the other woman more than actually tell the truth. "Who was taking care of Rhett before he came here? Did she say?"
Not that Delia's trying to pawn off the responsibility.
"I mean, just in case I need to talk to her or him… or.." Make other arrangements for the dog's care in case Abby's condition goes south. Standing straight, she lays one hand on the dog's head to scratch behind his ears, keeping in full contact before being handed the leash.
"She stole him from her house? I guess her.. husband?" The woman doesn't know that much. "I can have someone ask Abigail when she's awake again. "There's food for him though and toys and everything he needs, I can have it moved where you want to" She's more than happy to pass over the beast who's taken to sitting beside Delia, leaning against her leg and groaning at the scratching and contact, tongue lolling out. This is no Cheza, but it's possible Cheza and Rhett might get along.
"Listen, I gotta get going to the kitchen you need anything?" Dump and run, that's what this is.
"Uhm… no, I'll uhm…" Looking down at the moaning dog, Delia reaches with her free hand for the leash and quirks her lips into an uncertain smile. When she's got the tether wrapped around her hand, she looks down at the dog and then back to the nearly empty infirmary. "I guess, just have them brought up to my room?" She's familiar with the dump and run, it's happened a couple of times in the not so distant past but she doesn't seem to mind.
"If you can talk to Abby, that would be great. I'm trying to keep away from the Flu ward as much as possible— I have a cold." And viruses of all kinds are opportunistic little bastards. Delia would never forgive herself if she caused the death of a flu victim by compounding it with a cold.
"Brought up to your room, got it" And she's gone, loping off down the hall to go do that, pass the message along to the other infirmary with a mission and then the kitchen.
Rhett doesn't run after her, just looks up at Delia, head moving to rest at another angle, then another, seemingly at rest before yank he's diving into the infirmary, nose to the ground, looking for smells, looking for toys, looking for something that only a canine telepathis would know, uncaring that this is an infirmary or that someone's attached to the leash.
Urk
That's the sound that comes from Delia as her arm is nearly wrenched from its socket by a dog that's much stronger than she is. As the redhead is dragged helplessly from one corner of the infirmary to another, around cots and even under one by Rhett, she stammers commands trying to get him to listen or stop. They're not full commands, which might be her failure in getting him to listen.
"N- sta— hee— Rhett please stop!" The tone is more exhasperated than angry, her tone still kind to the dog, simply because he's a step closer to being an orphan if Abby doesn't pull through. "Lie down… good boy~"
Stop is the magic word and he does that. On all fours, curled upwards tail wagging back and forth when she commands it. No obedience class for this dog and likely because when she got him, she was busy, too busy to do such. But he knows some commands and when Delia begs him to lay down, good buy, there's a yip and he does that, little awkwardly, but does, head on paws, looking up with doggy eyebrows wrinkled in and up. See, I'm doing it, I'm doing it.
Crawling under the cot to untangle the both of them from its confines, Delia smiles at the dog and slides to a kneeling position beside him. "Such a good boy." She doesn't have any treats, what she does have is practically limitless pets for him.
She hasn't been inside of a dog's head since Cheza came to stay with her for a day and they took a nap together. Rhett presents a wonderful opportunity. At least for her. "I've got to stay here for a little bit, baby boy, you want to stay with me?"
No bark, no attempt made to run away, Rhett just takes the patting and shift enough to get settled, brown eyes locked on the red head it seems, in agreement. He'll be her shadow, for now at least, until Abby's better and can take him back. God willing. He'll lean into that petting though, in lieu of treats.