"So, do you care to explain how this happen again? The truth this time please" Her voice broke through the maddening quite of the hospital. Long, pale, nimble fingers checking the plain white cast to make sure it had set right. It hadn't been the first she had made since she had the 'honor' of becoming a doctor at this hospital. She was a surgeon, studying under the best, learning to navigate the human mind, to feel persons heart under her fingertips. Drunk on the feeling of having another's life in her hands, now? Well, it was the most excitement she had seen in days. When did setting a broken leg start to become something she looked forward to?
Lexia brought bright, hazel eyes to a set of nervous looking green ones. It would take a complete fool to miss that look in the boy's eyes. Fear. It was an emotion she saw often enough in the eyes of her newest 'patients', let alone nearly every morning staring right back at her in the mirror. It would take a great deal of force to cause both a Tibia and Femur shaft fracture. Let alone in someone as young as the ten year old boy that sat on the examination table in front of her, she kept the leg elevated by a foam square and was double checking her work. It was perfect, it would drive her mad otherwise, but it was perfect and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Though, there fractures didn't come along easily, if it was just the Tibia she might have believed the whole 'I fell off my bike' explanation she had been fed, but the femur is the strongest bone in the human body. It takes a high energy impact to cause such damage.
"He told you, he….he fell, Doctor. Are you calling my boy a liar?" The mother defended, fists placed on her hips, tired green eyes that might have one time been as bright and lively as the little boy that sat looking down at this leg. Her hair looked disheveled, straight, red hair that had fallen partly out of what might have once been a tight bun. The brunet could only shake her head, her high set pony tail swaying to and fro, feeling a very unpleasant chill crawl its bony fingers up her spine. That feeling of being watched, you'd think after two years she would be used to it, though every now and then she became aware of it, her mind free to wonder and drift. Nothing occupied her thoughts long here and for a mind like her own? It was never wise to leave it idle. That might just drive her crazier than the silence ever would.
"No Mrs. Capery, I do believe he fell." She said, that monotone exasperation never shifting as she continued to look the boy square in the eye, not once glancing at the mother. She had no idea what they were doing but it likely wasn't anything wise. People can do many things when there is that proverbial light, hope. She just hopped, for their sake, that it wasn't what she thought it was. The dirt on their clothing, the faintest scent of pine needles, grass stains that were on his jeans. They had been in the cluster of trees that surrounded the town and she'd bet about anything the boy wasn't the only one climbing one of those tall trees. "I just do not believe a fall from a bicycle would cause an oblique fracture of both the tibia and femur shaft." She continued dryly making the boy shrink under her gaze and the mother stiffen. "You must have been climbing those trees at the very end of Main Street were you not?"
'Not the trees near the edge of the fence' she thought, narrowing her gaze at him, silently trying to communicate the thought with him. It was a foolish notion to think you could make the gap from one of the closer tree's to over the fence. Though as far as she knew they might have removed the ones she saw the last she was there.
"Y-yeah! I…uh, lost my plane! Right I lost my plane in one! Toby threw it up there!" The kid muttered ducking his head. If he was going to lie his parents needed to teach him better.
"Yes, well, next time this little
Toby makes you climb a tree to get you're things, I advise your tell an adult. Alright? It's very dangerous otherwise. Who knows what idiotic antics that he may get you into?" She said sliding her gaze finally to the mother who had been staring hard at the side of her head, the freckled woman avoiding her gaze. "Stupidity is the leading cause of premature death around here after all." She added.
"Y-yes, ma'am." He muttered, glancing quickly to his mother before looking back down, eyes drooping. The sedative she had given him before still seeming to linger.
"Magnificent, then if your mother does not have any question for me, I shall be on my way." She said already standing pushing the small rolling chair back, writing a few more notes on her clipboard. "Keep that cast dry and your foot elevated. You will be unable to walk for the next five months at the very least. We can lend you a chair until you are healed. She said looking at the white cast that ran up from his ankle to all the way over his hips support crossing over and latched around other thigh. There was no chance of him moving that leg anytime soon. She finally glancing back at his mother, pulling a slip of paper from the pad that was next to the forms on her board after scribbling her signature across. "These should be enough to get him through, if he is in severe pain in the next two weeks, bring him back. I'll set up a checkup five months from now to see if he would be ready for the cast to be removed…..and do be more cautious with your child." She added, causing the woman to narrow her gaze into a hateful glare, making the stoic woman cringe slightly. She had no doubt she would have hit her if she thought she might not get in a touch of trouble for striking a doctor while in their place of business.
With that she was out of the room, closing the door with a sigh, catching the tail end of; "-talks funny-" before the click of the door latching behind her. The halls were long and empty. It held that chemical, sharp scent of antiseptic and floor cleaner. Even if it was rarely used, every inch of the hospital was cleaned, the untouched sheets changed. Sometimes that's all there was to do in a given day. Now and then cases like this would come in; a child hurting themselves playing, or something idiotic their parents might have tried to try and make it to the other side of the fence. It was one thing if an adult tried on their own, though something did not sit right with her when the statistic and numbers that clearly showed the amount of people who have tried and failed for someone who was supposed to care for and protect them to put them at such risk? There was no escape, they were like mice in a lab trapped in the white walled maze.
A yawn left her lips as she glanced up at the simple black rimmed clock that hung over the nurses' station, sliding the paper work across to the nurse behind the counter. With a few quick words and a nod she was sent on her task while the doctor picked up the cold, bitter, grainy cup of coffee that she left waiting for her. The break room coffee never was as good as the Coffee house's she could never finish a cup unless she was dead on her feet. She didn't go as often as some but the freckled young woman did often stop by the shop before she would head to her shift, especially if she had the early morning one. She needed something to keep her awake in this silence. To be flooded by the noise, activity, life. Anything to break the silence that she was subjected to more often than not.
Though the gritty texture that slid down her throat was the least of her concerns at the moment. Her shift was over and she was more than eager to escape the silence. A place that once gave her meaning and security, offered her little or either these days. All she wanted at that moment was a stiff drink and a moment where she didn't feel like she wasn't being crushed under the burden that only seemed to pile higher and higher every morning she clocked in and long after she had left. She glanced one more time at the clock as she signed out, making her way towards the locker room. She suppose she had a little time to fix herself up before the sun went down. A shower was sure to make her feel a little more human. Even if it was only slightly.
Meanwhile in a brightly colored store in town a young red haired woman was setting a large, teal colored teddy bear in the large store window it's little pink and white poke-a-dot bowtie slightly crooked as she adjusted the large toy for all to see when they passed by. It safely nestled between the trainset and rocking horse. Each and every detailed made careful and lovingly by hand. "There we go! All set. Mr. Howard, you about done?" she called, a cheerful grin pulling across her lips as she wiped her hands on the front of the blue and yellow striped apron that everyone that worked there wore. An affection of the current owner of the shop more than an actual rule in itself. In a place that could be as bleak as Cascade Falls, a certain blond toy maker thought it needed a burst of color. This was no different. A toy shop was meant to be bright, cheerful, welcoming and as the smell of cedar filled the shelf lined store only helped. "Mr. Howard?"
"Just a sec, Sandy." A baritone called from the back, that southern twang having lost a bit of it's prominence over the few years since he had been not so gently urged to call this place home. Though that southern drawl never did seem to leave, marking the man from the south in itself. Though it would take a trained ear to figure out which state, let alone even what part of Kentucky it was from. A dangerous game to play here if nothing else, most were wise and tried to not mention much about it. His voice followed by a rattling sound of metal against metal and a hissed curse that was met with a thud before the man stumbled out of the back, kicking off a bucket that he had stepped in when he had forgot to glance back when he had, holding the doll close to his chest, his first ball joint doll, clad in in long, ruffled dress and tiny flowered top hat. The delicately craved doll safe and secure after a bit of hopping around, leg shaking and the very unhelpful laughing from Avery's employee. "Thanks fer helpin', I don't know what I'd do without yah." He huffed, unable to hide the bemused smirk that had creeped on to his clean shaven face. Blue eyes looking down fondly at the doll in his hands as he sat her down on the shelf next to the other dolls they had crafted. It was something satisfying about it. Mandy did love dolls. She loved to dress them up and set them around her, telling them great adventures.
The melancholy that only lasted a moment before the young woman's snicker broke him out of his bittersweet memories. That's all he had left of the littler girl. He knew she was in good hands. He had made sure if anything happened to him, that she would end up somewhere with people who would care about what she wanted, what she needed. Not what they wanted her to be. Last wills and testaments brought a certain reassurance. A bitter one, but one none the less. "S-Sorry….but come on, you got to admit. It was funny."
"Thanks fer yer concern. Such a sensitive soul, you are." He quipped with a roll of his eyes before he whipped his scarred hands on the chest of his apron, narrowly missing jabbing himself with the carving tool he had left sharp side up in the bib. "Though, I'll forgive yah, bein' my favorite apprentice an' all." He added undoing the knot behind his back as he took a stride towards the rack fastened behind the counter, removing the apron easily, hanging it on one of the hooks, before adjusting his glasses. The dark brown frames were scuffed, and nicked in places but they were his. It was the only thing he got to keep from a better life filled with hot summers and ice tea, Cold winters and tiny snowmen. As odd as it sounded it was like a little piece of home. "Now come on, hang up yer apron and go home to that behemoth of a boyfriend of yers." He chuckled as he did his final walk through of the front. Making sure every toy was in place. The woman didn't need much encouragement after that. She was out of the nearly obnoxiously bright apron and out that door with her keys before he could turn back around.
"You have a good night now, you hear!" She called, doing her best impersonation of an southern accent, which really wasn't really good at all and it sounded more like she was a little drunk instead of a little southern, but the intent to teas was clear. Making the man shake his head in amusement. It got old a long time ago, but he appreciated the effort at least. With that he locked the door, the bell attacked giving its final ring for the evening before he walked out into evening, more than ready to fall into his nightly routine. The man could say he fell into a bit of a rut, but what else can you do in this hell hole. If it was the afterlife he must have pissed off the big man or woman upstairs. His routine was as followed, cup of coffee in the morning, be it either the ridiculously thick cup of ground he made for himself or a more pleasant visit to the local coffee shop, then head to the shop to open up, work on toys, then at the end of the day with sore, tired hands, he head to the bar to grab a drink at the end of the night, before making himself go home and put in earplugs before he sleeps trying to ignore the screams the best he could. That was his routine, time in and time out. How the social man fell into such of one was beyond him, but maybe that was what was what kept him from thinking too much. For morning a life that has likely gone on without him. Where a little girl hate him for breaking a promise, relatives whisper about the black sheep, and those who did care likely have forgotten him, he only a passing thought now and then. If he was lucky that is.
So as he followed his usual rout, imagine his surprise when he happen to catch a glimpse of a certain doctor as she had just popped out from around a corner, nearly sending the older man stumbling over his own feet as he tried to stop himself from running her over. Those bright hazel eyes looked up at him, wide in surprise for a moment as she stumbled back away from him when she found the taller man a mere few inches from her. Long dark brown hair actually down and loose as it's natural wave kissed and flipped against her cheeks and jaw. Though the surprise and flash of concern was only there for a moment before that sweet expression of surprise and concerns was replaced by vivid layer of annoyance as her cheeks flushed in agitation. "Awww, good to see you too doc. And might I say yer lookin' awful nice." He chuckled after regaining his balance, smirking down at the rare sight of the doctor.
He'd never seen her wear anything other than some sort of gloss or mascara the rare occasions he had been reckless with his tools and ended up making a new scar on his hands or arms. So imagine his surprise when he saw the woman with dark, velvet red lips and eye liner, why was she even wearing a little bit of eyeshadow?! Let alone was that a skirt? Oh this was priceless. It might have become a slight past time for the man to pester the young doctor. He wasn't trying to be cruel, or at least he thought he wasn't. Some girls just need a little push, and the woman sure as hell needed one. She was going to a lonely little thing, and in a place like this it could drive you insane. The woman was nearly a recluse he had noticed. The only public places she ventured often was maybe the library, or the Café a day or two a week. Being that shut off couldn't be healthy to be in that hospital how often and long she seemed to be. So his good old heart found it his duty to shatter that shell. Anger just happen to be the best method. Not that he didn't just enjoy scaring and annoying the woman. No what sort of guy would he be if that was it. Though, if she did, it's her fault for squeaking like that when someone snuck up on her. Not his fault, no, not at all.
Before the man who had designated himself as her friend could say anything else did the doctor turn on the heels of her boots, sending the ankle high leather to rude against the thigh high, black knitted stocking as she tried to walk away from him. She was determined to act like she never saw him. Though just as quickly had she turn to stomp away with a dramatic turn and flair of knee high red skirt was she brought to a halt. A surprised squeak leaving her as she jumped, her already fragile nerves shaken as she looked up to find who had wrapped an arm around her shoulders, patting her shoulder like one would when patting an infant's back. "W-what do you want Mr. Howard?" She muttered, trying to slip out from under his grasp, only to be pulled back against his side, she finding herself even closer then she would have cared to be. She found him agitating, for one reason and one reason only. She could brush off his touchy nature, as well as his friendliness….though his insistence of frightening her? She despised it. She didn't need to be reminded how easily scared she was.
"Oh nothin' much, just thought a lady could need an escort is all." He cooed, grinning at the sharp look she shot him. "And didn't I tell you to call me, Avery? What's with all this Mr. Avery stuff?" He added ushering her in the way of the bar as they continued toward the center. It had to be where she was going, why else would she be walking that way at this time if not?
"I have no interest in calling you by your name. It will only encourage you." She huffed, shoulders rigid and stiff under his touch as she begrudgingly accepted her fate.
"Come on sweet heart, you act like I'm goin' to eat you or somethin'."
"Or something….Can you go bother someone else? I am trying to have a pleasant evening." She hissed.
Though despite her best to give him the cold shoulder the two bickered back and forth. Little did she know the two had fallen into an odd friendship over the couple of years she had been in the town. She wouldn't admit it, but it was one, an odd one, but it was. Though he sincerely did agitate her often. Very often. Why was beyond her but it got tiresome. So imagine her joy when they made it to the bar and saw the multitude. The life, the noise and best of all the chaotic energy of humanity in one confined space and for the first time that night her shoulders started to relax. Though more so, she saw a chance. Before the blond could say a word the older man she ducked low and slipped between groups of people standing in front of the bar with a quite apology. She was through the entrance in a matter of moments before she ducked past a another group, an actual ghost of a smile on her lips as she made her way, peaking now and then around people or in the open gasp here and then. If she could see herself she be a bit appalled out how silly was acting though the freckled girl in the white long-sleeved shirt wanted as much distance from her and the man for as long as possible, or at least until she was pleasantly buzzed and honestly give a damn what her own name was. Right now her nerves were not prepared for his acts of 'friendship' let alone she wouldn't put it past him to drop ice down somewhere if she looked away from him. He's done it once, and it was one of many reasons why she hadn't frequented the bar in the last few weeks….well she supposed it was weeks. That hospital made it hard to keep track of time, let alone a lack of a calendar didn't help either.
She had ducked back behind a small group of people, having been blissfully oblivious to the questioning gaze to the two previous groups she had done this to beforehand. She was finally going to just snag an empty seat aft this one, but she wanted to be sure he had lost his motivation and had decided to spread his attention to someone else. Life wasn't that kind she supposed for when she had looked up to see what group of bodies she had ducked behind was, a red flush coated her freckled cheeks as she looked at the people. She had seen them before, well she had seen most of the residence, she wasn't exactly cocial, but for the first time before her attempts to hide did she realize how idiotic she had to appear…let alone people she seen often enough in her daily routine. With that utter embarrassment in mind she straightened herself to her full height trying to brush off the moment of childishness.
She knew them by name, she knew them by file, the Librarian Jean Belmont, and she had seen her now and then when she had ventured into the library for a new book when she's run through her last stack of borrowed books. Joshua Duke, the dairy farmer, and finally Eric Reed, the Sheriff. Most were files stored away, things she's organized and a photographic mind filed away for unneeded use. Some instances that needed an injury treated or an illness diagnosed, while some were fortunate souls that avoided walking through the sterile doors of her place of business since their very first unplanned visit. Though all of these thoughts mattered little to her at the moment. No, she was trying to figure out how she let herself be reduced to this. She clasped her hands in front of her, glaring towards the bar that certain glasses wearing blond had slipped over to. Sending all the embarrassment and anger she felt in his direction before she sighed looking off to the side. "My apologies for disturbing you. That was especially odd…I was escaping that, twit." She muttered as some form of explanation. Though she wasn't exactly in a hurry to run unless insisted otherwise, no, she knew that Avery was bound to stay far away. One good thing about his always talking at her is she found out rather quickly about his unease around the Sheriff. She was more than willing to use that to her advantage, if she was lucky he will find a distraction soon enough and she wouldn't have to disturb these people any more than necessary. "Please forgive the intrusion…" She muttered looking sheepish.
Meanwhile the blond had found his way over to the bar trying his best to not start laughing as he glanced at the scene unfolding a bit away. Oh that was better than just teasing her a little. He smiling and greeting a few people he knew somewhat well. Though as he looked around, finding true enjoyment to see so many people in one place, to actually see people in this forsaken town full of life. For a moment it almost made him forget what his life was now. It felt like those stupid nights he would go out with friends after a long day, before he had the responsibilities of a little sister who needed him. Finding something easy, someone to simply loose himself in for a night before he would wake up and start the day all over again. Now, well, he had trouble finding a reset button maybe responsibility really has made him an old man.
As blue eyes shifted around the room they soon fell on someone he honestly couldn't recognize. It was a young man. For a minute he thought he had to be mistaken, it had been a little while since they got a new addition to the 'community' though when he glanced at him one more time, adjusting his glasses he was sure he didn't know him. If he did it would be the first time in a long while that he forgot a face. With one more glance around the room he shifted his way down the bar a bit, situating himself beside the unfamiliar man with a genuinely friendly smile on his face. Always happy to meet someone new, a change of pace was always good in this town. "Hey there, I'm Avery." He greeted almost immediately trying to get the man's attention, offering him his hand to shake. "You new around here?" There was probably better openers but in all honesty he might be a touch out of practice introducing himself. After about three years, most know each other and he knew most he cared to. To it never did hurt to be friendly. Well that was a lie it could hurt, but it was fun too.
The night had an air of danger that drifted above the party. It was the night that brought anxiety to everybody in the town. James yearned to clutch onto his wine glass tighter, yet he would've destroyed the glass. He looked back over at Casey, sparing her a mere glance. "Well, I won't be able to introduce myself any other time," He started. Before leaving, he patted Laura on the top of her head. The action implied, good luck, she was never the best at keeping up conversations - not anymore she was. He walked towards the group of people who Casey was in. He remembered the faces that spoke with the newcomer. Their names were blurry in his mind.
It was a few seconds after James left to introduce himself to the new girl. The conversation began and Laura was the catcher. "The antique store?" He restated the question, giving herself a second to conjure up a proper response. "Um," The consonant was prolonged. "Well, I guess it's going well," She mustered out. "There really isn't much to say to be honest. It's just an enticing place for dust." She let out a dry chuckle. Her icy blue orbs caught a hand motion from the sheriff. It quickened her heartbeat, skipped on beat and her breathing grew heavy. She turned her attention to the direction the sheriff was directing towards. It was just another man.
That dangerous look in Sampson's eyes was not at all foreign. Howard had seen it dozens of times on scores of different men and women; it was the way the majority of group A had looked at him, their confusion immediately turning to hatred in a split second. As the old man sat there across from his lone nomad, the boy he'd sent to die just for having the nerve to still exist, Howard thought he might be in real danger. He waited for a long moment, dark eyes watching as Sampson struggled like a spoiled child over the notion of being denied. Even if Howard was at all diplomatic, that journal could never, under no circumstances, make it into the valley.
Sometimes, Casey had no clue how to pace herself. When she was nervous, she drank to relax, when she was upset, she drank to forget but now, with so many eyes on her and the sheriff right across the deck, she drank to give herself something to do. The people around here were appealing, funny and smart and Casey wanted nothing more than to get lost in everything they were saying, just focus on the bar's upcoming party and laugh along with Elena's jokes, or ease Alison's worries about being stuck in the grocery store forever. Anxiety always stopped her, though, the fear of the phone ringing, of having the night ruined by her own fête.
The reappearance of Jean was rather sudden, but Eric wasn't surprised to see her hands full of crumble, continuing to play the role of good hostess that she had been cultivating for years. He didn't miss the grateful smile on her face, a look that he assumed was directed at him for answering the door and letting the Barden's in while she had been occupied. With a slight nod, Eric returned the expression, glad that she hadn't been offended by his initiative. In a town so void of privacy, it was difficult to tell what actions could rub a person the wrong way and Eric hadn't wanted to put himself on Jean's bad side.
Norma could feel herself glaring at Howard as he walked away, her now empty fingers curled into a tight fist, a show of defiance that was rarely seen from the woman. The last several years had been hard on their relationship, taking their bond of friendship somewhere toxic and into hostile territory where Norma was now nothing more than a lackey, the same as everyone else in the mountain. She continued to watch him, still staring as his form disappeared out of sight, around a corner and toward the exit, back to the mountain with Sammy's book of secrets from the real world. Sometimes, she thought this valley was going to drive them all crazy.
