Hospital Weirdness

JP with Lorem, Trustno1 and Your name here

Marina made her way to the hospital where Sarah was being kept. She'd silently slipped out of the conversation at breakfast once she'd gotten the fake badges, and called a cab to the hospital. Once there, she sat at a bench near the door and waited for Eun-Ji with her badge, shooting her a text with her location.

A few minutes later Eun-Ji came out from inside the emergency vehicle’s drive through entry doors. She was wearing nurse scrubs which matched the ones they would find inside. A retractable name tag was clipped to the pencil holding pocket on the front. Her hair was up and out of the way in a cute French braid and she even had on comfy shoes with the extra padding for a long day on your feet. The name tag, upon close inspection, was not a picture ID of herself.

Eun-Ji came and sat down on the bench next to Marina. She bowed gently in greeting.

Marina looked at her, then sighed. "Bad choice of outfit." She said, handing her the FBI badge. "Keep this. It might not be useful now, but could come in handy later." She said, stretching. She was wearing a light tan pantsuit with a white shirt and no tie. A bit on the lighter shade for an FBI agent (They favor navy), but still, it shouldn't arouse too much suspicion.

"Since you're already dressed as a nurse, how about you try and take a look at her files while I interview her? It'd be weird for an FBI investigator and a nurse to be working together.”

The Eun-Ji on the bench just tilted her head and smiled as she reached out her hand and took the FBI card. At this point if Marina payed extra focus attention, she would see a very slight painterly effect on the edges of the woman before her. Then came Eun-Ji’s voice from off to the side of the bench. Coming out of the hospital entry was an identical South Korean lady in scrubs drinking a coffee and carrying a clipboard.

“I disagree. You will need to be checked and escorted to wherever you want to go. I won’t be.” Moon replied.

The Eun-Ji on the bench bowed her head again and got up, and took the sidewalk around the building to enter through a different building door with card access only.

Eun-Ji took another sip of her coffee. “Ready, I can take you to her floor if you like? Or would you prefer to go separately?” She was currently mapping out the building, while they still spoke; their targets floor, key locations, entries, exits, personnel and security doors, etc.

Marina turned around and laughed, grinning. "Nice trick." She nodded, stretching her neck. "Still, it makes more sense for investigators to ask questions, not nurses or doctors." A sigh. "And I do have foolproof IDs. But we'll make do with what we have, won't we? If your Dragon luck keeps up, I'll trip over a trash can and that'll help us beat the evil monster at the end of all this." She chuckled, getting up and putting her ID on her inner pocket. It wouldn't do to carry it on her hand.

"So, Dr. Eun-Ji, take me to your patient, will you?" She winked, smirking.

Eun-Ji agreed and was fine with the questions coming from Marina. Eun-Ji concealed a smirk with her mouth, but not her eyes. She had experienced instances where something trivial, like tripping over something, had made a large impact later as probabilities converged into predetermined causalities. In addition, Moon was sure if she had any questions of her own, not already covered, she’d find a way to ask.

As Marina neared her she pointed to her picture ID tag. “It’s nurse Xue Xien.” The picture was of a Chinese woman, which if you weren’t paying too close attention, and most people don’t, could pass enough as Eun-Ji. The question might be, where was the real Xue; only Eun-Ji currently knew that information.

After Moon waited for Marina to get passed security, she escorted her through some security doors for personnel only and to a service elevator. They didn’t get much more than a glance from everyone that was working.

When they were in the elevator alone, and after she pushed the button for the fourth floor, Eun-Ji inquired. “What did you have in mind to ask her?”

"My apologies, Nurse Xien." She nodded. It wasn't that Eun-Ji's plan was bad, she was more annoyed at their lack of coorination, which addmittedly, she was also at fault for.

Passing through security, Marina kept her cool, sighing. In the elevator, she took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. "I want to know what happened to her from her point of view. It's not the end-all be-all of evidence, of course, but it can be an important part of the mystery, if we know how to use it." She crossed her arms. "And of course, what she came in with will be useful as well. The medical report can light up many dark corners." She chuckled.

The doors of the elevator open and she looked at Eun-Ji. "Do you see what they see, or...?”

As they stepped out onto the tile floor of the hospital, they were immediately greeted by Victoria Rodgers. "I can go in with you, Sarah Simmons is my friend. You'll probably be able to get more information from her that way.”

Immediately, Marina took a step back and put a hand over her concealed gun. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Victoria. "Who the hell are you, and who do you think you are?" She said in a cold and angry tone, if they'd already been found out, someone would have hell to pay.

Eun-Ji was about to answer Marina when the elevator doors opened and they were immediately met by an impatient looking Victoria Rodgers. Moon, while she had been scoping out the floor earlier as a pretend nurse, had run into Victoria. The woman wanted to visit her friend; however, had been informed that visitation hours were not yet open. Having been turned down by the central nursing hub, the lady tried to solicite Eun-Ji, who she saw walking the hallways, to bend the rules. That’s where Eun-Ji had left the conversation when she received Marina’s text of arrival. She was hoping the lady would have gotten the hint and left by the time she got back.

Annoyed, but hiding it, Eun-Ji stepped forward to intercept the lady before this interaction became any more tense. “Ms. Rodgers. I see you are still here waiting though visitation hours haven’t started. I apologize for the agent here, she mistook you talking to her.” She stated the obvious, but it had no effect on deterring the eager Victoria.

“I am afraid you must wait until you have permission to see your friend. Don’t worry she is not going anywhere.” While she talked, Eun-Ji discretely and slowly moved her way around the lady and out the elevator. She gave a glance to Marina to please follow her or else she might get trapped by this friend in extended conversation.

“Please wait in the designated lobby over there until the right time.” With that Eun-Ji disengaged and led Marina down the hall, a left turn, and then halfway down that hall stopping at room 413. She made sure Victoria Rodgers wasn’t following them.

“I will knock and enter first and you go notify your presence as an FBI agent with the nurses over there at the central hub. That legitimizes you being here. Then come in behind me and introduce yourself? Then the show is all yours while I look at her chart and pretend to monitor her equipment. Sound good?”

"I'm just here to make sure that Sarah is all right." Said Victoria. She followed them into the hospital room. Sarah Simmons was awake, though looking extremely fatigued. She had several bruises and lacerations.

Eun-Ji had just finished greetings and pleasantries with Sarah Simmons when she heard the door open. It should have been Marina, but instead to her surprise it was Victoria Rodgers again. She could feel her anger starting to boil.

Eun-Ji could have sworn that Victoria Rodgers had gone to wait in the lobby and didn’t follow them. This lady was stealthier than a freaking ninja. Eun-Ji had to keep up her facade as a nurse and couldn’t afford losing her head over this pest.

With a stern voice this time, “Ms. Rodgers, I must insist you wait outside until visiting hours are open and you have been approved to be in here. Now please leave, or I will have to call security.”

Eun-Ji was hoping that Marina would be entering the room soon and could play the FBI card to get this lady out of their way.

Marina sighed, being successfully calmed down by Eun-Ji. She didn't trust anyone so willing to jump them, but for now, she'd suffer her for a bit longer.

"Ms. Rodgers, I have to ask you to wait outside while I interview Ms. Summers. Afterwards, I will interview you, and then, once visiting hours are open, you will be free to schedule an appointment." She said in a stern and authoritative tone. "If you disobey my commands, I will arrest you for obstruction of justice, and you could face being charged with a felony." She then entered the room where Sarah was.

"Good morning Sarah, I'm agent Del Río, I would like to talk to you about what happened." She said, showing her badge. "Think you could tell me what happened from your point of view?”

Sarah Simmons spoke in a horse and quiet voice. "I remember feeling sleepy, I remember looking up, falling off the ladder. I didn't fall down, I fell up.”

Eun-Ji went to work as Marina began the interview. First she checked the chart at the end of the bed. She tucked it under her arm as he then pretended to monitor the machines in the room. Her goal was to be out of the way while she gathered information from the lady’s charts.

Marina tilted her head. "What were you doing as you fell? And is there anything else you felt? Any detail might be important, no matter how insignificant it may seem now." She asked. It wouldn't be the first time that an inconsequential detail that a witness had forgotten to mention was important.

"Someone was shooting inside the theater from a car outside. I can remember that as I was falling up. I was falling up towards the light.” Sarah said. Just then, the television turned on automatically. The volume cranked itself all the way up. There was a news report on the television but it was so loud that it could not be deciphered. Several of the monitors in the room began beeping heavily. The glass screen of the TV shattered into several pieces flying towards Marina and Eun-Ji.

They were able to avoid the flying shards of glass that would have caused lacerations to their face and arms.

Marina looked at Eun-Ji, then at Sarah. "Nurse Xien, is Ms. Summers stable enough for transport?" She asked, her tone having shifted to crisis mode. She was serious and all business now. There'd be time to worry about what just happened later, right now, keeping the witness safe was paramount.

"My name is Sarah Simmons, and I feel good enough to get out of here." said Sarah.

Eun-Ji physically turned sideways and titled to avoid most of the tv’s glass shrapnel. She use the clipboard just in the nick of time to block a large piece heading for her face. As the commotion settled, she was grateful that nothing had struck her person, or at least the small pieces that did were defended by the clothes she was wearing. What was that all about she wondered in agitation.

Having already read the charts on Sarah, Eun-Ji knew she was only suffering from bruises and cuts; no broken bones, fractures or sprains.

“She is fine for relocating.” Eun-Ji answered Marina. She raised an eyebrow wondering if Marina was thinking of removing her from the hospital.

Marina nodded, then thought for a second. Was the attack directed at Sarah or at them? "You said you were falling up towards the light... What light is that, Ms. Simmons? And by 'shooting', I'm assuming you mean firearms?"

She still wasn't sure whether they needed to move Sarah out of there yet, so there was a bit of testing before that. Was the thing after them, or after her?

"I don't know what the light was, as far as the shooting, it had to be one of the gang wars that have infested Gary for decades. It was for sure a drive-by shooting by one of the gangs. But why would they be shooting at a theater?" said Sarah.

Eun-Ji braced for another bizarre and unexplainable effect when Sarah was asked another question; however, nothing seemed to happen this time around. That was just as peculiar to her as it was strange the first instance, and would make it even harder to pinpoint the why behind it. Eun-Ji did a quick glance at Ms. Simmons and noticed she had seemingly avoided any glass from the explosion seconds ago. Marina and Moon each had to dodge or be hit. With that being her only viable reasoning with evidence, she deduced that the explosion was intended for them and not their target.

Eun-Ji looked like she was trying to clean up the mess. When she was near enough to Marina, with her back turned to Sarah, she whispered.

“We need to hurry this up, that explosion has attracted attention. We won’t be alone in this room for much longer.” Eun-Ji continued to use the medical chart to help sweep and scoop up the glass into the trash can.

When nothing happened, Marina relaxed slightly. They didn't need to move Sarah then, there wasn't any attack... Why wasn't there another attack? Marina would have spent more time thinking about it, but Eun-Ji offered an insightful comment, they should move on. Marina's FBI badge would hold up to scrutiny, but Eun-Ji was *clearly* not Nurse Xien.

Marina took a business card out of her pocket and handed it to Sarah. "Here, call me when you get out, okay? I still have questions, and I'm hoping you can help us in the Bureau." She nodded.

Turning to her Dragon partner, Marina whispered to her. "We should talk with Victoria on the way out, I have a bad feeling about her…”

Eun-Ji finished quickly cleaning up the mess left behind by the mysterious explosion using an extra blanket and threw it in the room’s garbage can. She didn’t expect to be around when the staff wondered what happened to the television, but it might take them longer to figure out it was busted if there wasn’t remnants of its surface all over the floor. Satisfied that the room was, for all intensive purposes, the same when they entered, Eun-Ji moved to follow Marina’s exit.

Moon nodded in agreement. She whispered, “I already have intercepted her in the waiting room, where she had been forced by other hospital staff to go instead of standing in the hallway outside Sarah’s door, and am taking her to a stairwell. I lied and said if she followed me, I would take her past the checkpoints to see her friend. If we head to the north stairwell right now we should cross paths.”

Eun-Ji moved past Marina and opened the door for her to exit. She intended to be the last one out of the room and then lead Marina to where they would rendezvous with herself and this Victoria.

Victoria had no more useful information.