Piper Capello

Where the redheaded intern might have a huge ego. Charlie had troubles finding his. He was never enough in his own eyes. Could never do anything good enough or take any kind of compliment. Even the one thing he was very good at, playing the piano, he would never be the one that would admit he was good at it. Even when he was a small kid and his mom convinced him to compete in some kind of competition against other kids who played the instrument; He won. But still, even with that gold medal around his neck, he would still shake his head when people would compliment him. Would still disagree that he was good. It wasn’t just his own horrible self images. No it was also the fact he trusted anyone.  Naivety. It was a trait some people used to give him. Even though most would also deny it if the boy would ask them if they would give him that trait… He knew it was true though. He trusted people too easily. Even if that said person was threatening him mere seconds ago. And even though he loved being alone and with his own thoughts, no talking people around or any obnoxious pricks. He also was one that would try and befriend anyone. Everyone was in need of a friend, and Charlie didn’t mind being that friend. For anyone… Even a hothead intern, a suicidal patient, a killer or just someone that had a huge attitude and thought she ran the place. Yes, Demetria Rivers had left a bigger impact on the boy than he would ever admit…

“And you ruined it again. I almost start to think you have some kind of god complex from time to time… Thinking you’re always right and only agreeing with people when they and you are also right… Dangerous personality trait~”

He mumbled softly into himself, even though he knew the intern probably overheard him. But with the clock ticking, the boy getting more tired with the second especially with the adrenaline gushing out of his system, his filter was reduced into nothing. He just couldn’t help but speak most to all of his thoughts. Probably a trait more dangerous than a god complex..! 

Thinking about it… Charlie was more of an introvert than an extrovert. He thrived well alone, or with just a few people. Big parties, or just a bunch of people gathered around him would drive him mad. Drain his energy within seconds so he would have to retreat into himself or towards a more peaceful place to start recharging. Sure, he liked to befriend people, talk to them when he passed them again. But he had a small and reliable group of dear friends he would never leave behind and always keep close to.  He also knew he had the off mental days. The ones on which he couldn’t endure any kind of human interaction. Avoided even Sebastian and his favourite blonde; Noah. Days in which he hid under his duvet or even better grabbed his belongings and transported himself into a dark corner of the institute in the hope no one would find him and he would have the day alone with his music and his closed eyes as he leaned against the brick wall. 

“That’s such a bullshit thing to say… It’s not like security needs to do their job better. They do all they can with the limited resources they have. And why bother about a harmless patient whilst you also have to keep an eye out on the actual crazy ones, the ones with suicidal thoughts and the ones that turn into killers when one of the voices in their head take over. It’s like telling a surgeon that worked five hours straight trying to save someone’s life but sadly didn’t succeed he or she is the worst in their job~”

Brielle was dying, staff was rarer and rarer. Sure there was enough staff to keep the place rolling. But there wasn’t enough to start a full search party after finding out after two days he was missing. The decoy of pillows in his bed that wasn’t placed on purpose but had been there weren’t helping them as well. Everyone knew about his episodes. And how they usually are harmless. Him vanishing but turning up at the end of the day. They didn’t worry about him until they knew he was in desperate need of his meds. It was this as well as the fact some other patient was actually stabbing people and barricading himself in a room. A patient with a higher urgency to be found and locked up in solitary confinement.

“Believe me I have learnt from my mistakes. I was in a lot of shit back then. And the fact I actually want to leave this place makes me believe it’s not in my best interest to pull that kind of shit again. But you should know that if I wanted to I totally could vanish again for a full week. Even though Rosie would be on the case on finding me and probably succeeding within hours…”

It had been Rosie that had found him in the first place after all… The small pup had always been able to find him. Especially on the days he couldn’t face humanity. Seb would walk the pup through the institute until she would sniff at the door he was hiding behind. Making sure Charlie was in there before leaving him and the small pup alone for the rest of the day. Knowing Charlie would take care of the pup better than himself that day. The small dog would only have to look at him in a certain way and he would take her to the yard to let her run and pee. Or take her into the cafeteria to get her some food. Also feeding himself as he was there anyhow. 

Rosie had turned into the therapy dog the boy had hoped for. Especially for himself. Even though he knew she had the same effect on some of the other patients. 

“Yeah lot’s of them just mention ‘used same excuse as may 15th’ to make sure it doesn’t turn into 10 volumes. Also I don’t get caught enough to have 10 volumes so I have got that going for me which is nice.”

He said with a small smile as he heard the smile in the voice of the intern. Even though she didn’t actually  smile the boy could guess she was laughing about her own joke. So he might as well play along with it. 

“It’s never intentional… It’s to wake up when I can’t wake up. Or it’s more like realising I’m awake and not asleep anymore.” 

He said softly his eyes looking at the gaze around his hand as he turned it around. Moving his fingers slightly to feel the already burning joints. Already regretting his life decisions of punching that hard concrete wall.

“Thank you~” He said softly before looking her back in the eyes.  “I’m serious… Thank you!”

         A god complex? That was a new personality trait she had yet to hear of. Although it only made the ever mighty dragoness feel even mightier at that. She knew exactly what the term of it meant and what she analyzed it in her head she could see where this little delinquent could come up with the assumption. It would be hard to deny such an obvious character trait for the fire haired beauty, but she wouldn’t play too much on it. After all, she didn’t exactly know this patient as well as her boss and the other staff members clearly did. But some witty sarcasm here and there seemed to be acceptable enough with this patient that he wouldn’t go cowering in a corner or crying to someone of higher command that he was scared of the big bad wolf. It was a nice little reprieve, but that didn’t mean the intern’s guard had been let completely down. It was still very much up and barricaded as she kept herself self aware of her surroundings and herself. Especially what came out of her mouth and the facial expressions that weren’t always the easiest to contain. It was very easy for her hazel eyes to roll into the back of her head from sheer annoyance and a patients stupidity. Even the way she could purse her plump cherry lips as her eyes settled on a stone like face was enough to show her dislike and disinterest of whatever situation she came into.

          It was a rarity for the intern to even agree with people in general considering in her eyes they were always wrong. The feeling of superiority was something that her cells were made up of and flooded through her bloodstream. And when those cells died and new ones were reborn, those cells came back stronger then ever in this proclaimed god complex of hers. Piper couldn’t help that a vast majority of the time that she was right while everyone else was simply misinformed around her. There was little she could do except point out why they were wrong and why she was right. Though it would be an ever rarer case for the fire beauty to admit SHE was wrong.

“Well why would I agree with someone who I know is wrong? Call it a god complex or whatever you will, but the fact remains that if they can’t see if from my perspective, I’m not going to entertain them for long.”

        Piper indicated with a simple shrug of her shoulders. If someone who she believed was wrong was able to CHANGE her mind, well, that would be impressive. Though it was something that happened once in a blue moon - if even that. Especially since it would require the intern to use a little something called social skills. Something which she lacked and something she wasn’t going to go out of her way to accommodate people and go above and beyond. She was here to do a job, learn and then go home and start the day all over again. She didn’t need any of that in between stuff and socializing with others.

      It was true that Brielle had some very limited resources right now - one being security which is why someone like Charlie didn’t get caught and unfortunately landed in Piper’s care. Though he did make a valid point in looking after the suicidal ones or otherwise known as - the crazy ones.

“The crazies do need looking after. But who’s to say a harmless patient can’t turn into something crazy? It’s a silent but deadly sort of thing. You can’t underestimate anyone in this nut house.”

        Oops. She probably shouldn’t have used the term “nut house” to describe this place, however what else was a more fitting and accurate term? Although the red haired intern was assuming this patient wouldn’t take too much offence to her choice of words considering the way their conversation had been going as it was. In fact it would be the opposite if he did take offence to it.

       There was a part of Piper that wanted to part her lips and let a laugh slip passed. But she knew that would be inappropriate no matter how much she wanted to. So she forced herself to keep that from happening as she focused on keeping her eyes down and tending to his hand. Any one who wanted to get out of this hell hole would need to be on good behavior as it was to get out. And those who stirred the pot and continued to get in trouble had less and less of a chance of that happening.

“Well at least you’ve figured that much out.”

       She pointed out. Some patients still didn’t even realize that much and continued on with their idiotic ways. Although at the mention of Sebastian’s little Australian Shepard puppy, the corners of her lips twitched into a smirk. Animals were such intelligent beings and Rosie was no exception. It was easy to befriend that dog too which meant if a patient went missing, Rosie had plenty of scents to comb through. But she did agree with Charlie in the dog being able to find him within hours.

“You wouldn’t even get past the six hour mark with Rosie on the case. She’s smarter then some of the people around here.”

      Piper agreed with him. Although how many volumes he would actually have in being caught in these halls was unknown. It could be a fair few and the intern was just guessing ten because nine was too low. A smile cracked in response on her otherwise stone features as she stood up. This patient was amusing to say the least. And entertaining.

       Her hazel eyes traveled over to the dark haired boy, seeing him running his fingers over his now bandaged knuckles. If he was inspecting her work he would find nothing wrong or out of place. She was precise and knew exactly what she was doing. She had done it so many times in med school and here that she could do it with her eyes closed. As she was busy cleaning the small mess and placing the gauze back in it’s rightful place, she turned to Charlie with a slight shake of her head at his thanks.

“If you really want to thank me, don’t let me find you in this condition again.”

It could be fixed.  It could be fixed. That was all he could focus on at the moment. She busied herself around the small office clinic, and he knew she was still talking but relief washed over him hand in hand with exhaustion. It could be fixed. He knew that Ryder was beating himself up with guilt, and Adam had nothing to say that would make him feel better about it.  But he did now. It could be fixed.

It was infected, she’d said, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to die from it. It would probably continue to hurt, and Adam would continue to feel unwell but he was going to be okay. 

“I told you,” Adam said, fighting to keep up with her questions, “I was messing around with a taser. I wanted to see what it would do. I’m not covering for anyone. It was me and my brother. Nobody else was there. Sam stole the taser and thought it would be funny.”

        It was easy to see why this red haired intern was so intimating to her patients - especially the younger ones. But honestly she didn’t care. She wasn’t about to “play nice” in other words in order to get the information she needed. She wasn’t like Dr. Ramsey who had the kind exterior and could somehow always get the younger patients to confide in him. Piper was the opposite. The dragoness could only try so much in being nice to get the information she needed. Though it was clear this patient of hers was going to be rather tight lipped and continue to feed her lies. As if the red haired beauty was going to believe such nonsense.

“Uh huh. And how long are you going to keep to this story of yours?”

       The intern continued to pry as she observed over her cleaning of the burn marks and thus satisfied. It was still an easy fix, it just required a little more attention as she grabbed an ointment from the drawer and twisted the cap off before squeezing the tube of cream onto her fingers and thus rubbing it over the infected burns.

“Just because I’m young, doesn’t mean I’m naïve and stupid. Do you really think I can’t tell when I’m being lied to?”

        She poked at her patient.

“I don’t think that your worst could do much harm to me, but go off, I guess,” Ryder said, shrugging. He hadn’t been lying about the alarm system, though he could shut it off when she inevitably triggered it. 

She was upping her belligerence to try and scare him into being compliant, but he wasn’t scared of her. He’d been slashed and stabbed and even his migraines were worse than anything she could do.

Whatever Piper decided she would do, whether or not she played by the rules or not, there was order in Brielle and it would catch her if she wasn’t careful.

“They get set after a certain time. You might have been lucky enough to escape them this far, but they’re already set for the night now. I should know, I watched the head guard do it,” he said, playing with the ring of keys attached to his belt. “I can’t tell them how to do their jobs, but I make sure I do mine.”

As she pushed past him towards the doors, Ryder just watched. He could see the little scanner by the door and saw its little red light, signifying that the door was shut and locked–if she tried to open it, the alarm would go off instantly.

        Trying to provoke the fire breathing dragoness into her worst day was just a mind numbingly stupid idea. Although maybe this security intern was just bored and needed a little entertainment. Although Piper’s entertainment of loosing her temper on people was in fact that - entertaining. But she wasn’t going to play fetch with someone just because they were provoking her otherwise true nature she kept at bay with continued struggles. It was extremely difficult for the red haired intern to be this sophisticated and good natured woman for her patients and staff as she put on a fake persona of happiness and positively. Things that weren’t exactly Piper Capello.

“Nice try. I get what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. I’m not going to loose it just so you tattle off to Sebastian or Dr. Wright.”

       The medical intern pointed out. It was easy to push at her ego and provoke that part of her. Piper did however halt in her advancement towards the exit as her hand was placed upon the door and ready to push it open before Ryder opened his damn mouth and caused her to roll her eyes. This had her recoiling her hand back and turning around on her black pump as she glowered at the young intern.

“Then why don’t you do us both a favor and shut the damn alarm off so I can get out of here. Otherwise you’re just going to be stuck with me until morning and I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.”

      Piper indicated, baiting him to bend to her will because there was no way he would want to spend the remainder of this day and come morning when the doors opened to the staff. That would be too much time together and the intern herself could be as vexing as her patients were when he was irritated.

Now Sebastian could pinpoint where his intern’s comfort zone border  was - she was focused and sharp when he was listing what she needed to do regarding the operation, but the moment ignorant parents were mentioned she puffed out like an annoyed cat.

“And this is exactly what I meant: dealing with people side of things.” he let his Doctor face slip a bit with this one as the line of his lips curled in annoyance  “No one likes to deal with idiots, but hey! apparently it is a part of life. Unfortunately it is also a huge-ass chunk of our job.” or even bigger than that “Cannot avoid it,and trust me - I’ve tried.” his temper was a wild beast that was almost impossible to rein in.

Almost.

The young doctor listened to her and tilted his head to the side “You know that I’m workin’ in the research center on weekends, right? So I can tell you precisely where we are standing with that right ‘bout now.” his tone left nothing to the imagination. The progress was not anywhere near fast enough. It didn’t mean that he was going to give up…ever. “Brilliant minds or not, we are gonna keep tryin’.” 

Sebastian’s own shoulders relaxed when Piper physically closed off, like she was being attacked.

Rather childish reaction.

“With pleasure.” he leaned in “Your reaction right now? Ya’ are acting like I personally offended ya’, while I, to be honest don’t really give a flying fuck about your personal side, that was a comment ‘bout your professional approach. Learn to receive criticism and apply it to become better.” his body language was  relaxed, not imposing but confident - shoulders still relaxed but not slouching, leaning in but not lowering his head. Brown eyes were sharp, clear and unforgiving while he watched her “ I’m here to help ya’ become a professional and no god damn surgeon will run at the sight of patients relative, let me assure ya’.” they wouldn’t last long.

“To make it easier for you lemme use a real life situation: ER, young male 26, after car crash with steering wheel squashed into his rib cage, he is conscious, reacting, stable. You check everything and they call you to the second victim of the crash, his daughter, 4 year old goin’ into shock. In the middle of things ya’ hear that somethin’ is going down with the first vic, before ya’ get to him he has removed the steering wheel from his rib cage himself to go and see his lil’ girl and ya’ just stand there watch him internally bleed out in 30 seconds. Flat line.” Seb described, the scene wasn’t unusual in any ER “ There was nothin’ you could have possibly done, the guy basically killed himself, but his wife won’t know that and she won’t ask for nurses, but to see the doctor that let her husband and the father of her child die.What are you going to do then?” he asked simply “Or if they will have a patient ready for ya’ on the table, all nice and prepped, ya’ do your cutting, but the patient never wakes up, because there was the tiniest irregular murmur in his heart that was simply missed by everyone, it happens.” he shrugged this time letting the ugliest part of medical field show: how one can get used to death, how it can become such a daily occurrence that it makes you cold on the inside and outside.” Do you think that patient’s family won’t want to talk to the surgeon? Or something my father had to deal with: parents of a teenage girl came to him to ask if he can cure their daughter ‘cuz she was gay and the exorcism didn’t work. He is a neurosurgeon.” 

“It sucks, but dealing with people as people instead of just bags of meat, bones and fluids is a part of our job. If you won’t learn how to handle them in extreme situations I suggest going back to school and sticking to theory.” now judging from her previous reaction Seb felt that a clarification needed to be added before Piper would go off.

He didn’t need to do that, but he is a nice person.

Most of the time.

“Like I said before and I don’t like to repeat myself, so ya’ can feel special, I am here to help you. I cannot prepare ya’ for the shit you will see as nothin’ can, but I will try to at least ease ya’ in for some part of it. Including ignorant parents.”

       The part about no one liking to deal with idiots was something he had right at least. Honestly if there was a way for the intern to by pass that part and just do any kind of medical surgeries without having to talk to families and any of that, she would be much more content. But instead she now had to sit on edge with knowing she would need to face family members and otherwise, not loose her shit on them and be as professional as possible. No matter how irritating. Besides, it gave her a strange sense of comfort to know Sebastian got to juggle that more so then her and be people pleasing no matter how he tried to avoid it.

“Well I guess it makes me feel a little better to know not even you can get out of  it. Although considering you are a famous face, it’s unlikely you could ever get out of talking to idiots.”

       She pointed out. Sebastian Ramsey was fairly well known and with his personality and the way younger patients in general seemed to gravitate towards him it was only natural that it would be difficult for him to get out of anything. Piper didn’t doubt for a second that no matter how bleak things would be that this doctor and his colleagues wouldn’t rest until they found solutions.

“Good. You shouldn’t give up no matter how hopeless it looks.”

       Piper stated matter of factly. Anyone in his position would surely do the same and have the same attitude towards the situation. Although the situation in regards to the intern’s attitude was something she was oddly intrigued by. Some people were quaking in fear at the dragoness, while others merely looked the other way. But the rare few like Charles Swann that was capable of going toe to toe with her in a match of personalities. He would question the fiery vixen with his sarcasm which was oddly enjoyable. Probably because he was only holding back so much. But Dr. Ramsey on the other hand had no reason to hold back against his intern seeing as how she was studying under him in order to further her career. She didn’t interrupt him as he otherwise critiqued her and surprisingly enough didn’t show she was offended; at least not by much.

“Fine. I appreciate the honesty. It’s a nice change of pace one in a while.”

        She concluded in a tone of voice that wasn’t exactly condescending, but it was teetering on it. A smile licked over her cherry lips as her hazel orbs watched him carefully as he went on to otherwise give her a potential scenario of possible emergency outcomes that involved dealing the patients family. What he was explaining to her wasn’t far off from something that could actually happen which had her taking in all that he was saying. There was the potential Piper could run into this and she wanted to be prepared. Honestly it seemed that the easiest thing for her to do would be to shut off her emotions and just talk to someone and be level headed without the cloudiness of  being too close to a case. It was probably something that was rather easy for the fire haired intern to do considering to the outside world she was this emotionless robot and whatever else they called her behind her back.

“Thanks for listing some possible scenarios, but I can talk to people - I’d just prefer not to if given the option. And I can do it without loosing my shit on them either; contraire to what some people believe about me.”

      Piper informed him. The last thing she wanted to do was to go to some schooling program that would have her practicing her horrible people skills. She may actually loose her shit at that point.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine Sebastian. I have a strong stomach and I’m not squeamish. I know I’m deemed to be this heartless and unfeeling robot which I’m sure has crossed even your brilliant mind. The only thing I’ll ever need to be eased into is those ignorant family members - and maybe some kind of surgery for whenever I get the chance to do an operation by myself.”

“Appointment is on 22nd, ya’ will go with her in the morning and stay with her. I have made the necessary arrangements at the hospital. I want everything ready for then - if ya’ will have to stalk the anesthesiologist in order to get them there on time know that I’m cool with it.”Sebastian assured her “I have also, invited her parents and let them know what is happening, they will probably show up.” he looked up at her with a warning clear in his dark eyes “They are not easy, no, that’s not the best way to describe them.” the young doctor corrected himself “Ignorant is a better word. I don’t think they even googled what her condition is about.” it was clear from his voice what he felt towards their patient’s parents “If they will become too much, just send them to the hotel and ask them to visit her in Brielle. I don’t want to upset Olivia with their bullshit. If push will come to shove do the “she’s resting” scene.” it usually worked and was mostly fool-proof.

The young doctor sighed and made an annoyed little sound in the back of his throat that sounded a bit too much like a growl while hearing Piper’s observation “It’s not much her choice, but the choices themselves. They suck. It’s all maybes,ifs and not enough numbers proving anything. And I’m an oncologist and I usually have more to go on and that’s sayin’ something.” his field was still in diapers and was basically a big one research project, but this was frustrating even for him “I have consulted with so many people and not one dared to call themselves an expert. Saying oh this should work or you should try this might do the job! Like what the actual fuck. We are goinin’ in blind. I have read anything that might relate, but it was mostly like reading fuckin’ aromatherapy guidelines.” the eye roll he had managed to hold back before came back with doubled force. 

Now her surprised reaction surprised him even more “Of course I did. Ya’ want to become a surgeon - ain’t that gonna happen if ya’ won’t set foot in a operating theatre. It’s your attitude that needs to be worked on, not your skills. I’m here to help you, not to get in the way of your development.” Sebastian thought that was obvious, but apparently it was not. Well he said it now.

        The 22nd. The intern made a mental note of that date as well and would mark it down in her calendars once she was finished up here. There was quite a bit her boss had given her to do in this time frame in regards to their patient and the other remedial things she was used to doing. However Piper was not going to complain because opportunities like these were ones she had been waiting for. After all, she needed something to keep her adrenaline going while in this nut house.

       His statement about “stalking” the anesthesiologist however almost earned a little grin, but the fire haired beauty was rather subtle in that expression and nodded her head. However when he started to speak about Olivia’s parents, the whole dynamic of their conversation seemed to take a little shift. Piper was not familiar with any family members here. She dealt with the patients, not their families. That was Sebastian’s department since he was the actual doctor and had the final say in everything. Even though his intern could back him up, everything was best coming from him. Although it was seeming like this time Piper would be taking the reigns. She wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about that considering Sebastian was making them out to be these awful people who didn’t give a damn about their daughter. In that moment, her always confident exterior seemed to falter at her face as he gave her the advice on how to “handle” the Aspinall’s.

“And you want ME to deal with such ignorant idiots? Sure that’s a good idea? I mean I can it’s just.. Well, maybe if we’re lucky they won’t show up and therefore - no headache.”

        It was probably wishful thinking that Olivia’s parents not show up, but even if they did, Piper was fairly sure she could handle them. The intern just needed to watch her attitude and words was all, not that she didn’t already on a daily basis.

        Had his intern touched a nerve? “Maybe I should watch what I observe with this one” Piper thought to herself considering the response she had gotten from his boss. However she could in a sense understand his frustrations so to speak. After all, he had just rolled his eyes.

“But being an oncologist you know there are always so many unanswered treatments and people are STILL trying to come up with solutions. I get the frustration behind it all, I’d feel that way too, but you’re still young Sebastian and so is this generation where other brilliant minds are coming into the same field of work. Like who wouldn’t want a full blown cure for cancer.”

       She commented back, though taking a brief pause in hopes her own mind could up with something he hadn’t. But honestly, what could Piper come up with that he hadn’t already thought of and already consulted with other expert minds.

“What about IV immune globulin?.. Although thinking about, that would probably be the first line treatment before splenectomy - so never mind.”

      Her fire locks swayed from side to side with the shake of her head as she pressed her lips together. She was only surprised because she had yet to be anywhere in regards to overlooking a surgery outside. But his little remark about her attitude caused her to raise a slim red brow in response.

“My attitude? Care to elaborate a little on that?”

       She leaned back in the chair, as she questioned him - doing her best to keep her otherwise “attitude” out of her tone of voice.

Lying. Lying was always Sam’s strong suit, never Adam’s. Piper spoke at him with such severity he immediately felt half his age. A flush warmed his cheeks and his heart was racing. He was terrified. What if this got back to Ryder. What if Robert found out. Ryder could get fired. Adam transferred.  He’d take the transfer. He’d take the fall. This couldn’t, it wouldn’t, get back to Ryder.

“It was in Mexico,” his voice shook with every word and he fought hard to believe every word he was saying in hopes that she would too, “My brother and I were messing around. We found a taser. Someone must have dropped it. I just got out of the water and he wanted to see what it would do.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Ryder was his brother in every sense of the word. He had come out of the water.  It was a taser. 

“I didn’t come right away because I was hoping it would go away on its own. But it hurts too much and it doesn’t look right, and I don’t feel good.”

He brought his gaze up from the floor and dared himself to look at her. Willed himself to be unafraid. He didn’t think it was working so well. 

         Mexico? Well that was certainly a while a go. Which meant despite his explanation to her, he was either lying to took the intern for a complete and utter fool - which she was not. Piper Capello was far form foolish and liked to think she could read people pretty damn well. Besides, when the lie was so blatantly obvious it was hard to misread anything.

“Seriously?”

        She spoke with a condescending voice, something none too friendly either. This kid must have really took for an idiot it seemed. And this time she could honestly not help the eye roll that slipped over her pretty little hazel hues.

“It doesn’t take a monkey to know what a tazer is and what it does. So what were you really up to Adam?”

        The fire haired intern pressed. He had been caught in whatever lie he was hoping to spin around her, but Piper wasn’t falling for it. Just like she wanted to laugh at the fact that he thought this would go away. He didn’t honestly believe that did he? She watched the young patient in front of her with a raised brow; fighting back the smirk and shake of her head at his naivety. Even when he lifted his eyes to her it did nothing to change Piper’s course of thoughts.

“Of course it doesn’t look good  and you don’t feel good. It’s infected.”

       “For fuck sake some of these patients I swear” The otherwise, now irritated intern thought to herself. She grabbed a bottle of liquid disinfected that was meant to minimize the sting factor and poured some of it on a white cloth before gingerly pressing against the burn. For someone with such a harsh personality, the firey vixen had a surprisingly gentle touch. This injury had been ignored for too long and was going to require a good and proper cleaning before she sent him away from her office. However there was a little nagging fact at the back of her mind now - something which she spoke up, her intense gaze fixated on the young man before her.

“Now tell me, WHO are you covering for?”

Even though the boy had a array of mask. All to keep up the act of being a healthy good boy. He knew most of them had fallen off the wall he had secured them into the moment he was transferred into this place. The moment he got that stamp of being insane and having to spend his time inside a place filled with sick people, filled with people that had their own issues. It had been a blessing and a curse. People finally saw him as the stuttering crying mess he was because of all the trauma that was still haunting his head. The mask he had picked up and not taken off since the casket with the cold body of his sister was gliding down into the six foot deep hole in the ground. Over the next two years of him ‘surviving’, even though it was more of a struggle, through his days that mask was getting heavier and heavier. Until he couldn’t even take it off himself anymore… He was broken. His mask a meaningless smile as he walked through the schoolhalls. All the faces around him still filled with pity. Fuck he hated those faces. Even though they reflected perfectly how he felt for himself. A boy filled with a broken heart and hold up tears, he had no need nor use for people looking at him as if he was nothing without his sister. 

Even though he was. He was nothing without Rose. It had always been Rose and Charlie, without Rose there was nothing. There were broken friendships since he couldn’t keep them standing himself. Even the friendships he had made himself, the friends he had and hung around with even without Rose. Even those friendships died out because of his grief. Even Aislynn. Even his best friend next to Rose couldn’t pull him out of his own head. Couldn’t get him back into reality. 

He had been the neat one of the two of them. The one that had his room at least a little organized, because if he wouldn’t his head would be exploding more and more. On the outside he was neat. But on the inside… He had always been a mess, always been chaotic. As a kid he understood the world too well. The pain everyone was feeling, world hunger, poverty, war, illness. He understood the world was nothing but a rotten place filled with people whom all had their own problems. It was a burden a child would never had to bear, a burden he took onto his shoulder because it was the only thing he could have done. If it wasn’t for the ray of sunshine his sister was projecting onto him he would have fallen down into the deep dark far before his breakdown the moment she died. 

“At least now I know you can agree with someone other than yourself.” He murmured softly as he heard the redhead intern agree with him. 

“I’m not sure about that actually. It’s a pretty big deal if a patient goes missing there are a lot of things that could have happened and that could give the place a bad name~ And if there is one thing Doctor Wright hates… It’s bad publicity! You should have seen his face when someone died on his watch. It was bad for the name of the institute as well as the mental stability of the patients that are in here and are actually struggling with the same thoughts on a daily basis~”

He would be lying if he would deny ever thinking about it himself. He had seen enough of this place to know some of it’s secrets. Including multiple ways of robbing your own life if you would be actually desperate enough. How long ago was it that Noah had found herself a knife and was bleeding out in the shower block? It felt like forever ago. A memorie clouded by his own sometimes protecting thoughts. Or Lucy in the kitchen… Demi’s old bunkmate in the toilets. He had seen a quote somewhere. One that had sticked inside the crevasses of his mind; The part of taking your life isn’t that hard, it’s the planning. The imagining of dying and leaving people behind that makes it hard. The writing notes over and over again, making sure to have told a thousand times it’s no ones fault. 

Even though he had been thinking about it. Been standing ready to drop off the ledge into the void. He never actually did it. Never attempted it. Only that one time. The hand filled with pills when Rose had just left him. And that second time in here but with so little pills fucking nothing happened. 

Charlie didn’t fear death. Wasn’t afraid fo the grim reaper taking his soul into the beyond. That being said. He had left the urge to day behind. He would be fine if he wouldn’t wake up the next day. But even the thought of taking his own life. Of standing in front of a robber in a store daring him to pull the trigger. Those days had vanished as snow in the sun. 

Even with his bad nights, nights like these. Nights of him wandering the halls, punching walls because he just doesn’t bloody know if he is awake or not. Even with those it’s alright. He is alright. His mask might be shattered and broken. And he is building a new one. But the new one will be a partial mask. One that will mask shit but will also allow the young male to actually feel and let him know it’s okay to feel. Okay to lay down on bed at the end of an exhausting day. Okay to sleep and see better times, see Rose dance with him through hallways they never entered, through rooms they never visited. He felt bad for having the intern be still in here at this ridiculous time in this terrible place. Just because she ran into a idiot that couldn’t think straight. A idiot that couldn’t shut the fuck up right now to let her do her job so she could get home and get some actual sleep. Something he also should do… Not go home but get some actual fucking sleep. 

“It most certainly is a lot more than I wished it was… I usually am able to get around here pretty easily without someone noticing me. But the times I do get caught is still too high. And yes, I also know that there are reports in there of me being seen on security cams. But that still doesn’t make it better.”

He said as a small chuckle escaped his lips. One that got smothered almost instantly as the pad filled with alcohol touched his knuckle. He had been to occupied looking around, being stuck in his own thoughts to have even noticed the intern grabbing the stuff and taking hold of his hand again as she pressed the cotton onto the dried up blood. 

He didn’t like pain. Never had. Even though sometimes he craved it. Just to feel anything. The moment he was back, he could think a little more rational he feared it again. Dentist, hell no. Syringes, get them the fuck away from me. He even hated himself most of the times after injuring himself once again. The fucking aftermath of taking care of the spot, the bruises the joints that were screaming in agony anytime he would even move them slightly. He hated it. 

“Sorry Piper must have missed that~”

He actually had. Hearing the name made the sign come back. But as he had walked past it before, looking at the name printed on the plate next to the door he had been too far into his own head to actually remember. The downside of being awake for most of the day and getting little sleep. Things just went past you without even freaking noticing it…!

“That’s just volume one. Wright has 2 and 3 aka the full reports of why I was in the hallway, the excuse I made up and the time it took them to take me back as well as a extensive report of my current therapist when he or she found out why I actually was out of my room that night.”

Especially the latter was mostly empty. Or filled with a simple line. ‘Couldn’t sleep because of nightmares of his deceased sister. Tells he needed to outrun his own madness.’ Or something along those lines.

         The medical intern wasn’t exactly a narcissist  - even though to the untrained eye it certainly seemed that way, it was just a matter of her hardly being in the wrong. She had an ego, that much the woman knew about herself. But it wasn’t her fault that those around her were so blissfully ignorant and completely stupid. The gears in her head worked much differently then other people and therefore she was perceived as a villain in most cases. That was fine by the proclaimed dragoness though, she didn’t like people any way and all their insignificant little problems and what they thought fun was. People were nothing but a distraction that would deter a person from reaching their goals in life. Those distractions were things Piper could do without. Instead she was much more in content with simply staying indoors and brushing up on the knowledgeable facts of the medical world that she wanted to be apart of. Or at least, the surgeon aspect of it where she would be performing all kinds of surgeries on people. Not all these fundamentally easy things she could do with her eyes closed considering it always seemed to be a dull moment with not much ever changing here around this place. At the most, maybe she’d get a broken arm to attend to and that was only if her boss was absent and busy with something else that the duty fell on his intern. But even then, it was a basic fix for someone like her. She wanted a challenge in her life. She wanted to do MORE and these remedial tasks that could easily make her go stir crazy. It was a wonder anyone ever got out of the insane asylum here - much less sane.

“Shocking isn’t it? If people weren’t wrong majority of the time I’d be more inclined to agree with them.”

        She stated point blank with a touch of sarcasm. The intern agreeing with someone who wasn’t herself AND who was a patient was indeed a little shock to the system. But it happened.

        Forced to listen to the young patients ramblings, Piper would have loved nothing just to tell him to shut the fuck up. But of course she couldn’t being a staff member. If she were a patient she could have most certainly had more leeway in her freedom of speech. Much of the time the witty little vixen had to keep her tongue on a rather tight leash as she mentally analyzed her own behaviour and how she responded to people. “Just one slip up is all it could take” She reminded herself. The intern felt like she chided herself every waking moment of the day because she knew herself too well. She knew it would be easy to slip up in the moment, which around the wrong person could be a disaster. Piper was by no means a people person; they caused her migraines and their bullshit was too much to deal with. There was hardly a time now where she could think of someone NOT annoying her. There could be something in their body language, but mainly the way they spoke that always warranted an eye roll from the fire haired beauty. If there was a remote that she could point to the individual to turn off the irritating qualities about them that didn’t drive the intern into forming headaches as she listened to their stupidity then maybe, just maybe she could be a little kinder in life. But of course that was being way too hopeful for any person.

“Well it’s a good thing I wasn’t here during that time. Security just need to do their job better so no one goes missing.”

        Piper pointed out. If the security in this nut house did their job right, patients wouldn’t go missing. Although she didn’t hear of someone dying here on Doctor Wright’s watch, that was new information to her. But she didn’t exactly want to pry into that with a patient. If she was feeling curious enough later, perhaps she’d dig into it herself to find out what happened. So for now, she glanced over at the boy momentarily with a knowing look.

“You better make sure you don’t go missing otherwise you’ll be in shit from a few people. No matter how well you think you can hide out.”

        The intern pointed out, knowing Dr. Wright would be at the top of that list. There would also be his own doctor and therapists if he had any - which he probably did in a place like this. And of course his friends. Piper would have probably replied with a little “I told you so” comment. She didn’t doubt he could get around without getting caught majority of the time, but when he did it probably depended on who it was who caught him. Either they would be lenient with him or strict. If it were Piper, it would depend on her mood. Like now for instance. Depending how things played out and if he didn’t give her too much grief once she had him bandaged up, then maybe she would look the other way. The last thing she wanted to do right now was have to fill out some kind of paper work. However since she was treating an injury, the woman was a little screwed either way.

“I’m sure you did.”

       The intern muttered back sarcastically. As if he missed the little plaque that had her name written on it. She wasn’t buying that excuse. But she brushed it off for the time being.

“Really? And here I was expecting at least ten volumes about your late night endeavors and rule breaking.”

         Piper commented with the small twitch of the corners of her lips.

         Once the cream was applied to his now sanitized and blood free knuckles, she took the roll of gauze and began to wrap it around the injured area. When she was satisfied with the required amount of gauze around, she took a pair of small scissors and cut it from the roll. It was then in order to secure it she took the white tape behind her and taped closed where she had cut off. With his hand neatly bandaged properly and by a professional, Piper was satisfied with the job as she inspected his hand once before letting go of it and standing from her seat.

“There, all done. Maybe you’ll think twice about punching things otherwise you’re going to end up back here and I won’t be so nice if this was intentional.”

        The crimson haired intern advised, now cleaning up the small mess of items.

“If that was your ‘nice’ then I’d hate to see your worst,” Ryder replied, though he presumed that it was just this, times about a hundred. He didn’t particularly care, and she certainly wasn’t getting on his good side, so he didn’t budge.

Plus the complaints with her books being heavy just made him inclined to stall for more time.

“See, here’s the thing,” Ryder said, letting his voice drawl a little. “The doors are locked. You open them without proper clearance, and the whole institute will go into a lockdown.”

It was all true, too–it was so patients couldn’t just leave without the staff knowing. 

“I’m pretty sure Seb will mind if you set off an entire alarm system for no goddamn reason other than the fact that you think you’re too good to play by the rules. Even further than that,” he continued, pausing for a moment, “I bet Robert would just love that one of his employees thought so highly of herself that she didn’t have to obey the rules that even he abides to.”

“So take your pick, Piper,” Ryder said, shrugging. “Do what you goddamn want, that’s all you needed to hear, right?”

“Then be thankful you haven't seen me at my worst.”

        The red haired intern replied back sarcastically. No one wanted to see this woman at her worst. Infact, no one had really gotten the pleasure to since she had never been pushed as far to that point. But people were scared of her on a good day - which they were, then they would be petrified of the fire breathing dragoness on her worst day. And really, no one should be around for that.

        There was a very audio able groan of sheer annoyance that rippled within her throat and by passed her cherry lips. He was intentionally prolonging her standing here with these discomforting books. She knew it. She wasn’t an idiot by any means. Though his threats of Sebastian and Robert finding out about her little late night escapade didn’t scare her. Fear wasn’t something that coursed through her veins. Instead, the woman rolled her hazel eyes into her head before sighing in annoyance. He was making this encounter longer then it really needed to be.

“That’s fine. If you want to tell them then feel free to. This isn’t my first time and I’ve never set off any alarms as it is. This is just the first time security finally got off their asses and caught me.”

        The fiery vixen answered point blank. It was at that moment that the weight of the books in her arms and the satchel with the laptop weighting on her shoulder became too much for her to keep standing around. So she walked straight ahead towards Ryder in order to pass him to get to her escape out of this nut house for the night.

Sebastian listened to his intern’s conclusions nodding a few times. They were all correct, but he wasn’t surprised since he never doubted her knowledge or intelligence.

Her professors had plenty of time to verify that during all those years she spent  in school.

“I have already talked to her and she decided on splenectomy.” the doctor simply said “I told her about rituximab, but she wants the first option. We want to avoid another relapse, which - seeing her results- is very possible. And splenectomy is, at least for now, the best way if we want quick results.” Seb wasn’t happy because there was not much they actually knew about the treatments. It seemed that everything was in the research stage still and it annoyed him to no end. “I have discussed this with some specialists in the field and they agreed. I asked about the cyclophosphamide and granulocyte treatment you mentioned as well, but after they saw her results they said it’s not worth the risk. Too toxic and her AIHA is not that un-responsive to the corticosteroids to warrant it.”

“I want to get her ready for the procedure and I wanted to ask you to check on her and the preparations - she needs all her shots, check if the hospital has her blood, double check her new results and answer all the questions she might have about anything.” he was dead serious about it. Olivia will go through a lot of stress so if there was any way they can minimize it -  they will.”I have spoken to the surgeon that’s gonna perform and he is cool with you watching as long as you won’t get in the way. Understood?” he doubted that Piper will turn down any opportunity to enter the operating theatre, but he needed her to know that showing off was not acceptable there. Under any circumstances. 

         Gauging the young doctor’s response to her observations, it seemed as though their minds drifted on to the same wave length in terms of what was best for their patient Olivia. Piper too nodded her head in agreement that the splenectomy would be the better option; especially since it seemed Olivia had chosen it herself. It was better to go with the lower risk options and the ones with a higher success rate. But there were the gamblers out there who went for the more extreme measures.

“That’s understandable. I mean those options are the more riskier ones where as the splenectomy seems like the more likely route to go especially since we will get quicker results. I support it. But if you don‘t mind me observing, you don‘t seem exactly thrilled with her choice.”

        The crimson haired intern added before reaching forward and grabbing the nearly empty cup of coffee as she polished it off with another few sips as she listened to Sebastian speak. Being so keen on details of people when it came to the profession she was perusing, the body language of the doctor in front of her was giving off a different vibe. Almost like he wasn’t completely thrilled about what had been chosen.

       There would be a good amount of things to go over in means of getting Olivia prepared for her up and coming treatment. As such, Sebastian began to tell Piper what she needed to do, giving her a little to do list in order to get Olivia ready. She nodded her head, making a mental note of everything he was wanting from her.

“Of course, anything you need. When would you like to have all this done by?”

        She inquired. The intern always worked best when she had a timeline. That way things were much more organized and she could prioritize them accordingly.

        However what her boss said next actually surprised her a bit.

“You did?”

         Her thick lashes batted twice in his direction as she registered what he had just offered her. THAT was where she wanted to be. Even though she wouldn’t take part in the procedure, just being there to observe was more then enough for the fiery vixen as she would be able to take in the details. Once she got her bearings straight, she fluttered a smile as her cherry lips pulled skywards.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll keep out of the way and just watch.”