Chapter 53 - Purpose
By Cille
Hikki lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't really been sure what to do with himself since leaving the infirmary the previous day. He'd spent a lot of time sleeping, and April had brought him his meals so he wouldn't have to go out, but with nobody else to talk to he'd been feeling rather listless. Ein tried his best to cheer him up, but even he had gotten bored and run off somewhere.
Hikki kind of regretted leaving Samson's room. At least there he had people to talk to, even if he wasn't really doing anything. But after hearing Solomon talk about how overcrowded the infirmary was, and knowing that everyone else there probably just thought he was in the way, he felt that going back to his room was the right thing to do.
He'd told everybody else to just go back to living normal lives, but what did that mean for him? Before the war, his normal life involved scurrying around pretending to help with the preparations for battle and hitting on Samson. Neither of those things really felt relevant anymore.
He could certainly occupy himself with angsting about their current hopeless state, but he was tired of that too. He found himself daydreaming about his cafe, thinking how nice it would be if he could just spend his days baking, but after a while that just depressed him.
His thoughts also kept involuntarily turning back to Dr. Tenma, and he'd given up trying to stop them. He had to admit that that was another reason he wished he hadn't left the infirmary.
Of course it wasn't like he couldn't go back there. He was still injured, after all, and he probably needed to have his foot looked at regularly. Yes, in fact, as he wiggled his toes inside the bandages, he was pretty sure there was some pain there that needed to be checked on.
Without even thinking about it, he found himself in his wheelchair heading toward the medical quarters. The first person he found there was Kaia, who seemed kind of preoccupied looking through a supply cabinet.
"Um... excusez-moi..." Hikki said tentatively.
"Oh hi, Hikki, do you need something?" Kaia asked distractedly.
"Um, well, my foot..." Hikki began, looking around for Tenma.
"Kaia, we need that gauze and ointment in here now," Kira called through the door.
"Working on it!" Kaia called back, emerging from the cabinet with an armful of supplies.
"Sorry, Hikki, we've got kind of a situation. I need to get this stuff over there. Oh dammit..." she swore as a couple of rolls of gauze slipped out of her grasp.
"Here, let me..." Hikki offered, bending over to pick them up.
"Thanks, would you mind just following me with those?" Kaia asked, heading for the door. Hikki silently followed her with the gauze in his lap.
They ended up in another room, where Tenma was performing surgery on Mugen assisted by Kira. Hikki brightened when he saw the doctor, but then realized the nature of the "situation" that was going on.
Kaia delivered the supplies to Kira and then came for the gauze that Hikki was holding.
"Deed somesing happen?" Hikki asked quietly, wondering if there had been another attack.
"His wounds opened back up," Kaia whispered back.
"Oh..." Hikki murmured.
He watched for a minute or two, and then suddenly felt like he might be in the way. He was just about to wheel himself out when Roxie stuck her head into the room.
"Got another problem child a few doors down," she reported. "These guys just don't want to stay in bed."
"Is it Kenpachi again?" Kaia asked with a sigh.
"You got it," Roxie answered.
"I'll go deal with him," Kaia said, heading for the door. As she passed Hikki, she handed him a tray of bandages. "Hey Hikki, can you unwrap these and have the ointment ready to go when he asks for them?"
"Oh, Hikki's here?" Tenma asked, turning slightly.
"Yeah, I kind of enlisted him to help," Kaia said. "He's not scrubbed but he can at least handle this stuff."
"That's fine," Tenma said, turning back to his patient.
Hikki felt a little self-conscious, but all he could do was follow Kaia's instructions and be alert for anything else that he needed to do. He soon forgot all about his original "errand" as he got more involved in assisting Kira and Tenma with their procedure.
"Thanks, Hikki, I think we can take it from here," Kira said after a while.
Hikki nodded and put his tray on a table. Tenma was concentrating too hard to notice him, so he just quietly left the room.
Out in the hallway he saw Kaia coming toward him with another tray. "Hey, Hikki, thanks for helping out. I don't suppose you'd mind sticking around for a little while?"
"Um, okay, just tell me what I need to do," he answered, hoping he'd be up to the task.
"Just be a table on wheels for me," she said. "Carrying all of this stuff around is kind of a pain in the ass."
"I seenk I can handle zat," he said.
He followed her from room to room as she checked on patients, changed bandages, and dressed wounds.
"You are very beezee here, non?" he said, handing her yet another package of gauze.
"We are," she replied. "Even with no new cases coming in, almost everybody here needs daily care. Especially the ones who had major wounds. It takes hours just to make the rounds every day, even with three or four of us on the job."
"Oh..." Hikki said sympathetically.
"I really appreciate you helping out today. Somehow just having a lackey takes a load off," she said with a chuckle.
"I am glad to help," Hikki responded. "Een fact, eef you would like I can come here again tomorrow."
"That would be great," she said appreciatively. "Any time you get a chance to come down, it would be a big help."
As they moved to the next room, they saw Tenma in the hall.
"How did the surgery go, doctor?" Kaia asked him.
"Oh, fine. Now if he'll just stay in bed and quiet he might have a chance of healing up."
"I know what you mean. I almost had to knock Kenpachi out to get him to stay put," Kaia said with annoyance.
Tenma shook his head. "I don't know about these guys. I don't want to have to use sedatives on them, but if I have to, I will."
He turned to Hikki. "Ah, I see you still have a helper," he said brightly.
"Yeah, Hikki's been a big help today," Kaia said. "He definitely showed up at the right time. We're hoping he'll be able to swing by again for rounds tomorrow."
Tenma smiled warmly. "That would be wonderful," he said. "We can use all the help we can get."
Hikki felt his heart jump. "Oui... I'm happy to help," he stammered.
"You should get some rest, doctor," Kaia said. "We can handle the rest of the work here."
"Thanks," Tenma said wearily. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Hikki waved feebly as the doctor walked away, still kind of dazed by the unexpected encounter.
"Let's go, helper," Kaia said, tapping him on the shoulder as she headed toward the next room.
They passed the hallway that led to Samson's room, and Hikki paused and looked down it pensively. Just then Clarice came out of the room. Hikki was about to wheel himself away quickly when she spotted him.
"Hey Hikki, could you come in here for a minute?" she called to him.
"Um..." he mumbled, and Kaia turned around inquisitively. "I'll be just a meenute, okay?"
"Sure," Kaia said. "I'll go restock and meet you over there."
Hikki followed Clarice into Samson's room. She closed the door behind him and then went to stand next to Samson.
They both seemed very somber, and Hikki waited to hear what they had to say.
Clarice took a deep breath. "We have some news to share, but we wanted to tell you personally before it gets out."
Hikki's mind instinctively flashed back to that day several weeks earlier, and those words he wasn't meant to hear...
"Yes? What ees eet?" he asked casually.
Clarice and Samson glanced at each other, nodded resolutely, and then both turned back to Hikki.
"Well..." Samson began. "You know that Clarice and I have been in a serious relationship for a long time."
"Yes, I do," Hikki said calmly.
"Well... we want you to know that we're engaged now. Once this is all over, we're going to get married."
The two of them looked at Hikki like they expected him to freak the hell out at any moment. But he just smiled back at them.
"I hope you weel be very happy togezzer," he said pleasantly. "Eef you need a wedding cake, you know where to find a baker."
Samson and Clarice looked stunned. Hikki couldn't help feeling a bit of smug satisfaction at blowing away their expectations.
There was a knock at the door and Kaia stuck her head in. "Oh hey, guys," she said. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Just let me know when you're ready to go, Hikki."
"Sure," Hikki said. "Well, duty calls," he said to his friends. "Was zat all ze news?"
"Um, yeah, that was it," Clarice said.
"I see. Congratulations zen."
As Hikki left the room he could still sense Samson and Clarice's stunned silence.
He couldn't deny that he'd felt a twinge of sadness in his heart when they finally said the words straight to his face. But this was a day he'd been bracing for for a long time. As he followed Kaia down the hall he allowed himself one melancholy sigh, and then he had work to do. And a handsome doctor's thankful smile to focus on.
When they finally finished their rounds he was tired but contented with his hard day's work. He had finally found something to do with himself to feel useful. He'd also entirely forgotten about his silly scheme for spending more time in the infirmary.
**********
Later that evening, when Clarice was heading back to her room, Cougar stopped her in the hall.
"I wanted to run an idea past you," he said. "It's something I've been thinking about but I want to get the okay from someone in charge first."
"What's up?" Clarice asked.
"That escape hatch out there is still clear. We've got a camera set up now so we can look outside from inside the door. So I was thinking that I could be making runs at night to go out and bring back supplies."
"You think you could pull that off without getting caught?" she asked.
Cougar grinned. "They don't call me a speed demon for nothing. I've got the access code so getting out and in isn't an issue. Only thing is, I wouldn't be able to carry too much with me. It'd be too risky to take a car. But even a backpack full of food a night would be a help."
"Where would you get it?"
"There's a town not too far away, and some abandoned houses nearby that might have usable stuff in them."
Clarice thought about it. "Well we could use more food and supplies... but only if it's not too risky. So I would say it's okay as long as you're sure you can do it safely."
"I'll give it a test run tonight," Cougar said. "If I have any issues that'll be it. But I think I'll be all right."
"Okay," Clarice said. "Good luck."
Cougar paused. "Oh, if you don't mind doing me a favor... don't tell Ms. Cillie about this, okay? She's got enough to worry about."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Clarice asked.
"It'll be okay. I just don't want to add to her stress. I'll be gone and back before she even wakes up."
"Well... okay. Just be careful."
Cougar smiled. "Of course. Thanks, and have a good night."
He stretched his arms over his head and considered his plan. It wasn't without risk, of course, but he was confident that he could make it work. He'd seen how worried everyone was about running out of food, and if he could buy them another week or two or more of security, then it was worth trying. As long as he didn't have to make Cille worry, everything would be fine.
Chapter 53 author's notes:
Recurring characters:
Hikki Follet - Kohikki
April - LirpaYamEnujYluj
Samson Monroe - MasterSamson
Kaia Namek - namek_kaia
Roxie Goldsmith - anime_goddess05
Clarice Rowe - QueenoftheDorks
*Lucille "Cille" Compton - Cille
Ein - Cowboy Bebop
*Solomon Goldsmith - Blood+
Kenzou Tenma - Monster
Izuru Kira - Bleach
Mugen - Samurai Champloo
Kenpachi - Bleach
Straight Cougar - s-CRY-ed
* Characters marked with an asterisk are mentioned but do not take an active part in the story.
Hikki lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't really been sure what to do with himself since leaving the infirmary the previous day. He'd spent a lot of time sleeping, and April had brought him his meals so he wouldn't have to go out, but with nobody else to talk to he'd been feeling rather listless. Ein tried his best to cheer him up, but even he had gotten bored and run off somewhere.
Hikki kind of regretted leaving Samson's room. At least there he had people to talk to, even if he wasn't really doing anything. But after hearing Solomon talk about how overcrowded the infirmary was, and knowing that everyone else there probably just thought he was in the way, he felt that going back to his room was the right thing to do.
He'd told everybody else to just go back to living normal lives, but what did that mean for him? Before the war, his normal life involved scurrying around pretending to help with the preparations for battle and hitting on Samson. Neither of those things really felt relevant anymore.
He could certainly occupy himself with angsting about their current hopeless state, but he was tired of that too. He found himself daydreaming about his cafe, thinking how nice it would be if he could just spend his days baking, but after a while that just depressed him.
His thoughts also kept involuntarily turning back to Dr. Tenma, and he'd given up trying to stop them. He had to admit that that was another reason he wished he hadn't left the infirmary.
Of course it wasn't like he couldn't go back there. He was still injured, after all, and he probably needed to have his foot looked at regularly. Yes, in fact, as he wiggled his toes inside the bandages, he was pretty sure there was some pain there that needed to be checked on.
Without even thinking about it, he found himself in his wheelchair heading toward the medical quarters. The first person he found there was Kaia, who seemed kind of preoccupied looking through a supply cabinet.
"Um... excusez-moi..." Hikki said tentatively.
"Oh hi, Hikki, do you need something?" Kaia asked distractedly.
"Um, well, my foot..." Hikki began, looking around for Tenma.
"Kaia, we need that gauze and ointment in here now," Kira called through the door.
"Working on it!" Kaia called back, emerging from the cabinet with an armful of supplies.
"Sorry, Hikki, we've got kind of a situation. I need to get this stuff over there. Oh dammit..." she swore as a couple of rolls of gauze slipped out of her grasp.
"Here, let me..." Hikki offered, bending over to pick them up.
"Thanks, would you mind just following me with those?" Kaia asked, heading for the door. Hikki silently followed her with the gauze in his lap.
They ended up in another room, where Tenma was performing surgery on Mugen assisted by Kira. Hikki brightened when he saw the doctor, but then realized the nature of the "situation" that was going on.
Kaia delivered the supplies to Kira and then came for the gauze that Hikki was holding.
"Deed somesing happen?" Hikki asked quietly, wondering if there had been another attack.
"His wounds opened back up," Kaia whispered back.
"Oh..." Hikki murmured.
He watched for a minute or two, and then suddenly felt like he might be in the way. He was just about to wheel himself out when Roxie stuck her head into the room.
"Got another problem child a few doors down," she reported. "These guys just don't want to stay in bed."
"Is it Kenpachi again?" Kaia asked with a sigh.
"You got it," Roxie answered.
"I'll go deal with him," Kaia said, heading for the door. As she passed Hikki, she handed him a tray of bandages. "Hey Hikki, can you unwrap these and have the ointment ready to go when he asks for them?"
"Oh, Hikki's here?" Tenma asked, turning slightly.
"Yeah, I kind of enlisted him to help," Kaia said. "He's not scrubbed but he can at least handle this stuff."
"That's fine," Tenma said, turning back to his patient.
Hikki felt a little self-conscious, but all he could do was follow Kaia's instructions and be alert for anything else that he needed to do. He soon forgot all about his original "errand" as he got more involved in assisting Kira and Tenma with their procedure.
"Thanks, Hikki, I think we can take it from here," Kira said after a while.
Hikki nodded and put his tray on a table. Tenma was concentrating too hard to notice him, so he just quietly left the room.
Out in the hallway he saw Kaia coming toward him with another tray. "Hey, Hikki, thanks for helping out. I don't suppose you'd mind sticking around for a little while?"
"Um, okay, just tell me what I need to do," he answered, hoping he'd be up to the task.
"Just be a table on wheels for me," she said. "Carrying all of this stuff around is kind of a pain in the ass."
"I seenk I can handle zat," he said.
He followed her from room to room as she checked on patients, changed bandages, and dressed wounds.
"You are very beezee here, non?" he said, handing her yet another package of gauze.
"We are," she replied. "Even with no new cases coming in, almost everybody here needs daily care. Especially the ones who had major wounds. It takes hours just to make the rounds every day, even with three or four of us on the job."
"Oh..." Hikki said sympathetically.
"I really appreciate you helping out today. Somehow just having a lackey takes a load off," she said with a chuckle.
"I am glad to help," Hikki responded. "Een fact, eef you would like I can come here again tomorrow."
"That would be great," she said appreciatively. "Any time you get a chance to come down, it would be a big help."
As they moved to the next room, they saw Tenma in the hall.
"How did the surgery go, doctor?" Kaia asked him.
"Oh, fine. Now if he'll just stay in bed and quiet he might have a chance of healing up."
"I know what you mean. I almost had to knock Kenpachi out to get him to stay put," Kaia said with annoyance.
Tenma shook his head. "I don't know about these guys. I don't want to have to use sedatives on them, but if I have to, I will."
He turned to Hikki. "Ah, I see you still have a helper," he said brightly.
"Yeah, Hikki's been a big help today," Kaia said. "He definitely showed up at the right time. We're hoping he'll be able to swing by again for rounds tomorrow."
Tenma smiled warmly. "That would be wonderful," he said. "We can use all the help we can get."
Hikki felt his heart jump. "Oui... I'm happy to help," he stammered.
"You should get some rest, doctor," Kaia said. "We can handle the rest of the work here."
"Thanks," Tenma said wearily. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Hikki waved feebly as the doctor walked away, still kind of dazed by the unexpected encounter.
"Let's go, helper," Kaia said, tapping him on the shoulder as she headed toward the next room.
They passed the hallway that led to Samson's room, and Hikki paused and looked down it pensively. Just then Clarice came out of the room. Hikki was about to wheel himself away quickly when she spotted him.
"Hey Hikki, could you come in here for a minute?" she called to him.
"Um..." he mumbled, and Kaia turned around inquisitively. "I'll be just a meenute, okay?"
"Sure," Kaia said. "I'll go restock and meet you over there."
Hikki followed Clarice into Samson's room. She closed the door behind him and then went to stand next to Samson.
They both seemed very somber, and Hikki waited to hear what they had to say.
Clarice took a deep breath. "We have some news to share, but we wanted to tell you personally before it gets out."
Hikki's mind instinctively flashed back to that day several weeks earlier, and those words he wasn't meant to hear...
"Yes? What ees eet?" he asked casually.
Clarice and Samson glanced at each other, nodded resolutely, and then both turned back to Hikki.
"Well..." Samson began. "You know that Clarice and I have been in a serious relationship for a long time."
"Yes, I do," Hikki said calmly.
"Well... we want you to know that we're engaged now. Once this is all over, we're going to get married."
The two of them looked at Hikki like they expected him to freak the hell out at any moment. But he just smiled back at them.
"I hope you weel be very happy togezzer," he said pleasantly. "Eef you need a wedding cake, you know where to find a baker."
Samson and Clarice looked stunned. Hikki couldn't help feeling a bit of smug satisfaction at blowing away their expectations.
There was a knock at the door and Kaia stuck her head in. "Oh hey, guys," she said. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Just let me know when you're ready to go, Hikki."
"Sure," Hikki said. "Well, duty calls," he said to his friends. "Was zat all ze news?"
"Um, yeah, that was it," Clarice said.
"I see. Congratulations zen."
As Hikki left the room he could still sense Samson and Clarice's stunned silence.
He couldn't deny that he'd felt a twinge of sadness in his heart when they finally said the words straight to his face. But this was a day he'd been bracing for for a long time. As he followed Kaia down the hall he allowed himself one melancholy sigh, and then he had work to do. And a handsome doctor's thankful smile to focus on.
When they finally finished their rounds he was tired but contented with his hard day's work. He had finally found something to do with himself to feel useful. He'd also entirely forgotten about his silly scheme for spending more time in the infirmary.
**********
Later that evening, when Clarice was heading back to her room, Cougar stopped her in the hall.
"I wanted to run an idea past you," he said. "It's something I've been thinking about but I want to get the okay from someone in charge first."
"What's up?" Clarice asked.
"That escape hatch out there is still clear. We've got a camera set up now so we can look outside from inside the door. So I was thinking that I could be making runs at night to go out and bring back supplies."
"You think you could pull that off without getting caught?" she asked.
Cougar grinned. "They don't call me a speed demon for nothing. I've got the access code so getting out and in isn't an issue. Only thing is, I wouldn't be able to carry too much with me. It'd be too risky to take a car. But even a backpack full of food a night would be a help."
"Where would you get it?"
"There's a town not too far away, and some abandoned houses nearby that might have usable stuff in them."
Clarice thought about it. "Well we could use more food and supplies... but only if it's not too risky. So I would say it's okay as long as you're sure you can do it safely."
"I'll give it a test run tonight," Cougar said. "If I have any issues that'll be it. But I think I'll be all right."
"Okay," Clarice said. "Good luck."
Cougar paused. "Oh, if you don't mind doing me a favor... don't tell Ms. Cillie about this, okay? She's got enough to worry about."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Clarice asked.
"It'll be okay. I just don't want to add to her stress. I'll be gone and back before she even wakes up."
"Well... okay. Just be careful."
Cougar smiled. "Of course. Thanks, and have a good night."
He stretched his arms over his head and considered his plan. It wasn't without risk, of course, but he was confident that he could make it work. He'd seen how worried everyone was about running out of food, and if he could buy them another week or two or more of security, then it was worth trying. As long as he didn't have to make Cille worry, everything would be fine.
Chapter 53 author's notes:
Recurring characters:
Hikki Follet - Kohikki
April - LirpaYamEnujYluj
Samson Monroe - MasterSamson
Kaia Namek - namek_kaia
Roxie Goldsmith - anime_goddess05
Clarice Rowe - QueenoftheDorks
*Lucille "Cille" Compton - Cille
Ein - Cowboy Bebop
*Solomon Goldsmith - Blood+
Kenzou Tenma - Monster
Izuru Kira - Bleach
Mugen - Samurai Champloo
Kenpachi - Bleach
Straight Cougar - s-CRY-ed
* Characters marked with an asterisk are mentioned but do not take an active part in the story.