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Post by Relic on May 27, 2012 5:22:01 GMT -8
This CAN'T be right. Rellie Page thought to himself.
Rellie blinked his eyes several times sipping coffee from a paper cup, and peering through the partially cracked door at the old man sitting motionless on the aqua doctor's chair. He couldn't believe how early it was, but this was in fact, a legit reason for the unusual wake up call.
"It's right. The numbers are all correct. We've tried several different instruments and machines," says Dr. Laurie Sutter, Rellie's employer. "I mean, for all intents and purposes, unless we're having a massive failure of all our equipment," she says, pulling him off to the side and lowering her voice, "this guy should be six feet under, not sitting there staring at the wall."
Her expression was serious. More serious than he's ever seen her. "Rellie, I need you to check this guy out," she hands you his clipboard; it's blank. "He just came in looking dazed and bewildered mumbling 'Mudrahkay' or something like that. He didn't give a name, has no identification, nothing. It could be dementia, but that'd be the least of his worries given his... physical condition." She paused for a moment, hearing the old man sitting patiently in the other room cough and clear his throat.
"Oh God," a look of concern suddenly on her face. "If this is contagious…" She hands Rellie a white doctor's mask, "I want you to wear this while you're in there."
Looking at him intently she says, "Rellie, you've been here at the clinic a while now. You've got… a way with helping people get better. I'm not sure what it is you do, it's… it's a gift… but some recoveries you've been responsible for really can't be called anything less than minor miracles."
"I need you to go in and see if there's anything you can do for this man, okay? Let me know as soon as possible. I need to contact the CDC, file a report, ask a few questions, see if anything's going on we're not aware of," she requests then heads away for her office.
The Berkeley Free Clinic has been Rellie's 'homebase' for sometime now. They let him do his thing, helping people when he can, and they've been flexible whenever the migrane comes and he's… 'unavailable' for a few days. What they do at the clinic is often thankless work and the burnout factor is high; Dr. Laurie has been good about giving people time when they've needed it.
It is still very early, only two people currently in the small waiting lobby. One of them looks homeless and most likely just came in for a warm chair to sleep in for a few hours.
As Rellie fiddles with the white filter mask given to him, putting it on and adjusting its thin metal strip over the bridge of his nose, Teresa the receptionist sees him and waves, then walks over.
""Hey Rellie. So you're going in to see him, huh? Oh man. I don't want to sound mean, but seriously? That guy terrified me out the moment I saw him standing in our doorway."
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Post by truedweomer on May 29, 2012 19:10:34 GMT -8
"Terrified you Teresa? The overnight shift can bring in some scary stuff for sure, but a weird old dude with a cough? Why does he set off your radar? Doctor Sutter gave me a... professional debriefing of his situation, but what 'vibes' are you gettin' from him?"
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Post by Relic on May 30, 2012 4:24:57 GMT -8
"Just LOOK at him, Rell!" Teresa exclaims in a high whisper. "Off-bluish skin color, no pulse that I or Dr. Sutter could find, no body temp either, those grayish, hazed over eyes and the foul, putrid stench… the man's the walking dead for gosh sakes! Rellie, I'm not sure if we should call an ambulance and have the guy taken over to Kaiser, or call the cops, or call the morgue..."
Rellie took a deep breath then slowly exhaled.
"There... there is something familiar about him though, I can't recall why... but something familiar..." she said with a puzzled expression.
A sudden loud clap came from the room, the sound of a book or something heavy hitting the floor, making Teresa instinctively jump, which for a short, fairly chunky woman, seemed no easy task. "OH MY... I think I just peed myself," she said holding her chest dramatically with one hand. Her eyes wide, Teresa headed in the opposite direction of the man's room.
"... claws... claw... " the old man mutters to himself, standing in front of small supplies cabinet rummaging through an open drawer and dropping things to the floor as Paige enters the room.
"Hello?" Rellie says softly.
"Yellow," the man responses in a raspy shallow, whisper without turning and continues his business.
"Please sir, if you could have a seat," Rellie asks looking at the man from a distance. "seat... claws... claws... claw..." the old man says looking curiously at his hands.
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Post by truedweomer on Jun 1, 2012 18:41:06 GMT -8
I close whatever doors may be open in the room behind me, and draw closed any "privacy curtains" available. I then try and get closer to him. "Claws? Yellow claws? Were you attacked by something with yellow claws? We can help with that sir. We can make you feel better, and nothing with yellow claws can get inside here. So you're safe here."
I reach out my hand slowly, like how one tries to befriend a strange dog that isn't quite attacking, but isn't quite happy to see you either. ) if applicable, i'd use my Medicine and Psychiatry Talents here to see if this even remotely seems like something natural; i'm guessing it's a big "no" but it seems like the way it should logically progress (
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Post by Relic on Jun 4, 2012 22:48:24 GMT -8
First thing Rellie notices is how physically colder it is in this room versus just right in the hallway outside. It felt almost like stepping into a walk-in refrigerator; Rellie can practically see his own breath form slight puffs before his eyes.
"Something…nn…not… right," the man stutters feebly, almost a whisper. "So… cc.. cold," he says doubling forward slowly, his arms crooked and held closer to his chest. Rellie notices his gnarled fingers as the man shivers uncontrollably. It's as if he'd been biting them himself; the knuckles and joints enflamed and knotted, a blue-ish, lifeless appearance to his hands as well as any exposed skin he sees. The man's fingernails look long, hard and strong; they taper to points with a slight curve and dark yellow hue, resembling talons more than finger nails.
As he hangs slumped far forward, leaning his backside against the supplies cabinet, the old man turns his head slowly in Rellie's direction; the man's eyes are severely dilated, more than dilated; it's as if the corneas and whites have gone dark, cloudy black with streaks of smoky grey. They look more like that of a shark or a lifeless doll. Drool runs down the corner of the man's mouth in a long thin stream.
(ooc: both Medical and Psychiatry training point to something abnormal from any human illness Rellie's either witnessed or studied; the termperature of the room could be related to air conditioning or incorrect room temp settings, and not necessarily have anything to do with the mystery man)
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Post by truedweomer on Jun 7, 2012 22:51:56 GMT -8
Fortune favors the bold, sigh. "It's OK sir. I'm going to touch your hand now. I have a special talent. This might make you feel better." I reach out and touch his elbow or hand or whatever is close and doesn't seem to spook him. If successful I try to Damage Transfer any damage he might have to myself.
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Post by Relic on Jun 8, 2012 10:14:12 GMT -8
Rellie gently lays cups the man's hand between his two, instantly feeling a jolt on frigid cold intensity (-2 Health Cold dmg)
The man looks curiously at Rellie's hands, then slowly turns to look him in the eyes (-2 Health Cold; -4 total)
Maintaining the hold, Rellie swallows hard feeling as if the very saliva in his throat is solidifying into ice (-2 Health Cold; -6 total)
Flashes and streaks of pink can been seen momentarily returning to the old man's face but Rellie feels an endless, dark emptiness within this man as any color soon returns to a lifeless, pale blue (-2 Health Cold; -8 total)
Only when Rellie stares down at his own hands does he realize he himself is shivering uncontrollably, his breathing rapid, labored and erratic; his own skin is turning a pale blue and hands becoming dark and frostbitten (-2 Health Cold; -10 total)
Rellie quickly releases the man's hand, recoiling back a few paces; an impish smile develops on the old man's face.
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Post by truedweomer on Jun 13, 2012 21:01:46 GMT -8
"Ooh-ho-ho-kay..." I flick my fingers and shake and slap my hands, trying to get the feeling back into them. I try to recover the presentation of my demeanor since freaking out is probably not the best move for a professional caregiver. "Well sir, your condition is rather rare and I'll need some more information in order to help you. Let's get you comfortable first." I crack open the door to the room but don't turn my back to him, leaning just a little out the door. "Teresa! We need to get this gentleman an electric blanket ASAP. And can you have one of the aides prep a warm bath for him? Thank you!".
Not waiting for an answer from Teresa I turn back to him. "Ok sir. We'll get you warmed up in a jiffy. Let's start with the easy stuff. The doctor doesn't seem to have gotten your name anywhere here on your chart. What name do you like called? When I got here I heard you say 'Mudrahkay'. Is that your name?"
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Post by Relic on Jun 19, 2012 8:07:17 GMT -8
" 'Mudrahk? No... nooo.... Jon, my name is Jon," say the old man shaking his head and blinking with a moment of recollection, yet confusion upon his face.
"Jonathan Hallows. Whu... where am I? Who are you?"
ooc: have Rellie make a Reason FEAT (d100) to see if the name rings a bell.
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Post by truedweomer on Jun 19, 2012 13:50:42 GMT -8
Reason FEAT Roll = [dice=100][rand=7086786052677781596959384623915183061965741217146063724134583026]
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Post by Relic on Jun 19, 2012 21:52:02 GMT -8
ooc: oop... my bad! had meant Intuition (which in Rellie's case is an upgrade to EX) resulting in a 'Yellow'
Either the name, the physical room temperature, or both send a shiver down Rellie's spine -- it's why he too (just like Teresa) had a funny sense of familiarity about the man upon first viewing him. This was the very same 'Jonathan Hallows' he'd seen on TV and read about headlining the paper just yesterday; the same reformed felon and Cult leader, only recently released after serving hard time in Nevada but last reported as missing shortly following his arrival at San Francisco airport. The authorities were looking for this man; a man who, during his prime, was linked to the death of a dozen people decades ago.
Hallows coughed, then pressed his fingers to his temples, "The... the throbbing pain. It's not going away! It's getting... worse," he struggled to say through clenched, but widely-spaced yellowed teeth resembling little dried corn kernels. The elderly Hallows put one hand down against a flat metal-surfaced cart to stabilize himself, and Rellie could almost swear from his vantage point, where Hallows' skin contacted the surface, a thin layer of ice radiated outwards a few inches.
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Post by truedweomer on Jun 22, 2012 19:20:40 GMT -8
Wow. Ok. "It's alright John. You're at the Berkeley Free Clinic. My name is Rellie, Rellie Page. I work here, as a nurse. I'll have a heated blanket for you in a sec. Then we'll get you something for your migraine. Please help me understand something though: if your name is Jonathan Hallows then what is 'Mudrahkay'? You were saying that before: 'Mudrahkay'. Is that your place of employment? Or perhaps the person you wish us to contact on your behalf?" Is there a phone or inter-com in the room? I want to try and contact Teresa or the Doctor but want to avoid shouting out the door again like an idiot. I try and look him over with a fine-toothed comb. Obviously this situation is less suited to my medicinal background than it is to my Deviant/mutant-hybrid background but I'm looking him over for any banal clues I can. Since he was lawfully released there wouldn't necessarily be anything tipping off a prison break about him. But since he was a cult leader maybe he was abducted by someone else and he escaped from them. More likely that this "Cult" actually was the real deal and now he's some demonic/undead thing. But I don't think Rellie would be thinking that yet .
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Post by truedweomer on Jul 5, 2012 13:49:39 GMT -8
ooc: bump
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Post by Relic on Jul 12, 2012 10:33:51 GMT -8
ooc: oop... and now back to our story also, there is a phone but you'll not need it atmAs Rellie examines the man, a lump forms in his throat as his findings test his nerves and reason. No sign of pulse; body temperature way below human survivability; pupils unresponsive to light; inability to draw a blood sample, as if his very blood were coagulated thicker than frozen molasses. He does find strange markings, tattoos or brandings like ornate glyphs, on Hallow's arms and chest area which seem to have been there ages ago, worn and faded enough but too many to be birthmarks, Rellie thinks to himself anyway. Hallows sees the look of astonishment Rellie attempts to hide and gives a slight smile. "You'll not find anything," he says somewhat labored of breathe. "When I'm this way, things don't register as 'normal', but I assure you I am quite alive. Only... I've not been this way for some time now, some time." Teresa knocks and enters, albeit nervously, standing very near to the door and keeping a cautious eye on the stranger from a safe distance. "Here's the blanket, Rel, and a warm bath is being prepared." She stretches her arms out displaying the nicely folded blanket, her adamant body language clearly gesturing that she'll not take another step into the room. As Rellie comes closer to take the item, Teresa whispers keeping her eye on the man over Rellie's shoulder, "So? Freaky or what? Did you find anything else?"
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Post by truedweomer on Aug 1, 2012 22:24:59 GMT -8
"Thank you Teresa." I state clearly for all in the room to hear. I take the blanket from her and lean in a little close to her. In little more than a whisper, "Possible psych case on top of the odd presentation of physical symptoms. But I'm making head way with his back story. I think he might have poisoned himself in an unconventional way and I'm trying to get it out of him exactly what he might have taken. I'm going to close the door. He's starting to open up. I'll be fine, and will use the nurse buzzer if things get sketchy. Thanks again."
I shush her out the door and close it behind her. Without turning around, "We have the blanket, but I guess you can tell me already whether or not it'll help." Turning half towards him and somewhat looking askance at him over my shoulder, "You know exactly what is happening to you, don't you. Or at least you know far more than any doctor here would have figured out. You don't 'really' have a normal disease I assume. Yet you came here, so you must want some kind of help from us."
Walking over hesitatingly but not frightened I situate the blanket on him and try to make him comfortable. "Now is the time to help me help you. I'm ready and willing to hear you out, with whatever you have to say. The longer we wait the sooner other people, who might not be able to... 'appreciate' the particulars of your problem, will start showing up and wanting answers. I'm sure when you walked into this clinic your plan was not to wind up in a quarantine tent surrounded by an army of Center for Disease Control drones watching your every shiver. So I'm all ears. What can I do for you?"
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