Corruption at Purity Hospital IC

[XianTheCoder]

While use of the disrespectful appellation 'boy' grates on Ethan's nerves, he isn't surprised. Based on Chris's description of the old bat, it was to be expected that she would take a confrontational position with him, if for no other reason than to establish dominance in the relationship. It was transparent, but it was likely effective after so many years of practice.

Ethan gives a knowing smile and responds, You certainly live up to your reputation. I prefer 'Ethan' or 'Dr. Roberts' to 'boy', you're free to use either Mrs. Fontaine.* Ethan will glance towards the patient, It wasn't my intention to disrupt you while working with a patient. I was told that you were someone I should go out of my way to meet when the opportunity presented itself, so I apologize if I was a bit too invasive in confirming your identity.** If you'd prefer, I can come back later where we can re-attempt our first meeting?***

Spoiler: OOC

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*Ethan's tone here attempts to convey that he recognizes what she's doing, but he isn't going to take the bait, and he would prefer they start off by treating each other with respect.
**Ethan is making a true and direct statement, delivered in a matter-of-fact tone.
***Ethan is playing a little game here. Offering to come back later does two things, it tells her that she isn't going to avoid this meeting but it also puts her in position to seem small and petty. She could dismiss a doctor, something that would be ballsy and require her to show disrespect to someone who has thus far taken a respectful tone towards her (and if she's an institution around here, especially with the nurses, then Ethan would hope his constant efforts to seem a 'man of the people' have made their way to her ears. This is, after all, why he offers to get nurses coffee and makes sure to say 'hi' to them and treat them decent). She would come off as power-trippy which is not a typical characteristic of someone who's managed to become an institution within a large organization while not actually holding a position of authority. So Ethan is banking on the fact that she's politically savvy enough to realize she gains nothing from trying to bully Ethan and moves on to the next most likely persona you'd expect someone to take in this situation (the disapproving motherly figure).

Here are some rolls, take what you need:

Empathy (9-Again): (6d10)[8][3][5][10][10][10](46)
As Needed: (5d10)[8][1][2][8][5](24)

Persuasion (9-Again): (6d10)[9][3][1][5][7][7](32)
As Needed: (5d10)[8][6][2][5][10](31)

Random: (10d10)[1][7][2][3][7][2][5][2][4][2](35)

[Bennosuke]

The patient nods at both of you awkwardly, says "Excuse me", and shuffles away, dragging his IV pole with one hand behind him. Mamma Fontaine looks over her shoulder, waiting till he is out of earshot. Once satisfied, a shark like grin spreads across her face, one eye brow raised in opposition. "I'm someone to meet?", she says with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Honey, I think you are best off just being straight with me."

Spoiler: OOC

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Now your rolls are on fire. Ethan can tell that Mamma Fontaine is still guarded, but now she appears to be intrigued by him.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan matches her shark-like grin with one of his own, I couldn't agree more. I'm Ethan Roberts, first year Resident. Ethan will extend his hand towards the nurse, waiting for her to shake it. I was told that you've worked here so long that few people can match your knowledge of the hospital and its history, so if I ever had a question you were the person to ask.

[Bennosuke]

She takes Ethan's hand, while still observing him slightly cockeyed. "I have been here quiet some time", she says modestly, "but I'm sure I don't know anything of interest."

[XianTheCoder]

Everyone knows something of interest, even if its only interesting to small crowds of people with specific interests. Ethan releases her hand and takes a slightly more casual posture, as if to say 'now that the formalities are done with'. Looking around to make sure there is no one close enough to eavesdrop, Ethan will speak softly so his voice doesn't carry, I recently had... an experience... and a friend of a friend indicated that you may have had similar experiences and would be willing to discuss them with me. Ethan will watch for a reaction before continuing, Unusual behaviors of patients and staff, shadowy figures following me and then disappearing, and I swear I'm occasionally noticing new doors that weren't there before. At first I thought it might be my mind responding to the overnight schedule, but... I'm less inclined to believe that as new experiences continue to roll in.

Spoiler: OOC

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Yeah, this is a bit blunt and out of character for Ethan, but I want to get the game moving and I don't think that Mamma Fontaine is going to react positively to a lot of back and forth dialogue.

[Bennosuke]

A look of amusement spreads across Nurse Fontaine's face as she shakes his hand, but this quickly disappears when he starts talking about the "strange things". Her already wrinkled brow furrows deeper, almost hiding her eyes, and her lips pucker as if she were about to spit at him. "Boy, you must be some kind of foolish." Her voice is hushed, as if she were trying to keep from being heard.

She looks around, shielding her eyes briefly from the rays of the slowly rising sun. After reassuring herself that they are alone she says, "Tell me, what exactly have you seen?"

[XianTheCoder]

She thinks I'm foolish for speaking, then asks me to say more? Sigh... people and their illogic. Ethan tries his best to remember his conversation with Johnny and keeps his voice down as he responds to the nurse, Mostly what I've already told you. I'm sure you've heard of the patient that jumped last night, well I'm not convinced it was suicide and when investigating there was a shadowy figure... female I think... she that was watching and then disappeared. I didn't think much of it until the mysteriously appearing and disappearing SICU patient room. I may not work in the SICU, but I've been there often enough to notice a room that magically appears and then disappears.

[Bennosuke]

"The man who jumped... what room was he in?" Her tone is dead series when she says this.

Ethan tells her, and she nods her head. "It figures", she says, turning to look out the window momentarily. She presses a hand to the glass, then turns back to Ethan and says, "Well, I ain't saying this hospital is haunted... or at least any more than any other such institution, but... Well Purity Hospital has its share of shadows left behind. It's just a shame Mr. King had to be in her room..."

[XianTheCoder]

Her room? Who was she and what happened to her? Ethan listens carefully to the old nurse, intrigued to find someone with knowledge on the matter, but also suspicious that she may be pulling his leg.

[Bennosuke]

The nurse gives out a slow sigh, seeming to deflate a little physically, as she does so. "There was once a woman named Sarah Collins, who once stayed in that room. She was a lovely lady, and she had a lovely family. But she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer; something that was supposed to be curable. And despite everything the doctors did for her... all the Chemotherapy, and the radiation, and the surgeries... well she just got worse and worse." Mamma Fontaine seems to deflate even more as she tells her story. Her legs seem to weaken, and she reaches a hand out to support herself agains the glass window.

"Her husband and her two boys, both fine young gentleman, had to watch as she became sicker and sicker. Some of it was to be expected with the therapies she was on; her hair fell out, her gums bled. But she was supposed to get better, her tumor was supposed to be responsive to the drugs they were giving her. Try as we did, she just got worse. She became a skeleton of a girl, her skin bruised and peeled. As time went on, she started to break mentally. She died a miserable wretch in that room, and well, I guess a part of her never really left. Something in that room is still suffering, and hungry for more." The nurse spits these last few words out. Ethan can see that she is staring into him, possibly even accusing him. He has never felt a glare like this, such cold passion in a woman's eyes. It was like she had found that he had peed himself. It made Ethan feel small, and guilty for even asking. "I can only imagine that her presence had something to do with poor Mr. King."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan listens carefully as Mamma Fontaine tells the story. Ethan was sure that a normal person would feel sadness for the dead woman and her family and compassion for the old nurse at having to live through such a case, but Ethan never really understood those emotions. The story left Ethan with a lot of questions, like why would the ghost of a seemingly nice woman hurt Mr King and wouldn't her degenerating condition imply that there was a problem before her death. The story also didn't account for the fat maggot man and the mysterious room in SICU. Ethan didn't think it was the correct time to point out the inconsistency though, he'd gotten mamma Fontaine talking and now the way she was looking at him gave him the impression that her continued willingness was temperamental. Realizing he needed to say something empathetic, Ethan does his best impression of a sorrowful frown and takes a sympathetic tone to his voice, That's a horrible case to have to care for. The young patients with families are the hardest for me, the prospect of a child without a mother is nothing short of heartbreaking. Ethan will give the nurse a moment to compose herself while he stands reflecting on her words. Have incidents always been confined to that single room or have they spread to other areas of the hospital?

[Bennosuke]

Grimly, the nurse responds, "There have been similar imprints left throughout the history of this hospital."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods as he considers the nurse's words. So we have a bunch of.. ghosts(?).. of dead patients running around and killing current patients? Sounds like the plot to a really bad horror movie. With little additional thought Ethan decides that he isn't satisfied with the nurse's hypothesis and chooses not to believe her theory. Something strange was definitely happening, but a bunch of random ghosts didn't seem likely. Death happened a lot so if ghosts were common, and real, then every hospital would be overrun with them and he'd have been forced to take a class or two on how to deal with ghosts while in medical school. Thank you, for all of the information. It's a lot to consider and process. After a second of thought, Ethan asks one additional question, Do you recall a patient, a very obese man, who had an issue with maggots covering his body? He may have had a room in what is currently the SICU.

[Bennosuke]

The nurse nods her head to the negative. "I never worked in the SICU", she says, "I take it that means you saw another one?" Her nostrils flair and her lips curl like the thought is forcing her to fight back a retch.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods at her question, but doesn't go into more detail. It seems like a lot more research is required to uncover any true understanding. Anyways, I should probably get back to my rounds.

Spoiler: OOC

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I guess I got my answers and don't really have anything further to discuss with the nurse. From here Ethan will likely need to research the patient Sarah to see if it leads him anywhere.

[Bennosuke]

Mamma Fontaine fixes Ethan with a scowl of pure bile, as if whatever bone she had to pick with him had just snapped, and now she was going to use the jagged ends as a shiv. "What the hell are you getting at boy?" Her tone is harsh, but her voice barely rises above a whisper, "First you come to me as if you is trying to get to know Mamma because she knows this hospital. Then you hit me with these questions about what spirits may or may not still be here. Then you try to leave like my input don't satisfy nothing. It smells to me like you're about to go do something real foolish; like you don't want me to know about your big deal. You reek of mischief boy, and I don't know if I should try to stop you."

Her eyes narrow, as if this would focus them into weapons that could pierce Ethan. But before he can even respond, she gives a huff and turns her massive body around. She starts hobbling away from Ethan, though her pace does not take her too far too fast.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan shakes his head as she begins to hobble away, Old crotchety people... sigh... Ethan will fall into step next to her and speak softly, You're correct, I am not satisfied with the explanation. That does not mean that I do not believe you and do not appreciate the information. I'm a natural skeptic, I've always required... more, but I'm here to care for patients, not to do something foolish. Ethan will continue to walk along next to her, giving her an opportunity to respond (if she chooses to) before he continues. The past clearly weighs heavily on you, yet you've stayed. May I ask why?

[Bennosuke]

"Because I believe that kindness and hope will always win. And despite all the bull****, I still believe what we do in this hospital is good and important." She says this without any sarcasm, or any hint of being pedantic. This is simply a fact to her, it's obvious.

[Bennosuke]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

As Xian is going to be busy this weekend, I am going to close out the scene. I will post shortly in the OOC thread with a tally of the beats, and will post separately IC to start the knew scene. Should overall take me about 30min to 1 hour

The nurse's answer was not all that unfamiliar to Ethan, but the way she said it made the young intern freeze. It was almost an accusation, as if she could X-ray Ethan and see his callous insides. She continued walking, seeming to not care that Ethan was not following. She walked down the hallway, and turned the corner, leaving Ethan standing dumbfounded in the now crimson light of the rising sun.

It took Ethan, what felt like a long time to compose himself. His skin felt slick with sweat. It had been a long night. A really long night. Ethan didn't know if he could keep going at this rate, with everything that had been happening; and it was only his first month as an Intern.

He collected himself, and hobbled back to the elevator and down to the resident room. His ankle throbbed worse than before, forcing him to take the elevator rather than the stairs down to the first floor. It was already about 5:30 in the morning. The day teams would be showing up for morning sign out within the hour. In the Resident room, Ethan logged onto a computer, ran his patient lists to make sure he had done all his overnight work, and checked in on Mr. King. It looked like his situation was guarded; Mr. King was still sedated, incubated, spiking fevers, and requiring IV pressers to maintain his blood pressure. He had been receiving regular blood transfusions, and appeared to be septic (a term used to describe when the heart can't maintain necessary blood pressure due to infection). They were waiting on blood cultures to confirm an infection and identify a source. It didn't look good.

This news didn't help Ethan's mood, making it harder to maintain a 'happy face' when signing out to the other interns, even Becca. And it made it that much harder gathering the courage to meet up with Chris for brunch. All Ethan wanted to do was to go home, close all the blinds, hide his head under his pillow, and try to sleep off this worsening head ache. At least it was the weekend, which meant he had a whole day off.

[Bennosuke]

Act 1 Scene iii

The modern hospital system is based off of the military, to maximize efficiency and safety. This also means that all hospital staff get treated more like cogs in a machine than like individuals. Thank God I'm retiring.

- Dr. H who will remain anonym

Hank leaned back in his oversized creaking leather desk chair. It worked! He had been contracted to help set up a new encrypted Wifi for the hospital, which would only be available to the Hospital staff. This Wifi would be kept separate from that which the patients could use. Though he would mostly be working nights, Hank had come a little early to test out the new routers by setting up the system in the Hospital Technologies office.

And it had worked. Now Hank just had to set up the systems throughout the hospital. His colleague, Jessie, who worked during the day, said she would set up the systems in the Surgical wing of the hospital, and in the ED, which was good. Hank had been down in the basement before, and even as a grown man, it gave him the creeps.

So now Hank just had to decide where he was going to start. He had loaded up a dolly with a few of the routers, plenty of cable, a tool box, and the rest of his supplies. He supposed, whichever side he started on, the Medical or Pediatric, he would either start from the top and work his way down, or do the opposite.

He stood up from his desk. It was time to go.

[baerun]

Hank stood up, stretching his back side to side. Probably should have taken it easier in the weight room yesterday, gonna be a long night if muscles are getting tight already. He takes a look at the faded facilities map on the wall, trying to map out a route to the pediatric wing. This map is probably older than my parents. Hank sets off, pushing the cart in front of him, hopeful that all the sticky notes and additional writing on the map over the years would help him navigate the hospital.

Hank smiles and says a quick 'Hello' to anyone walking by. I guess I should start at the top and work my way down, should be able to gauge where to place the wifi systems to get maximum coverage this way. Arriving to the elevator, Hank presses Up and waits while drinking his barely warm coffee. Hank places his coffee down as the elevator slowly opens and he manages to get the cart in, even with the two inch raise to get into the elevator. I see the elevator's haven't been calibrated in a while, I'll have to ask someone about that. Hank mentally adds that to his todo list and heads to the highest floor.

Upon reaching the top floor, Hank heads to the nearest nursing station, looking for the charge nurse, or whomever he can talk to about the work he will be doing tonight to make sure he doesn't interfere with patient care.

[Bennosuke]

There are two wings to the sixth floor of Building A. To the North is the Pediatric Surgery floor, and to the East is the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), two of the most depressing wings in the hospital.

Hank had never had to walk onto either floor. The PICU entrance was a large sliding glass door. Looking inside, he could see a well lit and modern looking long hallway with large glass-walled patient rooms. A few nurses wearing bright scrubs with superheroes or animal printed on them, walk calmly between rooms or sit at computer stations.

In contrast, the Pediatric Surgical unit had large painted metal swinging doors, preventing Hank from being able to see inside. Hank would have to swipe his ID card to get into either unit. The lights in the hallway flickered on and off, making him slightly anxious to get on with his work.

[XianTheCoder]

Spoiler: Character Box

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Ethan Roberts
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts:
Beats: 5

Spoiler: Aspirations

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1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't

Spoiler: Pending Events/Machinations

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1. Gift for Becca
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Research Sarah

Spoiler: Attributes/Skills

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			ATTRIBUTES
	MENTAL		PHYSICAL		SOCIAL
POWER	Intelligence:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️	Strength:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Presence:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
FINESSE	Wits:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Dexterity:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️	Manipulation:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
RESISTANCE	Resolve:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️	Stamina:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Composure:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️

			SKILLS
	MENTAL		PHYSICAL		SOCIAL
	Academics:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Athletics:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Animal Ken:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Computer:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Brawl:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Empathy:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
	Craft:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Drive:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Expression:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Investigation:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Firearms:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Intimidation:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Medicine:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Larceny:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Persuasion:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
	Occult:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Stealth:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Socialize:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Politics:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Survival:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Streetwise:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Science:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Weaponry:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Subterfuge:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️

The nurse's answer was not all that unfamiliar to Ethan, but the way she said it made the young intern freeze. It was almost an accusation, as if she could X-ray Ethan and see his callous insides. She continued walking, seeming to not care that Ethan was not following. She walked down the hallway, and turned the corner, leaving Ethan standing dumbfounded in the now crimson light of the rising sun.

Watching her go, Ethan thinks to himself, I really don't like her. I wonder how much of those glares are practiced and all-purpose versus actual knowledge. Still, she is... formidable.

He collected himself, and hobbled back to the elevator and down to the resident room. His ankle throbbed worse than before, forcing him to take the elevator rather than the stairs down to the first floor.

As Ethan walked he tried to clear his head, so much had happened that his mind was spinning. It was hard to believe that the SICU events were the same night and the leap Mr King took was only a single night ago. In many ways he felt like he'd been on an emotional rollercoaster as his basic beliefs in universal truths went from firm, to questioning, then back to firmly confirmed, and now back to questioning. Ghosts... so silly, but... the fat man and the maggots... he couldn't have imagined that. Maybe tomorrow he'd find a way to run a brain scan on himself, make sure there wasn't anything wrong upstairs.

In the Resident room, Ethan logged onto a computer, ran his patient lists to make sure he had done all his overnight work, and checked in on Mr. King. It looked like his situation was guarded; Mr. King was still sedated, incubated, spiking fevers, and requiring IV pressers to maintain his blood pressure. He had been receiving regular blood transfusions, and appeared to be septic (a term used to describe when the heart can't maintain necessary blood pressure due to infection). They were waiting on blood cultures to confirm an infection and identify a source. It didn't look good.

Well.. there's a chance. The knowledge that Mr. King wasn't dead did make Ethan feel better, people asked questions about dead patients. He was still surprised that no one from the administration or the police had asked him any questions yet. There was a large part of Ethan that was annoyed he waited all night to get this information though. Those SICU doctors were going to have to pay at some point, there time would come.

----------

During his brunch with Chris, Ethan attempts to keep things light and cheerful, even though he isn't feeling it. Chris seemed like a genuinely good person, and one that actually enjoyed what he did because of the people more than the challenge... Ethan didn't really understand that train of thought, but it didn't mean he couldn't take advantage of it when the time came. Chris was going to be a good contact, he already had been with the Mamma Fontaine information, and Ethan was quite proud of himself. While eating Ethan would mention Becca again, just to reassure Chris that he could handle it, which he hoped had the added benefit of making Ethan look like a compassionate problem solver with leadership potential. Ethan also makes sure to thank Chris with Mamma Fontaine, and puts a rosy picture on his conversation with her (IE "Yeah, she remembered the patient, she had some useful information, but I can see what you mean... she really makes you work for her respect"... stuff like that). Ethan would try and turn the conversation to Chris and his family, with the goal of learning as much useful information about Chris as he can, ideally to locate leverage points with him.

----------

After brunch with Chris, Ethan would sleep... a much needed sleep, but he would set the alarm for an hour earlier than normal to give him time to try and determine a gift for Becca. Without any knowledge of which musicals Becca specifically likes or has seen, Ethan would rely on online reviews to pick a good one. Once he figures out the tickets he'll google a recipe for rice krispy treats, he felt the homemade effort would be appreciated by Becca more than store bought. Thankfully the recipe looked easy... a little butter, a bunch of melted marshmallows, and a box a cereal... then stir and stick in a pan for cutting... easy. He needed to get a card for the tickets anyways, so Ethan quickly runs to the nearest store where he can buy all the ingredients, a card, and something to package it all in. Once he has everything he quickly returns to his apartment to construct the gift. Now how do I give it to her without making a spectacle and Stella seeing? Maybe I just leave it in the car and walk her out with her to give it to her? Ethan does his best to construct something that resembles a decent packaging job, but well.. this isn't exactly his area of expertise.

Once he's done, Ethan gets himself ready for work and then drives to the hospital, leaving the gift for Becca in his car with something covering it so that no one can peek and see.

Spoiler: OOC

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So... I'm not sure if you want a roll for the gift wrapping and rice krispy treat construction. If so... Wits + Crafts - 3, I'd guess? But that only leaves me with a chance die (which feels a bit punitive for the specific tasks), but let me know.

Re Willpower: I had 4/5 at the end of the last scene, so my character box assumes I've regained my nightly willpower and I'm back to 5/5.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan leaves the Kirspy Treats in his car, and makes his way to the residents room. He takes sign out from the weekend on call intern, who basically covered all of Ethan's teams/patients that day. The intern, an short and stout Egyptian man by the name of Salem seems burned out from the days activities, and rushes through the sign out, trying to get out of the hospital.

Per the sign out, there is apparently a very sick man, Mr. Brooks, 94 year old man with stage 5 heart failure, COPD, who presented with an aspiration pneumonia secondary to recent undiagnosed stroke. The patient was well enough to be kept on a medicine floor, rather than the MICU, but was tenuous, and worst of all was adamant about being full code. This meant that if the man started to crash, they would have to do everything in their power to intervene, including CPR, chemical and electric cardiac rescussitation, and intubation; all despite the fact the he would likely not survive despite this intervention.

Ethan was given strict instructions to keep a close watch on Mr. Brooks, and was told the ICU team (Chris) was well aware of the patient and the situation. The patient was on Ethan's other floor, M5. It sounded like the other resident had not laid eyes on the patient in a few hours, but re-assured Ethan that everything was okay.

[XianTheCoder]

The intern, an short and stout Egyptian man by the name of Salem seems burned out from the days activities, and rushes through the sign out, trying to get out of the hospital.

After taking the sign-out from Salem, Ethan can't help but lose respect for the intern, So blatantly showing his mental weakness...

Per the sign out, there is apparently a very sick man, Mr. Brooks, 94 year old man with stage 5 heart failure, COPD, who presented with an aspiration pneumonia secondary to recent undiagnosed stroke. The patient was well enough to be kept on a medicine floor, rather than the MICU, but was tenuous, and worst of all was adamant about being full code. This meant that if the man started to crash, they would have to do everything in their power to intervene, including CPR, chemical and electric cardiac rescussitation, and intubation; all despite the fact the he would likely not survive despite this intervention.

Ethan was given strict instructions to keep a close watch on Mr. Brooks, and was told the ICU team (Chris) was well aware of the patient and the situation. The patient was on Ethan's other floor, M5. It sounded like the other resident had not laid eyes on the patient in a few hours, but re-assured Ethan that everything was okay.

This new patient sounded a lot like a babysitting job for a kid that you knew was going to be a troublemaker, still, Ethan couldn't help but respect the patient's desire to remain alive... if only Mr. King had that same will to live. Good thing I was so productive last shift, because I might not be able to wander as much tonight with this patient. Ethan decides he should make this patient his first official stop of the night, and once he's settled in and caught up, he makes his way over to the patients room.

[Bennosuke]

After briefly rounding through his patient lists, Ethan makes his way up to M5, to visit Mr. Brooks. He mulled over the rest of his list, and couldn't help but be thankful that he did not have more sick patients. If he had the Heme/Onc floor on top of his current teams, he would have been up for a rough night. Still, Ethan's mind wondered to the events of the prior night, his head still clouded by all the strange things that he had seen.

Stepping out of the elevator, Ethan's phone vibrated, alerting him to a text message from none other than Stella. "Heya cutie, are you on tonight?", it read.

M5 was relatively quiet. The young intern made his way to Mr. Brooks' room, M516. The patient was an elderly man, with little hair left on his head. He had a gaunt face, with sunken eyes and evidence of malnutrition, referred to by physicians as temporal wasting. A nasal cannula was shoved in his nose, blowing at well above the recommended 2L. His breaths were labored, and there were audible wheezes and crackles that could be heard without a stethoscope. He was hooked up to a monitor, which showed that he was tachycardic, that he was in A-fib (his atria were not contracting properly leading to an irregular heart rhythm; probalby his norm), and that his oxygen saturation was just barely above 92%. Any lower and he would need more aggressive management.

The man looked up at Ethan with surprisingly aware eyes, and he coughed twice before saying, "Doctor, how are you this evening?"

[baerun]

In contrast, the Pediatric Surgical unit had large painted metal swinging doors, preventing Hank from being able to see inside. Hank would have to swipe his ID card to get into either unit. The lights in the hallway flickered on and off, making him slightly anxious to get on with his work.

Hank decides to go to surgery wing first, inclined to get that area up and running in case an emergency surgery came up. He takes off his badge and swipes it, replacing it around his neck before pushing the cart through the doors.

At the first nurses station, Hank stops briefly, grabbing the attention of the head nurse. "Excuse me Ma'am, I believe the day staff may have sent word ahead, but in case they didn't, I am here to install Wi-Fi. This is part of a hospital wide effort to improve patient care. Is there anywhere specific you'd like me to start first?"

[XianTheCoder]

Spoiler: Character Box

Show

Ethan Roberts
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts:
Beats: 5

Spoiler: Aspirations

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1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't

Spoiler: Pending Events/Machinations

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1. Gift for Becca
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Research Sarah
5. Research Myles Sharp

Spoiler: Attributes/Skills

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			ATTRIBUTES
	MENTAL		PHYSICAL		SOCIAL
POWER	Intelligence:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️	Strength:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Presence:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
FINESSE	Wits:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Dexterity:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️	Manipulation:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
RESISTANCE	Resolve:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️	Stamina:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Composure:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️

			SKILLS
	MENTAL		PHYSICAL		SOCIAL
	Academics:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Athletics:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Animal Ken:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Computer:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Brawl:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Empathy:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
	Craft:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Drive:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Expression:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Investigation:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Firearms:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Intimidation:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Medicine:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Larceny:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Persuasion:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
	Occult:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Stealth:	⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Socialize:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Politics:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Survival:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Streetwise:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
	Science:	⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Weaponry:	⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️	Subterfuge:	⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️

Stepping out of the elevator, Ethan's phone vibrated, alerting him to a text message from none other than Stella. "Heya cutie, are you on tonight?", it read.

Ethan looks down at his phone, She really is aggressive. Ethan weighs the situation in his mind. On one hand, Ethan knew that he needed to play things carefully and not create a paper trail that could be used against him later, but on the other hand Stella would eventually grow annoyed at his lack of responses... he wasn't always going to have a foot injury to he could blame for his unresponsiveness... and tonight he was going to be more chained to the floor than normal, thus unlikely able to avoid Stella. Deciding on his course of action, Ethan types a response [Yup, with a patient now. You need me?]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Ethan is choosing to respond, giving a short vague text that he could easily defend as "work related" if Stella ever tries using it against him.

The man looked up at Ethan with surprisingly aware eyes, and he coughed twice before saying, "Doctor, how are you this evening?"

Ethan smiles as he steps into the room, genuinely pleased that the patient seems to be cordial and pleasant thus far, My evening is off to a good start, thanks for asking. I'm Dr. Ethan Roberts, I'll be your overnight doctor. How are you feeling?

[Bennosuke]

The Pediatric Surgery floor is a relatively well lit series of hallways with large patient rooms, divided between three patients. Families huddle around patient beds, with each unit separated by a drawn curtain. Mechanical clicks and beeps provide a constant cacophany to the room.

Hank makes his way to the nearest nursing station and introduces himself to a 30 something nurse with shoulder height brown hair, and a forgettable bespectacled face. She smiles politely, and laughs, "I guess you should just set up in whatever way gives us the best connection." She smiles and shrugs at Hank, before turning back to her computer, leaving him to decide.

Hank gets to work, first perusing the floor for good locations to place routers, and by finding all the available Ether jacks. It takes a good 45 minutes to install and wire everything. He then goes about installing software onto the local computer server to allow for encryption of the network.

Lastly, Hank begins test running the network, but is frustrated to find that there seems to be a dead zone, directly at the main nurse's station!

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Can I please have an Int + Computer roll for Hank's trouble shooting/problem solving of this anomaly

************************************

The elderly gentleman shakes Ethan's hand with a dry and wasted grip. "Oh, I've been better", he says with a laugh choked with mucus. The laugh is then followed by a short coughing fit, turning the emancipated man red in the face. "Excuse me," he says, "how are you doing Dr. Roberts?"

Ethan's phone vibrates, alerting him to another text.

[baerun]

Spoiler: Character Box

Show

• Health:8
• Willpower:5
• Beats/Experience: 0
• Aspirations:

1. Successfully 'upgrade' or 'enhance' a working system with unauthorized improvements
2. Get first paycheck
3. Make a friend at work

Just my luck, first stop of the night, already found a dead zone. Hank pulls out his phone and his laptop and begins diagnosing what could be the cause of the dead zone. He starts by thinking of the obvious possibilities like interference of other wireless devices and works his way through troubleshooting, down to determining whether the nurses station is painted with lead paint. Would be odd in a pedi department for there to be lead paint.

(5d10)[6][8][4][8][4](30)