Nocturnum - Chapter I

[hippocrachus]

Gabriel nodded at Pete and moved off down the hall to Vincent's room. He gave a sharp rap on the door before entering and greeted the boy half-heartedly. He took a seat in the corner, waiting for the doctor to finish up with his patient.

 

[ae1vart0n]

He'd hoped they wouldn't notice. The air pressure thing was of course not an explanation, he hadn't felt his ears pop after all.

Lacking a better explanation, he decided to consider that the place might actually be haunted, but he'd give it a night. No need to jump to conclusions. There had to be some explanation, even a far-fetched one.

Maybe the girl was orchestrating the whole thing?

 

[Insight]

Monday, May 15 2006 - 6:25 PM

~Vincent~

Vincent comes to groggily and the first thing he feels is a splitting headache. Moving a hand up to his forehead the boy feels a nasty lump near his temple.

"Any closer and you might have been in serious trouble young man," the voice of what appears to be his doctor invades his eardrums.

Vincent struggles to open his eyes. "Where... ?" He looks around, gathering in the surroundings. "Hospital..."

Instinctively, Vincent tries to sit up, but finds tubes in his elbows and immediately lays back down. "My head... Doctor... what happened?"

Before the Doc can answer:

Gabriel nodded at Pete and moved off down the hall to Vincent's room. He gave a sharp rap on the door before entering and greeted the boy half-heartedly. He took a seat in the corner, waiting for the doctor to finish up with his patient.

"Gabriel," Vincent replies. "What happened? I fell, that's about all I can remember."

 

[hippocrachus]

Guess that bump was worse than it looked... he thought, giving the doctor an appraising look. Neither the paramedics nor the professionals at the hospital seemed to think the boy took much damage.
"You took a dive," Gabriel responded to the boy with half a smirk, "and it's probably best if that's all you remember. You're alright now; that's what's important."
He still wanted to know why, but Gabriel wasn't going to press Vincent in his sickbed and Roger wasn't going to give a straight answer.

 

[Majin]

Monday, May 15 2006 - 6:27 PM

The doctor looks to Gabriel as he answers Vincent and then back to the boy. "Can you remember anything else? How did you feel before you fell?" Then looking at Gabriel, "If you or anyone else that was nearby could give us an account, filling in the bits Vincent doesn't remember it could be helpful as well," he says, expectantly.

 

[Insight]

Monday, May 15 2006 - 6:27 PM

The doctor looks to Gabriel as he answers Vincent and then back to the boy. "Can you remember anything else? How did you feel before you fell?" Then looking at Gabriel, "If you or anyone else that was nearby could give us an account, filling in the bits Vincent doesn't remember it could be helpful as well," he says, expectantly.

Vincent struggles to remember. "No... nothing specific," he says. Vincent could remember climbing atop the latticework, reaching for the hidden lever, but nothing much beyond. "Wish I could be of more help."

 

[hippocrachus]

Gabriel raised his hands in a warding gesture towards the doctor.
"I really can't say; I wasn't in the room. All I saw was Vincent and a gentleman about my age climbing atop the scaffolding, looking at something on the ceiling, and then Vincent jumping off of the scaffolding. I can't say what put it in your mind to do a thing like that..." He gave Vincent a concerned look.
Gabriel was sure Roger didn't push him. Even at the distance he witnessed the incident, he could say confidently that Roger seemed to have tried to prevent Vincent's jumping.

 

[Majin]

The doctor gives Vincent a concerned look. "Have you been depressed lately? Have you ever contemplated suicide?"

 

[ae1vart0n]

It was a tense situation. On one hand he wanted to talk to Vincent, to apologize, to explain. But Roger had no explanation. Mary felt a pull, and so had Roger through Vincent. The goo, the TV, these weren't run-of-the-mill delusions.

He began to move toward Vincent's room. To face the music. As he got close he thought he had heard something about suicide, and decided to enter the room. He stopped momentarily in the doorway, to be polite.

"Sorry to interrupt. May I join you?"

It was as calm as was possible, but he still wasn't sure he hadn't stuttered.

 

[Insight]

The doctor gives Vincent a concerned look. "Have you been depressed lately? Have you ever contemplated suicide?"

"Pfft, no," Vincent replies indignantly. "Suicide is for quitters."