A Wanderer in Trader's Point

Nahdra waited a few seconds to be sure that there wasn't anything else he would add.

Nathan brushed his hair back over his head with the palm of his head, the fear all but evident in the man's expression. He looked at her, hand still holding what was left of his long brown hair out of his face. Her silence was unsettling to him, goddamn he hated that silence, fear of contempt that she may have for him. He knew what he had done was the honorable thing, but since that day he constantly questioned if it was the right thing.

He sat quietly as the thoughts stirred in his mind, waiting for any kind of respond.

"What do you intend to do now?" Nahdra was abhorrently calm, especially for someone her age, and her voice didn't waver as she asked. She was interpreting so many things at once that her head spun, but she managed to seem completely and habitually unphased by everything.

Nathan shook his head slightly, the full motion pulling at the stitches with some pain, he reframed from moving like that again.

"I don't know...but there was an attack on Novalyse and my brother was one of the targets. The enemy force is executing captive soldiers using him as ransom...I have to make sure nothing happens to him. Our mother couldn't bare the loss of both sons and I am already a dead man."

She nodded slowly, not being familiar with most of the context of the situation. She knew there would have to be more than that, but for right now, she had to act with the information that she had.

"And since I'm now your 'sister'..." She smiled wryly at him.

He cocked and eyebrow at her curiously, unsure of what to expect from what would follow.

She returned the same look right back to him. "This is when you are supposed to either urge me not to come with you because you believe it is too dangerous for me, or ask for my help because your task will be impossible alone."

Nathan sighed at the realization of what she meant. He looked at the floor stopping himself from brushing his hair back again as it fell in his face.

"I don't expect you would be particularly willing to join me, nor would I want you to do so. Like I said, I'm a dead man and the world is at no loss in the absence of my life." He looked up at her, knowing from their brief interaction that she had more purpose than him. "You have more than this ahead of you. I only ask that you would take Serana with you when you go. It won't be long before they figure out where I've hidden her and she's far too old to survive the augmentation process."

"What will they do with her, then?" Nahdra asked plainly. She cast a brief glance over her shoulder at the door, insuring that no one was trying to peep in.

"Kill her," he said bluntly without hesitation. "My father is not a good man...I have no doubt that he would make an example out of her."

"And she is innocent within all of this," Nahdra probed slightly for the initiative she needed to volunteer herself.

"She was an infant when I took her," he said shaking his head. "I don't even know her real birth date." Nathan spoke in all honestly, not attempting to convince her to help him but the child he knew would get caught up in all of this.

"It is not safe to discuss this any more here," Nahdra concluded. "They have cameras, and could be listening. I should at least go with you to your apartment. You can give me the information there. If they do not know where she is yet, we should keep it that way." She canted her head slightly, indicating in some little way that she was more interested in the issue than she would let on. It seemed calmly reassuring.

Nathan nodded, although he was not keen on the idea of her following him to his apartment he chose not to argue it. If he had any chance at this point in keeping Serana safe he was willing to bet it was with this woman.

Nathan buzzed the nurses call button to get everyone's attention that he was finished. When they entered, likely having his clothes in toe and excused himself to the washing area of the hospital room to change. He was pulling his shin-high combat boots on as the doctor entered the room, clearly not willing to stay any longer than he had already done.

Nahdra had stayed in the room, and Passat came in as well. Dembry had waited outside - he was now the new unofficially appointed guard of the room, after all - and Bonnie had been in and out, helping Nathan with whatever was necessary as they waited anxiously on the doctor.

Finally, the doctor emerged into the room, holding a holo-clipboard. "Mr., uhh, Steele." He glanced down at his clipboard once more and then began, already having his little presentation prepared. "Now, I'm not sure about whatever is going on legally here, but I really can't authorize you to leave. You just got seven stitches in your head from what was a few fractions of an inch away from being an instantly fatal injury, and I really can't let you leave this room on good conscience."

He took a quick breath in and then began again, instinctively knowing that if he gave the patient much time to react, he would find himself in an argument. Instead, he expertly applied the preliminary run-down tactic that ER doctors must learn to master to run right over any objections without hesitation. "You shouldn't even be walking, because any change in your blood pressure could cause the stitches to burst, or you could have a reaction to the medication or anesthesia, or if you were to fall and injure yourself in any way, the resulting damage could cause your vulnerable tissue to sustain such a traumatic impact that you could very easily cause permanent, irreversible damage."

"Doctor," he said bluntly as he finished lacing his boots and stood, his muscles showing beneath the tightly fitting shift they had given him. "I've survived worse than this. I asked for discharge papers, are you prepared to give them to me or am I walking out of here without signing your staff off liability."

Nathan brushed his hair back out of his face, the deep scar across his face and mechanical nature of his eyes plain in sight as he turned toward the doctor.

"What you're asking me to do is absolutely unadvised, and to be quite honest, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you end up back in my emergency room within two hours from severe trauma and blood loss after you rip your stitches," the doctor scoffed. "I'm tempted to say, Mr. Steele, that I should keep you here under suspicion of mental unrest, since you're hardly conscious enough to be making a decision like this for yourself and nobody in his right mind would be doing this. You need to stay in the hospital."

Nathan shrugged off the doctor's warning, walking face to face with the man, nearly a head taller than the doctor threatening to keep him in this hospital.

"The reason I am not dead right now is because I am a Novalysian soldier, if you think I am going to let a few stitches stand in my way of doing my duty you're mistaken. Bring the papers or I walk out of here without them, I am not going to ask again."

Bonnie had been observing from the doorway, but decided it'd be in everyone's best interests to step in when she saw the doctor's eyes narrow and his holo-clipboard quiver a little bit in defiance. His voice was still firm. "Mr. Steele, I don't think you -"

"Doc," Bonnie interjected unabashedly, "obviously this is a special case. Why don't we write him off for now? I'll get the papers drafted."

The doctor fumed for a few seconds. "Fine," he said, "but I want everything solid, so this guy doesn't try to sue us. I want it on video too!" Gruffly, he turned to exit the room, and pseudo-cordially added "Good luck, Mr. Steele."

"Thank you, and sorry for the mess," he said to Bonnie as the doctor retreated. He turned to the Sergeant. "Mind filling me in on the details of my orders while we wait for the release?"

The Sergeant shrugged very briefly. "The only orders I was given for you were to get you to the space docks safely for transport, and we're prepared to do that whenever you're ready. We have a full unmarked detail waiting for you and I already have a few patrols alerted ahead of time to make sure everything goes smoothly for your trip."

Bonnie frowned a little bit. "I have more orders for you than that, sweetie. You know, I have to back the doctor up. The real 'details of your orders' are that you need to rest, rest, rest. I mean kicked back in a La-Z-Boy twenty-two hours a day. The only exercise you should be getting for at least a week is walking back and forth to the restroom, and don't you dare even think about getting those stitches wet or picking at them," she continued lecturing for a bit, making sure to repeat and highlight the most important bits. "And if you see any redness or have any pain or irritation within the next week, call the nearest hospital right away. I'll have all of this printed out for you too, but...the most important thing, Mr. Steele, is do NOT over-exert yourself. If the stitches rip prematurely, it could be worse than the original injury. You would most likely lose consciousness and bleed out within five minutes. Do you understand, honey?"

Nahdra frowned as she listened. She had to agree; it really didn't sound like Nathan should even be out of bed yet. Passat took note of the more important things that the nurse blathered on about - he would have to make sure to accommodate this injured man appropriately, to keep himself free and clear of all liability.

"I understand, if possible I will take it easy," he nodded slightly, stopping himself at some point as he thought it might not be a good idea with the stitches. He glanced at the others for a moment before leaning most of his weight against the wall watching the silent television as he waited for the doctor.

A few moments later, one of the other nurses returned to the room with a respectably large stack of paperwork and a digital camcorder. She laid out the papers on a tray for Steele, along with a pen. She flipped the camcorder on, holding it at she explained everything from the initial release of liability and consent to discontinue treatment to discharge instructions for the others that would ultimately be responsible for him, and a slew of other formalities in between.

"I'll give you a few minutes to look everything over. When you're finished, please sign here, here, here, here...oh, and here...and initial there....sign and date there...I'll need a copy of your photo ID for that one...aaaand, sign there, and there."

Nathan began to following the list of signatures, initials, and dates on the release paperwork. It would take him several minutes to finish working through all the papers, getting everything into order.

"The officers have my ID in custody, along with my other processions. You'll have to ask the detective outside."

"Alright, sir. Any questions about anything?" She checked over everything thoroughly. "The doctor has cleared you as soon as you finish up this paperwork. And I just want to verify once again, for the video, that you've read and understood everything here, and that you clear the Sector I Hospital and all of its staff and practitioners of all liability and responsibility for anything involving your treatment and stay here?"