Colin's posts

Sure enough, Sharp went and got someone else from the medical wing to take a look at her. As they did so, Sharp waited in the corner of the room, wanting to hear the result.

The medic then sighed, and looked over towards his boss.

"I have no idea what this is." he said.

"...excuse me?" Sharp asked. clearly unimpressed.

"This appears to be a combination of overwork, exhaustion, and... possibly the flu?" the medic said, questioning the last part. "But she's only showing a few symptoms of the flu, and her fever is alarmingly high for the flu." he went on.

"Alarmingly?" Sharp inquired.

"As in, if a mortal hospital were to see this temperature, she would be placed in the ER and listed as critical condition." the medic responded.

"It seems like Angela can take it, but her temperature is still concerningly high. It means that I cannot confidently diagnose her." they then added.

Eke continued to hear scuffling, hustling, and bustling outside, before the sirens stopped, and the lights dissipated. There was silence for another moment, before he heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Eke?" Ryker said, knocking on the door.

"He'll be fine." he told him.

"It just bled a lot. But you didn't hit anywhere major or vital." he assured him.

"But you're going to need to give a small statement as to what happened."

Ryker had followed Eke out of concern, but picked up the pace when the fight had started. And when he got close, he saw the other dragon on the ground, bleeding.

"What the HELL!?" he exclaimed, rushing towards the downed dragon.

"Oh my god!" he exclaimed further, as he pressed his hand against the wound. As he did so, dark energy started to glow around the hand.

"Eke, I can stop the blood flow, but you need to call an ambulance!" he told Eke.

"NOW!"

".....that.... might be a big deal..." Ryker commented.

"It might be your body trying to tell you something." he said.

"Eke, you might need more than a shrink if this goes on."' he continued.

"You may need a doctor at this rate." he said.

"...Eke, I'm worried about you." he then admitted quietly.

"Eke!?" Ryker exclaimed.

"Eke, what was that? What happened?" he asked, his concern more than evident.

"It felt like you almost collapsed." he said.

"...Eke?" he then asked.

"Eke, can you hear me? Or make out what I'm saying?" he asked further.

Ryker looked back towards Eke when he came back and said what he did.

He stepped away from the food and made his way over.

Once he was close enough, he placed his hands on Eke's shoulders.

"....Eke..." he said.

"You're going through a lot. I understand." he told him.

"But all right. Give me 5 minutes to get things ready."

"Eke....?" Ryker said quietly, but Eke was gone already.

"..........." he was silent, and then sighed.

"....I can't do anything." he said.

"I try, but I still can't do anything." he lamented.

"......." he was then silent once more, and looked at the food he was preparing, wondering if he could even eat it now.

"Wait, what?" Ryker asked, looking over towards him.

"Heading out? Already?" he asked.

"I thought you could stay for a little breakfast, at last." he said.

"Eke, where are you going?" he then asked him.

"And how long will you be?" he asked further.

"...do you at least want some company?"

"........." again, Sharp was silent.

He then pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed loudly.

"I see." he said.

"So THAT'S how you're going to play this, huh?" he asked.

"Then allow me to clarify even further." he told her, clearing his throat slightly.

"I want you out of here, and take at least 2 days off." he said.

"I want you to recover for 1 day, at least, and then REST for a day. You are working yourself TOO hard." he continued.

"And I am getting a medic here to see if this is anything more serious than overwork. If he finds something out, then we'll change the plans from there." he then added.

Sharp paused and thought for a moment.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Huh. It appears I horrendously misspoke." he said.

"I could have sworn I said 'you NEED time off, and you need it NOW', and that 'I'm going to have Zeke take you home'..." he commented.

"Not... 'I'm going to have you take what could barely qualify as a nap, and then have you return to drowning yourself in paperwork'." he continued.

"Well, to be clear... you need time off, you need it now, and Zeke will be taking you home." he repeated.

"I let it get this bad." Sharp responded.

"I should have stepped in a while ago." he said.

"And I'm sorry." he apologized again.

"But Angela... please... take some time to recover and recuperate." he told her.

"Your daughter doesn't need to see you working yourself to such a ragged degree."

Sharp carried her to one of the beds in the wing, and laid her down on it.

"Angela, you NEED time off, and you need it NOW." he told her.

"I'm going to have Zeke take you home." he said.

"While you're gone, I am going to force him to actually DO his job." he then assured her, referring to her superior.

"...and this will determine whether or not he has a future here..." he growled.

"Angela, I'm sorry it came to this for you." he then apologized, his tone softer now... more guilty.

There's one thing that Eke could definitely tell, though.

Breakfast was cooking.

And it smelled GOOD.

It smelled like bacon and eggs, as well as hashbrowns. And it was coming from within the house.

Odds are it was Ryker making them.

And he would be right in assuming so. Ryker was down in the kitchen, making a large amount of everything. He was feeling hungry, but hoped Eke would join him to eat.

"Do it." Sharp ordered the man.

"Do it NOW." he said.

"Do you understand me? EARN. YOUR. PAY." he snapped.

"Y-y-yessir, boss!" the man sputtered, as Sharp carried Angela out the door, and used his mana to shut it behind them. Hard. Not a slam, but close enough to it.

"Come on, you need to lie down." he told Angela in a softer tone.