Last of Our Kind - Day 1: "Firsts"

[whiteprofit]

Day 1: "Firsts"

"Good Morning, Chicago! This beautiful, September day will be the first of the last nice days we'll be seeing for a while. So get out there and spend them wisely!"
"That's right, Bob. We've got some nasty weather headed this way."
"How bad's it look Jim?"
"Well, right now it's still gathering up momentum coming in from the west, and it may just fizzle out into some showers. But if the high pressure from the north comes in when the rain gets here, we could be in for some nasty winds and thunderstorms."
"Well, they don't call us the Windy City for nothing."
"That's for sure. We take you now to our live, radio-traffic helicopter with Lisa. High in the sky, how are we doing today, Lisa?"
"We're doing just fine up here, Jim. it's the morning traffic you've got to look out for."
*Shared laughs*
"We've gotten a a number of reports that there is a huge pile up at W. 19th Street in front of St. Anthony's Hospital. Can you tell us what you see?"
"Of course, Jim. Up here in the WBBZ helicopter we've got about five cars piled up and a lot of people moving around down below, right in front of the hospital. Police are on their way and clean up crews should be in place soon."
"We've been asked to inform the public that if they need medical attention, they should report to one of the other downtown Chicago hospitals for the next couple hours." - WBBZ Morning Radio Show

St. Anthony's Hospital.
Early in the morning, the staff of St. Anthony's are arriving for their shift while others go home to sleep. This quiet, rather un-ceremonious changing of the guards is noticed by few. The normal sounds of AM traffic and the hustle and bustle of city life can be heard by runners and dog walkers alike in Douglas Park.

Traffic is moving well today. A first in several months now that school is back in session and tourists have thinned out.

Rumbling up on the tracks, the train screeches to a halt. The inaudible robotic voice of the conductor announces the station names upon approach. The doors glide open to exchange groggy passengers at various stations. Coffee in hand and earphones securely in place, many patrons of all professions make for their early clock in times.

[Macguffin]

Arthur Pella, Science Fella

It was time to visit the hospitals again! Arthur had heard some celebrities didn't actually like to visit them, that they viewed as some sort of necessary but distasteful chore. He loved it though... seeing the kids faces light up when he came in and getting their minds off their troubles and on to a world where anything was possible... it was one of the best parts of his job. A day away from the various stuffed shirts trying to convince him how important a more commercial show would be for his image would be didn't hurt either.
So it was no surprise that Arthur always showed up early. He had parked his car in the parking garage down the block (didn't want to use up spots the patients needed after all) and while he wouldn't go in of course (that would ruin the surprise) he sat in the Starbuck's across the street happily sipping his soy milk infused latte' and watching people through the picture window.

[HeroOfThePeople]

Leonard "Iron Joe"Jones

Joe smiled to himself as he exited the elevator and showed his workman's pass to the receptionist, who didn't look up from her morning paperwork. He'd been looking forward to this job, remodeling three of the LDRs (Labor and Delivery Rooms) in the maternity center on St. Anthony's 5th floor. Normally Joe didn't like Hospitals, but Maternity was different. People were happy here. Sure they got worried and afraid some times, and sometimes tragedies happend, but most of the time this was a joyful place. Joe liked the idea of his work being a part of a place like that, plus he got to be indoors, and out of the sun, it was a pretty plush gig as far as the construction game went..

Setting down his contractor bag, Joe looked out the window accross Douglas Park and sipped his coffee for a moment before getting down to business. He briefly notes the comotion on 19th thinking huh, wonder what thats all about before putting it out of his mind and getting to work.

[FoggyKnight]

Tamara Douglass

Tamara sat in the waiting room of the general practitioner's office, her fingers nervously picking at a loose thread in her slacks. An early morning appointment was not something she ever looked forward to, especially with a new doctor. She knew she was healthy, but her boss insisted that she take advantage of the free medical exams once she had been there long enough to get the health program. She supposed that she or he was not very fond of the early appointments either.

Nosy bastard. She thought uncharitably of her boss. I HATE medical exams. As if she had not been prodded and poked enough in her life. Yet, she was still here. She wondered if the doctor would be understand her need to read lips and --

She saw three colorful scrubs move out of the corner of her eye, and turned to look. Several nurses and a doctor were looking out the window and talking to each other, looking a bit horror stricken. They were turned away so she couldn't read them, but whatever it was had happened outside. She wondered what happened as she turned to look at the clock again. 7:31.

[whiteprofit]

Inside St. Anthony Hospital
The first scream of the day came from a nurse making her early morning rounds. Nancy Conner's voice echos down the hallway and bounces around the floor, mostly unheard. An attending and janitor go to see what the trouble is, but it's too late. Much too late.

Working inside the delivery rooms, Leonard Jones has a hard time hearing anything but the small, battery radio he keeps in his tool kit. The sweet sounds of his favorite station are only muffled by the slight interference of poor transmission. That is, until a scared nurse bursts through the door and slams it shut behind her. The beaded sweat, short breaths and pale complexion of her skin informs the construction worker that this girl is in shock. He'd seen it before when the building had collapsed.

Tamara sees the nurses and doctors reactions to something down the hallway. Had she not been looking up at the right time, she may have missed it. Two of them run toward the disturbance while many of the nurses stay where they are. Miss Douglass again sees reactions to, instead of the sounds of, a gunshot. The flinching, screaming faces stare horrified down the hallway.

I forgot to note: Anyone starting inside the hospital, the car crash hasn't happened yet. So buckle up

Starbucks
For convenience, Starbucks was attached to the Hospital. Pella's contact person, the friendly Maria, was late. Actually, now that he thought about it, everyone seemed to be late. Pella recalled the last time he was here this early in the morning, people were coming and going through the coffee shop in a storm. Now, there were less than six people in the whole space.

[Macguffin]

Arthur Pella, Science Fella

Kind of empty here today, Arthur thinks, maybe there is some sort of celebration I didn't know about. Guess that would explain where Maria is.

He hops up from his chair, plops some money in the tip jar, and heads to the front desk to see if they know where his contact is.

[whiteprofit]

The Receptionist
The receptionist is a bit dead to the world. When she looks up at the patient Pella she looks annoyed. "How can I help you?" She says around the wad of gum in her mouth. After checking a computer screen and the time on her watch, the receptionist replies, "She works on the third floor, probably just running late. You can go up. Elevators are over there by the stairs," she points with a pen.

[Macguffin]

Arthur Pella, Science Fella

"Thanks! Have a good day."

Arthur wasn't really put off by the woman's manner. It was a difficult job, especially early in the mornings when you were often either exhausted from finishing a long night shift or just then beginning a long day shift. Possibly without coffee since Starbucks had been so empty. Though the gum was a poor decision... it didn't present well and could damage her teeth. Arthur had learned that to bring up that sticky subject (heh) was to invite a tirade against his good intentions. Instead he just headed to the elevator and pressed the "up" button.

Of course he could use his cell phone, but that would mean having to leave the hospital to obey its regulations, so it wasn't really ideal. Hopefully he would find Maria going over some last minute details when he reached the third floor.

[HeroOfThePeople]

Leonard "Iron Joe" Jones

Startled from his work by the slamming door Joe looks up to see the panicked nurse. What in the nine hells? He rushes quickly to her side, resting one of his big hands on her shoulder to steady her should she fall and begins speaking slowly, in a calm deliberate tone.

"Whoa, Whoa... Shhhh, Sshhhh. Its ok. Everything is ok. We're just going to sit you down against the wall here. What's you name?"

Without taking his eyes from the nurse he fumbles blindly with his free hand to knock the radio off.

[whiteprofit]

The Delivery Room
The whimpering of the girl is pathetic and absorbs Joe's sympathies immediately. "Maria. My - My name, is, Maria," the girl stammers. "There is someone... I don't know, he started... and the gun.. I ran..."

[FoggyKnight]

What is going on? Still sitting on the couch, Tamara reaches into her pocket for her smart phone. Getting up, she knocks on the nurse's window between her and the rest of the medical staff.

"What is going on?" She said in an exaggerated fashion, trying to form the words correctly.

[HeroOfThePeople]

Leonard "Iron Joe" Jones

Joe slowly lowers the woman to sit on the floor with her back to the wall.

"Maria. That's good Maria. People call me Joe. Take few deep breaths... Thats good. In, and out. Good. Now start again, and tell me about the man, and what he started to do, and the gun."

While he speaks Leonard makes a quick nervous glance the door to make sure its closed tightly.

[whiteprofit]

The Elevator
The dimly lit numbers at the top of the elevator change to two. One more level to go... [a "I haven't forgotten you post"]

The Hall Way
Tamara's tapping scares the nurse who is turning anyway to race past her. Over the nurse's shoulder, Tamara can't see a reason for this reaction, but the nurse and a doctor both push past. Ignoring her question and heading for the stairs. Whatever sent them running is around the corner from Miss Douglass's position.

The Delivery Room
Maria breaths steadily for a moment and then tries to tell her story again. "The guard and Dr. Moore went to check on this nurse who was screaming. I didn't go... I ... was busy. There was more yelling and I saw the guard, his name... his name was Greg I think. He pulled his weapon, they never do that, and someone tackled him. They just... flew from the room. Tackling him to the ground. When the gun went off I ran."

When Joe looks up at the door to see that it is firmly shut, the young woman pulls his face back down. "Don't go out there! Stay low. We should hide." Her eyes search the bare delivery room for anything better than her current location.

[FoggyKnight]

Huh? Tamara was glad that her doctor hadn't seen her yet; her blood pressure was rising with a newfound sense of irritation burying her nervousness. Stupid boss and his stupid doctor's visit. I guess it was canceled. They better not bill me for this. She wasn't eager to see what had terrified the medical staff; whatever had them follow their instincts to flee and not their training to run towards an emergency was probably not something she wanted to get into. Yanking open the door to the waiting room, she glances down the hall at the fire alarm box she saw earlier. There was no flashing light above it. Not a fire then.

If nurses and doctors look terrified and then run off for the stairs, even though there isn't a fire, what does that mean? Urgency. Emergency. There must have been an emergency of some kind. So they ran for the stairs. Did they go up or down? Moving down the hallway to the stairwell, she opens the door and looks down and up through the middle.

[whiteprofit]

The Hallway
*Ding* The doors to the third floor open and out steps Aurthur Pella, right in front of Tamara Douglass. The meeting is almost a collision, but the computer programmer puts on the breaks in time.