Chapter Text
“Good job today, Dr. Brown!”
“Why are you telling me that?”
The day had been longer than usual, sure, but Lewis doesn't think he handled it poorly. Not at all.
“What? Did you not do a good job?” Hana snickers, setting down a cup of coffee beside him. He accepts it gratefully, even if he is somewhat suspicious of his colleagues intentions.
“Thank you, Hana.” Instead of answering the frankly degrading question, Lewis brings the cup to his lips. Only one sip in, and he already regrets it. “This tastes…”
“Awful?” Hana sighs, as if she'd half expected this outcome.
“Is the coffee machine broken again?” He glances over at the finicky machine on the edge of their break room counter.
“I guess.” She crosses her arms, frowning. “Why haven't we replaced that dumb thing yet?”
“I think management just… doesn't like David.” Poor David. He's had to fix that damn coffee machine dozens of times by now, and those sorts of tasks aren't even in his job description.
“No one likes David.”
“Speak for yourself,” He shoots her a half-hearted glare, “David and I get along just fine.”
“‘Cause you're both old.” Hana snorts.
Lewis raises a brow, “I'm only-”
“Old, I say!”
He sighs. “Well, this old man has business to attend to…” Neither of them miss the way his back cracks when he stands up. Hana, thankfully, lets him off with a snicker.
“Don’t work yourself too hard! You might just fall over and die.” She teases, waving as he nears the door.
Lewis shivers, “What did I tell you about not saying such things?” He shakes his head. “In any case, I'm not that old.”
“Not yet.” Hana grins, flashing her teeth. He raises a brow. Is that… not how aging usually worked?
The rabbit shuts the door behind him. He doesn't particularly care to give into her antics any more than he has. For now, he needs to find the intern.
As usual, the medical department is busy. He pities whichever poor souls are taking care of the nightshift. He believes Anastasia is on tonight, but then again, her skills are more suited towards the daytime chaos. Nights, however busy they are, are nearly never as eventual as the days.
He slips through each area easily, greeting the staff members he recognizes along the way. Except Ezra. When he sees Ezra hiding behind a plant pot… he just looks the other way.
Now that he's here, all he has to do is find Intern.
“Are you new here!? There's no other way to explain this-”
Ah, problem solved.
Down the hallway to his left, Lewis can see a very angry looking bear yelling at a very flustered looking intern. The kid is very desperately trying to signal… something with their hands, which just makes the patient angrier. Where is their notepad?
He makes his way over, as quickly as he can without straight up jogging. When intern sees him, they let out a quiet sigh. “Is there something I can help you with, sir?”
“Ah, finally someone competent!” The bear grumbles, still fuming. “All I need'ta know is where the front desk is, but this damn nurse can't even tell me! They keep tryna use some sign language crap!”
Lewis turns to look at Intern, then back at the bear. “Sir, they are pointing?”
“Yeah, that's exactly what I mean!”
Lewis stares at him for a few seconds longer before taking in a deep breath. Then, he exhales. “...I see, sir. The front desk is right over there,” He gestures in the direction Intern had previously been pointing at, “May I walk you over?”
The bear huffs, “I'm capable getting around by myself.” Finally, he storms off. Lewis sends his prayers towards James, who is quite literally just down the hall.
‘Thank you.’ Intern signs, looking up at him with their usual smile. While it was unsettling at first, Lewis has grown to find it somewhat endearing.
“Of course.” He smiles. “Out of curiosity, did that patient happen to come in for a head injury?”
Intern shakes their head, ‘Food Poisoning.’
“Ah.”
‘He should be leaving soon.’ Intern shrugs, rocking back and forth on their heels. The rabbit always struggled staying still for too long.
Lewis nods, “In any case, are you busy?” The Intern tilts their head, and Lewis clarifies, “I'd like to discuss something with you in my office.”
Intern stops rocking. Frozen, they stare up at him. ‘Can't we talk here?’
He absentmindedly watches a few nurses shoving a rowdy patient into a secluded room. “...I'd rather not. It's important… and I'm not sure if you'd want others listening in.” Intern had gone through the trouble of hiding their worries all this time, so he figures it wasn't a conversation to have in public.
For whatever reason, this seems to alarm the intern. “Are you alright?” He asks, a bit concerned about their lack of blinking.
Intern nods quickly, taking a small step back. ‘I have something. Very urgent. A patient is dying, I think. Canadian, for sure. You don't want a Canadian to die, do you? We should talk another time.’ They sign, almost too rapidly for Lewis to keep up with.
“...Alright, then. I'll come find you… tomorrow?” Before he can finish his sentence, the intern is already running off to save that… supposedly dying Canadian.
Lewis sighs. Seems he'd have to wait just a bit longer.
“Oh, Intern?” Elise hums, thinking. “They should be cleaning up room three right now!”
“Thank you.” Lewis smiles.
He makes his way to said room swiftly, but when he opens the door, all he sees is a lone cart of cleaning supplies… and two red eyes peering out from under the bed. Lewis shivers, stepping back. The Intern must've gone somewhere, he figures.
If he had stayed a moment longer, he might've noticed a blond paw sticking out from under the bed as well.
A day later, he tries to catch intern in the break room. When he enters, however, he sees Anastasia and James staring at an open window in horror.
“What's wrong?” He asks, concern increasing by the second.
“Intern… they just…” James looks between Lewis and the window so quickly he worries the sheep might get whiplash. He points weakly towards the window, “Intern just…”
“Oh, HELL NO.” Anastasia proceeds to grab the windowsill and throw herself out of it. Lewis and James run over to see her safely roll onto the grass two stories below and chase Intern as they sprint down the street.
“What the fuck.” James stares at him with trembling pupils, “Lewis, what the fuck.”
Lewis continues to watch the scene. He supposes Intern must have something they urgently need to do outside.
Lewis finally finds the Intern restocking some shelves, alone, with no open windows nearby. “Intern?”
Their head whips around at a lightning speed, and as soon as they make eye contact, their smile shrinks.
Lewis catches himself before he can frown. That… was odd. Intern was usually happy to see any of their coworkers. Except David, for some reason. “I wanted to talk to you about-”
‘Look!’ They sign before pointing at a spot behind his head.
When he turns around, an absolutely horrifying face is staring back at him from the end of the hall. His breath catches in his throat as the thing retreats behind the corner, back into the shadows.
He's only able to breathe a few seconds later, when he's sure it isn't coming back. The stalker, he believes they call it. No matter how many times he sees that face, he doesn't believe he'll ever get used to it. Especially considering its sheer height.
“Intern, why would you… Ah.” He looks back to see the blond rabbit has strangely disappeared.
…Lewis is beginning to think the intern is avoiding him specifically.