Chapter Text
“Paging Dr. Annabel Lee Whitlock.” The voice over the speaker blared loudly, echoing through all the halls to make sure it found its intended target- or victim, as Annabel more often felt. “We have a code Lenore.”
Annabel was already on her way down the hallway towards Lenore's room, having long had a gut feeling that told her it would be about this time that Lenore tried to make her daily escape from her room. A nurse had confided in Annabel that it was only on the days that Annabel had shifts that Lenore partook in these endeavors. It would have been flattering if it wasn't extremely annoying.
Normally well put together, in her white lab coat, comfy turtlenecks and pants, and her long blonde hair swept back into curls gathered into a high ponytail, Annabel found that these daily excursions around the building hunting down Lenore left her slightly disheveled. Not to mention the one time Annabel had come out absolutely covered in dust because Lenore had decided she'd wanted to play hide and seek in the air ducts and Annabel had to crawl in after her.
Annabel had dragged Lenore out by the ankles that day and she'd never been that furious at a patient before. She never even thought herself capable of it. Everyone in the hospital lauded her for her gentle demeanor and graceful smiles that put others at ease. But Lenore...well, Lenore was built different and she was testing every last shred of patience and empathy that Annabel possessed.
The wing Lenore was staying in was for patients that could afford entire rooms to themselves. Which meant clean wallpaper in peach shades, private bathrooms, a bigger TV, walls that didn't let sound through, and comfier beds.
Even the hallways were devoid of the hubbub and ruckus of the other wings of this hospital. There was a quiet and calm to the air, with floors clear of any mysterious fluids. Other than the occasional nurse or staff member, this wing felt almost forgotten about.
It unnerved Annabel. She was too used to the loudness of commotion below- of the caterwauling of patients, the beeping of countless monitors, the chatter of staff, and the white noise of TV's or cleaning machines at work.
Coming up here directly from her unit was like a momentary hearing loss, her ears ringing from the quiet till they adjusted. Despite this wing not being part of Annabel's normal assignment, she found herself frequenting the halls all thanks to one patient that had been assigned to her case solely because she'd made the mistake of being on duty when it had all happened.
Annabel's feet stopped in front of the room assigned to Lenore. The door was wide open and the room was empty, sheets tossed aside, IV tube ripped out. Usually, Lenore couldn't get far given her hip surgery. Which meant she was down the hall in another patient's room, or in the snack room.
Annabel hedged a hunch and headed towards the snack room, hearing the sound of a bang coming from there. She stopped in the entrance, hand on her hip as she watched unamused at the scene unfolding before her. Lenore was propped up on the metal pole her IV should be attached to, using it as a makeshift crutch, one hand banging the glass.
“I want my snickers! You damn machine ate my money!” she growled out before hitting it again.
Lenore post surgery was allowed to wear comfy looking beige sweatpants and a sweater, along with plush slippers. A privilege, and improvement over the hospital gown, one that came with her expensive room. She also had access to a nurse that came in to help with showering while she was in her recovery stage, who helped with keeping Lenore's short black white locks tamed. Despite the nurse's best efforts in combing down the hair, it always stuck up either which way an hour later, as if Lenore's defiant nature was present in every last fiber of her being.
“Lenore, you can ask the nurse to get you one,” Annabel said. Lenore didn't turn to look at her.
“It's boring being confined to the bed.”
“Must I remind you, you are in recovery from an operation.”
“It's been a week.”
“A week is not nearly enough to make sure you are fully healed. If you hadn't been so insistent on getting out of bed even before we could work on your injury, then maybe you wouldn't have made it worse.”
Annabel still remembered the day the ambulance had brought Lenore in. Despite being in need of medical attention, Lenore fought the help every step of the way. Even going so far as to try and escape the hospital with her mangled leg. She had to be wrangled back and basically strapped down to get her vitals. It wasn't until Annabel had stepped into the room as Lenore's operating physician that Lenore had finally calmed down.
“Okay, now her,” she had said, attempting to point at Annabel only to be limited by the restraints on her arm, “I would trust with my body.”
“She's all yours,” a nurse had clapped Annabel on the shoulder and practically shoved her into the room to deal with Lenore.
“What happened to her hip?” Annabel asked the person who had received Lenore into the room.
“Fell off a bridge, trying to rescue a woman who was going to jump off. What can I say, I am a sucker for a damsel in distress,” Lenore answered.
“She fell off the roof of her house trying to unclog the gutters,” he replied dryly, Lenore scowling at him. He ignored her look.
“A damsel?” Annabel decided to humor her, approaching Lenore on the table. A few staff went about their duties a bit more calmly now that Lenore wasn't actively biting anyone. “Are you the gallant sort, Lenore?”
“It is my job to protect women,” she said, nodding her head.
“That's an impressive task,” Annabel said, peeling back fabric soaked with blood to try and examine the wound that Lenore had let no one else touch. “But even heroes need a break. Will you let me pamper you?”
“Your touch is already healing me.” She smiled through a wince as Annabel's touch in fact only jarred the injury as Annabel needed to see how much pain the area was in.
“I'll need you to keep still. We have to take photos of your injury. Can you do that?”
When Lenore had agreed, Annabel had them cart Lenore out of the room for an x-ray. She let out a sigh and asked one of the staff. “How is she so lucid through the pain? Maybe she's imagining things because of it.”
As it would soon turn out, Lenore was just like that.
In the present, Lenore gave the vending machine a kick with her good leg. It rattled and Annabel went over to pull her away. Her surprisingly tall frame towered over Annabel and the doctor couldn't help but feel small next to her.
Lenore was built like a tree, with unfairly long limbs and a statuesque face. Everywhere she went, people noticed her. If not for her beauty, then for the white strands in her hair, then for her brash behavior.
“It's not my fault you all took so long to find what was wrong with me,” Lenore huffed even if it had been her fault that had happened, considering she didn't let anyone even near her. But it was moot point to argue this for the umpteenth time.
“Perhaps you are right. We should have looked harder and sent you to a psychiatrist,” Annabel said, leading Lenore back to the bed. Lenore limped by her side.
“I didn't hit my head on the way down!”
“Then we should have given you a zoo trainer, because you're behaving no better than an untrained monkey.”
“How you wound me,” Lenore said, with a light scowl. “I'll have to ask you treat the verbal injuries you've given me now.”
“I'll add it onto your ever growing hospital expense list- like the money you owe for the water cooler you kicked to pieces, the TV screen you threw a remote into, the sheets you ruined trying to make a rope to escape out the window with...” Annabel trailed off, arching up a brow to remind Lenore she could go on.
“Everything is so boring,” Lenore lamented. “I hate being confined to the room.”
Annabel set Lenore gently down on her bed and pressed the buzzer next to it to summon the nearby on duty nurse to bring a fresh IV for Lenore.
“Remember, you won't be able to save any more damsels if you don't let your leg recover.” She began to tuck Lenore into the bed, being extra careful around her hip.
“It's got metal implants in it now. What is there to recover?”
“You're still made of skin and flesh around that metal, Lenore,” Annabel gently reminded.
A devious smirk lit up Lenore's face. “Are you certain about that? I think I need an examination to certify that that is indeed the case. Perhaps, you could do a quick pat down? Make sure I'm-”
“I brought the IV,” the nurse said, a trademark haggard look on her face that Annabel had noticed among many of the staff that dealt with Lenore in close quarters. Annabel had dubbed it Lenore fatigue.
Annabel bid Lenore goodbye and went to attend to her other patients.
Lenore let the nurse do her thing and laid there on the bed, disappointed and bored again. Lenore looked out the window, watching the blue skies with the white clouds floating by.
Suddenly, awful singing made its way through the open windows. It was in French and not a single note was in tune. Lenore tried to ignore it, but as time went on the singing only seemed to intensify. Just who had moved into the room next to hers? There hadn't been anyone there last night. Growing irked, Lenore hobbled over to the window. She yanked it open high enough to stick her head through it.
“Hey, asshole! Quit sounding like a choking frog and shut up!”
The singing stopped and the window from the room next to hers opened up to reveal a man with curly hair there. “It's a free country, I can do what I want!” And he started belting out another song with everything he had.
“Shut up! Or I'm going to make you shut up!” she threatened.
He stuck out his tongue at her and began singing even louder if possible.
“That's it, I'm coming over there,” she pulled her head back in and yanked the fresh IV out of her veins before using the pole to hobble over from her room to his. She kicked the door open with her good leg.
“I'm going to kick your ass back to France!” She stopped when she saw him standing by the window. His legs and torso were all wrapped up in bandages. He had to have had more on, but it seemed he had been in the process of unraveling them. The ones on his arms were off and where they did not cover up his skin, she could see it was burnt.
“Dude, did you forget to put sunscreen on,” she asked him, momentarily forgetting her anger in concern over him.
“My magic trick did not turn out so, uh, magical,” he said with a twirl of his wrist. “I was going to pretend to go up in flames and reemerge reborn but I actually went up in flames.” He gave a hapless shrug.
“You should keep those on,” she said.
“Why? I'm planning on making a rope out of them and rappelling down the side of the walls. This hospital cannot keep me a prisoner!” He shuddered. “Besides, have you seen the excuse they call crepes? I have witnessed wars crimes that are less horrid.”
“I've been trying to escape this place for days now too! Let's work together, we'll have more luck that way.” Lenore was overjoyed to meet someone with the same mentality as her.
He placed a hand to his chest, grinning confidently. “I'm a magician. Do you doubt my escape abilities?”
She arched a brow at his bandages.
“That was an one off event,” he assured, flapping his hand at her. “What did they get you for?”
“Stopping a bar fight to save a woman who was getting harassed by these biker dudes. Fought three of them off and knocked them out, but last guy got me and threw me into an incoming car.”
“....right,” he said, humoring Lenore. “Duke's the name, and you are?”
Lenore stuck out a hand to shake with his. “Lenore.”
“Now, help me with these...” Duke said and they bent their heads together to try and unravel more of his bandages.