After Everything

A St. Lanier’s hospital au fic about Zooble & Ragatha after this comic

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Ragatha laid in bed with her arm tucked underneath her pillow. Her free hand mindlessly pet the fabric of her plush horse, Beauty, tracing over her seams and occasionally brushing her yarn mane out of her button eyes, only for it to immediately fall back in front of them again. Beauty was an old toy by now, patched up in various places and with fabric that had been so loved it wasn’t anywhere near soft anymore, but Ragatha kept it anyways. Kinger had bought it for her when she first entered the hospital, in an attempt to comfort her when she missed home. In the long, lonely period where she was the only patient, Beauty had become almost something of a friend to her.

It seemed like her vision wouldn’t turn to anything else.

It was dark and sleeting outside, the drumming sound of frozen rain almost deafening against the hospital roof. Ragatha was cold, but she didn’t move to grab the extra blanket off her chair, to put on her warm nightgown, to page Caine or Dr. Moon and ask them to turn the thermostat up, anything. She didn’t even pull the blanket she already had on tighter.

What was the point?

There was a light knock at the door, barely audible over the sleet. It snapped her out of whatever trance she had been in, but in a way that felt less like relief and more…painful. Like being slapped or plunged into an ice bath. Ragatha curled up tighter into herself, not having the mental energy to actually make herself presentable. She knew that she had to say “come in,” and she intended to, but the words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth. And she secretly hoped that whoever was there would assume she was asleep and leave. But this was apparently too wishful thinking, and the door opened.

“Hey,” Zooble said, trying to hit that perfect tone of voice that shows concern without sounding negative in any way, but failing a little. Ragatha didn’t turn to them, instead holding her breath and focusing her vision on Beauty yet again. Her stomach hurt.

“It’s midnight,” Zooble said, approaching the bed and resting their hands against the bed rail. All the lights were still on and shining in the room, and Ragatha still hadn’t fallen asleep. She had been lying down since 6:00, and the time surprised her, but she didn’t respond. “…Usually you shower and go to sleep at like, 9:30, by yourself.” They paused as they thought of what to say next.

“Are you alright?” Zooble immediately mentally cursed at themself. They knew the answer to that.

Ragatha wanted to say no. She wanted to sit up and start crying her eyes out and vent about the entire day in the same incomprehensible, out-of-breath voice that had miraculously fallen out of her mouth like vomit back in Dr. Abel’s office. But that same miracle wouldn’t seem to come back to her, and all she could mutter, with considerable effort, was, “I’m not showering tonight.”

Zooble hesitated. “Are you sure?” Their internal monologue screamed at them.

Ragatha wasn’t particularly offended. She thought she made an “mm-hm,” noise, but in reality, it wasn’t audible to anyone. Even if Beauty, who was inches from her face, could hear, she wouldn’t have heard it. Zooble waited a bit for an actual response, but when they didn’t get one, they continued.

“Listen, Ragatha, I know today was…stressful...But I think kinda trying to have some sense of normalcy, keeping to your routine, and taking care of yourself might help. You should really go shower.

Besides, um. You threw up today and I know we mostly got you cleaned up, but come on…”

Ragatha sighed and shuddered. That was true. She felt gross. And cold. Her stomach hurt. And a hot shower and new clean clothes honestly sounded like the best thing in the world at the moment. But her head felt too heavy to move, her lips too heavy to speak, and her limbs were stuck where they were. She felt like a real ragdoll. Normally, just another person being there would snap her out of it, but this time she really did feel stuck. She wanted to cry, but no tears came.

Zooble shook their head. They didn’t want to make Ragatha any more upset with them than they already thought she was, but they really didn’t know what else to do. “Ragatha, I’m not gonna play this silent treatment game with you. I’m sorry, okay? But you need to get up and take a shower. You can either take it by yourself, or I can help you if you need it. That’s it. Those are your options.”

Ragatha blinked. Suddenly her tunnel vision on her horse plush was broken, and her body felt sort of like it had been “unlocked”. Her legs shifted, but for the most part, she still stayed still. For some reason that she couldn’t quite identify, lately, every time someone took such a strict tone of voice with her and outright told her to do something, she felt a strange tightness in her chest, and a strong urge to grab the nearest thing and throw it. Obviously, she would never do that, and it was only recently that she ever got such a feeling, but the fact that she felt it at all bothered her.

Ignoring the urge to hurl Beauty into the wall, she sat up, still not facing Zooble.

“I’d like some help, please…if it’s not too much trouble…,” She muttered.

Zooble breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. It’s not, really. Gimme a minute to change into some scrubs or something, I’ll be right back.” Ragatha hadn’t noticed before, but Zooble was wearing their pajamas. She felt guilty that Zooble seemed to be up and working so long after their shift was over, just to take care of her, but then, her eye drifted and she noticed that they had changed out one of their arms. Instead of the dotted blue one that they had been wearing all day, they were wearing a striped lavender one. Presumably to not remind Ragatha of …everything. But it seemed to have the opposite effect, and almost every moment of that day flashed in her mind, forcing her to relive it all over again.

Slowly, the guilt melted into apathy as well.

————————————————————

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. The shower made practically the same exact sound as the sleet outside, amplifying it to the point it was difficult to hear any of the other idle noises of the hospital. As soon as the hot water hit her fabric skin, Ragatha hugged her own arms so that more of her body could fit under the stream of the shower head at once, closed her eyes, and sighed.

“Everything alright?” Zooble asked.

Ragatha didn’t respond.

“Well, ok, I mean obviously not everything’s alright, after…everything…But I mean like, right now. The water’s not too hot? You’re comfortable?”

She nodded. Her stomach hurt, but her stomach always hurt at least a little, so she didn’t bother telling them. She also felt a little awkward—even though they technically had nothing to hide anymore, it was still a bit uncomfortable being so vulnerable with another person. But, she also knew that if she tried to shower without any help, she would probably end up just sitting and staring until the water got so cold that she physically couldn’t stay there anymore. It had happened before.

“Ok, good.”

Zooble was slightly more comfortable with the situation. It was a part of their job to help with things like this, and they had done it often enough (helping Jax or Gangle whenever something was wrong with their arms) that to them, it felt just as casual as giving a haircut or painting someone’s nails. But even they still couldn’t help but feel a little bit awkward, like they had to choose their words carefully.

“But…how…are you feeling about, like…everything? If-if you’re up to talking about it.”

Ragatha sighed. “I…I don’t know…”

“Yeah. Fair. That’s fair.”

It was quiet for a few excruciating moments while Zooble worked, besides the sound of water against the tile and sleet against the roof. The soap they used was some sort of lavender & honey scent, something that Caine had made specifically for Ragatha. She loved that scent, and it was actually really nice not having to rush herself for once, taking her time soaking up the warm water. Dr. Abel had rules limiting how long a person could use a shower, in order to save on supposed water bills, but since Zooble was helping her she didn’t really have to worry about that herself, and that was pretty relaxing. Or, well, it would’ve been, if it wasn’t for the insufferably thick tension hanging in the room. Ragatha stayed as still as physically possible, and she felt simultaneously like a million thoughts were racing through her head all at once and like her brain was far too groggy to manage a single coherent thought. She didn’t seem to have the willpower to filter her thoughts out either, and before she could have a moment to think of what would be said next, she broke the silence with a quiet,

“I’m sorry.”

Zooble paused.

They then continued working soap into Ragatha’s hair, although they were now paying much less attention to this and much more attention to the conversation at hand. “Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ragatha was almost surprised, as if she didn’t expect Zooble to respond to anything she said. She had to take a moment to think.

“J-just…like, in general…I guess…I-I’m sorry that you have to be up so late just to take care of me.”

“It’s okay, Ragatha. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

“I’m sorry…a-about that.”

“It’s okay. I don’t usually sleep very good on any given day. It was just kinda hard in a…different way, today. You get it.”

“Oh. Yeah, I…I do.

But…isn’t getting less sleep like, uniquely bad for you, specifically? Like couldn’t it cause more seizures?“

“Well…yeah.”

“…Maybe you should talk to Dr. Moon…Try and take better care of yourself…You could get hurt if you don’t.”

Zooble let out a sort of half-laugh, more of a breath. “Shut up.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Ragatha pursed her lips and tried to stay a little bit more still, if such a thing were possible.

“Oh! Oh, no, no Ragatha, I-I meant that like, as a joke. Like you’re obviously right and I should do that but I don’t want to, so it’s like—like I’m jokingly—I-I don’t know how to explain it, man, just, I’m sorry. It was a joke.”

“Oh.” Normally Ragatha would then smile and pretend that she understood and found it funny, but today, she just didn’t have the capacity. “Sorry.”

Zooble sighed. “It’s ok, it’s…it’s really on me. That’s more something I could say to like Pomni or Jax or Gangle, not you, I just…yeah.”

“…Oh.”

It was quiet again. Her stomach hurt.

“Can-“”Listen-“ Both of them spoke at the same time in an attempt to break the silence.

“Sorry, sorry, you go,” Ragatha conceded, nervously rubbing her hands together, as she would usually fidget with the buttons on her dress.

“No, I…I wasn’t like actually gonna say anything. You go.”

“F-forget it, it…mine wasn’t very important either, I…yeah, just…never mind.”

Her head started to hurt, too, and it was quiet yet again. The way Zooble was washing her hair was almost in a massaging fashion, and that helped with the headache, but her stomach pain was slowly becoming agonizing. She figured it would fade in due time, so she just closed her eyes and stayed quiet.

“Hey, um…listen, Ragatha…if you want to talk about anything, it’s okay, really. I know you get anxious about that stuff, but you aren’t like, annoying to me or anything, I promise. Trust me, if you were, I’d let you know.” Zooble gave another half-laugh. “But you’re…sweet, Raggy. I don’t mind you talking at all. So come on, what were you gonna say?”

Ragatha was stunned into silence. Not “again”, because prior to this when she wouldn’t respond, it was because of a strange yet familiar feeling that simply shut her down and stopped any words from coming out of her mouth. Now, it was a different feeling. She knew exactly what she was going to say, and had the capacity to say it—but she didn’t want to. She couldn’t after Zooble said such nice things to her. “I don’t mind you talking at all,” felt practically like a warm hug, and she couldn’t say what she was going to say to someone who was hugging her when she so desperately needed it.

“Oh. I uh. I mean…Th-thank you.”

“Of course.”

“I…what I was gonna say was um. ‘Can I ask you a question?’”

Zooble gently finished lathering the soap in her yarn hair and began rinsing it off. “Yeah, shoot.”

“Um…what’s…your…favorite color?”

“My what?”

“Y-your favorite color.”

“That is not what you were gonna ask,” Zooble said, their eyes drooping back to their usual half-lidded state. “What’s got you suddenly just clamming up? I mean…,” They then realized a possible answer to their own question, and the memory of all that happened that day hit them like a train. They had forgotten all about it for a few blissful moments, as they waited for what they expected to be small talk. “I mean, listen, it’s okay if you’re like…upset with me. I…I understand. We can talk about that if you need to. I’d actually rather you talk about it with me than just keep it to yourself.”

Ragatha’s eyes darted around the tile floor, looking at nothing in particular. She knew that Zooble’s offer was genuine, that she really could express her feelings, but she had expressed heavy emotions to people she thought she could trust before, and had been punished for it by them too many times to just take it at face value. Eventually, she decided she was going to speak her mind, but she practically had to push the words out of her mouth.

“Do you think I’m crazy?”

Zooble inhaled and held their breath for long enough that there was an unnatural pause before they answered. Luckily they spoke before their silence became an outright “yes”.

“I don’t think you’re crazy, no. Of course not. I just…,” They sighed. “What do you mean by ‘crazy’?”

“You know, just…crazy. Like…like I don’t understand what’s really happening…and can’t make my own decisions…”

“…I don’t think that.”

“Oh. Okay….g-good, I guess.”

“Did you maybe…feel like I thought that, back there?”

“Well, I…Maybe…maybe a little bit,” Ragatha whispered, honestly hoping Zooble wouldn’t hear her.

“I’m…sorry.”

There was another long, quiet pause before Ragatha answered.

“It’s okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Ragatha…”

“What?”

“Come on, really, it’s okay if you’re upset with me. No one’s gonna hurt you over it. I promise.”

She didn’t answer, instead, focusing on the way Zooble said “No one’s gonna hurt you over it”. Something about the line stuck with her, and she tried to repeat the memory of Zooble’s voice saying it over and over in her mind, until it sort of lost its gravity, like the sentence was a piece of tape she kept rolling in between her fingers until it wouldn’t stick anymore.

“Did Dr. Abel say anything about me being in trouble?” She said eventually, once the line had lost its stick and long after Zooble had concluded that she must’ve wanted to stop talking altogether.

“No, actually. I don’t wanna give you like, false hope or anything, but it’s been hours and he hasn’t sent a word. He might send something tomorrow morning, I don’t know.”

“He probably will. I spit in his face.”

Zooble chuckled. “That was bad[%$!#].”

Ragatha quietly smiled to herself, but the expression immediately faded. Her stomach ache began to plateau from sharp random pangs to a dull, steady, but painful, ache.

“You don’t think he’s gonna be too harsh on me, do you?”

“Oh. Well…Listen, if you ever think you can’t handle a punishment, you could always pay the fine to get out of it. I know it’s stupid and that taking the actual punishment instead is kinda one of the only ways we have to stick it to the man or whatever, and you like being selfless and paying the others’ fines, but you shouldn’t put yourself through pain if you don’t have to. And, you know, I would be the one giving you the punishments since Caine’ll probably be busy with Jax tomorrow. Dr. Abel would want proof that they actually happen, but we could still find ways to fudge that.”

“So…yes.”

“I mean…yeah? Pr-Probably. He’s probably pretty [%$!#]ed about you spitting in his face at least. And he’s pretty predictable…I don’t think he’ll be very forgiving about it. But I mean, what sort of punishment would he even give you for that?”

Ragatha held her hand over her mouth. Many ideas came to mind. Now her stomachache somehow felt simultaneously like sudden sharp pains and a dull, constant one. She swallowed nothing in particular and held onto the seat of her shower chair, focusing the majority of her energy on coping with the pain long enough for Zooble to finish. They noticed her silence, but her paler face seemed to get sort of lost in the water.

“Let me know if you’re uncomfortable,” They reminded her. “I’m almost done.”

She nodded, as it felt like it exacerbated the pain a little less than speaking. True to their word, Zooble finished about thirty seconds after saying they would, turned off the water, and wrapped Ragatha in a towel.

“[%$!#], I forgot to grab you a change of clothes. Whatever, I can go get that now. Do you want your nightgown, or a clean hospital gown?”

Ragatha just shrugged, looking off to the side. “He could have one of my teeth pulled…,” She muttered, barely moving her lips to say it.

“What?”

She blinked and turned back to Zooble, her face completely blank.

“Are you talking about Dr. Abel? Has he done something like that to you? Y-you know what, don’t answer that, just…Please, try not to let yourself dwell on this too much, okay? You did nothing wrong. Dr. Abel is a [%$!#]ing [%$!#]hole for punishing you for anything, let alone this. And he hasn’t even told us to punish you yet! You deserve better than spiraling over something that might not even happen. And look, I-I’ll do everything in my power to protect you, I promise. Like…If he wants your tooth pulled, I’ll…I’ll book so many extra dentist appointments for the others that by the time your turn rolls around he’ll have forgotten about it completely. Or stuff like that.”

Ragatha smiled weakly. “Thanks, Zooble. But I…ugh…These lights are too bright,” She groaned, closing her eyes tight and folding over in her chair, clutching her stomach.

Zooble’s eyes went wide. Ragatha did not complain, and it freaked them the hell out when she did. “Oh my god, are you okay? Uh, let me check your temp and your pulse.” They reached out to feel her forehead. (Of course, she had just finished being in a steaming hot shower, so this was not particularly useful in seeing if she had a fever or not.) To their surprise, Ragatha pushed their hand away. She usually loved physical touch, so this was a bit strange. Zooble respected it, though, and pulled away. They sighed.

“Listen, Ragatha, I-“

“I think I’m gonna throw up.”

“Oh! Okay c’mere,” Zooble quickly helped her out of the shower and to where she could throw up into the toilet rather than just onto the floor. They instinctively held her hair back, just barely in time for the strange black tar-like liquid that censored actual vomit in the simulation not to get on any of it. It kind of reminded them of when they would go out to bars with their friends, and would end up stuck as the designated driver or babysitting said drunk friends, since they usually preferred to drink their own mixes and got picky at other bars. The memory made them smile a bit, but only for a moment, as once Ragatha was finally able to stop vomiting, she seemed to be…crying.

“I’m sorry,” She choked out through tears before Zooble could ask her what was wrong.

“I—Hey, hey, it’s okay,” They said, realizing that convincing Ragatha she had nothing to apologize for was an uphill battle they had no chance of winning that night. “I work at a hospital, I’m used to this sort of thing.”

Ragatha pulled her knees up to her chest, coughing and sobbing. Tears streamed down her face, and she pulled at her hair with one hand, the other holding the towel in place. Zooble’s heart sank to their stomach upon seeing her like this, but they didn’t know what to do. They stood from where they had been kneeling, maybe to get her a glass of water or a change of clothes, or maybe just to feel like they were doing anything. They weren’t sure.

“Zooble wait,” She coughed. They stayed, awkwardly standing there and suddenly unsure what to do with their arms.

“I think I am crazy.”

“What?”

They dropped back down to the floor, sitting with their legs crossed, right across from Ragatha so that their eyes would meet. She didn’t look them in the eyes, but the opportunity was there.

“I-I-I feel like-just like everything is so, so…much! And-and like I can’t handle it when everybody else can, and like I must be confused or missing something and-and I definitely can’t take care of myself or make my own decisions cuz I mean, like, just look at me!”

The way she spoke was hauntingly similar to how she did in front of the console, fast, out-of-breath, and through a deluge of tears, and Zooble was far too stunned to know what to say in response. They just looked at her with concern, trying their best to show they were listening.

“I-I can’t get myself to shower I can’t get myself to eat sometimes I just sit there and zone out and even if I yell at myself to move I just DON’T and-and I’ve had these crazy hallucinations before and I don’t even know what I’m doing, like, AT ALL, ever, I just—I just—,” She sobbed, interrupting herself. “I’m crazy!”

“You’re not crazy, Ragatha,” Zooble said, with conviction. They really did believe it, but it was also the only thing that came to mind to say.

“HA! Zooble, for goodness’ sake I’m yelling at you while I’m naked on the [%$!#]ing bathroom floor,” Ragatha muttered, burying her face in her hands. “I just…I just…,” She sobbed again. “I just wish my brain would shut up and let me act like a normal person for one day. What’s wrong with me? Why am I like this?”

“Hey, you’ve been through a lot, and you’re under a lot of stress. That’s not your fault. And it doesn’t make you crazy or mean that anything’s wrong with you. That would make anyone act a little strange. We’ve all been freaking out today. Jax and I both had seizures, Gangle had a panic attack…it’s normal to be freaked out about this. You’re…gonna be okay, alright?”

“No!” Ragatha shook her head. “I’m not gonna be okay! I-I-

I need help, Zooble!” She said, finally looking them in the eyes.

“Oh.” They gently took one of Ragatha’s hands into theirs, plastic against fabric. Suddenly they felt like they might actually know what to say, for once.

“We can do that.”

Ragatha’s breathing seemed to slow. She felt whatever the heck she was feeling seemed to fade into apathy again. She didn’t really care what exactly Zooble would do to help her. Hell, they could pick her up and throw her in bed like a sack of potatoes as “help” for all she cared. She just didn’t want to be left to her own devices. Either way, Zooble saying they would help seemed to calm her nerves, at least a little. She actually kind of wanted to hug them.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. You wanna hop back in the shower, rinse off a bit?”

Ragatha shook her head. “We already used up 15 minutes.”

“Dr. Abel can suck it. If he turns off your water tomorrow, I’ll let you use the shower in my room.”

“O-okay.”

“Hey, whoa. You good?”

She hadn’t noticed herself, but her breathing had quickened back up again upon the mention of disobeying Abel. “I-I-“

“Hey, look at me.” Zooble put their hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her back to reality. “Try to match my breath.”

Their chest rose and fell, slowly, with long gaps in between each movement. Ragatha inhaled and exhaled in an attempt to match the pattern, gasping at first, but eventually breathing just as calmly. It felt nice. She felt like she had actually been helped.

Zooble helped her in the shower again, although this time it was just rinsing her off. She dressed herself and brushed her own teeth, as she was slowly starting to be able to make herself move again, and she didn’t particularly want to be helped with those things specifically. Zooble was a little bit confused about the rhyme or reason (or lack thereof) behind what she wanted or didn’t want help with, but they respected it. They helped her put her hair in a braid though, so that it would stay out of her face while she slept.

Now, it was around 1:00 am, and Ragatha was back in her bed, petting Beauty’s yarn mane again. It felt different this time. Better.

“Could I get something to help me sleep?” Ragatha asked as Zooble handed her a meal replacement drink. (They had concluded together that the reason she threw up was probably the fact that she had three saltine crackers for dinner and nothing for lunch. She didn’t really want to eat, but Zooble talked her into at least taking a few sips.) “I was lying down for like six hours before you came in without falling asleep once, so I don’t think I can naturally.”

“Sorry. I’m only allowed to give you like, baby versions of over-the-counter stuff. And your regular meds have so much stuff you can’t mix with them that I don’t wanna take any chances. I could call Caine or Dr. Moon and ask them, though.”

“No, I…don’t really wanna see them right now.”

“Understandable.”

“C-Could you bring me one of my books, though? Reading helps me sleep sometimes,” She said, pointing at her bookshelf.

“Yeah, which one?”

“Um…Metamorphosis is my favorite right now. It’s that small one on the third shelf.”

“Dr. Abel lets you have this? Isn’t it like, a classic? I thought he wasn’t a fan of you having stuff like that,” Zooble said as they grabbed the book with a noticeably bent spine and a few sticky notes poking out of its pages.

“It is. But it’s not really about anything Dr. Abel objects to, so.”

“What is it about? I’ve been meaning to read it. I know a guy turns into a bug.”

Ragatha smiled, the closest she could get to a laugh at the moment. “Yeah, I mean, that’s pretty much it. I…I think there’s more to it than that, but I can’t say I could really…prove that.”

“That’s okay. I trust you. Hey, would you mind if I read to you instead? Like I said, I’ve been meaning to read it, and I can’t sleep, so I’m trying to find random [%$!#] to do. Plus, I don’t really wanna just leave you alone after all that.”

“Oh! Ar-are you sure? I mean, that’d be nice, but shouldn’t you at least go try to sleep?”

“I think reading will help me sleep, too. I might fall asleep in your chair, though, if you don’t mind,” They said with a slight chuckle.

“Then…yes please. I-I don’t mind.”

Zooble smiled, or, well, their eyes squinted, in their closest approximation of a smile. They turned off the lights while leaving the flower wall lamps on, and they along with the glow-in-the-dark stars illuminated the room with a soft, warm, pink glow. Ragatha drank the majority of the meal replacement while listening to them read through the first chapter, without even realizing it. She didn’t feel guilty when she noticed it, though, like she oftentimes would, instead actually feeling sort of proud. The sound of sleet on the roof began to soften to a slow, quiet drumming, more like rain now, and she could hear Zooble’s voice over it easily. She closed her eyes, and fell asleep around the time they read, “He felt as if the way to the unknown nourishment he longed for were coming to light.”

————————————————————

Ragatha woke up the next morning to find herself staring at an empty chair. Zooble had left when she fell asleep, she figured. She was glad that they had presumably at least gone & tried to sleep, but she honestly kind of wished they were still there. Through the window next to the chair, she could see patches of snow and ice blanketing the ground outside, and it was even a little cold inside. She didn’t really want to leave her warm bed. Luckily, there was a knock at the door, and Zooble came in.

“Morning, Ragatha. I’d ask you if you slept alright, but I was there, so.”

Ragatha chuckled a bit. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Yeah, pretty well actually. I mean, once I got back to bed. The reading really did help.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. You know, I can finish the rest for you tonight, if you want.”

“I’d like that.” She smiled. Zooble’s eyes squinted back.

“I have breakfast for everyone ready in the community room. You wanna come eat?”

“Oh…I…I kinda wanna just stay in bed…” She answered, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

“Oh, jeez, I-I probably should’ve asked you beforehand, but uh. Gangle & Pomni asked if you were okay,”

“They asked about me?”

“Yeah, of course. They care about you.”

“…Huh.”

“And I might’ve kinda told them you’d be able to tell them yourself. I’m sorry, I should’ve asked you, but I also honestly don’t wanna leave you alone that much. I’d feel better if you stayed where one of us can see you. Just…in case you need our help.”

“Oh. Then…yeah, I’ll come,” Ragatha said, sitting up. She kind of wanted to see Pomni & Gangle now. (And, honestly, agreed that she shouldn’t be alone.) Zooble helped her into one of the hospital wheelchairs and brought her into the community room. It looked the same as always, untouched by yesterday’s events. The childish carpet in the center of the room stuck out against the sterile white furniture like a sore thumb, and the piano on the stage immediately grabbed anyone who entered’s attention, after the rainbow letters carpet, of course. It sort of reminded her of her childhood classrooms, although she couldn’t tell whether that was comforting or disturbing. Gangle was hidden in the corner of the room, next to Zooble’s desk, eating cereal and drawing something. Pomni was sitting in the armchair that Ragatha usually sat in, with an untouched microwaved breakfast sandwich on a plate beside her. She was tapping her fingers nervously on one of the arms, and staring out the window as if some reassuring information would come from outside.

“Um…Hey, guys,” Ragatha said, meekly, but loud enough to be heard, once she realized that they hadn’t heard Zooble’s footsteps.

“Ragatha!” Pomni shouted. Gangle seemed to perk up too, although she didn’t say anything. Pomni jumped off the chair and walked up to her, visibly suppressing the urge to run. “Are you okay? Gangle and I were starting to worry you might’ve abstracted.”

“I…” Ragatha thought for a moment. “I’ll be okay.”

“Thank god,” Pomni said, and took her into a tight embrace. Ragatha paused, honestly surprised. Her eye began to water, and she wrapped her arms around her, accepting the hug.