“Ah, so that’s where you’ve been for the past couple of years.” Charlotte said, her curiosity about Ethan’s whereabouts now satisfied. She takes removes the steth-o-scope from her neck and motions him to pull his shirt back down
After Octavia had left with the other two doctors to deal with a more serious matter that caused them to leave in a flash, Ethan and Charlotte used the time to catch with each other while they continued with the examination. Their voices slightly echoed in the large room and every minute or so, the rumbling of thunder was heard. That meant the storm must have finally arrived.
“Y-yeah, I preferred joining the force rather than applying for college honestly.” Ethan confessed lightly, not wanting to get into the ‘despairing’ truth about his enrollment. ‘Focus Ethan. Now’s not the time for your self-pity.’ He told himself as he watches Charlotte fiddle with something in front of her.
“Yeah, I agree. Most people I know enter the military to ‘fix themselves,’ She said, her back away from Ethan. “While I can’t fully understand their reasons, I’m not one to judge. After all, my job is to heal.” Saying that she turns around to face Ethan, to which he is now shaking with fear. Her face is covered by a mask, while her hands were in latex gloves. In one hand was a needle while the other a tray that held a clear tube.
*CRRRACCCKK*
“Now, show me your arm, I need to draw a bit of blood from you.” She said, voice muffled by her mask.
Ok, the lightning mixing with how she has just said that almost made Ethan jump out of the chair, but he was able to maintain his composure.
“Yesh, don’t do that to me! You scared me!” Ethan snorted out, pushing his sleeve up to his upper arm.
“Hey, don’t blame me, I had nothing to do with that timing.” Charlotte giggled. After swabbing a small area on his arm with a cotton ball, she readied the needle. Ethan held his breath, waiting for the slight pinch of paint to come.
“So, wha-ow! What have you been up to?” Ethan winced but continued his question.
“Hm? Oh! You know, went to college, got my medical degree, yeah…” She answered half-heartedly, since her focus on extracting Ethan’s blood.
“That too. Well, what I meant was how’s your social life, have you made any new friends?”
“Yeah, I have. You know at least three of them by now.” She replied while taking out the needle and placing her thumb over the small wound then turning around and reached into the nearby drawers getting a band-aid. “The others I had met through Octavia, they’re all wonderful people, you should meet them.”
“Heh, yeah, that sounds cool.” Ethan laughed nervously, unsure if he would be willing to take up her offer. She had noticed this however as she applied the band-aid to his small wound.
“You sound worried…Ah!” She snapped her fingers as if she realized something.
“Are you worried that they’re shifty strangers that might have ulterior motives?”
Flabbergasted by her question, Ethan stammered out an apology.
“WHA?! N-NO?! Lotta, I-I didn’t m-ean it like that! It’s…well…”
“Using my old nickname too, huh? Aw, you are so sweet for your own good.” She teased, smirking as Ethan became even redder.
Satisfied, Charlotte returned to her business of transferring the blood into the vile and filling out the documents of his. Letting out a tired sigh, Ethan smiled softly as he watched Charlotte work. Yes, he was worried about her new friends. Even though she was a caring person, Charlotte does have a habit of being a little too trusting in others, and it has hurt her in the past…
*rumbles*
Turning to the door that led out of the room, Ethan recalled the frazzled looks of Octavia, Lita, and Faust when they hurriedly exited the room. Charlotte must have complete trust in them if they didn’t need to explain the ‘commotion’ that needed their attention, but…he needed to make sure.
“You’re… not wrong about me being worried about you Charlotte, but I just really need to know…” Ethan hesitantly spoke. Charlotte didn’t turn to face him, but he did notice she had slowed her writing when he had asked that question which means she was listening.
“…need to know what?”
*CRRRRAAAAACCCCKKKK*
Ethan jumped. Where ever that lighting struck must’ve been very close because it had made the entire building shake.
“W-why did Octavia lea-?” His question wasn’t finished, as he noticed the panicked expression on her face. He had barely said anything so there must be a different reason for her to be like this.
Creeping closer, trying not to startle her, he examined her face. While yes, she was facing him, her eyes weren’t focused on him. Rather…they seemed to be focused on something that only Charlotte could see. Well, nothing was in front of them, so maybe it was the thunder that probably scared her? Reaching out slowly, he placed his hand on her shoulder to try and jostle her.
“Charlotte, what’s wron-“
*rumbles* *CRRRRRAAAACKKK*
She then abruptly stood up, startling him. The clipboard fell out of her trembling hands, clattering onto the floor.
This was far worse than what Ethan was expecting, but he tried again and called her name again.
“C-charlotte, you ok?” He asked, voice slightly cracked.
Finally, she broke out of her daze and looked at Ethan. Then, a flash of realization occurred on her face. She grabbed his hand that was on her shoulder tightly and made her way to the door.
“Wha?! Charlotte, what’s going on?!” Ethan inquired.
“You need to get home, now!”
Her reply was short and to the point, no reason why.
As they rushed down the hallway, Ethan noticed all the doors leading into each examination room were open, and no one was present in them. Even as they exited into the lobby, not a single person was there, even the desk clerks were gone. The room then lit up, followed by more enormous thunder strikes outside. Shifting his gaze to the window, he saw a very peculiar sight. Rather than rain, a murky fog had settled in the city. He was only able to see far as 5 feet from the window.
What was going on? Is there some sort of storm coming? Was there some sort of evacuation or somethi-…Wait, did it have to do with that flashing red light on Octavia’s wristband right before they left?
Charlotte guided Ethan outside, gripping his hand tightly so he wouldn’t get lost in the fog. They soon rush to her car and drive off. The headlights on the car helped only slightly because Ethan could only see several silhouettes of people scampering off to the side, probably into the large buildings to seek shelter. Ethan began to feel anxious even more, fearing for not only his safety but for his parents.
“Lotta, please, what’s going on? Did something happe-“
“As much as I want to tell you what’s going on Ethan, I can’t. I’m sorry…” She cut him off very quickly and very sharply.
He was at a loss for words…Never before has she been so harsh and so unwilling to talk.
‘Why won’t she say anything. She can tell me anything. She can trust me…right?’
He doesn’t speak further, which causes Charlotte to recoil her annoyed behavior into sadness for shouting at her friend. No words are spoken for the entire drive and even though the drive would be very short because of the speed she was driving at, it felt like an eternity because of the eerie silence.
Finally, they arrived at Ethan’s building. Ethan peers into the large window leading into the lobby to see no one, not even the clerks were at their desks.
“…Thanks for driving me, Charlotte. Just…please stay safe, ok?” His voice was quiet and hesitate but also laced with worry. Charlotte sighed and unlocked the door for him.
“You’re welcome…I’m sorry for this…” She apolitically said.
“It’s ok. I won’t force you to tell me. See you another time...” As he says that, he opens his door, making sure his back was facing towards her so she couldn’t see his distressed face. As he begins to walk towards the building, he hears a voice behind him.
“…Som…one…he…lp…”
Stopping in his tracks, he turns around.
“Lotta, was that yo-?!” He stops speaking.
She was gone…
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