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Description
Part 51: Hospital

The bus ride up to Northern District was a quiet one. Retsuko sat by the window, looking at the barren trees that lined the streets pass by as the bus snored along. Haida sat next to her, killing the time playing a game on his phone and texting back and forth with Fenneko.

A thought occurred to the red panda.

"Haida, you don't mind coming with me, do you?"

He tucked his phone away into the pocket of his leather jacket, and sighed.

"Actually I do, but a good boyfriend stays with his mate. And you were right, I need to get my ear looked at."

"I'm really sorry for dragging you along, then. It occurred to me about the accident you were in and how you might not like hospitals. Forgive me for being impetuous."

He leaned over and pulled her to him so she was leaning against him and kept his arm around her.

"It's alright. That's what hospitals are for. I don't like them but they are necessary, like laundry mats and funeral homes."

"Thank you for coming with me, Haida."

"No problem sweetheart."

The bus let them off at the big hospital parking lot, and it took them quite a while to find the regular entrance, finally having to catch a parking lot security guard and beg for help. The Doberman led the pair around the building and through a large sliding glass door which housed a main waiting room filled with seats, and like a heavenly beacon, the Information Desk.

"You owe me, Tsuko," Haida joked as they walked up.

Retsuko did the talking to the white bulldog nurse behind the counter.

"Excuse me, ma'am, sorry to bother you, but we have a couple of issues and we were hoping you could help us, please?"

The nurse smiled and put down the chart she was going over.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Well, first off we are here to see a friend of ours who had a heart attack. Do you know of a Mr. Mihatsu Ton?"

The nurse typed something into the computer on the desk next to her.

"Species?"

"Uh, pig."

The nurse nodded.

"It appears as though your friend is still in the ICU unit. They MIGHT let you see him. I'm not sure how things work up there, though. I'm just a lonely receptionist nurse. He's in room 409, hall B. There's a nurse's station up there if you have any questions."

Retsuko started to mention Haida's ear but the nurse got there first.

"And I'm willing to bet your husband needs his ear looked at. I'll call someone to take him to the back to look at it."

"Oh, he's not my..." Retsuko stopped herself and looked up at Haida, who was also rather flustered at that statement. His ears were red.

The nurse called someone on the phone, and asked them to please be seated while they waited for the doctor.

"I suppose I'll go talk to Ton while you have your ear looked at. We'll coordinate via text depending on who is where when we get done."

"Sounds like a plan."

About 15 minutes later a racoon doctor came out of one of the side doors and introduced herself as Dr. Quill.

"Will your wife be joining us, sir?"

"Oh, she's not...my..." Haida stopped, looking at her. It was like some part of his brain locked up when he saw her in that light. But in a good way.

Retsuko gave his hand a squeeze.

"I'm going up to see Ton, you get your ear worked on, We'll coordinate."

Haida left with the doctor and Retsuko went to check on her mortal enemy.

Elevator. 4th floor. Room 9 on hall B. She went over the numbers in her mind repeatedly. She had been in a hospital before and knew how easy it was to get lost in their laberythine halls.

She didn't like the smell of hospitals. The scent of linens and antiseptic brought back some bad memories that she had chosen to ignore over the years. She pushed them back under the figurative bed of her mind and looked up at the numbers on the hallway signs as she walked.

Finally, after seeming to have traveled miles up and down various hallways, she found the ICU, and went to the nurse's station to see if they could let her in.

She addressed the white cat nurse who was sitting at the counter charting.

"Hi there, I was wondering if I could see Mr. Mihatsu Ton? I'm a friend of his from work."

"Let me check with his doctor and nurse and see what condition he's in. What was your name, sweetie?"

"Retsuko. I'm a red panda."

She wrote something down on a sticker and handed it to her.

"That's a visitor sticker. Keep it stuck to your shirt at all times while you're back there or they WILL kick you out."

The nurse got on the phone and dialed a short number. After a short wait she began corferring with someone on the other end and pulled a couple of charts from the shelf behind her, efficiently multitasking.

She hung up and walked out of the station, motioning for Retsuko to follow her. The nurse matter of factly explained to her as they walked the rules of ICU. Voices must be kept low to reduce stress, friends are only allowed 15 minutes, family half an hour. Do not touch any machines or instruments in the room. All phones must be turned off or put in airplane mode, lest they mess with the machines in the patient's rooms.

The nurse led her down a hallway to a huge heavy set of double doors and typed in a code to let them in. She made sure Retsuko turned her phone to airplane mode before they went another step.

Down the hall. Room 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and finally 9.

The nurse walked in first and Retsuko could hear her speaking to the beast within.

"Mr. Ton, you have a visitor."

She heard that old deep familiar voice, full of grouchiness and irritation.

"Who is it?"

"A female named Retsuko, a red panda. She says she's a friend of yours."

"Huh. Calendar. Hardly a friend. Let her in."

The cat nurse came out and held an arm out into the room to say she could go in.

"I'll be back in 15 minutes, ma'am."

She left, leaving Retsuko alone in the lair of her enemy.

The room was semi dark aside from a light above the hospital bed. The huge pig was on his back looking at her, and he had tubes going in and out of him in every direction, even his nose. He had a machine by his bed that made a steady, low, beeping noise and had green lines going across a screen that was attached to it. An i.v. bag was on the other side of it, with another tube from it going into his arm.

"What'd you want, Calendar? Come to laugh at me? See your Shitty boss brought down low?"

"No sir. I actually came because I actually wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing."

"Cut the crap, Calendar. Nobody cares. You're just here to see when or if I'll be back."

Retsuko restrained herself. She was already sensing that little grain of rage forming in her head, and she hadn't even been here 5 minutes.

"That is something we were wondering about at the office."

Ton snorted, then coughed a little bit.

"I bet Tsubone isn't doing jack, is she?"

Retsuko sat down in the chair next to his bed.

"Actually...no, sir. The work that you would normally sign off on is piling up on your desk. I understood that Tsubone was supposed to sign off on them, so I recommended everyone put them there."

"Good thinking, Calendar."

Retsuko really wished he'd quit calling her that.

Ton's voice actually got a hair quieter, as if he were thinking.

"Truth is, I don't think I'm going to be able to come back."

Retsuko looked at the floor. There it was, right there.

"My heart's too weak. Can't take the stress anymore," he resigned.

"So what do I tell everyone at work?" Retsuko asked.

Ton just looked her for a moment.

"Calendar, did you ever stop and think why I was so hard on you?"

"Because you're an asshole?" She thought to herself.

"Don't get me wrong, Calendar. I don't like you. I hate women like you. But as you worked for me, I noticed how hard you did work. You put up with tons of crap from everybody and didn't say a word."

He coughed again; the effort of speaking was making his lungs tired.

"I saw somethin' in you, Calendar. I wanted to see if you could take the stress of workin' at that place. I knew this would happen to me eventually, and I wanted to hire someone from the department so everything didn't go to hell in a handbasket with a new boss from outside."

Retsuko didn't like where this was going. She sat quietly, listening.

"The fact that you came up here to talk to me proves what I thought. You might hate working there, but you don't want anything bad to happen to the creatures working with you. The accounting department is very important. We're the nerve center of the company. Creatures can lose their jobs if things go wrong in accounting. They have families and lives and the whole company could suffer, causing more problems for everyone as a whole. It has to be run as a tight ship."

Retsuko nodded in agreement.

"That's why I want you to take over for me."

Description
Part 51: Hospital

The bus ride up to Northern District was a quiet one. Retsuko sat by the window, looking at the barren trees that lined the streets pass by as the bus snored along. Haida sat next to her, killing the time playing a game on his phone and texting back and forth with Fenneko.

A thought occurred to the red panda.

"Haida, you don't mind coming with me, do you?"

He tucked his phone away into the pocket of his leather jacket, and sighed.

"Actually I do, but a good boyfriend stays with his mate. And you were right, I need to get my ear looked at."

"I'm really sorry for dragging you along, then. It occurred to me about the accident you were in and how you might not like hospitals. Forgive me for being impetuous."

He leaned over and pulled her to him so she was leaning against him and kept his arm around her.

"It's alright. That's what hospitals are for. I don't like them but they are necessary, like laundry mats and funeral homes."

"Thank you for coming with me, Haida."

"No problem sweetheart."

The bus let them off at the big hospital parking lot, and it took them quite a while to find the regular entrance, finally having to catch a parking lot security guard and beg for help. The Doberman led the pair around the building and through a large sliding glass door which housed a main waiting room filled with seats, and like a heavenly beacon, the Information Desk.

"You owe me, Tsuko," Haida joked as they walked up.

Retsuko did the talking to the white bulldog nurse behind the counter.

"Excuse me, ma'am, sorry to bother you, but we have a couple of issues and we were hoping you could help us, please?"

The nurse smiled and put down the chart she was going over.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Well, first off we are here to see a friend of ours who had a heart attack. Do you know of a Mr. Mihatsu Ton?"

The nurse typed something into the computer on the desk next to her.

"Species?"

"Uh, pig."

The nurse nodded.

"It appears as though your friend is still in the ICU unit. They MIGHT let you see him. I'm not sure how things work up there, though. I'm just a lonely receptionist nurse. He's in room 409, hall B. There's a nurse's station up there if you have any questions."

Retsuko started to mention Haida's ear but the nurse got there first.

"And I'm willing to bet your husband needs his ear looked at. I'll call someone to take him to the back to look at it."

"Oh, he's not my..." Retsuko stopped herself and looked up at Haida, who was also rather flustered at that statement. His ears were red.

The nurse called someone on the phone, and asked them to please be seated while they waited for the doctor.

"I suppose I'll go talk to Ton while you have your ear looked at. We'll coordinate via text depending on who is where when we get done."

"Sounds like a plan."

About 15 minutes later a racoon doctor came out of one of the side doors and introduced herself as Dr. Quill.

"Will your wife be joining us, sir?"

"Oh, she's not...my..." Haida stopped, looking at her. It was like some part of his brain locked up when he saw her in that light. But in a good way.

Retsuko gave his hand a squeeze.

"I'm going up to see Ton, you get your ear worked on, We'll coordinate."

Haida left with the doctor and Retsuko went to check on her mortal enemy.

Elevator. 4th floor. Room 9 on hall B. She went over the numbers in her mind repeatedly. She had been in a hospital before and knew how easy it was to get lost in their laberythine halls.

She didn't like the smell of hospitals. The scent of linens and antiseptic brought back some bad memories that she had chosen to ignore over the years. She pushed them back under the figurative bed of her mind and looked up at the numbers on the hallway signs as she walked.

Finally, after seeming to have traveled miles up and down various hallways, she found the ICU, and went to the nurse's station to see if they could let her in.

She addressed the white cat nurse who was sitting at the counter charting.

"Hi there, I was wondering if I could see Mr. Mihatsu Ton? I'm a friend of his from work."

"Let me check with his doctor and nurse and see what condition he's in. What was your name, sweetie?"

"Retsuko. I'm a red panda."

She wrote something down on a sticker and handed it to her.

"That's a visitor sticker. Keep it stuck to your shirt at all times while you're back there or they WILL kick you out."

The nurse got on the phone and dialed a short number. After a short wait she began corferring with someone on the other end and pulled a couple of charts from the shelf behind her, efficiently multitasking.

She hung up and walked out of the station, motioning for Retsuko to follow her. The nurse matter of factly explained to her as they walked the rules of ICU. Voices must be kept low to reduce stress, friends are only allowed 15 minutes, family half an hour. Do not touch any machines or instruments in the room. All phones must be turned off or put in airplane mode, lest they mess with the machines in the patient's rooms.

The nurse led her down a hallway to a huge heavy set of double doors and typed in a code to let them in. She made sure Retsuko turned her phone to airplane mode before they went another step.

Down the hall. Room 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and finally 9.

The nurse walked in first and Retsuko could hear her speaking to the beast within.

"Mr. Ton, you have a visitor."

She heard that old deep familiar voice, full of grouchiness and irritation.

"Who is it?"

"A female named Retsuko, a red panda. She says she's a friend of yours."

"Huh. Calendar. Hardly a friend. Let her in."

The cat nurse came out and held an arm out into the room to say she could go in.

"I'll be back in 15 minutes, ma'am."

She left, leaving Retsuko alone in the lair of her enemy.

The room was semi dark aside from a light above the hospital bed. The huge pig was on his back looking at her, and he had tubes going in and out of him in every direction, even his nose. He had a machine by his bed that made a steady, low, beeping noise and had green lines going across a screen that was attached to it. An i.v. bag was on the other side of it, with another tube from it going into his arm.

"What'd you want, Calendar? Come to laugh at me? See your Shitty boss brought down low?"

"No sir. I actually came because I actually wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing."

"Cut the crap, Calendar. Nobody cares. You're just here to see when or if I'll be back."

Retsuko restrained herself. She was already sensing that little grain of rage forming in her head, and she hadn't even been here 5 minutes.

"That is something we were wondering about at the office."

Ton snorted, then coughed a little bit.

"I bet Tsubone isn't doing jack, is she?"

Retsuko sat down in the chair next to his bed.

"Actually...no, sir. The work that you would normally sign off on is piling up on your desk. I understood that Tsubone was supposed to sign off on them, so I recommended everyone put them there."

"Good thinking, Calendar."

Retsuko really wished he'd quit calling her that.

Ton's voice actually got a hair quieter, as if he were thinking.

"Truth is, I don't think I'm going to be able to come back."

Retsuko looked at the floor. There it was, right there.

"My heart's too weak. Can't take the stress anymore," he resigned.

"So what do I tell everyone at work?" Retsuko asked.

Ton just looked her for a moment.

"Calendar, did you ever stop and think why I was so hard on you?"

"Because you're an asshole?" She thought to herself.

"Don't get me wrong, Calendar. I don't like you. I hate women like you. But as you worked for me, I noticed how hard you did work. You put up with tons of crap from everybody and didn't say a word."

He coughed again; the effort of speaking was making his lungs tired.

"I saw somethin' in you, Calendar. I wanted to see if you could take the stress of workin' at that place. I knew this would happen to me eventually, and I wanted to hire someone from the department so everything didn't go to hell in a handbasket with a new boss from outside."

Retsuko didn't like where this was going. She sat quietly, listening.

"The fact that you came up here to talk to me proves what I thought. You might hate working there, but you don't want anything bad to happen to the creatures working with you. The accounting department is very important. We're the nerve center of the company. Creatures can lose their jobs if things go wrong in accounting. They have families and lives and the whole company could suffer, causing more problems for everyone as a whole. It has to be run as a tight ship."

Retsuko nodded in agreement.

"That's why I want you to take over for me."