The Disability Chat

Peter

I heard a bunch of rolling and whacking behind me. I turned around sort of instinctively, as if that would allow me to better understand what was happening. Well...there could've been more people in wheelchairs in that room, but I figured that the only one who would actually follow would be T.Mor. And...he was apparently having a tough time getting through the door.

"Sorry," I said, trying to point my face in his general direction. "I'd help if I could..."

Gods, I felt so useless!

Marley
'T.Mor' I mouthed, looking over at the one struggling in the wheelchair. I didn't make a move to do anything though, my train of thought slowly derailing as I stared off into some distant point

Wolf
Marley left, two others followed. After a moment another tries, and isn't succeeding very well. I stand, walk over to him. This height, I come up to about his chest. Not my own hallucination then. I don't really want to talk in the group. I shift, keeping my eyes on him, taking the door in my hand and opening it for him. I attempt a weak smile; not sure if it came to my lips.

T.Mor:

Some girl opened the door for me. Only...She hadn't been a girl a moment ago..She had been some kind of big fuzzy...uhm...animal thing...There's probably a word for it that I don't know. My eyes kinda popped a bit. "Uhm...Thank you..." I said quietly, Trying to line up with the door frame so that I could get through it without running into something else.

"It's ok ...Peter... uhm...I...I got it...Someone helped with the door..." I said, finally rolling through the door. My one hand scraped against the doorframe as I rolled through though, because I hadn't been completely paralell with the door frame.

I wasn't entirely sure how to stop rolling...So...I just threw the brake levers down...The change in momentum pulled me foreward a bit, but...It was better than crashing into something else. "Uhm..." I stated articulately.

Cricket

T.Mor? I hesitated before looking over my shoulder, to see the poor guy struggling to work his chair. There was another girl holding the door open. The scene behind me had changed, and I hadn't had a clue.

Everything was fragile when I couldn't hear it, like it barely existed. Paper-thin. The entire world could just crumble and vanish behind my back, and I wouldn't know until I happened to look. In fact . . . I reached blindly for Marley's shoulder again, and my hand brushed her sleeve. Good. She was still there.

". . . Need 'elp, T.Mor?"

T.Mor:

Cricket offered me help...That was really nice of him. "Uhm...I...I think...I'm ok..right now..." I tried to say in a way that he could read off my face. However...Next time I was going to decide to move... Well...I'd see where I was going to...and probably get some employee person to drive me...

I rearranged the pillow against my back a bit, It had shifted slightly with the momentum of the chair.

Wolf
After a moment's hesitation, I glance back at the doctor at the center of group. Wasn't going to talk anyway... So I step out with the man in the wheelchair, my eyes going to Marley again. How...different. It's Marley alright. Not an illusion by the people's reactions to her, and not a mistaken person because of her scent. Adrian...did all of this...?

Marley
'Wolf" I mouthed in recognition when I saw her. Didn't make a move to go over and see her, though. I just watched her watch me.

Wolf
I attempt a smile, but it feels so fake. Sort of...not there. Taking slow steps, I approach her, wrap her with fragile feeling arms. I know not to expect anything back. But still...even if it feels sort of useless to me, I know I should. Haven't been...eating as I should. I made it a point to feed before coming here though. "Marley. It's nice to see you again." Even...if it's not the best situation...

Marley
My brother's widow. She felt so fragile as she hugged me, like she was made of paper or glass. Like if I did so much as tapped her on the shoulder too hard, she'd shatter into a million pieces. I made this observation coolly, without concern. And I didn't hug her back, my arms remaining limp at my sides.

Peter

The voice was unfamiliar, but apparently this new girl was a friend of Marley's.

Nice to see you again...

I wished I could say the same.

I'd thought about it before, but something really wasn't right with Marley. It wasn't the muteness; the old Marley would have been outgoing in spite of that. She might have even tried to tacklehug me or whatever. No, something was definitely wrong here.

Cricket

Suddenly I felt like an intruder, and stepped back. Who was this girl? I wasn't sure if I wanted to do with any new people at the moment. I was still trying to reacquaint with my new self. Well I didn't want to leave, and I didn't want to butt in, so I just stood there . . . feeling like T.Mor.

Wolf
I take a step back the next moment, not bothered by the lack of return. Both so shattered from my brother. Like glass ready to fall out of its frame. Just a little push... "Staying strong?" I ask her, still trying to pretend a comforting smile. If just for her. She's been through too much for a girl her age.

Marley
Staying strong... what did she mean by that? I just mouthed the first thing that came to mind
'I'm on medication, I think. Keeping me from destroying. Though I can't feel anything'

Wolf
I give a small nod, glancing away slightly. "Me too," I say quietly in response. All I can think of saying in such a situation. "...We'll get through it." Just a statement, because we have to. Can't spend forever like this, after all. Trying to....look to the positives...

Marley
I continued to give her a blank stare, her words meaning nothing to me. Practically gibberish. I assumed they all were supposed to have some emotional impact, based on the fact that I had no idea what she was talking about.
Then I turned and headed back for the room that I was fairly sure I was supposed to be staying at. Because I had nothing more to say.

Cricket

Then Marley was down the hall again. I stood frozen for a moment, trying to sort out my thoughts. Follow? I wanted to. Something told me that wouldn't do anything, however. Maybe I should let her be. She deserved that choice . . . aye? The option to be alone every once in a while? I glanced over the group that remained, and took a breath before walking back to the meeting room door, careful not to shatter the imagined silence with my steps.

Something Marley said stuck in my mind . . . or at least, I thought she said it . . . or, mouthed it. Something about medication?

I glanced back over my shoulder once, and slipped in the door. This was going to be a long day.

Peter

So two people went in opposite directions... Okay. I had to judge footsteps. I was pretty sure the first had been Marley. The second person couldn't have been T.Mor, and they weren't light enough to have been the new girl, so the second must have been Cricket. I guessed that if Cricket were going back to the room, I should, too.

I turned around, heading back towards the sound of the door being closed. For the second time, I fumbled around for the handle. I grasped it, heading in the door. I got about halfway through before turning around to "look" at T.Mor, in case he wanted to come, too. He probably did.

T.Mor:

Peter was holding the door for me. "Yeah...Thanks Peter...Uhm..Hold on a sec..." I turned off my brakes and clumsily realigned myself with the door. I accidentally backed into the other side of the hallway...But...Oh well. I got up to the door frame, and remembered that I scraped my hand against it last time.

Marley
I reached my room, where a doctor was waiting. He greeted me with a smile
"Hello Marley, I'm here to explain your treatment" he said, pulling out a long, slender needle with some kind of orangish liquid in it. "You need to self administer this five times a day, more if you're starting to feel... off. They're all stored in a large, silver container beneath your bed" Something told me that was an awful lot of medication, and my problem must be pretty... something. Probably not good.
The doctor then showed me how to clean an area of my arm, and inject it. Then he explained the side effects, including loss of emotion, but also that it helped keep my brain handle the extreme trauma it's been put through over the course of the last couple of days.
Then he pulled something else out of his pocket. It was a small, phone sized device
"And this is for communication" He explained, his smile widening. "Just type in what you want to say, and it will project your message through the speakers in the back" he handed it to me, and I stared blankly at it for a moment. Then I typed in 'Hello'. After just a few minutes, the machine said "Hello" in a strangely robotic voice.
"If you have any more questions, just contact me or Dr Doe, alright?" he said cheerily. After a few moments of me giving him a blank stare, he frowned and left.


(Yes, I am aware that the doctor should be a lot more technical. But I'm too tired and dumb for all that. I'm also aware that he wouldn't give anybody, especially a 14 year old, the project of self medication. But that's for teh plot.)

Dr Doe
Cooperation, guys, it's the word of the day. I sighed, watching The Four file out. This was going to be one interesting chat, maybe even worse than the brain bleach or green punch. Oh... in the name of all that is good... please not that bad...
Then, after a tiny bit, everybody but Marley came back inside. I breathed a sigh of relief "Does anybody have anything else to add to the meet-and-greet?"

Cricket

I read the words on the screen . . . I read them on the screen. Words. "Aye . . . Oi my my," I said, mostly just to see my words on the screen, before sitting down. I returned to avoiding eye contact and remaining silent.

Wolf
I simply watch her walk away, knowing I can't do much right now. The other three go back but I just stay in the hallway. I don't much want to 'add to the meet and greet'. I'd rather like to...just sleep. Let some random memory take me and make me forget what actually happened, relive a bland day and claim this all as the nightmare I know it for.

But I know I shouldn't. I let out a breath, leaning up against a wall and slowly sinking down to the carpet outside of the meeting room. We'll get through it. We just...have to. The sound of my own heart is very apparent to me. A thought starts out small, slowly consuming me. What will it be like to hear my own heart end?

endellion wrote:Dr Doe
Cooperation, guys, it's the word of the day. I sighed, watching The Four file out. This was going to be one interesting chat, maybe even worse than the brain bleach or green punch. Oh... in the name of all that is good... please not that bad...
Then, after a tiny bit, everybody but Marley came back inside. I breathed a sigh of relief "Does anybody have anything else to add to the meet-and-greet?"

((Apparently she ignored what Screwfoot said, then.))

Oops, SO sorry, Regret. I'm an idiot.

Dr Doe
I smiled at Tommy "We're glad to have you here. Do you have any questions or concerns about treatment? Actually, that question extends to everybody. Does anybody have any questions?"