Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

[Bullfrog]

Lawrence simply cannot be bothered to put up a fight, and returns to the hospital with little resistance. This conversation had unfortunately been cut short, but the corpse shed could be very useful for any future meetings; he'd just have to come at times when it wasn't full of its typical occupants.

[Philulhu]

The nurse lead the way back to their room, where the one-legged soldier laughed when they returned. ”Nurse Zenna caught you, then!”

The nurse smiled at him and said, ”Settle down, Mr Carter.” She looked at everyone else. ”Now please get some rest. I’ll be back with your medication later.” She smiled again and left the room.

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, there are worse people who could have caught us," says William.

[Silver Priest]

"I'm not sure I want to take any medication," Alex points out. "Though I suppose insisting we're fine is only likely to get us sent us to the front, and none of us want that."

[Bullfrog]

"I'll take whatever they give me. The only time I've felt worse than I did a while ago was when I fell off a train and nearly died." Lawrence says with a shrug, recalling his first and hopefully only close brush with death; still, he wondered where he would have gone if he had stayed on that train. It was a damned shame Howard didn't make it, though; he was a good guy, though it seemed like he was starting to crack near the end.

[Philulhu]

”She’s a lovely girl, that nurse Nurse Zenna!” grinnned Carter. ”She can tuck me in bed any time!”

”You’ve got no chance!” retorted the blind man, scornfully. “Her fella’s an officer - well, he was until he copped a packet. She’s not long back from Blighty so don’t be making trouble for her!”

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm a married man myself," says William, wondering if he'll ever see Amelia again. His younger self hasn't even met her yet. "She'd have nothing to worry about from me anyway."

[Bullfrog]

"Lucky man, that officer." Lawrence remarks, thinking back to his own time in Arkham; he was by no means a Casanova, but he was handsome enough to draw in a few of the local girls. He never really had anything very long-term, though; he was too young and energetic to settle down just yet!

Well, was. Settling down on the family farm to spend the rest of his years in peace was starting to look like a very appealing option these days, although a part of Lawrence believed his war against the supernatural wouldn't come to a close so easily...

[Silver Priest]

"I've yet to find the right girl, myself." Alex says, doubting that he ever would. "So she has nothing to worry about from me either."

[Philulhu]

After a while, a one-armed Indian orderly came onto the ward with the evening meal, which turned out to be jam sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper, washed down with strong, dark tea sweetened with condensed milk. Carter produced a wedge of fruit cake from somewhere, which rounded off the meal nicely. If it were not for the rumble of guns from the front line, it might have been quite pleasant.

After the orderly had returned to clear away any rubbish, Nurse Zenna reappeared with a number of medicine bottles on a battered metal tray. “Time to take your medicine, gentlemen,” she said, brightly. “Doctor Parker has recommended a sedative expectorant to help you sleep. The noise from the front isn’t the most relaxing is it?”

“Now, who would like to go first?” she asked. It was apparent that she only had one spoon…

[Mr. Handy]

"What is in it?" asks William.

[Silver Priest]

"I'm not sure we require any medicine," Alex points out, wary of being drugged and kept in a field hospital for who knows how long. "As we've pointed out before, we're journalists and must get back to reporting on the conflict. We really should leave tomorrow morning and get back to work."

[Bullfrog]

"I'll take it, but I've got to ask, what exactly does it do?" Lawrence inquires, not entirely trusting of the nurse but not quite as suspicious as Alex; he had no reason to believe anything odd was going on here yet, aside from the fact he was present in this time and location in the first place. He had a creeping suspicion that that could change at any time, though; such was the price of knowing the truth.

[Philulhu]

Nurse Zenna studied the bottle and said, “ Camphorated Tincture of Opium, Oxymel of Squill, Syrup of Tolu, Concentrated Infusion of Cascarilla, and Water. Perfectly harmless and it will helps you sleep, doesn’t it, Mr Carter?” Carter nodded. ”Slept like a baby!” he grinned.

“Now come along, Doctor’s orders! Or do I need to ask Doctor Parker to come and see you himself?”

[Mr. Handy]

"Camphor is mothballs," says William. "I'm guessing it doesn't taste good, but since when has medicine ever tasted good? I had a feeling there would be opium in it. That can be habit-forming if you're not careful, but I think you know what you're doing, and it shouldn't be a problem just having it once. I'll go first." He knew they were going to make him take it one way or another, and at least this way he knows the spoon is clean.

[Silver Priest]

"I'll go second." Alex says, not happy about it but not wanting a doctor to have to intervene. "Though I'm not sure I need any help sleeping-- it has been a long day."

[Bullfrog]

"It's all diluted, anyways, and if Carter hasn't started writhing around the floor and foaming at the mouth, neither will we. I'll go third." Says Lawrence, his creeping feeling of paranoia drowned out by the prospect of some peace and quiet after what happened over the past several days.

[Philulhu]

Can I have a POW roll from everyone, please?

[Mr. Handy]

The medicine goes straight to William's head.

POW x 5 roll (65% stat) taking the medicine:
d%

[Bullfrog]

POW × 5 (65%):
1d100

Lawrence keeps his head screwed on straight.