CHAPTER TWO: Cecilia: Searching

[Laraqua]

The nurse seemed to almost jitter on the spot, rocking on the back of her heels during all of this conversation, seemingly content to watch for a moment before finally choosing her moment. The blade hand darts out, too fast to see, and sinks deeply into Jack's shoulder, twists, and retracts, leaving him staggered as agony shoots down his arm and warm blood runs down his back, further staining his trench coat. The nurse's lips twitch in a spasmodic version of speech and she hunches over, swaying somewhat with the blade in one hand.

[Kadael]

Cecie?

It's a thought that's strangely out of place, just before she sees the nurse raise her hand.

"Jack--" but she's too late - has to decide now...

She pulls the gun from her coat and pushes it into his hand.

[Seon]

Jack staggered back a few steps, bleeding badly from his shoulder. He fumbled with the shotgun, desperately trying to clear the jam.

"Hold her back," Jack gasped. "I need some time..."

[Laraqua]

The nurse charged forward, the blade glinting red in the flashlight, as she passes by Cecilia but, more from luck than anything else, Cecilia manages to jerk aside and the blade tears her coat instead.

[Kadael]

As the nurse rushes by, Cecilia spins around and locks her arms around the nurse's waist. "Hurry!" she shouts, unable to tear her eyes from the scalpel. "I don't know how long I can hold her!"

[Seon]

Eventually, after manually opening the ejection port and shaking the shotgun, one of the spent cartridge fell off, clearing the jam.

Spoiler:

Took 2 combat rounds to clear jam. It will be ready to fire next turn.

[Laraqua]

It should have worked. It did work. It must've worked. But the nurse was impossibly strong and reverse the grapple with ridiculous ease, slipping herself out and grabbing Cecilia by her waist. The nurse tried to flip Cecilia over onto her back, or maybe slam her into a wall, but she struggled to lift her. Still, how does anyone move so fast?

[Kadael]

Cecilia squirms and kicks, but finds herself locked in the nurse's arms. The scalpel clutched in the nurse's hand gleams, still wet with Jack's blood.

"Help! I- I can't get out! Do something!"

[Seon]

"Get the FUCK off of her!" Jack yelled out as he charged towards the madwoman. He stopped just before the two and then buried his feet into the madwoman's face.

[Laraqua]

His sneaker-clad foot slammed into her chin, snapping her head back, but other than that ... nothing. No bruising. No broken nose. Nothing. It's as if he didn't even hurt her. Didn't even bruise her. The nurse threw Cecilia into a wall, cracking her nose against the exposed piping.

[Kadael]

Cecilia howls in pain, cupping her hands over her face. Something drips onto her fingers. Is she bleeding? She's probably bleeding. She curls up against the wall, dissolving into whimpers.

She opens her eyes, and her vision swims, making her nauseous. Dear God, she can't do one single thing right, can she?

[Seon]

Jack quickly shoved the shotgun into the madwoman's chest and pulled the trigger.

[Laraqua]

The sound of the shotgun blast seems eerily dampened in the moist corridor but it proves to the ears what the eyes can't see. The shotgun was fired. The shell did ignite and was sent on its merry way through the barrel to hit what stands precisely in front of it. But the nurse is undamaged but for powder burns on her red cardigan. There's no torn skin or shattered bone. There's no chunk of organic matter that has erupted from her back to make way for the kinetic force. The nurse seems completely, and utterly, unharmed.

At that, she tilts her head to one side and her lips flicker into a smile.

[Seon]

Jack staggered away from the nurse, shocked. "Wha...but...how?"

He looked around him quickly and grabbed onto Cecilia. "Hey! Are you... Are you alright? We... have to get out of here," he said, never taking an eye off of the nurse. "Get up! Please!"

[Kadael]

The shock of pain has receded to a dull throb, and her head is clear enough to grasp what's happened. Against everything Cecilia knows, that woman has taken the full force of a shotgun blast, and come out unharmed. A dead weight settles into her chest. This is wrong.

Then, the touch of someone's hand - no get off me get off me - and she raises a bloody palm to fight them off. But it's only Jack.

"...Yeah, I'm fine." Cecilia slowly stands, trying to wipe the blood off her face with her coat sleeve. "It hurts, but..."

Her eyes follow his. The nurse.

"I'm right behind you."

[Seon]

"You'll be fine," Jack muttered, trying to look strong and not show his own wounds to Cecilia. He took Cecilia's arm and ran as quickly as his feet could take him from the nurse.

[Laraqua]

The nurse screams after them in desperation and horror as they run away, feet pounding the wet linoleum.

They could either head back upstairs and hope she came out on the 2nd floor or they could just make their way out of the hospital through the front entrance.

[Kadael]

"She said she was going to the park," Cecilia says, pulling on his arm to lead him out. "You know where that is, right?"

Bring Robbie when you care about me!

"And, uh, do you know anything about a... Robbie?"

[Seon]

Jack grimaced in pain when she pulled on his arm. He did not really mind her touch though.

"A local mascot... Creepy as hell rabbit," he breathed out. "There's only two places where she might be... Yes... I think I know where..." he coughed.

"Listen... There's... There's a pharmacy next to the hospital. We can get you something for your nose there..."

[Kadael]

"A rabbit? Pink, wears overalls and a bow tie?" Cecilia frowns, remembering the one on top of the operating table. Katie's never owned a stuffed animal like that, unless Nathan or Keith bought it for her. "The mannequin had one of those on her... its lap."

When Jack mentions the pharmacy, she shakes her head and only runs faster. "No. There's no time. I'm fine. We need to find Katie."