Aftermath

[Doc]

Solo Rp - Introspective thoughts and actions of Dr. Charles Nilson that are the result of this rp:
http://www.mooncalfstudios.com/pathofth ... 4&t=27823
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Doc spent the entire day waiting for the chartered flight, and then the entire flight home trying to sort out his feelings about having killed the one woman that forgave him almost every indiscretion he made. Even though he saw the pile of ash, he had tried to contact her telepathically.

~Where are you?~

He waited what seemed like ages, but he never got a reply.

~Cytherea stop ******* around.~

Again, time passed as he stared at the ashes. She couldn’t be dead. Wouldn’t he feel that?

~Not ******* funny. Where the **** are you?~

Once more, nothing. Doc waited, she would answer him if she could. She’s just angry. And with due cause. But, he was demented at the time, why couldn’t she see that? She always had to blame him first!

~**** it all Chain .. ANSWER ME~

Yes, maybe he should have been more sympathetic.. Or conciliatory, but hours had passed and nothing. No a hint of an answer. Not a twinge of anything, except, that she shouldn’t be dead. But the dawn was getting close, he tried one last time.

~Listen Wench.. I have chartered a plane.. I am not waiting anymore…~

But he did wait however, for another two hours, as that pile of ash just lay there mocking him.

He could tell by the way his body was feeling that the sun would be up soon. He ransacked the hut for a anything value, but when he found an old altoid tin, he stopped cold. He looked at the pile of ash. He dumped the altoids out of the tin and scooped as much ash as possible into it.

Having found nothing of use in the hut he was in, he retraced his steps to the other occupied huts, he had searched earlier. Blending into the shadows, he liberated wallets, jewelry, cells phones, a laptop, a change of clothes, and duffel bag. Using one of the stolen cell phones, he managed to get a cab to take him to the airport.

The cab driver had pulled a long overnight shift, and since Doc purposely ignored the driver, he was deposited at the hotel closest to the airport in less than twenty minutes. Doc tipped the cabbie well, because the more the driver was tipped, the more likelihood that he would forget about the American that needed a ride. It was just before dawn that Doc was safely ensconced in his shabby hotel room. Knowing he still had several hours before his plane would land, Doc fell into a deep sleep, in his hand, a tin of Altoids.

[Doc]

Doc had to slip through the immigration while in shadows, since he no longer had his passport. And he wasn’t eager to go through any red tape to get any special consideration. It would just draw too much attention and scrutiny. He just wanted to get back to Harper Rock as quickly and quietly as possible. After some strategic pauses, and detours, he able to get to the tarmac with no one stopping him.

The jet waiting for him was relief, upon reaching it, Doc addressed the pilot. “How soon can we leave?”

The pilot, who had been apprised of the crash situation, looked behind Doc, as though he was looking Mrs. Nilson. “As soon as we are all on board..” He paused, “Mrs. Nilson..”

“She wont be coming.” Doc cut him off. “It’s just me..”

The pilot, who was young and rather oblivious to the fact that Doc didn’t want to talk about it, bluntly plowed forward, “The news.. It said .. everyone on the plane died.. How did you survive?”

Doc had mounted the stairs halfway up to the plane, he paused and half turned to look at the pilot, “We had fight. I didn’t board the plane.”

The pilot looked at the neck wound, and was about say something else, when Doc saw the pointed look, “I didn’t board the plane, then I got ******* mugged, then I found out about the crash. Needless to say.. This has been the worst.. Four.. five.. However many ******* days, it has been.. And I want to get wheels up and put this place behind me.”

The Pilot finally realized he may have been a wee bit insensitive, nodded, “Right. Sure thing Doctor, You get buckled in and I will ask the tower to clear us and we will be home before you know it.”

[Doc]

“Oh my god. Gracie…” Jennifer said into the phone, “There is something seriously wrong with Doc..”

Gracie, aka Grace Plath, was one of the travel agents at Genesis Travel. She replied back quickly not letting Jennifer finish her sentence. “No way! He’s there?!”

“Well of course he’s here.. But he’s acting strange.” Jennifer eyed the Doctor’s closed office door. “Seriously strange. Usually he comes in and yells ‘Jane! Coffee!’ Everyday.. ‘Jane! Coffee!’ and he never drinks it.. He says he just likes the smell. But today.. Not a word. Troy even went in and told him the centrifuge was broken, the thing is brand new.. And Doc just nodded. When Daniel broke a tray of beakers, he went ballistic.. Troy tells him the new uber expensive centrifuge is broken.. And he just nods. Something is seriously wrong with him.”

“Well Duh! Of course there is.. After what he’s been though.. God Jen.. you can be heartless you know..”

“Wait..?! What? *I* can be heartles? Coming from you? What has he been through? I swear .. no one ever tells me anything!”

“You mean you don’t know?” Gracie’s voice took on ‘girl have I got gossip for you’ tone.

“No.. I don’t know! Tell me..” Jennifer hissed into the handset.

“Wee-eell.. “ Gracie drew the out, in a bid to build up the drama, “Doc and his wife went on vacation to Tahiti..”

“Is that all? I know that.. Big whoop.. I thought this was..” Jennifer interrupted her.

Grace interrupted her this time, “Oh for god’s sake Jen.. the plane crashed!” She blurted out in a rush and then was immediately angry at herself, for ruining the suspense.

“For reals?!”

“Totes.” came the smug reply.

“Wow.. and he’s at work.. “ Jennifer stared at his door. “He’s lucky he survived…” Her voice lowered and full of concern.

“Oh it gets better…”

Jennifer’s eyes snapped back from the door to the phone console, “Oh?”

“He wasn’t on the plane..”

“But you said..”

“I said it crashed.. I never said he was on it..”

“I don’t understand…”

“So.. when the plane landed at the final layover.. Doc and his wife got into a knock down drag out fight..” Gracie lowered her voice, “apparently security was even called.. And Doc told the wife she could go on by herself.. “

Jennifer nodded, “That sounds like him.. I have heard him yelling at his wife before.. When he didn’t know I was still here..I don't know how she stood it.. Poor woman.. WAIT.. What about her?! What about Mrs. Nilson?! Did she get on the plane?”

“Yep.. and she is presumed dead. Presumed.. Because they can’t find her body. But the ticket taker at the gate.. Said he was sure he saw her board. He remembered her hair…”

“Yes.. she does…” Jennifer stopped.. And then appended, “She did have pretty ginger hair..”

“I have never met her.. So I can’t say.. But what I do know .. is that her death hit him hard. Joshua said..”

“Wait.. who is Joshua..?”

“Oh he’s the pilot who flew him home.. Anyway.. Joshua said that Doc went through three bottles of whiskey on the flight. When they stopped in LAX and took on fuel, he sent out for a bottle, because he had finished the one that we keep stocked on the plane.. Then when they stopped in Chicago, he sent out for another one.. Because he had finished that one too! By the time they got to Harper Rock.. three empties were waiting for Joshua during cleanup.. And the really weird thing was.. Joshua said you could hardly tell he was wasted! Something about grief makes the body metabolize it different.. I read about it on the internet..”

“Poor Doc.. Now I just want to go give him a hug..” Jennifer stopped suddenly.. “Oh wait.. Hang on.. I have another line.” She put Gracie on hold and took the other line, “Good evening Genesis Labs, how can I direct your call?”

Jennifer listened to the voice on the other end. She slid a look at Doc’s closed office door and said, “I am sorry Dr. Nilson is unavailable.” A pause, “No. I am sorry there has been a death in family… He won’t…” She stopped as she listened for several minutes, her eyes getting wide and round as she madly scribbled information down. “Yes.. Yes.. I will. Thank you…”

Jennifer leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath before getting back on the line with Gracie. “Oh my god Gracie you will not believe it.. The hospital just called.. I didn't put the call through.. Because well he didn’t need to deal with test crap.. So I said there had been a death in the family.. And the woman said, ‘oh good.. You already know.. ‘ I just waited for her to finish.. I didn’t want to ask.. But then she said.. Ms. Gert pass away! She had Doc listed as her emergency contact. She had a heart attack last week and has been in the hospital all this time.. And she just died… Oh my god.. I have to tell him! I can’t! I can’t do it.. He will kill me! First his wife and now Ms. Gert.”

“That old bat died? Good riddance .. she was too nosey by far.. Always wanting to know his business, trying to sneak into the file room. She bugged me!”

“GRACIE! That’s mean! The woman just died! And you called me heartless!”

“Mean nothing.. Its the god's honest truth. Not going to cry over her..”

“Good.. then you tell Doc she died..”

“Fine.. I will. Put me through..”

[Doc]

Doc stared at the ringing phone. Didn’t he tell Jane to hold his ******* calls? He mulled it over .. he didn’t even remember coming in.. so maybe he didn’t. He reluctantly answered the call. “What?” His voice brusque and impatient.

“Well that is not a very professional way to answer you calls. Luckily for you..it’s me.. Grace.”

Doc didn’t say anything.

After an uncomfortable pause, Grace added, “From Genesis Travel?”

“Get to the ******* point.”

Grace blinked, wow. Just wow. She knew he had his moods, Jennifer had told her about enough of them, but had never actually witnessed one, so she hadn’t really believed her. But now, now she was rethinking this.

“Well the point is. The hospital called, and your PA, Ms. Gert.. well, she passed away earlier this evening.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. But when they did, Doc’s shoulders slumped even further. “****.”

“Yes.. well.” Grace cleared her throat. “That leaves you with a vacant position. You no longer have a Personal Assistant.. And I think you sure hire me.”

Doc sighed heavily. He didn’t even know who this Grace person was. But he needed things taken care of. “Fine.. “

Grace didn’t expect him to cave so easily. “Really!?” She squeaked, then added, “I mean.. Yes! Of course .. first things first. You need to send out a press release about your wife. Luckily for you, I took a public relations course at HRU.. so I have already drafted that up for you. I am emailing it now. Next..”

Doc cut her off. “I need you to arrange a wake for Chain.”

Grace frowned, “Chain?” Who was chain?

“Aurora Cytherea Nilson. My wife.” He poured himself a drink and then immediately swallowed it. “Voodoo Lounge. Talk to Mortll she owns it.”

Grace tapped the information into her laptop. “Got it. I will get it published. It’s a little short notice, but I think we shoot for Sunday. Monday wakes are disagreeable, because it’s a work night. I think the wife deserves a good turnout.”

Doc made a face, it wasn’t about a good turn out. It was about remembering her.. And allowing those who knew her .. to remember her. It was about quality.. Not quantity. He wasn’t going to explain that to an over eager career girl Friday. “Just ******* do it.” He hung up the phone.

Meanwhile Grace was full of ideas and plans for her new and exciting future.

[Doc]

================
Saturday Night
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Doc woke with a start. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. This was not his place. This wasn’t remotely his place. Where the hell was he? How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was..

He frowned. The last thing he remembered was the ******* overly chirpy voice telling him the Wake was on go for Sunday at the Voodoo. The wake for his wife… whom he killed while they were on vacation. He rubbed his eyes while standing up. He didn’t know where he was, but he was getting the hell out as fast as he could. Pulling his tome, he read it and dispersed from sight to reappear in Eyrie.

Once in Eyrie, he felt like everyone was looking at him. Staring at him. Normally he could care less about the looks and the whispers. But tonight.. It seemed to be magnified. The whispers were were constant. He ran a hand through his hair in an agitated way. He pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. He couldn’t stand it. He needed silence. He needed away from the prying eyes. The judgmental accusing eyes. It was a ******* accident! Yes he killed her, but he didn’t know it was her! Doc headed to the first portal he could find and went through it.

He ended up in Honeymead. Doc headed to the transit station and took the first transit leaving. He say watching the street lights pass. He got off at Swansdale Station. He was going to the head the asylum, except.. He saw Larch Court. The neighborhood where Cyth and he had a home. He headed north and didn’t stop until he got to the Wunderland Bar. He headed inside.

An hour and one bottle of whiskey later, Doc was feeling much better, which is when one of the waitresses slipped him a card, it read Madame Wu’s Dry Cleaning. Doc frowned as looked at it, and gave the waitress a confused look; at which point, she tipped a drink in his lap. “Madame Wu.. she will make it all better.. You tell her Twinkle sent you..” She winked and headed to another table.

Doc looked at his stained suit, then the card, then the suit. Yea.. it needed to be cleaned. Doc stood up.. Nearly tripped over the stool, but caught himself. Doc waved at the bartender. “One.. no .. two for the road.. Headed to ..” He looked at the card, “Wu’s..” The bartender, poured him a double. Doc tossed it back and paid his tab, with a healthy tip.

Doc wasn’t really sure how he did it, but he found himself at Madame Wu’s on a massage table while Velveteen promised to have his clothes dry cleaned for him. He was pretty sure, someone slipped him something in his drink, because things were blurry, and there was no ******* way Velveteen would be trying to get him out of his clothes.. Except.. There she was.. Helping him get undressed.. Telling him she would give him a night that he would remember.

The things she did, all the while dressed in a clinging red silk kimono that came to her mid thigh. At first when she straddled him while he was laying face down, he thought something was off. Especially when her hands found their way about his neck. He was skeptical, but it tended to relax him, especially when Velveteen squeezed hard and harder. It was an unusual relaxation technique.. But it work.

“Vel I need a drink..”

Velveteen tutted and then corrected him, “No.. Not Velveteen..tonight for your pleasure I am Madame Wu. Only Madame Wu.”

“******* fine Wu….” His words were slurred.. “I need a ******* drink.” then he added, “******* Please.”

A few minutes later a drink was handed to him, he had barely swallowed it when Vel.. or .. Madame Wu, took his head in her hands, "Relax now...exhale or just count to five..”

Doc had gotten to three.. When... Snap!

“Oh **** yes... that feels good..” He slurred, completely oblivious to the fact of her true intent.

Doc closed his eyes and relaxed on on the table, until Vel coaxed him onto a different table. Both his wrists and ankles were strapped in as she cranked as hard as she could.

He could feel the muscles stretch and the joints pop. This was the best back realignment .. ever.