Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Feb 25, 2010 0:11:05 GMT -6
Etrah: 10:45 AM, M13D15, 8008 AV Haven: 11:45 UO, M8D12, 4078 I
An ambulance pulled into Thoncir General Hospital, and the nurses at the ambulance bay moved Taka inside the hospital.
"This is the kid from the intersection, doc," one of them chimed in as they walked past Dr. Marwen.
Marwen sighed, but followed the stretcher. As a specialist he shouldn't have to deal with some kid off the street, but this one looked fine. Maybe a little dehydrated, certainly nothing he nurses couldn't handle. They just needed a doctor to tell them to do it for liability reasons.
"Put an IV in him and keep an eye on him, he looks okay." Marwen then looked at the kid's face.
"Stop a second," he ordered, and the stretcher stopped moving. He looked again. Oh yeah, this was the same kid. Maku Riskan. The new VA recruit, and here he was, out of uniform.
"Little bastard signs up, gets a free arm and then deserts," he muttered. "Put him in an observation room, and don't let him leave," Marwen told the nurses. They promptly moved the stretcher along again, and the doctor walked into the nearest room and picked up a phone, punching the all-too-well-known speed dial 8.
"I need to talk to captain Onthinor Apek," he said once the line to the Vorcan Army base connected.
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Feb 25, 2010 2:36:33 GMT -6
Maku nodded, smiling at Apek's jab. "I just never thought to mention it. Haven't heard from him in 3 months or more, and last I saw him, Taka was still living in the City. But he liked it there...why would he leave?"
As they pulled into the parking lot, Maku climbed out of the SUV and jogged to the lobby. Stopping at the receptionist, Maku spoke up. "I'm here to see a patient? Recently admitted, a Taka Riskan?"
The receptionist nodded, her fingers clicking over the keyboard as she looked up the patient. She frowned, and shook her head. "Hmm...we just had a patient admitted with the name Riskan, but I'm afraid he's not your Taka."
Maku's heart sank. They'd gotten things mixed up. Of course. Taka wouldn't leave the City to come here. Why would he? Maku was the only person in town who even knew his name!
Maku rolled his eyes, striking himself softly in the forehead with an open palm. "I'm sorry, I meant a Maku Riskan. Is that the one that was just admitted?"
The receptionist glanced at her screen again, then smiled, nodding. "There we go! Maku Riskan, room 149. Relation to the patient?"
As soon as he heard the room number, Maku was off, following signs down the halls even as the receptionist called after him. In his haste, he almost ran straight past Room 149. However, his hand caught the doorframe, and he pulled himself back and walked swiftly into the room.
There was no doubt: this sleeping figure was his brother. Aside from the fact that they had the same face, Taka was still wearing the dark grey scrubs that volunteers wore at City Memorial. The question then, however, was why was he in Thoncir, a continent away from the only place with those scrubs, and how had he managed to get here?
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Feb 27, 2010 1:12:38 GMT -6
A few moments later, Apek came through the door, and saw Maku looking at what must have been his twin. He hadn't been kidding, and Marwen had made an honest mistake; the resemblance was uncanny.
"Riskan, we may have a bit of a snafu here," he said. "First off, is this your twin? I mean, he certainly looks the part, but is he actually?"
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Post by rilkan on Feb 27, 2010 1:17:01 GMT -6
A moment after Maku and Apek walked into his room, Taka groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked around, taking stock of the situation. He was in a hospital bed, with an IV in his arm, likely a simple saline solution from the looks of it. Maku stood by his bedside, and he was still wearing his...wait a minute...
"Maku?!" Taka exclaimed, bolting upright in the bed. He felt a slight rush from sitting up so fast, but shook it off. "Maku, what are you doing here? Who's the old guy? And..why are you wearing fatigues?"
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Feb 27, 2010 1:57:05 GMT -6
Maku stepped forward, holding up his hands to try and calm Taka down. "Whoa, deep breath. You're in Thoncir, and I'd like to know how the hell you got here, but that can wait. This is Captain Apek, he's with the Vorcan Army. So am I, that's why I'm wearing the fatigues. Boot camp's just about over, but the hospital called and thought they'd caught me going AWOL, so we rushed down here."
Lowering his hands, Maku smiled. "Just calm down, alright? I'll explain everything once we get out of here."
Then, Maku turned to Apek. "First off, yes, he's my twin. Second, what snafu?"
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Feb 27, 2010 2:06:36 GMT -6
Apek nodded at Taka. He then looked at Maku.
"Well, your twin lying in the hospital bed, under your name, means one of two things," Apek said. "Either we correct the mistake, in which case your brother is gonna have to pay for his treatment, or we allow the hospital to think he's you, which would cover the hospital costs but would leave you with the AWOL on your record during basic. Which would obviously be a bad thing."
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Feb 27, 2010 2:17:14 GMT -6
Maku's expression went slack as the reality of the situation hit him. He could take the fall for this himself, take whatever consequences came with being caught AWOL before basic training had even concluded, or he could saddle Taka with a mountain of debt. He doubted the drip cost too much, but if they'd brought him in an ambulance...
Looking at Taka, Maku weighed his options. Left in that situation, Taka would try and work it off...unless someone mentioned the Army to him. He'd leap at the chance, get his bills taken care of, probably become one of the finest medics the VA had ever seen...but he'd still have to be taught to fight, to carry a weapon and to use it against a living thing. And that could only end badly for his minutes-younger brother.
Looking back at Apek, Maku swallowed hard. Holding up a hand to shush Taka's inevitable response, Maku replied, "Leave the mistake in their records. I'll take the AWOL."
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Feb 27, 2010 2:32:33 GMT -6
"You wanna just sit on this AWOL?" Apek asked. "Riskan, you haven't even graduated yet. You'll never get your promotion, you'll never walk the stage on graduation day, and there's a chance you'll have to repeat basic."
Apek sighed. "And there's actually a pretty good chance that Darzul will hit you," he added. "It's happened before." He stood closer to Riskan. "You gotta be sure of this, kid. Were you AWOL today?"
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Feb 27, 2010 2:38:03 GMT -6
As Apek listed the probable consequences of accepting the AWOL, Maku glanced back at Taka. Bottom line, he'd just gotten his brother back. Was another 8 weeks of Sgt. Draco really worth it to keep Taka away from the Army? Was his brother reason enough to take all of that again?
As Apek stepped closer, Maku turned to face the Captain. There was only one answer. "Sir, yes sir."
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Feb 27, 2010 2:44:50 GMT -6
Apek sighed. He pulled a plastic cable tie from his pocket.
"Maku Riskan, you are absent without leave. I have standing orders to relieve you of any weapons and escort you to the Vorcan Army base to face charges."
Apek held his hands out. "I'll need your combat knife, Riskan. And then I need you to turn around and put your hands behind your back."
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Feb 27, 2010 2:51:48 GMT -6
Maku nodded, removing the knife and its sheathe from his belt, and placing it into Apek's outstretched hands. Turning around, Maku found himself facing Taka. As he put his hands behind his back, Maku spoke quickly and quietly to his twin. "Just play along. We'll get through this."
"Last I knew, Inor was still in town, he's living in a house a few blocks south of here. You'll know it when you see it, there's holes ripped in the ceiling and one of the front windows is broken. Try and find him, keep a low profile. I'll contact you as soon as I can."
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Feb 27, 2010 3:28:15 GMT -6
Apek tied Maku's wrists together wih the cable tie, and grabbed him by the elbow.
"I would have done the same thing," he whispered to Maku as he led him out of the hospital room and to the SUV they had arrived in.
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Feb 27, 2010 20:27:33 GMT -6
Maku nodded imperceptibly as Apek whispered to him, and the message somewhat lessened his anxiety over what was going to happen. As he loaded him into the SUV and he struggled to find a comfortable position with his hands behind his back, however, Maku knew this wasn't going to be easy.
After all, he'd been caught AWOL. Now it was time to face the consequences of his cowardice.
Etrah: 10:50 AM, M13D15, 8008 AV Haven: 11:50 UO, M8D12, 4078 I
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