File 3.6 - White Lies to Pass the Time

Darkness began to set on the city. Heavy shadows carried an oppressive feel through the rust and moss covered buildings. The coastal air brought in salt and moisture working its magic fingers on all of the metal. Old downtown didn’t receive the same maintenance as the newer parts of the city quickly feeling the effects in a few years. Those years long passed leaving the slow creak and groan of metal from passing trains pounding their still polished wheels into the elevated tracks. Each reverberating pound quaked into the sidewalk and street below belting out an awful baritone key. Residents of the slums ignored the screeching, managing to filter it out of their daily lives.

However, Wells hadn’t become accustomed to the racket. The wait on the light to change and the rattling in the truck made his borderline temper push centimeters closer to the edge. Even life as a pilot stationed on a carrier didn’t make such a ruckus. Only his prejudice with the people prevented him from screaming out the window, secret mission or no. Surrounded by demons on all sides, he started to regret his decision to travel with them. “…bastards…”

The light changed finally and the truck moved, but another train passed by for extra measure. Their stop to the clinic was only a short half block away. A small lot for cars didn’t give them much room for their truck, but they forced a spot anyway. Rinn’s finesse with ships seemed to transfer well to different vehicles. He handled the truck with ease and parked them. Tilting his head over to Wells, he threw a bag at him. “Come on. Time to change.”

Wells picked up the bag with generic looking overalls inside. He then threw it back at Rinn and crossed his arms. “I’m staying with the truck. Take Elle with you.” The tapping of his finger on his arm gave him the only outlet to release his emotions.

“Fine.” They had little time to argue on the matter. Rinn opened the door and jumped down. In the back of the truck, he opened one of the doors and hefted himself inside. Not too far in, Lellecausua, known as Elle to those on the team, knelt at the side of the Commander. She looked up at his direction when he opened the door. “It’s just us.” He tossed the bag over to her. “I apologize for the lack of delicacy.”

She picked it up and walked to the back corner facing away from Rinn. He turned away working on the bag in his hand. After they finished they exited their corners and came back. She lifted Callein, who they already put in the uniform back on the ship, to her shoulder with Rinn coming up to help from the other side. He looked over at her and let out a small smirk. “Let me do the talking and just follow my lead.”

“Understood.”

He kicked open both doors letting them slam against the sides. The noise echoed around the street distracting a few of the people passing by. Rinn carefully approached the edge of the truck and took over carrying him while Lellecausua stepped out. Once they had the Commander down on street level, Rinn paused. He started to breathe heavily looking almost like he was out of breath from running a marathon. His hand ran through his hair ruffling it up and did the same to Lellecausua, who momentarily protested. Rinn nodded to her to start moving with him. “Somebody help!” he shouted with all of his lungs, enough to knock Elle off balance again. “Anybody! Help!”

Rinn steered them to the clinic and kept shouting as loud as he could. It seemed like his voice would run ragged at the pace he yelled. However, by the time that they reached the sliding doors of the clinic three people, looking as part of the staff, ran out in a panic. He had their attention. “Please help me! You’ve got to save him! He was nearly crushed!”

A man looking like a doctor approached Callein. He motioned to the other two to come and help him. The doctor glanced back at Rinn. “What happened?”

“We were delivering materials to a construction site…when one of the heavy loaders malfunctioned.” Rinn turned his head over to Callein pausing to take a breath of air. “He…noticed it before…the rest of us…” He turned back to the doctor leaning in towards him. The doctor looked a little unsettled by the proximity. “Please, you have to save him, doc!”

“W-well, yes…I’ll do what I can. Bring him inside!” The doctor ran back into the clinic shouting at the staff. “Get room D open now! Start up the body scan immediately! I need to know if there are broken bones or internal bleeding! Get Dr. Loo out here now to assist me!”

Elle moved with the flow of the maelstrom that he stirred up with his performance. She took it a little by surprise at the amount of acting that he put on. It made her question what sort of man they had as their pilot. She thought he was just a crazy daredevil looking for excitement, but the new side she saw changed it all.

They handed over Callein to the nurses to start the examination. Some hesitation came before passing him off, but they knew they had to trust them. Rinn grabbed one of the nurses that stayed behind. “Hey, he doesn’t have any family here…but can she…” He turned the nurse’s gaze back to Elle. “Can you let her stay with him? At least until you operate? She’s…you know…”

The nurse looked down at his pad to consider it. He stared over at the woman, seeing the confused look of worry. “I understand. She can stay for a little while.”

“Thank you so much!” Rinn shouted, adding a smile and patting him on the shoulder. The nurse got a little uncomfortable with the attention and moved on to his job. Rinn grinned a little while the staff started to move about before turning back to Elle. “I got you inside,” he added, passing by her.

She turned back around in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Still within centimeters of each other, Rinn leaned close to her. “They might be doctors and we need their help, but I don’t trust them anymore than Wells does. So keep an eye on them and him. I’ll wait here.”

“What did you tell them?”

“Just another little white lie. You’re a woman and he’s a man. You can put it together I think.” Rinn stepped away and sat down in the waiting room chair.

Elle stared slack-jawed at Rinn for several seconds. Even as he sat in the chair and returned to a concerned appearance, he never flinched for a moment. She couldn’t believe him. ‘…the Commander…I can’t believe him!’ However, the nurse that Rinn spoke with came over to her.

“We’ve started the preparation. The examination is going to begin soon. If you want to stand by him…”

‘Damn you, Rinn…’ She turned back to the nurse and nodded to him. Elle didn’t know how to act around them. She figured remaining quiet and just looking a little off would be enough. It seemed to work for her.