At the Hospital, tags any or none

[Saint Juarez]

Saint laid back in his hospital bed and listened to the station that was televising the Memorial Service for those that died at Gould High the day before. He wondered if they would include the person who took his sight and his brother had killed in retaliation. Luckily they had not arrested Jandro, although they had left the option open for later. He picked at his breakfast that was cold because his doctor had come in to check him out as soon as the food arrived. The food in the hospital was bad enough without it being ice cold as well. What was worse, the doctor wouldn’t say anything to him about his condition, not until his mother arrived from the airport. He was frustrated and he had just about given up on his sight returning between the doctor’s grim manner and the nurses clucking their tongues whenever they passed through.

He couldn’t help but consider what his life would be like without sight. Santos knew he should be grateful that he was still alive, but he couldn’t see any sense in it really. How could he make a life for himself when he couldn’t even see the pot to piss in? He supposed he could switch to sculpture, relying on memory to guide his hands, but that sounded so bleak to him that he didn’t really want to try it. He was going to have to learn to read Braille, walk with a white cane and do his best to find joy in a life without beauty.

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy was going to go to the memorial, but then she decided not to. She had been up and down all night. Even if someone had kept waking her up, she had not been in the mood to sleep. All she saw was that guy hitting her and a gun in her face. She had been so scared in that moment. More scared then she had ever been. So Izzy choose to stay away. She did not feel like crying. Besides here she was being scared and some people had not only died, but gotten hurt worse then she did.

So she decided to make a trip to the hospital. She smiled at the nurses and doctors. She knew them all very well. The good benefits of volunteering at the hospital for the past two years. She knew all the doctors and the nurses. She could find out hospital gossip and any news about a patient she wanted. Another benefit of knowing everyone and being nice and sweet. So finding out Santos room was easy. She just hoped the guy did not mind some stranger visiting him.

Izzy walked to his room and looked in. She knocked lightly so he would know she was there. "Santos...umm...hi...I'm Izzy...I met your sister last night, Lia, and she told me I could come visit you. Um..is now an okay time...I can come back later, I am volunteering so I will be here for a few hours." She walked into the room one step and waited for the okay to enter or the not okay and leave.

[Saint Juarez]

Saint turned his face towards the doorway. He had dark sunglasses on cause he wasn’t sure how his eyes would look sightless, so he preferred them hidden. He smiled slightly. “Hi Izzy. Lia told me you might come by. You can stay or come back later if that’s more convenient. I am probably going to be here for a few days at the very least, so my calendar is empty,” he said politely. He hoped he didn’t look totally horrible, but then he hoped she could understand that he would look better when he hadn’t had brain surgery the day before.

“Lia and Jandro came here a little while ago. They talked a lot about your dinner last night. I am glad you kept them company. I know it was a rough day for them and though my mom leaves town occasionally, I have always been there for them before this,” Saint said, not sure what else to talk about as he didn’t really want to talk about his feelings, afraid they might gush forth like emotional vomit. “Did you know anyone that was hurt?”

[Izzy Chen]

"I have plenty of time." Izzy said as she walked into the room a little further. She made her way over to the chair next to Saint's bed and took a seat. "Do you need anything...I know everyone here so I can get you anything. Just don't tell anyone else." She said with a light laugh. "Oh I enjoyed the dinner. I have never made my own calzone so that was rather interesting to be honest, but Jandro and Lia were great. I admit I am rather shy so making friends with anyone is good for me." Although she had Taki to thank for that. He introduced them.

"They are lucky to have you. My mom always travels, so its just me and my brother. He takes care of me when she leaves. I am sure they are eager for you to come home so you can once again assume the role of caretaker." Izzy said in a soft voice. When he asked if she knew anyone who had gotten hurt she touched her head lightly which still had a bandage on it. "My brother was shot in the arm. He is fine though. Went home last night and rested all day." She could tell Saint about her own injury, but she was here to visit him and not complain about her own problems considering. "You can still be there for them. What happened to you is unfortunate and horrible, but you are alive. In my book that makes you way tougher then anyone I know. And if you ever need to talk I am a good listener. After all I do write the advice column for the school newspaper. So i must be doing something right." She said giving a small laugh in hopes of brightening his mood.

[Saint Juarez]

Saint listened and thought Izzy sounded like she had a good heart and it was a shame more people didn’t treasure that quality. “Well… if the cafeteria has better food than what they serve us, you could wheel me down there. I don’t have any dietary restrictions so you won’t be contributing to my imminent demise, though if you ignore my stomach growling, then I might die of starvation,” he said with a smile intended to convince her he needed sustenance. “I am also pretty tired of the food network. I enjoy cooking, but too much Rachael Ray is guaranteed to kill what few braincells I have left,” he said hoping she wasn’t a huge fan of YUMM-O as an adjective or had a file of ‘Go To’ meals saturated in EVOO. “I would love to hear about a real person I guess.”

“You could also tell me about the flowers I can smell in here. My family decided to torment me with flowers I can’t see… Not to be ungrateful, but I would love to see them,” Saint asked. He already felt the loss of his sight keenly. Smelling the flowers and his boredom made him want to paint them, but he couldn’t paint what he couldn’t see, could he? There had been a visit the night before from a lady to discuss what alternatives were if his sight didn’t return, but he hadn’t been in the mood to listen to her.

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy smiled and let out a small laugh. "Now I can't let you die of starvation when I just met you. Thats for the second meeting." She said jokingly. "To be honest the food there is not much better. You promise not to say a word and I can get a pizza delivered. A lot of the nurses have them delivered here on their lunch break, but shhh you did not hear that from me. And don't worry about your doctor. I can convince him to look the other way for you." The advantage to volunteering at the hospital for the last few years.

Izzy looked at the TV. "The memorial for what happened is on if you care to watch it." She told him softly. "I can teach you how to change the channel, if I may, I need your hand for a moment." Izzy picked up the remote that was attached to the bed. It was the same remote that had the call button on it if Saint needed it. Izzy took his hand and put the remote in his hand. "Okay, now its simple once you get use to it. This is the volume." She placed his pointer finger on the volume button. "And this is the channel button." She then moved his index finger over just a bit. " Now you can change the channel all you want. The channel button has that bump in the middle. You feel it. The channel up button is above the bump and the channel down is below it. I hope that helps."

Izzy being the dork she was had done research on people who were blind. She just wanted to help. She was far from a teacher, but she could help him with basics. Like helping him distinguish between buttons on a remote. People who were blind once they got use to it, they could use their other senses to make up for the sight and those senses could actually act like eyes. Izzy looked at the flowers, "There are many kinds." She got up and picked up a vase and brought it over. Then she picked his hand up again and placed it on the flower, "Its a rose, but be careful it has thorns." She told him as she let him feel the flower.

[Saint Juarez]

“Pizza would be good, but do we have to wait until lunch time. The doctor came during breakfast and no matter how hungry I get I can’t handle icy, congealed eggs,” Saint pleaded with her, perfectly happy with pizza for breakfast. In fact the thought of breakfast pizza made his stomach grown as he envisioned a pizza with scrambled eggs, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers on it.

He was surprised at how easy the remote was, but Saint imagined it would be a pain trying to find a particular channel. “Thanks that will help with the Rachael Ray overdose. I can listen to Animal Planet some too,” he grinned thinking it could be good for stretching his imagination to think of the animals going about their business, as the commentator drily droned on about their daily habits and needs.

Saint felt the silkiness of the petal and tried to imagine how it looked curled around the others. “What color is it, Izzy?” He dealt so much in color in his art, he couldn’t imagine it without knowing.

[Izzy Chen]

"No, we don't have to wait. As a matter of fact I could use some food too, what do you want on your pizza?" Izzy asked. Once she got his order she smiled. Izzy picked up the phone and ordered the pizza, "It will be here in 30 minutes. I will be right back i am going to tell the nurses to let me know when it gets here." Izzy patted Saint's hand and got up for a moment leaving the room as he got to mess with the remote and the flowers. Izzy told the nurse what was going on. She also quickly asked if there was anything she needed to do when she was done.

"No darling you can stay visiting your friend. Poor boy. I think now is the time to believe in a miracle. Although I do not know the prognosis of his condition so I really cannot say. I will inform you when the pizza gets her Isabella. " The nurse said.

Izzy smiled and walked back to the room. "I am back." She told him in time for him to ask the color. "The roses are red, but you have white carnations. Multi colored daisy's I think. I am not sure actually. But it's mostly red roses." She told him as she glanced around the room.

[Saint Juarez]

Saint told Izzy that he would like a vegetarian pizza and a coke if possible. While she was gone he explored the flowers after finding the Animal Planet Network. He did his best to imagine the flowers, but it was boggling his mind without any descriptions. The feel could tell him the shape, but the colors were elusive, not tied to texture or scent.

He had heard that losing one sense made the other ones grow stronger, but it must take longer than since he had been operated on. So far he felt the same other than frustrated. Saint smiled when she came back and told him the flowers colors, it filled in a blank that had been bothering him. He sniffed the flowers as he thought about their colors, trying to make a hole picture of them. “My mother loves lilacs… I never really paid much attention to any others. Lia could tell you the meanings associated with each flower. She loves things like that. I never really paid attention.” He sounded slightly regretful, though he couldn’t have told her why if she asked.

When the channel was changed to the network covering the memorial, he began to pay attention. Some of the students were interviewed, but none that he knew. They were probably mostly Gould students. “Didn’t you want to attend, Izzy?” he asked, hoping she wasn’t there because of him.

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy nodded as he spoke, "Well the only ones I recognize are the roses, carnations and daisy's. There are more, but flowers and I do not get along. I mean I love flowers, but I could not tell you anything about them. Now talk to me about journalism and I am your gal." Izzy said with a slight laugh, "They do smell very nice. " She noted his voiced sounded a bit off...like he felt bad about something, but she was not going to push anything. Izzy did not want Saint to feel like he needed to spill his soul to her.

"I was going to go, but to be honest I am not good in depressing situations. I cry like a baby and I figured I would be of better help here then there. Here I can cheer people up and talk, if I went then my brother would be dragging me home in tears." Izzy told Saint. "I mean its sad what happened, but I have never been good with funerals and such." She admitted in a soft voice. Izzy could cheer up someone who was hurt, but take her to a funeral and she needed the cheering.

"So tell me about your self and you family. My life is not that interesting so I like hearing about other people. But I guess I should tell you about me first since I did ask." Izzy told him, it was only fair. "I have one half brother, but lets face it, he is a my brother, as much of a pain in the ass as he is. My mom is....not around much, so its just my brother and me, and thats about it. I lead a rather boring life."