(OOC) Indelicato says, "Hit me with the scene. Log is on."

A few people look Diana's way as she makes her way towards the hospital.
It seems that most people are too busy minding their own business this
time of night to pay much attention to anything else. The brightly lit
entrance of the hospital seems to beckon , as she approaches. 

Diana pauses beneath the lit entryway, both hands before her holding her
rolled hat loosely. She glances back through the glass entry doors to the
clock on the wall inside, checking to see how close she is to the time
that she was supposed to meet the Detective here. She turns and waits
patiently, watching the people go by, and continuing to smile and nod as
they pass. 

Indelicato stands with a clipboard at the front door. He fiddles with it.
His pen isn't working: he taps it a few times on the paper and scribbles a
circular swirl of nothing before tossing it in the garbage. "Hey." he says
when Diana approaches. 

        Even in the decidedly drab attire of a fast food employee, Diana's
face combines a mixture of Amazon Princess and the girl next door. Her
thick mane of jet black curls is pulled back away from her face into a
loosely bundled ponytail, letting her perch the pastel blue-green cap with
golden 'TW' logo atop her head with little difficulty. Her blue eyes are
as wide as her smile as she welcomes you, the only dead giveaway to her
identity being the red, star-shaped earrings she wears in each ear. 

        She wears a white polo shirt with horizontal stripes, and a turned
up collar, of the same green shade as her cap, the same 'TW' logo
monogramed over her breast. Directly beneath the monogram is a small name
badge that reads Taco Whiz, with the name 'Diana' applied with a name
label. The shirt is short-sleeved, exposing her well-tanned arms, and fits
a bt snugly, obviously not intended for a women quite so mature. At her
waist, the shirt is tucked into a pair of fairly poorly tailored white
slacks, a bit tight at the bottom and a bit baggy as they end down the
long stretch of her legs, with a neat, sharp pleat running their length to
end at a pair of matching green sneakers on her feet. 

Indelicato(#1385Pfces)

        Ed Indelicato is a man in his mid-to-late thirties, with dark hair
that is seemingly permanently uncombed. He has a thick mustache that arcs
downward on his face, and a loose-fitting suit of navy blue. A very slight
paunch pushes his rumpled shirt out over his belt. On the lapel of his
coat is clipped a NYPD identification badge showing that he is an
Inspector. 

Indelicato looked at you.

With a quick turn of her head, Diana spots Ed, whom she had previously
missed in the bustle of the hospital entryway, primarily due to the fact
that the Detective does not exectly desire for his appearance to be
particularly standout or distinctive. When she spots him, a smile
immediately grows across her features, and she walks toward him, "Has
there been any further word on her condition?" Her voice is more than
slightly tinged with concern as she asks, but she seems, as usual,
honestly hopeful. 

Indelicato coughs into his fist. "She lost part of the arm." he says.
"They had to take some of it off. She's still under, as far as I know." 

The entryway seems to calm somewhat, as the shift change ends and most of
the workers clear the hospital. An odd quiet falls over the area, sort of
a lull in the activity. 

Diana's smile fades noticeably at the news, and she nods quickly, her hat
still rolled and held in her right hand as she reaches over to grasp that
arm at her elbow with her left. She glances about the area as the new
shift settles in before her eyes fall again into Edward's, "I hope that we
will still be able to see her?" She asks it quietly, almost as if not to
disturb the calm that has now come to the area. 

Indelicato nods. "Sure." he says. "Not like we can bother her or
anything." He turns away a little. . o O (Oh, yeah, -THAT- was sensitive.)
"She's up in the ICU. This way." 

Releasing her arm, Diana follows, giving a quiet nod and smile to the
woman behind the reception desk as she moves, keeping to the path that
Edward traces through the white hallways. She does, however, looks
frequently into the rooms she passes, at those who are suffering or
recovering within. It seems to disturb her slightly, and her brow furrows,
but she does not comment aloud. 

No one stops the pair as they make their way through the hospital towards
the ICU. In fact, only a single worker even passes them as they continue
through the halls. It seems almost too quiet as their steps echo down the
halls like thunderclaps. 

Indelicato nods to the nurse at the ICU desk. "Hey, Cynthia." he says.
"We're heading back to eighteen." "Sure thing, Ed." she says, not looking
up from her crossword puzzle. 

As you enter the ICU, it seems as if a little bit of life has breathed
into the place. Lights flash upon monitors at the desk, showing the status
of each of the patients in the ICU. The nurse seems to be completely
absorbed in her puzzle, apparently used to the beeps and blips that go off
every second. Glass enclosed rooms, visible from anywhere in the ICU,
contain each of the patients. 

Diana pauses to look at the nurse for a moment, looking more saddened than
dismayed at the casual attitude she seems to hold toward all this. Not in
judgement of the woman, but in honest sadness that there is so much here
to which to become jaded. After that fleeting thought, her legs carry her
forward through the entryway into the ICU after Edward, where she is
greeted by sights of even more sorrow and desperation. 

Indelicato saunters inward, pigeon-toed and graceless, fixing his eyes on
the door to room 18. He opens the door for Diana. 

Number eighteen lies somewhere in the middle of the rooms, and lying
within is the young girl who was shot earlier. She seems pale and somewhat
lifeless, lying there amidst the white sheets. Probes, needles, tubes and
wires stick up from her body like a mass of serpents. Each of them
terminating in some machine or bag or wall socket nearby. A large bandage
lies around the stump of one arm. 

After touching Ed lightly on the arm, as she steps past him through the
door, Diana pauses at the scene. She has seen injuries in battle before,
that is not new. What is new is this hospital. The way in which it is all
sealed away. All sanitized. All of the white linen and dull silver metal.
She finds it all disturbing for a reason on which she can't quite place a
finger, as if the tragedy were being hidden away, or an attempt was being
made. 

Indelicato leafs idly through the chart at the foot of the bed as if
searching for something that he missed the other dozens of times he surely
must have looked at it. 

Indelicato thinks . o O (Wake up, kid. Your idol's here. Jeez, that's
cruel. How did I ever get into this job in the first place?) 

A nurse walks slowly through the rooms down the hall. She openly yawns as
she enters rooms, and a few moment later exits. She pauses at number
eighteen briefly, then enters, looking over the two curiously. She raises
an eyebrow as she sees the detective eyeing the chart. "Ahem. Is there
something I can do for you?" 

Indelicato indicates his badge. "Just checking in to see if there's any
change. She's with me. Is...uh..." He consults the chart. "Dr. Bradley on
shift tonight?" 

Diana continues to look to the woman, allowing Edward to speak with the
nurse. She reaches out to lightly touch the woman's forehead, closing her
eyes for a moment as she prays to God of whom the woman has probably heard
only in fairy tales and textbooks.  She takes a step back, opening her
eyes, though they never leave the woman in the bed.

She looks over the badge with indifference, and shrugs. "No. Dr. Miller is
on call, but won't be by unless something comes up." She reaches out
towards the chart, somewhat rudely, but does not touch it or take it from
his hands. "I need to make a notation, if you please." 

Indelicato extends the chart to her. "Sure." he says. "Just checkin' in."
he repeats. 

Finally Diana turns to the nurse, and speaks quietly as she takes a step
toward her and makes eye contact if possible, "Miss...is there anything
further that you can tell me about her condition? Will she awaken? Will
she be well again?" 

Indelicato studiously examines the IV drip, not putting himself between
the two women at all. 

The nurse takes the chart and moves to the bedside, checking the monitors
and making notations. She hmms a few times and makes a few more notations,
then replaces the chart at the end of the bed. She turns to Diana, as if
truly noticing her for the first time, and shrugs, again indifferent. 
"She's been in the coma for some time now. From all indications, there's
no reason for it now, but the shock of her injury must have been too much
for her." She sighs and shakes her head. "Tragic, though. To answer your
question, she could wake at any time now, but as far as when... well, your
guess is as good as mine." 

With a slight nod, Diana crosses to the other side of the bed, and very
gently takes the girl's hand in hers, very limply. She looks to the girl's
closed eyes, and her brow furrows again, lower lip pushing gently upward
into her other as she prays again, still not giving up hope.

The nurse turns and leaves the small room, apparently unaffected in the
least by the patient's condition or the actions of those around her. 

Indelicato turns to the bed and looks the scene over. Though surely he has
been here many times before to see her, this time he is looking at it with
a different light, as if something were nagging at him, or tugging at him. 
He takes a half-step back as if to get Diana and the girl fully in his
view at the same time. 

Out of the corner of the detective's eye, he spots someone outside in the
corridor. She appears to have stopped just outside of ICU and is hovering
at the doors, barely visible. As she sees Indelicato, she turns and
quickly moves down the corridor away from the ICU.

She brushes her thumb across the back of the woman's hand as her finger
sit beneath, careful not to brush aside any of the various tubes or
monitors. Finally, Diana turns to Edward again, and her eyes seem to
refocus as she sees his expression. She slides her hand from beneath the
girl's and steps back around the bed toward Edward, "What is it?" 

Indelicato withdraws slightly further, squinting a little up the hall at
what he saw. He opens the door and looks down at the disappearing
figure... 

A shadow moving away is all that is remaining of the figure as she
increases her pace down the halls. The footsteps would seem to indicate
that she is heading quickly towards the nearest exit. 

Diana steps close behind Edward, scanning the hall as well, though a
moment too late to sense what he sensed. She asks again, "What is it,
Edward? You saw something, and I have learned in the past to trust your
instincts." 

You say "Someone...in the hall...was watching us. That's the back exit.
Not your usual way out. C'mon." 

Indelicato gestures and moves quickly after the figure.

(OOC) Indelicato says, "Unfortunately, folks, I've got to hit the sack.
Big day in court tomorrow. Fortunately, Diana is about 8 zillion times
more athletic than me and stands a heck of alot better chance of catching
the person. Someone want to take over the log from here?"

The footsteps pause for a moment and you hear a sound of a door being
opened. The ICU nurse barely even notices your leaving as you exit the
ICU. 

(OOC) Diana is already logging.:)
(OOC) Indelicato says, "Thanks. Ed gets left in the dust. Thanks, Psycho, Diana. Great as usual. See ya!"