Elise threw herself on her bed, burying her face in her pillow. She rolled around on her bed and squeezed her pillow like an adolescent teenager unsure about how to vent her frustrations.
"Helena! That bitch!"
Just as her brain had finally registered that Dirk asked her out, Helena had caught up to her and stayed with Dirk and herself. Helena outranked Elise and used Elise's prank as a pretext for having Elise run with Dirk. Elise admitted that it was her fault for tossing Helena's clothes out in the hallway and making her angry, but she was desperate to be alone with Dirk to talk with him.
"Damn it! I shouldn't have done such a stupid prank." Elise realized that tossing Helena's clothes was low, especially when her talk with Oscar made her realize she needed to mature instead of being stuck in the past.
"Wait, Dirk only asked if I was free tonight. Was he going to ask me out?" Elise's mind started racing again. She suddenly wished she had more friends she could talk to. Her contact's list consisted of family, Dirk, Lisa, and members of the military.
"Why didn't I get Oscar's contact info. Should I just ask Dirk for it? Would he think I'm interested in Oscar? Lisa... Lisa reminds me of myself, and she's a celebrity."
Beep Beep
Elise's communicator notified her that she had just received a message. She tapped the screen, and a message from Dirk popped up.
"Oscar asked how you were doing, maybe he's interested in you? He asked me to pass you his contact information."
Oscar White
Add to contacts?
Yes / No
Elise pressed "Yes" and softly whispered, "Oscar, if I wasn't after Dirk, I would do everything to help your feelings reach him."
Elise quickly added Oscar to her contacts and immediately called him. Text messages wouldn't be fast enough for her!
Oscar's firm but gentle voice answered, "Hello? Elise?"
Elise felt a wave of relief wash over her. Was this what it was like having a reliable friend she could confide in?
"Oscar! I am so glad you reached out to Dirk! I was like, would he think I'm interested in you or maybe he'd get a little jealouswouldthatbebadImeanwhatdo-"
"Elise! Breathe!"
Elise inhaled and exhaled slowly, "Sorry, I got excited."
"Heh, that's alright. I just wanted to see if you managed to talk to him or ask him out on a normal date?"
"I did get to talk to him a little and told him my feelings, and guess what? He asked me if I was available tonight!"
"Excellent! So what did you say? Yes, I'm assuming."
"We were interrupted, and I didn't reply," Elise whispered.
"Oh come on! Is this some sort of teen drama? All you had to do was say Yes even if you were interrupted. Call him and turn on your camera." Oscar didn't want Elise to act like a teenage girl now.
"Nooooo! I just finished a ridiculous amount of running, and I'm sweaty, tired, and my hair is a mess!"
"Didn't you two train together?"
"Well, yes, but it's-"
Oscar interrupted, "Stop making excuses, talk to him now! I'll send you the name and location of the place I mentioned earlier this morning. I'm ending the call!"
Oscar ended the call, and Elise stared blankly at her communicator with her finger hovering over the video call button. "Damn it Oscar, I bet your face is perfect all of the time and I hate you for it!" Still, Oscar was correct. Dirk and Elise suffered together under Helena's unrelenting nagging when they tried to talk or slow down. Dirk saw her not long ago, so it wasn't anything to worry about.
Elise sat up in her bed and pressed the call button. She held the communicator up so it could send a live video of her face.
Beep beep beep
Beep beep beep
"Come on, Dirk, answer."
Beep beep beep
Bee-
"Hello?"
"Dirk! Sorry! Did I call at a bad time?"
"Oh, kinda, I was just about to hop in the shower."
"Oh, so you can't even see that I turned my video on?"
"No, my communicator is charging on my desk, so I can only hear you. What's up?"
"Ummm... about what you asked me earlier. I am free tonight."
"Oh! Great! I know it's a bit last second, but I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner wi-"
"YAEESSS!!!" Elise almost screamed into the communicator, interrupting Dirk.
Elise covered her mouth, scolding herself for her excitement.
"Is everything okay?"
Elise thought Dirk's reply sounded concerned, so she said, "Ah, yes, sorry, I ummm... stubbed my toe. I was going to say that I would like to go to dinner with you."
"Sweet, I'll send you the address, and I'm assuming 8 works for you?"
Elise glanced at the time and saw it was 6:30pm. It would take her 30 minutes just to return to City 8 since she returned to her bunk on Battle 8 after training. That literally left her with just an hour to get ready and get a ride. Elise knew she didn't have enough time to get ready.
"Of course, 8 works for me!" Elise ended the video feed and started warming up the shower.
"Ok, see you at 8 and-"
"Yesseeyouateight!" Elise quickly ended the call, placed her communicator on the charger, and raced to the shower, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. She didn't have time to talk!
At the hospital on City 8, Doctor Norrid returned to work in the evening as usual. He was no longer surprised that Illuzo was following him. Doctor Norrid first stopped to check on the patient in the exam room.
The female nurse's face lit up when Doctor Norrid walked in with Illuzo behind him, "Kitty! Hello Mister Kitty!"
"His name is Illuzo," Doctor Norrid stated. He wasn't sure how he knew the cat's name, but when he woke up earlier that day, it felt natural.
"Illuzo? That's... an interesting name for a cat."
The female nurse started to leave the examination room when she suddenly remembered that the hospital had received a transfer request for this patient.
"Oh! Doctor Norrid! The medical staff aboard Battle 8 requested that we transfer the patient to their facility due to the near-identical nature of the patient's condition. Please sign-off on the transfer request and we can let the military handle this case."
"What?!? I told him to delay treatments so we could work together!"
Doctor Norrid suddenly realized that this might be a golden opportunity for him to get on to Battle 8. He logged into the workstation and saw the same doctor he messaged before had made the request.
"This can work," Doctor Norrid muttered. He added an addendum to the request that stated he wished to be transferred with his patient and sent it back to the doctor on Battle 8. "If I can get on Battle 8 and cure whatever this is, they will see I'm worth keeping on Battle 8!"
After a few minutes, Doctor Norrid received a video call from the doctor he had messaged on Battle 8 and quickly accepted the call, "Yes, this is Doctor Norrid."
"Doctor Norrid, while I admire your commitment to the patient, I assure you we have the situation under control and don't need any more assistance."
"I do not disagree with you, but I've already started an experimental treatment and would like to at least see it through until the end."
"You have? Can you share the details and treatment methods?"
Doctor Norrid was hesitant to share his treatment because it was so simple and easy to administer. "I do not mind, but I think if you let me show you directly with the appropriate references, we could work together."
"With-"
The other doctor's voice was drowned out by a booming male Zentradi, "Doc! It's been more than a day, tell me you got something!"
Doctor Norrid watched the other doctor pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "General Maddox, sir, I am in discussion with a colleague who has a treatment plan."
"Excellent, get him up here, now!"
"That would be difficult, sir. He's a doctor in City 8 and isn't approving the patient transfer because he wants to stay with the patient."
"City 8 has one too? Get that patient up here! If he wants to come with, fine! If he wants a freaking birthday cake, even better! Just get that patient here, tonight!"
Doctor Norrid heard a door slam through the video call and pictured General Maddox storming off.
"So, Doctor Norrid, looks like you will be joining us. I'll send a pickup for you and the patient as soon as possible. Do you need anything else?"
"Yes, how about that birthday cake?"