knowthyexits | [Dated to May 20th]

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ellie

[Dated to May 20th]

Things are progressing slowly. Every day takes its small toll on her in the way of emotional pain tearing at her, keeping her from John. She still has no gun and she still has no explanation for what kind of time skip must have happened to bring her here. Something must have happened during the surgery and she has no way of finding out what or what kind of mad scientist has decided to put this madhouse show together.

She's making small steps of progress. She's found herself a temporary home and is starting to fortify it. She's made sure that she has primitive weapons and checks in place for if someone arrives that she knows. She has her investigations underway.

That leaves several important things.

First: find enough people and befriend them on a casual level. Close enough to earn mild trust, but not too close to arouse suspicion.

Second: make sure the cancer isn't in her body. That's why she's at the Clinic after researching the roster of names. Ellie seems the best bet. A mother, a woman, and who seems normal as can be from her quiet investigation. She's timed her arrival to the clinic in the middle of Ellie's shift, knocking lightly on the door. "Hi," she greets with an even pull of her lips. "Dr. Woodcomb?"

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Sarah takes a brief moment to size up both the doctor and the room. Not the easiest of places, but enough ways out that she could escape in case anyone came for her. "I'm fairly new here," Sarah admits when she's through looking at the Clinic. "But I was hoping to continue some preventative treatment from back home, if possible."

"Well, welcome," she said, remembering the feeling of being new and trying her best to make things easier on her. "Have a seat. What sort of treatment were you going for, Miss...?"

"I'm Sarah Baum," she responds, smiling tensely as she heads inside and takes her seat on the clinic bed, hands grasping the mattress so tightly that her knuckles go white. "I'd like to continue testing to see if I have cancer. I want to be able to catch it early if it ever happens."

Ellie knew there was so little they could do on the island so far when it came to cancer. Still, there was signs to check, and some blood work might give hints something is brewing.

"We unfortunately don't have the technology here to do any major tests," she cautioned, grabbing a pad of paper so she could write down any specifics she'd get from her soon. "Is there a particular cancer you're worried about?"

"Not particularly, no," she says, her fingers flexing again as she fought against the blind panic that comes whenever she thinks about an enemy she can't actually fight. "There's just a fairly strong history of it and there are extenuating factors. I worked, for a period, in a nuclear plant."

She doesn't mention the spill she took in the radioactive waste without a suit on, still trying to ignore the ramifications she might have brought on herself.

That didn't give her too much to work with, but she could understand the concern. Nodding as she noted what she told her, she leaned against the counter.

"Have you been having any unusual symptoms? Fatigue, fever, a lack of appetite?"

"I've been losing weight," she admits, feeling like she's weak for admitting this, but she has to do it in order to be honest. For this, only for this, she needs to do it. "And I've had trouble sleeping. I had a fever weeks ago, but that's about it." She still sounds tense to her own years.

The weight loss would be worrying if she wasn't new. It was entirely possible that the newness of this place could be giving her any of those symptoms. Still, she noted it in her file and made a mental note that she'd weigh her when she was done asking questions. Keeping track of that was important.

"No pains?" she asked, frowning a little at the previous things noted about her from another doctor. "Beyond your injuries, I mean."

"No pain beyond my injuries," she agrees, her voice hoarse and scratchy, like the truth is itching as it comes out. She's so used to lying that the actual truth is strange. "I mean...the injuries linger, but I don't exactly give them much time to heal before I get back into the swing of things."

"You should try to let your body recuperate," she said. She knew no one could force patients to do so, and she seemed to be getting by. "Exhaustion isn't going to help you stay healthy."

Pursing her lips in thought for a moment, she eventually nodded to herself as she decided what they'd be doing. "Okay. I'm going to weigh you first, get an accurate read so we can check how much you're losing in a week or two. Then I'm going to do a little blood work. Can you come back in a few days for the results?"

"I guess I never really had time." She weighs the option of telling the Doctor about John, but the woman will know soon enough when she sees her scars. "I have a teenaged son back home. He kept things lively and constant. I always preferred to keep going so he never had to stop." She flashes an anxious smile and takes a deep breath to settle herself down.

She's a medical professional and no one knows who you really are. "Sounds good. It's not as if I have much else to do."

"I could imagine," she said, sounding a touch sympathetic. Ellie couldn't imagine being separated from her daughter, like it sounded like she was separated from her son. "Well, maybe slow down just a little bit at least, then. Until you feel better. Here, let's get you weighed."

She walked over to the scale, making sure it was set on zero while she waited for her to join her.

Sarah stands, wringing her hands for a brief moment before she nods and steps over to take her place on the scale, not sure what the number is going to be like. Cameron had been giving her looks at home, but after destroying Cromartie and her sickness, followed by her inability to sleep, her weight's been the least of her worries. "Well?" Sarah asks, a tense joke lying on her lips. "Am I going to live?"

Ellie took a moment or two to get the scale to show what the number was. Once it was balanced, she noted the number.

"You're just a little under average for a woman around your height, so signs are pointing to living," she replied, shooting her a tiny smile. "Ill weigh you next time you come in to see if it's fluctuating at all. "Now all I need is a small sample of your blood. Have a seat on the bed again."

Sarah nods, moving through the motions like she's on auto now, sitting on the bed and extending her good arm, the one that isn't riddled with scratches, scrapes, and a very distinct knife wound from where Cromartie stabbed her in the shoulder. "I've been keeping a protein and vegetable rich diet," she says quietly. "And working out. I've been trying everything to make sure I can stave off the cancer."

"You're protecting your skin?" she asked as she got the needle ready. "Sunscreen, I mean. That's always really important here, and there's an endless supply."

"SPF whatever we've got," Sarah agrees. She'd been worried about melanomas the most and as she thinks and sits there, she remains stoic and steady. "There's something else. I had a job temporarily, working at a nuclear power plant. I did the cleanup. Do you think that would have an effect?"

Not to mention, she spends her days living around a machine built of coltan and using a power even she's not sure about.

"Were you wearing the proper equipment?" she asked, taking her arm gently so she could extend it. She knew that when she was from, they were procedures to make it as safe as possible. "Because if you were, it should be okay. There's safety things in place for that line of work. Can you put your hand into a fist for me? I'm just going to find a good vein for this."

"Every time but once." And that once is what scares Sarah to death, not knowing if that's what sets off the chain event. She makes a fist and stares at the needle expectantly, waiting for Ellie to draw the blood.

She nodded her head, looking thoughtful as she looked for a viable vein to take the blood she needed out of.One exposure could start something, but the chances were slimmer than if she'd always been exposed to it. Either way, Ellie knew it was possible she wouldn't know for many years if it caused anything. For her sake, she hoped nothing would pop up at all.

"This will pinch a little," she warned, and then tried her best to slide the needle in smoothly, starting the process of taking some blood out of her.

Sarah doesn't flinch at all, just breathes steadily and evenly. "A little pinch is nothing after you've given birth," she says, because she knows that Ellie understands, that she can play into a common experience and make a bond. "It's just a little pinch."

"Yeah, I know that too well," she agreed with a soft laugh, but she tried to make it as pain-free possible any way. At least she didn't seem squeamish about the needle, which made her job a whole lot easier. "How old is your son?"

"Sixteen," she says with a fond smile on her face that has its fair share of frustrations lurking at the corners of her lips. "Sixteen and acting like a teenager more by the day. At least, the last time I saw him," she adds, not even bothering to hide her disdain with that.

When she had the amount she needed drawn out, she eased the needle out of her, quickly replacing it with a cotton ball.

"Put pressure on that for me?" she requested, moving to finish up. She'd send the sample to the lab as soon as they were done. Over her shoulder, she said, sounding sympathetic, "They say there's two versions of everyone here. One at home, one here. I know that probably isn't much comfort, but he still has you."

Sarah adjusts and puts the pressure down on the wound, looking at Ellie for a long moment as she bows her shoulders forward. "He might have me, but I don't have him," she says, voice quiet and low. "And that's almost harder."

"I'm sorry," she said, as if she could even help that the island had separated them. Letting out a slow breath, she tried not to think about what would happen if she was ever taken from here. It wasn't the time or place. "I promise I'll get these results to you as soon as I can. One less worry off your mind for now."

"One less worry," she echoes as if she's really going to believe it, taking the small cotton-batting off her arm and offering Ellie a muted smile. "When do you want me to come back for results?"

"Say in three days?" she suggested. By then, she was sure it'd be done. It'd give her time to look up if there were any other tests she might be able to give, too, just in case. "Sometime around noon, so I know to be there."

Sarah nods at that, making a mental note to come back in three days' time. She sets her feet on the ground, ready to get out of there and to stop thinking about what might be in her blood. "Thanks," she says, almost a forgotten-afterthought. "For this."

"Of course," she replied. She just hoped she'd have good news for her when she came back. "And if you need anything else, just let me know."

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[Dated to May 20th]

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