CYOA Page 173
Sure, it's boring here, but Joel won't leave you alone for long.
And you're not even alone for a minute before you hear the elevator ding. An old man (maybe Joel's age?) in a lab coat with a clipboard comes walking down the hall. "Hello," you greet him with a smile. "I'm Ellie."
He nods curtly. "Mark. Excuse me." He starts to open Elaine's door.
"Oh, she's sleeping," you tell him. "Are you her doctor?"
"No," he replies as he enters the room.
...Okaaaaay? That was weird. You wonder what he's doing in there if he's not doctoring or visiting... unless he thought you were lying about her being asleep, but then wouldn't he just come right back out?
He left the door open, so he must not be here to do anything bad. ...and why WOULD he be doing anything bad? Why did you even think that? Joel must be rubbing off on you. You hover in the doorway and watch him. Because you might as well.
He's looking at her machines and jotting things down on his clipboard. "Are you... studying to be a doctor?" you ask him quietly, since Elaine is sleeping.
The man doesn't answer. He finishes his note-taking and sets the clipboard down on her bed, then pulls something out of his coat. It looks like a... little tube or vial of something. Due to where he's standing, you don't see exactly what he does with it, but it has something to do with the pole beside her bed. You consider entering the room and standing at the foot of the bed so you can see better, but you don't want to intrude.
When he retrieves the clipboard and turns to leave, you back away to allow him through the door. He closes it softly behind him and gives you a small smile. "I'm a researcher. So you might say I'm a student of sorts."
That makes sense. "Okay. What are you researching?"
"Carcinomas, mainly."
"Oh," you say, as if you know what the fuck that means.
"Cancer," he adds.
"Oh! Oh, right -- duh. That's what Elaine has."
"Yes. Very convenient." He leaves... without even asking what you're doing there.
Well, he probably assumes I'm here visiting Elaine? You assume she doesn't get many visitors -- or any, besides her son -- but maybe this dude wouldn't know that. You wonder what Joel's gut would make of him. His gut can tell if a person is good or bad, like... right away. -Sometimes. Not always right away. It seems to throw a lot of people into a gray area at first. To be on the safe side, he treats the gray people the same as the bad.
He says you were never in that gray area, that you were always good, but you have your doubts. You tried to kill him the moment you laid eyes on him -- how is that not bad from his point of view?! Maybe not kill him, exactly... you were just protecting Marlene. And if he knew you were good right away, why did it take him so long to trust you? You were wary of him at first, but you swear you decided he was good long before he decided you were.
Joel says no one is all good or all bad, so technically, everyone lives in that gray area. But if you ever talk about yourself being bad in any way -- or about him being good -- he'll argue with you, so you're not sure he believes his own words.
No one else comes down the hall before Joel returns. He's carrying something... "What the fuck is that?" you gasp in surprise. I KNEW he would bring me something yummy!
Joel smiles at your delight. "It ain't what you think. But it's close. Let's go sit in the lounge area."
You follow him happily. "It looks like ice cream..."
"Frozen yogurt. They have a soft serve machine here -- a real one, not like that dinky little thing at that one lady's house. You ever seen one?"
You spy strawberries in the bowl, too. And chocolate sauce! "Hers isn't real?"
"Nope. This is like the ones you've seen in restaurants. Only this one works."
Naturally, the only restaurants you've seen (Joel says the one in Jackson doesn't count because it's just a house being used as a common dining area) are abandoned ones. Or NEARLY-abandoned, with only a dying man inside...
"I'll show you. We can get another one before we leave."
He takes a seat on a couch, and you sit practically in his lap. "Is that why you only got one?" you ask, noting the two spoons sticking out on either side of the bowl. "So you can show me?"
"Partly. It's also a good excuse to sit real close."
You grin. "You're so sweet." You kiss his cheek -- because that is a gesture he will tolerate in public. "This is almost too pretty to eat." It's coiled very nicely in the bowl, and you like the way it's neatly striped, exactly half brown and half white.
"If you'd rather look at it than eat it, that's fine. But it'll melt into a big ol' soupy mess."
"Guess I better eat it, then!" You start digging in. It tastes like ice cream! "Yummy!"
"You like it?"
"Did you have any doubt that I would?!"
He chuckles. "Nope."
"It's cold," you observe.
"Frozen things tend to be cold, yes."
"Smartass. You could've just got one spoon, too..."
"That would look weird. People don't do that when they share."
"Not even lovers?" you ask coyly.
"We ain't lovers."
"Just cuz we don't fuck doesn't mean--"
"We are father and daughter," he says pointedly.
You roll your eyes. "Whatever! I think we're on a date. And since you paid, I don't have to, uh... what did you say? Run the other way?"
He chuckles. "Except I didn't pay."
"Well, I sure as hell didn't, so..."
"So... I'd say we went Dutch, but that don't fit, either. -That's where we each pay for our own."
"...Huh. Weird. ...Okay, I got it! You brought it to me, so it's more like you paid... and I paid last time cuz I brought you to the frozen yogurt shop. Except there was no yogurt. And even if there was, we were so cold we wouldn't have eaten it."
Joel chuckles. "I don' know if I'd count that, seein' as how I have no memory of it."
"...Which is very insulting, by the way. Sleeping through our whole date!"
"First of all, I was busy tryin' not to die. Second of all, I'd hardly call anythin' we did on that trip a date, especially--"
"Excuses, excuses! It's okay -- I'll let you make it up to me." Funny how sometimes I can joke about Colorado and sometimes I can't even stand to think of it... You take your biggest bite of syrupy yogurty goodness yet.
"Hey, slow down a little. You'll give yourself a headache."
Pffff, yeah right! You're doing way more talking than eating, anyway! "You better eat a little faster if you want your fair share, that's all. So did you see Danny down there?"
"No. I asked in the cafeteria an' they said he was there earlier. He must be around somewhere."
You tell Joel about the researcher guy you met. Something in his face seems to darken a little while you're talking; does he not even have to meet people for his gut to know if they're good or bad? "Do you think that sounds weird?" you ask him.
"I don' know but you shouldn't be talkin' to those people."
"Who are 'those people'?"
"People here. Doctors. Scientists. Anyone."
You snort. "Paranoid much? Joel, these people work in a hospital. They're good."
"Most of 'em prob'ly are. But you never know. ...Tommy did mention that they do cancer research here."
"Well then, see? Mark was legit."
"If he's injectin' her with shit, though... sounds more like experimentin' than research."
"...Don't those two things sort of go together?"
"I s'pose." But he's frowning.
"You don't like it. I don't know for sure what he was doing. Maybe he was sucking stuff out of that bag on the pole."
Joel seems to be sucking on his spoon... thoughtfully, or something. "We'll ask Danny about it when we see him." He twirls the spoon in the chocolatey sludge at the bottom of the bowl.
You don't mean to take more than half, but if he's going to be so fucking slow... and we ARE gonna get more! you remember. You take a huge spoonful of strawberry'n'yogurt.
He smiles at you... and to your delight, he leans over and kisses you! "Sorry. Couldn't resist. You had some... right here." He runs his thumb over your lip.
You giggle softly. "I had some on my mouth? While I'm eating? How weird," you tease, swallowing the spoonful. "And I've told you -- you don't ever have to apologize for... that." You're not the one with a hangup about being affectionate in public.
"But it must be... confusin' for you. I've told you we can't, an' then I..."
"It's not confusing. Sometimes you're comfortable, sometimes you're not. I get it. But I don't care if people see us kissing, so it's all good. Besides, that was... barely anything."
"Mm. Not like this." He glances around -- with the most awesomely wicked smile on his face! -- then leans in and kisses you again. You part your lips and taste his cold tongue. Cold, but so sweet!
He cups your cheek and keeps kissing you deeply, his lips and tongue warming rapidly... until he abruptly pulls back. "Someone's comin'," he murmurs, then returns to toying with his spoon.
You don't even hear anyone coming, but you trust that Joel knows. You scoop up the drippy mess pooling in the bowl and eat it like soup. No one's coming.
After two more bites, you whisper to Joel, "No one's coming!"
"They didn't make it over here. But they're right down the hall."
"Oh -- so maybe it's Danny going to his mom's room?" you wonder hopefully.
"Yeah. Could be. We're almost done with this anyhow..."
"You want the rest?" you offer sweetly. "I'm sure I ate more than half."
"Nah, you finish it."
You knew he was going to say that! "Okay! Thanks. Thanks for getting this, Joel."
"Of course."
Now you hear someone's footsteps. You lift the bowl to your lips and drink the rest of it, because you might as well, at this point. That super hot kiss totally melted it!
A man is walking up to you... and it's not the one you saw before. You wipe your mouth on your sleeve when you're done, since Joel can't kiss it for you now. Joel stands up, so you guess you're supposed to stand up, too. Although you don't know if it's a politeness thing or a... I don't want this stranger dude looming over me thing. You set the bowl on the floor and get up.
"Hey," the stranger dude greets you. "I heard you were lookin' for me?"
...Huh? The guy doesn't even look remotely like Danny. He's tall and lanky, and like... maybe only five or ten years older than you, not late thirties like Danny... plus he's black, and Danny is white. You look at Joel, confused.
He doesn't get it, either. "Uh... we're lookin' for someone, yes, but it ain't you," he tells the guy.
"...Oh."
Aww, he seems disappointed! "Do you know someone named Danny?" you ask him.
"Danny... maybe that's what happened. I'm Denny. They kinda sound alike."
"Oh cool, like the restaurant we saw on the way here! Yeah, that must be it! Cuz Joel says things funny. They prob'ly misunderstood."
Joel gives you a look. "I pronounce Danny different than Denny."
"Well, right there you did, but maybe it didn't come out that way before! Anyways -- Denny. Do you know Danny?"
"Think so. Wasn't that the dude who used to come and visit his mama?"
"Used to?" you and Joel say at the same time.
Denny shrugs. "Haven't seen him in a while."
"An' you're here... a lot? All the time?" asks Joel.
"Yeah, man... my mama works here. I live here."
"When was the last time you saw him?" Joel presses.
"Shit... I dunno. Couple months ago, maybe?"
"Months?!" you marvel.
"Maybe weeks? I feel bad for her, though, here all alone... I been checkin' on her. We play gin rummy," he tells you for some reason.
"Oh I know what that is! It's a card game. Like poker. Right, Joel?"
"Somethin' like it, yeah. All right... guess we better ask around an' see what people know about Danny. Thanks, kid."
"No problem. I'll be around if you need me."
"Thanks," you say. "Maybe you can show me how to play that game later?"
"Yeah, that's cool," he replies with a little smile. "I can--"
"I'll teach you when we get home," Joel interjects -- somewhat grumpily, it seems.
"Okay. Seeya around, Denny!" you chirp. After he leaves, you turn to Joel. "We can't go home until we find Danny, though, right?"
"Don' know about that, but... unless someone here heard him talkin' about goin' somewhere else, we need to check the route more thoroughly. Maybe go home an' put together a bigger search party if we can't find him."
"Okay. So we talk to his mom, and like... everyone else in the hospital?"
"Yes." He pauses. "You wanna grab that bowl an' I'll take you down to the cafeteria? You can have as much as you want while I go around an' talk to--"
"I'll go with you!"
"You can ask the cafeteria staff. I'll talk to the rest."
"...'The cafeteria staff' -- how many people is that?"
"One."
You snort. "I think I can handle talking to more than--"
"I don't want you talkin' to anyone else."
"Why not?"
"I just don't."
You sigh. "That's not a reason."
"Those science types... they're real creepy. I don't want you--"
You interrupt him with a laugh. "No they're not! You're just overprotective. Besides, if I'm with you, does it even matter if they're creepy?"
"...Yes."
"Joel--"
"Don't you want more ice cream?"
"Frozen yogurt. Yeah, but--"
"So, humor me an' have some more while I talk to everyone."
"You don't even like talking," you protest feebly.
"I'm just askin' 'em for information, not... exchangin' life stories."
"Fine, whatever. I do wanna see that machine you were talking about."
"Good. You can sit there an' eat your ice cream like a good little girl."
"Frozen yogurt. And I'm not a good little girl," you say mischievously.
"You can be when you wanna be."
"Oh, and you called him a kid. He's way older than me." But you know that Joel, like other old people, likes to call people kids who aren't really kids.
"Still kid-range."
"But once I'm eighteen, I'm not kiddo anymore. Just baby girl."
"I'll try. You'll have to forgive me if it slips out once in a while."
You snicker. "I'll be eighteen -- as long as it slips in more than out, I'm good!"
He shakes his head, chuckling a little. "That don't even make sense... but you're bad."
"I told you!"
"C'mon, kiddo, grab the bowl an' let's get goin'. We might have a longer road ahead of us than we thought."
The thought sobers you quickly. "Yeah... fuck, I hope he's okay."
But you have a pretty good feeling about it. Together, you and Joel can find him and bring him home. The two of you make a good team. You feel slightly guilty at the thought of enjoying two or three or ten more bowls of frozen yogurt (it was so good, you swear you could just eat it and eat it and never stop) while Danny is God-knows-where, but... you'll just be following Joel's orders.
Maybe while you're having your fill, you can figure out why Joel is so paranoid about you talking to potentially 'creepy' people -- while in his company, no less. Maybe it's just a weird jealousy thing. Joel's so insecure sometimes! Doesn't he know I'll never leave him?!
If you'd like to start another adventure, return to page 1.