Friendship status: Accepted! (Hellburn)

[Dr. A. Sherpard]

Laura dashed into the medical ward and glanced around spotting Drew in the waiting are. Their eyes met and Drew jumped to his feet as she dashed over to him.
"What happened, Drew?"
Her eyes were set with panic and he took her hands in his letting a soft smile slip onto his features.
"And now you breath so you won't faint?"
He took a deep breath himself and let it out slowly and it took some coaxing but Laura did the same. Her eyes shot to Hellburn's office then back at Drew.
"One of the orderlies found him hitting his hand against the wall. It's no big deal. He'd fine. Just a few bruises and cuts. "
Laura frowned instantly and whimpered causing Drew to pat her hand before he returned to the seat he was keeping warm.

He'd wait for Laura. It gave him more time to day dream. His elbow found a place to rest on the very corner of his his knee as he stared off once more out the window across from them and he gave a soft, dreamy sigh. Laura watched, he never even realized and she sat down next to him.
"Uh oh..."
She said softly and Drew gave a soft hmmm? turning his eyes to meet hers.
"That look. You have that look again... who is it? "
Drew dropped his hand and sat upright frowning at her in confusion. An act obviously to throw her off his tail but he knew it would not work.

"What look? What are you talking about?"
Drew asked throwing a hint of confusion into his tone of voice but his surprise promptly faded when his sister's face took on the trademarked 'don't mess with me' look and he licked his lips quickly, biting into his bottom lip to hide the grin.
"Thomas is here..."
Laura glanced around for the other Scott and Drew sighed.
"Not here here... but I mean here for the week. Come have dinner with us tonight. I'm cooking..."
Drew was beaming again and Laura opened her mouth to probably warn him since Drew had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve as well as a total weakness when it came to Scott's but the door opened to Hellburns office and both siblings got to their feet hoping for news on the patient whom the orderly had found.

"Dr. Hellburn. Such unfortunate circumstances we're meeting in but all the same..."
Drew held out his hand to the older man not even noticing that Laura had just gone a little stiff beside him. Drew wasn't aware of her mental breakdown that Hellburn had walked in on just a week ago and naturally Laura didn't want Drew to be any the wiser.
"Drew Shepard? Drew mostly. I've been meaning to reply to your letter but obviously you can see the chaos surrounding us. I think lunch is a mere twenty minutes away. Would you have time for a coffee and a bite?"
Drew asked softly then nodded to Laura.

"You're welcome to join us?"
Laura shook her head rapidly at Drew's offer and motioned to the hallway.
"I'd prefer to check on the patient."
Laura said promptly looking between the two men.

[Dr. M.Hellburn]

Marcus had opened to door to see the two siblings watching him. For a moment he paused and observed the situation. He had just gotten the report about the patient they were waiting on and was about to go find Drew when he saw his boss already waiting for him.

He moved his eyes from Drew to Laura. Their first meeting had been awkward. It wasn’t every day that he ran into a nurse who was having a brake down. He had been courteous and promised that he wouldn’t mention what happened as long as she went to find some help for it. He hadn’t a clue that the two of them were siblings, though the way they both looked at each other was almost a dead give away.

He also noticed how Laura went stiff. Panic again, she would have to watch out for that. He didn’t want a nurse passing out on him. Then again she could be stressed, if Drew was her brother, then there could be all sorts of reasons for her to act that way.

Marcus then looked over at Drew who extended his hand. Such a simple touch, something light but connective for humans to know you greet them. It took him a second, but he gripped Drew’s hand in a secure handshake. The handshake and the invitation to coffee was a hint to the kind demeanor of the man before him. He would have to take some time to study if this man wore his heart on his sleeve, or if he, like so many were just playing the game.

As soon as Laura had turned down lunch Hellburn nodded. “It’s probably for the best. I gave him some painkillers and had a nurse stitch him back up. He’ll be on the mend in a matter of days.” He then looked at Drew. “It would be my pleasure to join you for some coffee. I will admit, it’s been hard to catch anyone around here. That’s why I wrote the letter, people could easily ignore e-mail, but a paper letter, that get’s people’s attention. I didn’t expect anything back from it.” He straightened his medical jacket.

In his time at Twinridge Marcus had only met a few of his staff and Laura. Other then that the asylum felt almost devoid of staff. He did admit he liked it that way. Less people to interact with, and even less people to have to tread around. He liked this new smaller staff. This place was more personal, and less being a number in a large system.

He then took a moment to realize he missed something. Cursing in the back of his mind he slipped on a smile. Something so small made one so human. He should know his mother had drilled that in his mind when he was a teen. Though like all good habits sometimes a relapse happens, and takes one by surprise.

“Do you have any idea what’s been setting the patients off like this?”

[Dr. A. Sherpard]

Drew nodded when he heard what Hellburn said about the patient and let his eyes fall to Laura beside him. She'd heard that right? He was safe. The patient had been in good hands. He'd hired Hellburn because of those good hands. Drew was sure he had managed to gather a pretty loyal pair of staff members. All of them cared for the patients they had and they were involved. If he was going to fight against Echardt, this was the way to do it. Having staff that speeded up the recovery of their patients so they were not being given illnesses only to be tested a cure on.

Drew shifted his weight a little when Hellburn asked about why the patient had reacted so strongly. Maybe Hellburn just wasn't familiar with mental ill patients and what they could get up to. Drew shook his head briefly and gave a soft shrug.
"There's a number of reasons why patients flare up like that. They might be going through a chemical change in their brains resulting in all sorts of vissions, feelings and emotions. They might use pain as a release or some of them just start feeling numb and need to feel something. Some are just lonely or sad. "

The more Drew talked about it the more he remembered his own time at the bottom of the happiness scale. He remembered how he'd felt when he'd lost Edward and his patients all just a few days appart from one another, how he'd been... haunted by Edward, his patient. The things that happened around him could not have been coincidence. Edward's ashes urn falling to the ground and landing perfectly so nothing spilled, the door snapping shut that one time.

It was horribly eerie. Then there were the things that happened here. Although he hadn't seen anything disturbing, some of the patients had. But then, they were patients and prone to craziness. Drew watched Hellburn break a smile for him and returned it quickly half turning to the door.
"Is now a good time for you to have a coffee? I'm free till about 3.30. Mrs. Knight can handle our accident prone patient. "
Laura sighed and nodded heading for the back of the ward where the patient would have been.

Once she was gone Drew turned his blue eyes back on Hellburn.
"There's a lot we have to discuss and I'll try to keep personal matters out if it but it's rather vitally important that you understand what you have entered into. "

[Dr. M.Hellburn]

Marcus gestured for Drew to take the lead. Coffee would be a good way to communicate with each other. The dark liquid was a modern ritual of meeting and greeting. For Marcus he found it strange how something so simple was the springboard for so many things one does in their modern life. He supposed that Starbucks had done its duty in making coffee more chic and less for the workingman.

“Coffee would be nice.” He said making sure the smile on his face lessened so it wouldn’t be so creepy. There was one thing he learned as a young man, a smile if held on too long made people wonder why you were so happy.

Then Marcus almost froze. ‘Personal Matters?’ he thought. More thoughts flew through his mind. Did Drew contact the doctors in Maryland? Did someone become stupid and take his son or wife off their meds? Had Horatio come home to find everyone gone? Questions, words, everything filled his mind at once. In the back most corner he wondered if this is what panic felt like.

Then everything in his mind became silent. No. Nothing like that had happened. It would be a poor move to confront a man like him alone. He could tell that Drew was not that stupid. Maybe a little innocent, but not stupid.

He could tell that Drew was concerned about something. In Marcus’s time in Twinridge he could tell that something wasn’t normal with the staff. He was used to there being a rivalry in the medical staff, but it was something more for fun and to keep up the moral. But Marcus didn’t think that was what he was talking about.

Raising an eyebrow he watched Drew. He could tell Drew was a good man, and that was a dangerous thing to be. Being good meant people would try to use that to hurt you. Marcus thanked who ever made him the way he was. He could remember his son Horatio watch a little TV show. One day he had sat down and watched an episode. There the man who called himself The Doctor said a line. ‘God men don’t need rules, today is not the day to find out why I have so many.’ He agreed to that line. Drew didn’t need rules, Hellburn had many he looked out for.

Rules were what kept him together. How dose one interacts with others? You don’t give them a blank face, you greet them with a smile if you fine their presence useful. If not then you give them an indifferent look. You don’t stair at people directly in the eye, they find it creepy. You don’t point out the obvious of a person, people in general don’t like bad news. So many little rules. Rules his mother had given him his most important rules. Rules like, treat all living creatures as if you are in charge of them. No harming a living creature, big or small, unless he was being provoked himself.

Tilting his head he looked back at Drew. An amused smile was pulled on his lips. “Oh? I’ll admit I’ve noticed that everyone isn’t on the same page on things. Why is that?”

[Dr. A. Sherpard]

Hellburn motioned to Drew and he didn't need to be told twice, moving off quickly to lead the way out of the medical ward into the hallways filled with a quiet sort of dreamy state. Drew allowed himself a moment to appreciate the quiet until he found the doctor started into a somewhat frozen state beside him and curiosity caught his attention about the older man. What had he said to make him freeze up like that? Personal matters? Was that it? Was there something that Hellburn was trying to hide?

They all had issues, personal issues, a past. Hell, Drew had found himself in a straight jacket not long after Edward's passing. It had taken poor Laura ages to fix him and now he was fine. He could function and that was the most important part of this journey he'd happened to find himself in. Drew figured, as long as people could function, they would be okay...Drew attempted to play the innocent party with his curiousity well and truly tweaked by the way Hellburn had repeated his own words in such a questioning manner.

"Yes, personal matters. I choose to see my staff as my family. It helps in our line of work, doesn't it? Would be good to get to know one another... over time of course?"
Drew kept his voice low, the same low voice he used when he was stating a matter to some a patient he wanted to gain under his control. Drew passed through reception and offered a smile to the receptionist who was already pulling out the box of muffins she'd made him. Oh God... when will she realize he was gay?

He pretended not to notice her scury and instead opened the door for Hellburn, swipping his card and slipping out and only after they were outside, heading toward the garage did Drew answer Hellburn's question.
"It's complicated, and a very long story... shall I drive? "
He missed driving, despite driving being the reason that Edward was dead. He'd often thought what had happened that cold, snowy night. How had those last hours of Edward's live go?

Drew had seen him while he was being taken into surgery. The pain on his face, the blood, the coldness and weakness in his fingers when he tried to grip Drew's hand. Then.... he had seen Eddie on the plate in the morgue. Drew remembered the nurse who had allowed him, screaming Drew, to say goodbye to his fiance one final time... How he'd slipped off that ring... it had been cleaned after the surgery that had been unsuccessfull in repairing the damage Edward had suffered.

Drew took a deep breath to clear the lump that was starting to form in his throat and keeps his eyes down, pulling from his pocket, his carkeys... It had become a habbit since that dreaded phone call, to always keep them on him... no matter what...
"This is a medical testing facility for a company manufacturing various drugs. Of course, they need to induce the symptoms to make certain the cure works...."
Drew dared a glance at the doctor.

His explaination to potential workers had been brief and didn't give enough away. He needed to be more clear and precise with details. Drew slipped into the open garage leading them toward his car.
"I love my patients but I can't afford this place on my own. They bought sixty percent of the business and didn't explain enough to me for me to get a proper understanding of what they would be doing to my patients. I need my staff... to make it ... difficult for them to do their thing..."
Drew's voice was low and his words almost held a cryptic edge to them to make sure that Hellburn knew that this wasn't to be shared with just anyone.