RP/G: One Door Closes

[Rebecca]

There is no way of escaping the fact that being a Deveraux agent is a dangerous job. For every Deveraux agent still alive and well, there will often be another who will have been injured or in some cases even died protecting the lives of total strangers. To those used to putting their lives at risk every day, it can be extremely jarring if they survive but find themselves suddenly unable to do their job. However, as one agent is about to discover, the the end of a career in the field can lead to new opportunities for him and even for someone else. As they say, when one door closes...

[Rebecca]

Sunday, 22nd October, 2115
Charlotte Elizabeth Davenport made her way down the corridor of a hospital in Arlington County, Virginia, checking at the numbers on the doors until she spotted the one she wanted. She stepped forwards and gently eased the door open before she stepped inside and shut it behind her. Lying in the bed was a Region Silver agent, and though she already knew what had happened to him, it was quite something else to see him lying there and look at the stumps below his knees where the rest of his legs and his feet had once been. Charlotte pursed her lips slightly as she moved closer. Injuring a Region Silver agent was practically a personal insult as far as she was concerned.
"Oh, Elijah," she remarked quietly, "What did they do to you?"

[Nicky]

"I did it to myself," Elijah said simply as he used the handle dangling down from his bed to lift himself up. He winced slightly from the pain it caused as his stumps were dragged along the bed. He was well dosed up on pain killers but there was still a dull aching. "I thought I could disarm it, first mistake. I didn't realise I couldn't disarm it until too late, second mistake. A lintel beam came down as I was diving out of the way, I didn't get far enough away, third mistake."

[Rebecca]

"No, they did this to you. You were just doing your job," Charlotte replied gently yet firmly, pausing for a moment before she asked, "How have they been treating you here at the hospital?"

[Nicky]

"The sponge baths have been nice," Elijah replied completely deadpan before he laughed. "It's OK. Not the complete best but then I was kinda in a rush to get these seen to. Anything else you need to talk to me about or are you just here to tell me I'm fired and I need to find something else to do as a guy with no legs pretty much below the knee?"

[Rebecca]

"I wanted to see you," Charlotte explained simply, "And you're not fired. Deveraux are going to provide you with the best prosthetics available and there are plenty of jobs available that you could take. It all depends on what you want to do."

[Nicky]

"What I want to do is no longer open to me remember? I'd be pretty useless if they realised that I didn't have proper legs," Elijah added. "I get all of this Charlotte. You've been sent here to offer me some desk job so you lot can relieve your consciences. I knew what I was signing up for."

[Rebecca]

"Us lot? I'm an agent same as you, Elijah," Charlotte pointed out, "And I know you're angry. You have every reason to be. I don't expect you to agree to anything right now, but I just want you to know there's more available than desk jobs. You could teach, you could be a field handler...just promise me you'll think about it. Please."

[Nicky]

"At the moment all I want to think about is being able to walk and do the things that I used to do in my own time. I don't know how long that is going to take me or whether I will be able to. I won't consider it now," Elijah told Charlotte. "You sit behind a desk most of the day."

[Rebecca]

"That's all well and good. All I'm saying is that sooner or later you're going to start to need to think about something to get better for," Charlotte replied before she smiled slightly and enquired, "How would you know? You barely come see me."

[Nicky]

"I already have someone who fulfils the mother bear role," Elijah replied to Charlotte directly. "I don't particularly see you going off and doing what we went to school for any more. You don't become an admin because you love your job."

[Rebecca]

"That's where you're mistaken, Elijah," Charlotte informed him, still with a gentle smile on her face, "And whatever you think of me, I'm afraid you're stuck with me. Like I said, think about it. It's been good seeing you."

[Nicky]

"It isn't exactly as if I can run away from you is it," Elijah said with a grin. "OK I admit it has been nice to see someone in this place other than the nurses and the doctors. Feel free to come and pester me whenever you are free."

[Rebecca]

"Oh, I will, trust me," Charlotte replied as her smile broadened, "You might not know a lot about me but I do know a little bit about you. I know you're a good agent, Elijah. That hasn't changed, just remember that. And maybe eventually you can pass on those skills and that knowledge to somebody else."

[Nicky]

"A good agent that made the biggest mistake of his career," Elijah corrected what Charlotte said to him. "I do wonder why none of us got the message at school when we were being taught by injured agents that that we could be them in just a few short years."