"He'll be fine. He's stronger than he thinks. Like... other people I know."

[hazlogs]

It is currently Wed Aug 13 2003. Afternoon. The mental hospital.

The hall is quiet, the nurses occupied with paperwork. In a private hospital of this caliber, the rooms are meant for one or two occupants but usually house only one. The building is old, but the interior is modern, with a disinfected sparse look: wide empty hallways, tastefully placed plants. The long windows have bars on them, however, and each wing is its own locked ward.

When he comes to see her, they let him into the wing after checking his identity and making him sign in. Apparently his name's on the approved list. He's taken to the dayroom, to wait while they find her. It's a slight misnomer; the day is clouded over, and not much daylight augments the flourescents in the living area. A wild-looking, lanky young man watches him with unblinking eyes... the patient stands in a corner of the room like a skinny coatrack, long arms crooked around his body.

"Rina?" The nurse pushes at one of the doors and peers in. "You have a visitor. Come out to the dayroom." He doesn't sound like he'll take no for an answer... but at the same time there's a gentleness about the request, like a soft push. And the blonde young man waits until she comes out, a slightly wistful but encouraging smile offered to the thin Italian woman. He gestures her in the right direction. "Feel free to get something from the fridge, to drink."

Salem is, to be brutally honest, vaguely uncomfortable in these surroundings, but he hides it underneath a subtle tension that could easily be attributed to the moon. He remains standing in the dayroom, near one of the windows, hands clasped behind his back. His eyes are hidden behind dark glasses.

Rina wears the same faded BDUs as before--they packed loose clothes for her to take. She has a long-sleeved tee on, a dark grey that makes her look pale. But somehow, she seems better: well-rested, maybe, and looking like she's eaten more lately. Her eyes flicker to the patient in the corner, revealing nothing save perhaps wariness. She even summons a faint attempt at a smile, when she looks up to the shaded face. "Hey, Jack," she says quietly. "We should talk."

Salem looks at her for a moment, then smiles thinly and takes off the sunglasses. "Yes," he murmurs, tucking them into the front pocket of his shirt. "We should." He glances over at the wide-eyed young male again, then back at her.

Rina catches her lower lip between her teeth, and meets the gaze of his good eye. Then she starts walking, down toward the nurses' station. She gives a surreptitious touch to his arm, a moment of stolen contact. "He said to help him," she says quietly. "And something about--" A glance over to the tall Walker, uncertainty in the dark eyes. "Helios. Either it's real or I really /am/ crazy."

Salem's brows draw together. "Helios. The sun?" He considers this as they walk, mouth drawn tight and pensive. "Well... we'll find out. We'll get... closure." He cocks his head, eyeing her. "I don't think you're crazy. But..." He exhales a soft breath. "I worry."

Rina's brow furrows. "That rite, the one where he got up every morning... for the sun. What was that for?"

"It... helps one seek out... taint," Salem says carefully. "If it's done regularly, without missing a single dawn. Did he use it?"

Rina frowns slightly, and nods. "But I don't know if *that* was why... I always thought it had something to do with honoring the fallen." Her voice is quiet, more so when they pass the nurses' desk.

Salem makes a little 'mm' noise. "Possibly. It's a minor ritual. Perhaps he knew an altered version." The philodox shrugs faintly.

"Helios is the sun, is Ra. So I thought we might look into Isis and Osiris. The son who rose from the dead..." She wets her lips nervously, ducking her head. "I don't know, Jack." Both arms wrap around her body, sheltering, as she ducks her head. "He said 'help me'..."

Salem touches her back, lightly, between the shoulderblades. "I'll talk to Sashi and Tatt," he says quietly. "If I have to, I'll get someone from out of town to... help us work on this. Someone in the family." He sighs quietly. "Until then, get some rest and get well."

He senses the watchers more than sees--a young woman, blonde, in a white coat, and another fellow in the decent clothes of a doctor or a resident physician. A whisper reaches him, but not the words, as the two hospital types put their heads together.

Rina hangs her head like a scolded child. "I'm sorry," she whispers.

Salem wrinkles his nose a bit, his expression a dour sort of wry. "That wasn't a reprimand. You don't have to apologize." He glances briefly over at the pair of watchers and then looks away, aware of them but apparantly ignoring them.

Rina's brow furrows, her frown darkening. "Yes," she says quietly, "I do." She presses her lips together a moment. "Tell Cat he -- I'm sorry, and I-- really need him to be strong."

Salem nods. "I'll let him now." He smiles very faintly, though his eyes remain dark. "He'll be fine. He's stronger than he thinks. Like... other people I know."

They reach the end of the hall, where a large window looks out over the manicured lawn. Rina lifts her head to look at the gardens. "Can you come back again? I don't know about-- whether he oughta come here. I'm not sure."

"Of course," he says, as if there's no two ways about it. His gaze turns from the landscaping to her kinswoman. "How, ah... how is it?"

Rina lifts one shoulder, and meets the look with forthright honesty. "I'll be glad when I'm out," she says simply. "It's... I guess it's fine. Better than... you know. But I hate bein' locked up."

Salem nods. "I understand. I... wouldn't like it much, either." His smile is faint and very wry. "Get well soon."

Rina nods minutely. "I will," she murmurs, looking away with a touch of longing.