On My Way to See the Wizard - The Wonderful Wizard of... Oz (WHA-style) - Izumi & Cordelia

Okay, Izumi thought as she hopped on one leg into the cool atmosphere of the hospital lobby, That was the most idiotic thing I've done so far. With much difficulty she made it to the front desk and politely (though more likely demanded) for a wheelchair and service. Her sturdy leg was starting to ache and burn from all its extra strain and weight being put on it, while her other leg was screaming in agony.

"Alright Miss, we'll have to take you to the waiting room," the nurse pursed her lips - red with lipstick. "Just sign here and..."

She didn't let her finish as her hand gripped the pen and quickly signed her name.

"...Done!" After pulling the document to her person, the nurse snapped her fingers to a random worker and ordered a wheelchair.

Izumi kept up her pleasant-yet-fake smile as she was finally relieved. Seriously, how long did it take for them to find one measly rolling chair? Biting her bottom lip in irritation, Izumi berated herself for thinking badly of the staff. And her temper was probably flaring due to the baseball-sized swelling on her right ankle.

"Here we go," said the man pushing her chair. "Someone will be with you soon. And hope you feel better."

She smiled to him in thanks. The Yamanaka felt that if she opened her loud mouth, she might end up snapping or yelling at the poor guy.

Cordelia had just finished filling out a piece of paper that the nurse had given her and was walking it back up to the front desk. The floor was slightly wet and Cora was walking a little fast, she was halfway to the counter when her foot slipped and in a matter of a few seconds she was sliding along the cheap, tile flooring and about to colide with the cold ground. She let out a futile squeak as she went down hard, crashing to the earth below her with a loud and resounding thud as her butt hit the ground and her feet clomped against the lower part of the counter that was the front desk.

She had closed her eyes tightly as she had been going down and now opened them slowly, half expecting to see blood and half expecting to be blind. But instead, she was fine, other than having humiliated herself in public... again. Her embaressment threshold was just getting too high now. It wasn't even funny anymore. Cordelia looked up at the ceiling above her, desperately hoping that not alot of people were in the room. Do you hate me, God? She silently asked, or maybe pleaded.

Cora slowly began to rise up from the fetal posistion that she had taken on the floor. But as she rose halfway up, she grabbed onto the front desk for support and imediately felt a sharp pain in her wrist and upper arm, causing her to fall, once again, onto the cold floor. Really? Do you really hate me? She once again pleaded for an answer from above.

She must have made some sort of painful sound when she fell back down, because a couple of actually nice nurses rushed over and helped her stand, but walked away quickly when a seemingly mean nurse with black eye-liner came over and took Cora by the arm that wasn't throbbing, but did so rather roughly. She then barked for Cora to go with a girl in a wheel chair into the waiting room and maybe even shoved her a little when she didn't take off running in the right direction.

Cora being Cora, didn't say anything, but she did think something that may not have been very nice. She had always been fragile, but this? It was just ridiculous! No one falls on a wet floor and hurts their wrist, people who weren't Cora would have hurt something that was worth talking about. But, no, she just had to hurt her freakin' wrist... Cora was in a bad mood, it didn't show on her face, but her thoughts were taking an unanticipated turn for the worse. But still, she walked quickly after the girl in the wheel chair, knowing her, she would get lost if she didn't.

Her narrowed eyes, a pretty hue of blue, scanned the waiting room with contempt. Although it wasn't filled to the brim with injured people, there was still quite a lot of them sitting in random chairs. Some sat together in twos or threes, maybe even fours, but most of them sat by themselves with spaces in between them. And all of them look just as fine or injured as she was.

Izumi sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. She needed to calm down. Her short temper needed to be tied up and thrown away since it wasn't doing her any good. Evidence shown by how some of the people warily glancing in her direction or some even trying to shift away from her.

Then she heard a squeak and something crashing into something else. Izumi looked up from her hands and searched for the source. Her eyes watched curiously as a girl, one who she thought was far too skinny, try to get back up only to fall down again. It was probably rude and mean of her to do so, but Izumi giggled behind her hand.

The girl was cute.

But as she was roughly to the waiting room, Izumi glared at the retreating nurse with black eyeliner. That was no way to treat a patient! Turning her attention to the girl who just entered the room.

"Hey," Izumi let out a sincere and apologetic smille, "Don't mind that nurse just now. Probably hates her job."

It was a small and weak attempt at striking conversation (and comfort), but Izumi never was a girl to start things.

Cora rubbed her arm slightly. She was wincing from the pain and, not watching where she was going, nearly tripped over a sign that said Warning: Wet floor. She stumbled a little and barely regained her balance, but once she did so, she looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. Really? Think this is funny, do you? she thought to herself.

She bravely trudged on through the waiting room, which seemed so big to a girl as small as Cora was. She was concentrating, trying to pay attention to where she was walking, when she was nearly hit in the head by nurse carrying a tray at just the right angle to bump into Cora's head... Wow, I really am accident prone... She thought to herself and wondered how someone could get hurt so many ways in a hospital, you know, a place for treating the wounded, not wounding them more...

Cora sighed and wandered aimlessly, trying to find a seat that wasn't anywhere near an extremely sick and slightly disgusting person. She jumped a little when she heard someone talk to her. She never had been one with sound nerves. A tiny smile formed on her lips. "Thanks." She said, and then glanced nervously to her left, and then to her right. Only to see a man coughing loudly and a woman running back from the restroom that looked like she had just puked. The only seat that was both available and not contaminated seemed to be beside this girl that had made an effort to talk to Cora. "D-do you m-mind if I...?" She nodded towards the chair beside the pretty blonde girl.

"Not at all," Izumi replied consolingly, though she cringed when she heard the coughing and hacking around them.

Her blue eyes softened at the girl. Clearly, at least to her, she looked as uncomfortable as a sea animal on land. Okay... That was probably not the best comparison, but close enough. Izumi's critical eye did a quick once over on the girl and was surprised to see that she was actually more skinnier up close. Questions and lectures raced to the front of her mind and tongue, but Izumi held it off.

This girl's problems were none of her business, and it would be rude to ask straight out why in the world she was so skinny. One particular reason popped into her mind: she was trying to be a skinny-ass model who starves herself for attention. Izumi mentally slapped herself.

From what she gathered already, this girl was shy and accident prone. And Izumi had a feeling to keep her away from sharp objects and heeled shoes.

"I'm Izumi, by the way,"she then nodded to the seat next to her. It seemed relatively safe and the next sick person was a couple of ways down. "And you are...?"

Cordelia's smile grew a little wider as she sat down slowly. She was so use to being judged by the first glance that she barely even noticed Izumi's once over, but probably could have guessed exactly what she was thinking. She had been asked right out before if she was starving herself for something like modeling or if she had an eating disorder, but that wasn't the case, Cora was more likely to shrink into the corner and hide than to put herself and her body on display for the rest of the world to see, and would rather average weight than what she was at now... Which wasn't much at all. Izumi was right about one thing though, Cora was uncomfortable, but that wasn't due to the curcumstances or the people around her. It was just Cora, and that's what Cora was, an uncomfortable girl, no matter where she was.

"I-I'm Cora. It's nice to meet you." She said politely. Trying to mantain any composure and etiquette that she might have had left after the incidents of the day, and still remembering that Izumi had seen her fallouts, which made Cora extra nervous and slightly jumpy. Cora wasn't a healthy girl, she had many problems, but they weren't think like common colds, she really didn't like germs... Hospital rooms didn't please her at all, but she went to them often. She had doctors in the past that had offered to come to her place of residence to tend to her needs, but she had kindly refused. She did not want to be treated like an invalid. But maybe a little more gently than what the nurse had expressed.
Cora's body was under alot of strain, things that would be a mere inconvience for normal people could be a gigantic road-block in Cora's way. Things like the heater in a car, or the weight of a book back, those things made Cora's life extremely painful and unnerving for her. She was fragile, that she knew that all too well, but she hated every bit of it. She definitely didn't want to be treated as if she was ill, so the reaction that most people gave her, the accusing and assuming one, was welcomed over the 'Awe, you poor thing' reactions. Those, Cora could do without. And so, she kept her problems to herself, it just wasn't information that she disposed of gleefully. And since she was such a reserved and quiet person, she didn't like to speak up enough to clear the accusations of starvation and such. It just wasn't worth the time.

She reached slowly into her bag and pulled out a pack of chewing gum - Strawberry. She quickly popped a rose-colored stick into her mouth and tipped the package to Izumi. Offering her one with a smile.

"Cora, huh?" She smiled her thanks as she plucked one of the gum sticks from the offered condiment. "Cute name."

As she unwrapped the flattened stick Izumi took another quick look around the room before placing it in her mouth, and made quick work out of it. The sweet taste and malleable texture lifted her spirits, and hammered away at her irking temper. Her posture, rigid and stiff with annoyance, relaxed as she let herself sink into the wheelchair and leaned backwards.

"So whatcha in here for, Cora?" Izumi asked automatically; forgetting that it might have been rude to ask something too personal. But it was one of those standard starter questions to keep the conversation going. At least that's what her social book said.

Realization at her insensitivity Izumi cleared her throat awkwardly, "Er... Actually, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. That was like... you know... standard conversation goers..."

What the hell was that?! Izumi shouted in her head. Good god, I bet this girl's thinking I'm weird and socially inept already. Like seriously... 'Standard conversation goers?' An uneasy smile twitched on her lips.

"Thanks, but it really isn't... your name sounds prettier." Cora smiled at Izumi, she wasn't use to being given complements, especially on her name, but it made her feel warm inside to know that maybe she wouldn't be totally rejected in this new and crazy environment.

Cordelia watched intently as Izumi seemed to relax slightly and sink into her wheel chair, maybe becoming more at ease. When she heard her blunt question, Cora wasn't shocked in the least bit at her out right manner. Izumi was outgoing, that, she could tell from the first sentences they had exchanged. Cora smiled and let out a small giggle when Izumi tried to amend her previous question. She wasn't offended by the 'personal' question at all, but there was no way she could actually answer it in one breath.

"I'm here for... too many things to list, but today, I'm just in for a check up on my... c-condition." Cora kept smiling, she was almost breaking her stutter, almost.

"What about you? What happened t-there?" Cora asked and looked pointedly at Izumi's leg. She, herself, was surprised at how out right she was managing to be, it just wasn't like her to not say something completely stupid or awkward in every sentence. Izumi seemed to be a little awkward at times, Cora liked that about her, it was almost as if she might possibly be able to find a kindred spirit in her. Since Cora, herself, was probably one of the most awkward people. Ever. In every way possible.

"Naw, Girly," her southern-ish drawl came out as she glanced at her hospital companion before nodding to herself. "You cute and your name seems pretty original. Not overused or something, ya know? Unique."

Izumi waved off her compliment. She'd heard it many times from her, quote on quote, friends. She could still hear them squeal, Oh Izumi! I love your name. It's super cute! At first she was delighted to be told that, but after a while (and now that she looked back) Izumi found out that they were mocking her. The way they had said it sounded suspiciously how guys would gush at her name. And it didn't help at all when there were a ton of other Izumi-named girls in her previous school.

Then she nodded politely at her generalized answer. The Yamanaka didn't mind her evasiveness.

"Oh, this thing?" Izumi lifted her leg up slightly so that she could see the swollen ankle. "Ain't got no clue what happened. Just thought I had a sprained ankle, but apparently it's worse."