@jckabbt has a very reluctant patient, and it's ... IZAL.
IZAL HATES HOSPITALS. not because he was raised to mistrust all forms of science and modern medicine, not because he's learned to be wary of probing, judging eyes, but because of the aura of desperation and helpless dread that seems to linger within their walls ⸺ in emergency rooms, especially. families praying to gods that don't exist to save their loved ones that likely won't make it through the night, the nurses and doctors scrambling to make it happen ⸺ or to at least prolong the inevitable to keep the families from spiraling. it makes his skin crawl.
he feels a twinge of regret for the doctor ( what's his name ? he can't remember ) that catches the tense, unhappy set of his jaw, the uneasy fidget of his fingers that dig and dig into the stiff hospital bed under him. he hopes he chalks it up the pain, perceives it as a grimace in reaction to the pain radiating in his side and making drawing breaths difficult, the throbbing ache in his temples that occasionally blurs his vision.
it's not you, doctor whatever-your-name-is. just your work environment. and the fact that i have to be in it.
“ funny. didn't seem so bad when i hit the ground, ” he tries for levity, trying to push the beeping monitors and worried questions and distant sobbing from his mind. “ hurts like hell, now though, after moving around. how many of them are broken ? ”