Adrian Volkov

He had been here for a long time. Nobody knew what was wrong with him. With the wedding soon, he needed to get better fast. But at this rate, that probably won't be happening anytime soon. Adrian was getting very tired of staying in a tiny room with nothing to do. He wanted to go hunting and exploring like he always did. He groaned in pain when he sat up. He pulled all the needles and tubes out, then slowly stood up. He fell over twice because of the dizziness, but eventually found his balance. He had such a headache. All he wanted to do was to get out of here.
He walked unsteadily out the door, heading down the hallway to reach the door. This apparently wasn't a busy day in the hospital; nobody seemed to notice him yet. As he walked, he put his hand on the wall for balance. But he could only stand up for a little while, so he eventually just fell down onto the floor.

You were born to be the bad guy
Make the hero look good and be despised
You know it's wrong but it feels so right
Nothing to lose when you’re going to die
You were born to be the bad guy
Make the hero look good and be despised
You know it's wrong but it feels so right
Nothing to lose

Marzipan Fray

She was a new arrival at the hospital. Well, at least compared to most of the other people already there. She had gotten there about a week ago, though she couldn't remember the day of her arrival in the least. All she knew was that she had been out hunting early in the morning and something had happened to make the attitude of the elk she was following change, and then she was gone there was nothing but blackness for what seemed like a lifetime.

When Marzipan had woken up she was completely alone an a tiny, drab, white room. Her entire midsection was wrapped tightly and felt stiff and tingly. Her head still hurt and her eyes were as yet unable to focus entirely. She kept trying to find a mirror to see what exactly the full damage was but alas she could find none. Instead she was forced to lay in bed and stare blankly at the off-white ceiling and its crumbling aged cracks.

Today however, was a different day. She didn't know why but she felt like something was going to happen. It wasn't really that she was bored, actually, she was enjoying her time at the hospital, she at least had a roof and a bed here. Some social interaction was good for her too. No, it wasn't boredom, but something about the air felt different to here. Then again maybe she was just getting lost in her imagination again.

Marzipan had been drifting in and out of sleep for the most part of the day when there was sound out in the hall, which up until that point had actually been pretty silent for once. Then she saw him, there was a man, crumpled in on himself and hunched over making his way slowly with his hand on the wall for balance. He looked to be in pretty bad shape to Marzipan, which of course made her instantly curious as to where and what he was doing and going. So, naturally she got up the courage to get out of bed for the first time in a week. The response of her body was immediate, something seemed to tear in her side but it didn't really hurt, it just suddenly got warm and wet beneath the bindings.

Once she felt like she could walk she shuffled out of her room to follow the man. Her hair was loose and had just been washed by the nurses (why they had dubbed her unable to do it herself was beyond her knowledge) so it flowed soft and light across her shoulders as she half stumbled towards the guy. To her amazement he suddenly just fell! Out of nowhere this interesting man just collapsed to the ground.

Ignoring her own health, Marzipan quicklened her pace and scuttled over to him coming to a kneeling position next to him and placing a slender, pale hand on his shoulder.

"um, excuse, hey! sir are-are you alright?? hello? ... Nurse!

For some reason her voice sounded strained to her ears, it was always quiet, almost a whisper but still, never had it sounded so unlike herself. She stared with huge eyes of concern at the man. Waiting for someone to hear her.

Adrian Volkov

Adrian had contracted the sickness quite a while ago, and it just got worse and worse. He could barely breathe, he had pain everywhere, he puked every night, he could barely stay awake, and his skin was flaking off and revealing bright red, bloody, diseased flesh underneath. This illness was not contagious, more like a toxin, but Marzipan was one of the first people to get within 15 feet of him.

He made a futile attempt to raise his head, but he was much to weak. "Ia umirayu... Ia umirayu..." He unknowingly reverted back to the Russian language, with a Russian accent to go along with it. When he realized his mistake, he repeated his words in English: "I'm dying."

Marzipan Clearwater Fray

Marzipan could merely watch with growing interest. The man looked like he was barely alive, he shouldn't be moving let alone walking around. Was he so desperate to get out of the hospital? To her, this place was like a luxury getaway. Compared to the way she had been living at least. But for some reason this guy seemed desperate, maybe in many more ways then one.

He looked terrible, that was for sure, his skin looked like it had 3rd degree burns, though they clearly were nothing of the sort, and his breath was shallow and raspy. The whole scene made Marzipan wonder even more about the state of herself, she had been in a sort of daze fir such a long time she had no sense of self at the moment. Her stomach felt odd, tingly and the spot where she had previously felt something rip was growing increasingly wet and warm.

His voice caught her off gaurd and she nearly lost her balance. He had spoken to her in russian! Her second language was russian, first gaelic. Because her father had loved to move around she had been all over the world and had been made to learn many languages. Coincidentally, russian had been one of her favorites and she remembered most of it.

"Vy russkiĭ? YA nikogda ne vstrechal nikogo vokrug zdesʹ, kto govorit eto! Menya zovut martsipana. A tebya?? "
"You are russian? I've never met anyone else around here who spoke it! My name is Marzipan. What's yours?"

She knew it wasn't perfect but she hoped it might make the man feel a little bit more welcomed or understood perhaps? Absentmindedly she brushed her baby soft hair out of her face, noticing the strain, she gave up the effort and returned her attentions to the man, the words of what he had said suddenly hitting her.

"Ne skazatʹ takuyu veshchʹ! YA uveren, chto vy ochenʹ silʹnyĭ chelovek, i vrachi zafiksiruyut vas vplotʹ do! Vy mozhete idti? Mozhet bytʹ, vy dolzhny vernutʹsya k sebe? YA mogu vzyatʹ vas, yesli hotite. " "Don't say such a thing! I'm sure you are a very strong man and the doctors will fix you right up! Can you walk? Maybe you should go back to your room? I can take you if you like. "

She stared at him with a blank face, her blown sea glass eyes were big in anticipation.

Adrian Volkov

While Adrian looked like he needed help, he hated strangers. His whole family was a bit paranoid. Especially Dimitri. Adrian wasn't far behind in the crazy factor. Of course, those that truly knew him for who he was - those whom he let live - would understand the reason behind everything.

He was caught off guard by Marzipan's excited voice. He couldn't hear much of what she was saying through the pounding headache, but he realized that she wanted his name. His name? He never told a stranger his name. Instead, he kept a straight face and told her his alias. "Menya zovut Ian." "My name is Ian." Ian Faust. That was his alias. That's what the outsiders knew him as.

His brown eyes rolled around the hall; he was apparently looking for something. "Telefon. Lillian Cooper." It was clear he wanted to use the telephone to call somebody named Lillian Cooper, his soon-to-be wife. Of course, Lillian wasn't her real name. She wasn't much less paranoid than Adrian or Dimitri, so Adrian respected that by using a pseudonym.

Marzipan Clearwater Fray

What a disconnected guy, she thought while she looked around for a doctor or nurse, though for some reason they were nowhere to be found in the hallways. Her side was beginning to get feeling back into it, and it certainly was not a good feeling. She had begun to feel nautious and her knees were knocking together. It dawned on her that sitting in the hallway was really not the bast idea. So she tried again to persuade the man, whom she now knew as Ian, to return to a room, whether it be his own or not.

She was very frail compared to him, much more petite than usual because she had barely been able to eat a thing since her arrival. Marzipan noticed Ian looking around, his eyes lolling with little control, she was just about to ask what he was looking for when he spoke again. Well, at least he could still talk, it was nice to be able to talk to someone for once.

"Vy hotite pozvonitʹ komu-nibudʹ? Nu, net li u vas telefon v komnate?"
"You want to call someone? well, don't you have a phone in your room?"

It was then that it donned on her that his room might be to far of a walk for him at the moment. She wanted to help him though so she took to searching for a nearby phone for him to use. Marzipan unsteadily rose to her feet and turned to gaze around the vicinity.

"Cacamas, mar atá sé go bhfuil aon ospidéal teileafóin i halla? cad tá i ceaptha a dhéanamh leis an fear seo?"
"Crap, how is it that a hospital has no phones in a hallway? what am i supposed to do with this guy? "

She deliberately reverted to gaelic, her first language, hoping Ian would not be able to understand. The walls began to spin then so she turned back to face him with her hands on her hips and her hair draped over her eyes. After standing there for a moment she made her decision, the rooms had phones so he had to get to one of them, so, she would help him get there. Leaning down, she wrapped her arm around his back and under his arm applying pressure so he knew she wanted him to lean on her.

"Nu, ya poluchayu vas k telefonu. My mozhem popytatʹsya etu komnatu po vsemu zalu, J-tolʹko operetʹsya na menya ladno?"
"Come on, I'm getting you to a phone. We can try this room across the hall, j-just lean on me okay?"

She was able to speak much louder now because of the strain she was putting herself through. But she was determined.

Adrian Volkov

Adrian sure was disconnected. He spent much of his time alone, working on something or other. He was the technology expert for his family and allies. If somebody needed something, he found it. It's a sad life, really; getting information on a rival gang of dangerous criminals, then using that information for some dark plot that usually involved an AK-47 or an M1014. Or both. They were both good for blasting the shit out of people.

"Telefon." He repeated. He couldn't say anything else after that, because he descended into a bout of coughing. It sounded like he might cough up his own lungs.
The coughing stopped soon enough for Adrian to notice the blood on Marzipan's midsection. "Ty ranen." "You're injured." The girl seemed pretty selfless and humble, though, since she was helping Adrian even when she herself had a gruesome injury.
With Marzipan's help, he got to his feet with a groan as he felt the pain surge through his body. It was probably a big strain on Marzipan, because he could barely even support his own weight. He couldn't help but wonder why this complete stranger was helping him, but he did know that he needed her help.

Marzipan Clearwater Fray

Marzipan had never really been a part of anything in life. When she was young her father had focused everything around fighting and surviving and how to lie as well as pain, that was his specialty. He always said that if she learned young, then in the future, pain would be a mere tickle. Maybe that was why she didn't notice the excruciating pains in her side nor the fact that more skin beneath the bandages was tearing open again from the uneven weight from supporting Ian.

She smiled her kind smile as he accepted her help and began to get to his feet once more. In mid motion though, he seemed to slip away into a terrible fit of coughing and she indeed worried that he might cough some internal organ out of place. So with heightened concern she doubled her efforts. It was then that he managed to speak once more, noting the fact that she, herself, was injured.

"Nu. Ty tozhe."
"Well. So are you"

Her retort was said with amused sarcasm in an attempt to lighten the mood. Though it probably sounded more like a snappy comeback to him. She glanced sideways at him as she began to walk towards the room across the wing. She felt like something else should be said in reply to his remarks, the last thing she wanted to do at the moment was sound hearltess.

"Yego nichto ... YA ne mogu chuvstvovatʹ eto v lyubom sluchae .. ne volnuĭtesʹ. "
"Its nothing... I can hardly feel it anyway.. don't worry. "

She attempted to make it sound as true as possible, to her it was, however for some reason she got the feeling that her voice betrayed her. Instead she focused her attention on opening the door and shuffling tippsily into the room towards the bed, searching with her free hand for the lights.

Adrian Volkov

Adrian was almost ready to pass out. Normally he was strong, but this disease was taking a toll on him. He could almost feel it in his veins, under his skin, in his bones...
"Chto sluchilos'?" "What happened?" He was strangely selfless and caring, considering the life he had lived. As he spoke, it was clear that he was having trouble breathing. Whatever it was that was making him sick, it seemed to be attacking his lungs.
He struggled to reply to Marzipan's report on how she was feeling. "Mne ne nuzhen na detektore lzhi, chtoby skazat' mne, chto eto ne tak." "I don't need a lie detector to tell me that's not true." He had a neutral tone, but his words seemed kind, showing that he cared about her safety.
As the entered the room, Adrian noticed Marzipan searching for the light switch, so he reached out and flicked it on. He had been here for a long time, so he learned his way around the room. "Hey, what are you doing?" This was a different voice, but it held the same Russian accent, very similar to Adrian's. This was Viktor Volkov, Adrian's brother and conveniently a doctor. "He shouldn't be up, and by the looks of it, you shouldn't either." He walked into the room ahead of the two, helping them in.

Marzipan Clearwater Fray

Marzipan was straining her entire body as she maneuvered the man she now knew as Ian, across the hall and into the little room. He seemed like the kind of man she would normally steer away from in the streets, the tough, strong willed kind of guy with a hell of a backup if he needed it. But at the moment he was the exact opposite, almost helpless and if anyone knew how it felt to be helpless, it was Marzipan. The poor girl didn't even know how she had gotten to the hospital in the first place, she had been lying, torn to pieces most likely, out in the open in the middle of the woods and yet somehow she ended up here. She hadn't noticed she had spaced out until his voice broke through the fog again. She turned to face him and smiled almost sheepishly.

"Na samom dele, yesli chestno, ya ne ochenʹ uveren. Odin moment ya byla ohota eto dollar, a dalʹshe .. a ya zdesʹ."
"Actually, honestly, I'm not really sure. One moment I was hunting this buck, and the next.. well I was here."

She tried to sound amused, as if it were nothing to here. But in truth, it was, she hated not knowing things and this thing had happened to her... herself. It was a bit unnerving to be out alone in the world, almost die, want to die, and then wake up in bandages with an invisible savior. Marzipan smiled over at Ian and couldn't help but think how fate worked and how if she hadn't been here, something bad might have happened to him, then again, she had always had a knack for wishful thinking. She tried to ignore the fact that he was clearly having trouble breathing, not wanting to say anything, and keeping her own breath to a slow pace. His next reply earned a small hiccup of a laugh, just a quick exhale of breath.

"Sleduet vystrel, ya v poryadke, hotya .. na samom dele. Davaĭte vy pozabotilisʹ v pervuyu ocheredʹ."
"It was worth a shot, i'm fine though.. really. Let's get you taken care of first."

This time she really did manage a smile. Once he had flicked the light switch on, after many failed attempts of her own, she turned to start towards the bed only to be stopped by another voice, male as well. Marzipan turned a strained face to the new man, her features were contorted but she still made herself look at least a little bit less in pain than she really was. She didn't say anything in immidiate reply to him but instead allowed him to help them into the room. Once Ian was on the bed and she was leaning against the wall trying to stay out of their way, she replied with her odd mix of russian/irish accent.

"He.. he was in the hall. I just wanted to help him back into a room. I'm alright though, really, I'll just wait until I know he is alright and then leave you to it!"

She forced herself to smile and sound chipper despite the growing ache in her sides. Marzipan then began to shuffle slowly towards the door, ready to leave when it was time.