Nadeem & Nak

"Why are we going this way?" Nak queried his master with a whine and anxious look. Nadeem's response was to reach over and scrub the side of the hybrid's neck, digging his fingers through the thick black and white fur of his nape. "You know I don't like those wailing thunderbugs." An ebony ear cocked at the man and the curious noises that came from his mouth, none of which Nak could understand. "At least don't leave me in here this time, Nadeem. You know I don't like that either."

Alas, the poor collie mix was destined to be left in the truck once again as Nadeem bade him to 'stay', gave his head a quick scratch, and closed the door against the plaintive, whining protests of his canine companion. Nadeem hurried across the frigid parking lot, leaving puffs of frozen breath hanging in the air as he went. He almost slipped once on the ice, concealed as it was in the darkness of the night, but caught his balance and continued on through the Emergency room doors.

Once inside the brightly lit room, Nadeem took pause to look around the place, his dark eyes quickly jumping from person to person, looking for a potentially very animated female. Keeping this eye out for Jess, he continued forward, heading towards the receptionist desk to ask about Clarke.

Clarke & Jess

Obscenities could be heard coming from one of the ER rooms. "Hey! Don't you stick that needle in me!" A nurse's voice faintly cut in, speaking through the room's telephone. "We need security down here for a combative patient please." She was calm, a testament to her years of education, training, and experience.

As Jess walked into the waiting room, she noticed a security guard in a brisk walk towards the treatment rooms. She took off her sunglasses and places them into her purse, revealing blue eyes with an expression that betrayed her stoic posture. There was worry in those eyes. She pulled out her phone and dialed Clarke's number.

Just as the receptionist raised his head to greet the visitor, the phone in Nadeem's pocket began ringing a very unique tune with more drums than melody, presumably by some obscure band. Jess joked that he recorded himself throwing things at his wall, but regardless of the source, it was unmistakable as Clarke's phone. The blonde-haired woman cancelled the call when she heard the ringtone, realizing that Clarke's rescuer was right in front of her, approached the desk and stood beside Nadeem. She took command without so much as an introduction or approval, as she was wont to do, and addressed the confused receptionist. "He's with me. We're here to see Clarke Winter."

"...Of course." The receptionist squeaked. "I need to see some-"

"Jess McKinney." The woman, worryingly familiar with the process of visiting somebody in a hospital, provided her ID card. After a moment, the receptionist gave Jess' card back, stood up from his chair, and beckoned for the visitors to follow him. "Right this way."

Jess turned on her heels to follow the receptionist's lead, but not before acknowledging Nadeem. "Hey. Thanks for saving him. And for holding onto his phone - he's got all his leads in there." She seemed rather exasperated and fed up with the whole situation, as if it happened often.

Nadeem & Nak

'Well...' Nadeem thought as he heard the obscenity laced dialog from down the long hall, '...he's certainly got a fighting spirit.' Grim optimism as it was, the man did feel better about Clarke's chances when he heard that slurred voice railing against the nurses, showing that the fellow still had the strength and grit to put up a fight despite his injury. A sudden vibration and a distinctive beat of drums nearly jarred Nadeem out of his wits in the next moment, and it took a split second or two for him to remember that he had a stranger's phone in his pocket.

"Ack, sorry." He mumbled apologetically as he dug for the device, only to have the thrumming ringtone suddenly stop. And at just that time, the woman he had been looking for had arrived at his side, having similarly found the stranger she was looking for. "Yes, it was no problem." He smiled faintly, still a little rattled by the whole experience but not about to let that dull his manners. "I guess you could say I was at the right place at the right time. Or wrong time, perhaps. Either way, it sounds like he's giving the nurses a run for their money- a good sign, really." He tried to inject a bit of lightness as he now followed Jess and the receptionist.

"Leads, you say?" His interest perked ever so cautiously, as Nadeem was not a man who relished getting into conflicts with other people. He did, however, have a strong desire to help, and couldn't help but question this woman. "I don't mean to be nosy or anything, but a friend of mine is a cop, and he might be able to help. He's-" his voice lowered a smidgen into a whisper, "..one of the non-corrupt."

Clarke & Jess

In a short time, the yelling subsided; the doctors must have found a way to inject the sedative. This calmed Jess' nerves as well. Clarke didn't do well with authority, even if they were actively helping him. Jess, lost in thought as she walked down the hall, took a moment to respond to Nadeem's offer. She lowered her voice as she responded. "He's investigating his brother's death. I'll see if I can talk him into letting your friend help.

The receptionist heard this, but said nothing. He knew all too well the corruption that stuck its tendrils throughout the local law enforcement agencies. Instead, he simply waved his hand toward the room that Clarke was in. "Here he is. Just be sure you give the doctors some space to work. They'll let you know when you can get close." Jess nodded distractedly and entered the room, taking a look back to make sure Nadeem was still following.

"Hey!" Clarke managed a smile when he saw Jess and Nadeem. Jess kept a stoic expression, still angry with her friend, but couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. She realized that she probably shouldn't have left him home alone in his state.

Clarke's smile faded when the doctors began stitching the wound; thankfully, the knife missed his vital organs, so he would not need surgery this time. He gritted his teeth at the pain and Jess turned away to avoid seeing him in distress. This gave her a chance to talk to Nadeem again. "So... tell me more about your friend."

Nadeem Tarak

Nadeem was likewise thankful for the ceasefire of curses and drunken shouting. It allowed him to get his head sorted out and take inventory of all that had happened in the past hour. He briefly considered cleaning his hands of the blood that stained them, but quickly decided that it could wait, as his first priority was to ensure that Clarke really was going to be okay, and to figuring out what all had led up to this unfortunate incident.

Following after Jess and the receptionist, he listened intently to what the woman had to say. His dark brows furrowed in concern at the news of a deceased brother, and felt some relief that his own two siblings were a continent away and out of a city as hostile as this one. Nadeem nodded to this information, holding his response as they entered Clarke's room, where the man had thankfully been sedated into a state of semi-calmness and compliance. He, too, looked away when the stitching process began, and took that opportunity to continue with Jess, "Ryan Sohmers. He's been with the department for... gosh, as long as I've known him. But he's a good man." Nadeem glanced briefly in Clarke's direction, just long enough to assure himself that he was doing okay. "Very dedicated to his work, and very fair. Fair enough that I've gotten a ticket from him once, and I'm his friend."