As he left the apartment, he took in the strange cavern and buildings the people made. It was an underground city and their home. He paused and stared blankly for a moment. Home. This wasn't home. He stood there for a long time as he tried to think about his really one. His thoughts drifted and he shook his head then walked off again towards his destination. He eventually found the hospital and saw some people were struggling to help, but wanting to. They were short staffed.
"Hello, how can I help you?" A nurse asked as she walked over and smiled a little. She looked tired and the dark circles helped prove that. The stress of the situation taking a toll on everyone.
Ratchet smiled faintly. "I'm a Doctor, I came to see if you need help." He said gently as he looked around before glancing at her finally. She sighed in relief and nodded as she buried her face in her hands.
"Thank you..." she whispered quietly and looked up at him, relief evident in her eyes. She quickly showed him what to do and how to help them. The old man nodded, taking a clipboard with patients names on it. He listened intently as he followed her around. He grabbed a coat as they passed by a rack and put it on.
"What is your name?" The man asked as he adjusted the coat and made sure it was to his liking. He had handed her the clipboard as he put the coat on.
"Me? Oh I'm Robin." She whispered quietly and looked at him then back down at the list, staring at the names as she thought. Ratchet nodded and looked at her.
"Nice to meet you Robin." He muttered and looked at her, slowly frowning. She handed him the clipboard back and looked at him. "Are you alright?" He asked as he tucked the clipboard by his side.
"I'm just worried...." she whispered quietly. "That things won't work out... that we won't actually be able to go home..." she whispered. "Yet... this is home... we don't have anything on the surface... not anymore..." she rasped.
Ratchet stopped walking and frowned. "Everything will work out with time, Robin. More people come here all the time I assume?"
"I think so...." she whispered quietly and looked down. "I... I'm... I mean... yes...." she said and rubbed her face.
Ratchet hesitated then set a hand on her shoulder. "Then it means this is building. More people will be here to look after each other." He reassured. "Its going to be alright, Robin."
She nodded slowly and looked down at the floor. "I... hope so..." she whispered quietly. "I... never mind... let's just work on this..." she muttered. Ratchet nodded faintly and handed the clipboard to her.
"Here, you should hold onto this." He murmured, twirling the ring on his left hand as he walked down the hall again. She watched him go, feeling a little lost and sighed forcefully. She looked at it then went off to go do something. She fiddled with a necklace she had on, Ratchet had noticed it before but only briefly. Ratchet thought about the nurse quietly, a bit worried for her. He sighed heavily and glanced at his wedding band.
"Oh June.." he murmured to himself before going to one of the staffed rooms. He went and saw a few doctors and nurses, going to them quietly. "Do any of you know a man by the name of Optimus?" He asked. They looked at him then around before looking at the clipboards in their hands. They shook their heads a bit as they looked down.
"Sorry sir.... we've lost a lot of people... but we'll keep looking for you..." one man whispered quietly and looked at him. Ratchet nodded, frowning a bit with concern. He began walking over and to the man.
"May I make a copy of this list of patients and workers? I'm Doctor Darby." He greeted.
"Yes of course... Darby?" The doctor said as he looked at him and his eyes widened in surprise. "Doctor Darby..." he whispered and glanced to the others.
Ratchet stiffened, unsure if he could trust this man. "Ah, Henry. Henry Darby." He spoke quickly, not wanting anything to spread around about him.
"No you don't understand sir...." he whispered quietly and looked at him then pulled out the clipboard, sensing the man's nervousness. "There's another Darby here." he said quickly.
Ratchets eyes widened, quickly taking the clipboard from him. "Where? Patient? Nurse?" He asked rapidly with growing excitement but also nervousness. More of his family was here.
"Easy sir." He said as he looked at him and blinked in surprise. "We've been finding more people everyday. A small team of three people come with wounded or people we didn't think were even alive. We don't even know who they are.... never gave us names... they just come and go." He explained.
Ratchet frowned as he looked back to the man. "Please, tell me where they bring them." He said seriously. "I need to know if they are my family."
"They bring them to the hospital and we care for them until they are healed." He said seriously and motioned for him to follow. "Darby was all we found on the dog tags..." he sighed and led him into the room. Ratchets face filled with a moment of confusion. Dog tags? In the hospital bed was Jackson Darby. He followed the man and his eyes widened seeing the young man. He was on life support and had a bunch of bandages.
"We're doing what we can for him... we don't know how he survived and his condition is critical. We didn't even know he had any family." the other doctor whispered.
"What happened to him?" Ratchet asked worriedly as he went to Jack's side, taking him in. He gently set his hand on his black hair, frowning. "Skye... she said he was stepped on. Is that true?''
"Yes... he was... but we honestly don't know how he survived. He was with another man but we couldn't find him..." he whispered quietly. Ratchet blinked, confused but nodded.
"Thank you." He murmured as he turned his gaze to Jack. He sighed in relief, he was alive. He frowned again looking back to the doctor. "What do you know about Robin?"
"Robin?" He asked and furrowed his brow. "She has a story similar to everyone else around here. Her parents were captured and killed... her older brother saved her at a cost and brought her down here with her younger brother. We've all lost someone in the war... if you could even call it that. It's more of an extermination." He muttered bitterly.
Ratchet nodded in understanding. "Who is her younger brother?" He asked gently, putting his hands into the coats pockets and slowly walking out of the room. His son needed to rest and he needed to help these people, even if it was by just being a doctor.
"His name is Elliott." He said as he followed him. "He's almost six years old and is extremely scared and traumatized. He stays with his older brother or sister most of the time." He explained.
Ratchet listened quietly, nodding a little. "Is there anyone here that could help him? Was anyone a psychiatrist?" He asked worriedly. "These people need help mentally. We can't have people go off the deep end. We need hope." He frowned, thinking of his old friend.
"I understand that and so does everyone else... but we haven't found anyone to help us with that... well we have a mental institute... and we have two people who are qualified to help but it's not enough and a lot of these people won't speak up." He said seriously.
Ratchet nodded in understanding. He began walking to the front of the hospital and looked out the windows to the people. "One man can make a difference, doctor. Surely two can be better odds." He muttered.
"There are two to speak to the ill minded." He said and sighed forcefully. "I know what you mean... I apologize." He mumbled and rubbed his face, trying not to stress.
Ratchet shook his head. "Its fine. I wouldn't believe it either." He grunted and began going to the receptions desk, looking over the list. He grabbed it and began making a copy of it. "So what is your name, doctor?"
"My name? Oh yes sorry. I'm Jay." He said as he smiled slightly and looked at him.
Ratchet nodded as he grabbed an empty clipboard and put the copy onto it. "Nice to meet you Jay." He said gently and sighed softly. "Is there any way I could start work today? Or tomorrow?"
"Well... you've talked about a few different things... what are you wanting to do?" He asked trying and failing to focus on what he was doing.
Ratchet looked down, thinking. "Anything you need." He said gently, he subconsciously fiddled with his ring again as he thought about his wife again.
"If you can sir... we need help here in the hospital and also with the mental state of some of our people..." he whispered.
Ratchet frowned a bit, not sure if he could help with the mental state but nodded. "Of course. Anyway I can help."
"Thank you... I only want you to do it if you're comfortable.... well actually that is a lot to do... we're more desperate for doctors." He said seriously. "Could you just help with that?" He asked quietly, slightly hopeful.
Ratchet hesitated. "I took an oath. I'm going to help in anyway I can." He muttered knowing these people needed a lot of help. The staff around them looked exhausted and as though they were ready to fall over.
"Thank you... if you can start today... here is a list of people that need checked up on." He whispered and gave him the list. Ratchet took it and looked it over.
"Of course." He murmured. "I'll start now." He said and began leaving then paused, wanting to say something but didn't, continuing down the hall. The man watched him then sighed forcefully as he walked off. Worried about what to do. He was afraid of losing anyone else. Ratchet saw that the man had put Jack on his list, knowing they were family.