True Purification: A Danvid Fic

Hospital

Daniel didn't really understand how quiet a space could be. Now, lying in his hospital bed, it seemed the walls were soundproof. Perhaps they put him on meds? Or maybe he just couldn't hear that well at the moment. Nevertheless, he couldn't hear a thing. Which meant he couldn't hear the doctor walk into his room and try to catch his attention. It only occurred to him once the woman waved her hand in front of him, speaking to Daniel.

"Hellloo?" A female voice inquired.
    Daniel shook out of thought, looking at this lady in confusion. Once their eyes met, she perked up. Well, he must have just been severely zoned out.

"Howdy! you're Daniel, right?" Her voice sounded vaguely nasally.

"Uh, yeah, why?"
Daniel looked at her name tag. Sam White.
Pff, what a generic last name, Daniel internally scoffed.
She had curly auburn hair, some curls wrapping around her aqua blue glasses. She had black scrubs on under an oversized lab coat. She didn't look a day older than her picture. Daniel looked back at her face. In fact, she looked exactly the same.

"Say, you look, uh, a little young to be a doctor," Daniel inquired.
She beamed at him.

"Yeah, I actually officially became an actual doctor today!" noticing Daniels concern, she quickly added, "Don't worry, I was top out of all my classmates. Don't stress about it!"   

Despite her suggestion, he decided to continue worrying in silence. She shuffled some papers around, finding a certain clipboard.  She scanned over the paper with her eyes, raising her eyebrows with excitement at some point. She looked over with a growing grin, holding her clipboards at her side.

"Well, Daniel, I've got some good news for you! Apparently, you're gonna be getting out of here tomorrow! Isn't that wonderful?"

He definitely did not feel that way. He assured himself he'd feel better tomorrow, trying to shake off the metaphorical chips that had collected on his shoulder. After being in the hospital for a few weeks, you tend to get a bit cranky. He smiled; whether it was genuine or not was a mystery.
"That sounds excellent!"

"Yep! Oh, a quick question before I leave you alone; are you calling someone to pick you up, or can we rely on a taxi for you?" Before Daniel could answer, she leaned in and whispered loudly, "the taxis are super expensive."

Daniel thought for a moment. He didn't really want to waste any money, more so on a silly cab. Then again, he didn't really know anyone who would pick him up. Well, there was maybe one person. Daniel tried to think of alternatives, but his mind kept coming back to him. Sigh. David.
"Say, do the 'picker-uppers' have to be related to me?"

Dr. White shook her head. "As long as they know they're picking you up and can sign you out, you're good to go!"

Daniel contemplated his options. Was it really worth it to get the cab? He'd be able to avoid David, but the price.. Maybe riding with David wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he wouldn't bring up the whole... incident. Daniel reminded himself that he did, in fact, insult David in broad daylight. And he did try and kill a group of kids in front of David, the child enthusiast.
Screw it, thought Daniel.
"Do you think I could get those papers now?" Daniel commented with a sheepish grin.
"Why, of course! I'll be right back, in that case!" She left the room, leaving Daniel behind to dwell in the silence. Well, no- it wasn't completely silent- shaken out of his trance, he now noticed the beeps of machines. Barely audible, yet still there, the beeps monitored his heart rate. It seemed calm. To say the least, this definitely didn't look accurate for what he felt at the moment.
Miss White returned shortly after, dropping off a new clipboard, including different papers, and a green pen. Dr. White quickly went over what to sign before leaving once again. Daniel sighed as he wrote David's contact info down.
He might have wanted to check in with David first.

     A day had passed, just as sterile and unexciting as the previous ones. Daniel had been given his old clothes to change into. He could see clear stains of grape kool-aid on it, and by it he meant his (formerly) nicest white shirt. He grunted, pulling it over his head and straightening out the fabric.
    He found his pants and shoes, and put them on. He kept searching around, missing his belt.
    "Hey, I'm missing my belt!" Daniel shouted as-a-matter-of-a-fact-ly out his door to a Latino nurse with curly black hair and pink scrubs. She looked over, searching a bin full of clothes. She pushed through the mound of linen, shrugging after a minute or so.
    Daniel sighed. I guess I don't need a belt. I'm just heading home, anyway. He grabbed his other things (which added up to almost nothing,) and headed down the echoey stairwell into the lobby. He ignored slight cramps from his stomach. He signed some forms handed to him, then waited. He leaned against the wall, waiting for David to pop through the door.
     So, he unconsciously thought. You think anyone is gonna notice the front-page-of-the-newspaper child murderer? Daniel looked around. Shit. Forgot about that. He skeptically checked every inhabitant of the room, seeking any hateful glares. Everyone was too sucked up in gushing about their own injuries or illnesses to other patients. Daniel sighed quietly. But, his conscious added with a menacing tone, you did sign many papers with your name. He slouched a little, as if to draw attention away from the mental conversation he was having with himself. They know what I look like, they don't know my name, he reassured himself. Doesn't mean they won't recognize you on the spot.
   Interrupting Daniel's game of devil's advocate, the doors opened to show a familiar man with auburn hair looking around. He spotted Daniel and strode over to him. Behind him was.. oh no.
"Howdy Daniel!"  beamed David, happy to see Daniel in a better state than... before.
"Gosh, hiya David!" Daniel forced a smile. "Say, are my eyes playing tricks on me, or did you bring a camper along?" Before David could continue, Max interrupted, stepping out from behind David's treelike shadow.
     "Hey cult man, how'd that kool-aid taste?" Max grinned deviously. David quickly grabbed Max again, holding him in one arm similar to a baby to quiet him.
     "I'm sorry about that, Daniel. Max was... misbehaving... so I brought him along. I hope you don't mind!" David smirked over Max's bickering.
    "Oh, don't worry about it, David! After all, we all make silly, silly mistakes, don't we?" Daniel shot Max a glare, still smiling, although not nearly as sincerely. Of course David had to bring Max, the kid who destroyed his whole plan of sacrificing the campers. Not only did he destroy Daniel's plan, but he also got him in the hospital.
Max glared back, attempting to replicate the hatred in the stare. There was a second of silence, composed of just the two glaring at each other. David cleared his throat innocently. They snapped out of it, Daniel's eye twitching as he looked at David with a smile.
"Anyway," David started with an awkward laugh, "are you ready to go?"
Daniel shut his eyes for a brief moment. Was he ready to go home to an empty apartment? Was he ready to get let off his cults pay for failing to sacrifice a single small camp? Was he ready to never eat ice cream again? Of course not.

"Of course."