"Oh." Terrence looks confused but goes with it.

"...also I have no idea what you expect me to do about Jing Yi being in a coma?"

Sal has gone off to find Jing Yi and to discover presumably the same things as Terrence and Oscar did.

"I, uh, I don't know either. But I figure it's probably magic?"

"Or maybe you knew someone who'd know," Oscar suggests lamely.

"Either way if he's not recovered soon we might have to take him to hospital, I'm not sure we can take him on the train in this state."

"I don't. And I don't know anything about comas or how magic would cause them or help with them. Sorry."

"Oh. Okay." Terrence swallows. ... Does he know anything about coma magic.

He's heard about spells that can make people unconscious. Are they REAL spells? who knows.

Oscar remembers a bunch of random passages from occult books he unwittingly read, from the ominous to the experimental to the obscure. None of them mention comas; they just popped into his head and are kind of annoying.

"I think he may be cursed. I, I mean, sleeping curses, it's a thing you hear about. I don't know what anyone says about how to stop them or if any of that means anything in the first place, so... oh dear. A hospital may be our best bet for his - his upkeep in the mean time."

"I mean. I could stay here until the last train comes, I suppose, but it might be more effective to, I don't know, be in London - sorry, I'm all over the place, this has rather thrown me. Um. I suppose that's the plan. I'll write him a note in case we're out of the room when he comes to, I suppose."

He grabs his notebook and writes a quick note.

"I think we can wait until we're leaving and work out what to do if he hasn't woken up by then then, probably. In the meantime I still want to ask about whistling sounds. ...and I'd like to talk to Donovan again but I might have ruined my chances there."

"Oh? What happened?"

Terrence bustles around in the semblance of doing anything of useful, filling and leaving a glass of water on top of the note at Jing Yi's bedside table. The note says something like: "Jing Yi! You were asleep as fuck. Hope you are alright. We are about town and will be back before we leave. - T"

Oscar gives Inaaya an intense look.

"...Terrence, I have to tell you."

Satisfied as he's going to get with his work, Terrence looks up with big eyes.

"Tell me what?"

(Yeah sorry Oscar for being weird and opaque but also she zero percent wants to talk about it.)

"Roby was murdered. ...I'm really sorry."

Terrence's face falls.

"...What? ... Today, last night? ...Surely not."

"Was it in the paper? I haven't read the paper - did - what - oh no."

"When I came to your room-- I thought you knew?-- but then Jing Yi. I'm sorry, it's horrible."

"Last night. They think it was Valentine."

She's not bothering to put the interpersonal barriers back up and refer to her by last name, right now.

"I guess we know what he meant when he said he'd be free soon."

He leans against the wall, putting his hands over his mouth, having a little crisis.

"And he said - he said he would be - free - goodness - do you think it was, uh - " he somberly makes little wing-flapping motions with his hands. "I guess we don't know. He probably didn't have a whistle with him, that would be absurd. Oh, my god, the last thing I said to him was all but ignoring him - "

"I'm sorry," Oscar says. It's kind of lame but he has no idea what else to do.

(He honestly wants to give Terrence a hug but given yesterday he thinks Terrence might take it the wrong way and that sets off a bunch of irrelevant self-pitying thoughts.)

"I suppose we won't be consulting on his case any further."

This morning was a bit of a last-ditch effort, in that light. Now it's up to Dr. Aarons to keep himself and his patients alive and unhaunted.

"I got distracted by - personal intrigue -" he waves a hand dismissively "- and some book recommendations, but, well - oh my god."

"I - I suppose not."

"You couldn't have known," Oscar says.