7/2 Instance: What Matters

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
Nightscrawlearth Character: :icey :phoenix

7/2 Instance: What Matters

Post by Slarti »

Timelined after Lights Out

<Shaw> Sebastian slipped his phone back in his pocket and picked his coffee back up. "I texted Jessica, but she's likely asleep again, so long as Miriam allowed it." They'd sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, but was in reality probably only about an hour.

<Shaw> Still, the separation from Hope and the passage of time had worn on his son.

<Shinobi> "Yeah," he answered, in truth unsure what Sebastian had actually said. He held a cup of coffee as well, untouched. Hope was still unconscious. She'd never so much as twitched during the ride to the hospital, and her absence in his head was terrifying.

<Paige> A somewhat less bouncy than usual Dr. Guthrie rounded the corner, smiling when she saw Sebastian. She headed directly for him, stealing a hug when she got close enough.

<Shaw> Sebastian rose when he saw her, setting his coffee aside again to return the hug. "I'm sorry to drag you out so late, love."

<Paige> She shook her head. "Don't be. I'm glad you did. I don't know if I should be amused or honored that she has me as her primary doctor, but here I am!" She laughed a little.

<Shinobi> Obi had stood up too, but was treated only to the strange hug. "How's Hope?" he cut in.

<Paige> Paige glanced over to Shinobi, smiling warmly at him. "You must be Shinobi. I've heard a great deal about you. Please... have a seat." She took a seat so they could talk.

<Shaw> "Yes, it's a shame this formal meeting isn't under better circumstances, but he prefers to be called Michael." Sebastian smoothly sat. "Michael, this is Dr. Paige Guthrie, Drake's fiancee."

<Shinobi> Telling them to sit was never good. He flinched a little at the name, opening his mouth to correct her as he sat.

<Paige> "Ohhh I'm so sorry! Bobby hadn't told me that." She brushed her blonde hair back from her face. "Hope took a drug that is used mostly in field hospitals. It's a Ketamine blend. They use it because they don't have to give another dose for several hours, providing time for them to operate in limited conditions. That's why she is unresponsive."

<Shinobi> "Why?" His voice rose in alarm.

<Paige> "A side effect of the state is that it is a dreamless sleep. Has she had trouble sleeping?"

<Shaw> "Jessica said she thought she'd used it before," he said carefully, then sighed and took a drink of his coffee. "Is there a counteractive drug?"

<Shinobi> "She never slept a lot... not since I met her." He glanced at Sebastian. "But it's been worse... since we got back. She doesn't sleep, or eat..."

<Paige> "It's possible then, that she felt desperate enough to use this. You said she's used it before... so we can infer that she's done her research. She knew which drug to use." Paige paused for a moment, thoughtful. "We can wake her up, or we can let the drug wear off. I recommend allowing her the rest she clearly is so desperate for."

<Shaw> "Yes... I've noticed a definite deterioration of her appearance and... personal hygiene," he said, lip curling slightly.

<Shinobi> "No... I don't think so." He frowned. "I never found her like this... just... the tub," he winced at the fresh memory. "But she's... sort of secretive." Licking his lips, he looked from one to the other. "I hate to say this, but I want her to get better. She hides from me... doesn't take showers or change clothes while I'm home." He frowned, looking down. "And she doesn't wear her own clothes anymore."

<Shaw> "Is it addictive? Is this something she could have been using since your return?" He assessed Shinobi at that.

<Paige> "It is addictive, yes, as any drug can be. When she wakes up she'll be able to tell us more..." she trailed off, taking in their words. "I'll talk to her. Maybe I can get her to open up about... what happened," she said delicately. She had ideas now, and not very good ones.

<Shaw> Sebastian stared at Shinobi for a long moment, then swore under his breath.

<Shinobi> He picked at the knee of the soft pants he'd been trying to sleep in. "She won't tell me what they did to her there," he said quietly. "But I heard her screaming, and I saw the bruises... and I can guess."

<Paige> "We can only guess until we can find someone she's comfortable talking to. Maybe... I can maybe play the doctor card on her. She might talk about it if I can convince her there's a medical reason, which there is." Paige took Sebastian's hand and gave it a squeeze. "You two should get some rest. It's going to be a long night."

<Shinobi> He was lost in his own dark thoughts, not noticing their exchange. "May I see her?"

<Shaw> "I have coffee to keep me occupied," he said, returning the squeeze and lifting his cup. "Thank you, love."

<Paige> She smiled at Sebastian, then nodded to Shinobi. "If you would like. I can show you to her room."

<Shinobi> "Thank you," he said stiffly, and stood up, starting into the hall. Without their link, he couldn't even sense where she was.

<Paige> Paige couldn't help but smile. She quickly got up to show "Michael" where to go. Poor kid.

<Shinobi> Eventually, he too fell asleep, still holding her hand and with his head resting against her hip.

<Shinobi> Once in her room, Obi lost track of time as he watched her sleep. It was different from regular sleep though, most definitely. He smoothed back her hair and talked to her, making apologies and promises as he held her limp hand.

<Hope> The heartrate monitor began to beep more frequently, but only slightly as Hope grumbled and opened her eyes, which only led to more grumbling. Something was on her.

<Shinobi> He was too exhausted to awake from the slight movement on the bed and buried his face in the blanket. Why did his back hurt?

<Hope> The weight on her began to register, causing a slight panic. The monitor picked up with her increased heartrate, beeping quickly. She pulled a hand to cover her face, realizing there was a wire there and a.. tube? Frantic, Hope tried to sit up and pulled at the wires.

<Shinobi> "Hmm?" He didn't wake up until she jerked up. "Hope! It's okay! You're okay!" Their link was back and her panic was bleeding over to him while he tried to stop her from hurting herself.

<Hope> She stilled when she realized it was Shinobi with her, but that quickly led to confusion. Hope lay back down and stared at him. "Where am I?"

<Shinobi> "The hospital." He touched her cheek and reached for her hand again. "I found you on the bathroom floor... and I found the vial..." There were a thousand questions he wanted to ask, but for now she needed help.

<Hope> She took the hand not in his and smashed it against her face. Damnit to hell. "So you brought me to the hospital." Total overreaction, but she guessed she couldn't blame him.

<Shinobi> "I couldn't wake you up, I couldn't feel you... at first I couldn't even find your pulse." He closed his eyes, trying to keep himself in check. "I thought you were gone," he finally choked out.

<Hope> Why did men not listen? She pulled on him, trying to make room in the bed through her grogginess. "I told you I wouldn't leave you."

<Shinobi> Despite the evidence to the contrary. He just nodded and climbed onto the bed beside her, urging her into his arms. Please don't do that again.

<Hope> She didn't need much urging, nestling into him. I just wanted to sleep... so we could work through things.

<Shinobi> The doctor said it's addictive... have you used it before? He kissed her forehead and nuzzled her hair, breathing in the peppermint scent of her shampoo.

<Hope> Yeah... but not in years, she assured him, stroking his face gently. I just didn't know what else to do. You suddenly weren't talking to me, but you'd talk to Jess. I needed sleep to be able to deal with all that.

<Shinobi> I didn't talk to anyone, actually, he admitted.

<Hope> You snuggled on up to Jess just fine when I was on the roof. When I got back you got really distant. So I asked you about it, and you ignored me. It was the same damn thing.

<Shinobi> When did I ignore you? He knew why he was hugging Jess, of course, but he didn't want to talk about it.

<Hope> "When I asked you what was wrong!" Hope finally spoke, beyond agitated with him. "When you were shrugging me off and pulling away from me."

<Shinobi> He closed his eyes for a long moment. "What was wrong was that I had you and Sebastian talking to me at once and I didn't know what to say."

<Hope> "Oh yeah that was clearly what was wrong since he wasn't talking to you yet." She needed coffee. She needed coffee and scotch. She pulled away from him, working to pull her wires and tubes out again.

<Shinobi> "Hope, stop!" He caught her hand. "He was asking me about coming to work with him like he was fucking father of the year again!"

<Hope> "Yeah, if you haven't noticed, he's still treating you like family!" She struggled against him.

<Shinobi> "Unless he just wants to get me alone to tell me to fuck off!" He was stronger and pinned her hands above her head.

<Hope> "Nobody is going to tell you to fuck off!" She stopped fighting though, sighing. "Obi... we actually love you and care about you. You aren't going to sabotage that. If I haven't managed to get a fuck off, you sure as hell won't."

<Shinobi> "How can you be sure?" His tone was hushed and he met her eyes.

<Hope> Hope shifted to press her forehead against his, swallowing hard. "Because you're his blood. I'm... not. All I do is cause more problems." The fact that the family would probably be happier without her there totally crossed her mind.

<Shinobi> "But I'm not his son, not like you're his daughter. He chose you."

<Hope> "Didn't he present you as his son at the club? He chose you too."

<Shinobi> Obi swallowed, looking away. "It doesn't matter."

<Hope> "Bullshit."

<Shinobi> His attention returned to her instantly, eyes wide. Slowly, he let go of her hands and sat up.

<Hope> Finally free, Hope sat up too, rubbing her wrist a bit. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes, half wondering if she'd pushed him too far.

<Shinobi> "I just don't... why would he want me around." He shook his head. "But it doesn't matter. This isn't about me. You need help, Hope."

<Hope> "I don't need help, I needed sleep. I got that. This is about you, you know. We went back home because you wanted to. Then you got weird there." She eyed the IV rack. She figured she could probably be up and out of bed and take that thing with her fairly easily if she had to.

<Shinobi> "So you shooting up is my fault?" he snapped and looked up finally, voice rising.

<Hope> Yes. She rolled her eyes at him. "It's hardly shooting up. It's not like I went out and bought heroin."

<Shinobi> "That's not the point! Heroin would be worse, yeah, but that shit could still kill you!"

<Hope> "How big of an idiot do you think I am?!"

<Shinobi> "I don't know! Why don't you tell me? I mean, you won't really tell me anything, so I'm kind of left to wonder if you are an idiot!"

<Hope> That did it. She yanked out the wires to the heart monitor as she slid out of bed, pulling the IV as she headed for the door. Fuck this!

<Shinobi> "Hope! Fuck!" Angry at her and himself, he went after her.

<Hope> "Fuck off!" she shouted at him, but paused in her steps as the alarm started going off announcing a "CODE BLUE, CODE BLUE." The team came through the door, Dr. Guthrie on their heels. Hope blinked just once. "I'm not dead!"

<Paige> Immediately seeing her patient was alive, Paige quickly shooed the team, but stayed in the doorway, smiling sweetly and holding out a hot cup of coffee to Hope.

<Shinobi> Mouth open to protest and already nearly to her back, he had to skid to a halt to keep from colliding with Hope. Guthrie. Drained, he backed up.

<Hope> Hope eyed her doctor, then smiled, taking the cup. "This is why you're my favorite."

<Paige> Paige smiled warmly at her, giggling a little. "You say that now. Back to bed, missy." She shooed the redhead, giving Michael a smile as she moved to hook her patient back up to the monitors. "And good morning, Michael. How are we this morning?"

<Shinobi> "Fine," he ground out, and looked at Hope. She was listening to Guthrie at least and he was torn between being ashamed of his outburst to angry.

<Hope> Coffee in hand, Hope complied to Paige's poking and prodding as Paige updating Hope's chart. "When can I go home?"

<Paige> Dr. Guthrie cast a wary glance between the two. "I need to talk to you about things before I will release you, seeing as how you used a controlled substance."

<Shinobi> His eyebrow twitched in an obvious statement of "I told you so," but he remained quiet.

<Hope> Hope glared at nobody in particular. Great. Juuuust great.

<Paige> "Michael darling, why don't you give us a chance for some girl talk? There is a wonderful cafeteria with food that is actually edible. You might find something for breakfast there." She smiled warmly at Shinobi, hoping he'd go.

<Shinobi> "Sure." Taking the hint, he looked between the two of them once more and then went to the door.

<Paige> The blonde fluffed her hair a bit, pulling up a seat beside Hope. She made sure Michael was gone before taking the redhead's hand and talking softly to her, reassuring her that she'd only tell her family what Hope wanted them to know. Reassuring the girl that telling would help her medically.

<Paige> And finally, Paige squeezed Hope's hand tightly. "It's time, Hope sweetie. It's time."
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