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 Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:47 pm
Tepin was dizzy.
This was probably on account of her darting all over the house. First, she tried to find the painkillers. After dragging the entire contents of the medicine cabinet down to Varu, she ran around for a few seconds before remembering that the glasses and water were both conveniently located in the kitchen.
She then procured water and pills for him.
Then, however, she realized that painkillers probably wouldn’t do any good.
She bolted into the library, tearing books from the walls to try to find one particular one.
“VARU!” She hoped she wasn’t hurting his head by screaming, “Where’s the phone book!?”
She had to call a doctor. A good one. One who wouldn’t question the giant mirror sticking out of the man’s chest. Or-- Or maybe, maybe she could call the referee! She could help out in situations like this, right?
Right?!
But first, she needed the phone book.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:56 pm
He was back on the couch again. It seemed like every time he returned from Tezcatlipoca's jungle, he spent an equal amount of time lying in pain on this godforsaken thing.
He hadn't made the smartest decision, he supposed. He settled for spending the night in the jungle, and when he woke up - it hurt to breathe, and he couldn't even inhale that well. Even getting up and walking to the couch had been hell.
V'hy me? He wondered morosely. Always me. Broken legs, broken ribs, broken lungs. The fun never ends.
He watched as Tepin ran around and around and around. He tried to speak up, but then she was out of the room - she came back in, and he opened his mouth, and she was gone in a flash!
No need to panic. He didn't think he was dying. Just in severe discomfort on the inside.
"Phone book?" he wondered quietly, thought, tried to remember. He'd never used it before, but he knew his parents had--
"Try in the drawer beneath the phone," he suggested, and for a minute it felt like his voice had to push through a gallon of water. A gallon of painful, acidic water while painful, ever-tightening iron bands crunched his torso together.
Though he knew calling a doctor would do no good.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 1:03 pm
She bolted into the kitchen once more, tearing the drawer from its home and digging through the contents furiously. Sure enough, there was one, but it was old. At least two years. She frowned deeply at it. Would the numbers still be right? Even after two years?
Well, was it logical for a doctor to change their number ever two years?
Quickly as she had left, she returned to the living room, sliding on the carpet and landing on her butt just short of hitting the coffee table.
She looked up at him with a glare, he hadn’t seen that. He would make no comments on it. At least, if he knew what was good for him.
But that quickly forgotten, she slammed the phonebook onto the table, cracking it open in the middle and flipping furiously through the pages to find the “D” section. Occasionally, her eyes would dart back up to the boy to make sure that he was still alive, before jumping back to the page to scan.
“Doctor…. doctor… doctor…” She mumbled to herself, going down the list, “Oh, sure, DENTIST. That will help! Doctor… doctor…”
Abruptly, the child stopped, before turning her head back up to the boy.
Could they afford to go to the doctor? Would they even see him if he couldn’t pay?
“Do you have insurance?”
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 2:26 pm
He didn't grin when she fell. He didn't - he didn't laugh, either. Maybe a small, pained snort, and maybe he coughed into the back of his hand.
But he didn't laugh, at least.
He watched as she flipped through the phone book, amusement dying off bit by bit, until he reached out to close the phone book, pushing it away to instead draw her closer. He ruffled her hair, and shook his head.
"No. And even if I did, I can't go," he told her as gently as he could. "They v'ould know at first glance that I am not a gene-modder. They v'ould tell someone."
Someone. They both knew who 'someone' was - the Blacksuits. If he walked into a hospital, that would be the last anyone would ever see of him.
He didn't want to end up like those others.
But he also didn't want to worry her any further.
"Maybe," he suggested more helpfully, thoughtfully pulling on her long hair, "maybe the twins v'ould know someone. Murphy talks to everybody. It's a bit more dangerous, but maybe someone on the streets could do something."
Someone they could pay to keep quiet.
He grinned, and pulled her closer to carefully kiss her forehead.
"It is okay. I am not going anyv'here anytime soon." It was painful, yes, but he wasn't going to die from this. They didn't have to hurry, or rush, or act rashly - he could deal until they found someone who could fix him up right.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 3:03 pm
She felt her body press against the bottom of the couch as she was dislodged from her spot at the table. Tepin wriggled as he ruffled her hair, trying to dodge out of it, before begrudgingly accepting with a frown.
“But--” She paused to let him kiss her, “They’ll take your liver or something! You can’t trust them!”
Stupid Varu! Now was not the time for his stupid acts of sibling affection! Now was the time to call nine-one-one and get his stupid butt on a stretcher. Did he not realize how badly injured he was, or did he just get some kind of brain trauma from the fight?
She turned around, hands gripping the edge of the couch cushions as she looked up at him. He really did look like hell, but she couldn’t trust just anyone. How could they be sure that someone on the streets wouldn’t rat them out, either?
“I don’t like this. You gotta go to a real doctor.”
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 3:12 pm
He frowned, though the suffocating feeling in his chest agreed wholeheartedly with the girl - this was something that was not going to go away on its own. He sighed, and had to ignore the flecks of blood upon his lips at the motion; the cuts he'd sewn up and bandaged, the bruises he'd put on ice - but he did need a doctor.
Stupid insane Aztec gods. Bunch of rule-breakers - attacking mortals with kicks that could bend steel.
"I know, I know," he admitted, winding his arms around her shoulders. For now, she was his new pillow - maybe, magically, all her care and worry could soak into him and fix him up. "But there is no other choice. And livers grow back," he threw in jokingly. "And you really only need one kidney. It's a small price to pay."
Damn, but he was tired. Trying to talk while trying to breathe? It took a lot of out a man. More than he'd expected.
Mm. Pillow.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:16 pm
Her hand darted out, slapping him softly upside the head.
Hadn’t he learned from yesterday about joking during serious situations? Idiot. It wasn’t funny! That he could even joke when he was so torn up…!! Ugh! He was driving her nuts!!
“Anyway!” She raised quickly, breaking out of his grasp, “I’m gunna go get the twins. They’ve gotta be able to help somehow.”
At the very least, they could help to calm her down. She seemed to be the only one who was this mess as a big deal.
“Are you gunna be okay if I’m out for like twenty minutes?”
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:22 pm
"Yeah, I v'ill," he assured her, leaning back into the couch and carefully folding his arms over his stomach. "Be careful." He frowned.
"Look both v'ays before you cross the street, and don't talk to strangers!"
Valeriu could be too much of a mom sometimes. He rubbed a foot against the material of the couch, before giving up on that much action and flopping tiredly.
"Come back soon."
He wanted his pillow to return. It was pretty clear by the puppy dog eyes he was turning her way.
He could always blame it on the painkillers.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:33 pm
“I know, I know, geez.” She gave her hair a shake before yanking on her shoes. “I’ve got your cell, in case anything happens, just call.”
It was hard to keep the pity from showing as she hazarded one last glance. As weird as he was being-- No! Because of how weird he was being, Tepin was really starting to be worried for him. He must have really hit his head hard; little by little he seemed more willing to touch her, and interact with her as they did when she was younger.
It had to be brain damage.
“Anyway! Heading out. Don’t try to move.” It felt almost weird returning orders to the boy, but sickies had to obey.
The door shut behind her, and Tepin quickly burst into a trot from there. The twin’s house wasn’t horribly far away-- But dealing with them would be another story altogether.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:38 pm
Ugh. But the cellphone - it was so far away. All the way down in his pocket. Too far, too far. He waved half-heartedly as she left, then sighed, staring up at the ceiling.
He was getting sick of this couch. It was time to buy a new, less lumpy one. And maybe paint the ceiling to be more interesting. He cracked a yawn, though it was cut off and wheezing, and not so much of a yawn besides a sharp intake of breath and a groan of pain.
Tired. So damn tired. Mixcoatl couldn't have bled him more dry if he'd slit Valeriu's throat and hung the boy upside-down. He blinked at the ceiling, once, twice--
And then he was out.
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