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 Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:33 am
Briefly AwakeWhen Chris finally came to he was in a sterile white room. It was comforting in it's blandness, because he immediately recognized it as the infirmary on the island. He closed his eyes as soon as he saw where he was, because everything was too bright and hurt like a b***h.
His head ached, and when he tried to lift his arm to rub his temples it snagged on some tubs that tugged at his skin. An IV, then. He tried the other arm and found that he couldn't even stretch it out. He suddenly remembered the crack of his bones as he hit the cave wall and a wave of nausea washed over him. They must have put him in a cast.
A door squeaked open and Chris finally opened his eyes again to watch the life tech that walked in with a clipboard. She didn't seem to notice him for a second, but when she looked up she startled. "Oh, you're awake!"
She fussed over him, talking a mile a minute. It was hard to focus, but he was pretty sure he caught all the important parts. He was on an IV because he'd starved for so long. He'd lost a lot of weight, she told him, mostly muscle mass. His body had begun to shut down, reserving fat to keep him alive. They'd kept him sedated for a few hours - it was apparently easier, since his arm had needed to be rebroken to set it properly. His cuts had been cleaned and wrapped, but they hadn't been able to stitch his face since his weapon had already been midway through healing it.
"It's going to scar pretty badly. But it wasn't close enough to your eye to do any damage!"
Chris took it all in silently, mouth pressed in a thin line. It was like a check list of all the ways he'd ******** up. Rather than dwell on it, he asked the only question he actually gave a s**t about.
"Chel?"
"What? Oh! Craft? She's here. Been here since the team got back. You can see her once someone clears you."
He nodded, but he was already so tired again. He fell asleep before she'd left the room.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:07 pm
Briefly Awake
"Been there" was an understatement. "Hovering over like a bee to a flower" was somewhat more accurate, if not pretty gay.
She came in when the nurse cleared her, and Chris had already fallen asleep again. She sat in the chair beside the bed for a while, occasionally muttering things like, "Wake up a*****e." Tears of joy, relief and a lot of other feelings had already had their time to pass. Now it was impatient reverence.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:36 pm
Earlier
There were tubes coming out of him. There were needles and bandages and tubes and a low hum she couldn't place, but there was also Chris.
He looks like a ******** wreck. He was so skinny she could've snapped him in half with the flick of her pinky (she could have snapped him in half normally, but this was particularly stark). Somewhere in the back of her mind she pondered if this was what it was like to see her pink a** every time she ended up here. Was it worse? Did she look as bad? Did Chris' chest hammer with the fear that any moment that soft beeping monitoring her heart beat could go flat and stop completely?
She held herself up for the nurses, for Captain Beautiful, she hugged the entire team with smiles and energy- she was grateful, they needed to know that. The nurse needed to know she could be trusted to be in a room alone with him- Chel needed to keep a face up to convince everyone that she was okay. The lifers knew her. They knew her history. They had files upon files of her psychological profile down to the details of her fear of needles.
But she could act.
She would act to see Chris.
The door closed and she held on to her visage for a few more minutes. She had to be careful- did they have cameras? Everything about the infirmary set her on edge.
But slowly Chris' even breathing chiseled in between the stone actress she pretended to be. He drove an ice pick into the corner of her eyes with every scratch she examined, with every inch of him that was more bandage than person, with every hitch of his breath that scared her into almost leaving.
She cried, as anyone would. There wasn't an elegant description for her feelings. Raw would be closest. She felt raw.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:52 pm
Even Earlier
She was always late. She'd been assigned duty in the sun tunnel. Chris had come in three hours ago, and nobody had told her. It came as a passing comment as she left the training facility. "How's your cousin healing up? He been there a long time?"
A near-fistfight resulted in a sprint to the infirmary.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:49 pm
Briefly Awake
Waking came slower this time. Opening his eyes like an exercise in strength, his eyelids felt like heavy blankets of sandpaper scraping across his eyes. He must have slept for too long, because he felt drugged and sluggish. He squinted against the light as he turned his head.
Pink. He remembered what pink meant. It meant claws digging into his skin. It meant rancid breath in his face as the monster spit taunting words meant to cripple. It meant the snap of his bones as he hit the frozen wall of the cave. It meant he should be panicking.
His breath hitched and stuttered and something in the background began to beep wildly (he would later realize this was his heart monitor reacting). He had to get up, get away. He could go further down the tunnel if he could just get up. Even if he had to crawl. He yanked at his arms but they couldn't move far. His legs were cocooned in something - his jacket maybe, he couldn't remember - and he couldn't get up. He couldn't get away he was stuck with this monster wearing such an important face. s**t, he could barely breathe for fear that it was going to finish the job.
"You're not Chel," he gasped. "Not Chel, I know you're not."
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:56 pm
Briefly Awake
Chel was unsure how to approach the situation. She'd be briefed by Captain Beautiful and the wonder twins about the state they'd found Chris in. She remembered from the mission brief that they'd been looking for something in the mountains. Chris' panic wasn't comprehensible, but she was at least piecing together some kind of picture.
Blithe sarcasm failed to mask the twinge of worry in her voice. "You're right, I'm batman. I forgot my underwear tights today though, sorry man." She didn't move an inch, watching him carefully with the eye of an appraiser. Hesitation stayed her tongue beyond her initial comment.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:07 pm
Briefly Awake
The response was enough to give him pause. The monster had never been sarcastic. Cruel, yes, but never blandly humorous. He swallowed thickly as he tried to think through the haze of his flight instinct.
He screwed his eyes shut and took a series of deep breaths before opening them again. "C'mere," he waved her closer, hands trembling. "Need to see your eyes. And your fingers! Gotta make sure y'r you." The hairs on his arms raised at the idea of getting closer to the monster, but he didn't know any other way to tell.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:09 pm
Briefly Awake
Chel raised an eyebrow, but complied. She would comply with just about anything if Chris needed it to feel safe.
She scooted forward and leaned closer to him. "Lookin' into my eyes is pretty ********' gay," she told him. Just in case he needed reminding. She wiggled her fingers in front of him for emphasis.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:15 pm
Briefly Awake
Her eyes were blue, but he reached up and pulled down on her cheek lightly, just to make sure. No black. He took her fingers and felt for claws, but there was nothing but blunt finger tips and familiar callouses.
It really was Chel.
He used his grip on her fingers to tug her forward. He couldn't really hug her, but he could bury his face in her shoulder. "You're pretty ********' gay," he sobbed in relief. God, he hadn't thought he'd see her again.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:21 pm
Briefly Awake
As soon as he was done examining her (creepy, but she didn't say so), she flicked his hand away in a familiar motion- the motion of someone who had had her scrapes and bruises and cuts and bones examined by an older relative thousands of time.
She stayed in the silence of his hug, conferring his relief and matching it with her own. She was glad they didn't need to enunciate any feelings or have some ridiculously overdramatic moment. They understood.
"Actually I'm ********' Jack," she sneered back with her familiar "charm." "You need anything? Anyone?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:56 pm
Briefly Awake
He groaned, the moment effectively broken by that very rude image. He didn't push her away though. "Ain't that a ********' shame. Gone for a week and you still haven't dumped his loser a**."
He leaned back, and even though he was tired he kept his eyes open and on her. He wasn't convinced this wasn't a dream, yet, and he didn't want to close them just to find himself alone again. "Mmm, no. Too tired. Are Lydia and Dawson okay though? Are you?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Briefly Awake
"Can't dump what yer not datin'," Chel said with a low hum in her voice. She leaned back on her heels and stuck her hands into her pockets.
Chris looked dead. It sunk in her stomach like a rock and she debated leaving to let him rest. He was so thin (too thin- eat something dumbass Chris told her) she thought he might snap if she said something too loudly. "M'fine dude. Dawson's good," she omitted some details there, "Lydia I dunno. Probably." In her mind she wanted to tell Chris to take care of himself, but she knew he wouldn't rest easily until he had mother hen'd everyone adaquately.
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 8:26 am
Sanity Check
Every time Chel walks in he checks her eyes. He doesn't need her to get close like the first time, but as soon as she walks through the door he's a ball of nervous energy until he can make eye contact. He keeps expecting black and menacing, but always gets her familiar blues.
Only then do his hands unclench and his shoulders relax. Only then can he breathe.
He hates himself for it.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 9:33 am
Briefly Awake
"You can if you believe," he shrugged. He wasn't actively pushing, really. He knew that ship had sailed and he had no say in whatever Jack and Chel were.
"Enlightening, really," he drawled, clearly sarcastic. It felt like a lie, but he couldn't really harp on her and nag the truth out of her when he was bedridden and part of the problem. His jaw ticked as he ground his teeth; he was the entire reason she wouldn't be okay in the first place. He was a ******** idiot. "Have you eaten anything? You should. Maybe one of the techs can bring something for you..."
Nevermind that he was the one hooked up to machines due to poor nutrition.
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:18 pm
Briefly Awake
"Dude actually shut the ******** up," she told him, arms crossed. She would've slapped him across the head if she could have, but unfortunately in his weakened state she figured that wouldn't look too kindly with the techs.
She let out an annoyed sigh and said, "You're grounded forever."
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