06-22-2014, 07:37 PM
You came to me
In seamless sleep
Slipped right in
Behind my eye
On the back of my mind
We swam a sea
Of pretty sights and chandelier skies
I swore I could feel you breathe
It was all so real to me
The light had slipped through the window
The morning ripped you away oh
The Hush Sound - Don't Wake Me Up
Friday, 6/20
The room that Sid occupies is quiet save for the sounds of monitors, the quiet, steady rhythm of its two occupants' breathing, and the occasional turn of a page.
Someone is awake. He is sitting in a chair beside Sid's bed, taking advantage of the hospital's rather generous visiting hours, just as he has nearly every day for the last three weeks. The visitor is tall, dark-skinned, with a head that is a wild mess of tight tight curls that grows steadily messier as the nights wear on and on and there's no change in the pale redhead. Frank - friend, roommate, caregiver - watches over the woman who is just as much a sister as those bound to him by blood. Sometimes he takes her hand, still so warm even weeks without moving. Sometimes he reads to her. Most times he just sits, a quiet, peaceful presence. He has been almost but not completely her only visitor. Certainly he's the only one that's visited with any regularity since that horrible night in May when he got the call about where she wound up.
He takes care of the cactus that someone else left on the ledge beside her bed. Whether they're allowed or not, he brings flowers. Sid always liked flowers. Maybe she'll want to see their colorful beauty when she finally opens her eyes. Because Frank is confident that one of these days Sid will wake up. Whatever happened to her that night she went out and ended up here, whatever is still happening to her, Frank knows that she's a fighter. She wouldn't have come so far in the time he's known if she wasn't.
So. It is another Friday night, and he is reading a magazine quietly beside her. He doesn't notice at first when the sounds of the monitors shifts, signaling brain activity, increased heartbeat, so on. He does notice when the blips become irregular, sometimes quickquickquick, sometimes slower. Sid is waking up, and she is waking on the brink of panic.
Frank's head comes up quickly and then he's standing beside her bed, magazine dropped on the floor so that both hands can take up one of hers. It seems so small, so pale, the skin translucent as parchment paper, against the warm earthen tone of his own.
"Sid!"
There is a commotion in the hall. Staff are coming quickly to investigate the change and examine the patient.
Sid, eyes open and wide, breathes in heavy gasps, like she's not getting enough oxygen no matter how hard she tries. Truth is, she's trying to move but her muscles, after so long without activity, won't respond to her. When she speaks, her voice is quiet, weak and thready, cracked from weeks of disuse.
"Get me out."
Barely, he can feel the way her fingers try to curl around his hands. Desperate. Terrified. The last time Sid woke unexpectedly in a hospital she couldn't move. Her body was in great pain, her limbs weighted down by casts. They'd shaved a swath of hair away from the side of her skull, and she would check now to see that everything is in place but she can't...she can't move. The not moving is the worst. She is trapped in her own body.
Frank sees her lips move, sees her dark eyes glisten as she no doubt implores him again. The sound of her voice is lost as a coterie of nurses along with the on call physician hurry through the door. Someone asks Frank to leave. Asks and then tells him authoritatively, "Sir, you need to leave!" It is with the greatest reluctance that he releases her to stand outside. Where he waits, and waits, and waits for someone, anyone to come out and tell him what was going on.
Eventually, the doctor comes out and pulls him aside. Tells him that she seems okay but that she's very weak. They'd like to keep her for observation and speak with her PCP about physical therapy.
"When can she go home?" asks Frank. The answer is something vague, the doctor not wanting to commit to a time frame so soon. "Can I see her?" When they've finished taking her blood for tests.
Which is when it happens. Sid, surrounded by medical staff, closes her eyes and works quickly, twisting her Pattern just enough to give her some sense of strength. Not much. It might not be enough. People ask her questions, questions that she ignores until she has the strength to move. And when she has the strength to move she sits up - cautiously. Being able to move helps alleviate some of the panic but it doesn't change the fact that she wants out of here, now.
"Let me go," she says, and a nurse tries to speak in soothing tones but Sid does not want to hear it. It's lucky she doesn't give herself enough strength to try to fight. Just enough to move, to get around maybe if they'd just leave her alone and let her get up. Let her catch her breath. Let her move.
They take what they need and clear her space and it's after the last of them has walked out of the room and Frank is walking back in that Sid attempts to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. He hurries to her side, whispers something quiet, imploring her, but Sid merely shakes her head. One way or another she is going to get out of here.
So Frank lays on the charm. It takes time. It takes long time. But eventually he guides Sid out of the hospital and to his car, and from there he gets her home. On the drive, she calms a little. Not enough to fall into sleep, it is all still too incredible. There is a part of her memory that tells her it's been months since she saw city lights, and she wants to watch them streak across her window, dazzling her eyes.
=====
While I was typing up the reaction I realized that this is ABSOLUTELY a phobia roll, just for the record.
sid @ 6:44PM
[WP: this is Sid's "I don't have a phobia but waking up unexpectedly in a hospital is on the list of my least favorite things" rolls]
Roll: 7 d10 TN8 (1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7) ( fail )
Tithe @ 6:45PM
[D:]
sid @ 6:47PM
[Life 3, coincidental, +1 diff for fast-casting because D: D: D:]
Roll: 3 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Tithe @ 6:48PM
[Witnessified!]
In seamless sleep
Slipped right in
Behind my eye
On the back of my mind
We swam a sea
Of pretty sights and chandelier skies
I swore I could feel you breathe
It was all so real to me
The light had slipped through the window
The morning ripped you away oh
The Hush Sound - Don't Wake Me Up
Friday, 6/20
The room that Sid occupies is quiet save for the sounds of monitors, the quiet, steady rhythm of its two occupants' breathing, and the occasional turn of a page.
Someone is awake. He is sitting in a chair beside Sid's bed, taking advantage of the hospital's rather generous visiting hours, just as he has nearly every day for the last three weeks. The visitor is tall, dark-skinned, with a head that is a wild mess of tight tight curls that grows steadily messier as the nights wear on and on and there's no change in the pale redhead. Frank - friend, roommate, caregiver - watches over the woman who is just as much a sister as those bound to him by blood. Sometimes he takes her hand, still so warm even weeks without moving. Sometimes he reads to her. Most times he just sits, a quiet, peaceful presence. He has been almost but not completely her only visitor. Certainly he's the only one that's visited with any regularity since that horrible night in May when he got the call about where she wound up.
He takes care of the cactus that someone else left on the ledge beside her bed. Whether they're allowed or not, he brings flowers. Sid always liked flowers. Maybe she'll want to see their colorful beauty when she finally opens her eyes. Because Frank is confident that one of these days Sid will wake up. Whatever happened to her that night she went out and ended up here, whatever is still happening to her, Frank knows that she's a fighter. She wouldn't have come so far in the time he's known if she wasn't.
So. It is another Friday night, and he is reading a magazine quietly beside her. He doesn't notice at first when the sounds of the monitors shifts, signaling brain activity, increased heartbeat, so on. He does notice when the blips become irregular, sometimes quickquickquick, sometimes slower. Sid is waking up, and she is waking on the brink of panic.
Frank's head comes up quickly and then he's standing beside her bed, magazine dropped on the floor so that both hands can take up one of hers. It seems so small, so pale, the skin translucent as parchment paper, against the warm earthen tone of his own.
"Sid!"
There is a commotion in the hall. Staff are coming quickly to investigate the change and examine the patient.
Sid, eyes open and wide, breathes in heavy gasps, like she's not getting enough oxygen no matter how hard she tries. Truth is, she's trying to move but her muscles, after so long without activity, won't respond to her. When she speaks, her voice is quiet, weak and thready, cracked from weeks of disuse.
"Get me out."
Barely, he can feel the way her fingers try to curl around his hands. Desperate. Terrified. The last time Sid woke unexpectedly in a hospital she couldn't move. Her body was in great pain, her limbs weighted down by casts. They'd shaved a swath of hair away from the side of her skull, and she would check now to see that everything is in place but she can't...she can't move. The not moving is the worst. She is trapped in her own body.
Frank sees her lips move, sees her dark eyes glisten as she no doubt implores him again. The sound of her voice is lost as a coterie of nurses along with the on call physician hurry through the door. Someone asks Frank to leave. Asks and then tells him authoritatively, "Sir, you need to leave!" It is with the greatest reluctance that he releases her to stand outside. Where he waits, and waits, and waits for someone, anyone to come out and tell him what was going on.
Eventually, the doctor comes out and pulls him aside. Tells him that she seems okay but that she's very weak. They'd like to keep her for observation and speak with her PCP about physical therapy.
"When can she go home?" asks Frank. The answer is something vague, the doctor not wanting to commit to a time frame so soon. "Can I see her?" When they've finished taking her blood for tests.
Which is when it happens. Sid, surrounded by medical staff, closes her eyes and works quickly, twisting her Pattern just enough to give her some sense of strength. Not much. It might not be enough. People ask her questions, questions that she ignores until she has the strength to move. And when she has the strength to move she sits up - cautiously. Being able to move helps alleviate some of the panic but it doesn't change the fact that she wants out of here, now.
"Let me go," she says, and a nurse tries to speak in soothing tones but Sid does not want to hear it. It's lucky she doesn't give herself enough strength to try to fight. Just enough to move, to get around maybe if they'd just leave her alone and let her get up. Let her catch her breath. Let her move.
They take what they need and clear her space and it's after the last of them has walked out of the room and Frank is walking back in that Sid attempts to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. He hurries to her side, whispers something quiet, imploring her, but Sid merely shakes her head. One way or another she is going to get out of here.
So Frank lays on the charm. It takes time. It takes long time. But eventually he guides Sid out of the hospital and to his car, and from there he gets her home. On the drive, she calms a little. Not enough to fall into sleep, it is all still too incredible. There is a part of her memory that tells her it's been months since she saw city lights, and she wants to watch them streak across her window, dazzling her eyes.
=====
While I was typing up the reaction I realized that this is ABSOLUTELY a phobia roll, just for the record.
sid @ 6:44PM
[WP: this is Sid's "I don't have a phobia but waking up unexpectedly in a hospital is on the list of my least favorite things" rolls]
Roll: 7 d10 TN8 (1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7) ( fail )
Tithe @ 6:45PM
[D:]
sid @ 6:47PM
[Life 3, coincidental, +1 diff for fast-casting because D: D: D:]
Roll: 3 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Tithe @ 6:48PM
[Witnessified!]