(open) days go by and still i think of you

[whatsupcroc]

Date & Time: June 4th - 9th
Location: Initiative Hospital
Characters: Collette & Open!
Summary: Shenanigans while ill at the hospital.
Warnings: Hospital gowns, illness, trauma, silliness.

[ June 4th-7th ]

Her fever spikes the most during her first few days in the hospital. Collette hesitated to tell anyone; there was little to do but wait it out, and she was more preoccupied with the coughing when she was awake and aware of her surroundings than she liked.

She's even abstained from using the network that often, having difficulty concentrating on the bright screen.

What she didn't expect took her, and several nurses, and any potential visitors, by surprise. When the fever ran too hot, and her delusions started edging toward frightening territory, Collette reacted.

Once, where there'd been a sick girl, there appeared a crocodile. Mouth opened, it hissed and growled at everything that moved in the room, one lash of its tail taking out the IV pole. The privacy curtain is doomed to be half torn down while Collette isn't taking charge of the reptilian brain: it was one very frightened crocodile reigning over a disheveled hospital bed.

[ June 7th-8th ]

She had the crocodile under control when she found herself having episodes of coming to while morphed golden retriever or coyote, hiding under chairs, or wandering the hall with her hospital gown trailing awkwardly between her legs.

Twice she ended up in the cafeteria. Collette really didn't quite understand how she got there.

[ June 9th: after this ]

On the 9th, the fever broke, but it wasn't something she noticed. Not after everything else that happened after she escaped to the hospital roof.

Collette was shaking from something entirely unrelated to her illness, even if the shivering could have been attributed to it. She was scared to close her eyes, scared of coughing because it left her vulnerable, tired and sick and scared all around.

This, she decides, Takes the award for royal suckage.

Comments

[pixieboots]

[ It's not as if he hasn't seen it before. A million times now, on too many people out there without anyone to care enough to help them. But Collette he knows, which makes it different. He's seen her alive and thriving and watching her struggle instead makes his heart tug, even if maybe it shouldn't. ]

I know when I was out of it I kinda just slept all hours... [ Before he can talk himself out of it again he slips the packet out from underneath his cape and sets it gently on the edge of the bed. Close enough for her to reach for it if she wants it right away. ]

But I was gonna leave this for you. So it'd be there when you woke up.

[whatsupcroc]

( She rolls her head to the side, considering the package -- intrigued, and enough so to motivate herself to move. It takes a while, first a twitch of her fingers, then a suppressed groan and wheeze as she shifts and uses aching muscles to rally efforts and move. Her fingers brush the package first, inquisitive and searching. She moves it around through nudges, finally catching a hold that allows her to drag it closer. )

Really? ( Her smile is big and happy, even if her voice is small and broken. ) For me? What is it?

[pixieboots]

It's the jeep you wanted. [ His fingers are itching to tug the paper open, even moreso when he sees her struggling with it. But he'd wrapped it up so she'd have the fun, after all. ] At least on paper. But I'm really gonna build it.

[ The ten diagrams tucked inside say so. ]

I just need you to help me pick a design. I figure we can fix the controls so you can drive it without... you know... [ Well, her legs. ]

[whatsupcroc]

With hand pedals?

( Her eyes brighten as she pulls her hand away, really smiling now. )

Oh, man, a real hand pedal operated car? I've read about those, but I never thought I'd see one!

( Hands clasped together in her excitement, she lets the tiredness be swept temporarily aside by the enthusiasm for this idea. )

Show me?

( She'd rather he not see that she's still tired enough to have her arms shake from a combination of tiredness and excitement. One of the two is infinitely preferred to the other. )

[pixieboots]

Yeah. Hand petals. [ He ducks his head to fold in the frown that's starting to encroach a little back into a grin. She needs him to smile, not remind her all over again how bad she looks. ]

With all the junk piled around there has to be a few things we can scavenge. The rest we can pull out of raw materials as we go. When you're feeling better you could even come with me.

[ He tugs lightly at a corner of the wrapper with a raised eyebrow. ] You don't have to decide now. Just keep them for a while and think about it.

[whatsupcroc]

There's a few junkyards. I found them for a doctor once.

( She smiles, closing her eyes briefly.)

Might as well start now. ( Her eyes reopen, and she shifts, making to straighten up and look less -- annoyingly bedbound. ) Gives me something to think about when I've got to stay here!

( She pokes the wrapping with one finger, her grin going lopsided. )

[pixieboots]

You'll be out of here in no time. [ It's something he can say with confidence, at least. She will be, if anyone ever is. ]

Those UE guys can't hide forever. You just... [ get well ] -sit back and let the rest of us do the heavy lifting this time around.

[crocodilesmiles]

( He's a good kid. She's not sure what kind of crazy and horrible stalks after them in Gotham, but she's liked everyone from there she's met, and she likes Dick, too. He might be the youngest Robin on her personal record, and she might have a history of unintentionally prodding at his insecurities, but he's a good,m capable kid, who sometimes needed to be a kid.

And sometimes, she guesses, he needs to feel like he is the superhero in the legacy he's all wrapped up in. She just hopes he's aware enough to know, like Jason knew, that doing it alone, or thinking he could take on a war as a whole, just wasn't possible.

She nods her head. )

Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Rob. ( She winks. ) Be as careful as you can, okay?

( Don't get killed tracking down the desperate ones. )