Jan 19 07:43:52 106 PA
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Tue Jan 19 07:43:52 106 PA.
This is one of the many recovery rooms available in the KEC. Most rooms have two to four beds, though private rooms are available as well. Due to the nature of most of the clientele the KEC takes care of, most of the rooms are relatively spartan but feature miniature televisions with wireless headsets and offer an assortment of local shows and new to pre-rifts movies. Each bed has a simple bedside table complete with a stocked magazine rack. What few pictures there are on the walls are usually of assorted battle scenes, though these can be altered at the touch of a button to a wide assortment of views for those of a less war like nature. Meals here come thrice daily for most, though sometimes more or less for those with special dietary needs.
Early morning and the hospital is waking up, with nurses bustling around in a routine that hasn't changed much in years. Beds are being made, breakfasts being served and patients being woken for a busy day of getting better. In Caliopa's room, finally the machines are removed and the room is silent, apart from the noises of someone nibbling on a piece of toast, with a marked lack of enthusiasm. In an overly large hospital gown, she is pale apart from the beautiful colour of spreading bruises around her neck, now an elegant blend of green and yellow, with fingerprints in darker shades over her windpipe. Left with only one piece of plumbling, the needle in her hand, Caliopa is free to get out of bed, to wash and dress, but for now, she is curled up, making tiny inroads into a piece of toast.
Six days after the surgery. Abigail has had time to catch up on some of her sleep. Not all of it, of course, but most of it. Several times a day for the past six days, she'd been checking in on Cali at various intervals throughout the day. Sticking to the routine that's become something of a habit over the last few days, Abigail sticks her head into the room, just to see if Cali's awake. She pauses there, taking note of what the woman is doing, and then comes farther into the room. She stops beside the bed, eyeing that piece of toast. "That might go down better if you put some jelly on it," she says quietly to the woman in the bed.
Caliopa puts it down onto the plate, giving it an unenthused look before lifting her gaze to the other woman. "I ain't that hungry anyhow." She replies quietly, her voice still a little hoarse. "When can I go home?" A blunt question, matched with a restless movement, pushing the tray away and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. A slow blink and a grab at the bed itself suggests a headspin at the abrupt movement, swiftly covered up, albeit poorly, in her determination to go home. "I can rest there. Ain't gonna go into work ..."
Abigail remains quiet for a time as she watches the other woman. Takes note of that covered up headspin. "You need to eat," she says, not answering the question. At least, not yet. "So you can build up your strength," she says, still speaking. "You can't go home until you regain some of your strength, and Doctor Kalvin thinks you're ready to go home." She glances around the room for a moment, and then back to Cali. "If you don't like the toast, I can see about getting you something you -do- like."
"I ain't hungry." Caliopa repeats stubbornly, sliding to put her feet on the floor. She doesn't stand yet, wary of the dizziness. "It ain't like I don't feel fine, 'n' I'd not be alone." Her protests, if nothing else, have energy in them, backed by stubbornness. "Kalvin knows I ain't one for hospitals." She offers an unconvincing smile before getting to her feet. For a moment, she is fine, and the glance she gives the other woman suggests the next words out of her mouth would be 'see', but then the little colour in her face drains and her legs just buckle under her, giving way and dropping her to the floor.
"Well, I can understand you not being hungry." Really, Abigail can. Being unconcious, more or less, for six days would take away anybody's appetite. Especially the stubborn ones. She tilts her head a bit, keeping a rather close eye on the woman. "It doesn't matter if you don't like hospitals, Cali. You're not strong enough ye to go home," she says. And moments later, she's proven right. She tenses as the woman gets to her feet. Ready for the collapse she is certain is about to come. The moment Abigail sees the color drain from Cali's face, she's moving, intercepting that drop to the floor. She catches the other woman around the waist and eases her back to the bed. The effort brings a sheen of persperation to her skin, but she does it anyway. Sure as hell beats having Cali wind up on the floor. "You know, if you harm yourself while I'm in here, Kalvin is never going to forgive me," she says. And the way she says 'Kalvin' is easy, as though this isn't the first time she's called him by his given name, rather than by his title.
Caliopa is grey, that faint blue tinge to her lips returned and she leans back into the pillows when Abigail gets her on the bed. For once, she isn't stubborn or resistive, but lets the woman help. The gentle joke about Kalvin gets an almost smile and she leans her head back into the pillows behind her, her skin not such a different colour. "Alright." She submits, the word a softly spoken resignation to the situation, the evidence enough even for Caliopa to admit it. She is breathless and the small effort seems to have exhausted her, with the side benefit of removing the resistance.
Abigail gets the other woman settled again, and then looks her over. A glance goes to the monitors that Cali remains hooked up to. A slight nod at what she's seeing, because it's expected. She reaches out a hand, fingers seeking the pulse point in Cali's wrist, so she can check that too. "Try to slow down your breathing some, Cali," she says, noting the breathless state of the other woman.
The look Caliopa gives her is speaking, the breathlessness outside of the control of the woman. At Abigail's touch, her skin is clammy and the pulse is fast, beating rapidly beneath Abigail's fingertips. The fingernails of the hand she has are tinged with pale blue, and Caliopa closes her eyes, frustration and fear mingling in her face. "Ain't nothin'."
It is at this point that another figure is seen; his hands behind the small of his back and one wrist holding onto the other. He is immaculately dressed in a long white lab coat and his scalp appears to have been freshly polished. "Are you giving my assistant a hard time, Caliopa?" He asks the woman in the bed.
Abigail keeps an eye upon the other woman's physical symptoms. Not saying much until the worst of it has passed. "That is what happens when you don't listen to your doctors," she says in answer to the question. Neatly evading a real answer. Evading the truth. She glances toward the door as a familiar voice is heard. A faint smile appearing on her face. "She's your patient, Doctor. Of course she's giving me a hard time. She's stubborn. Reminds me of somebody," she says, winking at Cali in a not-so-subtle poke at Kalvin's stubborn qualities. "She got out of bed when I told her she couldn't go home yet," she adds for Kalvin's beneift.
"No." Caliopa's reply is brief, but the fear retreats a little the moment Kalvin is in the room, an obvious sign of her trust. "Jus' tryin' to stand up. I could rest at home, Kalvin, ain't no need to keep me here." She persists in that, despite obvious evidence to the contrary. She stays put though, not fighting the mask nor leaving the pillows behind. "Ain't that I don't appreciate folks doin' things to fix me up but it ain't so bad I can't lie on my sofa." All of this speech broken up by the breathlessness that refuses to settle.
Kalvin gives Abigail a long, considering sort of look. And then he gives Caliopa a long and considering sort of look. For the other doctor, he gets a chair. He's pretty insistant about it because he actually jams it semi-gently into the backs of her knees in an 'oops' sort of fashion like she wouldn't sit down otherwise. Someone knows Abigail a little too well. Doctor Kalvin sits down on Caliopa's bed. "There's something that we've been holding off on telling you until you were well enough, Caliopa." He never did call her Cali. Ever. He'd make a good stern father figure. "And it's probably high time we told you. Do you have any memory of whawt happened at all?"
Abigail remains quiet for a time. Noting the lessening of fear from Cali when Kalvin enters. She shakes her head at Cali's persistence that she should go home. Proof of the woman being as stuborn as Kalvin can be. And then she gets a chair semi-gently rammed into the backs of her knees. She sits down, a little heavily, a little less gracefully than she normally is. And turns a 'look' on Kalvin. One brow raised ever so slightly. She opens her mouth to say something, and then closes it again at the topic of conversation that the other doctor brings up.
Caliopa's attention is on Kalvin, stuck with him as he sits down and talks. She shifts, pulling a pillow around to hug, the gesture saying more about her feelings than any of the protests. Her eyes fix on him, filled with anxiety and fear, waiting for the blow. "I don't remember leavin' home to come to yours, nothin'." She speaks, but the breathlessness makes it into a whisper. "Can't be that bad, ain't like I'm dyin' or nothin'. Right?" She aims for a smile, but the corners of her mouth don't quite make it.
Kalvin takes a short breath as he decides how to put this to her. "You were shot." He begins. "From point blank. The bullet entered between your shoulder blades, crossed through your heart and lodged in one of your lungs. You went into cardiogenic shock almost immediatly. Three out of four chambers of your heart were destroyed instantly, and your left lung punctured. Eight out of ten or more people with those kinds of injuries die, Caliopa." He pauses for a second to let that settle in. "You should have. You lost your heart." Another pause. "The damage was irreperable. I had a bionic heart on standby that was supposed to go into a mercenary as an upgrade, and I convinced the city to pay for it for you. It's taking time for your body to adjust to it, and for the nurses to properly calibrate the heart for you. So yes, you could die if you leave that bed without assistance."
Caliopa goes utterly still, staring at Kalvin as the colour drains completely from her face. The pure shock of his words don't help with the panic, nor the whole breathing thing, and the monitors do begin a panicked warning beeping. She hugs the pillow tightly, fighting for the oxygen that pours through the mask. "I..." Her hand moves to her chest, touching her sternum with her fingertips. "My heart?" She manages to repeat, the breathing settling enough to let two words thought. Apart from a few slow blinks, she keeps her gaze on Kalvin, trusting him despite his words, Abigail completely vanished to her at that moment. "Die?"
"Obviously, the chances of that are very slim. But that is why we don't let you go home yet. I have no wish to keep you here any more than you want to be here. But there is work to be done yet." He waits for a moment for her to get her breath a little more. "As I said. You lost your heart. You've been given a bionic replacement, made of metal and plastic that will be better than your original. It's military grade cyberware. Safe and effective. But, maybe this puts a little bit more light on why we're so instistant that you don't push yourself too far and too fast."
Abigail honestly doesn't mind being ignored at this moment in time. Not when news such as what Kalvin is telling Caliopa is being delivered. Not when such serious things are being discussed. She doesn't even fidget in her chair, remaining silent, and motionless. Listening and aware of the conversation, but not adding anything to it.
Any information he is giving now isn't being taken in by the girl in the bed, her arms tightly clasped around that pillow, her breath coming fast and sharp. Any other time and she would be interested in the mechanics of the item but right now, the thought of dying is kind of on her mind. She nods mutely, her face utterly white, the freckles standing out in contrast. For a moment, she stares at Kalvin, a minute shaking of her head, a denial.
Kalvin has said his piece for the most part. He's given the horrible news. Now the good news. "The good news is that you're through all the worst parts. It's beating on it's own, strong and sure. Still fast, but that will come with time. You are breathing on your own. You'll be all right, as long as you don't go too far and too fast."
As she remains quiet, Abigail's eyes remain upon the woman in the bed. Taking note of things like vitals. The fact that Cali's breathing is getting worse. That she's pale. But as Kalvin doesn't seem alarmed by it, Abigail merely remains quiet. Keeping an eye on the redheaded woman.
The good news might not be getting past the fog of panic in her head, and Caliopa's face mostly speaks her thoughts, such as oh god oh god I'm going to die. She makes a tiny noise, between the gasping breaths and she shakes her head again, curling up with the pillow, taking her eyes off Kalvin for the first time. She cuddles it tightly and just shuts out the room, focussing on her fear.
Kalvin reaches out gently to squeeze Caliopa on the shoulder, once. "You'll be all right." He says to her, firmly. "The worst is over. Doctor Webster will be here with you for the next little while anyway. I'll be back to check on you shortly." And so, Kalvin abdicates for a headhunter that needs a replacement arm.
Abigail watches as Kalvin comforts and then... runs away? Blink-blink? She raises a brow as she watches his retreating back. Well. Isn't that interesting? She looks from Kalvin's retreating back, over at the huddling Caliopa. And rises to her feet, moving to the bed. Abigail stands there for a moment, waiting to see if Kalvin's words had any effect before she says anything.
The words don't reach the panicking girl, and she keeps a death grip on that pillow, hiding from a world that right now she doesn't want to see or hear more of. The breathing and signs don't improve, her breathing short and shallow. Kalvin's departure, abrupt as it is, doesn't even reach her, goes unnoticed in the blind panic of 'oh god oh god I'm going to die' thinking.
A soft sigh comes from Abigail as the other woman doesn't improve. She settles to the edge of the bed and reaches out a hand to touch Cali's shoulder. She shakes the woman, gently at first. Then a little harder if that doesn't have any effect. "Cali," she says as she does so. "Cali look at me and listen." Her voice is calm, but not quite as quiet as before. Still quiet enough to go no further than the walls of this room, though.
The small shake followed by the louder words finally penatrate the haze of complete panic in Caliopa's head and she opens her eyes to stare blankly at the other woman. Her breathing doesn't change but at least she isn't hiding so much, the pillow no longer a complete barrier between her and this news. Her face, expressive as always, however pale it is, reflects her fear of dying.
Abigail contemplates the redheaded woman for a moment before she speaks again. Words a little quieter, but still the same calm, and yet intense at the same time. "You are not going to die this very moment, Cali. You are stable. The reasons you're still here are because we're still fine tuning your heart, and because your body needs time to recover, to regain strength, and the blood that you lost." Abigail is settled to the edge of the bed that Caliopa lies in, one hand on the other woman's shoulder. Cali is pale, and appears to be having a panic attack. She is also wearing an oxygen mask. It's breakfast time at the KEC. "You're going to be fine, Cali. You're going to live."
Caliopa listens, her gaze on Abigail, her eyes starting out very panicked, and with the words, Caliopa calms a little. The machine's beeps begin to calm down, becoming less hysterical as her breathing slows and the pulse of the poor new heart becomes reasonable once more. She is hearing the words, nodding slowly, the grip on that pillow releasing until blood returns to her whitened fingers. After Abigail stops talking, Caliopa is calmer, turning from her side to sit crosslegged on the bed, the pillow moving with her. "Where is Atti? How long, do you reckon, before I get home? Who's lookin' after the garage? Why me?" The questions tumble out, a train of thought exercise.
Vyvian looks about the KEC with a strong curiosity notable as she looks about at every person and object she passes with varying levels of bemusement and amusement. Her cloak has been left behind, along with her big axe and other little weapon like objects, though her blowgun remains, easily mistaken for no more than a stick. She almost misses the door, so intent is her glancing about. But she comes up short, turning to move back up to the door. Her tall frame visible through the frosted glass just before she raps firmly on the side of it. "Hellooo.. you in there, Morsel?" Her husky voice skirting the edge of too loud for such a place, a soft elongation hanging on her 's' sounds. The door cracks open and in slips her head, fixing on the two women at once. "There you are! I thought I might get lost in this place," she says amiably, displaying a maw full of sharp little teeth in her equivalent of a grin. Though as she absorbs that not all seems well, her grin falters a bit.
As her words begin to obviously penetrate the other woman's panic, Abigail begins to relax again too. For the questions, she considers them. First, Atticus. "I passed him in the hall, I think. He's the..." Well, she isn't quite sure how to put this. So, she simply says it. "The um... elf, yes? He was heading toward the kitchen. Probably looking for coffee, food, or both." She pauses a moment, thinking about the next question. "Mmm. At least two weeks, minimum. You're probably looking at more like a month unless everything goes perfectly between now and then. As for the garage, I'm not sure. And I don't know, why you. Sometimes, bad things happen. They don't happen for any reason that I can see." She opens her mouth to say something else, interrupted by the knocking sounding on the door. She waves a hand at the female, "If you're looking for Cali," this said before the 'there you are, "You've found the right room. But you're not to stay longer than half an hour. Cali needs her rest."
The honest replies to her questions quieten the girl further, and the quiet gasps for breath become normal, or normal for the situation. The tiniest amount of colour is returning to her face and the freckles are no longer so stark against her skin. "Probably needin' a leak." She replies softly, in terms of Atticus' location, bluntness sitting comfortably with this girl. "I figured I jus' got shot, 'n' you guys took it out 'n' it was alright." She speaks softly, interrupted by the knocking. Instantly, she is tense, a flash of fear before the door opens. Because all assassin robots knock before entering to kill someone. A slight shift of her expression becomes perplexion at the person who sticks their head around the door.
"Oh, no worries there, dear. Had a talk with the blue fella, her friend, before. In the know, you could say." Her general state of positivity refuses to be dampened for long, another toothy grin rising as she slips in, turning to make sure her tail has swept in before she closes up the door. Once done, she turns back around and looks to Cali. "Feeling poorly still, are we? Always the way, but it gets better. No doubt about it for sure." She approaches, though for now doesn't move up too closely. "Figured I might as well come visit, even if we ain't exactly best a friends. Not yet at least." Her amusement level rising again, ever buoyant.
Abigail turns her attention back to the woman in the bed. She chuckles softly. "Probaby, yeah. You know how guys can be," she comments. "Well, in a manner of speaking that's part of what -did- happen. But after it was taken out, we, mostly Kalvin, I just assisted, put in the bionic replacement. You're going to be fine, but it's going to take time and patience. And you're going to have to remain here, in this bed, until either Kalvin or I tell you that you can do more. Alright?" Her attention is snagged by the toothily grinning creature at the door. She glances over the female, a nod of welcome being offered. And then her eyes alight on something upon the belt. "Is that a blowgun?" she asks, casually.
Caliopa's expression is becoming fixed into a look of fascinated shock mingling with the curiousity that rises even now. Her mouth is slightly opened beneath the oxygen mask as she stares at the newcomer until she draws her attention back to Abigail. She listens to the clear statement of her boundaries, accepting them with a nod and a wry smile. "Guess I ain't got a choice, do I? I don't want to..." there is a noticeable hesitation of picking a word, "Fall over again." She glances at the newcomer, her forehead wrinkling, "Um alright." Doubtfully, as if she is being carried on the wave of determination from the other.
Vyvian listens to the talk as she loiters, obviously eavesdropping on the lot of it. A soft bemusement coming to her at the mention of 'bionic replacement'. But she doesn't interrupt. She was raised right. When addressed, however, she glances down slightly towards said object and looks up with a nod. "It sure is. But don't worry, I only use it for hunting. A lot easier than chsasin' things about with an axe, in't it?" Teeth flash again and then she looks to Cali. "I'm as good as ever, honey. Though you're lookin' just too pitiful, honey." That observation given to a softness and concern that doesn't often come from relative strangers. "But you're breathin' and talkin' so not so bad in the long run."
A smile goes to Caliopa, and a nod. "That's right. You have no choice. If you want to stay on your feet." The other woman's choice of words is respected by Abigail, and she doesn't mention the possibility of dying. Not so soon after she'd -just- gotten the woman calmed down from the panic over the last mention of possibly dying. Her attention goes back to the .... lizard. She rises from the bed and moves toward her. "I'm Doctor Webster. I'm afraid the policy here is clear. No weapons allowed on the premises. I'm going to need to take that blowgun. I'll drop it off by security for you and you can pick it up on your way out," she says, holding out her hand for the blowgun.
Caliopa is much calmer, but exhausted from the panic attack and the emotions of the last few moments. She leans back into the pillows, keeping the one she was clutching but less tightly. A small wry smile curves her lips at being called too pitiful and she almost laughs, leaning her head back against the pillows. As Doctor Webster talks about weapons, Caliopa lets her eyes close for a moment, the heaviness of them becoming impossible, and for a moment, she just sits, letting them sort that out, where before she might have looked at the gun with interest and curiousity.
Vyvian shifts her attention towards Abigail as she rises up and comes over to collect her blowgun. IT doesn't' seem to bother her and indeed she dips a hand to casually unwind it from the binding that keeps it on her belt. "Ain't no thing," she says, considering the smaller woman as she hands it over. "You know, I call her Morsel, but you're even smaller than she is. Dunno what I'm gunna call you." The words offered with that same light, airy amusement. "Just let em know it's Vyvy's, I don't think the males up front will forget me too quickly." That toothy grin coming out again.
Abigail accepts the blow gun, and then turns back toward Caliopa, and takes a pad of paper and a pen out of her pocket. She writes down a number, rips off the piece of paper, and puts both pad and pen back into her pocket. She walks over to the bed, and takes up Caliopa's hand for a moment. She presses the piece of paper into the woman's hand. "This is my cell number, Cali. If you need anything, anything at all, you call me, okay?" She waits for a moment, and then she turns back to the lizard woman, a faint smile on her face. "Hm. Little bit? Widget?" she offers, and then chuckles softly. "No more than half hour, okay? She's had a tough day. She pats Cali gently on the hand and then releases the hand and turns to walk across the room. She opens the door and steps outside, closing it gently behind her. True to her word, she goes to security first to drop off the blowgun.
Caliopa is much calmer, but exhausted from the panic attack and the emotions of the last few moments. She leans back into the pillows, keeping the one she was clutching but less tightly. A small wry smile curves her lips at being called too pitiful and she almost laughs, leaning her head back against the pillows. As Doctor Webster talks about weapons, Caliopa lets her eyes close for a moment, the heaviness of them becoming impossible, and for a moment, she just sits, letting them sort that out, where before she might have looked at the gun with interest and curiousity.$vian shifts her attention towards Abigail as she rises up and comes over to collect her blowgun. IT doesn't' seem to bother her and indeed she dips a hand to casually unwind it from the binding that keeps it on her belt. "Ain't no thing," she says, considering the smaller woman as she hands it over. "You know, I call her Morsel, but you're even smaller than she is. Dunno what I'm gunna call you." The words offered with that same light, airy amusement. "Just let em know it's Vyvy's, I don't think the males up front will forget me too quickly." That toothy grin coming out again.
Abigail accepts the blow gun, and then turns back toward Caliopa, and takes a pad of paper and a pen out of her pocket. She writes down a number, rips off the piece of paper, and puts both pad and pen back into her pocket. She walks over to the bed, and takes up Caliopa's hand for a moment. She presses the piece of paper into the woman's hand. "This is my cell number, Cali. If you need anything, anything at all, you call me, okay?" She waits for a moment, and then she turns back to the lizard woman, a faint smile on her face. "Hm. Little bit? Widget?" she offers, and then chuckles softly. "No more than half hour, okay? She's had a tough day. She pats Cali gently on the hand and then releases the hand and turns to walk across the room. She opens the door and steps outside, closing it gently behind her. True to her word, she goes to security first to drop off the blowgun.
Caliopa opens her eyes as Abigail leaves, giving the woman's back a small smile, her fingers wrapping around the paper in her hand. "For a medic folk, she ain't bad." She comments, the height of praise from this medicphobic. "What are you?" She asks abruptly, turning her curiousity back to Vyvian, avoiding thinking about the conversation about her heart and the whole dying if you get out of bed thing. "Um..."
"I think that works, Widget," Vyvian replies, seeming quite pleased at the response she gets from Abigail. And after the passing of the digits, she bobs her head to the reminder from Abigail. "No worries, dear, I won't tucker her out too much." Letting the small woman go on her way without another word. She'll come right over to the side of the bed and hunker down next to where Cali sits, folding her arms atop the edge. Ends with her having to look up towards the woman, but she doesn't seem to mind it. "Your folk tend to call mine Lizard Men. Though I ain't no male obviously." Her toothy grin displayed once more. She's left her fur cloak and all of her weapons behind to come in here, so none of that is on her at the moment. "You remember me? Maybe not, cause we ain't met too often or too long."
Atticus makes his way into the room - coming after a shower and clean up - after swapping out with Kid who watched Cali while he was away. He has a bruise along one side of his face and running down his left arm and is limping slightly, but he smiles as he carries in a bag - with food it seems, and an overnight bag that he walks over to the bed, putting it all down as he does. Then he moves to the chair, settling in with a smile for Vyvian - although an inquisitive glance - and Cali a warm, bright smile.
Caliopa's smile, rarely far away, makes a small reappearance at the grin from the lizard woman. "Um kinda. Things ain't so clear in my head..." Caliopa returns vaguely, her reaction to Atticus obvious, her face lighting up as soon as he enters the room. "Atti, this is ..uh, Vyvy?" She says the name questioningly, unsure of her facts. "Atti, did you know? 'Bout my heart?" The blunt question is spoken abruptly, without any softening conversation. "Kalvin told me. Ain't to get out of bed. Case of fallin' over." The last two words are spoken after a hesitation, a careful choice instead of words like dying.
Vyvian lifts her head and turns it to look towards Atticus as he comes in. "Aren't you just the lucky one with so many visitors," She idly comments to Cali, her attention shifting back to the woman. "Vyvian," she clarifies for the two of them then before she adds, "Lil Widget says she only gets short visits too." That note directed at Atticus. "Half hour she says." When the blunt question rises up she quiets, glancing at Cali with a note of concern and a sense of understanding that she didn't have before.
"Vyvian. And I stay as long as I want. I'm not a visitor." he tells Vyvian with a smile, offering his right hand with a slight wince. "I'm Atticus. Pleased to meet you," he says as he leans in to kiss Cali's hair slightly. "Nice to make your acquaintance," he tells Vyvian before replying to Cali. "Yes, he told me sweet. But he says you're going to be better, stronger, more healthy, but we just have to let you heal, that's all. it's going to take time," he murmurs.
"Atti gets to stay, ain't so much a visitor as livin' here." Caliopa gives the man a thoughtful look, her eyes lingering on the bruising before offering a hand to him. "I ... that other doc, the girl one, she ain't bad at all." A glowing testament. "Ain't got to get up. Who is lookin' after the garage? I had work goin' on..." She curls up, leaning against the pillows, resting her head back as if it is too heavy.
Vyvian stands from her low crouch as Atticus offers a hand, looking up a little at him. "Aren't you a tall drink of something." Her husky voice showing that casual amusement that lingers about her often. She accepts the shake, her grip on the strong side. Amid it she looks over his left side and wonders, "Who went and done that to you? Hope they look the worse for it." Her grin returns, releasing his hand as she steps back a little to give the two some space.
Atticus smiles as he shaking the hand with a firm grip. "Thank you," he says with a grin. He strokes over Cali's hair. "I'm going to get someone to look over the garage and not change anything, just make sure work doesn't get missed. I'll make sure that happens," he murmurs to Cali. "A big robot thing," he tells Vyvian. "About twenty feet long and wide, slammed me into the floor. Didn't really do anything beyond some bad bruising," he says with a smile.
Caliopa's smile dims at the thought of Atticus being slamdunked by giant robots and she leans into his touch, her eyes resting on him. "Who? I don't want some folks messin' around..." Suspicious because there are rogue mechanics out there planning, just waiting for her to get sick to take over the garage. "Don't want some kid foolin' around where he ain't able...."
Vyvian's brow lifts at that. "Don't you walk a risky road?" She pauses and her expression grows a bit more serious. "Metal men a big problem around here? Been hearin' some things. And after.." She pauses, glancing towards Cali briefly before her words shift. "..hard to make heads nor tails outta most a the talk around here."
"We were .. dealing with them. Once and for all, I hope," Atticus says as he smiles at Cali. "It's fine. I'm fine. OK?" he murmurs. "And I was thinking someone we know. I should know more today, I can let you know," he adds as he brushes her hair some more with his fingers. "We've had some problems with them the last year or so," he tells Vyvian.
His small touches seem to help, and Caliopa relaxes into the pillows, letting him be soothing, and biggest deal of all, trusting him to pick someone for her beloved garage. The shift is spotted though and she gives Vyvian a slightly perplexed look, wondering what the lizardwoman would have said. "Them robots been an awful..." She trails off, letting the others talk as she curls up, the exhaustion winning out.
Vyvian nods her head in response to Atticus' words. "Well, hopefully that's all done then. Guess I know who to tell if I see more of em then." Her grin rises again and she cants her head a little, eyes flicking towards Cali a moment before she focuses on Atticus again. "Suppose I'd best be going, just wanted to give a visit and see how she was doing.
Atticus smiles, "They were awful. I'm hoping it's done now," he says as he kisses Cali's cheek and strokes her hair. "Just rest. When you feel better I brought a machine for oyu to look over," he murmurs to her before replying to Vyv. "Thank you. You can stay as long as you want, you know."
A spark of interest in the machine shows in her brown eyes, and for a moment it looks as if she is going to try to do it now, but exhaustion does win the day and she lets her eyelids close. Almost immediately, a good healing sleep takes her and she is resting.
Vyvian nods her head in response to that. "Yeah, I know it. Nice folks always say it, but best time to rest is when you got quiet and when I get going I can just jabber on all day 'bout nothin'." She looks towards Cali. "You get better Morsel. Might be that I'll come by again, see how you're doin'." She then looks to Atticus and nods a little. "Don't let yourself get stir crazy now." She grins and turns, tail sweeping lightly behind her as she heads for the door.
Atticus grins, "I won't. Take care, Nice to meet you," he notes as he pulls the blanket over Cali, getting her settled before he turns to his bag of breakfast tacos with a wince. Tags: abigail, atticus, caliopa, vyvian
