Daidō Shōi, Part VII

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delilah_icon.gif else_icon.gif

Scene Title Daidō Shōi, Part VII
Synopsis When Delilah finally explains to Else who the mysterious Kensei at the hospital is, the woman who writes the future learns of a man who's been there. Also, an auspicious coincidence brings Delilah one step closer to a future that never will be.
Date April 15, 2010

Coler-Goldwater Hospital


"Cocksucker you sunk m'battleship again!"

This is a hospital, not a dive bar. Else Kjelstrom needs to learn to mind her tongue.

Grimacing as she gets a scowl from one of the distant nurses, the blonde prophet offers an askance look over the top of the battleship board to Delilah, nose wrinkling and flannel-clad legs folded beneath her in the plastic chair. "Doc's say m'gonna' be out've here by Monday. You got sick 'fore me, didn't you? Why're you still all pukes an' tummytwists? Y'don't think that whole reinfection thing they was talking about's actually happened, do ya?"

In the day room of the Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital most of the days have been line this, with Delilah and Else playing board games and drawing fanciful phallices in obscene games of pictionary and wheeling one anonymous Hiro Nakamura — better known around this hospital as Kensei — around on his time out from his room. The last two days have been more sobering though, and the revelation that Hiro's struggling with the virus has weighed on the two young women.

"Who d;you think a;should tell about this when a'get out?" Else's dark brows lift and the waifish blonde leans back against her chair, long and bony fingers folded in her lap. "M'not sure how t'even like…" There's a huffed sigh from the blonde, sending a lock of hair up from her forehead.

"Him, or about the hospital?" Delilah, even after winning (again) seems somewhat distracted by obviously bigger things like Hiro being in a state of constant danger. She's grown attached to him in such a short time, perhaps as she finds it easy to try and take further care of him while the nurses aren't. They've become quite the gang about town, though- most people know Delilah by now- and more than one is sad that she and Else are seemingly getting better enough to leave.

"I'm trying to decide what to do about him. We can't just leave him here, but we'll have to go. I might stay here on Roosevelt while he's in here, I guess, keep an eye out for him. He doesn't have anyone else 'sides us, really."

"Him," Else notes rather matter-of-factly. "Ain't nothin' special goin' on here 'sides from people actually gettin' better from bein' sick. Besides, our little crazy samurai buddy might know somebody on'na outside, an' if you think he might be in trouble, well, s'our job, in'nit?" Furrowing her brows, Else slouches forward and rests her arms on the table, letting her forehead come down to gently rest on the tray of the battleship game with a clatter of the plastic pieces.

"You know, there's a lot've people still down at Summer Meadows. They're puttin' people up there voluntarially, for free to I think. But if you've got a job, an' you don't mind havin' a flat-mate," there's a crack of a smile from Else, "I've been thinkin' about getting a place at the Octagon. You can see if from the front lobby, s'that big towery buildin' south've the hospital. I've got plenty'a money saved up from my record deal before I went all, native."

Else bubbles out a laugh at that comment, nose wrinkling. "If you don' mind pitchin' in, we could get a big three bedroom there fer less than you could rent a studio on Manhattan for. They're practically givin' rooms there away. It'd be fantastic."

"Maybe. I was just hoping to maybe couch surf, but if I can have some peace and quiet that'd be good too." Delilah laughs a little at Else's face, moreso than what she's talking about. "And- he knows a lot of people- I should- probably tell you who he really is, huh?" The redhead sighs a little, picking at the edge of the battleship board. After a moment, she leans in, considering her words very carefully before speaking in a hushed voice to Else. She has come to trust this particular oracle of late, and there is no reason that she cannot trust Else now.

"His power is temporal manipulation. Means he is able to travel through space and time. His real name is Hiro Nakamura, and he's one of the most wanted men in the world. He is also our ally- and our friend." Our, Else. Not just them- the weight of the admission is easy to realize- she means them, the Ferry, Phoenix, whoever simply wants the world to be a good one.

For the barest of moments, Else is staring blankly at Delilah, her dark brows lower and mouth opens, tongue slowly slides across her lips and then she just bursts out laughing, shaking her head and smiling, lifting one hand up to point a waggling finger at the redhead. "You almost had me there for a sec, time travelhoo boy wouldn't that be a gas right? I'll just zip in m'Delorean and go back t'fix the past yeah?" Snorting out a laugh Else slouches back in her chair, smiling crookedly.

"If he could time travel why hasn't he come back in time to get his dumb ass out've this hospital yet eh? Or— I dunno, gone back so he doesn't get sick er' however tha' works?" There's a furrow of Else's brows, nose wrikling again. "I think if I could go back in time I'd never take that first hit of Refrain… tha' shit screwed me up somethin' fierce, let me tell you."

Shaking her head slowly, another laugh bubbles up from Else as she casts a side-long look at Delilah. "Time travel," she says with a snorted giggle.
Delilah sits there with a look of utmost defiance on her face- her chin is set, slightly jutting, and the otherwise smooth skin of her brow is wrinkled in displeasure. She stares at Else, all kinds of embarrassed and really- kinda angry. "I didn't say I knew why he does anything.

"But he always has a reason. Besides, how do you know that this one isn't the future one?" The redhead gets a bit too defiant for a moment, before she realizes she has to collect her anger and squash it. From the looks of her, though, she was being Completely and Totally Serious.

Once again Else is frozen in scrutiny of Delilah, brows furrowed and head quirked to the side. This time though, she starts to laugh but stops herself, looking over to the empty spot by the windows where Hiro would normally be seated in his wheelchair, then back to Delilah. "You're… you're not fuckin' with me like about gullible an' the dictionary?" There's a crease of the blonde's brows, the barest moment of frustration there for falling for that. "Then— then he really is a fuckin' time traveler?" It's whispered, that term, as if the nurses are secretly time cops trying to keep the flow of history intact by keeping a delusional Japanese man in the hospital.

"Holy fuckin' shit I— why— " Else's jaw practically hits the floor, brown eyes wandering side to side as she lifts one hand to cover her mouth, "Yer serious. I— we've gotta' tell somebody…" Else's conspiratorial tone tuens into more of a hiss as she leans over the game of battleship.

"We got a time traveler workin' with us an' nobody tells me? Tha's amazin', I wanna' go see dinosaurs an' the future an' fuckin' pirates when he's better." Somehow, this conversation has turned Else into a kid in a temporal candy store.

Delilah holds up her palms to try and dissuade Else from getting too excited. Settle down. "This is all exactly why I haven't said anything. He's in so much danger from being sick that I can't risk calling someone. He needs to get better, and nobody I know has the capacity better than a hospital." Dee sits straighter, reaching out a hand to try and put it onto Else's over the table. "And with the giant backlog with fingerprinting and everything, it'd still take them weeks to identify some poor John Doe in a hospital with the flu, no family, no nothing. While he is in this limbo and while he's this sick- this is one of the safest places he can possibly be.

"But once we're better, we can't watch out for him, and I don't know what to do. That's why I want to stay nearby for now, so I can make sure he's okay. Though once he's able, I know that somehow we have to get him out of here. There's always waiting for him to get better like us, but I dunno if I'd be better safe than sorry and should tell someone. We have a couple teleporters, and Daphne with her power is a speedster- but other than that I don't know how to help him. I can't just call Cat or something- there'd be an alert and then everyone would be falling over themselves, you know?"

"Yeah Cat'd be fallin' all over herself to try an' prove a point tha' might not even be right." Else notes with a crooked smile, "Well, M'out of here on mon'ay, you say there's a speedy girl, yeah? That's the blonde one with all'a the freckles who was at the sickhouse with me? I can try'n get in touch with her an' at least let her know, but tell'er to keep it on the down-low." Wringing her hands, the notion of a man who can slip into the past and future being at stake and two young woman who have dubious qualifications to save the world being the only ones who know he's in peril seems…

"This's like somethin' out've a movie y'know?" Else snorts and shakes her head, only now noticing the nurses gathered at the back door over Dee's shoulder discussing something, and one of the hospital physicians standing there in the conversation. "Uh-oh, the hens're cluckin'." Squinting as she sits up straighter in her seat, Else looks to be considering jwhat they're up to, but when a white-jacketed doctor starts making his way for their table Else hunches back down and gives Delilah a look with raised brows.

"Miss Trafford?" Comes the voice of Doctor Barington on his way over, folded held up against his chest, "We… received the results of your blood test back and— " there's a faint smile afforded to Else, blue eyes settled on her before a moment before they're back on Delilah. "Would you mind coming and talking with me for a moment?"

"Yeah. Please. If anyone can at least check in on him at intervals as much as she wants- It would be Daphne. Please find her." Delilah is able to see the reaction of Else towards the doctors once she realizes that there's one hovering there over her shoulder. She starts a little, despite the other girl's half-warning, turning herself to look up at the middle-aged man when he stops beside them. "Didn't catch it again, did I?" The redhead laughs brightly, as if they had not just been talking about something so serious- time rogues and all. "Yeah, sure, sure."

Delilah wags her hands limply, shuffling out of her chair to go with the doctor. She gives Else a look to say 'be back in a minute', and a wiggle of her fingers in the air. They were mostly done, but if Else has any questions she should really answer them.

Doctor Barrington doesn't take Delilah far, just out of earshot of Else and over to the windows, offering the redhead an awkward smile. He's not one of her normal doctors, and had Delilah the presence of mind to look at the tag on his jacket she might have been able to brace herself for what comes next. "Like I said miss Trafford the ah, the results from your blood work came back… we figured out what was wrong, but thankfully it's nothing to worry about. Given the answers on the forms you filled out while youw ere admitted we— " the doctor offers a faint smile, "well we can only assume you didn't know."

Lifting up a hand to rest on Delilah's shoulder, Doctor Barrington offers the redhead's arm a gentle squeeze. "It was morning sickness, You're… just a little over two months pregnant." Nodding his head slowly, Doctor Barrington lifts his busy black brows and seems a bit awkward when he adds; "Congratulations."

It doesn't seem like she has the presence of mind for anything lately- if she sees his identification, it is probably too little too late. No, it is. What didn't she know when she filled out-

- Obstetrician -

- the papers?

Delilah can hear him plain as day, but is she listening? That is questionable. Her expression flattens into something not unlike a cold slate, and she stares across at Barrington with her very still brown eyes. They flicker only once when she glances down at the tag on his chest, as if expecting it to warp into Gastroenterologist . Her tongue fidgets on the inside of her mouth, running silently over her teeth. Eventually, she does breathe out, wetting her lips and setting her jaw before nodding once to Barrington. Then, she walks away- back to the table she shares so often with Else- and sits down in the chair that is still warm from her rising. Does the world sound muffled to you? Blood rushing in the ears? Really?

"Find Daphne, okay? You have to."

Behind where Delilah is now sitting, Doctor Barrington clears his throat awkwardly and lifts his glasses up, sliding them off of his face and polishing one lens with the front of his lab coat, then slides the glasses back on and slouches his shoulders down, looking over to one of the nurses and shaking his head before quietly moving back to them, likely to give instructions regarding Delilah's condition.

"So, wha's the pronosis?" Else asks with a raise of dark brows, "Ol' doctor there looks like you sucker-punched 'im in the breadbox." There's the flash of Else's smile as she leans forward, hands resting in front of the Battleship set. "So, d'you get infected again, destined to stay here as Hiro's guardian ginger?"

There's a waggle of Else's brows at that, though her teasing smile seems to fade just a touch when she sees how deadpan Delilah looks. "Dee?" Else glances back at the doctor, then turns her focus back to the redhead again. "Dee— was— was it bad?"
Delilah's hands are on the edge of the table, fingers tapping randomly at the flat space. She has her lips pulled in, thoughtful, though yes- as dead pan as she can manage to get, considering. Her tapping slows while she looks at Else speak, a small smile curving at the ends of her lips. It flickers on- off- on. "No, it wasn't- not bad, but-" Suffice to say, it's already obvious it was unexpected. Overwhelming. Life altering, to be quite frank. Somehow, Delilah is still sitting up- maybe it's just how she is. Whatever the reason, she looks completely bewildered all of a sudden, melting away from the forcibly neutral expression.

"'M got morning sickness, Else, that's all." Don't worry, it's nothing life threatening.

There's an incongruent sigh of relief from Else as her eyes close and shoulders slouch, "Oh, a'thought it was goin' t'be someth— " brown eyes snap open focused on Delilah, lips parted and her brows lifted all the way to her blonde hairline. She just stares at Delilah, lips parted and color draining out of her face, moving to awkwardly fold the Battleship board down as best as she can, leaning so far forward in her chair that she's practically crawling on the table as she stretches across and takes one of the redhead's hands in hers.

"Oh— mygod," she slurs those two words into one, "ohmygod," now three into one, "ohmyfuckin'god" her secret ability is mangling English, "Dee," Else practically hisses, "Who's the lucky da'?"

Probably not the best question.

All Delilah can do to keep Else from flying into the air or something is really just to allow her to grab whatever she wants, and laugh half-sanely back at her. Smiling, smiling, stay reasonably normal. It's proving so hard a thing to do, though so simple. "Cool it, sit down. You're making people stare." Because that is what normal people worry about! Delilah takes in a long breath and lets it out again.

"Well." She would say she doesn't know, but math isn't hard. "It's too early for one and- right on the button for the other." Else doesn't know him, does she? Maybe she should let Else think she's a slattern for a bit.

"Oh Delilah," Else chides with a squeeze of the redhead's hand, "it's okay maybe we can tell mister Kensei it's his and he can help you go back in time and smack the daddy 'round till he puts on a rubber, yeah? That sounds like a good legitimate use of time powers, right?" There's a awkward quirk to Else's smile as she slouches back down into her seat, looking down at the board game of battleship, then back up to Delilah "An' I was gonna ask you t'play Life with me next, too."

"Guess that's prolly' right out."


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