Participants:
| Scene Title | Apples to… |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kaylee visits "Doctor Lynwood" for advisement on her condition. Odessa tells her to get outta Dodge and sends the girl to an unlikely ally. |
| Date | September 28, 2009 |
Fort Greene - #404
404 Description Not Found
She has been avoiding doing as she was told to by Huruma, but Kaylee knows she can't much longer. After a night at Grim's, the blonde knows that her suspicions might be true. Of course, her pain medication is almost to the point it's not doing the job and she has to see Adam. So in a desperate move, she decides to call Dr. Brooke Lynwood for an appointment.
She knocks lightly on the door of where she was told to go. And arm rests around her middle and her shoulders are hunched slightly against the dull ache. As she waits for an answer, fingers reach up to brush hair out of her face, pulling it from where it clings to her skin where moisture gathered. The walking is getting to be a work out. There is no doubt she'll look worse then she did when Odessa saw her last.
The door opens and Kaylee is met with the somewhat familiar face that she knows as Brooke Lynwood's, even if the hair colour has changed. Once more a golden blonde, Odessa ushers Kaylee in with a surprised and concerned expression. "Good gracious. Get in here and sit down somewhere comfortable. You look awful." There's no bother mincing words. It's not like Kaylee doesn't know she looks awful, after all.
Odessa breezes from the living area to the kitchen table, where she gathers up a leather satchel - her supplies. "No fear of needles, I hope? From the look of you, you could use some morphine." And Doctor Lynwood has plenty on hand.
"Yeah.. I probably look as bad as I feel." Kaylee manages to say with a small smirk. "And I was hoping you have something better." She steps into the apartment, pulling out the pill bottles, the labels somewhat worn. "The pain pills are starting to not do it anymore." She drops onto the couch and actually slides sideways to lay down without permission, with a groan. "I was doing really good, but… yeah… I've got a problem." She sighs and turns her head to look at the woman, "And no I don't have an aversion to needles… though… not sure Morphine is on my list of safe drugs." She looks concerned… "Anything that opens my mind.. or kinda… makes my head all funny.. makes me loose control of my brain.. It can hurt me. Alcohol does it too."
Odessa frowns at the needle she was preparing and then recaps it, slipping it back into her bag. "I'll have to see what I have left in my stores for you, then." For now, the doctor contents herself with checking the other girl's vitals. "Are you any closer yourself to figuring out what's causing this? Without proper equipment, I can't study your condition the way I normally would like. It doesn't seem… natural to me." Odessa falls silent, watching the second hand of a watch on a well-worn red leather band.
"Thanks.. I just try to avoid ending up in a coma again." Kaylee chuckles, though there is no humor in it. She pushes herself up to a sitting position so that Odessa can do her thing. The question, makes Kaylee turn thoughtful and then uncertain. "I have a theory… but I need Adam not to know." She gives the other woman a pleading look. "I have to tell him I'm dying.. but I don't know for sure if what I think it is.. is true and he… might not take it too well."
Odessa's cheeks puff out as she listens to what Kaylee has to say, and then she considers the options in front of her. "Knowing Adam as well as I do… What is this about? Some sort of sentimentality? Having to make peace before you die?" She pauses and adds quickly, "Not that I have any intention of letting you die."
"He'd be pretty pissed he knows I told you.." Kaylee starts out with a worried look. "However, considering what's happening.." There is no finishing that sentence.. She just cuts it off right there and collects her thoughts. "Los Angeles.. We went there. There was a woman there. Susan.. um…Susan Amen.. no.. Amman! Someone from his past. And he had me check to see if what she said to him was true." Pausing in her tales, she watches Odessa, taking a deep breath.. "Well.. when I got past her defenses.. She was thinking all these things.. 'Don't trust Adam.. Ask him why he was locked away.' something about some virus too.." There is a small frown as she talks, her eyes sort of staring off into nothing. "Sabrina, Adam's assistant says her ability is persuasion…. Though I still trust Adam exclusively. So I don't know if she was just thinking it.. or if she was putting something in my brain while she said that… " She trails off focusing on the doctor and doesn't say anymore.
There's an unmistakeable flash in Odessa's eyes when Kaylee speaks the word virus. She smiles faintly and then gently leans the younger girl back on the couch again. She rises from her crouch in front of the sofa and slips away to the kitchen to rummage through a cabinet positioned over the centre island. Though Kaylee can't see the contents of the cupboard, she can hear the familiar rattle of pill bottles. "You didn't go into all of this thinking that Adam was a saint, did you?"
"No one is a saint." Kaylee counters blandly, laying there, eyes on the ceiling. "Not even me. I mean.. When my ability showed itself for the first time.. Some boys were going to.. well.. Lets just say it wasn't good.. and I told one of them to go drown in a lake." Her voice is soft as she says the next, "He did." She frowns a bit and shakes her head slowly, moving to tuck a hand behind her head.
"But Adam did save me. He's been taking care of me." Kaylee starts off quickly defending the man. "When we were in LA.. He told me that he saw me as family, like a daughter. And he's always treated me so much better the any other guy." The fingers of her other hand lift off her stomach a bit, "I haven't had reason to doubt him and I trust him." Of course, as soon as she gets that familiar feeling when talking about him, a fresh lance of pain hits her.. she barely contains the shape hiss of breath, her stomach clenching a bit. "He's… " Her voice sounds strained now as she speaks. "..been really good to me."
"If you're implying what I think you're implying that boy was thinking, then he probably deserved it." There was a time when Odessa Knutson had convinced her that all boys thought that way. Sometimes she wonders if it isn't true still. "You didn't know what you were capable of yet. You weren't to blame."
"Adam's not who you think he is," Odessa's quick to explain to Kaylee, finally settling on a bottle of medication and shaking out two pills. "He was locked up for good reason." And so was I. "If you aren't in this with him to change the world, then the safest place for you to be is out." After filling a glass with cool water from a pitcher in the fridge, doctor returns to patient to administer the painkillers. "Here. This should help." Odessa crouches on the floor again in front of Kaylee. "Listen, Adam can be good. I'm sure he's been good to you, same as he's been good to me. But you need to know, there are some bad people tracking him down right now, Kaylee. They found me, and if I didn't have history with one of them, I wouldn't have gotten the warning."
Pale lips press together and Odessa glances about the room almost as if she's worried someone else might hear her. "They're dangerous. They want one thing, and they don't care who's caught in the crossfire. If you want to get better, you need to seriously consider putting distance between yourself and Adam."
If only you knew. Is the thought that crosses Kaylee's mind as she remembers the last time she used her ability to do a very bad thing (tm). "Yeah well.. seems like all men do.. except for Adam…and maybe Grim." She frowns a bit looking uncertain.
The doctor's words drag her attention fully to her. She sits up again so that she can take the pills with a thankful look. "Where would I go? This is kind of my home.. He and the group have become my family." She takes a moment to toss back the medication and take a sip of the water to wash it down. "I think it would hurt him if I go.. I know when I saw him in the casino.. and realized he saw me.. He didn't look happy then either." She gives a small shake of her head. "He'd look for me."
Right. Like he looked for me. "No he won't. Not if I tell him I sent you away for your own good. For your health. He knows we have trouble brewing. And… I think I know someone who can find you a new home. Maybe you'll even get a new family out of it." Odessa forces a smile for a moment, but then it quickly flips into a frown.
"Just listen to me, okay? I don't care about anybody. Ever. I don't usually bother giving people painkillers. I don't bother making sure they're comfortable. I didn't care if my patients were in pain, so long as they were on the mend and I didn't have to file extra paperwork." It's brutal, but it's the truth. Even now, Odessa can't quite comprehend why she's changed. "I'm telling you, you need to get out, and you need to listen to me when I tell you to do it. You need to do it. These people that are after Adam, if they find you? They'll lock you up just like they did him. And they'll pump you full of drugs that take away your ability. And that's if they don't just shoot you instead." Blonde hair falls in the woman's face as she shakes her head. "I don't want to see that happen to you. You seem like a really sweet girl. You don't deserve to rot in a cell."
Dropping back to lay on the couch, Kaylee has a pained look on her face. "Shit." The word is said sharply, and repeats several times. Hands moves to cover her face as the reality of it all hits her. And if there is one thing about Kaylee, she's loyal to a fault. "What about Adam? What about the others? How would it look if I just abandon them to whatever is going to happen?" Of course, they have been treating her like the baby. Sheltering her, but that doesn't stop her from wanting to help.. though, most would feed her to the wolves without blinking. "Dammit." She murmurs shaking her head.
"He'll be so mad at me." She almost sounds younger then she is as she utter those words. She sounds so torn and confused. She doesn't want to die, but…
"He won't be mad. I promise you." Odessa climbs to her feet again, this time to go run cold water over a cloth. "If he cares for you at all, then he wants you to be safe. If that means you need to go into hiding for a while, he'll understand that. If you're somewhere safe, then he doesn't need to worry about protecting you while he also has to worry about protecting himself." She returns with the rag and rests it on Kaylee's forehead. "When you leave here, don't go directly to him. Those people know that I'm here, and they might follow you. Don't lead them to him, in case they don't already know you're with him."
Nervously, Odessa wrings her hands together, pacing the living room. "I can try to buy you a pass, but I can't guarantee it." She pauses and adds, "And it'll only be good if you stay away from him."
Her eyes close some at the cloth on her forehead Kaylee frowns a bit. "I — just don't know anywhere to go. Only people I really know is Adam and his gang." She trails off and turns thoughtful, "I don't think he'll let me go. I'm an asset." A hand presses to the cloth so that she can turn her head to look at Dr. Brooke. "He's put Huruma in charge of training me, she showed up at my apartment. He wants me trained to be better at what I do for him. I've been somewhat of a failure to him in that department." Kaylee looks embarrassed admitting that. "I can get into peoples heads sometimes, but never when he needs it…"
"He sent Huruma?" A thousand images swim through Odessa's mind of her knowledge of the feral woman. Oh gosh, she has your scent. I'd pray for you if I believed in a god. "I have a friend who can help you. She'll give you a place to stay. Food, clothing. Everything you need. You need to focus on you, not Adam and his crusade. You leave him to me, you understand? I'll make sure he knows you left with the utmost reluctance."
"Yeah.. he did." Kaylee affirms, slowly drawing the cloth off her forehead, letting it rest against her stomach. That thought from the doctor catch her attention, but she doesn't say anything. "She is to be the one to train me." She repeats again, though she's curious. Her eyes hood some as she peers at the woman, "Why do I feel like I'm getting everything?" She pushes herself to sit, sliding her feet to the floor, her body hunching over for a moment since the medication takes time. There is a slight strain her her voice again. "Grim wants me to stop putting faith in him.. Thinks it's what's killing me." There is a grimace and a sigh. "You really think this is what I need?"
"I do. You need to get out. The sooner the better." Odessa fishes a pad of paper and a pen off an end table and writes down an address. "Go to this address and find a woman there named Eileen. You tell her I sent you and explain what's going on. She'll help you…" She pauses for a moment to think.
"Bring her an apple. She'll understand."
"If it wasn't for the fact that might nights are horrible.. and I'm feeling like crap." Kaylee glances at the door and nods in that direction. "If getting up here wasn't a struggle.. I'd tell you.. you were full of crap." Reaching for the paper, her hand is visibly trembling, and the paper crinkles slightly as her fingers grasp it. "If it wasn't for all that and Grim…. I wouldn't be taking your word for it." She glances at the address and frowns a bit. "God… I hope he understands. I just don't know what to do, I'm no good to him dead… and I really don't want to die."
"For now, you will have to take my word for it," Odessa murmurs. She puts out a hand, "Stay there. I'll call you a cab." She goes to retrieve her cell phone from the kitchen table. "You're going to be okay, Kaylee. Just listen to me, and I promise you're going to be fine."
"Thank you. A quick trip home to get some stuff and I'll go there. I'm sure I have an apple in the fridge." Kaylee says genuinely, her lip tugs into that small smile. She holds up the paper and looks worried, "I hope your right about this." Then it's shoved into her pocket and then after a moment the pills as well, the painkillers and of course the nausea medicine. Shaking hands are folded as she leans forward to let her elbows rest against her knees. Her lips press against her folds hand as the worry of what she's about to do threatens to consume her. She was going to leave… Never did she think it would feel like this. Hopefully, she's doing the right thing.