Participants:
| Scene Title | Blank Slate |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | This scene takes place when Niki wakes up in the hospital with no memories of the past 2-ish years. Notes at the bottom explain a bit more. |
| Date | December 3, 2008 |
Today's the day that Elisabeth's stitches come out of the wound on her forehead. It's also, coincidentally, the day that she's planning on renewing her friendship with Niki…. the circumstances around this are so odd, though. She's had to work up a story in her head to explain her interest. But Liz is pretty sure she has it covered, for now. Whether she agrees with this or not is another story, but … well, she's gonna fight Jessica? Not yet. Once her stitches are pulled out, Elisabeth finds out the room number she needs and she slips down the hall to Niki's room. Standing in the doorway, she takes a moment to see if Niki's awake, and then she steps in. Her casted arm is still in its sling and her face is still healing from myriad cuts and bruises, so she must look a strange sight to the other blonde. "Hi," she offers gently.
The blonde in the bed is in hospital gown chic, which is to say not at all. She's got an IV in her arm, and looks up in surprise at the voice, moreso when she sees Elisabeth. It's likely to be an unnerving and possibly creepy sight; she looks back at Elisabeth without the faintest hint of recognition in her eyes. "Hello?"
It's …. strange. "Don't worry," Elisabeth says to Niki mildly. "You don't have to try to place me in your head." She moves forward to pull the chair nearer the bed. "I heard you were awake and thought maybe you could use a friendly face, though." She offers a small smile. "My name's Elisabeth Harrison. Liz. How're you feeling?"
The woman in the bed offers her non-IV'ed hand to shake. "Niki Sanders. And…as well as can be expected, I guess. Are you with the hospital?"
Elisabeth takes the hand, and then she shakes her head as she moves to sit down. "Nope. Just…. I guess you could call me a friend." She smiles a little. "I was near the scene of your accident… I helped you a little bit, and I tried to keep up with your case when it became obvious that you were going to be asleep for a while."
Niki blinks. "Oh…" her voice is soft. "D.L., Micah…they didn't…was it quick?" She grieves for both of them, but this is easier to grieve for than the truth of what happened.
Elisabeth reaches out and puts her hand on Niki's, holding tightly. She meets the other woman's eyes, her sympathy clear in her face. "Yes," she says firmly. "They never knew what happened. There was no pain." At least in that regard, she can be brutally honest with the woman she has begun to think of as a friend. "I'm sorry, Niki. More than I can say." Sorry for far more than the loss of the woman's husband and son… she's also sorry she's going to sit here and lie. But she tries to keep the lies to a bare minimum.
Niki nods. "It's…it's all right. It's not your fault. I just…it's a little overwhelming. I have no clue what I'm going to do when I get out of here."
Elisabeth grimaces a little. "Well… I think you have a couple of days before you're going to have to worry about that. Although I'm told you're in really good shape, they'll want to keep an eye on you. In the meantime… I can look into the situation for you, if you'd like. Check on what arrangements can be made and … I don't know. Help you get access to whatever bank accounts and insurance cards and all that stuff that you've got out there floating around. If you want, I mean." Crap. She hasn't a clue what Jessica's put in place for this. "I know there's got to be some information out there, it's just a matter of finding it. Asking the right people." *Hint*, Jessica… I'm going to need that info. Hrmph.
Niki smiles. "That would be great. I'm imagining my bank account is probably empty after a 2 year hospital stay, though."
THere's a bit of an apologetic shrug from Liz. "I'm afraid I don't know what they're doing… though it's possible that it's not. So far as I'm aware, you were not at fault in the accident, so the insurance companies may have battled it out. But I'll find out for you, I promise."
Niki nods. "It's all right. I'm…just glad to have someone to talk to, honestly. I mean, there's the nurses, but it's not the same thing."
Elisabeth nods to that. "So…. I know it's got to be a lot to take in. Do you…. do you have any idea what you want to do when you get out of here?
Niki breathes out a long sigh. "I'm not sure, honestly. I mean…I was always sort of a full-time mom. I'll have to find a job somewhere." A soft, wry smile. "Probably end up working in a store somewhere."
Elisabeth tilts her head and nods a bit. "I'm sure we'll be able to get you on your feet, Niki. I want you to feel free to call on me, okay? I… didn't get the impression that you knew many people in New York or anything." She smiles a little. "I know you don't know me from Adam either, but… "
Niki looks a little surprised. "No, no one, actually. Thank you. Thank you so much. This really means a lot." She even gets a little teary-eyed.
Squeezing the hand she holds in her own, Liz says softly, "You're a good person. You deserve a break." She smiles a little. "Now don't go getting all gooey and girly on me," she adds teasingly. "It'll be okay. We'll work it out. By the time you get out of here, I'll have figured out who has your information for you and we'll get you a place to stay and it'll be fine. One step at a time."
The scene previous to this, the log of which was lost in a computer crash, was of a surprise visit to Elisabeth from Jessica. In the scene, Jessica 'explained' that she was going to take Niki out of the Company's grasp, revert her to a time before they were trying to make Niki more like Jessica, and give Niki some peace. It was explained that all Niki would know of the deaths of D.L. and Micah would be that they were dead in a car accident, and Niki would have no memories of the interim. Jessica made it brutally clear that if Liz wanted to remain friends with Niki, that would be fine — Niki could use a friend — but if Liz in any way attempted to break through the mental block or tell Niki anything about Jessica or jog her memories, Elisabeth would be killed. In the interests of helping Niki and keeping an eye on the woman she has begun to think of as a friend, Liz agreed to the terms.
 December 3rd: Prisoner of War |
 December 3rd: Six Degrees of Separation... Not! |