Participants:
| Scene Title | Call for Help |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After Lola is attacked leaving the d'Sarthe opening, she reaches out for help. |
| Date | September 02, 2010 |
Hospital room
It's long after the party's ended, and Cardinal's just getting in. Not 'home' at Elisabeth's place but at the Redbird Security building, the foyer unlit as the door swings closed behind him. He doesn't bother turning them on. It's not as if he needs them, and after having been exposed to Logan's chemical influence he'd like to find comfort in night-vision for a little while.
The encounter might have shaken him more than he's willing to let on.
He drops down into the receptionist's chair, leaning back and stretching, gaze swept over the foyer in silent contemplation.
Lola's been out like a light for awhile. They had to restart her heart at one point, after she was found in the bushes, half-concious and more or less dead. Her left arm and torso are wrapped up in preperation for skin grafts to come. But now, for a few, sweet moments, she is awake. Not that it's really all that sweet - even with all the painkillers they've got this Jane Doe on, she's still in horrible burning writing pain. But she's also too weak to do much about it.
With her good arm she's able to grab the phone after a few tries and she dials a number by heart.
Somebody better save her soon, because she's nowhere near out of trouble yet.
The quiet ring of a phone shatters Cardinal's peaceful contemplation, and he sighs, reaching into a pocket to pull out the phone. He regards it with a frown for a moment, as if tempted to ignore the call, then slides his thumb over the softly luminous 'answer' pad and brings it up to his head.
"Richard Cardinal."
"The hell are ya?" The voice is scratchy, tired, and weak. However, the accent is probably something that Cardinal can place easily. "Get yer ass over here," there's a pause for an unhealthy, unattractive weeze, "…an get me outta here for anybody figures out who Ah am." Well thats never a good call.
"I'm at the office," Cardinal replies dryly, kicking his feet up onto the desk, "Where are you and what the hell was with that stunt you pulled tonight? Seriously, I can't believe you showed up somewhere that half of Daniel's people was at…"
"Lecture me later," Lola counters. "How the hell was Ah supposed ta know Daniel's folks were runnin' the joint? Ya told me ta get a job with," Weeze. "…with d'Sarthe an Ah did. An next thing Ah know some bitch an her man's jumpin' me in the…." She lets out another cough, and Cardinal can hear the beeping heart moniter speeding up as she gets a little excited in the recanting of her tale. "Buncha folks Ah don' even recognize. Didja know they had ta restart mah heart? Sugar ya just…ya gotta c'mere." More coughing. She sounds terrible.
"Wait… what? Christ, are you— are you in the hospital?" Thump, thump, Cardinal's boots hit the floor and he's on his feet, "Jesus, Lola— tell me you weren't carrying around your fake ID and shit…"
"Ah'm clean, doncha worry, sugar. Ah had a bag with some clothes an a sweatshirt. Ditched the gun." She lets out a groan of pain, the drugs unable to keep her entirely under. "Got picked up an sent here. First time Ah done woke up now…ain' been able ta talk ta nobody yet but Ah'm sure that'll change kinda quick." She sits up a little, glancing out the door, but thus far she has been left alone. "First time Ah done been this high in awhile too. Don' even know what all this shit is theys pumpin' me with…"
"You haven't been reading the news much, have you…?" Cardinal's voice is tight, "Lola, if you've been through ICU, they've already tested your blood. You're non-registered, and you've got no valid fucking ID on you - if you had that fake one, you're doubly fucked. There's probably already a cop or two out in the waiting area planning to arrest you as soon as you're recovered. Christ."
She laughs. It's a low, pathetic sound, but it's a laugh. "Then they's got another thing comin', sugar. Ah ain' in no position t'be recovered fer quite some time now. An mah bracelet says Doe, Jane." She's quiet a moment, her breathing indicating pure exhaustion - the conversation itself is tiring. "Can' ya just…Ah dunno. Shadow yer ass in here an carry me out?"
"I can't take anything living with me." A breath's taken, exhaled, and Cardinal closes his eyes. "I can't get you out of this, Lola. Maybe somebody can, though, I'll make some calls and see what I can do. Maybe I can even make this work for us.
"Alright," Lola says. She doesn't argue, she doesn't fight. Either she's too tired or scared to do so. She does, in fact, get quite scared when things are going badly, adn this certainly constitutes badly. "What do Ah tell 'em, sug, when theys commin' in here askin' me things? It ain' gonna be hard ta play up the pain - shit, already heard 'em say Ah'm down fer a surgery on my arm next day or so, but they'll be askin' questions an Ah ain' got any fair answers ta give 'em."
"Just play up the pain," Cardinal says quietly, "I'll see what I can do. If you have to talk to them - fake amnesia. You don't remember a thing. Panic a little about it. It'll buy you some time." He pauses, "If I can get the people I hope to help; you don't know me. Kain left you for dead, you managed to get to a street doc to patch you up, and you've been on the run ever since."
"Ah know, sugar." Lola sounds oddly…honest. "Trust me, Ah don' know ya. Fact that Ah survived this fellah'll look good fer Kain. Ah survived 'em both by the looks of it, really. Ya'll done a lot fer me an Ah'm crazy, but Ah ain' the sort ta go forgettin' it." She lays back on the bed, and for a few moments all Cardinal can hear is her pained breathin'. "Ah'm real sorry, sugar. Ah didn' know who they were - Ah still don'. Ah didn' look at no one an talk ta no one - just dropped the phone an left as soon as Ah could. Ah dunno what happened…shouldn' a been nobody there ta know me."
"Daniel's people where there to check out the… competition," Cardinal says with a grunt of breath, "Whoever they were - I didn't see who followed you - they obviously recognized you. Just because you never met many of Linderman's people face to face doesn't mean they don't know yours. I know a lot of fucking people I've never met."
A breath's taken, exhaled, "I'll make some calls."
"Thanks, doll," Lola sighs again, thinking. "Dammit," she murmers, more to herself than him. "Now Ah'm have ta talk like a God Damned Yankee…." She's quiet again, her breathing low, pained. For a moment it may almost seem as though she's fallen asleep. But she hasn't, not yet anyway. "Night, sugar."
"Get some sleep," Cardinal sighs, his free hand rubbing against his forehead, "I'll see you when I see you." Then he clicks the phone off, looks at it for a moment, then skims down the contact list. "…yeah, this is Cardinal. Can I talk to Gideon?"