Participants:
| Scene Title | He Is Dead |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Liz checks in on Cassidy one last time before heading back to New York. |
| Date | September 11, 2009 |
Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County, Illinois
Still rather early in the morning, the hospital corridors are fairly quiet considering the time of day. The soft beep of monitors cut through the silence, as well as the occasional shuffle of nurse's feet. One room has a rather bored cop stationed outside it, his head droops forward now and then. It's a crappy duty really.
Inside the room is where Cassidy can be found. She's been sedated for the most part since the panic attack at the cabin. Her own monitor beeps softly with the rythmn of her heart, while IVs pump in any number of concoctions. On the farside from the door, Coren is passed out cold. Some point during the long night he asked for a sedative to allow him to finally rest. He's dead to the world really. Otherwise, he'd feel the light thread of anxiety from his partner. Cassidy is awake and watching him sleep, her expression slightly confused.
Elisabeth has been in and out all night, not getting much sleep herself. When she's not sitting in here keeping Coren company, she's checking up on Lola and putting in calls to New York. She's reasonably sure they're going to release some kind of statement with the early morning news. Carrying a cup of coffee with her, Elisabeth slips back into the room yet again, glancing at Coren as she does so. She isn't expecting to find Cassidy awake, and she startles a bit when she sees the redhead's eyes open. "Cass?" she asks gently.
Her head turns slowly towards Liz's voice, Cassidy almost doesn't see her.. but when she focus' on Liz, she actually seems to have a bit of a smile. She has to swallow first, but she does manages to say in voice scratchy from her ordeal. "Hey, Liz." Her eyes flick over to Coren, briefly before asking. "He's okay?" Pushing a button on her bed, the head of it slowly rises so she's sitting up more. "Even more so, are you okay?"
Setting her coffee cup down on the table, Elisabeth's strain is evident in her face — there are lines of exhaustion deep in her forehead. "I'm managing. Drugs help," she replies dryly. Cuz the Xanax is her best friend right now, although in all honesty…. being here has been FAR easier than being in New York. It makes her seriously consider the idea of a transfer. "I'm okay. I'm just…." She moves to put a hand, very hesitantly, into Cassidy's. "I'm so goddamn sorry we couldn't find you faster," she admits softly.
Hand turning to grasp the other woman's, the arm beyond it is a patch work of bandaids like the rest of her, of course thankfully the torso is covered by the gown. Cassidy's chin quivers a bit. "I… ah…" She bites her lower lip and looks down for a moment as she tries to compose herself. It takes a few moments, but even as she speaks her voice is choked with unshed tears. "He was pretty through… I… didn't think…." She stops herself. She grips the other woman's had hard. "It's okay. I'm out now." But there is some guilt there in her jumble of emotions.
Elisabeth says quietly, "And he's dead. Coren brought in a shooter. She blew his head off, Cassidy — and there was NOWHERE for him to go. He didn't have time to possess anyone else." Of that, she's dead certain. She holds Cassidy's hand tightly. "As soon as you're well enough to go back to New York, I already have a healer on standby…. if you want that. And I know someone who can … take the memories of this away, if you want that too." She'll knock on Matthew Parkman's door herself for this.
There is relief, mixed with a little doubt, as Cassidy only vaguely remembered much of the events. "I hope your right. God I hope so.." Her voices cracks and her jaw clenched against the surge of emotions. Brows drop a bit at the offer and again she's uncertain. "I'll think about the offer, Liz." She gives her friends a brighter smile, though it has a hard time reaching her eyes right now. "Right now, I'm just trying to keep myself convinced that this is real and trying not to… think too much about what happened." For obvious reasons.
Yeah… well, there's that too. "Take your time. Whatever time you need," Elisabeth says quietly. She glances toward the sleeping form of Coren and smiles faintly. She can't help it. Then she looks back at Cass. "Coren's got us on the redeye heading for New York. We need to get the shooter out of eyesight as quick as possible," she comments quietly. She doesn't let go of Cassidy's hand as she looks the redhead in the eyes. "I know where you are. If you need me, you call me." She jerks her head toward the snoring Brit. "I think he's afraid both of us in one place right now might just… feed the other's issues," she admits quietly. "And I'm not sure he's far wrong. So I'm going to bow to his judgment and go back to the city."
"I'm… sorry Liz." Cassidy murmurs after a moment. "Did he tell you…" she motions between the two of them. "Before you went in to get me.. he warn you about the thing between… you and me?" She feels guilty that her ability has roped yet another victim….Well, that's how she sees it anyhow. " I know… When I freaked…" Her cheeks redden a bit in embarrassment. "I… am really sorry you had to go through it, too… considering…" Red hair badly in need of a washing, veils her face, as she looks down. She suddenly gives a short sad little chuckle. "Figures we'd both end up with some major issues." She squeezes Liz's hand, tears suddenly threatening, "Thank you, for pushing through all your own rather nasty problems, to come get me. I can't even begin…" Unable to continue, A hand comes up to wipe at her tears as they start sliding down her cheeks, but where words fail, her emotions speak volumes for how grateful she is.
There's a faint grimace and Elisabeth says quietly, "Not really. Not until he briefed everyone else at the same time." That …. maybe someday, that will get dealt with. It's the least of the problems at this moment. Though for most people Elisabeth is more standoffish right now — even with Cassidy herself the day after — Elisabeth leans over and wraps an arm gently around Cassidy and rests her cheek on the redhead's crown. "It's going to be okay, Cass. You can do this. I swear it." Her own tears are instant and the anxiety itself held at bay only by the relief that Cassidy is alive and able to have this conversation at all. Elisabeth didn't expect to have this luxury — she was reasonably sure that we were screwed.
"Figures…" Cassidy says with a faint smile at how Liz found out about their own link. There is only a slight grimace when Liz puts an arm around her, but that's only cause of the twinge that her various wound give. They are absolutely everywhere, three days worth. "I know it will be." She says tearfully. "It's… going to take time to realize that sick bastard is dead. It's hard just hearing it. I just don't feel convinced." Leaning against the woman a bit, she's fighting her emotions again. "I started to doubt…" She can't make herself admit it, that she started to doubt they would ever come. Instead she pulls away leaning back against her bed again, "Anyhow, hopefully they won't keep me long. I… want to go home."
There's actually a faint smile at Cassidy's words, and Elisabeth releases her hug, keeping her hand in Cassidy's. She leans so she's at eye level, catching and holding Cassidy's gaze directly and lets the other woman feel her conviction and utter feral satisfaction at watching Azrael's head explode. "He is dead," she tells the redhead. "And there was no fucking way in hell that we were not coming for you. Not one." She pulled every resource she had, and Coren burned a lot of bridges behind him to get here. But it's worth it.
Something almost seems to relax in Cassidy when she feels those emotions as she looks back at her friend. There is so much relief that comes off Cassidy, her eyes closing against that feeling. "Thank God… I really didn't think that we'd ever figure a way to get him. I…. just feel bad for the guy he possessed." Even though that face would haunt her nightmare for sometime. "Probably for the best… Law doesn't protect the possessed yet." She tries to shift to sit up a bit more, a hiss of pain escaping, she says softly. "They said three days of the maximum dosage of morphine I could take… I'll have to be weaned off of it." She doesn't sound happy about that.
Elisabeth shrugs a little bit, helping Cass adjust herself as gently as she can. "Tell them you have access to an Evolved healer back home. Get them to put you on a plane as soon as possible…" She hesitates. "Because one of the healers I know? She can take away the dependence too. It just needs to be done… discreetly."
"Thanks.." Cassidy murmurs softly at the help, she sighs softly as she relaxes again. "I… don't know. There has been so many risks taken already. I'm afraid to take many more for a bit of vanity." She glances down at her self, the gown hiding all the bandages. "I don't know. We'll see Liz, I'm just.. afraid. I know the shits going to be bad when we get home. I think I need to avoid getting everyone buried deeper for something that will heal on it's own." As much as she hates what has been done to her. "At least for now." She smiles a bit. "Not the first time I've worn these scars… and besides." She glances over at Coren and smiles a bit lop-sided. "I've got Obi Wan over there to help me through it, as well as you." Though she says the words, a part of her doesn't believe she'll be able to handle it. It took her years to slowly get use to the disfiguring scars.
With a squeeze of Cassidy's hand, Elisabeth actually smiles. "Well, good on you that it doesn't require any subterfuge — the healer is registered. She's not part of the Dark Side, she just keeps herself low-key. So there's no need to worry about getting in deeper." She hesitates and then just laughs softly. "I think he's far more Anakin than ObiWan at this moment, Padme." Because BOY did he cross over to the Dark Side to save Cassidy. She winks and says softly, "I need to go. Gotta hustle our nameless shooter onto the plane. Call me, 'kay? I'll see you in a couple of days."
Cassidy almost seems reluctant to let go of Liz's hand, but she does with a small smirk. "Really now?" She asks, looking at her partner again as if in a new light. Then she looks worried, but she doesn't express that worry. "Yeah, I'll call you.." She turns her attention to Liz again, "Give us a call if you hear anything on Ivanov? He might have been a Fed, but he was one of us. And be careful, girl."
"I will," Elisabeth says softly, her worry for Felix deep and abiding. She knows what she suffered in just a couple of days. She's losing hope that Felix is still alive. But she buries that deep. "Get some sleep if you can," she says quietly, squeezing that hand once more. "Tell Coren I expect calls — multiple calls a day." She offers a faint, weary smile. And then she lets herself out.