Hell and High Water

Participants:

anne_icon.gif james_icon.gif sonny_icon.gif

Scene Title Hell and High Water
Synopsis The cavalry is called in to help stabilize Teo's condition.
Date January 29, 2009

St. Luke's Hospital


It took a lot of doing, a lot of favours and no small amount of cash, but Sonny managed to secure a hospital room at St. Luke's. He also managed to get the use of an operating theatre and a fellow doctor so they could go in and operate to remove the pressure of the metal plate against Teo's brain. The plate's still there, he's still recovering from hypothermia, is still bruised and battered, but he's not dead. The young Italian is still in the 'danger zone.' The damage to his brain, fluid on the lungs and general shock from the cold water means that his condition could worsen at any moment.

Dr. Bianco at some point since Teo was brought in, managed to find a moment to change into a tie, white shirt, slacks and a white lab coat. It pays to look official and have the credentials to back it up. A guy in a t-shirt fussing over an injured man is a bit too conspicuous, but a doctor with a clipboard draws fewer questions if they do come from curious passers-by. Thanks to Hana, Teo has the false identity of Samuel Trent, and that's the name that the Ferrymen would be given in order to find him. No nurses enter his room, no other doctors, orderlies or maintenance personnel. The room is off-limits. Sonny will be doing nose and boob jobs for doctor's wives for months. But it's a small price to pay.

Sonny sits at a chair by Teo's bed. The various machines beep and troubling vital signs are displayed. The IV drips, blood seeps through bandages. It's not a pretty sight. The doc examines the unconscious young man as he goes over in his head for the dozenth time how he could use his ability to transfer an injury. But it's too dangerous. If the metal plate wasn't involved, maybe. But if he transferred the wound somewhere else, the plate might be caught in the suddenly repaired bone and make the situation worse. And he can't remove the plate without risking further brain injury. So he's at an impasse.

Anne, unfortunately, doesn't have the kind of official forte that would allow her to get access to a hospital room like this the normal way, but she got it on good authority that this Samuel Trent is /really/ Teo, and that he has a bullet in his brain, and damnit. That's not a good thing. If this really is Teo, then he needs help. So, Anne cleaned herself up as best she could, kept the conversation with the lady at the front desk as short as possible, and headed on up to the correct level.

When alone in the elevator, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She was feeling really sick, honestly. The fever kept down with a bucket of Tylenol, cuts and bruises on her face and neck, and likely other places as well, and she saw double half the time. Didn't even dare go teleporting, on account of the concussion. She'd end up in the middle of a wall most likely, instead of where she wanted to be. But this was /important/. She failed Teo, by not being able to protect Abby. She couldn't fail again.

There's a knock on the door before Anne steps on in, eyeing Sonny carefully. She hasn't actually met him before, she doesn't think, but. "Hey. Are you Sonny?" Cause if he's not, then well. That would be troublesome. "I heard.. Samuel was going to be in here, so I thought I'd… come check up on him."

Sonny looks up and blinks at the sound of another voice and Anne in the doorway. He rubs his face and stands. He looks exhausted, frankly. "I am," there's a smile, but it's forced. He steps towards her. "Who told you he was going to be here?" Just a subtle bit of security, though he can't imagine who'd ask for that false name if they weren't with the Ferrymen.

"You…don't look so well. Have a seat." He pulls out a chair, then reaches for a small light. He checks her pupil response and frowns. "…you shouldn't be up and around. You've got a concussion." He checks the nasty bump on her head. "I can help you with this, if you want. If you don't mind a pretty painful bruise on your side." Now it's the cheerful bedside manner taking over. The smile seems warmer somehow.

Anne mumbles the name of one of the caretakers at the ferrymen safehouse she was at, though she doesn't mind sitting down in the offered chair. "I know." She answers simply enough. "But I had to know it was really him, you see. Cause, I might know a way to get his brain stable enough so he doesn't.." Ow. Wince. "..you know. Die. And getting this on my side instead of.. what?" She blinks, once, and looks at him with some confusion. "Oh, well. If you can, then that would be better actually. I don't know where the healer I have in mind is right now, but. If it's somewhere weird, I can't go get him if I'm as dizzy as this."

She digs around in her pocket for her new phone, gets it up and browses through the numbers for James' cellphone. Theere it is, she hits the dial button and lifts the phone to her ear. "How bad off is he? It.. doesn't look good." But then he'd had a -bullet- in his -brain-. So. It wouldn't be.

"I have the ability to transfer the location of injuries. It wouldn't heal anything, but a bruise to your side is less serious than a concussion." Sonny closes his eyes and gently touches her forehead. He nods slowly. "Yes, I can move it. But it's going to…hurt, a fair bit for a minute." So he'll wait for her to finish her phone call.

He wanders back to Teo and checks the readouts, hands dropped into his pockets. "He's not stable. It…could go either way. He could slip into a coma, or his lungs could give out." A deep breath, "…I've done everything I can. If you know someone who could help…" he doesn't finish that, merely smiles an awkward sort of smile. "…Abby is the only one who could heal him, but he might not last until we find her."

Elsewhere. Omaha, Nebraska. A suburban, friendly looking area, with dogs named Spot and white picket fences and neighbors that keep track of their neighbors lawns. James cellphone starts to play a loud tune in his pocket. About halfway through the chorus of a certain Blue Oyster Cult classic, a hand closes around it, pulling it out of the darkness and lint of his leather jacket and up to check the number. ~Come on baby, don't fear the reaper~ 'Anne' blinks on the display, assuring him that it's at least not another telemarketer, and thusly James will answer quite cheerfully, "'ello Anne. Your friendly neighborhood emergency medical technician speaking." Well, as things go, that's -one- way to introduce yourself.

Anne nods to Sonny's last words there. HE might not last that long, and the worry taints her voice a bit as well. "Hey there, James." Already there, you can hear that it's not quite the regular social call, as it were. "I feel kind of awful calling you like this, and all, but. I need help." And the last time she saw him she needed help too, which is where the awful comes from. She's got quite a few dinners to buy him before she'll feel even about these things. "Oh, um." She shakes her head a little, trying to get some kind of politeness back into this all. "Er. I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything, mr. EMT." Well, it's a pretty good job for a healer, isn't it? At least Anne thinks so.

She also watches Sonny as he walks back to Teo's side, as well as the latter's IVs and bandages and other such things. It doesn't look good. And not lasting until Abby comes back? Yeah, if you say that to a guy hooked up to so many medical things, he can't be doing well at all.

There's a moment's pause, and the cheerful tone is wisked away in favor of a more professional one. "No, not at all." James straightens up on his end, one can assume from how he suddenly sounds all business, too well recalling the last time he saw her and what kind of help she needed then. "I'm at my parents house, nothing much to disturb here anyway. Just catching up on some reading. What's up, and how can I help?" From where he is now, he figures he can at least tell her where to start, where to go and who to talk to, if nothing else.

"Well.." Anne draws a deep breath, and exhales slowly. "A.. friend of mine was hurt pretty bad. Shot in the head, in fact." Which doesn't exactly sound like the kind of thing you can fix in a few moments, over the phone. "He's at the hospital and everything, but.. the doctors aren't sure he's going to make it. Actually, if he doesn't get help.. it's not looking very good at all. And I know, you could probably do more than them." Maybe not pick the bullet out, but there were other things. Give him the strength he needed to stay alive, just a while longer. "Please, I know it's a lot to ask and all, but." Given that Abby wasn't around, she really didn't have anyone else to ask.

James closes his eyes, lifting a hand to rub at his temple as he hears the news. Shot in the head. Well, no, that's nothing he can fix over the phone. He lets out a slow breath, and then shakes his head to himself. "I'm sorry to hear that, Anne. I'm taking the first flight back to New York tomorrow morning, I can come straight away then. But 'til then, there's not a lot I can do… I mean, you know I would." She must know he's not going to turn anyone needing help down, or she wouldn't have called him in the first place.

"Flight back to New York?" Anne pauses there, and frowns. "..where /are/ you, anyway? ANd… and. I don't know if he'll make it for that long, but. I could get you back faster, if you'd let me. If.. If you can tell me where you are." She's sounding a little on the panicky side, here, and starts to stand up as well. James likely wont see that part, but Sonny likely will. It's a slightly wobbly stand, though she seems determined, none the less. Damnit. Taking a flight back tomorrow means Teo might coma, and there's braindamage and all sorts of crap.

Sonny quickly steps towards Anne to press a hand gently on her shoulder to guide her back into the chair. "Take it easy," he murmurs, close enough to the phone that James might pick it up on the other end. "I'll take care of your head in a minute."

James blinks, and then realizes that 'at the parents' might not be as all-explaining to Anne as it is to him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm at my parent's house, in Omaha. I had to… I made a bit of a quick-trip." He might not be entirely able to tell her just why he is, even if where seems to be no problem at all. "In Nebraska." he then adds, as if to clarify further. "Are you alright, Anne?" He clearly heard something in the background, even if it didn't make out all of it.

Anne follows the guidance of the hand on her shoulder down into the chair again, and closes her eyes. "Nebraska? That's a bit away, yeah." And quite the travelling distance, when you've got a passenger. She bites her lip, and nods slowly. "If.. you'd give me the adress, I could come get you here now. And, I'll be okay, James. I promise. I've got someone with me that's keeping an eye on me, in appropriate doctorite fashion." There's a bit of a tease in her voice there, though it's honestly directed more to James than it is to Sonny. She doesn't know the latter enough for jokes, honestly.

Once he's confident that Anne isn't going to go flitting around the room, Sonny backs up and goes to check on Teo's vital signs again. He picks up a clipboard and makes a few notes, then glances back over to her. He then slides the clipboard back into its spot at the foot of the bed and returns to the chair he was sitting in when Anne entered.

"As long as you're alright.." James begins, and then he hesitates for a moment. Finally, he nods to himself, looking around the guestroom. "Alright." He rattles off an address, a crossing of streets not two minutes brisk walk from his parents home, "I can be there in a minute. But I don't really see how you're going to.." He cuts himself short there, instead turning to grab his backpack, already mostly packed. What's not in there can be sent for or picked up, later. "Just tell me what to do when I get there?"

Anne looks up at Sonny then, and nods slowly. "…give me twenty minutes, and then I'm sure I'll be there. Might be a bit sooner, but. Twenty minutes for sure." That'll give her some leeway in finding the exact spot once she gets to the right city, too, in case sh gets spun around. "And thank you, James. Honestly. Thank you." With that, she says her good byes and clicks the phone shut, tucking it away in her pocket and returning her attention to Sonny again. "Time for your part of this party then." She says with a bit of a smile. "And once I'm gone.. could you make sure there's nobody in here when I come back? It should be about.. thirty minutes or so after I leave, all things considered." She's not counting on being as quick as she normally is, and there might be landings or such in between. "What do I do now?"

Sonny blinks, but nods. "Uh, where are you going? I can send a car to pick up your friend. I have someone I can trust." As a matter of course, he doesn't get himself too deeply involved with Ferrymen dealings. The less he knows about everyone, the safer it is. But that means he's unaware of the nature of her ability. "Even after I move your injury, you won't be in any state to be going very far." It's doctorly concern, genuine but somewhat detached.
The doc then motions to the vacant bed beside Teo's. "You'd best lie down. It's going to be a shock. For a minute, it's going to feel like you have two injuries at once."

James nods, and as the goodbyes are dealt with, he turns his eyes to the time. Twenty minutes… should be enough to say whatever goodbyes he needs to and explain as much as he can on this side of the end. Then, he'll set out to be where he told Anne he'd meet her, and wait for… whatever might come. Even if he doesn't find it too likely that she'll come pick him up, herself. She must've mispoke.

"I'm going far enough away that you'd need an airplane to pick him up." Anne replies with a bit of a smile, though she winces a bit at the explanation of the procedure. Two injuries at once. Ow. Okay, so she wont really appriciate that bit. "…I should warn you, I'm honestly a big wuss when it comes to pain things. I complain a lot, but." She shruggs slightly, and gets up on her own two feet again. "Don't care about that, okay? I've had kids. I'll live." That kind of pain came with entirely different circumstances, but it didn't change the fact that birth hurt. A lot. Either way that goes, she obeys the doctor's orders, and lies down. C'moooon hurt.

"It will only be for a minute, promise." Sonny's kind smile makes a reappearance. He sets a hand on her forehead and the other touches her side, just above her hip. "Take a deep, deep breath, relax…" And then the area under his fingers starts to tingle. It's pleasant at first, then there's a sudden, sharp, stomach-churning bit of pain as she briefly has both concussion and injury to her side. When he's finished, her head is pain-free, replaced with a whole new injury to her left side.

"Stay still for a moment," he murmurs, then moves for a set of bandages. "You've got bruised ribs now, but there shouldn't be any internal bleeding. Standing will be difficult. But if I bandage you, it should give you more support and lessen the pain." Gently, he tugs up the bottom of her shirt and proceeds to bandage up her ribs with professional and efficient movements. "How's that?"

Anne stretches carefully, testing the bounds of her new injury. They're not very wide at all, if one wants to avoid pain, but. "Thanks, doc." She tells Sonny. "This cleared my head up a lot." She sits up, carefully, and tugs her shirt down over her fresh bandage. "Keep an eye on our boy while I'm gone." There's a bright smile fired off at the dear doctor, before she vanishes from sight. There's a light pop heard as air rushes in to fill the spot where there was an Anne a moment ago, but that is all. Then nothing happens, nothing, nothing… until Anne plops down in an alleyway, not far at all from where she was supposed to meet James. She leans against the wall and breathes hard for a few moments, takin deep slow breaths to get oxygen back in her body. Then she starts limping out to the meeting spot. "James?"

Sonny blinks in surprise at the sudden disappearance of Anne. It takes a moment for his brain to click forward and register just what happened. Ah. Teleporter. Now this makes sense. The doc moves over to the room door and clicks the lock, then moves back to continue monitoring Teo's vitals. They won't need the door if they're going to enter the way he thinks they are.

Standing at the corner, James is dressed not much different from when he answered the phone - flannel shirt, jeans, boots and leatherjacket, and his hat, which seems to be less uncommon in these here parts, and a backpack slung over his shoulder. He's waiting, waiting, offering a greeting to someone who knows his father driving by, waiting… and then, there's a voice that should start to fit in with the familiar ones, in James' book. He finds himself turning her way, gawking at Anne as she limps out of the alleyway, nothing short of dumbfounded as she, obviously, shows up where she said she would. "What…" He pauses, and then shakes his head, reaching out to offer her a hand and arm to lean on, because she's obviously not looking all that well. "Do I even want to know?"

And Anne doesn't have anything against leaning on James, that's for sure. If nothing else, she'll be restoring her share of pulling weight shortly, as she'll be dragging his ass back to New York. And possibly scaring him slightly on the way. "I don't know, honestly. But. You're kind of going to have to know, shortly. Care to come with me the way I came?" She nods her head slightly towards the alleyway she walked out of. "I realize this sounds like something from some kind of spymovie, or something." SHe adds with a tired laugh. "But. I really am worried about Teo," The same guy that was with her last time. "And.. if we're going to get you to him, you have to trust me on this one."

James offers up a grin, only barely touched by wryness, and then shakes his head, sighing, motioning with his free hand towards… wherever Anne came from. "You make this sound like I'm gonna get to try a space-elevator, or something." he murmurs, and then frowns at the mention of Teo. Crap. Why is it so often nice people ending up with bullets where they really, really shouldn't be? "I'm sorry. Sure. Let's go." A touch more sober in tone, he'll follow Anne, apparently prepared to trust her. "…but if it's going to hurt, I'd prefer you'd tell me now, rather than afterwards." Just so he can be prepared, and what not.

"It wont hurt for you." Anne replies with a slightly strained facial expression. "But damnit, someone had better give me a footrub when all of this is over." When they're in the alley again, she looks around for a moment to make sure nobody's there with them before she wraps both arms tightly around James. "Don't drop your luggage. It'll get windy and such in places. And don't squeeze me back too hard, my ribs are kind of bruised." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all the warning James is going to get before something wraps itself around his skin, a tightening sensation that locks him tightly to Anne. One moment later, they're high up in the air, falling towards the ground. They're only there for a second or two though, before the tightening comes back. And they're falling again, only the clouds, and the ground below, looks different. And it happens again. And again. And again. And through it all, Anne holds on to James as tightly as she can, almost shaking, until they finally land in a hospital room at Luke's hospital. Crash. Thud. Not a soft landing, for sure, though they haven't got as much momentum as the falling would've suggested.
Oh. And Anne is now bleeding from her nose, and shaking hysterically from the effort.

There's an intake of air, a gasp if you will, and then they're… James can't really explain it. They're falling! Only… not straight down, but more sideways, and slowly, and blinking, and… Once they are above New York, he recognizes some things, in whatever seconds there are between their moments of gravity pull, but the first thing that hits him when they arrive to their destination is the unmistakable smell of hospital. Even here at St. Lukes, it's there, and he has been here often enough to recognize it underneath the attempts to hide it. He works here, after all.

Landing heavily on the floor, he grabs on a little harder to the shaking Anne, staring straight ahead, his face frozen in something in between shock and terror as he tries to understand what just happened and not let the young woman fall to the floor. Finally, he spits out from a clenched jaw, "Let's not do that again!"

Sonny startles at the sudden sound of impact and the arrival out of nowhere of two people, one familiar, one not. "Jesus Ch…" he stops himself and falls back into doctor mode. He moves towards Anne as he imagines that flight put a strain on her previous injuries. The shaking and nose-bleeding are also a clue. He reaches down to help her up and guide her towards the empty bed. "Are you all right?" There's a hand on her wrist to check her pulse and the light is brought out again for pupil reactions. James is given a glance, but seeing that he has two patients instead of one, introductions will have to wait.

"N..not again…" Anne murmurs in reply to James, as she's lead off to the bed. She doesn't argue, and once she's on it she just kind of curls up there, holding herself tight. It's not that anything is really broken more than it was, but she's completely physically exhausted on top of a fever, so all she really needs right now is to rest. Be still. Preferably sleep for a long time. That kind of thing. "I'm telling you.. S-sonny… Lots of footrubs, f-for this one. And.. could I get.. a blanket or something? I'm c-cold." While Sonny and Anne have their attentions in one end of the room, James heads for Teo. He knows who it is, on account of having met him before. But even if he didn't, the whole thing with Teo having IVs all over the place is a clue. There's help here now, so Teo can keep his braincells.

Sonny takes a moment to brief James on Teo's condition, then returns to Anne with a blanket and a few quiet, kind words. He gives her some medication for fever and pain, then shuts off the light over her bed. He draws the curtains around it, then steps back.

And then, the highly inopportune page of his name over the intercom. He mutters a curse under his breath, then pushes fingers back through his hair. That means there's another fire to put out, more explanations or favours needing to be traded in order to keep the use of the hospital room. He steps up to James, murmurs, "I'll be back as quick as I can," then heads out into the corridor to go bribe a hospital administrator.

Like the sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives…
Or, at least the half of an hour that passes.
James has time to breathe a moment, putting away his backpack, hat and coat in a corner, and then he needs to push aside the events of the last five minutes for later. Focus on the here and now.
Gently, his fingers touches the sides of Teo's head, until he entirely cradles all of his head in his hands. A deep breath later, time doesn't matter so much, only the warmth radiating from his hands and that breathing continues. After a while, he needs to break, as gently as he put his hands there pulling his hands back, and then stumbling over towards a chair to sit down and replenish. So he can do it again, and not let Anne have all but killed them both for no good reason at all.

It takes a little while for Sonny to convince the hospital administrator that it's worth her while to not tell anyone about 'Samuel Trent' in room 402. He hinted that it might be somewhat mayoral, though so as not to be accused of lying, he never outright states it. A deal was struck. The hospital's short-staffed, especially with all the chaos and riots lately. The doc had to promise to work the ER and do rounds for a few days each week for the coming month.

He looks even more haggard when he pushes open the door again. Sonny takes a moment to check on the sleeping Anne, then moves towards Teo. He makes note of the vitals, then glances to James. "Hey. I don't think we've ever actually met. I'm Sonny Bianco." He talks in low tones and offers his hand out to the EMT.

Everyone's still alive, and that's always something. James barely glances up at the door as it opens, letting whomever it is check vitals in peace and quiet, but as the doctor speaks up, he realises that it's the man that left earlier. He pushes himself back up on his feet, takes the offered hand and smiles faintly. "James Harvard." he returns the exchange of names in equally hushed tones, showing no signs of recognizing the man. "I don't think we have, at least not formally. Names don't tend to be the important part at the ER entrance." And come to think of it, neither were faces, just scrubs and coats and whomever had the medical knowhow to keep the ones on the stretchers from dying.

"Thank you for coming, James. Do you know him?" Sonny glances to the weakened Teo. Lines of worry crease his face. He looks back to the EMT and attempts a smile. "Anne didn't tell me what it is exactly that you do?" The hushed tones continue, for the sake of the sleeping woman behind the curtain.

James follows the glance towards Teo, and then shakes his head a little, briefly. "We have met, once. Anne needed help, he carried her over to my place." The lines of worry tells him that it's likely that Sonny knows him well enough to worry, at least. "And I, well…" He sighs softly, straightening up and putting his hands at the small of his back for a moment. "According to the registration office, I share life-force. I don't heal, not like others can do at least, but.. whatever it is I do, I tend to keep people alive longer. Give them a chance to get better."

"He's a good man. And a brave one. However he got hurt, you can bet it through saving the rest of us." Sonny inhales deeply through his nostrils, then exhales. "Every little bit can help until we get ahold of the healer. She's the only one who can really help him. All we can hope to do is stabilize his condition." The doc walks up to Teo's bedside and gently checks his pulse. Odd, for the monitor displays it right there. "Things've gone to hell here, if you haven't been watching the news. Curfews and check points. Riots." A beat, "…but we're still here."

James cants his head, studying Sonny perhaps a moment longer than necessary, and then shakes his head a little, letting his hands fall back to his sides as he glances towards any window in the room. "No, I wasn't.. I mean, I know things weren't going entirely well, but being at the parents house, I didn't want them to hear too much.." They'd worry to death about William still being here, for one thing. There were a lot of explaining calls to make tonight, no doubt. He shakes his head again, and then runs a hand up along his face, watching the doctor check for vitals rather than just reading the monitor, and offers a quiet, "I don't know him, but he's strong. And he's gonna make it." Said with what confidence he can offer up, which is just about all he has left for the moment. "I'll rest a while, give him what I can, come back 'til she gets here. If we're thinking about the same 'she' here, and this is a friend of hers? I don't think hell or high water's gonna keep her away."


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January 29th: At What Cost?
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January 29th: Not A Cyborg Anymore
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