Archie
Human
Departed
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched
Posts: 35
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Post by Archie on Mar 8, 2008 5:20:36 GMT
The whole situation was all very surreal Archie mused, as he lifted his head away from the injuries he was ever so gingerly dealing with at the sound of his name, offering Owen a quick smile and a ‘pleasure to meet you’, ignoring the way in which they were actually meeting. In no way was seeing someone for the first time ever with them covered in blood and a step away from dropping down dead in front of you a ‘pleasure’.
He looked back down from Owen’s face, focusing on all the blood again, trying not to winch or let the thoughts about plugging a dam with a single cork enter his mind. If Marion could be positive and have faith that this was going to work out then so could he. This wasn’t the first thing he had taken on faith that had seemed to go against what he knew but without a doubt it was certainly the strangest.
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Owen
Rogue Werewolf
Advertising Executive
All my talk of starting over, these words were never true.
Posts: 44
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Post by Owen on Mar 8, 2008 5:33:04 GMT
He had noticed the younger man — how young was he? He didn’t look old enough to be anyone’s assistant — but hadn’t even noticed that he didn’t already know him; it hadn’t crossed his mind that this was someone new, someone he didn’t know. Someone he was, frankly, making a terrible first impression with. He hadn’t even realised, and Marion’s introduction threw him, briefly taking him away from his own physical state and the near-blinding levels of pain originating from various points on his body.
“Hi,” he managed, a little breathlessly, drawing in a sharp breath when Archie, as he had been introduced, returned his attention to Owen’s chest. Hazel eyes found Marion’s face again, somewhat clouded but lost more than anything, as if he couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. Why wasn’t he dead yet? Was he supposed to see some kind of white light or something? Did he have to think about it before it could show up? How much had this couch cost her? Would the blood ever come out?
“What?” he mumbled thickly after a minute, remembering foggily that she had asked him something, but he couldn’t remember what exactly the question had been. Sleep was starting to sound more than tempting. He just felt so heavy.
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Marion
Human
Departed
Posts: 119
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Post by Marion on Mar 8, 2008 5:42:38 GMT
"I said, what was the movie we rented?" Marion smiled at him, pretending everything was as simple as anything. "You insisted on it, so you're the better person to say which one." She took a tea towel Archie had dampened and wiped Owen's face gently.
Her calm demeanor was holding for the moment - she realized that he'd be wondering why he wasn't dead. Maybe she needed to call Cole sooner than when Nate got here. For once in her life, Marion wasn't sure of the decision. She watched Owen's face, seeing the emotions flicker through his eyes - confusion, fear - it was so hard not to simply tell him what had happened. To tell him he wouldn't die - that he'd live such a long, long life.
At a cost though. She swallowed hard, once, hiding her face behind her hair for just a moment. Cole would lessen the cost. At least that, Marion knew. That she could find comfort in - the difficulty was passing the comfort to the frightened man bleeding on her couch.
When he'd managed the answer, she continued to wipe his face gently. "Did I tell you I have an interested beau, Owen?" She hoped he'd rise to the occasion, his gentle teasing in the past of looking out for her. Anything to keep him thinking and with them. "He's a cop."
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Owen
Rogue Werewolf
Advertising Executive
All my talk of starting over, these words were never true.
Posts: 44
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Post by Owen on Mar 9, 2008 1:52:45 GMT
Owen had needed a few long moments to engage his brain enough to think back as far as Marion was inquiring about, but when he finally did give her an answer that he presumed was right from her failure to argue or contradict, he wanted nothing more than to stop thinking. Thinking just made his mind jump instantly back to the thing dragging him down to the ground, its huge teeth shredding through his leg and pulling him down. He remembered the sound of it growling — or had it been laughing? — before it had really torn into him, unaffected by his desperate attempts to beat it off and cry for help. He didn’t know what had made it stop, spooked it or scared it off. Whatever it had been, it had saved his life, what little of it was left.
He was being too negative, but god, how could he stop himself? He felt as if he’d been set on fire, and even though he was numb to the sensation compared to the agony from his wounds, he was shaking.
Somehow managing to focus on Marion once again, he mustered enough energy to laugh momentarily and breathlessly. “A cop?” His voice was shaking nearly as badly as his body was; he could hear that much beyond the thunder of his own blood in his ears. “A cop and a lawyer.” If he hadn’t been leaking vital fluids all over her office, he was pretty sure he might have laughed about that, or at least cracked a feeble joke.
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Archie
Human
Departed
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched
Posts: 35
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Post by Archie on Mar 9, 2008 2:09:57 GMT
Always one to look onto any sort of bright side that he could, some part of Archie was storing away the name of the movie they had watched, as well as the information that there was a cop in the picture. Any information he could get regarding Marion’s life would make his job that much smoother and although he knew it was cold to be thinking of anything other than the man’s life, Archie just couldn’t allow all his attention to be on Owen. His control was wobbling as it was, the young man wanting to throw up at the sight of all the blood and have a very large panic attack somewhere. Since there was no way he was willing to indulge in that and frighten Owen even more or distract Marion from her conversation, he had to settle for a minor distraction, just enough to keep him together.
It was also vaguely stalkerish, but Archie needed to know every trivial detail about Marion’s life if he was going to do his job correctly and aside from loosing it or being thrown into jail because of this night he was determined to do the job up and beyond the call of duty.
Carefully, he moved from one wound to another, trying not to think that no matter how much blood he was able to remove, it just kept on coming… only the smaller cuts weren’t anymore and he blinked a little at that, trying not to think about just how much blood Owen must have lost, when his body didn’t have enough blood to reach all the wounds. So that theory didn’t make a lot of sense if he thought about it, it was at least a theory.
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Marion
Human
Departed
Posts: 119
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Post by Marion on Mar 10, 2008 1:22:48 GMT
"C'mon Owen, you're letting me down here. I just gave you a huge opening, and you didn't take it." She shook her head, looking at his face again. I can't just let him think he's dying. He knows something's wrong now. She wished she could call Cole to see how to proceed, but... Marion was a smart woman, and right now, a worried protective one. So she made a decision to at least be vague. Archie would just be brought into the fold a little sooner than she'd planned.
Vague. Just give him hope til Cole arrives. Its not my place. "The doctor will be here soon, Owen, just hang in there. Breathe in - you're going to owe me at least a slipcover for this couch." She frantically wondered when the next moon was, and if he didn't stay calm....
"Owen.. My father survived an attack like this. Another huge animal. He looked so much worse than you, trust me. He made it. He's fine. And you've got me to help you - you're going to be fine, Owen." Using his name again and again was simply to keep him within himself - she wasn't sure what would happen if he lost consciousness... and then she spotted Archie noticing a cut that had stopped bleeding. It had started.
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Owen
Rogue Werewolf
Advertising Executive
All my talk of starting over, these words were never true.
Posts: 44
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Post by Owen on Mar 11, 2008 5:55:54 GMT
It was so hard, too hard for Owen to believe the words that were coming out of Marion’s mouth, even though she was a good friend and because of that, he trusted her. Many people were wary of lawyers, but Owen had been able to look beyond that intimidating job title and see the woman underneath and they had formed a bond that had, honestly, helped him a lot after his divorce and everything else that had happened. Neighbourly takeout and movie rental evenings had been welcome bonuses in the relationship, perks that they had both managed to benefit from, and he’d never had any reason to doubt her word.
But now, with the amount of blood he had lost and was still losing, not to mention the fact that he was pretty sure he was seeing things not intended to be seen by anyone other than doctors, surgeons and, god forbid he linger on the thought, coroners, and he was having one hell of a hard time buying her reassurances. He wanted to, he really did, but there was a point where optimism just became absurd, and he knew he had crossed that line.
“How?” The shaky, almost desperate word was out before he could bite it back in exchange for something more restrained, even helpful to the situation, as unlikely as it was that he could manage that. He looked her in the eyes, that same anxiety clear, mixed with the pain and confusion.
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Archie
Human
Departed
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched
Posts: 35
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Post by Archie on Mar 12, 2008 22:46:37 GMT
If it was at all possible, Archie curled up even more on himself, focusing on the wounds, on cleaning them out as best he could, the small amount of antiseptic wipes almost laughable in the face of the sheer amount of blood, gore and wounds but he tried to spread them out as best he could, focusing on the injuries that looked as though they were in the most danger of becoming infected, trying to keep his thoughts on nothing else but treating Owen, helping to keep him alive.
It was all he could do, aside from pretend he wasn’t actually involved in the thing. The conversation between Marion and Owen seemed somehow a deeply private and personal one, the sort Archie would have normally excused himself from. Since that was in no way an option he was falling back onto plan B, where Archie called up everything he knew about being in a room but not reminding anyone of that fact – during his time in his pervious job there had been more than one occasion where he had to do such a thing although never in this sort of situation.
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Marion
Human
Departed
Posts: 119
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Post by Marion on Mar 13, 2008 3:28:01 GMT
Marion was painfully aware of Archie's presence. She was grateful for it, but at the same time, this was not the way she wanted to induct him into her world. Much less so, did she want Owen involved in it at all. She decided to trust her instincts.
She reached into her pocket, pulling out her cell phone. "Owen - you're going to have to trust me. I'll show you proof, but you have to be patient for it. That means that you've got two things to do here. One - you need to hang on. And two... you need to listen to something."
She put her hand on Archie's arm. Opting to send a text message to Cole was the faster thing at this point, so she simply did that. Cole. Need you here at office. New wolf. Come fast. Then she dialed another number and held the phone to her ear. "I'm sorry, Archie." She said it quietly, putting a hand on his arm. Then a voice came over the phone.
"Daddy?" She paused. "Yes, its me. I'm fine. No - Daddy, listen. My friend isn't fine. He's... been attacked." She looked into Owen's eyes. "Yes. Just like you. Can you start talking, Dad? He's scared - his name's Owen, and he's my friend. No, not the cop, Daddy, this is serious!"
She looked at Owen. "Listen, Owen. Please. Listen, and please don't give up." She hit speaker, and her father's baritone rumbled out of the phone.
"Hey Owen. You trust my girl, she'll look after you. I'm Brian. And you're gonna be okay, son."
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Owen
Rogue Werewolf
Advertising Executive
All my talk of starting over, these words were never true.
Posts: 44
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Post by Owen on Mar 14, 2008 3:46:04 GMT
The pain was starting to reach such a point that Owen could no longer feel much of anything else; not the way Marion’s assistant was trying to clean the wounds, or the horrible way his shirt was clinging to his body, not only around the, frankly, gory wounds but to his back and chest and abdomen, where the layers of sweat dampened the fabric, his heart now pounding so hard and fast that it terrified him, made him think it would break through his ribs and end it all.
When Marion spoke to him, he turned his eyes desperately in her direction, so badly wanting to trust her, to cling to any hope she could give him, frightened at the way his vision blurred, faltered and swam, his head tilted back against the cushioned rear of the couch briefly while she spoke to someone else, someone on her phone. Why was she calling someone? Had she called an ambulance? Why wasn’t it here yet?
And then he heard the new voice, a deep, masculine voice that he knew right away couldn’t belong to Archie. It was older, almost more travelled somehow, and Owen swallowed against the panicked dryness in the back of his mouth and throat as he caught the words, listening to the way the voice came through the small but effective speaker on the phone Marion held. His eyes moved from the woman, back to the phone, and then to Marion’s face again, as if he were torn.
Finally his eyes closed. He was too dizzy. “I can’t…” Owen wasn’t even sure what he meant by that, but everything apart from collapsing into the swarming darkness seemed so impossible right now. Too hard. Too much.
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Marion
Human
Departed
Posts: 119
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Post by Marion on Mar 14, 2008 3:59:28 GMT
Marion heard her father's voice sharpen. She'd been on the recieving end of that voice many a time, and it still made her want to fix her posture. Her father was a kind man, but when he meant business, whether it was a horse or a man, they paid attention, and fast.
"Can't, boy? That's a heap of garbage. Look at the facts here. If you got attacked by something large, wolfish and freakish - that you're still even in this world should have you a bit confused. If you're not confused, then you haven't the brains to hang about with my little girl. Snap to, Owen. You're not feelin' around in yourself. Why aren't you dead? Why why why. Stop asking why to yourself and look at my daughter, who wouldn't waste time on lost causes." He paused, then said clearly -
"She's told you you're gonna survive. And if I know my girl, she's called you a doctor, and a man by the name of Cole is gonna be on his heels. You, son, are going to survive. You just ain't decided to do that yet. So man up and do it. Because you're about to be somethin' more than you were."
Marion listened to her father speak and swallowed. That he'd been attacked and turned before -- that it had simply made him a greater man, but only after Cole had helped.. She fought to keep her control.
He was continuing. "You're not going to hear from me what you are now, I'm gonna leave that to Cole. But you wake the hell up boy. And when you're up on your feet again, you and my daughter and I are going to have a beer together. So stop whining and get some nerve in you!"
Marion turned off her speaker and put the phone to her ear. "I love you Daddy." And hung up.
She looked at Owen. "The doctor's coming, Owen. Do what Dad said til he gets here. You can't give up now or you won't have a mind left."
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Archie
Human
Departed
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched
Posts: 35
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Post by Archie on Mar 15, 2008 3:29:05 GMT
He didn’t really get why she was apologising to him but then he didn’t get a lot of things that had taken place in rapid succession, didn’t get why they hadn’t called an ambulance, why she had called her father of all people and if he was being honest with himself, why Owen wasn’t dead when every logical thing pointed to that. It wasn’t his place or his job to know those things though, or so Archie supposed, it was up to Marion to tell him what he needed and then to ignore everything else. It made some kind of sense. Sense of a boss and her employer. Who knew what else he would have to know and what he wouldn’t have to know, what was important and what wasn’t.
Archie blinked a little, forcing his mind back to the here and now, away from the mental meander it had apparently taken from the topic at hand. He had needed to distract himself a little to get away from the horror that was facing him – part of him dreaded to think how dangerous the blood could be, who knew what kind of illness Owen either already had or had gained from the wild animal attack – but he hadn’t realised his attention was that gone.
Throat dry, he swallowed, blinking a little and once more forcing himself to refocus on the task at hand, still grimly cleaning the wounds out.
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Owen
Rogue Werewolf
Advertising Executive
All my talk of starting over, these words were never true.
Posts: 44
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Post by Owen on Mar 29, 2008 3:47:46 GMT
If Marion’s father had been intending to shock Owen out of his stupor, he had certainly succeeded, though it only managed to confuse him further, his perspiration-beaded brow knitting as he looked towards the lawyer seated just in front of him, the wounded advertising executive not even feeling Archie’s attention to his injuries anymore. The numbness was preferable to excruciating agony, physically, but it was far from reassuring in the long run, mentally. He had to wonder what it would lead to, the lack of sensation, but for the moment, he was still wondering what the hell had just happened.
Everything was so… muddled. How was he supposed to hold on when he could see parts of his body that were, by all rights, not supposed to be seen by anyone who wasn’t a fully qualified medical surgeon? It was all he could not to give in to the swelling, gripping panic that was boiling inside of him, telling him this was it and he would be lucky if he ever saw the world beyond this room again, beyond this irreparably-stained couch. He wasn’t the most pessimistic man in the world, normally, but neither was he the most optimistic; it had taken him some time to pull himself out of the thoroughly melancholy mindset his daughter’s death and divorce from his wife had caused, and really, this whole attack and impending death situation was hardly helping him to stay positive.
On top of everything else, he was now finding himself thinking, unable to stop, what if the ‘animal’ had rabies? Wasn’t rabies fatal?
And yet, somehow, through all that confusion and fear, he found himself able to ask, voice trembling slightly, “Who’s Cole?”
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Nate
Human
ER Doctor; St. Benedict's
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid.
Posts: 89
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Post by Nate on Mar 29, 2008 3:56:52 GMT
Continued from: St. Benedict’s; Trauma Rooms.
In some remarkable stroke of luck, the traffic between St. Benedict’s and Marion’s apartment building hadn’t been too brutal; though busy and constant, it hadn’t been as terrible as he had seen it in the past, and some slightly reckless and perhaps shameful speeding and manoeuvring had enabled Nate to get from the hospital to the parking lot in what he would later come to consider ‘record time’. But he wasn’t thinking about that. Having quickly retrieved his well-stocked medical bag from the trunk of his car, cell phone clipped securely to his belt, sleeves still rolled and pushed somewhat haphazardly up beyond his elbows and tie more than a little askew, Nate had jogged from the parking lot into the building, letting himself in thanks to the connection he had with the lawyer whose new assistant had called him.
Entering the office, it didn’t take him long to see the gravity of the situation, muttering a faint curse under his breath, not even breaking stride as he moved forward, having come upon the scene just as the wounded party asked, audibly, who Cole was. Clearly, the Alpha werewolf’s name had come up somehow, but right now, Nate’s attention was focused solely on the man’s injuries, which were, to be blunt and realistic, not only grim to look upon, but extensive and serious.
“I came as quickly as I could,” he told Marion, coming down beside her and digging out a pair of sterile gloves from his bag, retrieving a second pair and offering them across to the young man he could only assume he had spoken to on the phone. “How are we doing?” Nate turned his eyes to the ‘patient’, for lack of a more fitting term, and saw the understandable perplexity and fear there.
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Marion
Human
Departed
Posts: 119
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Post by Marion on Mar 29, 2008 6:53:20 GMT
At Nate's entrance, Marion had a near hysterical urge to laugh with relief. At his words, she looked at Owen and forced the hysteria down. "You had plenty of time, Nate - this one's not goin' anywhere. Meet Owen - he's trying to decide if he's going to live or not - personally, I think he'll be okay, but he won't listen to me. Owen, this is Nate - he's a doctor at St. Benedict's - known him a long time."
She touched Owen's hair gently and watched Nate go to work. She looked at her friend, and allowed some concern to show on her face. He was trying, and she'd reward that - with a little truth. "Cole is someone I have trusted since I was very young. Cole is going to help you after Nate finishes here, but you have to trust me, Owen. Can you trust me just a little farther? Please?"
The one she was most worried about at the moment was Archie, but he seemed to be taking everything in amazing stride. Good choice there.
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