2020-03-07 - Grown Adults

(TXT to Beth) Ciprian : Hey. I'm okay, but I'm in the hospital getting checked out.

(TXT to Ciprian) Beth : Oh ffs I am on my way now. Are you in the ER?

(TXT to Beth) Ciprian : It's not a big deal, they'll probably send me home soon. Yes, the ER.

(TXT to Ciprian) Beth : Well then I'll be there to give you a ride home. Leaving now.

(TXT to Beth) Ciprian : See you soon.

When Beth gets to the ER, she will find Ciprian has already been put in a room to be seen. He is lying on a bed, though the bed is propped so he's more sitting than lying, and he has a bandaged head at least, though that's all that can be seen from outside the hospital gown. His eyes are closed, but he doesn't really seem to be sleeping, because his body isn't quite still enough for that, and here and there there's a little wince that passes across his expression.

Beth steps into the ER patient room after a brief discussion with the nurse at the front desk to make sure she's supposed to be let back there and not, you know, a crazy person. When she pushes back the curtain to the cubicle Ciprian is in her eyes widen in some sock behind her glasses but otherwise her expression remains neutral. "Hey." She says softly as she steps further into the room.

When he hears the door open, Ciprian opens his eyes, and he smiles when he sees Beth. "Hey," he replies, a little more quietly than usual, but still, he doesn't sound like he's totally out of it. "You didn't have to rush over," he continues. "I'm fine. They said they don't even think I have much of a concussion." Just a little one, apparently, which is obviously totally fine. "I need to go to Riya's to pick up Ashira once they give me the all clear." Does he think he's going to be driving?

"Oh!" Beth says, and she manages to maintain her neutral expression despite feeling terrible. Still, he's the one who is injured and it would be a real asshole move to make him reassure her that she hasn't done anything wrong so she keeps that upset bottled in. She comes to sit on the edge of his bed. "Well, if you do have a concussion, even a little one? Probably not good to be driving. So I can drive you over there to pick her up and I can keep an eye on her while you rest."

Ciprian doesn't seem to notice her upset yet -- which also probably a bad sign -- but he just nods, even though he makes a little wry face after. "You're probably right," he admits, reaching over to take her hand to squeeze it gently. "Thank you," he says quietly, before he finally seems to realize that something's amiss with her. "What's the matter?" he asks, his head tipping a little bit to the side -- though very, very slightly, since moving it quickly in any direction is not the best decision at this point.

"Nothing." Beth says quickly and she even smiles and laughs before shaking her head. "I was just worried about you. That's all." She turns a little on the bed to brush some of his hair away from the bandage and she maintains that smile. "I thought this trip wasn't going to be that big of a deal?" She asks in the most nonchalant tone known to man.

Ciprian eyes her a little skeptically now when she says that it's nothing, because it's clearly not nothing. He lets her go on, though, since he assumes that she will, and he's not wrong. "I thought it wasn't, too," he confirms after a moment. "It turned out that the grafts August did, did something to the trees there. Infected them somehow. I guess that plants from here can contaminate plants over there. But we're all okay, right? That's what matters." He smiles, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. He's probably beating himself up a little bit about going, too.

Beth nods her head in understanding when he goes on. When he finishes she says, "So it was dangerous." She looks away from him briefly as if ashamed before she looks back to him. "Yeah. That's what matters." She exhales through her nose before she says, "I should have never suggested you go. You've never been in the hospital because of Over There, and I had to open my stupid mouth and say something. I'm so sorry. Never listen to me again, okay?"

"Yeah, turns out it was." Ciprian smiles a little wryly, and while it's certainly not a smile that reaches all the way up, it fades quickly when she continues. "Hey," he says, shifting a little bit so that he's sitting up better, and while he does seem a little pained when he does it, he can do it, and not even with that much difficulty. "It wasn't your fault," he says. "I had a choice to go, didn't I? Don't do that. I'm a grown up, Beth. No one is responsible for what happens to me except me." He squeezes her hand a little more tightly, "I'm glad I went, because I did open the door out. If I hadn't've been there, they might not have been able to get back."

Beth's forehead pinches in concern as he sits up and she shakes her head softly. "That's not how it works now..." She stops herself briefly to gather her thoughts before she explains further, "It's like I was an adult when I had that thing following me. It was my responsibility to take care of myself. That didn't matter to you because you care about me." She squeezes his hand back, "So knowing this was my stupid idea? It bothers me. And it has nothing to do with you being a grown up and everything to do with how much I care about you. So yes theoretically you are responsible for you but in reality when bad things happen to you I feel bad. Especially when I'm the one who suggested it." She nods her head softly, "Well, that's good at least."

Ciprian makes a face at her, though it softens into a real smile after a moment or two. "That's all well and good," he says, "and I can't stop you from feeling bad. And I wouldn't tell you how to feel. But if you don't mind, I think I won't never listen to you again, because you have a lot of good ideas, and this particular one wasn't a bad idea. Okay? Also, I'm going to take issue with you calling your mouth stupid, because I actually think it's not stupid at all, and I like it a lot."

"I'm going to disagree with you that this was a bad idea." Beth says, but most of the tension is gone from her voice. She adds begrudgingly, "Except you're right. If you helped them get back I guess that was the right thing to do." She smiles a touch despite herself at his last words. "Oh, I see. You know I think you are much more charming with a concussion than most people I know." She looks him over then as if surveying the damage. "Where'd they get you?"

"Do you really want to disagree with a lawyer? I'm relatively sure I can argue longer than you can." Ciprian nods once when she says that he's right, as though to say, 'see?'He does squeeze her hand again, though, as though he's a little bit afraid that she'll disappear. "I wonder if I can put that on my resume," he says with a little chuckle, settling back again. "Head, and chest. A little bit in the stomach. But the worst one was the head. Those trees were...really, really angry." As though that's hard to decipher.

"Do you think I won't?" Beth fires back with a little raise of her brow, but she's joking. Mostly. She gives him a sympathetic look when he says where else he took it. "Okay. Why don't I call my embalmer and my dad and I'll just take the next couple of days off and you can relax and recuperate? Because there isn't a way in hell you're going to be going to work for at least a few days." She lets out a huff, "Oh, is that right?"

Ciprian just smiles at her at the first words, a little bit smugly. Just a hint of smugness. Not too much. Again, though, it softens when she offers to take the next few days off, and he admits, "That would be great. I definitely won't be able to go into work tomorrow." So at least he's coming to terms with his limitations. "Thank you," he says after another moment, and now there's no humor in there, just gratitude. "I appreciate it." He lets out a little sigh, "And thanks for coming. I wouldn't have wanted Ashira to see me in the hospital. Bad enough she's going to have to see me in the condition I'm in."

"No, you definitely won't." Beth says in agreement. Since it's just kind of obvious at this point that he will not be going into work tomorrow and maybe not even the next day. She smiles at his thanks. "You would do the same for me." She says, and she lifts his hand to kiss it since kissing his forehead might cause some discomfort. Her expression sobers a little. "What are you going to tell her happened?" Since obviously he can't tell his eight year old child that ents wrecked daddy.

"That's true." He would do the same for her. He's quiet for a moment, however, when she asks what he's going to tell Ashira. "Well," he eventually says, "some version of the truth. Not the gory details, of course," he continues quickly. "But it's becoming clear that she's manifesting abilities, too. She's going to have to learn eventually, and maybe it's better that she grows up knowing that there are dangerous things in the world that she's going to come into contact with at some point. It was a pipe dream to believe that I was going to be able to keep her away from it."

"The first time I can definitely remember it happening is ten." Beth tells him, her tone gentle. "Didn't your sister say she was six when she started shocking people? At any rate it's going to happen to her soon." A pause, "Is she manifesting already? Gosh that's..." Scary. "Have you talked to her at all about it before? I know you said you were going to open up to your sister about it for support."

Ciprian still has hold of Beth's hand, and he reaches over with his other now when she's reminded of the first time anything....weird...happened to her. He nods, though, when she asks about Minerva. "She was," he replies. "And yeah. It's scary. Apparently she healed a cut some friend of hers had. Or she might have." He lets out a little sigh, nodding once more as his eyes close briefly. "Riya and I talked to her about it a little bit. Mostly just made sure to tell her not to use it until she can get taught, because there are things that can happen that she doesn't want. Since then, we haven't said anything." He shakes his head, "She's going to be strong. She's like Riya. Mine definitely didn't show up this young."

"She's manifesting powers you or Minerva don't have?" Beth asks, and while she is concerned she also finds it a bit...well, fascinating. "Well she's surrounded by people who care about her and her aunt is an expert. If any little girl was equipped to handle this it's her." She says reassuringly. There is a pause before she continues, "Maybe asking August Roen for some help wouldn't be a bad idea, either. I mean he seems to know a lot and since you just got knocked the shit out of for his tree-thing maybe you could...you know. Pick his brain a bit?"

"Yes, it seems so," Ciprian replies, a little bit wryly. He is slightly less fascinated than Beth, it seems, though he can recognize why it would be interesting. He does, however, seem reassured by the words, and he continues, "Yeah. You're right. It's just a lot." He reaches up to his head, as though he's going to rub it, but even a light initial touch has him wincing, and he puts the hand back down. It's then that she's going on, though, and he looks at her again, his eyebrows raising a bit. "You know," he says, "yeah. That would be a good idea." There's another pause, before he says, "You know, I think I saw him healing someone in there. It's all kind of a blur at the end, but...maybe he could teach her about it."

"Or maybe he could heal you so you're not mangled?" Beth says with a bit of an incredulous look to Ciprian like 'really dude you're just saying this now?'. She sighs and then laughs. "Concussions man." She gets her cell phone out and swipes her fingers across the screen to unlock it and send a text. "And we could also talk about Ashira to him. We'll see what he says." She then hits the send button on her phone.

(TXT to August) Beth : Hey. I don't want to bother you, but Ciprian mentioned you might have been healing people during the whole tree thing? He's pretty beat up.

(TXT to Beth) August : yeah, huge apologies for that, but he was amazing, we'd have been pretty screwed without him. I can come by and patch him up some, if he's willing. not a lot are, They tend to...notice.

(TXT to August) Beth : Oh. I can tell him you offered but he might not be so keen. There is something else, though. His daughter is starting to glow and I guess she healed a classmate's cut? It's not how I glow or his sister so we're pretty unfamiliar with it.

(TXT to Beth) August : oh wow. how young is she? I started early, but I was nore like you and him back then. and if he'd rather we not use the Art, there's a local guy, GP who also does house calls. Jacob Winters. <contact info included> he's got the Art too so he has some idea of what's what.

(TXT to August) Beth : She's 8. We're in the ER now so he has medical care I just thought it could be a way to get him feeling better a little faster.

"Well, there were other people who needed it more," Ciprian says, as though to defend himself. "I'm mostly fine." As though to prove that point, the nurse comes back in with his discharge paperwork, and gives him all the usual caveats -- If you start throwing up, come back, etc. Ciprian does listen, but only barely, and as soon as he can he's heading to the bathroom to change so that they can get out of here.