2021-01-29 - Hospital Grumps and Groupies

Lilith has been asleep a lot since the shootout at the strip mall. It took some surgery to carefully remove the single shot to the chest that took her down, but vitals were missed. It's a sign of how serious she'd been injured, she's not even been awake or lucid enough to bother bitching or asking for anything. She just sleeps and sometimes asks for ice and tv or tablet drone. She's stirring now, though, like a bear coming out of hibernation, groggily asking Byron to help her sit up with the bed.

"Fucking Winslow luck. It's real, but it's bullshit, mostly too. Like... a bullet takes you down and doesn't kill you, great job Lilith? But then... why the hell am I even getting shot in the first place? Fuck's sake. I feel like Hank sometimes. Cockroach, too hard to kill."

So yeah, she's in top form and doing the rare curse-a-lot grumbles, but that's a good sign to see the hospital cage crankiness and pain start to put the piss and vigor back in her.

Having been shot, himself, during that whole mess that was finally over, Byron was admitted into the hospital as well on his arrival to check up on Lilith. Despite the two bullets lodged into his chest, both didn't go in deep enough to do life-threatening damage, but they did need to remove them from him. Spending much of the day in recovery, the man was feeling much better. With his doctor's permission, of course, he gets himself dressed to venture over to Lilith's room and cater to her as she slowly begins to heal. Obviously, there's this urge in his mind to contact one of the so-called Healers in town to help quicken the healing process, but even as he reaches for his phone, he takes pause in consideration. He'll look at her charts, see how she's healing before making that call.

Dressed in more comfortable attire, a mustard colored baggy sweater over jeans to cover the bandaged portion of his chest, Byron carefully leans over, reaching for Lilith's cup to offer her. It's only water for now, but she needs to stay hydrated. "If you're asking my opinion, I'm glad that the bullet didn't kill you. Or ripped through some important organ. But call me selfish." His mind briefly goes to Hank, but he tries to not put much thought into the Lilith's deceased father. "If they can keep Reyes locked up /and/ if his other goons don't try to retaliate, the town might be in the clear for now. At least for this situation."

Alexander has been ghosting around the hospital, despite not generally being welcome. He can likely be felt before he arrives, poking his head into the room. "Hey. You're both here. Good. Can I come in?" He has his regular, shabby clothes on, and a couple of fairly large paper bags in his hands. He adds, lowering his voice, "I brought real coffee." There's something that might like to try for a smile on his face, but his brow furrows and it just comes out as a worried sort of grimace.

Wearing stylish hospital garb and all, Lilith puts a hand up to feel at the back of her hair where she's been sleeping so much on it, not able to turn on her side like at home. Screwing her nose up some as Byron gets her comfortable and expresses gratitude she's not dead, she tries to gust a sigh and drops her hand back to her lap, "Yeah well. I'm awake now and you get what you get. Might be wishing otherwise, soon enough. Did you bring my hair brush? I have a tangle knot from turning my head on the pillows." Byron no doubt knows the drill about bringing her 'things' to sate the things that annoy her in the hospital, "You got my chapstick too, right?"

As for the situation, she just kind of grunts at it for now and is more interested in getting a drink of water, because her next bitch (even while water is in hand) is happening, "My throat and mouth are a goddamn desert, what the hell is in my IV?" Oh look, though, there's company. With real coffee. Suddenly, as Alexander speaks to the realness, she looks at Byron, "I can have coffee, right?"

(TXT to Byron) Ruiz : Thorne, hey. I wanted to check in on you two.

Supposedly, Byron went home to get changed and bring some of Lilith's belongings after his own release from the hospital. That's her bag nestled on the floor at the foot of her bed near where the man is seated. Rising from his chair, he gingerly crouches down to rummage through her things to make sure that her hairbrush was, indeed, somewhere within. He knows he got her chapstick zipped up in the outside of pocket. Retrieving these items, his posture straightens almost painfully, handing both over to her now. "Yeah, I brought them. Got your laptop too."

Around that moment, his phone starts to buzz, capturing his attention and making him shift from that crouched position to pull himself up to settle back down onto the chair again when Alexander's voice draws his gaze to the door. "Sure, I could go for some coffee right now." Now that he's back on his chair, he idly checks his phone, "Heard anything about... well, anything? What are they planning to do with Reyes etc.?"

Huh, it's de la Vega.

"Of course you can have coffee."

Said during the wake of the late arrival of one Dr. Isabella Reede when she follows just a few short minutes after Alexander Clayton, pecking his cheek in passing before moving towards Lilith's bedside, and while she keeps her tone light, concern is plainly visible on her features when she regards her friend on the bed. "Hey, you, glad to see you're conscious." She does not ask how she's doing, but the reasons are evident - a) she already knows and b) she's visited Lilith in the hospital enough times to remember the pattern. It normally doesn't take long for impatience to leave it sets in. She's familiar with that because that is one of the things she has in common with the Winslow woman.

"What about you, Ronnie?" she wonders, reaching out to squeeze Lilith's hand if she allows. Byron would have also received something - a hug, however brief, but she's stayed by the telltale chime on the man's phone and de la Vega's message.

(TXT to Ruiz) Byron : De la Vega. I'm fine. Lilith is still in recovery, but she's in high spirits. What about you?

Alexander shakes his head to Byron's question as he comes more fully into the room. Coffee is unpacked - two large cups, black, but he's included creamers and sugar and Stuff for people to add their own. He pauses in his work as Isabella comes in, eyes closing briefly in pleasure as her lips brush his cheek. He watches her as she moves towards Lilith. "I feel like she's already starting to plan her escape trip. Don't help her," he pretends to chide, before glancing at the phone as it goes off. Alexander and politeness live on other countries. He says, "What's he say? The police department isn't exactly leaping at the opportunity to fill me in," he admits.

"Thank you. I love you. You're the best." Lilith tells Byron in a series of rapidfire, brusque (but heartfelt) compliments while taking her brush and chapstick to start feeling human again. Before tending to that, though, she perks up a little more with surprise when Isabella is tailing Alexander with the magic coffee, hand reaching to squeeze back, "Aren't you a sight for dry eyes..." Another complaint because there's a look toward poor Byron, "Visine too? Also can you do just one cream to smooth it out a touch, I don't want much."

"What time and day is it, anyway? Actually, you know what, can I just have my phone too? I'll probably have to wait a bit for the drugs to be replaced with caffeine. Then I can think about escape, I'll be able to use my legs fine." Bitchy and a little high still on pain meds, yay Lilith-mood, "Hey. Is Kelly a-okay?" She has a sudden memory of what she told Byron in whisper bleeding on the concrete before passing out.

Typing out something on his phone, Byron's features lighten when not only Alexander appears, but Isabella as well. The archeologist's been busy as of late, so it's rarity for him to see her. "Bella! Hey!" Giving his childhood friend a look-over, he comments, "Looking good. How are things with you?" Of course, something huge just went down in the city that sent a lot of people to the hospital, but it really has been a while. Dark eyes return to look affectionately on Lilith, before his gaze darts over to her bag again which he rummages through again, "I'm sure that Visine is in here somewhere."

"Do you think the cops tell me anything about the cases they are currently working? Well, it depends on the cop," His eyes flicker back to his phone, "But I don't often expect the same from de la Vega. Ahh, got it." He speaks of the eye drops. "Joey's fine, as far as I know. He's doing alright. Punk ass Reyes was shut down, that's as far as I know."

(TXT to Byron) Ruiz : I've been at the hospital since last night, keeping an eye on Rosencrantz and Cavanaugh. Glad Lilith's all right. Sorry you got pulled into all that.

"Sorry for the radio silence, a bunch of hydrophobic scholars have been driving me crazy the last month," Isabella says dryly with a squeeze of Lilith's fingers and an air kiss to her cheek. "I think one of them wanted to field the possibility of just getting a mini submarine down at the Alexandria site but I laughed and said good luck getting those millions from Oxford, and that's not even getting into possibly damaging important structures down there maneuvering the bulky thing." The reality is Academia can be just as tedious as any ridiculous for-profit corporate organization, but really, what can she do? It's a living, and despite her bellyaching, it's something related to a lifelong passion. Easing her hand away from Lilith, she rifles through her messenger bag and produces eyedrops - kept in hand, always, along with biodegradable sunscreen. This, she hands to the brunette.

Byron's enthusiastic greeting gets him a flash of a quicksilver grin. "God, I hope so," she says with a laugh. "I'm not getting any younger. I don't even think I'm getting any wiser even as I get older, but it's good to see you. What does the Captain want?" The last gets an inquisitive look, easing into a chair near Alexander and Lilith.

Alexander gives Byron a long look, and says, "I think you're better at sweet-talking people into telling you things you want to know than I am. And the department likes you. Most of them don't like me." He watches the other three interact, a smile playing over his worn features. "Reyes is hospitalized and unconscious. I haven't had a chance to see Kelly, yet, but Itzhak and Grey are recovering." He glances at Lilith. "Do you need some healing? I'm not as good at it as you, but I can sometimes help with the pain."

(TXT to Ruiz) Byron : How are they both doing? It was chaos that day, so I had almost no idea who was there or not. And it's fine. Wrong place, wrong time. Not like the entirety of Gray Harbor isn't the wrong place.

Lilith lets others talk while she listens (presumably) and starts to use all the things she just asked Byron to have in bed with her. She starts with the hair brush and screws her face up with the unknotting almost comically, then takes time to drink coffee before going for the eyedrops, then her chapstick. Then more coffee. Then her phone to check the date and time, which makes her gust with exasperated sigh, "Seriously? I was out that long? Ugh. That's certainly a sign I've been here long enough. So!"

Alexander's offer seems to be accepted as she tries to sit up straighter, "Yes, please."

(TXT to Byron) Ruiz : Alive and intact. Which is more than I can say for a few of Reyes's shitheads.

Byron's world is the business world, his own interests branching off from Isabella's and her scholarly pursuits early on, but that doesn't mean that what she says isn't fascinating. "Hydrophobic scholars?" That makes him laugh. "I find it interesting that some of their interests delved into the ancient, without realizing that some of that stuff would be found on the ocean floor." He takes one of the cups of coffees, lifting it for a quick sip, "Then again, I guess that's where you come in, Doctor Reede."

It's a good thing that Isabella is actually packing eye drops, this means Byron doesn't need to search any further. "As for what the /Chief/ wants. He was just checking up on us, Lilith and myself. After what went down Downtown." Though what Alexander says now gains a tilt of the entrepreneur's head, "Reyes is here?" It's an innocent question! Either way, his phone buzzes again and he starts to type something else out to Chief de la Vega, his gaze lifting up above the top of his phone to watch as Alexander attempts to help heal Lilith.

"I'm sure they realize it. They would just like to not be personally responsible for going to get it. And possibly running into sharks, krakens, and flesh-eating mermaids." That's only around /here/, Alexander. But he doesn't issue any corrections. He just gives her a proud look, before glancing back at Lilith. "Of course." He takes a seat to her other side, and puts his hand in the air over her chest. He sketches odd symbols in the air, circles and stars and markings that feel like they should be drawn in salt on an ancient, cursed dungeon floor somewhere. But it works, and Lilith can feel his power, like a cool wind, brushing against her skin, soaking in and numbing some of the pain and discomfort. Alexander sighs and leans back. "Last I checked," he murmurs, to Byron. "I assume the Captain will be shipping him out to Seattle as soon as transfer people arrive."

"I don't necessarily blame them - scuba diving can be scary even for leisure, even for the veterans, but considering the fact that they knew this was going to happen, one would think they'd be better prepared for it. I'm not really morose about it, though. It does mean more work, and I'll probably need to be on the ground there by the end of March. Egypt. In a month close to its official summer. God help me." There's a glance to Alexander, widening her green eyes at him, Isabella batting her lashes soon after. "You'll still love me even if I return as a dried up mummy husk of my former self, right?"

Mention of Reyes being in the hospital has her lifting her brows. "Speaking of swimming with the fishes, if any of you need the perfect spots out in the harbor to hide a few secrets..." It's a remark that's only half-jesting at best, but objectively she probably does know a few.

(TXT to Ruiz) Byron : Good. Good to hear. Speaking of, what's going to happen with Reyes?

"Why does it worry me when you say something like that once the town's villain is brought up?" Byron says with some amusement to Isabella's sleeping with the fishies question. Not that he doesn't then ask, "But what do you have in mind?" That's an innocent question too...

Nevertheless, even as he communicates with Ruiz on his phone, once Alexander starts his own healing magic, the man can't help but observe. He's used to Lilith being the one healing everyone. Well, usually healing him. And he's seen Roen do it quite a few times when Lilith needed healing.. Roen. "Has anyone checked up on Roen yet? He was at the event too."

Alexander stands so that he can go over and kiss Isabella's temple. "I will still love you regardless of your undead status," he assures her, quite solemnly. "We'll find you some young virgins to drain dry, and you'll be fine." See, he's a good boyfriend. Always tries to get his lady what she needs. His eyebrows go up at the conversation. "I imagine that we should ensure that the Captain would not take any fallout from a gang leader suddenly vanishing from his custody." Which isn't exactly a no on the 'kill him and dump him in the harbor' vibes floating around. A shake of his head. "I've been trying to get around to people, but haven't made it to August, yet. There were a lot of you." That? That is disapproval in the investigator's tone. "How the hell did you and Lilith even get caught up in that mess?"

(TXT to Byron) Ruiz : You know I can't comment on an active investigation, Thorne. So don't go getting any ideas in your head about how I'm going to make his remaining time on this Earth as fucking miserable as I possibly can, given a prosecution with ADA Bennet and Justice Adebayo involved is pretty much guaranteed.

"Because you're an intelligent and savvy human being who knows me very well?" Isabella wonders oh-so-innocently to Byron with a faint grin, before her face leans in an anticipatory angle when Alexander brushes his lips against her temple. "You say the sweetest things to me," she tells him in that same, cheeky not-quite-serious tone, followed by a quick wink.

With the investigator's last question, though, she falls silent, eager to hear the response. Curiosity flares in her gilded gaze and she's clearly not counting herself within the range of that disapproving look from her lover, because she didn't get shot. For once. The apocalypse must surely be nigh.

Lilith takes a moment to float in the bliss of sudden comforting wash, even though she's still on drugs enough to be a little 'funny' at the moment, despite her cranks and demands for rousing comfort. Breathing out an 'ahh' of noise, she lets her head settle back at rest once she's finished watching Alexander with a bit of un-veiled fascination for how he does it. Listening to the others passively, she finally moves again with better ease to reach for her coffee on the tray for nursing, "... thank you. This means I get to go home sooner."

The question about how they got caught up makes her laugh a bit rueful and sudden, though, "Because we're motherfucking Lilith and Byron."

Good answer.

Byron's nostrils flare slightly when he remembers how they ended up in that situation. Hell, Lilith's explanation was far more interesting. But he's not gonna lie and the others might find it amusing as well. Taking a warm gulp of his coffee, this grin on his lips. "We were being adults, living that adult lifestyle, you know. We decided to go shopping for pottery in which to decorate the terrace with and maybe pick up a few seeds for that plot of land I got on Roen's property. Things like that. Humble beginnings." Casting a glance towards Lilith, his brows lifted, he laughs, "This is what we've grown up to become."

This is then followed by another sip, before that grin broadens at a text he receives, "For some reason, Reyes and his goons decided on that particular day to shake up the dance studio for protection money." He's sure that's not what happened there at all, but it's fun to say. "Reyes is one powerful asshole, that's all I've got to say." His tone then changes, "De la Vega assures us that Reyes will be prosecuted to the fullest, so we won't need to worry about that. What I am concerned about is, well, Reyes has mental abilities. Strong ones. Let's hope they get him far away from here before he comes to."

Alexander smiles at Isabella. "You think the things I say are sweet. Which is greatly appreciated, even if I should probably be concerned." The smile widens to a grin, for just a moment, before he turns his attention back to the other two, although he remains by her side. A shake of his head to Lilith. "I don't mind. God knows you've helped everyone else out. You're owed." There's a snort at her answer, but he attends closely to Byron's account of events. "...the dangers of being an adult, I guess. And yes, Miss Grey mentioned that he was powerful. I was going to null the room he's in, at the least. I'd rather not have the bastard sneak out, or get snatched away into the Veil if he has a friend still out there who can make doors."

There's a quiet frown when Isabella listens to Byron's account, leaning against her seat and crossing her legs by the knee, an arm draping over the back of her chair. With the final remarks her childhood friend utters, she's about to part her lips and say something - but Alexander beats her to that. There's a hint of a smile in his direction, before she shakes her head. "That would be a continuous problem, definitely, if he ended up being prosecuted here and not elsewhere. Then you're going to need to make sure you're nulling the courtroom too."

After a moment, she checks her phone, and rises from her seat. "Sorry, guys, I have to take this, but I'll be back." And with that, she steps outside of Lilith's room so she can take her call.

(TXT to Ruiz) Byron : Glad to hear. Reyes needs to be kept somewhere that he can't use his powers, but I'm sure that you know that. Clayton offered to help.

Lilith watches Isabella go tend to her phone while nursing coffee and chilling more or less on listening. But suddenly, she breaks her silence grumpily with some things that might be a little disturbing to hear as they continue to talk about Reyes happenings after she was down and out on the ground and ambulance/hospital bound. While speaking, she neatly pushes a piece of loose hair behind one of her ears and takes a casual sip when finished spouting.

"Total bullshit. I didn't even get to see the asshole. Or fight him. I want to fight him. I should have fought him, I bet I could have killed him. I broke a guy backwards in half for being the shiniest TK in the bunch. Then I fell down. Fucking bullshit." Maybe 'that guy' Alexander is talking about? Who knows. Lilith really did take a moment to scout before doling out disgusting levels of violence to kill, not maim. Glancing at the door, she tacks on after her sip, "If he's in the hospital with me, I could totally make it look like a natural turn for the worst if people want."

People may not want quite that. But hey, she offered. Probably a little too casually, but drugs, right?

"That's what I had to do to help bring him down." Byron nods in agreement with Alexander, typing out another message in relations to that soon after. "Some of his other henchmen," Is that what people call them? It's not just something they say in the movies? "had abilities as well. Thankfully, we didn't get a chance to see just how much juice they had up their sleeves." From his phone, he looks up when Isabella excuses herself, smiling faintly after the woman.

That smile begins to fade once Lilith goes on about all sorts of thing. Not that he isn't proud of her grotesquely crippling and killing someone in that fashion, though it was disturbing. He does have to remind her though, "You got that guy good, the one who shot you. Reyes, he didn't even show up until later and we did't give him the opportunity to try anything." Once it reaches the actual killing the cartel boss part, his amused gaze flickers of at Alexander, before his attention is idly drawn to his phone once more.

Alexander follows Isabella with his eyes as she leaves the room, with mingled affection and concern. But when Lilith starts talking, the concern wins, his eyes snapping back in that direction at the 'broke a guy backwards in half'. He clears his throat. "You were shot. Falling down happens. Don't be...hard on your--" nope, he can't keep it up, and the words change in mid-stream to, "you snapped a man in half? Lilith, I don't..." A helpless sort of look in Byron's direction, before he mutters, "It was good that you were protecting people, but maybe we should take murder off the table for now. For always. But especially for now. Look, I got you a book." He did? He did. Apparently there's more stuff in that bag he's been carrying around, because he brings out a large book titled Greatest Puzzles of Physics: New Horizons in the Mechanics of the Universe. He sets it by her bed. And brings out another one, this time titled, A Secret History of American Business and offers it to Byron. "I got you one, too. Because hospitals are boring."

"Are you texting that offer? Put it in emoji codes so it can't be used against me." Lilith eyes Byron over her coffee cup while coming up with a surefire solution of how to make such an offer to a cop, "Use the broken heart emoji or something. No wait, that will look like we're having an affair, asking if I can break the man's heart. But that's fine, murder is..." Alexander is trying to steer her away from such leanings and inclinations of offered 'convenience' and it's a little unclear if she listened while eyeing the book afterwards. But given what she says next with a hint of a grin, she apparently was, "off the table. Moot point to make a code in pictures for an assassination approval, I guess."

The book, however, is fascinating to her and she puts the coffee aside even to start flipping through it, "I wish I had gone to college. God, I was an idiot. Such an angry, scared little idiot." Looking back up, she remembers suddenly, "Thank you. Byron is probably about to double thank you for distracting me. I am... what is referred to as a 'handful' here and there."

Byron doesn't say whether he's doing any such thing or not. But then, he's probably not the type who would want anything incriminating on his phone, even if he is texting the police chief. Nevertheless, a hint of smile is still evident on his features. Alexander not only distracts Lilith now, but Byron as well, making him lean forward in his seat to take a look at this book offered to him.

"Secret History, huh? Hmm, interesting. I'll definitely give this one a read." It's far more his taste than whatever Lilith just received. "Thanks, Clayton." To answer something the man asked earlier, he nods, reclining back against his chair, "Snapped him in half right before our eyes. It was nasty business." Even as he says this, he grins over at Lilith. "So, when I was heading over here, I saw that the park was set up all nice. Anything interesting going on? I thought that maybe Lilith might want some fresh air and it would be an interesting place to visit."

"Codes for assassination approval rarely work. It's all 'can we deliver the banana' and then someone thinks actual fruit is involved, and in the end you have some poor grocery clerk getting killed with a pineapple and everyone is confused and sad," Alexander says, utterly deadpan. With a shake of his head, he adds, "You had other needs, I'm sure. And it's not like you're ancient. You could still go, if you wanted. Even Gray Harbor has the internet, if for some weird reason you didn't want to go somewhere you didn't have to break people in half."

Still, he looks pleased that the books were well-received. "It's nice out there. You should go for a stroll. Or...as close as you can get to one without opening up any wounds. I'm going to see if Isabella needs anything. But you have my number. Please don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything I can do. Don't die," he adds, sounding a bit sad, before he turns and leaves with his usual abruptness.

"See you, Alexander. I already didn't die, it was a little harder than usual, but I got 'er done." Lilith calls to the abrupt departure of Alexander in Alexander fashion, her mouth pulled up with smile. Then she looks aside at Byron and starts to put everything she has on the bed with her at the tray table to push off and away from the bed, coming up with another demand that's much sweeter than the others, but just as needy.

He's part of her healing process too, and she feels far better after all the surgery, drugs, sleep, drugs, and Alexander's doings on her body. Reaching her arms outward for him after a tiny scoot, she says, "Hey. I need you now that I got my other stuff. Especially since you're wooing me with talk about fresh air."

Byron never did find that Visine in Lilith's bag, but she was still accommodated thanks to Isabella, though the man is sure that she has that and a whole lot of other things in that bag. He's about to lean forward to grab the rest of her stuff before he feels her hand on his arm and that gentle tug. Leaving the rest of his cooling coffee untouched and setting the book down to the side, the man moves from chair to edge of bed, to sit beside her, letting his long legs stretch out as he leans against the metal headboard. Wrapping an arm very carefully around her, so that she isn't forced to shift or move too much to be uncomfortable, angling inward so that nuzzles against the top of her head with his chin.

"Like this? Let me know when you need your rest and want to kick me out of your bed."