2021-01-31 - Out of the ICU

Vic has been in the ICU for several days, drugged to all hell, and with a breathing tube down her throat, connecting her to a respirator that shouldered a lot of the work her lungs would normally take on, giving them time to heal. That healing was boosted some by Alexander when he visited. She was able to communicate with him via the Reader gift, for a short stretch in which she was awake. She knows Seth has been to see her many times, the nurses told her as much, but she'd been sleeping, poor guy.

Now, however, she's been moved to a regular room, and is off the respirator. They still have a canula beneath her nose and looped over her ears, the clear plastic tubing delivering oxygen to her to keep her sats up while her lungs repair. She's also awake. She's in a hospital gown still, as she hasn't been awake enough to ask for a change of clothing, and she's poking at the horrific slop on the plate in front of her. Dinner tonight is turkey with mashed potatoes and stuffing and gravy, all of which looks yellowish brown, lifeless, flavorless, and like it has the texture of shoe leather. She has yet to manage a mouthful of anything, despite being someone who eats microwaved pizza rolls on the regular.

Her hair is in slightly better shape than it was. She was able to brush it herself, mostly, but it was tiring and she got sick of fighting all the knots, and wound up just putting it into a soft scrunchie over one shoulder. She looks like hell, bandages covering her entire upper torso, bulky beneath the gown. Tubes go in and out, drains and IV fluids and drugs traveling to and fro to keep her going.

There is a rap on the doorjamb as Seth announces his presence the brief second before he pokes his head around the doorway and peeks into the room. From what can be seen of him, he looks like a man that has been spending more time in a hospital waiting room that he has anywhere else. His hair is disheveled and the beard he was growing is peppered around the edges with a few days worth of stubble that hasn't been cleaned up.

"Accepting visitors?" he asks with a smile as he sees Vic is not only off of the incubator but also awake and seemingly in the effort of eating something solid. "I can come back after dinner if you would prefer?" the enforcer says with an obvious joking lilt to his voice. He isn't going anywhere.

"I'm afraid if you leave me with this plate of slop in front of me, it's going to gain sentience and eat my face," Vic says in a low, husky whisper, her lungs not up to speaking at full volume and her throat still irritated from the former breathing tube. "Nurses said you've been to see me a few times. Careful there, Seth, I'll begin to think you have feelings for me," she quips with a faint smile. She pushes the tray table away, unable to even attempt to eat the dinner. "How are Rosencrantz and Kelly doing? And the accountant, Evans? Clayton said Neil and Craig didn't make it."

"Well if me visiting is going to give you those thoughts, then these are really going to wonder," Seth mutters as he walks into the room. In one hand is a little bouquet with a pair of yellow balloons marked with the words 'Get Well Soon' in some flowy script which is tied around the arm of a soft and fuzzy teddy bear. He walks over to the side of the bed, sets the bear on the little table to the side, and leans over to give the side of Vic's cheek a peck.

"I knew about Neil, not about Craig," sighs Seth as he pulls back. "I didn't really know either of them other than by sight. I never had much interaction with them myself. Sorry to hear, though." Seth walks over to the little stool the doctors sometimes sit on and takes a seat, rolling it up to the bedside. "I haven't had a talk with Joey yet, but I heard Itz is out of the woods. I haven't manned up enough to go and see him yet because I have a feeling de la Vega is lurking in the corner of his room. I think the less I see of him or I am seen by him, the better right now...but if I have the chance I will sneak over there and see if I can't give his system a little boost. Speaking of...do you want me to give you a little kickstart? I wasn't going to just do it without asking."

Seth takes a deep breath, "Ravn is out. I guess he checked himself out early. I saw him and Alexander today. He seems to be healing up ok, but they did bring up something, after visiting hours I am going to head over to the Twofer and make sure it is still standing. I don't know who has been running it the last few days, but with you out of commission someone needs to head over and check it out. Alexander and Ravn said some new guy was working there, so hopefully he is competent enough. I'd hate for Easton and Bennie to come back and blame you for anything that happens over there."

"I'm not feeling a bit bad about Craig, he was one of Greg's pushers and he sold us out and got shot by one of Reyes' guys to clean up loose ends. Smuggled a phone into the meeting set to listen in on it and relay it to the other side. So don't shed tears for him. Neil though, he was a decent courier. I know Kelly will make sure any family he had is taken care of but he was young. It's a shame."

Her eyes move to the gift and widen, like maybe she's suddenly sure Seth is a pod person, and the real Seth has been taken by aliens. "Well shit, now everyone is going to think we're dating," she notes with a grin. She's drugged to the gills, she ain't mad about this at all. At word of the Twofer, she nods, making grabby hands for the teddy bear. Anything to brighten up being in this hellhole. "Tor Lockhart, he's on the payroll for Felix too, good kid, can heal with the mojo, and can shoot. Easton and I gave him a hell of a job interview at the target range. Marshall wants to be sure anyone working there can handle whatever crap the Other Side throws at it. Be good for you to check in there though, thanks for that."

She leans into the kiss to her cheek. "I'd give you a proper kiss but there's plastic tubes in my nose and I haven't gotten to brush my teeth in days."

Seth nods in response to the news about Craig, "Well, then good riddance to him then. May he burn in hell. I'll follow up with Joey and see what he wants to do about Neil."

At Vic's grabby hands, Seth chuckles and shifts to grab the teddy bear, bringing it back over so Vic can take it, "I don't know Tor, but will go meet him and give the Twofer a look over. If I need to 'fill in' as a barback or something I'll give a hand. Wouldn't be the first time I have ever worked in a restaurant, though most of the time it was on the line. Do you want me to call Easton of Bennie? Or should we just let them enjoy their vacay?"

Seth slides the teddy bear into the crook of Vic's arm, rolls his eyes as he angles himself carefully to give her a proper kiss, "I think that ship has sailed. Pretty sure people think we are dating anyway, no matter what label we throw on this, and a little plaque and bad breath are not going to run me off. You're stuck with me for now."

Vic pulls the teddy bear into her arms and hugs it, very gently, to one side, where there are no sutured up holes in her torso. It's kind of adorable as she pets it's head and tweaks an ear before looking back at Seth. "No need to worry them if the bar is intact and everything there is ok. " The kiss is returned warmly, though briefly. She just can't hold her breath all that long at the moment. "Oh darn, stuck with a handsome man who doesn't mind my job, and can cook? What a horrible turn of events."

"God I hope this Reyes bullshit is over," she murmurs. "And I hope someone is keeping his room nulled. He's got the reader power, and a lot of it. He electrocuted Neil with it. If he gets into the heads of people guarding him..." he could escape.

Seth nods in response to not bother Easton or Bennie. "Yeah, that was kind of my thoughts on the subject, but since you were running the place it was your call. I'll stop by on my way home to check the place out though."

The ginger enforcer grins as he watches Vic play with the teddy bear, a pleasant, and genuine smile forming on his lips and around the eyes. "Yeah, I know. It's so hard on you. I don't know however you will manage, but you are a tough bitch. I am sure you will persevere."

"As far as Reyes is concerned, I'm just annoyed that whoever gave him some lead, didn't aim for the head instead of center mass. Nobody deserved their frontal lobe turned into mush more than he did." Seth grumbles out. "If de la Vega is smart he will make sure Reyes has an 'accident' in the cell." Sighing he continues, "Alexander is worried if there were any lieutenants left they could either retaliate or slink off into the shadows to rise another day. I'm tempted to go hunting."

"Yeah, soak it up now, buddy, I'm on so much fucking morphine. Once my senses return to me I'll be all stubborn about labelling things again," Vic warns with a smirk. As for Reyes, "None of us deserved to go to prison for murder, and if that person would have capped him in the head, I don't think even De la Vega could smooth it over. So incapacitating the fucker was the right choice." She grimaces. "But God, I wanted to put so many bullets in his skull his head would rattle like a soda can full of pennies. If he had any lieutenants left, my guess is they were only there because he was manipulating their brains with his mojo. Once he went down, I'm sure they fled or tried to bargain with the cops." She gets a bit of a prideful gleam in her eye. "Three shots, three kills, by the way. Though I guess Javier put a slug in the sniper same time I did, so hard to say which of us killed him."

Seth gives Vic a grin, "Well I'll just have to take my chances." the enforcer says with a wink.

He settles back into his chair, resting a hand on her arm lightly. "It might have been the right choice, but I still think he needs to be lobotomized," Seth argues. "Trust me though, I understand the feeling. I just took the shot I had, I just wish I had been around sooner. I hate the feeling that I might have been able to prevent some of the injuries if I had actually gotten the text in time. Maybe Neil would still be around." He shrugs, "But you, you are a beast. Not only talented but a looker too. I wish I had been there to see it."

"Next time, maybe advise me not to make myself the biggest target in the room to protect the boss," Vic mutters. "Kelly was still hurt from the meth lab op. I had to draw fire. They dug four slugs out of my chest," she points out. "Thankfully my metal ribs from the LAST time I was shot in the chest kept three of those from doing much damage. The sniper was who got me worst." She lights up at being called a looker and talented. "You better believe I'm all that and a bag of chips. Did I just say that? Oh God I'm turning into my dad when on morphine. I need to get out of this place soon."

Seth lets out a barking laugh. "Ok, dad jokes may be where I draw the line, Vic." the enforcer says with a grin. "We will get you out of here when it is safe to do you, then I will take you back to my place where you can lounge around and have me slave over you for the next few weeks until you recover." He pauses, giving Vic a side-eye for a moment, "Speaking of your dad, though. I am assuming we don't call him?"

"No, I told Clayton the same thing. I'm going to recover, and I don't want him to worry unnecessarily. He'll come to town and try to stay until I'm better and that is just not safe for him. He glimmers a tiny bit, he just doesn't know it. I worry Gray Harbor will get its hooks into him," Vic says with serious worry in her expression. She's very readable in this state, her face showing all her emotions, where she is usually so closed off. "If I get arrested for popping those three assholes in the dance studio, then you can call him."

Seth nods. "If anyone is going to get popped for anything, it will be me. I shot the asshole when he was 'subdued'. Not exactly unarmed, but close enough." He stands, rolling the chair back to where he found it with a push of his foot, "You will be fine, and I won't call your dad. Not exactly the conversation I would want with him anyway. Not exactly sure how I would explain you getting 4 rounds without some wild-ass story he would probably see-through."

He leans down and gives her another quick kiss, "I'm going to go let you get some rest, but I'll be back tomorrow. I'll let you know how Tor is handling things in your absence. Rest up."

"Bring me real food, please. I can't gag this crap down, it's terrible," Vic pleads, settling back against the pillows with her teddy bear tucked beside her. "And Seth, be careful. I like you too much to lose you, k?"

Seth nods as he heads towards the door. "You got it. I'll sneak you a cheeseburger."

With that, he walks out the door, raising his hand in a wave.