[May 2] [Silent Hill 1] A Night Without Monsters
Title: A Night Without Monsters
Day/Theme: May 2/ one by one the nights will fall
Series: Silent Hill 1
Character/Pairing: Lisa and Alessa gen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 613
Warnings: Gross medical stuff, violence, spoilers.
Cross-posted to rosehiptea and sh_het.
Today Alessa is moving, crying out softly, though still not speaking. She hasn't spoken once in all these years, and given little sign that she understands anything either. But Lisa talks to her anyway.
"Your sheets are soiled, Alessa. Just be patient, and I'll clean you."
She is far too big, now, for Lisa to pick up and put down in a wheelchair while she changes the sheets. And there is no one to ask for help, because she won't let Kaufmann drag anything else into this, any more than she will let him touch the girl.
"It looks like your back is getting better, Alessa."
This is a lie. She never gets better, if one thing heals something else opens up. A wound she didn't even have before becomes infected, and Lisa has to ask Kaufmann for more dressing and drugs to treat her.
That's not how a burn victim supposed to heal, but then none of this is possible; Alessa should never have survived in the first place. Now she has a bedsore on her hip, one of the only patches of whole skin she has. Lisa cleans it carefully, makes sure to change her position so she won't get another, because Lisa is a nurse and that's what she does.
She strokes the pillow, thinking again about putting it over Alessa's face. That would only be mercy, and it isn't her training or morals that stops her. It's the fact that it wouldn't work, that the girl would just keep living - if the fire didn't kill her nothing else in this world is going to.
Today she reads to her a little, something from the Chronicles of Narnia. Alessa's always a little quieter when Lisa reads. For a while Lisa tried not to read to her about monsters, but it didn't help. There are still monsters at night, no matter what.
Usually Lisa can only tell it's night when the muffled sounds that filter to the basement become softer and less frequent.
Tonight she simply sits, willing herself to stay awake, but she never can. And then the cabinet full of Alessa's medicines shifts, changes, and it's a monster, risen from the sea, ready to consume her.
"You're not real," Lisa tries to tell it, but it's not just a sight or a sound, it has the smell of the sea and the clammy wet feel of seaweed as it reaches out to her, grabbing her. The pain is real when it sinks its teeth into her shoulder, and she sees the blood and screams.
Then she is back, still with the pain, and the memory of horror. But the blood isn't there and that's something of a blessing.
Alessa is awake, blinking at her. The scream must have been real too. Lisa wonders if the girl sees the same monsters, clearly she sees something just as horrific because she sometimes screams herself, and clutches Lisa's hand.
It's only the drug that ever stops Lisa from seeing the girl's terrors, and now she'll need to beg Kaufmann for more.
"Now I'm an addict, a junkie, like someone from a movie who sells themselves on the street for drugs. But it was my soul I sold."
Alessa frowns at her, as if she understands.
"Now I'm here, night after night, with you and the monsters, and it will never end."
The girl whimpers, and Lisa takes her hand. "I'm sorry. It isn't your fault. Just try to sleep."
When she sleeps, the hallucinations will come again, but there is no help for that. This will be a long night, one of many, with no hope of a night without monsters.
Day/Theme: May 2/ one by one the nights will fall
Series: Silent Hill 1
Character/Pairing: Lisa and Alessa gen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 613
Warnings: Gross medical stuff, violence, spoilers.
Cross-posted to rosehiptea and sh_het.
Today Alessa is moving, crying out softly, though still not speaking. She hasn't spoken once in all these years, and given little sign that she understands anything either. But Lisa talks to her anyway.
"Your sheets are soiled, Alessa. Just be patient, and I'll clean you."
She is far too big, now, for Lisa to pick up and put down in a wheelchair while she changes the sheets. And there is no one to ask for help, because she won't let Kaufmann drag anything else into this, any more than she will let him touch the girl.
"It looks like your back is getting better, Alessa."
This is a lie. She never gets better, if one thing heals something else opens up. A wound she didn't even have before becomes infected, and Lisa has to ask Kaufmann for more dressing and drugs to treat her.
That's not how a burn victim supposed to heal, but then none of this is possible; Alessa should never have survived in the first place. Now she has a bedsore on her hip, one of the only patches of whole skin she has. Lisa cleans it carefully, makes sure to change her position so she won't get another, because Lisa is a nurse and that's what she does.
She strokes the pillow, thinking again about putting it over Alessa's face. That would only be mercy, and it isn't her training or morals that stops her. It's the fact that it wouldn't work, that the girl would just keep living - if the fire didn't kill her nothing else in this world is going to.
Today she reads to her a little, something from the Chronicles of Narnia. Alessa's always a little quieter when Lisa reads. For a while Lisa tried not to read to her about monsters, but it didn't help. There are still monsters at night, no matter what.
Usually Lisa can only tell it's night when the muffled sounds that filter to the basement become softer and less frequent.
Tonight she simply sits, willing herself to stay awake, but she never can. And then the cabinet full of Alessa's medicines shifts, changes, and it's a monster, risen from the sea, ready to consume her.
"You're not real," Lisa tries to tell it, but it's not just a sight or a sound, it has the smell of the sea and the clammy wet feel of seaweed as it reaches out to her, grabbing her. The pain is real when it sinks its teeth into her shoulder, and she sees the blood and screams.
Then she is back, still with the pain, and the memory of horror. But the blood isn't there and that's something of a blessing.
Alessa is awake, blinking at her. The scream must have been real too. Lisa wonders if the girl sees the same monsters, clearly she sees something just as horrific because she sometimes screams herself, and clutches Lisa's hand.
It's only the drug that ever stops Lisa from seeing the girl's terrors, and now she'll need to beg Kaufmann for more.
"Now I'm an addict, a junkie, like someone from a movie who sells themselves on the street for drugs. But it was my soul I sold."
Alessa frowns at her, as if she understands.
"Now I'm here, night after night, with you and the monsters, and it will never end."
The girl whimpers, and Lisa takes her hand. "I'm sorry. It isn't your fault. Just try to sleep."
When she sleeps, the hallucinations will come again, but there is no help for that. This will be a long night, one of many, with no hope of a night without monsters.