I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark, living in a powderkeg and giving off sparks.

[hesourhostage]

In a Main Gauche sunroom, Andrew Wells is sitting upside down in a chair with his camera, rewatching old footage and snickering to himself. One of these days he's going to find some way to invest in a laptop and some video editing software and actually get this documentary off the ground

Comments

MONOLOGUING.

[wholelota_angel]

Ariel has managed to get time from the hotel. She had meant to visit earlier, but with the craziness of the past few weeks, it seemed more appropriate to take care of matters at the hotel. More than that, she had only just met Vincent, which wouldn't stop her from visiting, but she felt those who had known him longer deserved that initial time by his bedside.

It's not that she thinks people in a coma can hear people talking to them, but that there's something comforting to the... soul, in a way, to have a presence near even in that state. Yes, she believes it.

She shows up at the hospital late in the afternoon, just at the end of the visitor's time so she doesn't end up staying too long. Ariel had a stint or two being a nurse in the past. The smell never changes. The hustle and bustle.

Ariel walks into the room.

"Hey, big guy," she says, taking a seat right next to the bed. There's a sense of relief that no one else is here. It's nice to talk to someone in a coma in private. "Yeah, yeah, I know we only met once at a bar. Real cliche like, don't mean I can't pay you a visit when you're lyin' in a coma. Have to say I haven't been in a hospital in years and I don't like it. So you better get yourself better cause I ain't gonna make this trip more than once."

She might, but there's no need to admit to that.

After a second, she takes in a deep breath and takes hold of his hand. Nothing... crazy here, she's just expressing some comfort through touch. Nothing near-er than touch.

"I heard what you did. Hell, who didn't? It's going around. Spreading like wildfire. You're somethin' of a legend to a lot of these kids. The truth is the world's gottin' a whole helluva lot screwed up lately. We talked about that. You and me, that one time we met. It's real fuckin' true, too. Everything's gone upside down in this world and I don't know what to believe anymore, but I'm tellin' you when you stood up to Romana, may her soul rest in peace, when you did somethin' different, and stood up against that kind of thoughtless violence, well, it's makin' a lot of people feel like maybe there's some good in this turnin' upside down world, too. Maybe there's a lot of it, we just gotta stop fuckin' resistin' so much and start goin' with our gut more 'n goin' with what we know. What we've always known."

"It meant a lot to a lot of people, big guy," Ariel says, quietly, voice straining just a little. It's funny how the emotion leaks out now of all moments, in the quiet room of an unconscious archangel that she doesn't really know at all. "Meant a lot to me, too. And I'm sure Brando woulda been real fuckin' glad that there's somebody for those kids to look up to so don't you stay like this for long. Got it? You still owe me a day at the tracks."

And then she laughs at herself, muttering, "Gotta make some crazy ass bets with a white man over a few dogs racing one another. Jesus. If my momma could see me now..."

Ariel stands, forces the emotions back, because she's a strong woman and she cries her tears alone. "If my momma could see all this, she'd tell you to wake the hell up. There's angels that need you and an upside down world that needs more like you, standin' up and turnin' it in the right way."

With that, she grabs the remote, turns the TV on to Happy Days (to give him something to listen to), and leaves.