I've got Blunt Force Head Trauma. Isn't that great!? ((Hospital Wing, Semi-Closed RP))

[beingironical]

((Warning: Linked thread contains potentially NSFW language (just the proverbial f-bomb). Closed RP for now, but there will be a thread later for anyone who wants to visit Steph that would make up an excuse tofeasibly be in the hospital wing!))

Any and all involved parties would agree that it’s been a weird coupla days for Ray Kowalski Vecchio.

Comments

[busty_robin]

Ray turned swiftly from side to side, no idea who this new Doctor Chick was talking to. But, hey, no one else around. Guess he was being flirted with! Way to go, Kowalski! He tilted his head back, oh-so-smoothly, and mouthed 'I'll wait'. Maybe he could hit the red head up for information about the Barfing Avenger.

Steph, meanwhile, was putting all of her energy into not looking at Carla, or the Things on her body. Because, see, if she ignored them, then they weren't there. Lily coming out not like that, pervs was good, because it gave Steph a place to redirect that energy. Namely, into mounting a defense. "Nothing! I'm into nothing! I'm a kid-type-person. We roughhouse. Stuff happens." Stuff was her story, and she was sticking to. Incidentally, that was the only good piece of advice any country song had ever offered the world.

But then Lily squeezed her shoulder, and all energy went right back into Not Looking. Empathy was not Steph's forte.

She braced herself for the pain -doctors always said it wasn't going to hurt- and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Magic Doctors apparently meant it. Good to know. "It feels like-" don't say 'someone releasing a stronghold,' Steph! "-yeah, the finger trap thing. Feels like that."

[carlaespinosa]

Exchanging a look with Lily over Steph, Carla gave a little smirk. "Stuff doesn't dislocate your shoulder," she informed Stephanie. "And if this is how you roughhouse, I'd hate to see you in an actual fight."

Lily snorted softly, shaking her head. "Why don't you go talk to Ray while I run some scans?" she asked Carla. "Tell him I'll be out in a few minutes."

Looking like she'd rather spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning bedpans, Carla nonetheless nodded and headed out to where Ray was sitting. She and Lily both knew that in the manner of Steph, Carla was the best person to talk to authorities. Lily honestly didn't see a problem with vigilante work, which is what happened when you had been one for years. She was liable to say the wrong things and then get mad.

Standing in front of Ray, arms crossed, Carla arched an eyebrow. "We're still working on her. I take it you have questions of some kind," she said in a manner that let it be known that she was pretty sure all of this was a waste of her time.

Behind the curtain, Lily was busily moving her wand in complicated arcs and twirls, pulling images of Stephanie's body up - bones, organs, blood flow - checking for internal damage. "You know," she said quietly, casually, "no guarantees, but unless those were caused by Dark Magic, we might be able to do something about them." Referring to Steph's scars, of course. But keeping that vague enough that the girl had an easy escape route from the conversation. "That being said, I don't think anything's wrong with having them. My boyfriend does, I do, hell my son has one that's all but famous." Lily's eyes raised from her work to Stephanie. "No shame in having a history."

[beingironical]

With all attention on Blondie, Ray's back to pacing. Normally, this is the point where he'd go home, and just question the victim in the morning. But something's setting off his cop-senses, and he's getting the feeling that if he doesn't get answers tonight, he's never gonna get 'em. The girl's hiding something - probably protecting someone. Maybe even the creeps who did this to her.

Does he have questions? Ray crosses his arms, and lets out a disbelieving snort. He's not annoyed by Carla's attitude. She's a nurse, they gotta be touch. No, he's annoyed beyond belief that a kid's sitting there with her face smashed up, and he's been standing around, resting his barf-covered heels. "Oh I got questions of all kind. First, why is a teenage girl walking around the woods, concussed? B, why is this not the first time the girl's been concussed? Third, why's she clamming up?" Ray leans in and whispers, they way he does with all E.R. nurses when both parties get that something isn't fitting. "You know something's off here. All I’m trying to do is find out who did this to her, so I can go kick their heads in. I want to know why she's making that so difficult."

[carlaespinosa]

Carla made a little huff of a sigh, but, after a second, leaned in as well. "You ask me?" she said with one eyebrow raised. "She started it. I know she doesn't look like much, but she's scarred up pretty bad. Like daddy took a drill to her. And she's been in here before, with sleeping problems. Now, I mentioned 'vigilante' to her and she clammed up like an oyster on Sunday."

Leaning back, she gave Ray a significant look. "The direction that the shoulder was dislocated says that she was slamming it into something, not having it be wrenched. She's one tough chika, I'm telling you. Even if she was jumped, she fought back. And she's terrified she's going to get caught for it."

Then she gave Ray a smug little grin. "That's just my lowly nurse's opinion, though."

Hey, this was professional flirting, man. Cops were hot.

[beingironical]

See, this is why Ray loves nurses. Right here. The nurse/cop team-up. They get it. He loves nurses every bit as much as he hates doctors.

He stands there listening, rubbing a thumb over his bottom lip. His eyes go hard at the mention of abuse, but he doesn't interrupt. You do not interrupt a nurse when she's disclosing information. That gets you smacked. "So you're thinking she goes out looking for trouble?"

And the shoulder thing just confirms it. "If she'd just been randomly attacked fought them off, we wouldn't be able to get her to shut up about it. She's a good-looking teenage girl. A girl like that takes down her own mugger? That's the kind of thing that gets you a tour on the talk-show circuit. So she either goes out looking for trouble just to look for trouble, or she's involved in some pretty illegal after school activities. Something she doesn’t want me to know about. Drugs, maybe?" He sighs, thinking outloud. "Doesn’t feel like a drug thing."

Ray smiles and laughs softly, tilting his head down. "I am eternally grateful for your 'lowly nurse's opinion'. Does the nurse giving it have a name?"

Yup. Nurses were golden.

[carlaespinosa]

Hey, what did you know? Cop boy wasn't half bad. Picked up on where Carla was going pretty damn quick. "Exactly," she nodded, serious.

There was nothing in the world so important to Carla as her friends, her family, and her patients. And a really good latte. And comfortable shoes. And wearing a nice thong on days (like today!) when she just needed to feel good about something. But the first three were pretty damn important and greatly exceeded the rest of the list. Point being, she was concerned about Steph. If she could help Ray help her, she would. But if Ray started pulling out his badge and waving it around, disturbing Stephanie's healing process, he would quickly find out exactly how far Carla's patience extended in her Wing.

"Not drugs," she agreed quietly, standing just a bit closer so Steph couldn't hear. "I don't know, this has the whole 'my daddy didn't love me so I go out and look for something bad to mask the pain' feel, you know?" Shaking her head, Carla wrapped her arms around herself. She'd seen a lot in her decade as a nurse. Kids getting hurt got to her every time.

Smiling a little back, her nose wrinkling a bit, she said, leaning forward slightly, "Carla. Carla Espinosa." Her smile widened. Hey, Cox was gone. Gone as in probably shacked up with Jordan and forgotten she existed gone. She could flirt with the cute cop if she wanted to, damn it! "What about the big bad cop? You got a name, Chicago?"

[beingironical]

"And you didn't see any marks on her arm that hinted at past drug use?" Ray's apt to trust Carla's judgment, but he's gotta ask. He looks over in Steph's direction, and sighs. "Yeah, I know. And she's not gonna tell me a damn thing." Fuck. "This happens again, it might be a lot worse than a concussion." And it's going to happen again. Ray's got no doubt.

"Vecchio," he says, easily. Hey, Fraser wasn't here! He was allowed to flirt! Not that he flirted with Fraser...or...anything. Shut up, all of you."Ray Vecchio. Let me ask you, Carla Espinosa. What do you do when you're not talking to cops with throw up on their shoes?" Actually, one of them cleaning midgets had come along and taken care of that mess. Ray had used the opportunity to kick it in the head. But still, conversation starters like this don't come along often. Thank god.

[carlaespinosa]

"One of the first things I checked," she nodded with a rueful twist of her lips. "She's clean. Other than some pretty massive scarring." Glancing back to the curtain, Carla lifted one shoulder slightly. "Well, she's in there with Lily. If anyone can get that girl to talk, it's her. She's freaking Oprah on wheels."

Considering the closed off bed for a moment, from which came the murmur of voices, she then turned back to Ray with a sigh. "It'll happen again," she said with the fatalistic certainty of someone who'd seen far too much of it. "We'll call you when it does." Best they could do. Patch the kid up, keep Ray informed, hope something got through.

The flirt made Carla grin, eyes sparkling. "Oh, you know. Work. Dancing. Exotic dinner dates. Jetting off to the Greek Isles for dessert." Then she laughed. "Or just the first one. I don't get out as much as I used to." She held out one slim hand. "Nice to meet you, Chicago."

[beingironical]

Ray nodded, and pulled a card out of his pocket. "This is my cell number. It's on the fritz right now, but I'll get it looked at. She comes in here again, I don't care if it's four in the freaking morning, you call me. She thinks we're onto her, she might give it up and get inappropriate piercings and stupid Asian tattoos, like a normal teen."

Oh, he was so in. Go Kowalski, 2 for 2! "That's a shame, 'cause I'm pretty good at the second one. And you look like you could use a night of it." ...Wait. That didn't come off right. "Not that you look bad or anything," he stumbled. "That is not what I meant. You look the opposite of-" Laughing at his own stupidity, Ray straightened up and quirked an eyebrow. Reset button, please? "I love dancing. And not that humping-with-clothes on that people try and pass of as dancing. 100 % Fred-and-Ginger-type stuff. What do you say? Could I take you out?"

[carlaespinosa]

Taking the card, Carla quirked a smile. "What, you don't go in for the owl express?" She was actually okay with that - the birds creeped her out. Seriously, they just sat and stared until you took the freaking letter and who needed that? Especially not from cranky doctors; much better off with no mail at all, she thought. Expression sobering slightly, she slid the card into her scrub top pocket. Reaching out one hand, she laid it gently on his arm. "We'll figure something out." She knew that cops got invested, just like nurses. Good ones, anyway. And Ray struck her as one of the good ones.

As Ray continued to dig himself in, Carla's eyebrows raised further, a grin hidden as she crossed her arms and waited for him to finish sticking his foot in his mouth. But the thought of dancing definitely made her eyes sparkle slightly. "I don't know," she said slowly. "I'm kind of in to the humping-with-clothes." Then she grinned, obviously teasing. Hey, cute cop who cared about a kid enough to let them puke on his shoes and the stuck around? Definitely worth a date. "I think you probably could, yeah."

[beingironical]

"Hell no," Ray answers quickly. "I got this thing with birds. Some of them eat turtles, and that's not cool in my book." Turtles are sacred! Still, school overrun with turtle murderers aside, Ray's gotta smile. She's in on this with him, and things seem a lot less weird when Ray's in on a case with someone. "In the meantime, do me a favor? See if you can keep her here for a few days. I'm not so sure she won't go right back out there and do something stupid.

Ray smiles, and shoves his hands in his pockets. This is greatness. It's been way too long since he's danced with a partner that wasn't imaginary (don't judge, he's gotta keep up with it somehow). "Pick you up Friday, at seven? I'll even wear a suit."

[carlaespinosa]

"Turtles?" Now that was either crazy talk or just plain adorable; it was a toss up. In any case, it made Carla smile. Something she'd not been doing a lot of in recent days. That's what happened when the guy who professed he loved you and you'd realized you loved too, but wasn't sure if it would ever work but kind of were thinking you'd like to find out the one person you knew in this freaking crazy place disappeared off the face of the planet.

For a second, Carla flicked her eyes back to the curtain. "Sure," she said after a minute, looking at Ray. "Lily won't like it - this magic stuff is freaking fast, so she'll probably want to turf Steph back to her room tomorrow. But leave it to me."

Her grin widened, playful. "Aw, and here I was going to wear my suit." Nodding, looking delighted, Carla confirmed, "Seven. I'm in Ravenclaw. Third floor, second door on the left."

[beingironical]

"Thanks." Three days. Maybe by then, he can talk some sense into the girl. Not that he's good at talking to kids - that's really more Fraser's thing. But Fraser left him to go play on a beachisn't here, so Ray's gonna have to find his own way to communicate.

...they frown on kicking concussed patients in the head, right? Just checking.

"Hey, I'm sure you could pull of a suit, if you wanted." Personally, Ray's hoping for something slinky, but it's lady's choice. "Great. I'm in-" here's where Ray is not going to mention the Tent Village thing "-still figuring that out. There was a thing with popcorn. Very buttery. But I'll be there at seven!"

[lilypotter60]

Leaving Steph to send off her owls, Lily walked over to where Carla and Ray were talking, a grin blooming over her face. "Ray," she greeted him with a hug. It'd been forever since she'd seen the man and she'd been worried. Pulling back, she glanced over at Carla. "Did you bring the detective up to speed?"

"He knows what I know," Carla agreed. "Did you get anything more out of the kid?"

Lily paused, thinking, then nodded slowly. "Enough. She'll be all right." Glancing back up at the other two, she gave them a crooked smile. "Her shoulder'll be sore for a day, but other than that she's patched back up. We'll keep her overnight to make sure the set is holding--"

"I think we should keep her for a few days. Maybe three or four," Carla interrupted.

Blinking, Lily looked over at her, eyes narrowing. "There's no reason for that."

"She should be kept under observation," Carla said sensibly. "Don't you think?" Pause, then she went for the jugular. "That's what Dr. Cox would do."

Lily let out a small breath, a brief light of doubt flickering across her face. She was not supposed to be all alone in the bloody Wing, but she'd been doing her best with Cox missing. Carla had been a huge help, even without knowing much about Healing medicine. Maybe she was right... "All right," Lily finally nodded her assent, making a note on Stephanie's chart. "Three days for observation. But no longer without some kind of medical reason."

"Very smart decision," Carla said with an encouraging grin. Lily rolled her eyes, knowing what Carla had done there but deciding it wasn't worth fighting about it, and handed the nurse Stephanie's chart.

"Yeah, yeah. You get to be the one to break the news to her, then."

[beingironical]

What with the who now? "Strange doctor person," he greets in turn, patting the red head on the back. He knows she was checking him out (man oh man, this jacket is working for him), but how the heck does she know his name?

He has to wonder if this whole thing is some elaborate undercover mission no one's bothered to tell him about. What goes around comes around!

While the hug-happy red head is looking over Brown's chart, Ray mouths 'thank you' to Carla, clapping his hands together in a praying motion.

[lilypotter60]

"Ray," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, that's not funny. Seriously, how have you been? I've not seen you in forever." Taking a seat, she nodded her head for him to join her, giving him an exasperatedly puzzled smile.

Carla beamed a quick grin at Ray before taking the chart and nodding at Lily. "Deal. I'm going to go get her some--"

"Food, yeah," Lily agreed with the ease of someone who'd gotten used to working with another person. "Brilliant. I wanted to visit with Ray a bit, anyway."

Nodding a goodbye to Ray, Carla turned and headed towards the back room. Lily turned in her chair slightly to face Ray. "Was beginning to think you'd run off, love. It's been too long. We should have dinner sometime, yeah?"