Words

[amelia_z]

E Coli O157:H7

Comments

[caleb_z]

Caleb alerts the doctors, but there isn't much they can do. "She's stable," they tell him. "The best thing for her now is to rest."

Not that Caleb will stray far from her side, of course.

Though while she is still asleep, Caleb slips out front to make a phone call.

[green_shield]

The cell phone plays, "The Rasputin," and Tara picks it up. "What's up?"

[caleb_z]

His voice is abound with forced neutrality.

"Do you have a minute?"

[green_shield]

She can hear through it by now. "How bad?"

[caleb_z]

For a moment, silence fills the air.

"The doctors give Amelia a week. Maybe less."

[green_shield]

Amelia...

She ground her fingers into her eyes. The woman befriended her as some ruse, allowed her sister to be kidnapped and used by a pedophile, damn near killed her and the team, threw temper tantrums of epic proportions and justified all this shit with "I'm dying and I don't like my brother's ex because his life is different after 15 years of coma."

There's so much dead silence on the line, you'd think the call was dropped.

[caleb_z]

Caleb was afraid of this. Tara has every reason and right to hate Amelia, after all.

"Ms. Stron- ... Tara, I ... People make mistakes." Just as Travis.

"She knows she did the wrong thing."

[green_shield]

"Give me a sec..." She muffles the phone, but the spy's trained ear can hear the words. "To him that smites thee on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him that would take away thy garment, forbid not thy body-coat also." Afterwards, there's a long sigh.

"She in the same spot as before?"

[caleb_z]

"No. She, uh ... they moved her to Metropolis General this morning. Room 415. Just, uh ... just show the guard on her door your Outsider's ID." Thanking her slips his mind, though the sentiment is there.

[green_shield]

She's in business mode. She may notice later. For Caleb, it's almost thanks to be invited within 3 feet of Amelia anyway. "Is she needing to see me, the doctors...Ypu need a ride home?"

[caleb_z]

If she's in business mode, she's in good company. "No, I,uh ... I-I was hoping you might see her. Speak to her. As things presently stand, there won't be an opportunity later."

"Though now that you mention it, if you're willing to lend your professional talents ... I can't think of anyone I'd trust more."

[green_shield]

"She's a partial succubi. Ibn is a specialist. I'm a country doctor by comparison. Also, as the closest thing to her physician I do have to note that causing her undo pain during this time...Screw it." There's a noise. "I'm outside. See you in a bit."

Sure enough 20 minutes later, she's found Caleb.

[caleb_z]

Caleb is sitting at Amelia's bedside, still trying to think his way around the inevitable.

Tara's arrival elicits a minute smile. "It was kind of you to come."

[green_shield]

She shrugs with one shoulder and then places a hand on his arm. "I'll stick around, get you coffee or whatever, but I'll show up to Amelia's bed only if Amelia says she wants it, okay? I don't want to make her dying worse."

[caleb_z]

He motions to Amelia, still asleep, and hooked up to many of the same machines that sustained her for over a decade. It's a sight that epitomizes helplessness for both siblings.

"She's been slipping into and out of consciousness," he notes. "I don't imagine will too terribly long before she is awake again."

"I'm certain she'll want to see you," he says confidently. "I can tell. The way she talks about you, the way she speaks of having failed you and Crystal."

[green_shield]

"What?"