Sitting with Kara
Kara's been back in Boston for a day now, and there still hasn't been any change in her condition. The constant stream of visitors has started to die down to a steady trickle, and after helping Ben convince Wesley to go home and get some sleep (advice she should probably take herself), Cordelia is able to slip into Kara's room alone.
She'd gone over to Wesley's house that morning to get some of Kara's clothes, just in case she woke up today. While there she also grabbed her iPod and a scented candle that was sitting on her bedside table. Judging by how low it had burned, she assumed it was a scent Kara liked. Something that would remind her of home and comfort her. She remembered what Ben had said the day before about familiar scents and sounds and figured it wouldn't hurt to try out the theory.
Once she's in Kara's room, she closes the door carefully behind her. Kara's bed is the centerpiece, surrounded by softly beeping machines with flashing lights. There are too many tubes and wires running from them to her body to count, but Cordelia ignores them all and takes a seat in the chair beside her bed, the one Wesley's ass has more or less been permanently planted in. She sets the candle on a table behind her, far enough from the machines that the flame shouldn't bother anything. Once it's lit, she turns on the iPod, sets it to play in shuffle mode, then turns the vollume all the way up. She doesn't want to put the headphones directly on Kara, so this way they act as mini speakers. The sound is a little hollow like this, and it's still quiet, but that's okay. It's playing, and that's what matters.
Cordelia sighs and reaches for Kara's hand, but stops before she can touch it. It looks so still and pale lying there on the bed beside her, an IV stuck through the back of it and a blood oxygen monitor over one finger. Her wrist is still bandaged, an ugly reminder of what Catherine had done to her body. Almost as ugly as the scar it will surely leave behind. Afraid she'll hurt her if she touches or moves her hand, Cordelia settles for resting hers lightly over Kara's forearm. Her skin is warm and soft, a good sign. Right?
"Hey Kara," she says after sitting in silence for a few mnutes. She gives the thin arm beneath her hand a small squeeze. "It's Cordy. I know people have probably been babbling at you all day and you're probably getting sick of listening, but you'll just have to deal because now that I finally have you all to myself, I have some stuff to say."
She glances at the door to be sure no one's about to come in. "You're pretty popular, you know. But not the kind of popular I was when I was your age. The people that have been coming to see you... they really care about you. And I don't just mean Wesley and Ben and Fred. You have a lot of friends, so you have to wake up soon so they'll stop bugging me about you. I don't know how I became the 24-hour Kara News Channel, but every time someone shows up to visit, they ask me about you first. So wake up or do something so I can finally have actual news to tell them, okay?"
Cordelia leans forward and lowers her voice, even though there's no one else around to hear her. "I'm so sorry, Kara I should have done something as soon as I realized something was wrong. I knew you were possessed - not by who or anything, but in general - and I didn't do anything. I should have called Wesley and demanded he come home and help you, or not agreed to take you to Chicago in the first place. And as for the possession itself, what the hell were you thinking, inviting that woman to use you like that? You know better than that, Kara! I swear, if I wasn't so worried, I'd give you a good shake right now."
She shakes herself instead before she can rant any more, then gives Kara's arm another squeeze as she reaches for the stack of magazines sitting beside the iPod. "Anyway.... You know who else came to see you? Tucker Wells." She smiles as she says his full name, knowing it would make Kara happy. "Warren was with him, too. They brought you some magazines, which is kind of weird since you can't really read them right now. I guess it's better than flowers, though. So unoriginal. Anyway, it would be a shame to let them go to waste, so why don't I read them to you?"
She waits a moment, as though Kara's going to answer her, then rattles the pages of the one on top of the stack. "All right, then. You'll never believe who Tom Cruise is engaged to!"
She'd gone over to Wesley's house that morning to get some of Kara's clothes, just in case she woke up today. While there she also grabbed her iPod and a scented candle that was sitting on her bedside table. Judging by how low it had burned, she assumed it was a scent Kara liked. Something that would remind her of home and comfort her. She remembered what Ben had said the day before about familiar scents and sounds and figured it wouldn't hurt to try out the theory.
Once she's in Kara's room, she closes the door carefully behind her. Kara's bed is the centerpiece, surrounded by softly beeping machines with flashing lights. There are too many tubes and wires running from them to her body to count, but Cordelia ignores them all and takes a seat in the chair beside her bed, the one Wesley's ass has more or less been permanently planted in. She sets the candle on a table behind her, far enough from the machines that the flame shouldn't bother anything. Once it's lit, she turns on the iPod, sets it to play in shuffle mode, then turns the vollume all the way up. She doesn't want to put the headphones directly on Kara, so this way they act as mini speakers. The sound is a little hollow like this, and it's still quiet, but that's okay. It's playing, and that's what matters.
Cordelia sighs and reaches for Kara's hand, but stops before she can touch it. It looks so still and pale lying there on the bed beside her, an IV stuck through the back of it and a blood oxygen monitor over one finger. Her wrist is still bandaged, an ugly reminder of what Catherine had done to her body. Almost as ugly as the scar it will surely leave behind. Afraid she'll hurt her if she touches or moves her hand, Cordelia settles for resting hers lightly over Kara's forearm. Her skin is warm and soft, a good sign. Right?
"Hey Kara," she says after sitting in silence for a few mnutes. She gives the thin arm beneath her hand a small squeeze. "It's Cordy. I know people have probably been babbling at you all day and you're probably getting sick of listening, but you'll just have to deal because now that I finally have you all to myself, I have some stuff to say."
She glances at the door to be sure no one's about to come in. "You're pretty popular, you know. But not the kind of popular I was when I was your age. The people that have been coming to see you... they really care about you. And I don't just mean Wesley and Ben and Fred. You have a lot of friends, so you have to wake up soon so they'll stop bugging me about you. I don't know how I became the 24-hour Kara News Channel, but every time someone shows up to visit, they ask me about you first. So wake up or do something so I can finally have actual news to tell them, okay?"
Cordelia leans forward and lowers her voice, even though there's no one else around to hear her. "I'm so sorry, Kara I should have done something as soon as I realized something was wrong. I knew you were possessed - not by who or anything, but in general - and I didn't do anything. I should have called Wesley and demanded he come home and help you, or not agreed to take you to Chicago in the first place. And as for the possession itself, what the hell were you thinking, inviting that woman to use you like that? You know better than that, Kara! I swear, if I wasn't so worried, I'd give you a good shake right now."
She shakes herself instead before she can rant any more, then gives Kara's arm another squeeze as she reaches for the stack of magazines sitting beside the iPod. "Anyway.... You know who else came to see you? Tucker Wells." She smiles as she says his full name, knowing it would make Kara happy. "Warren was with him, too. They brought you some magazines, which is kind of weird since you can't really read them right now. I guess it's better than flowers, though. So unoriginal. Anyway, it would be a shame to let them go to waste, so why don't I read them to you?"
She waits a moment, as though Kara's going to answer her, then rattles the pages of the one on top of the stack. "All right, then. You'll never believe who Tom Cruise is engaged to!"