Seconds

[tm_darla]

The conversation with Connor had left Darla more unsettled than she wanted to admit. Now that her arm was out of a sling again, she got an appointment to present herself at the Getty Center. It was an odd thing to realize she missed working; and she always thought one should start at the top

Comments

[tm_darla]

Accordingly, the first thing Darla feels when she comes to is that her head aches. A lot. The second is that there is a lot of noise around her. She opens her eyes and sees two life guards, a lot of bystanders, and Kara with a worried expression on her face.

Damm.

She has no idea how much time has passed (it actually was only a little more than a minute). If she was alone with Kara, she'd say something like "someone just tried to kill me - look for a bleeding eye socket and beat him to pulp, if you please". But there is no way she'd trust strangers with that information (resulting in subsequent investigations of her background). Besides, if everyone is crowding her, the man is bound to have made a getaway by now.

It's hard to think of something clever and harmless when your head aches, and your chest still feels strange as well, so Darla settles for saying Kara's name to indicate she's back, alive, and coherent. She'll have to think about the long list of people still wanting her dead and who might be responsible for having someone tracking her to a public pool later.

. "...Kara?"

[kara_marie]

There is the inevitable crowd of concerned citizens looking for some free entertainment, all gathered around staring down at her - Kara had to force her way to the front of them, and for a moment staring down at Darla, her heart had sped up, her stomach had started to contract.

"...Mommy?"

She says, it's instinctual, she doesn't even hear herself saying it, but she feels like the past is catching up with her somehow.

[tm_darla]

This works better than a bucket of cold water would. No one, ever, called Darla "Mommy". Certainly not Kara, who is feeling guilty enough about loving someone other than the dead woman already. And then there's the fact she remembers Kara's recent stint at a hospital.

Darla sits up. "Whoa, there, lady. Take it slowly. What happened?" one of the lifeguard says and takes her wrist to feel her pulse. Ignoring her headache and looking at Kara, not at him, Darla says:

"Sorry. Bad Moment. It's just so crowded here. But I'm fine now."

"We could call for an ambulance -" says the lifeguard, who has visions of insurance suits if the woman passes out again as soon after he let her go, and Darla turns at last towards him. "No, really, I'm fine," she says with the most winning smile she can muster under current circumstances. "My daughter is going to bring me home anyway. Thanks for your help."

[kara_marie]

For her part all Kara can think of is the heart condition that Bruce Wayne told her Darla had. And although colour is starting to return to Darla's face...

"She has a heart condition." Kara says, firmly, loudly. "I think you should call that ambulance... I mean, she has a heart condition and maybe, I don't know. She has a serious heart condition and I think you should call that ambulance."

[tm_darla]

Tender filial concern can be a bitch, Darla. Incidentally, given that she actually does need medication for her heart, and nearly got drowned, being checked by medics is not a bad idea, but does she think that? No. What she's thinking of is hospitals, hating doctors, needing to convince Kara she's not on her way to an early grave and trying to figure out who the hell just tried to kill her.

"Right," says the lifeguard, and uses his mobile to call an ambulance, while his collegue insists on asking Darla what kind of heart condition, and what medication. As soon as low-voiced explanations about syphilis have left her lips, her fate is sealed. A ride in the ambulance and some hours in an overcrowded Los Angeles hospital it is, before they let her go. And no chance to talk to Kara alone any time soon.

Someone is going to be extremely sorry for that.