[open] I will keep on fighting 'til I die
[[OOC: This is a tailored plot-post, but anyone who wants to tag in is perfectly welcome!]]
It's a fairly cold night, and windy, being fall in Chicago and all. But you wouldn't know it to look at Kaden, who's sitting outside of the hospital in just a t-shirt and jeans, chainsmoking. He's shaking, but it's not from cold. Every few minutes, he ( Read more... )
It's a fairly cold night, and windy, being fall in Chicago and all. But you wouldn't know it to look at Kaden, who's sitting outside of the hospital in just a t-shirt and jeans, chainsmoking. He's shaking, but it's not from cold. Every few minutes, he ( Read more... )
Comments 48
She begins to call out to him, jogging on over, but his name dies on her lips as she gets a good hard look at him and notices the bruising on his face. And arms. And gods only know where else. --that, and he's standing outside the hospital, she's just taken in. Oh gods. Oh gods, no.
"...Kaden," she manages, sorrow lacing her tone. "--What... what happened?" She's pretty sure she knows exactly what happened, but that's not really what she's asking. She just doesn't want to run up to him and say what the hell has your gods-damned father done to everyone this time, because that would be kind of rude. But it's kind of how she feels.
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He toys with the idea of just turning around and going inside for a moment, but decides against it. The damage has been done, and he needs to talk to Iris anyway.
So he gives Iris a half-smile. "Some guy on the street called me a fag and we got into it," he says, taking another drag on the cigarette. "You should see what I left him with." Technically none of it is a lie, per se; Ken did call him a fag -- it was the first thing he said to him, actually -- and the cut on Ken's forehead is going to need stitches.
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On top of that, she hasn't been to see Molly today. And while she figures she'd probably have got some kind of-- journal notification, or something-- if she were in hospital, she has to be sure.
"Kaden," she insists. "Don't think I don't know you're covering for him." She's taken in the impatience with which he was fiddling with his... emergency contact device, taken in the fact of his location. "...It's not just you, is it? Who else is in there?"
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"I wouldn't cover for him," he says, darkly. It's not a lie; what he's doing now is maintaining his sense of normalcy. It's more for him than for Ken or anyone else. It's more to keep the general public from knowing what goes on behind closed doors -- though in this case it was in front of open picture windows. Not one of Ken's smartest moves.
At her reminder, he opens his phone again. He knows they're not going to call anytime soon -- there's no way she's awake yet, and he's only been out here for five minutes or so -- but he can't help it. Lily is in there. His Yokko is lying unconscious in the ICU because of him.
His voice is deadpan and emotionless when he replies. "My sister." The phone snaps shut once more. "She's in the ICU."
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Which is why she slips hers off and stands in front of him, offering it with a small smile. "I don't get cold very easily," she explains, her English very accented. "But if you feel the need to return it to me, I can give you my telephone number."
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He looks at the jacket for a moment, then smiles a rather thin little smile at her. It's supposed to be warmer than it is, but it hurts to smile much wider than that.
"I'm okay," he says, "but thank you." He flicks ash off his cigarette into the nearby ashtray. "Besides, I'm not sure it would fit me."
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He's also an angel, she notes, reaching up to touch her glasses, adjusting the scanner. The cut on his cheek, that should have tipped her off, she realizes after a moment. This is the ER, though. Most people here don't look like they're okay. But he's out here smoking, rather than waiting to be seen by a doctor.
Either way, she's slightly worried now. Especially considering the smile. "At least take the jacket? It will make me feel better."
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Only it was never Lily who had to go to the ER. Always his mother, never any of them, except the once. And that one hadn't even been because of Ken. Lily had come to see him, then. He wonders when they're going to let him see her again.
Phone out, flip open, flip shut.
He looks up then, and shrugs. "Have a seat, then," he offers, gesturing to the rest of the bench. "Wouldn't want to make you walk home without a jacket or anything."
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