[Chloe] I'm Not Dead Yet!
Who: Chloe
Where: Camp Crash
When: Day 21, mid-afternoon
Invited: Open to All
Status: Complete
Chloe didn't remember sleeping. It felt like she'd lain awake for an eternity, certainly long enough for the darkness of pre-dawn to give way to daybreak, and then to mid-day and beyond. She'd tracked the way the sunbeam that shone through a chink in her shelter slid down the opposite wall and across the floor, then begun crawling up the other side.
She was hyper-aware of her every sensation. Her skin felt dry and papery. Breathing wasn't a problem, but she could feel her heartbeat fluttering like a small bird. Moving was difficult and painful--her joints seemed stiff and she felt weak--and besides, anything more than the slowest, gentlest movement left her lightheaded and exhausted.
The Doctor had told her it wasn't true aging, only a complex biochemical attack that mimicked the effects of age. (Hah! Like that makes a difference!) Chloe hadn't missed the way he'd responded when she'd asked if she would recover.
Not gonna happen. Not naturally. That much was clear.
With her heart in her throat, terrified to think that she'd been robbed of half a century, she'd asked him if there was a cure? A treatment? Anything? His eyes told her the truth even as he'd tried to assure her that they'd find something. Between himself and Rodney, the two biggest brains on the planet would be working on her behalf!
(Thanks anyway,) Chloe thought. She only spoke the first word aloud. The Doctor nodded. Then he left.
She didn't remember sleeping, but she must have. The sunbeam progressed in fits and starts, jumping a few inches at a time whenever she looked at it. Carrie had changed into Rose the Elder during one such discontinuity. Then into Kate. Chloe had tried checking her watch, but the Indiglo light had failed, and when she put it to her ear she heard nothing.
A couple of times she'd been offered food but declined. "You really should eat something, dear," Rose had said when she brought some breakfast.
"I'm not hungry," Chloe said.
"You need to keep up your--"
"I'm not hungry!" Chloe snapped. She heard the quaver in her voice. The old-woman quaver. (Oh God, I sound like Grandma Tate,) she thought despairingly.
"Just leave me alone!" Chloe added, turning away. Rose didn't reply. Chloe heard her put the makeshift tray of food down. After a moment Rose left the tent. Chloe glanced over her shoulder to be sure, then looked down at the fist she'd held clutched to her breast. She opened her fist, a slow, painful procedure that required the use of her other hand.
Chloe stared at the Kryptonite marble in her palm, feeling her hopes fade--like the Kryptonite had faded. The sphere lay there dark and inert, looking like a smooth sphere of jade. The ghostly green glow it usually exhibited had faded away. It had been her only hope, longshot though it was, and now it too had failed.
She dropped the Kryptonite marble onto the blanket on which she lay. Chloe pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle the anguished cry she felt trying to escape. Curling up on her side, Chloe covered her face with both hands. Covered her wrinkled old woman's face with her wrinkly old woman hands and cried.
OOC: It's official. I'm claiming Chloe Sullivan as a PC. Just so you all know.
Where: Camp Crash
When: Day 21, mid-afternoon
Invited: Open to All
Status: Complete
Chloe didn't remember sleeping. It felt like she'd lain awake for an eternity, certainly long enough for the darkness of pre-dawn to give way to daybreak, and then to mid-day and beyond. She'd tracked the way the sunbeam that shone through a chink in her shelter slid down the opposite wall and across the floor, then begun crawling up the other side.
She was hyper-aware of her every sensation. Her skin felt dry and papery. Breathing wasn't a problem, but she could feel her heartbeat fluttering like a small bird. Moving was difficult and painful--her joints seemed stiff and she felt weak--and besides, anything more than the slowest, gentlest movement left her lightheaded and exhausted.
The Doctor had told her it wasn't true aging, only a complex biochemical attack that mimicked the effects of age. (Hah! Like that makes a difference!) Chloe hadn't missed the way he'd responded when she'd asked if she would recover.
Not gonna happen. Not naturally. That much was clear.
With her heart in her throat, terrified to think that she'd been robbed of half a century, she'd asked him if there was a cure? A treatment? Anything? His eyes told her the truth even as he'd tried to assure her that they'd find something. Between himself and Rodney, the two biggest brains on the planet would be working on her behalf!
(Thanks anyway,) Chloe thought. She only spoke the first word aloud. The Doctor nodded. Then he left.
She didn't remember sleeping, but she must have. The sunbeam progressed in fits and starts, jumping a few inches at a time whenever she looked at it. Carrie had changed into Rose the Elder during one such discontinuity. Then into Kate. Chloe had tried checking her watch, but the Indiglo light had failed, and when she put it to her ear she heard nothing.
A couple of times she'd been offered food but declined. "You really should eat something, dear," Rose had said when she brought some breakfast.
"I'm not hungry," Chloe said.
"You need to keep up your--"
"I'm not hungry!" Chloe snapped. She heard the quaver in her voice. The old-woman quaver. (Oh God, I sound like Grandma Tate,) she thought despairingly.
"Just leave me alone!" Chloe added, turning away. Rose didn't reply. Chloe heard her put the makeshift tray of food down. After a moment Rose left the tent. Chloe glanced over her shoulder to be sure, then looked down at the fist she'd held clutched to her breast. She opened her fist, a slow, painful procedure that required the use of her other hand.
Chloe stared at the Kryptonite marble in her palm, feeling her hopes fade--like the Kryptonite had faded. The sphere lay there dark and inert, looking like a smooth sphere of jade. The ghostly green glow it usually exhibited had faded away. It had been her only hope, longshot though it was, and now it too had failed.
She dropped the Kryptonite marble onto the blanket on which she lay. Chloe pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle the anguished cry she felt trying to escape. Curling up on her side, Chloe covered her face with both hands. Covered her wrinkled old woman's face with her wrinkly old woman hands and cried.
OOC: It's official. I'm claiming Chloe Sullivan as a PC. Just so you all know.