thus starts the beginning of ellie's heart-breaking loss.

[likepeaches]

[ Ellie's standing somewhere (like the hospital or something idefk) with her cell phone pressed to her ear. A shocked and slightly sickened look comes to her face as it pales and she goes completely still, except the rise and fall of her chest as takes in a few shallow breaths. ]

Comments

[nerdherds]

Ellie? [Yeah, Chuck has no idea what's going on, but he can quickly tell that something's not right, and so he reaches out to touch his sister's shoulder in concern. We'll say he's visiting wherever she is.] Hey...what's going on?

[likepeaches]

Chuck? [ Her voice is quiet and scared, and it takes a moment for her to look at him. When she does, tears well in her eyes. ] It's Devon. He's... [ She covers her mouth with her empty hand, shakes her head and looks away from him. ]

[nerdherds]

Awesome? [He pauses, wondering if maybe he's just in the hospital, but the look on Ellie's face says more than enough. So he doesn't question what happened right now, he just pulls his sister in tight, and wraps his arms around her. She's the older sibling, but he feels that it's his job to protect her because he's supposed to be a man now.]

Whatever happened, Ell, we'll get through it. We've gotten through everything together.

[likepeaches]

[ At first, she just rests her hands - cell phone and all - against Chuck's chest, her forehead pressing against them. Trying her hardest not to break down, and failing pretty spectacularly, Ellie's arms eventually move around her brother. She clings almost roughly to him, shaking her head a little at what he said. ]

I can't, Chuck. It's... He's gone.

[irishfirebrand]

Quinn was never really a big fan of hospitals, mostly because they were one of those places that expected way too much paperwork for a guy who liked to keep his head down and his identity fluid.

But the Company had insisted on sending him after a minor misfortune while he was testing his powers out that had ended in some nasty third degree burns on his arm.

Actually getting burned was sort of startling, and pissed him off more than anything. Not to mention it gave him unsettling flashbacks to the visions that had haunted him upon waking up here...

He was trying to divert all those thoughts from his main line of thinking when he did a double take, seeing Ellie standing against a wall outside a set of double doors. He stopped in place, hesitated, since she looked... seriously shaken up. Maybe he'd be intruding.

Instead he just hung there in the middle of the hallway, staring at her uncertainly.

[likepeaches]

The phone fell out of Ellie's hand, but she didn't notice. She didn't notice Quinn watching her, either. Nothing around her actually made any kind of impact on her, even the rough wall scratching through her scrubs as she slid down the wall.

Her hands moved to cover her face as she broke down, her knees pressing close to her chest. She curled into as tight of a ball as she could, as if she could make the pain go away just by making herself smaller. Eventually her arms moved to wrap around her legs and, body shaking slightly, she pressed her forehead to her knee.

[irishfirebrand]

He probably should have booked it, he figured, and usually... he would, right about now. But he stayed rooted in place, until finally, against himself, his feet started carrying him over that way. He slowed as he reached her, slowly squatting down beside her. He didn't dare touch her, but he searched for something to say, and came up pretty empty.

[likepeaches]

She didn't realize he was there until she eventually lifted her head and tried to suck in a few breaths to calm herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of someone beside her and, when she turned her head to see Quinn beside her, the attempt at calming herself down was ruined. So she hugged her legs closer and put her forehead against her knees again.

[survived3wars]

Ellie? Is something wrong? [Casey keeps his normal facade on, assessing the situation as she speaks.]

[likepeaches]

[ Ellie tries to hold herself together as best she can, which barely works, because a part of her realizes that John probably won't want a sobbing mess in front of him. But when she looks at him, holding back her tears gets a lot harder. ] It's Devon.

[froyoho]

[Sarah's eyes widen with genuine worry, and she steps forward to place a hand on her shoulder.] Ellie?

[likepeaches]

[ Ellie presses the back of her hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep from sobbing. She shakes her head a little, her hand dropping to her chest as she looks at Sarah. ] Devon's... I don't know what happened.

[froyoho]

[Sarah's quiet for a moment, only her lips closing as it dawns on her something truly horrible happened.] It's okay. Take your time. Let's sit down, okay?

[likepeaches]

[ Ellie nods slightly, but it takes her a moment to actually start moving. When she does, it's pretty obvious that she's already in auto-pilot. She takes a seat in a nearby chair, her hands covering her face as she leans forward a little. ]