Wounds don't need to heal as long as we do (Flower & Prima Fauna)

[Selki Seven]

"Oh, well, I..." She thought for a moment, wondering if she should actually give out her bosses room number to a man she hadn't met, but he did seem important, so she sighed and continued, "...he is in room 203. First floor. I don't think Mr. Nijo will be awake for visitation right now.." Lyla felt awkward talking, but she sighed and scratched her head. "...but if you would like I could wait for you in the lobby and assist you in finding the room. If you need help, just call this number back." Lyla sighed then hung the phone up and stared at it for a while until setting Heito's phone down on the table next to him then stared at him for a while longer. Lyla had been there with Heito from the time he got into the company, divorced his wife, and now this. She hadn't known that being an assistant would ever require this much, but she wasn't about to give up her job as his secretary because of this. He was good to her so she figured she would be here till she either found a better opportunity, or until he quit the offices.


Lyla stood after a moment of thinking and grabbed her housecoat she had brought with her, slipped on her house slippers, and then took the elevator down to the first floor to wait get a cup of coffee while she waited on the Neal character to show up.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal took a cab to the hospital paying the cabbie a little extra because cabbies work hard. Neal slipped into the lobby of the hospital and looked around, there was a women standing rather straight backed and proud, but looking troubled, and professional. "Lyla?" Neal asked maneuvering over to her. He smiled, Neal was gay -very gay- but he could still see beauty. She was pretty, not his kind of beautiful but it was there. "I'm Neal." He said simply. "Could I see your boss it doesn't matter if he's awake, I would just like to see him." As a second thought he added, "It helps you know, when your in a comma you can feel when people are there."

 

[Selki Seven]

Lyla had heard her name and finished sipping her coffee quickly, swallowed, and turned to look in the direction of the voice. She saw a man and pulled her night coat tighter around herself and looked at the man, leveled eyed, and nodded. "Of course, Mr. Neal. How... do you know that they take comfort... when in a coma? I mean, could Mr. Nijo hear you?" Lyla was distressed and felt terrible that she had no other way of helping Heito other than sitting and waiting, which was also difficult because Lyla managed most all of Heito's life. "Well, he is on the second floor. We can take the elevator. If you would please follow me, Mr. Neal." Lyla smiled lightly then turned to walk towards the elevators, pressing the button, then holding the door open for Neal to go in.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal entered the elevator and smiled at her, "I was in a coma once... I don't remember words or anything, not until just before I woke up but more of a pleasant humming and presence." Neal smiled and then frowned, "I mean until there wasn't but that's not really the point, the point is that people know when other people are there. Spirts, auras Whatever right?" Neal shuffled. He really didn't like to talk about his time in the hospital, or the coma he was in for a bit after the accident, it had been drug induced to avoid horrible pain of having your spine partially broken.

 

[Selki Seven]

"If that is the case, then I am glad for it. I've been worried sick because he has so many meetings to attend and when he is gone it takes all I can do to keep the office together. Oh, why am I talking about this? I apologize." Lyla pressed the two on the elevator and the 'close doors' button before it was on its way. It went up rather quickly and smoothly and the doors opened, where Lyla exited first, but she put her arm in front of the doors for Neal. Once he was out, she took a left, going down three doors, and went into the third door on the left. Standing by the door, Lyla stretched her arm out, as to usher Neal in the room, and sighed as she looked in.


Heito's head was wrapped part way in white gauze and he had black bruises on his right cheek with a white, gauzed patch over his other. His bottom lip was a bit puffy, but it did look like it was healing. Heito's torso was wrapped tightly in layers. The machines beeped steadily and the I.V. in his arm dripped slowly while the heart monitor gave a comforting sign of life. Lyla bit her lip after Neal walked in and said softly, "I will be standing out here if you need me. And, if he wakes up, please let me know." Lyla nodded then stepped to go to the end of the hall and stand in front of the huge window wall that overlooked the garden the hospital had.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal nodded kindly at Lyla and sat by Heito. He wanted to touch him. He didn't want to seem forward though so he didn't. He settled in the chair next to the bed and carefully put his elbows on his knees. He closed his eyes to listen to the sounds of the hospital and tried not to shiver or have a panic attack because this was about Heito and not him. "Hi." He said slowly then shook his head. "Uhm, I heard what happened- Lyla told me. She is very nice. You could date her?" Neal bit his lip. "You know I was going to tell you when you came over to watch les Mis... It's a movie about war and though that's not how I lost... my uh... yeah." Neal cleared his throat. "I need to know." He leaned forward and took Heito's hand in a gentle way. "How you feel about me... so yeah- uh let me know if you want to date a old broken Male firefighter with baggage because I think I would like to date a divorced broken business man with baggage." Neal let go of his hand. "SO let me know alright?" Neal leaned forward letting go of Heito's hand and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "That's all. Let me know... Okay?"

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito hadn't heard much of anything that had been said, but he knew that someone was in the room. He felt his hand being taken in by someone but he hadn't mustered up the strength to give any sign of understanding or acknowledgment, but he had been listening to the voice and soon came to learn it was Neal. Heito wanted to say something, but he couldn't manage to figure out how to communicate past the sore throat and many tubes he had. Though, it was a big shock to him and he wouldn't know how to respond anyways to such an unexpected visit like this. Heito didn't even figure that Neal would find out, much less visit him at a hospital. The real shock came when he felt a soft, warm spot touch his cheek. Heito's eyes were still closed, but he heard the last words and managed to force out a hoarse and breathy sound along with the twitch of his finger. He felt he couldn't open his eyes, but he tried all he could. Heito repeated the sound, though it sounded much more strained the second time around and it made Heito cough quietly.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal made to get up when he heard Heito's little sound. "Hey, shhh shh, I'll be back tomorrow okay?" Neal got himself standing, "Do you need a nurse or.. Lyla.... or...." Neal leaned forward a little just as a nurse opened the door, she frowned at the monitors and began to check Heito's vitals.


"Was he making noise?"


"Uhm yeah..." Neal took a step back it was only a matter of time before the nurse realized that he shouldn't be in here. The nurse began to do things to the tubes moving and inserting them.

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito was able turn his head just enough to look at Neal until he heard a nurse come in and he'd returned his head to a normal position. Why was Neal here right now? Les Mis. He missed out on their date... or..... what was it? Heito lifted his hand a few inches off the bed and reached it out to Neal in a failed attempt when he suddenly got extremely tired and his hand fell to the bed. After falling asleep, Heito felt somewhat better that Neal had been there, but he also felt terrible that he missed the movie because he was genuinly looking forward too it. It didn't take long before he had entered a dream stage and that is what the drugs kicked in and he let out an airy giggle and half a smile before his head fell to the right in sleep.


Lyla had come at the first sign of a nurse entering Heito's room, in fear of something to have happened, but was pleasantly surprised to see that he was responsive. Just then it felt as if a thousand worries were lifted off her mind and she felt tired for the first time in a little while, though she knew she'd not sleep with all the coffee she had in her system. Lyla looked from Heito to Neal and then grinned a bit, supporting her right elbow in her left hand as she took a sip from her cup and knelt to place the cup in the trash bin. She stood up again, much less professional looking, and obviously more relaxed. As she watched the two of them, Heito now asleep, Lyla noticed something in Neal and felt there to be a connection between Heito and Neal that transcended past a business relationship, or maybe even a friendship. It wouldn't be entirely strange if she were to find that Heito were interested in men, but it would still be a surprise that he was interested at all. Lyla stood for a moment longer before shifting to stand just outside the door and lean against the wall while she listened to the monitors.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal watched the commotion with Heito and the doctors and the nurse or whatever. Neal prepared to leave, but took a stop at the bedside by putting one of his crutches down and propping it up against the bed, he reached his hand out and carefully keeping all his weight on the crutch he was holding brushed a lock of Heito's hair away. He touched the other man's hand and squeezed very gently . "I can't stay, but I'll be back tomorrow... I'll bring you a bagel I remember how bad the food is." Neal gathered his crutch and left the room stopping by Lyla. "Hi, uhm Lyla, I have to go... but I will come back tomorrow... My number is in his cell so if anything happens, call me.. good or bad.... Okay? I'm just working the store so you can call anytime." Neal didn't want it to sound like he was just leaving Heito, he had to go mind his store, plus he wasn't sure if he could stay in the hospital much longer, he hated hospitals. And with good reason.

 

[Selki Seven]

Lyla had stood just outside the door and listened, watching as Neal started to head out, but she smiled a bit and nodded. "Of course, Neal. I will have you added to his list of accepted visitors. Do not worry about him. I feel by the time you return tomorrow he will be feeling much better. Especially with the promise of such an important visitor to return." Lyla grinned and then stood, with her arms crossed, and a steaming cup of tea in her hand. The nurses called Lyla in and she entered to be handed a clipboard with some papers on it stating that he'd need to be entered into surgery to fix the broken bones in his face. After reading through the papers, and weighing her options, Lyla nodded and then looked up at the nurses after signing the papers and then watched as Heito was wheeled out of the room. Lyla stood quietly in the place where Heito laid and sighed.


"Let us hope you do, indeed, return tomorrow, Neal." She whispered and shook her head as she left the room, herself, and began to slowly walk down the stairs to the cafe. 
((Is everything alright? I've not heard from you in a while and I was getting a little worried. D: If something has gone awry, please let me know. ))

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal continued on until he made his way to his home. He sat down heavily and looked at the wall, it was covered with books, he stared at it until it came into focus. He saw a book, a single book among the millions.


Alice

in



Wonderland







Neal stared at the book's spine for a long long time, he couldn't quite place it, why.... the he remembered;


"Actually, before I collapsed the shelf, I was thinking about purchasing a First Edition Alice in Wonderland. I remember my English teacher giving the book to me from her library. But, somewhere along the line, it disappeared along with my imagination."


Neal smiled, he stood balancing with the couch arm rest. He could grab his crutches, one at least, but he felt like he needed to walk unassisted. It was a feat, and he rarely walked the few steps he could walk, just because it took so much out of him, and it was hard. He took a deep breath and walked it was shaky and clumsy, but it always was. He rested his now sweaty palms on the bookshelf. grabbing the book, his knees collapsed. He sat on the floor and looked down at the cover.

 

[Selki Seven]

All through the night, nurses were put on duty to watch his vitals and make sure they didn't drop. Though there were a few times when it seemed he was starting to drop, it just seemed to be a hiccup in the machines. Once they switched out the hardware, everything ran smoothly and Lyla slept on a cot the nurses had brought in for her.


Nearing later into the night Heito woke up and was able to move smoothly, but was still drugged out of his mind. In his altered state, he looked to his bedside and saw his phone, reaching for it and turning it on. Once he got to the contacts, after a good long minute of figuring out what everything was, he had clicked on a name and typed, "Why is a Raven like a writing desk?", though with auto-correct, it came out reading, "Why is a rover like the written dark.". He pressed send then let out a tiny chuckle that woke Lyla. When she saw Heito awake and on his phone, she rose groggily and took the phone from him to see what he'd been doing. He sent a text to Neal and she giggled a bit before setting the phone down.


"Mr. Nijo, please rest. I don't want the nurses thinking that I am having you do business while you are on the mend. You don't want me thrown out, do you?" Lyla said in a soft voice. Heito listened to her and then started to cry some when she said they'd throw her out. With outreached hands he shook his head.


"N-No. Don't leave. They won't... Neal... let him in if you go." Heito said softly and Lyla grinned while patting his hands down to his sides.


"Alright, then. Rest. I will be right here. I'm not leaving."

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal fell asleep curled in near the bookcase, his phone dinging woke him up to an early sunrise. His back ached for him sleeping on the floor he used his arms to pull himself out so he was lying on the floor on his back, he looked at his message, he squinted at it in the light of the half dark room, his phone had a very bright screen


"Raven...?" he said to himself, he think he knew what Heito meant, which was odd since this text was clearly not from Lyla, he laughed at the question even so. The raven-writing desk was one of the biggest upheaval in literature. he typed back:


"Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front."


then he typed a second message


"Poe wrote on both?"


He added a third:


"The mad hatter was mad HOW DARE YOU ASK A QUESTION WITH NO RIGHT ANSWER? Get some rest."

 

[Selki Seven]

The phone had buzzed a few times in a row. The first time seemed rather loud in that empty hospital room and Lyla nearly threw herself at the table to pick up the phone. After her heart stopped racing, and a few more vibrations, Lyla sighed and opened up the text messages to see if they were important. She read each one, smiling a little more, then beamed towards the end of everything and silenced the phone, setting it in her purse.


Lyla looked over Heito, still smiling from the messages that he'd received from Neal, and she shook her head softly as he slept. It had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to be happy. Of course she'd invited him over to her house for dinner, and he always declined, but when he felt adventurous he would attend her children's games and recitals, but never allowing himself to get too close. She knew the only reason he attended the games and recitals is because he felt that he was doing all he could as a father as her own children as the extension to his own that he never saw. As sad as it seemed, she never spoke to him about it and never brought the subject up because she'd been there to see him when his children were taken from him. He'd not been the same since, but now she had a newer hope that Neal could be the change he'd been looking for in Heito's own life. After a brief moment of contemplation, Lyla shook her head, packing her bag at her side, and then walked out of the room and let Heito sleep. The nurses at the front desk of that floor nodded at her with a tired smile and she returned the same courtesy before walking down to the vending machines.


((Sorry. D: My husband and I are sharing sicknesses. He got sick, then I did. It went away and I gave it to him and he had new symptoms. And so on. It then changed to where we both got sick and had even worse symptoms and it just..... Well, I am better now, so that is all that matters. :3))

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

((I have such a writers block on this I'm not ignoring you I just have nothing to offer D: )

 

[Selki Seven]

((Its ok. Gone till about the 11th of August. No internet. Barely any phone service. Im sorry.))


Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

((It's okay! NP, I will try to get a reply in or something, gives me time!))

 

[Selki Seven]

(((Just an update! I DO have reliable internet now! I see you've no laptop, and I hope everything works out in time! Good luck. )))

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

((UGH I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING. it's late. I am sorry. I will be back tomorrow and I will try to get you at least a line or two.))

 

[Selki Seven]

(((Don't worry! I understand completely. :3 Writer's Block is a terrible thing! Take whatever time you need, dear! )))

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal woke for the second time that night, with a large cramp in his left leg and tremors in his right. Rolling over he started to make circles with his right ankle to regain control of the leg. He sighed deeply. Running a hand through his hair.


((Okay that's all I got...))

 

[Selki Seven]

Lyla sat in the cafeteria for what seemed minutes until she looked out a window, away from the coffee cup she had been staring at, and saw it was starting to turn light outside. The sunrise peeped through the blinds of the cafeteria and made it almost painful to look in the direction. Lyla stood after finishing the last of her coffee and tossed it in recycling then made her way up to Heito's room.


As she ascended the stairs, she started to see some movement in Heito's room. Hurrying the rest of the way up, Lyla walked in to see Heito awake and moving. The swelling had gone down tremendously along with the fever he had previously. She heard the doctors say, "Well, Mr. Nijo, it looks like if you can take it easy for the next couple of weeks, you should be free to go home today. We will need to look you over and get you your prescription, but all seems fine."


Heito was slowly sitting up, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the giant headache he had. He felt sluggish and a little sick from the drugs they had given him to combat infection and pain. "Doctor, is there anything you can give me for this headache?" He asked in a gruffled voice. His face was unshaven and as grizzly as his voice was. The doctor just nodded, walked to the cabinets, and gave Heito a cup and two pain pills. "Thank you."


Lyla moved out of the way of the door to let the doctor pass and she entered. Heito heard the extra foot steps but didn't dare turn to look until he took the pills. He stood and used the hand rail of the bed to steady himself and he saw Lyla. Lyla smiled towards him and said, "You are looking rough, boss man. I've got your razor and things from the office if you would want to clean up."


Heito shook his head slowly to avoid getting sick and sighed, "Too much noise. Too much work. I almost feel like I did the morning after my twenty first. I would like if you could help me locate my phone." Heito mumbled while shielding his eyes from the sunrise's reflection off the mirror in the room. After Lyla gave Heito his phone, Heito opened it up and looked through any past text messages. Heito grunted then facepalmed, immediately regretting it and getting dizzy to fall back into the bed. "Please keep my phone away from me next time I am drugged." Heito sat with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands as he enjoyed the silence. Lyla smiled lightly, setting down her bag and taking a seat in the corner of the room to allow Heito his space.


((Sorry it took so long. D: So much stuff is happening here. Hubby and I are attempting to get our car fixed all while planning a trip to get the rest of my things and preparing for his deployment to Afghanistan. -faceplants- Also, apologies for if I RP'd out of term or something. D: I'm so behind on all my role plays. I feel terrible.))