Who: OPEN; Reed + anyone. What: Theresa is unconscious. OH, THERE'S THAT PLOT THING AGAIN. Where: The hospital. When: Backdated to this/this and going on until Theresa wakes up. In short: A WHILE. Warnings: Um, Reed, so swearing. And others TBA? I guess? Notes: Oh, boy. Reed is having a breakdown.
Reed sat in the harshly lit hospital room, staring at her sister on the bed. Her hands were folded as though in prayer. The movement she made over the course of three hours was to lift them to her mouth and press them to her pursed lips.
This was fucking ridiculous. She hated Theresa, she had for a long time, but recently all she could do was worry. Her sister was, like it or not, the only thing she had left. And Reed was scared for her.
She stood up abruptly and pressed the button for the nurse.
A woman walked in, looking harried and frustrated. She glanced at Theresa, cursorily, and then shot Reed a harsh frown. "Look," the woman said, "we're awfully short-staffed tonight, young lady, so unless this is very important--"
"Just tell me where the food court is, all right?" Reed said. She reached up and scraped a hand through her hair, agitated and exhausted and really fucking irritated.
"Third floor," the woman said, disappearing around the door frame.
"Gee, thanks," Reed said, grabbing her coat and yanking it on. She strode out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. She wasn't really sure which floor she was on, so she hit the scratched-up button for the third floor and waited. The elevator floor jerked hard and then descended. There was a ding, and then the doors opened.
The food court was tiny and deserted. Reed grabbed a tray and took a piece of key lime pie and a water, and went over to a small table to eat. It took her an hour to finish it, and even then she felt her stomach roll and had to grab the nearest trash can and throw it all up again.
The cashier was looking at her with detached concern, and Reed just really fucking did not need that, so she took her water and hurried back to the elevator.
She got back to her sister's room and, foolishly, she expected that something might have changed.
Nothing had.
Her sister looked precisely as she had when Reed had left; her face the same picture of serenity, her hands by her sides, her heart beat a steady, even pulse.
Reed collapsed back into the chair and assumed the same position she'd held before she left.