Micah 'Raph' Barnes (raph_barnes) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-06-24 23:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | deanna kiske, place: la, ~raph barnes |
Offering Comfort
Who: Deanna and Raphael
Where: LAGH
When: Thursday, June 17th
"You'd be proud of me, baby... I cleaned up the apartment like you'd been saying you wanted to do... and I talked to the girl that used to sing for Coma White, and she said as soon as you're better you can have that interview you told me you wanted so bad..." Sadly? This wasn't a conversation. This was Deanna Kiske, struggling not to cry, sitting at Kayla's bedside in her room at LAGH. Kayla was still unconscious, and Deanna, well... she looked like she hadn't slept in days.
Kayla's brother, Raphael, hadn't slept (or spoken) much for days, either. His parents were travelling in South America at the moment and despite all of his efforts, he couldn't get in contact with them. The only person he could get in contact with was his cousin, Maddie, and boy was she helpful in the current situation. So… it fell to him to make all of the medical decisions. Barely 18 and responsible for his sister's life. Despite everything the doctor's had done for her… ultimately, it was deemed safest to put her in a medically induced coma… allowing her brain the chance to heal. Still… there was the chance that she was brain damaged from… what happened to her and the only way they'd really know for sure was when the swelling of her brain diminished and it was deemed safe to wake her up.
Dressed in jeans, an army jacket and combat boots, he entered Kayla's room, not in the least bit surprised to find Deanna there. He'd brought them each a coffee, as well. "Here," he murmured, offering her a styrofoam container. "Sorry, it's just black. ... I didn't know how you took it."
Dee looked up, sniffling, and raised a brow. "I-I'm sorry... Do I know you?" She asked as she took the coffee, trying her best to sound polite, even in the face of everything she was going through.
"No, you don't," he replied, smiling faintly. Sadly. "I'm Raph. Her... her brother. I'm guessing you're the new girlfriend," he added. Kayla had had visitors. Hell, she had a lot of well wishers, cards and flowers and whatnot, but only one person stayed around as religiously as he did, which lead him to believe 'girlfriend'. "Deanna, right?"
Well. That explained why the guy had been around so much. Poor Deanna... She'd been so devastated, she never even thought to ask his name or acknowledge his presence before now. "Y-yeah... That's me." She barely looked at him, her gaze instead focused on Kayla, as she sweetly stroked the unconscious girl's cheek. "I miss her so much..."
Raph sat down as well, at the opposite side of the bed, placing his ankle over his knee as he nursed his coffee in his lap. His eyes, the same blue as Kayla's, watching Deanna's face curiously. She seemed… nicer then the last girlfriend, but unfortunately, beyond her name, he didn't know much about her. He'd been busy with school… and Kayla had been as well, presumably. "I know. I see it every time I look at you." Which explained why he hadn't gone out of his way to talk to her either, huh?
"She's such an amazing person..." Dee started, almost talking more to herself than to him. "If I could... I'd put myself in that bed and make HER the healthy one. She's so smart, and beautiful, and vibrant... I'm just an airhead who takes her clothes off for money. Its not fair that she's the one who's hurt..."
He blinked at her mention of stripping but respectfully didn't say anything. He saw the love in her eyes, something he never saw in Kayla's ex's… or, any of his own partners, come of think of it, and it just about broke his heart. "Kayla sees things in people that they sometimes don't see in themselves," apart from the ex of course, but shh, "So you're not an airhead to her, I think." He was trying to be comforting, he really was... he just wasn't sure if he was getting the words right.
"She's just... I love her. I love her SO much. How could anyone wanna hurt someone so... loving?" Oh, the poor thing looked ready to break down again. Deanna was never exactly an emotional Rock of Gibraltar to begin with, but now? Yikes.
"There are some sick people out there," he replied, looking a little uncomfortable at the expression on her face. So instead, he looked at Kayla, wondering briefly if the marks on her head would scar. "The doctor said that physically, she’s fine. Healing fast, actually." Which surprised him. "He's... they've told me to prepare for when they wake her up. The swelling of her brain..." He didn't think Deanna needed to hear the details and mercifully said: "She's been hurt before, she'll pull through like she always does. You just have to tell yourself that, okay?"
"I just... Maybe if I'd have been there, whatever hurt her woulda hurt me instead, ya know?" Poor Deanna... She really felt that the wrong girl was hurt. "Its not fair... She has SO much more to offer the world than I do..."
Raph took a sip of his coffee and lowered his head, still a little unsure how to comfort the girl. Sure, he had a genius level IQ but that meant squat when it came to interacting with people. "I don't think she sees it that way. She always protected me when I was... well, she's always protected me and I don't doubt that it wouldn't be the same for you. So when you say something like that? I have to disagree. She'd rather be in that bed then see you hurt."
"I don't know what she's gone through in her life... but I know it had to be bad." This was where Deanna could be surprising. She wasn't always as airheaded as she seemed. "Nobody can be as emotionally fragile as she is and not have some bad trauma in their life. I've never asked her about it because... if she wants me to know? She'll tell me. But I promise you this..." She turned, looking him dead in the eyes. "I love your sister with every single bit of my being. Whether she wakes up tomorrow or ten years from now... I will be here waiting for her."
He nodded once and let the silence spread as he looked back to Kayla's face, it looked like he didn't have anything more to say until: "Admittedly, she and I haven't talked much lately, but I saw her about... a month ago and she just looked... she was glowing. I really hadn't seen that in a long time and I know that's because of you, so... when she wakes up, I know she's in good hands with you."
"Damn right she is." Whoa. Deanna... who was NEVER confident about anything, really, was DAMN sure confident about this. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't deserve her, but since I have her? I ain't lettin' her go."
He smiled faintly, thinking that was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard. "You tell her that when she wakes up, then. I bet she'd love to hear it."
"She will." The blonde's voice croaked slightly, as she tried not to sob again. "Because each day, I'm not leaving here until the hospital MAKES me."
He thought on that for a moment, twisting his cup in his hand. "I can be persuasive if I need to be, sometimes. ... If you want to stay overnight, I'm sure I could make it happen."
"Please? I... some nights I can handle being made to go home. But tonight... I need to be with her. I just... I can't go home to an empty apartment tonight." She shook her head, sweetly taking Kayla's hand in hers.
"Okay. I'll, uh... I'll see what I can do," he murmured, before getting out of his seat. He hesitated before rounding to Deanna's side of the bed and kneeling down beside her. "She'll be okay. You just... you have to be strong for her, okay?"
"I know. And I will be. She's my everything." D'aww. Deanna laid her head sweetly on Kayla's thigh, and let out a long sigh. "Thank you, seriously."
"You're welcome," he replied with a small, sad smile. He considered hugging her comfortingly, but then... they didn't know each other well enough for that. After a few seconds, he stood and left the room, heading towards the nurses station. He knew how to appeal to older women, so it wouldn't be difficult to do this one thing for Deanna, if only to set the girl's mind at ease.