Derek Souza (edisonwolf) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-09-09 14:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, chloe saunders, derek souza, henry townshend |
Who: Derek Souza, Chloe Saunders, and Henry Townshend
What: Chloe gets the grounder's sickness
Where: Hiking trail to Chloe's apartment
When: September 4th
Rating/Warning: Low/Sickness stuff, blood
Status: Complete!
Going out to the woods had been Chloe’s idea because she was incredibly nervous about Derek reaching the point where his werewolf change was going to happen fully and he didn’t have a place to hide. They needed to take him somewhere he would be safe and where others would be friend from him. She had scouted out some locations on Google maps and used the search engine to make sure they were places they could potentially use. So, that day despite being a bit run down she went to meet up with Derek, who was nice enough to pick her up, and that’s how she ended up in the middle of the woods with him.
A hand reached up to fan herself because it was warm outside, but little did she know it was due to a fever, as she walked down the path and turned towards Derek, “do you think this could work as a spot? We can go off the path and see what’s going out there.” There weren’t a lot of people out in this part of the woods and she wasn’t seeing many side paths that were made from numerous people wandering off into the woods.
Of course it meant a lot to Derek that Chloe wanted to help him find a place for his transformation. His first ‘change’ or really partial change had come unexpectedly. Although he should have known better when he woke up sick after his dream. But denial was more powerful than logic. He’d be more prepared next time. Being outside in nature and not at home was a better idea.
Chloe seemed to have put a lot of thought into finding places for him. Which was touching, no one ever really did things like that for him. Not to mention he would get to spend a whole day with Chloe which he was looking forward to. “Yeah,” Derek said with a nod. “We’ll have to go into the woods a bit just to be safe, but hopefully it will happen at night.” He frowned though with Chloe fanning herself. She did look a little sweaty. Derek hadn’t even broken a sweat, but that could very well be a werewolf thing. Still, “are you okay?”
Helping out Derek was high on her list. They were the only two people from her dreams that were having them (Simon existed, but didn’t live here), so they needed to stick together. The change was uncomfortable and she knew that from the Dreams, so any way that they could attempt to ease the pain was vital to Chloe. She took a step off of the path and began to walk through the woods to see where they went when he asked the question. The hand fanning her face paused and she looked sheepish, “Oh, uh, I’m okay. Just a little warm. Not sure why.”
The hand went down to her side as she tried to just suck it up and make it through without fanning herself. “Alright, this is looking pretty wooded, but we might need to set something up to figure out where we want to be or else we’ll just end up wandering around,” Chloe commented as she kept walking before she felt herself begin to well up in her tear ducts. The first couple drips fell on her face and they felt wrong - and certainly smelled wrong- as she reached a hand up and came away with blood on her hand. Sharp intake of breath and she turned towards Derek with a wavering voice, “Derek….”
Derek was still a bit worried about Chloe but he did want to check out the woods. He was torn. But since Chloe had assured him she was fine and he didn’t want to be accused of treating her like a baby. He tentatively went to check out the area. However it wasn’t long before he heard her call his name. Derek quickly whipped around.
What the fuck?
He couldn’t help but gasp and quickly rushed to her side. “We need to get you to a hospital,” he said already leading her back toward the car. Derek wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
It felt like something out of a horror movie as she stood in the middle of the woods with blood running down her face. It was starting to blur her vision a little bit and her knees were feeling a bit shaky. She lifted her arm up to try and wipe them away, which only made her face look a lot worse than it truly was. Her head shook, “No hospital. It’s probably just some Dream thing. They’ll ask too many questions.”
Questions that she didn’t have any kind of answer for. “Take me home,” she commented just before a wave of dizziness passed over her and she started to stumble down to the ground. Oh great, now she was fainting? This was just getting worse and worse.
Derek caught her before she could actually fall. He picked her up, carrying her to the car. Once she was safely inside and buckled he got into the driver’s side and took off for her apartment. “I still think we should go to the hospital,” Derek mumbled anxiously as he drove. He was tempted to just ignore her wishes, but decided against it for now. There was no way he was going to leave her side anyway so if needed her could easily get her to the hospital.
The drive felt like it took forever but they finally reached her apartment. Derek collected her from the car, carrying inside. “I need your key.”
Being picked up by Derek wasn’t what she expected and a small part of her wanted to yell at him that she didn’t need him to do this, but she truly did. She felt like her body had gone a bit numb and she couldn’t move if she wanted to. “No questions from a doctor, please,” she pleaded to him with a sigh as she tried to keep the blood away from her face with her hands.
The drive made her stomach flip and she wasn’t really feeling the trip anymore. All she wanted to do was get on solid ground and just figure out what was wrong. And then there was Derek with the carrying once again and she had to dig her hand into her pocket to grab her apartment key and pulled it out for him, “You can get Henry - he knows people that can heal. He lives a couple floors down.”
Derek opened the door carrying Chloe inside and set her down on the bed. Henry. Right. Chloe’s boyfriend. Of course she wanted him there. Even if he was just a few doors down Derek didn’t want to leave Chloe alone for one second. Not when she was bleeding from her eyes. “I can uh text him,” Derek offered. Calling was off the table. “What’s his number?”
A soft groan escaped her lips as she felt her stomach flip and she laid on the bed in a fetal position. She had Derek grab a towel from the bathroom and had it covering her eyes at the moment. When he decided that he would text instead of doing down there she fumbled for her phone and held it out to him, “083975 is the passcode - he’s just in there as Henry.” Hopefully there weren’t any texts that were too odd to be seen by him. She just wanted to make sure that Henry knew what was going on.
Derek punched in her passcode, scrolling through her phone until he found Henry. He didn’t have any interest in reading the text messages between Chloe and her boyfriend. He just wanted to do his part to help her feel better. He wasn’t much of a texter but he tapped away at her phone as quick as he could.
This is Derek. Chloe is sick. Please come to her apartment.
Just a few stories below, Henry was indeed, at home. He had the day off from the porn studio, and had taken the opportunity to work on his portfolio, which he had been woefully neglecting since he’d started Dreaming. Of course he’d been taking photographs that entire time - Henry could no sooner stop taking pictures than a duck could stop swimming - but he hadn’t really been doing so with his portfolio in mind. Hell, even his dream of one day owning his own photography studio had fallen by the wayside in favor of trying to figure out his weird Dreams.
Since meeting Chloe, however, that had changed. She had reignited the spark in Henry that had started to flicker out. Photography was more than just a hobby for Henry, it was his passion and Chloe, in her amazing way, had reminded Henry of that.
He was in the process of looking through recent photos deciding which ones would go into his portfolio when his phone dinged letting him know he had a text message. Brows furrowed when he read the message Derek had stating that Chloe was sick and to come up to her apartment.
It was that time of year. Kids were back in school and colds and illnesses were often passed around as quickly as notes in class. But if Derek was texting Henry on Chloe’s phone rather than Chloe herself, than this had to have been more than a cough and a sniffle.
He texted Derek back quickly:
On my way
Henry abandoned the photos scattered across his coffee table and went into his bedroom to get the satchel containing his first aid kit out of his closet. Henry’s mother was a nurse and she had taught him just about every thing she knew about first aid. Henry hadn’t really had much choice in the matter, but it had been one of very few things the former Mrs. Townshend had done with her son. The knowledge - not to mention the first aid kit itself - had come in handy during his days as a freelance photographer. And it had come in handy once or twice here in Orange County too.
He quickly checked the contents of the satchel, refreshed what he could with a few items from ihs bathroom and kitchen, stuffed a certain shabby doll into a pocket and headed upstairs. He let himself into the apartment.
Derek was a hoverer, so Chloe was trying to deal with letting him be there for her, but not getting in the way. She was going to be sick and she had sent him running for a trashcan or something that she could throw up into and not have to clean an even bigger mess up next. Thankfully she was the type to keep liners in her trash cans and when things finally came up she didn’t have to grumble about how she would have to clean it up later. She’d probably just go to the store and buy new trash cans.
Unfortunately what came up was a lot of blood and that only increased her anxiety about the situation. “Derek….I need something to drink and maybe some gum?” She didn’t want to send him on a wild goose chase around her apartment, but there should be some gum in her apartment and some water bottles in the fridge. She just didn’t want him to see the blood and freak out.
Chloe was right, Derek would freak out if he saw the blood. Not because he was squeamish, but because he was worried about Chloe. He spent the few minutes waiting for Henry pacing, well when he wasn’t running around getting Chloe whatever she needed. He retrieved a water from her fridge bringing it over to her. Of course he spotted the blood in the trash can. “Chloe, you need to go the hospital.” He wasn’t going to be distracted by gum. He didn’t really give a shit about her breath. He just wanted to take care of her.
Just then he heard the apartment door open and spotted who assumed was Henry. He wasn’t sure who else would have a key to Chloe’s apartment and Derek had just sent that text. “Tell her she needs to go to the hospital.” Probably not the best way to greet someone for the first time, but he needed back up and he knew Chloe could be stubborn.
Given the circumstances, there weren’t many other ways for the two men to really greet each other. Henry looked at Derek, then down at the bed where Chloe was. The corners of his mouth dipped down into a worried frown.
He set his first aid satchel on the floor, by the bed. A pungent odor only described as vomit drew his attention to the trashcan. Glancing inside and seeing blood made Henry’s brows knitted tightly together. His heart beat faster and a cold sweat broke out down his back.
He took a deep breath and held on to his composure. It would do nobody any good to lose their shit. Chloe needed help and that was what they had to focus on. He knelt by the bed, reaching out to gently touch Chloe’s face. She felt unnaturally warm. Hot. Much too hot. “Chloe,” Henry said softly, but urgently. “It’s Henry.” He took her hand in his other and gave it a squeeze. “I know you’re not feeling well,” he said and then nodded towards the other man in the room, “Derek wants you to go to the hospital and I think he may be right.”
The groan that Chloe made was one of annoyance rather than pain. Derek was being exactly who he was in the dreams and not believing her when she said she just wanted to be left alone and not go to the hospital. And the nerve of him to immediately pull into Henry into pushing her to the hospital drew a noise of annoyance from her. “Try being a bit more polite, Derek,” Chloe called out with a grimace as she listened to Henry come into the room, “Derek, this is Henry. Henry, this is Derek.”
When Henry agreed that she should go to the hospital she removed the cloth from her eyes that revealed a face still covered in blood and her tear ducts were still creating a small amount of blood. “I don’t think they can do anything for me, Henry. It’s got to be someone’s dream stuff - has anyone checked the network lately? The only thing I’m worried about is dehydration,” she explained to him before her stomach flipped once again and she grabbed for the trashcan before expelling into it once again. Super attractive.
Derek glared at Chloe. Really? Now was not the time for introductions. Derek had it figured out who the guy was and he was sure Henry had done the same. It was also not the time for manners. But hey, he was glad Henry agreed with him. Maybe she would actually go if someone else backed him up, because clearly she needed to.
“I’ll check it,” Derek grumbled pulling out his phone. He didn’t use the network often but this seemed like the time to. “But you’re still going to the hospital,” he added not even phased by her vomiting. “Looks like some other people have it. Apparently we shouldn’t touch you.” Oops too late there considering Derek had carried her. And really he didn’t give a shit if he got sick. “It should pass in 24 hours but we still need to get you to a hospital, if nothing else to keep you hydrated.” Like she had just mentioned to Henry.
Derek was a little abrasive and he was stubborn. Again, given the circumstances, Henry couldn’t blame him for either. He was worried too, especially when Chloe puked again, even more blood sloshing to the bottom of the trashcan Henry grabbed for her.
He took a little solace in the fact that she was still acting somewhat normal, making sure introductions were made, insisting this was just a Dream thing, stating matter-of-factly that she was not going to the hospital. She was still in her right frame of mind. That was good. But that blood caked all over her eyes, it more than bothered Henry. A shudder ran down his back just looking at the woman he loved in such a state.
Henry held Chloe’s hair back for her when she was sick into the can he held in his other arm. He glanced back at Derek when the other man stated that they shouldn’t touch her. Well, a bit late for that, wasn’t it?
“So it is a Dream thing,” Henry sighed hoping it sounded more annoyed than it did nervous. “Brilliant.” He rubbed the back of Chloe’s neck and her back. “Theoretically that means that it will pass in a few days,” he said over his shoulder to Derek, “these kinds of events don’t usually last long.” But that did not mean that Henry still didn’t think that Chloe shouldn’t spend those few days in a medical facility. He had never seen an event like this before. It scared him. Not everyone survived Dream events. Henry knew that. He knew what had happened to Alyssa in the fog...
Henry swallowed hard. He kept his voice calm and even for not only Chloe’s benefit, but for his own and Derek’s as well. “Chloe, I think it’s a good idea to get you to a doctor at least,” he said. “A doctor can take better care of you than either of us can. Ok? I promise, both of us will be there with you, the whole time,” he looked over his shoulder, “right, Derek?”
If both of them ended up sick then Chloe was going to feel incredibly guilty about the whole thing. The two of them were double-teaming her and she truly had nothing to stand on anymore as to why she was refusing to go to to the hospital. The two of them were a strong united force and it would be a little hilarious and scary if Chloe had been completely in her right mind at the moment. The newest round of vomiting issued another wave of exhaustion and the guys were right. It might blow over soon, but they weren’t equipped to handle her for a long period time.
“Fine,” Chloe was trying her best to not sound completely annoyed, but there was still some annoyance in her voice, “But you have to give me something to clean my face and brush my teeth. And the two of you are coming up with the cover story.” There were going to be a lot of questions and Chloe might just fake exhaustion to not answer them. She wasn’t looking forward to the barrage of tests that would be run on her, but as long as it got the boys to calm down then she’d suffer through it.
Of course Derek would be there. He wasn’t going to leave Chloe when she was that sick. “Right,” Derek confirmed. He’d still rather take her to the hospital but he supposed he’d have to settle for a doctor. Hopefully the doctor would insist she go to the hospital. Chloe couldn’t ignore it if three people were saying that to her. Especially if one was a medical professional.
He went into the bathroom wetting a washcloth for her since she was insisting on cleaning her face. Back in the bedroom he handed it over to Henry. He could wipe it or Chloe could, Derek didn’t need to do that. “There’s no point in brushing your teeth,” he pointed out. Not trying to be rude but it was the truth. She’d probably just get sick again on the way there and they didn’t need to waste a few minutes while Chloe brushed her teeth.
Oh, Henry planned on taking Chloe straight to the nearest hospital. There were enough doctors there to look her over and Henry didn’t want to waste any time in getting Chloe the care she needed. And if either himself or Derek had managed to catch whatever Chloe had as well, they’d already be there. It was a win-win for everyone. Or as much of a win-win as you could get with strange fucked up illnesses that made you bleed from the eyes and vomit blood!
Henry settled Chloe back onto the bed and got to his feet to meet Derek halfway from the bed to the bathroom, “I haven’t been to a hospital here yet,” he said in an undertone, “can you find out which one is closest? We’ll grab a few things for her - pajamas or something - and take her there” because Henry was banking that Chloe would likely be admitted pretty quickly and be staying a few days - at least long enough until this disgusting frightening event of blood expulsion was finished - and Henry wanted Chloe to be as comfortable as possible. That was nearly impossible in a hospital gown. “We’ll probably need to take a bucket with us too…” he glanced wearily over at the trashcan that was now a third full of blood-vomit.
He took the dampened washcloth from Derek and returned to the bed. Gently, he helped Chloe sit up so he could wipe the blood off of her face. “Hold this over your eyes,” Henry said. Hopefully it will keep blood from running down her face and make her look like a horror movie extra. “I got gum in my car, you can chew a piece on the way.” Because, yeah, Henry understood that Chloe probably had the world’s most disgusting taste in her mouth right now.
“Do you know how disgusting my mouth is right now?” Chloe frowned at Derek when he mentioned that. It was something simple and she just wanted to get this taste out of her mouth and Derek was pulling his annoying overly concerned male card. “We need to go to [insert name] hospital because it works with my insurance - it’s not too far away,” Chloe commented from her position because making sure it took her insurance was an important thing. She was already getting screwed by the dreams and she would not be screwed by the insurance companies.
“Second drawer down in the dresser has some yoga pants and some shirts that you can grab,” it would probably be easier than to make Derek dig into her pajama drawer, which also housed some lingerie. As for a bucket, well….Chloe wasn’t quite sure what to do about that. She had this one trashcan and she wasn’t going to destroy all the trashcans in the apartment because her roommate would be pissed if she did. The boys could figure that out and she took the washcloth from Henry and placed it over her eyes. Thank god for Henry being here and being a somewhat voice of reason and fully understood that she just needed a bit of gum. Blood was not delicious in the slightest. A small twitch in the corner of her mouth when he said that, “Bless you, Henry.”
Derek had excellent hearing. It was a werewolf thing. So Henry could be speaking in a whisper and he would hear. Derek nodded punching in hospital on his phone. But then Chloe announced what hospital they had to go to because of her insurance. Really? It wasn’t the closest. Second closest which to most people wouldn’t be horrible but there wasn’t time to waste right now. Still he knew this was an argument he wouldn’t win. There was no time for arguing anyway.
“Directions on my phone,” Derek told Henry. “Help her to the car. I’ll get her things.” It would probably be faster if he took her to the car, super strength and all, but again he had a feeling Chloe would argue which would just take up more time.
Henry, apparently, needed to work on his whispering skills. He grimaced a little when he heard Chloe announced which hospital they were to take her to because of her insurance and then tell Derek which drawer he could find her PJ’s in. Yeah, he could understand not wanting a couple thousand dollar hospital bill because a place meant for healing didn’t accept XYZ-insurance. But, still, did she really want to spend that extra couple of miles in his car feeling like utter shit not to mention throwing up every five or ten minutes? He sighed inwardly and gave a sheepish sidelong look to Derek that seemed to say at least she’s feeling well enough to order us around? Gotta pick your battles, boys.
As for what Chloe would use as a vomit bucket was far easier to solve. While Derek got a few items from Chloe’s dresser, Henry took the trashcan Chloe had been using and dumped its contents into the toilet. He then rinsed it out and brought it back. There, problem solved. They didn’t call him the Receiver of Wisdom for nothing.
He took a look at the directions on Derek’s phone and nodded. It wasn’t too far. Henry had a general idea where it was. He placed the trashcan in Chloe’s hands, “You’re going to have to hold this, love,” he said. Then he wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders and lifted her up into his arms as if she were a small child. Henry may not have looked the part of strapping young lad, but years of lugging around heavy camera equipment strapped to his body had some benefits.
If Chloe could glare at Derek and strike fear into his heart she would, but it just wasn’t worth it right now. Her hospital would be the one - hell, they should be proud of her for knowing what hospital to go to. She would suck it up as long as it meant she wasn’t blowing her money to pay off her hospital bills for a trip she didn’t even want to take. And if she had caught that look Henry sent to Derek she would smack him in the arm, but luckily she was too concerned about her head spinning as she was sitting up. Her eyes widened in surprise when Henry grabbed the bucket and proceeded to clean it up.
When he placed the trash can in her hands she grabbed it tightly as she was suddenly lifted up into Henry’s arms. This might be the first time that Henry had carried her, but it was not as enjoyable as she wanted it to be in this moment as she let herself roll against him slightly and hoped that he didn’t drop her as they made their way down to the car, “Okay boys, let’s get this party started.” Who knew that the day would end up with Henry and Derek meeting this awkwardly and her at the hospital - it certainly wasn’t her and she would change it if she could.