Our revels now are ended (fly_beyond) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-04-24 02:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, chloe price, jaina proudmoore, rachel amber |
Who: Chloe, Jaina and Rachel
What: Rachel and Jaina see Chloe after the accident, so that she doesn't wake up alone
When: Day of the accident
Where: Hospital
Rating: PG-13, standard Chloe Warnings Apply
Status: Complete
Breaking about sixty traffic laws, Rachel made it to the hospital in record time. She wasn’t allowed to see Chloe just yet. There was too much emergency work to be done, so she curled up on a chair and just sort of vegetated, her mind going to all the worse conclusions and possibilities, and stewing in a slow simmering rage about the whole situation. She hated feeling powerless - she was already pretty powerless in her relationship with Mark, but this was somehow worse.
At least twice a nurse came to check on her, and she realized she’d forgotten coverup. She gave the usual excuses.
A blonde woman sat next to her, and she recognized Jaina from meeting Chloe a few times.
“I think she’ll be fine,” Jaina said, smoothing her skirt down. She had one of her notebooks out, having grabbed it as she’d left her apartment. The teleport had almost gone wild, but she’d made it! She was hoping there was something in her notes to help Chloe - if she’d been there she could have temporarily reversed time - just long enough to change the course of events and protect Chloe. But Time magic was dangerous, and very hard. She didn’t want to risk using it on Chloe’s injuries anyway. Not right now.
“She’s gonna freak when she wakes up,” Rachel said, digging her fingers into her hair.
“That’s why we’ll be there.” Jaina knew the story, and she knew what Rachel meant.
There was a lot of work to be done with Chloe when she was first brought into the emergency room. X-Rays showed how badly her leg and arm were broken. Her lower leg was, essentially, shattered and would need several pins to help put it back together. Her femur was also broken in one place. Her arm was less of a mess than her leg, so there was at least that.
However, the doctor was extremely worried about her head injury. They ran an MRI and found evidence of bleeding but no evidence of a hemorrhage, which was definitely good news. However, they couldn’t tell how bad the brain injury was until Chloe woke up. So with that done, the doctor went ahead and helped get the gash on her forehead taken care of, then her broken arm was set and put in a cast. Then came taking care of her leg, which took the longest.
Finally, Chloe was out of surgery and moved to a room. The doctor, after cleaning up, went out to the waiting area where Rachel and Jaina were waiting.
“Chloe is out of surgery. She has a broken arm, and her tibia and fibula are essentially shattered and her femur in the same leg is also broken. We did our best to repair the leg, but it may require a second surgery. But for the time being, she’ll be comfortable. What worries me is that she has a head injury. There is evidence of bleeding in her brain, but we won’t know how severe it is until she wakes up. Don’t freak out yet, it could just be a concussion as opposed to a more severe hematoma that would require surgery to fix.” He explained. “Aside from that, we didn’t find any evidence of internal or spinal injuries. But she will be in a lot of pain. We have her in a room now, and you are free to go see her. She should be waking up soon.”
“Don’t freak out, he says.” Rachel rubbed her face as she got up. An accident could really fuck with a person and she worried beyond the physical injuries to the mental recovery of recovering from those injuries.
“If we’re calm, she’ll be calm,” Jaina pointed out. “Is there anyone else we need to call?”
Rachel nodded. “I’m calm, I’m calm… and she has a couple of friends, I was going to call them once I saw her. And maybe her mom, if she wants that.”
Stepjerk wasn’t an option.
The doctor eyed Rachel. It could’ve been a whole lot worse than it actually was. “Once she is awake, we will be better able to discern how well she will recover. But it is important to be calm. She will be in pain, but we’re putting her on a morphine drip.” He let them discuss calling people, then gave them the room number Chloe was in and left them to consult some of Chloe’s test results a little closer.
When they’d get to her room, Chloe was propped in bed, her head bandaged, arm in a cast. Her leg was also in a cast and propped on a pillow for comfort. There was also bruising starting to form on her chest from when she’d hit the steering wheel though not much of it was visible because of the hospital gown. But she was hooked up to a morphine drip.
Rachel covered her mouth, standing in the doorway until Jaina nudged her inside. She didn’t look back at the Mage, and if she had it probably would have made her feel worse because Jaina had a pained expression too.
She moved to the bed. “Oh god…”
“Deep breaths.” Jaina put her hand on Rachel’s back, keeping her voice calm. She’d managed to get her own expression under control. “It’s okay to cry. I don’t think she’ll mind that too much.”
“My make-up is ruined anyway,” Rachel said, letting out a short, stressed laugh.
Chloe was starting to come to, though she hadn’t opened her eyes or tried to move yet. She heard voices, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. They sounded muffled and distant. And Chloe felt weird. Very weird. She felt like she was floating, almost. That sensation didn’t make sense, though. She was rather certain she hadn’t smoked a joint and she hadn’t taken any other drugs, so she shouldn’t be feeling like this.
She made a little humming sound as she started to come to a little more, her eyes cracking open. She blinked a little, but at first all she saw was bright light. Was she dead? Was that why she felt like she was flying?
Rachel fell silent when she saw Chloe move. There wasn’t much movement, but it was enough to draw her attention. Her hand went for the other blonde’s. “Chloe? Hey...hey.”
If she was dead, there were two beautiful angels looking at her.
She opened her eyes a little more and turned her head in the direction the voice came from. “R-Rachel?” She cracked. Her throat was rather dry. “Where...where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital,” Rachel said, very careful with Chloe’s hand. It didn’t look like the broken arm, but she didn’t want to risk it. She managed to keep her voice mostly even. “There was an accident. You’re okay. A little banged up, but you’re okay. No one else was seriously hurt.”
Hospital? That didn’t sound good. She held Rachel’s hand, only barely able to feel it. “Accident? What accident?” Chloe’s memory was a little scrambled and hazy at the moment. No doubt a combination of the trauma suffered from the accident, the anesthetic and the morphine.
“We don’t know what happened yet,” Jaina said. She pulled up a seat. “Except you t-boned another car.”
“They’re okay,” Rachel added, quickly. “I saw them in the waiting room.”
“What?” Chloe asked, looking over at Jaina, then back at Rachel. “I t-boned someone?” It was setting in that she’d been in a car accident. “Like...like my dad?” Some panic was starting to build up within her and she lifted her head and actually finally saw her leg and her arm. “No. No no no…” She tried to move and squirm like she was trying to run away, but she couldn’t actually do much of that. “Fuck, this is a dream. It has to be a dream. Fuck fuck fuck.”
Shit. Rachel shot Jaina a dirty look, then leaned over Chloe. “Look at me. You’re alive, you’re not dreaming. No one died.” Carefully, she put her hand on the least injured part of Chloe’s face. “Look at me, look at me.”
Chloe looked at Rachel, panic in her blue eyes. Some tears were welling up in her eyes and she tried to calm down a bit. “Are you sure no one died? Are you sure I’m not dead? Maybe this is one of those dreams everyone talks about having.”
“I’m sure.” There were tears in Rachel’s eyes, and her make-up really had run. She wiped at her eyes. “Because if you were I’d be yelling at you right now.”
“Okay because I definitely don’t want you yelling at me.” Chloe said with a little sniff. But she understood Rachel there. After all, how many times had she yelled at her dad for dying over the past five years? More than she could count.
Someone pulled Jaina out of the room, since she looked like the responsible adult in this situation, and Rachel caressed Chloe’s cheek. “I was going to ask you to a movie, but I guess I’ll have to bring the movie to you instead.”
Chloe sniffed and leaned into Rachel’s touch. “I’m sorry I fucked that up.” She tended to fuck a lot of things up. And of course she was going to blame herself for the accident. But it was her fault. She’d hit somebody and she could’ve killed them. She didn’t really care whether she died or not, but she didn’t want to take anyone else out with her.
“That’s okay. We can get it on DVD when it’s out.” Rachel wasn’t trying to blame Chloe, and had been trying to be careful in her phrasing so Chloe wouldn’t take it that way. “It’s not a big deal.”
Maybe Chloe would blame herself, Rachel knew her well enough to predict that. But she didn’t know what had happened yet. “All that matters is everyone is okay.”
Even with the careful phrasing, Chloe would still blame herself. Sure she tended to blame everyone but herself when things went wrong, but in this case? It was her fault and she knew better given what had happened to her dad. It would probably take Chloe a while before she actually tried to drive again.
“I’m not exactly okay, but I get what you’re saying.” Chloe really didn’t want to be in the hospital. Hospitals made her uncomfortable.
“It just means I’ll get to doodle on two casts,” Rachel replied, trying to keep a light tone and … mostly failing. She was shaken, and still shaking a little, and she hadn’t even been in the accident. She didn’t much like hospitals either, though she’d never had the association Chloe did with them.
Rachel’s childhood had been idyllic.
Doodle on casts. Chloe suddenly looked at her arms and realized it was her right one that was broken. “Hey, I can write on them as well.” Thank god she was left handed otherwise she’d probably go crazy, or well, crazier while being here.
“I’ll pick you up a new marker to tag with when I get something to eat later,” Rachel promised. She had no intention of leaving for long, and had already decided to skip classes the next couple of days. She’d have to deal with the soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend at some point.
“You’ll have to make me a list of things to smuggle to you.”
“Thanks.” Chloe had...no idea what had even happened to her clothes or belongings that had been on her and in her truck. “Where’s my shit? Like, my clothes, my phone, my lighter, my cigarettes.” Thank god she hadn’t had any pot on her. “Fuck, I can’t even smoke in here, can I?”
Rachel looked around, and spotted a bag on the table. She got up, and came back with it. There were no clothing, but anything that had been in Chloe’s pocket was in the bag. “I think your phone is dead, I’ll plug it into a charger for you.”
Turning to Chloe, she gave her a sympathetic look. “I don’t think that’s an option.”
Then she pointedly put the cigarettes into her back pocket. “I’ll keep these. For safe keeping!”
Chloe sighed and leaned her head back against her pillow. “Fuck, I’m not going to survive without getting to smoke.” Morphine could be considered an awesome drug, but it couldn’t do anything about nicotine deprivation.
“If you smoke them all, you owe me a new pack.” Chloe stated. “And don’t lose my lighter.”
Flicking the lighter on, then off like the little firebug she was, Rachel winked before slipping that into her pocket too. “I’ll buy you the most expensive, best cigarettes I can find.”
Sitting back down, Rachel reached for Chloe’s hand. “Consider it something to look forward to.”
Chloe just stared a little longingly at the lighter. She could seriously use a cigarette or ten right about then. God, why. Maybe if a nurse felt benevolent, she could go outside in a wheelchair and smoke.
Holding Rachel’s hand, she looked at her and took a breath. “You know you’re getting my expectations up there.” That was, in regards to the cigarettes.
“I’m pretty good at that. Delivering on expectations and all.” Rachel squeezed Chloe’s hand, then lifted it up and kissed her knuckles, like someone out of one of her plays. “You’re going to go nuts. I really will have to bring you some movies.”
“Confined to a bed, unless someone can spring me on a wheelchair, nicotine deprivation, and white walls? Yeah, I’m going to go fucking nuts.” Chloe seriously hoped they’d let her go home soon. Far sooner than later. She did managed a smile at the kiss to her knuckles. “Make sure you bring Blade Runner: The Final Cut edition. That’s the only version of Blade Runner worth anything.”
“I know, you made me watch it,” Rachel replied. “Twice.” She gave Chloe a look like it was something she suffered through just for her. “But I’ll watch it again. And bring Romeo + Juliet. Claire Danes and Leo? Yes please.”
“I suppose I can sit through Romeo + Juliet for you as well.” It wasn’t completely something Chloe liked, but she could sit through it with Rachel. And, well, sometimes she was in the mood for a little romance. Even if the tale of Romeo and Juliet was really not good when held up to rational scrutiny. But sometimes, applying rationality and logic to Shakespeare wasn’t the best idea.
“One of these days I want to play Mercutio,” Rachel mused. She wanted Chloe distracted from what happened, at least as much as possible. Too much time getting lost in her own head wouldn’t help her, and just make everything worse. It wasn’t like she was being clingy, or something. Nope.
“What draws you to Mercutio?” Chloe prodded. She did want to get her mind off the accident. Getting worked up wouldn’t exactly help her currently. Especially when she obviously couldn’t get out of bed on her own. God she hated feeling helpless and having to depend on others to help her.
“He’s just so fun,” Rachel replied, stroking her fingers up Chloe’s arm. “In a way he’s the border between Romeo’s youthful innocence and the experience of adulthood. I also like the reading of him being Queer in that particular movie.”
“Would you play him as Queer like in that movie?” Chloe liked the feeling of Rachel’s fingers stroking up her arm. It was definitely distracting from everything that had happened that day.
“I think I would.” Rachel continued to distract Chloe with gentle touches, and if she was honest they were helping her too. “I’m Queer too, and he was definitely into Romeo.”
She wondered what an all-girl production would look like. It would bring new meaning to the star-crossed lovers thing.
Under normal circumstances, Chloe would point out that Rachel had a boyfriend. But right now, she wasn’t in the mood to fight. She just wanted comfort and to not be alone, even if she wouldn’t say as much to either thing. “It seems like a lot of people were into Romeo. But wasn’t he supposed to be the catch of the town and whatnot?”
That was an argument they needed to have, but not today.
“Yeah. He kind of was.” It wasn’t exactly her favorite play, but you couldn’t beat the dialogue. “Thing was, both him and Juliet were way too young. That’s part of the tragedy. Audiences in those days would have understood that the whole Paris thing was creepy. I don’t think a lot of audiences realize that these days. Or they age Juliet up.”
Still made it creepy. “But you know what production I really want to star in? The Tempest.”
“Yeah, that I totally get. Wasn’t Juliet like 12 or something?” Chloe knew she’d “read” the story at some point before she’d gotten herself expelled from school, but she didn’t remember fine details. That’s what Rachel was for.
“What draws you to The Tempest?” Chloe could potentially guess, but right now? She wanted distraction and listening to Rachel talk was a good one.
“Basically. People in those times didn’t actually marry their daughters off that young. They waited until they were in their later teens or early 20s, because that young? She’d almost certainly die in childbirth.”
Rachel shifted position so she could face Chloe better. She always got excited about this stuff. "There's a lot of parallels within the story and with theatrical illusion. The whole world is treated like one. In some ways it’s an exploration of the human soul.”
“Well, at least they had some sense in marrying their daughters off back then. Glad I live in this time. I’d make a shit wife to anyone.” And she did feel like she’d be a terrible wife. Someone would have to deal with her all day every day, and even her own mother hadn’t been able to handle that.
Chloe liked Rachel’s excitement. She was obviously passionate about her craft. Sometimes Chloe wished she had that kind of passion about something, but most of the time she just didn’t give enough of a shit to care. “How is it an exploration of the human soul?”
“I’d have to go all Stepford to be someone’s wife,” Rachel replied. A little bitterness crept into her tone, “Luckily I have like 19 years of practice as the Stepford Daughter.”
Rachel tapped her fingers on her hip, “There was this concept of the soul in three parts. Base and primal, rational, and the high, sensitive soul. Prospero was exiled with his baser part, Caliban, and the sensitive, supernatural part, Ariel. If you follow that theory, Prospero is battling with his baser nature with Caliban, and needs to learn to let go of his connection to higher forces in Ariel. And until he can do both these things he can’t return home.”
“You’re far better than a Stepford anything,” she said, setting her hand on Rachel’s arm. Rachel had a lot of potential, and she had a direction and ambition. Those could get her far in life. Chloe knew she was going nowhere. Maybe one of the times she attempted to kill herself would actually stick in the future. It would be better than dragging everyone else down with her.
“That’s actually pretty fucking deep. What happens to Prospero? Is he able to battle his baser nature and the connection of his higher forces to go home?”
“It’s long and winding and not easy, but he does find his freedom. A big part of the story is Prospero finding it in himself to forgive his enemies and spare them,” Rachel explained. “In direct conflict with the nature of Caliban, who would have treated them far more harshly for their crimes.”
“And what about Ariel’s nature? What would she have done to Prospero’s enemies?” It seemed to be an appropriate question. And frankly, Chloe was curious about the answer. She liked that Prospero won in the end, winning his freedom.
“Pity, were he human. It was Ariel that moved Prospero to look upon their state, and once he did so he felt pity as well, and thus freed them.” Rachel thought, somehow, that Chloe would make a fantastic Ariel. “And at the end, he set Ariel free as well.”
“That sounds a bit like a love story, even if it was just potentially a part of his soul.” Of course, who really knew what Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote that one. “Though I think you’d make a great Prospero, bringing that kind of depth to the character. You’d be the best Prospero in history.”
“You’re just biased. And a little high,” Rachel replied, but she looked pleased. “I think I’d have fun with that one. Would you be my Ariel, Chloe Price?”
“Maybe I am, but that doesn’t stop it from being true.” Chloe did manage a bit of a smile at that. “Rachel Amber, we both know I can’t act worth shit. I’d just ruin the whole thing with not knowing my lines.”
“Then we’ll improvise. It’s what we do best. Chloe and Rachel.” She wasn’t going to say that was the way it always had been. But it was the way it should be.
She looked like she wanted to say more. She should say more. But this probably wasn’t the right time for being an emotional wreck.
“Sometimes I think your faith in my acting skills is misplaced,” she said, partly joking. “Improvising in Shakespeare is not an easy thing to do.” Chloe looked at Rachel. “But for you, I’ll try my best.” And then probably fall flat on her face because that’s what she typically did.
Operation: Distract Chloe was so far a success, and Rachel grinned at her. She was almost distracted herself - at least she hadn’t started crying like she really, really wanted to. Also scream.
Lots of screaming.
“Your best is almost enough.”
“Almost enough?” Chloe asked with a little smile. “Guess I’ll take it. It’s kind of hard to best an Oscar-worthy performer.” Because as far as Chloe was concerned? Rachel was the best actress, hands down.
“Flatterer.” Rachel picked up Chloe’s hand again, squeezing it between both of hers and sniffling a little. She lowered her head against the joined hands. “I’ll dedicate my Oscar to you.”
Chloe squeezed Rachel’s hand back, looking up at her. “As long as you let me get a selfie with your Oscar, you can dedicate it to me.” That seemed like a fair trade to her, after all.
“If I let you alone with my Oscar, you’ll mark it up.” Rachel didn’t sound like she minded, even if she hadn’t moved her head. “Don’t tell me what you’ll do, I want to be surprised when it happens. But one of these days we should go tag up the Hollywood sign.”
Though honestly, they wouldn’t be able to top Hollyweed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely surprise you with what I do.” Chloe wanted to brush her fingers through Rachel’s hair, but her uninjured hand wasn’t available to do so. Given she could move her fingers of the arm that was in a cast, she lifted it and reached over, gently brushing fingers through Rachel’s hair.
“Fuck yes. The things we could do with that sign.” Chloe noted with a bit of a smile. She liked the sound of that, and would certainly have to come up with something amazing to do to the sign.
That little action was nearly enough to bring water to Rachel’s eyes and she was glad she wasn’t looking directly at Chloe. “First thing we do then. When you’re better. We fuck up the Hollywood sign.”
“Something to look forward to.” Which was the story of Chloe’s life, needing something to look forward to. If she didn’t have anything, that’s typically when things got really bad for her with her depression and suicidal tendencies.
She kept brushing her fingers through Rachel’s hair a little longer before it got too painful to hold her arm up like that, so she reluctantly pulled it away and gently set her arm down.
It wasn’t really a bad strategy. Even just a curiosity about what might be coming could get someone through a hard period. Rachel had never really had feelings like that, not even at her darkest. She wanted to live, she liked being full of life. But she’d offer Chloe anything she needed, if Chloe was willing to grab hold of the rope.
She made a little whiny sound when Chloe pulled her hand away, leaning in and headbutting her shoulder. Carefully. But she didn’t have a kitty-ear icon for nothing. “I’m glad you’re okay, Chloe…”
On her good days, Chloe was really good and engaged with the world. On her bad days, she didn’t give a fuck about anything. Sometimes she was jealous of the people that knew what they wanted in life and went after it because she didn’t know what that felt like. Most of the time she was just skating through life waiting for death to take her. And sometimes, she tried to help Death out by trying to kill herself but apparently not even death wanted her yet.
“I could do without the pain and being confined to a bed, but I’m here.” Chloe wasn’t going to say that this was better than being dead because she didn’t really believe that. She tended to believe that death was better than most anything else.
Rachel was the kind of selfish person who wouldn’t pull the plug even if Chloe was braindead, but she’d never actually tell her that. “If they’d let me sneak you out, I would. But I don’t think I could carry you. Maybe over my shoulder.”
Chloe had to laugh a bit, then she grimaced a bit because her ribs really hurt. “That would be a comedy of errors, I’d think, you carrying me over your shoulder. At least I’m not fat.” Hey, Rachel had managed to get Chloe to laugh?
Laughing as well, Rachel lifted her head. “Maybe we could put you on one of those mobile gurneys. I’ll put on a labcoat and pretend to be a doctor taking you to surgery. Or I could be a naughty nurse.”
“Something tells me you’d enjoy being a naughty nurse far too much,” Chloe teased as she took a breath to try and calm her angry ribs. It was probably a good thing she couldn’t see much of her skin because she was probably horrendously bruised. At least, she was starting to feel like she was bruised all over.
“Technically, you’d be the one enjoying it too much,” Rachel pointed out. She tried to think of an appropriate quote, relating back to their acting discussion, but nothing seemed appropriate. Or at least, the ones she can think of were far too leaning on the whole love thing.
So instead she asked. “Do you want greatness thrust upon you, Chloe?”
“But you’d also enjoy it.” Chloe wouldn’t deny that she would enjoy Rachel being a naughty nurse too much. At the question, she eyed Rachel a little. “If you mean that in a sexual way, maybe once I’m not broken. I don’t think I could handle greatness being thrust upon me currently.” Despite appearances, she did say it light-heartedly.
“Yeah, I think I’d really enjoy it, but I’d probably get kicked out if I did that here.” It gave her some ideas for her blog and show, though. Surely some people were into that stuff right?
She put her hand on Chloe’s stomach and rubbed it lightly. “I’ll look forward to it.”
“But it’d be totally worth it,” Chloe commented with a little smile. She shivered lightly at the hand on her stomach. “So will I.” Though Chloe didn’t even want to think about how long this recovery process was going to take. And she should...probably contact Stefan or Joe because she clearly wouldn’t be able to work for quite a while.
Rachel leaned her knee on the bed, carefully bending over Chloe and kissing her forehead. “Anything for you. Anything.”
She knew she shouldn’t make promises she didn’t know if she could keep, but this accident had scared her down to her core.
Chloe winced slightly, given the gash on her forehead, which she assumed had needed stitches. That was going to be a great scar. At least the one on her wrist was easy to hide when she wore bracelets on it. But a scar on the forehead? Not so easy, unless she got bangs cut, but she never really liked bangs.
“Thank you,” though she was trying not to read into that. After all, she was still upset over Rachel having left her in the first place, and she was just an ex now. But she was more than willing to just focus on the present moment than think too far ahead.
Jaina peered in, raising her eyebrows but deciding to give them a few more minutes. What she’d just learned was disturbing, and Chloe would need to know eventually. Her brakes had been cut. But maybe not right now. Maybe tomorrow.
But how do you tell someone that?
Rachel sat back. She’d been there for some of the scars on Chloe’s wrists, and that was a memory that had haunted her for a year. One of Mark’s most effective wedges had been digging into the cracks that had developed inside Rachel since Rachel had never talked to anyone about how to handle her emotions over Chloe’s depression and suicide attempts. That had been for a good reason though, at least to her. She hadn’t wanted to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and get Chloe institutionalized. If she loves you why wouldn’t she want to live for you?
“So what kind of tattoo are you going to get over this?” Rachel asked. She didn’t have any, but she’d thought about it. Nothing had really jumped out to her, but she did like the idea of dragons.
Chloe probably could’ve used being institutionalized. At least in that situation she would’ve been forced to actually take her medication. And maybe she could’ve gotten better and fought back against her depression. But depression was an intense enemy to fight, and it was compounded by the fact she’d never gotten over her father’s death. She was still holding onto that pain and grief. Maybe if she learned to let go of it, it would help fight her depression. Letting go of the pain and grief didn’t mean letting go of her father. But ever since her mother had taken down any photo of her dad and shoved them in drawers or boxes, Chloe had held onto her dad’s memory even tighter. People couldn’t just be replaced like they were never there. It wasn’t fair to try and erase William’s life like that.
“I haven’t really thought about it. Maybe the all-seeing eye? Or the third eye. I’ll have to think on that.” Something to draw attention away from the scar. That was part of the reason Chloe had gotten the sleeve tattoo on her right arm the instant she’d turned eighteen, it helped distract the eye from the scars.
Rachel had meant something that had meaning, not just to hide scars, but she could see how Chloe would jump to that. “I can’t imagine you with a tattoo on your face. But I’d bet you’d look really hot with one.”
She pondered what she’d do. A raven maybe. Some kind of bird. Definitely some kind of bird.
“Pfft yeah right, I’d look like a douche. Though I suppose I could always get a target tattooed on my forehead. Or anywhere on my body, really.” Little did Chloe know that she would undoubtedly regret ever saying that once she got to a certain point in her dreams. Especially when a certain teacher shoots her in the head.
“Chloe, you’re just going to ask for trouble.” In a way, Rachel thought it was funny, but she was a little leery. Like it would somehow bring out some bad luck for one or both of them.
“But if you had a target on your forehead I’d have to get some nerf darts for practice.”
“Have you ever known me to not ask for trouble?” Chloe had a long history of getting into trouble of various types. It was almost like she was tempting fate with the kind of trouble she got into.
Though she laughed at Rachel’s nerf darts comment. “That would be hilarious, actually.”
“Just you wait, five years from now when you least expect it. Four suction darts on your forehead.” Rachel pointed her finger at Chloe like a gun, going ‘bang bang bang bang’ like she was shooting her. And then a fifth bang for Mark good measure.
“I’ll wait and see that feat, Annie Oakley,” Chloe responded. Sure, there was a fifth bang, but she didn’t comment on it. “I’ll just have to remember to play dead when you shoot me. Though no time for a long, drawn out Shakespearean death scene with shots to the head, alas.”
“I’ll just have to wound you. Just miss your heart,” Rachel decided. “That way you can draw out your death as long as you can. Properly dramatic, the bard would be proud.”
“I’ll try to make him proud. I may be shit at acting, but I like to think that I can do a properly dramatic death well.” Chloe smiled. “I can be dramatic when I want to be.”
“Only when you want to be?”
“Are you counting this? Because this totally doesn’t count.” Chloe said, gesturing at herself with her uninjured arm.
“I think drama is in your DNA,” Rachel observed. “And I love that about you. You’re always so exciting to be around.”
“I suppose that’s true. You never know if I’m going to start a fight or start a rave.” Chloe grinned a bit, obviously proud of that fact. “I don’t like being boring.” Boring was what she did before her dad had died. She was the typical good student with a love for science and pirates. But the past five years? She’d traded all of that for give-no-fucks rebel attitude.
“Why not both? A rave battle.” Rachel’s eyes gleamed, like she was seriously contemplating the thought. Ever since she’d met Chloe, she’d indulged in her worst impulses, a reaction to the Stepford-daughter shtick she’d complained about earlier. She didn’t want to be the good girl, she liked doing bad things.
“Definitely has an appeal. Or just find a death metal concert and get in the middle of the mosh pit.” Chloe could definitely go for a mosh pit right now. And she did notice that gleam in Rachel’s eyes. “Maybe when I’m fully recovered, we should have a rave battle to celebrate.”
“Amber versus Price,” Rachel declared. “Or should we team up?”
“You want to take me on, Amber?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow as much as she could with the bandage around her head.
Underneath it all, there was still fear, and worry, and something else that made every one of Rachel’s nerves feel frayed around the edges. Eventually, she would have to leave Chloe alone, and she knew Jaina would as well. She was going to call Ilia, but there was a degree of jealousy and a little bit of self loathing related to her, so she’d wait until later.
The only thing Rachel knew for certain is she wasn’t prepared to lose Chloe, and she was fully aware of the irony in that, and her own fuck ups. She wasn’t a good person, she knew it. But even though Chloe brought out that indulgent wild side, she also made Rachel want to a better person. Most of the time.
Grinning at her, Rachel nodded. “I’ll take you on. Maybe I’ll even let you win a round or two.”
Chloe didn’t quite understand how she could make someone want to be a better person, but Chloe was very much stuck in her self-destructive and not-giving-a-shit way of life to want to be a better person herself. She’d done everything she could to continuously lower her mother’s expectations simply so she could stop being disappointed in her. Her mother’s disappointment in her did actually hurt, especially since they had been close once upon a time, but Chloe didn’t know how to change. She didn’t care enough to pull herself out of the deep pit that she’d dug herself into.
Or, well, that her depression had dug herself into.
As it was, Chloe was happy to just continue coasting through life with no direction and no ambition. Sure, she had a job now, or at least she’d had a job, and there was responsibility in that, but that didn’t mean anything. She needed money, and she liked cars. And for whatever reason, Stefan and Joe had seen fit to give her a chance. Which she’d probably fuck up if they even let her come back to work once she was recovered from this accident.
“Those are fighting words. I don’t think you could kick my boney white ass.” Chloe taunted.
“Challenge accepted, Chloe Price.” Rachel leaned in, stealing a real kiss on the lips as if to seal the bargain. “Proper rave battle. Winner takes all. Which means we need to come up with a bet.”
Chloe returned the kiss, accepting the seal on the deal. “A proper rave battle is definitely worth a bet.” Though Chloe would have to think about a bet when her mind wasn’t clouded by morphine and pain.
“I’ll suggest a few ideas,” Rachel promised. She fished around for her phone as an idea occurred to her. “In the meantime, I recorded the last concert I went to. Want to watch?”
The suggestions intrigued Chloe, but she could wait until later for them to discuss that. At the mention of a concert, Chloe nodded. “Fuck yes, I do. Who did you see?”
Rather than name the band, Rachel sat on the bed, careful of Chloe’s leg, and held the phone so they could both see. “Someone I think you’ll be stoked for. Promise!”
Chloe turned her attention to Rachel’s phone. She wanted to make herself more comfortable, but she couldn’t exactly move easily, so she just made do with how she was. “I’m looking forward to this.” She always did like music.