Bo Dennis is not a lost girl anymore (faetedlove) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-08-15 21:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, bo dennis, carly greig |
Who: Carly and Bo
What: Bo goes Bleeding Heart Hero and gets hurt. A paramedic happens to be passing by and helps out.
When: This evening
Where: Around The Nightcrawler
Warnings: Medium for a brief fight resulting in minor injuries
There was little that Bo could complain about of late. Her Dreams had clearly come to an end as it had been over a year since she’d Dreamt of that other life of hers. Orange County was still Orange County, but she hadn’t had a near-death experience since the previous year. So she was calling that a win. She’d also finally gotten to see Croft Manor in England for the first time. That had been an experience, and eye-opening in some ways, but it had been a good experience. Plus there’d been a Spice Girls concert on top of that, so she was going to count that as a very good trip.
Bo had come to work early, early enough that she’d decided to just sit somewhere for a little while and take in the good weather. It was evening, a time that could be ripe with rowdy bikers outside of other bars, but the Nightcrawler tended to not be overrun with those types. Still, as she sat on a bench she heard the telltale signs of a struggle and a call for help coming from nearby. Being the person she was, Bo got to her feet and went to insert herself in whatever was going on. She undoubtedly looked like quite the sight in a black tanktop, black pants and boots, but she didn’t care. She was dressed for work, always accentuating her bust for better tips. But she was always quick to flash the wedding ring on her finger for anyone who tried to cross the line.
The sight Bo found was a guy apparently trying to mug a woman. Well, she wasn’t having that. “Hey, ugly! Leave her alone!” Bo demanded.
The guy turned to look at Bo, his eyes narrowing. “Do you want a piece of this? Wait your turn.” He turned back to trying to grab the woman’s purse, holding her at knife point with his other hand.
“I said leave her alone,” Bo demanded as she rushed him, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and tugged him off of the woman. She was careful to not use her supernatural strength that would’ve easily sent him through a wall. “Go,” Bo told the woman, who was quick to mutter a thank you before she took the opening and ran.
“You’ll pay for that!” The guy growled as he lunged at Bo with the knife. She dodged the swipe and managed to kick him in the leg, knocking him off balance enough that he dropped to a knee. However, he managed to swing the knife again and cut her on her thigh, deep enough to draw blood but hopefully not deep enough to need serious stitches or surgery.
“Fuck,” she cursed as she felt the sting of pain in her leg. She tried to kick him again, but he grabbed her leg and tugged, causing her to fall to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete. She grunted in pain and saw stars cross her vision. For a moment, she was stunned and couldn’t do anything, but once her vision cleared enough, she saw a fist slam into her face. Bo was rather certain her ears were ringing, and she’d taken enough hits to the head both in this life and in her Dreams, and seen Lara deal with head injuries enough, to think she might have a concussion coming out of this.
And to think that Lara wasn’t here for a quick healing once she took care of this guy. Which as soon as her vision cleared again, she saw an opening and kneed the guy squarely in the balls. He yelped and collapsed in a heap on the ground beside her. Bo struggled to get up as she felt dizzy when she tried to move. But she finally got to her feet and kicked the guy in the stomach.
“Get lost, and don’t come back here again.” Bo would definitely tell Logan about this guy so he’d be on the lookout for him. The guy started to crawl off as Bo took a few steps but lost her balance and fell into the wall of a building. “Fuck me,” she muttered, pressing a hand to her head. Aside from the cut in her thigh, there was a red mark on her cheek where the guy had punched her. It would undoubtedly bruise if she didn’t get healing quick enough.
Spending most of her evenings, and sometimes her afternoons, at the bar, then working her shift on not enough sleep with the occasional hangover, Carly was exhausted. As annoying as she might find the meddling, it was becoming clear she couldn’t keep going the way she was going. Where was that gonna end for her?
She rubbed at her temple, warding off the beginnings of a headache. It had been another long shift; she’d taken an extra one this week. And for once, she just wanted to go home. But something off to the side caught her attention, and she looked up in time to see the man start to crawl off and the woman who’d kicked his ass stumble.
Her medical kit was still slung over her shoulder, and it only took a second for her to make up her mind. Closing the distance between them, she glanced once back toward the guy, momentarily debating, then reached out a steadying hand. “Whoa, take it easy.”
Bo hadn’t anticipated anyone coming over to the altercation, mostly since people didn’t always want to get involved in a fight. And if anyone had come over, she would’ve expected it to be Logan, he did tend to have a sixth sense about trouble like that. Or his nose was just simply on overdrive. Still, she’d intended to power through to get herself to the Nightcrawler where she’d call Lara for a ride since working her shift tonight was out of the question. Even if she got succubus healing, Logan would probably give her a frowny face and tell her to go home and stay there that night to rest.
The steadying hand caught her attention and she opened her eyes to look at the woman. And for a moment, everything stopped. Bo could’ve sworn even her heart stopped beating. Lauren? Was Lauren actually here? She felt herself get a little faint, but whether that was due to the shock of seeing someone who might be Lauren or the shock of the hit to the head she’d taken, she didn’t know.
“Trying to. I feel like I’m going to fall over.” Bo was rather certain she’d end up on the ground, or falling into the woman if she tried to move, so she just leaned against the wall. And she really hoped she wasn’t staring, she was trying not to. If she was, she’d chalk it up to hitting her head.
She might have been staring but blows to the head did tend to leave people feeling a little dazed, so Carly didn’t give it much thought. What she did do was position herself as support so she could help ease her down until she was sitting.
“Yeah, a concussion’ll do that.” Setting her bag aside, Carly tried to get a better look at her patient, zeroing in on the cut to her thigh. “Here, let me.” She glanced up, flashing a small smile, “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
Bo was definitely dazed, and she could already feel a headache coming. She leaned on the other woman as she moved to sit down. Part of her was wondering if she’d hit her head hard enough to be hallucinating. Was that a thing? Was the woman helping actually someone completely different and she was just seeing Lauren because she’d hit her head too hard?
Or was Lauren actually here? Bo was trying not to freak out because there were a lot of emotions wrapped up in the potentiality of Lauren being here, and she didn’t want or need to deal with them right now. So she decided to try and focus on what was happening right in front of her.
“Well, that’s fortunate. Are you a doctor?” Bo asked. It seemed likely, even though doctors didn’t tend to carry packs, did they? She didn’t know. Mostly she was making conversation and possibly also subtly digging for information to determine if this was actually Lauren or not.
“A paramedic, actually,” she answered, pulling on gloves, “And lucky for you, still sober enough to put all that training to use.”
Carly had a light tough, gentle as she examined the knife wound. It didn’t look too serious. She was more concerned about the concussion. Grabbing her medical kit, she started pulling out more supplies.
“My name’s Carly. Wanna tell me yours? Maybe what happened here?”
She was already committed, whether she’d picked the right side or not, but she’d missed whatever started the fight in the first place.
Carly. Her name was Carly, not Lauren. That was a bit reassuring, but it didn’t really stop that swirl of emotions she had over seeing someone who looked exactly like Lauren. “I’m glad I caught you, then,” she quipped with a smile. While the cut in her leg stung, she didn’t feel it too much. Then again, her head was her main concern at the moment.
“I’m Bo. I work at the Nightcrawler bar just down the block, but I got here early to enjoy the weather. Heard a commotion, so I decided to investigate. Found a guy trying to mug a woman, so I intervened.” It was probably a stupid decision considering that Bo had gotten injured, but she tended to poke her nose into things that weren’t her business all the time. And she liked saving people where she could, so she’d gladly taken the injuries here if it meant the other woman had gotten away unscathed. Which seemed to have been the case.
“Sounds like I chose the right side after all.” It was almost funny, Carly thought, that she would find an injured bartender on the sidewalk.
She carefully started to clean the cut on Bo’s thigh. “This doesn’t look too bad, but you should probably go somewhere, get yourself checked out.”
Looking up from what she was doing, Carly took another long look at the bruise forming on her cheek. She wanted to get a closer look at her eyes, too. “I know it probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t at least make the suggestion.”
The thing about Bo was that she tended to get injured a lot. It went along with the whole ‘sticking her nose where it didn’t belong’ thing she had. And the fact she had no qualms throwing rowdy and unruly customers out of the Nightcrawler if they didn’t behave themselves.
She hissed a bit as Carly cleaned the cut. It stung to high heaven, and not for the first time she was glad that her blood was red like a normal human’s. So long as Carly didn’t need to take her DNA or something, she’d be fine in getting away with not being human.
“No, definitely not what I wanted to hear, but I expected it. If not from you, then from my boss.” And Lara, of course, but that was less of the ‘you need a doctor’ and more of the ‘you need chi’ variety. But Carly didn’t need to know that part.
“I’m still not a doctor. I can only do so much.”
Carly was constantly trying to prove herself, and in most areas of her life, she hated to admit there was anything she couldn’t do, but when it came to this, she knew her priorities. Once she’d finished bandaging Bo’s thigh, she gently probed around the mark on her cheek, making sure it wasn’t anything more serious. “That’s gonna leave a bruise. How’s your head?”
“I do appreciate the help,” Bo noted. She wanted that known. While she knew she could’ve limped into the Nightcrawler on her own, at least she was getting some medical attention first. Logan might not freak out so much if he saw that she’d gotten some treatment.
She flinched and grunted a little as Carly probed around the bruise. She didn’t flinch anymore than what would be expected of a bruised area, so at least there wasn’t a fracture to her cheekbone or something. “I definitely feel a little dizzy still. I saw stars after I initially hit my head on the ground, and again after he hit me. My ears kind of stopped ringing, I think?” Bo was probably also still a little dazed, but the fact that she’d remembered what had happened was a good sign that she hadn’t lost any memory of what had happened. Or if she had, it was just smaller moments as opposed to the whole incident. “Oh, and I definitely have a headache coming on.”
Carly smiled, pulling off her gloves. “Hey, it’s my job.”
She leaned in a little closer to get a good look at her pupils, then settled back again. “Try not to go to sleep for a while, and if you experience any other symptoms, please, go to a hospital.” That’s all she would say on the matter. For now. She didn’t like being told what to do either.
Putting everything away and closing her kit, she sat next to Bo against the wall, giving her a little more time to rest before trying to stand again. “I think you’ll live.”
It was a bit disconcerting when Carly leaned closer to her. It really was like looking into Lauren’s eyes, only Carly’s seemed different. Bo couldn’t put her finger on it but they were strangers. And she was assuming that despite the medical career and physical appearance similarities, Carly and Lauren were extremely different people.
Or so she was hoping. She didn’t know if she could handle a Lauren clone both physically and personality-wise.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Bo responded. She knew she wouldn’t need a hospital once she could get home. But staying awake long enough to heal would potentially be difficult. She glanced at Carly, smirking a bit. “Is that your professional opinion?” She quipped. At least her humor was still in tact. As much as Bo wanted to get moving, she wasn’t going to dare move until Carly said she could.
There were times when Bo could wait and do what she was told to do.
“Very professional,” Carly answered, grinning, “And completely sober. I’m not even that tired yet.”
She gave it another minute or two before standing and offering Bo her hand, “Let's get you up. Do you have someone to take you home?”
“Timing is everything, as the saying goes,” Bo said with a chuckle. She’d closed her eyes for a couple moments to see if it would help center herself a little more, but it didn’t quite have the effect she’d wanted it to. She took Carly’s hand and slowly got to her feet. She didn’t want to just pop right up otherwise she’d probably just end up falling over again. It was a good thing she took it slow because her balance wasn’t the best, but once she was upright, she managed to stay there.
“Yeah, I’ll just go to the Nightcrawler and call my wife to come pick me up. Unless my boss offers to drive me home first.” Really, it was a toss up and probably just depended on whether Logan was actually there when she got to the bar.
That, at least, reassured her. She didn’t want Bo trying to drive or walk, and public transport would have been a special kind of hell. If she’d had to, she would have offered to take her home, herself.
She still didn’t look too steady on her feet, so Carly stayed close. Just in case. “Maybe I’ll just walk you in?”
There were times when Bo could make the smart decision and get a ride somewhere. And then there were times like the vorpal monkeys having done a number to her and instead of just calling Lara, she’d driven herself across town to Lara. While bleeding somewhat badly. And there other examples where both Lara and Logan had yelled at her for doing the stupid thing. So at least she’d learned!
“If you wouldn’t mind. Just in case.” Bo said as she started walking. She was suddenly glad that she wasn’t wearing high-heeled boots otherwise walking would be a terrible idea with them on. Bo took it slowly because walking was definitely a little difficult, at least as far as walking in a straight line went. She wasn’t terrible, but it was noticeable that she had a head injury.
“Thank you for stopping to help,” she said, giving Carly a friendly smile.
“Sure.” Carly matched her pace, near enough to offer support if she needed it, but not crowding her. “There wasn’t anywhere else I needed to be anyway.”
At best, she’d be heading home to bed. At worst, she’d be heading to the bar. Either way, this was a better use of her time.
“Besides, if I hadn’t stopped, you’d still be in a crumpled heap on the sidewalk.” There was a light, teasing note in her voice.
Bo was definitely glad that she hadn’t been keeping Carly from being somewhere important. She hated taking up people’s time like that, and preferred to wave them on under normal circumstances. But in this instance, Bo was definitely thankful for the help. It had saved her from stumbling and limping down the street to the Nightcrawler where Logan would’ve bitten her head off for not calling him for help.
Because Bo definitely would’ve just forced herself to limp down to the Nightcrawler instead of calling Logan to come pick her up off the sidewalk.
“You got me there. I’d definitely be a mess without you here,” she joked in return. “My inability to not get involved in those things sometimes bites me in the ass. But I wouldn’t be me if I just looked the other way.” She wouldn’t call herself a hero, but Bo generally just tried to be a good person. She knew what it was like to be treated like crap, and she’d rather put good karma out into the world than bad karma.
“That’s why most people don’t get involved. Too many of the ones who do end up in the back of my ambulance.”
Everyone liked to believe they would rush in and do the heroic thing, but when it came down to it, most people just didn’t want the risk or responsibility. It was human nature.
The fact that Bo had rushed in was enough to tell Carly she was a good person. “You’re lucky all he had was a knife.”
“I can understand people not wanting to take the risk. I definitely don’t hold it against anyone who would choose self-preservation over the risk of serious injury or death.” It was, after all, human nature. The fight or flight instinct. There were only a few very specific scenarios that would trip Bo’s flight instinct. Otherwise, she always chose to fight.
Oh, there were days when Bo didn’t think she was a good person. She had low periods where the age-old echoes of her adoptive mother saying she was a demon echoed in her head, along with other slut-shaming echoes. Bo hadn’t fully accepted being a succubus, she’d just become good at hiding that fact. Though she was also rather certain Lara could see right through that mask when she wore it.
But today, Bo was feeling good about herself. She’d jumped in to help someone and had saved her from a worse fate. Bo didn’t mind the injuries, she’d always prefer to be the one injured than anyone else if she had a choice. At least she had a near-instant healing mechanism built in.
“I’m definitely glad all he had was a knife. Bullet wounds aren’t as easy to treat.” Bo had definitely been shot before, though it was always waking up from a Dream with a gunshot wound as opposed to having been shot in this life. Of course, a very specific scene from a Dream flashed across her mind’s eye. The time she’d been shot when the Lich had tried to force her to feed, then threatened Lauren’s life to force Bo’s hand.
Bo shook her head, trying to push those thoughts away, but it made her lose her balance and she fell against Carly. “Oh shit, sorry,” she said in reflex. There was another stirring of emotion as she looked at Carly. All she saw was Lauren, and this was entirely too much to deal with. But she managed to keep her emotions at bay and just focus on getting into the Nightcrawler, which they were almost there. She’d go sit in Logan’s office and wait there for a ride. It was quieter back there.
As a rule, Carly had to agree gunshot wounds were harder to treat and had a tendency to do more damage, especially in close quarters. Not to mention it was something she would have been obligated to report, and she had a feeling Bo would prefer to have it all go away quietly. It wasn’t her business to know why.
She instinctively slid an arm around Bo as she fell into her, keeping her upright. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
They weren’t far from the bar, and she’d really only intended to make sure she got inside. She wasn’t that charitable. But Bo’s unsteadiness kept Carly from walking away. “Make your call. I'll keep you company until she gets here. Someone should keep you awake.”
Bo would very much prefer to not get shot. But at least she hadn’t gotten stabbed here, which would’ve been worse. All in all, Bo was definitely thanking her lucky stars that she’d only come out with a concussion and a cut on her thigh.
“Thanks,” she said as she used Carly to steady herself again. She nodded a bit, pulling her phone out of her boot, which was a very handy hiding spot for such things. She speed dialed Lara’s number and briefly explained she wouldn’t be working today because she’d gone all bleeding-heart hero and gotten hurt. Just not quite in those terms. She assured Lara that she wasn’t dying, and just needed a ride home, careful to not make any mention of succubus healing. Once Lara was on her way, Bo hung up and slipped the phone back into her boot.
“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. My boss is probably here and he’ll probably read me the riot act on not getting hurt. In a loving way, of course. But thank you again. I’m definitely lucky you came along.”
Carly watched her carefully for a minute, like she was trying to make a decision. Sure, she’d had a long shift, she was tired. But she didn’t mind staying. How much longer could it be?
“You’re sure? Because I don’t mind. I’m serious about staying awake.”
She wouldn’t insist, but if she did leave, she wanted Bo to still be conscious when her ride got there.
While Bo tended to be able to push through drowsiness, except in the case of when she’d encountered the Mare. She’d tried to stay awake as long as physically possible because falling asleep was dangerous. But she could feel herself getting drowsy, but she was pushing through it. Once she could get to Lara for healing purposes, she’d be fine.
“I’ll be okay, I promise. If my boss isn’t here, I’ll have the bartender help keep me awake until my wife gets here. I can be exceptionally stubborn when I put my mind to it, even when it comes to fighting the urge to go to sleep.” If Bo had been any less in control of her brain-to-mouth filter, she might’ve accidentally said something about the Mare and/or Lauren. But she was watching her mouth very closely on that front.
“Okay,” Carly agreed finally. Then she nodded toward Bo’s neatly bandaged thigh. “Keep that clean, and try not to get into anymore fights for a few days.”
Bo gave her a smile. “I will. There are times when I can do as I’m told. This is one of them,” she quipped. Focusing on humor was going to get her through until she got back home. Or at least got a hit or two from Lara. Luckily she hadn’t lost consciousness after hitting her head, but that didn’t mean that the concussion wasn’t serious. Any concussion was bad.
“You’re definitely good at what you do.” Bo complimented.
“Thanks.” Carly’s smile was genuine. As much as she knew she was good at what she did, it was the one thing she was sure of, it wasn’t something she heard very often.
Adjusting her bag on her shoulder, she made sure Bo was settled before she turned to leave with a final parting comment, “Take care of that head.”