InsaneJournal

Who: Anna and Caroline
What: Checking in
When: Soon after Anna got out of the hospital
Where: Anna's house
Warnings: Low, references to being in the hospital
Status: Log | Complete

Caroline had been very worried about Anna. She had visited her quite a few times while her friend was in the hospital, bringing a get well card from as many as Anna’s friends as she could find to sign it, and a bear on her first visit. She made a point to stop by every day even if it was just for a few minutes given how crazy Caroline’s schedule could be. And now Anna was home, Caroline couldn’t help the relief she felt. And of course she was going to visit her friend again.

She was outside Anna’s door with a basket of baked goods from Peeta in hand. As if Caroline would ever show up empty handed. Plus delicious pastries were one of the best comfort foods in her opinion. She placed a smile on her face and knocked on the door as she waited for her friend.

Anna was definitely relieved to be back home. Oh, she still needed to take it easy and there were follow up tests that were going to need to be done to determine if the lung rejection was either acute or chronic. But she was home and on the mend and able to mostly live her life again and that was the important thing. She really hadn’t wanted to go back to having the hospital as essentially a second residence.

Even if Kristoff were there. Which...hello awkwardness. He was sweet in his own way whenever he stopped by but it was really hard to explain how it felt she knew him, how he was calming if he didn’t have the Dreams and so...she had to keep that to herself and she was ready to burst.

She’d just been watching random things on Netflix when she heard the door and blinked. She couldn’t remember if someone was supposed to come over but no matter. Getting up, Anna went and opened the door, smiling brightly when she saw it was Caroline.

“Caroline, hi! Come in!”

Caroline was relieved at the invitation. Now that she was a vampire she needed to be invited in places. She knew she had seen Anna since but she couldn’t remember if it had been at Anna’s home or not. And that would have been a very awkward moment if she was left standing on the doorstep.

“Hey!” she exclaimed stepping inside and wrapping her arms around Anna in a hug. “I brought some pastries… Peeta made them.” Not that Caroline was a horrible cook, but Peeta was the professional baker in the relationship after all. Hers didn’t compare and Anna deserved the best.

Time was weird like that, and as Anna didn’t know about the vampire thing, it wasn’t like she would have known. But it was just how Anna was and so she usually said come in to anyone no matter how many times they’d been over there. She’d even done the same to Elsa though that had been more awkward since it was still her sister’s home as well but everything that had happened.

Smiling, the red head returned the hug and then her eyes lit up at the comment about pastries.

“Aww, you didn’t have to but thank you!” Because who in their right mind would turn down pastries? Definitely not Anna. Especially if there were chocolatey goodness of pastries involved. So it was first to the kitchen to deposit said pastries, “Can I get you anything?”

Caroline was planning to tell Anna eventually. It had gone smoother than she expected when she told Peeta, but it was still a big thing to share (obviously) and the timing had just never seemed right. Now definitely wasn’t the time either with Anna just getting out of the hospital and all.

“Of course!” Caroline replied following Anna into the kitchen, setting them down on the counter. She brought quite a few chocolate selections, knowing it was her friends favorite. There were chocolate eclairs and croissants, chocolate chip cookies. Hell even chocolate cupcakes which wasn’t technically a pastry but still. “Water is fine, but I can get it!” she didn’t want Anna waiting on her after all. “How are you doing?”

That was the trick. Finding the right time which didn’t exist in Orange County apparently. But she was healthy...well healthy-ish and on the mend and so big news was definitely not going to send her into shock or anything like that.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.” It was weird having a friend get herself something in her home but could understand there was worry and all because of the whole hospital thing. Turning her head, she coughed into the crook of her arm, scrunching her nose in annoyance. Lingering cough, nothing to worry about, but still annoying. Oh well.

“I’m good! I mean. Annoying lingering cough and a lot of follow up appointments but that’s normal so yeah. I’m good. You? I know you probably would have filled me in on anything major while I was in the hospital but...anything I’ve missed?”

“Of course,” Caroline replied grabbing a glass and filling it with water. She held her tongue when Anna coughed, not wanting to draw attention to it or overreact. Anna probably had enough of that as it was. But it still worried Caroline a bit.

Luckily Anna brought it up herself, sort of. It sounded a lot like she was brushing it off. “Do you want company?” To her appointments Caroline meant. She didn’t think she would want to go alone. Of course there was Elsa, but still Caroline didn’t mind going to some with Anna.

“Not much,” she replied with a shrug. “Work, my mom, Peeta.” It all kept her pretty busy. It was even tough to balance sometimes but she was managing and determined not to let her friendships fall through the cracks.

One thing about Anna was that she almost rarely withheld information, more likely to talk too much. Some things she did keep to herself, but even then it rarely lasted all that long. Her health was probably the one thing she tried to brush aside after living in and out of hospitals for most of her life and just wanting to live her life and not dwell too much. She knew the realities and that was about all she could do.

“Elsa’s been really big about going with me, to prove she’s not disappearing again and to make up for everything. But I guess if she’s unable to? I wouldn’t want to pull you away from your schedule.” Because goodness knew that Caroline was always busy.

Nodding at the answer, Anna had gotten her own glass of water to drink. “So basically same old same old?”

“That’s the good thing about having an assistant now,” Caroline replied. She was even beginning to let her assistant take on some of the event planning duties on her own too. “She can rearrange my schedule.” Being there for Anna was more important than work after all. As long as it didn’t conflict with her mother’s care she would be there for her friend.

“Pretty much. I, um, finally told Peeta I love him.” After like eight months of dating and their families a few holidays together. “But other than that not much new going on.”

And Anna would never be okay with the idea of her own appointments conflicting with Caroline’s mom’s care. Never. Still, she did nod at the comment about the good thing about having an assistant. She was essentially the assistant at her work even though she was mostly HR. But that seemed to cross over given the nature of the Agency.

“Ohmigod that’s so exciting though!!!!” Eyes lighting up, Anna clapped her hands together at the news. Because really, who didn’t enjoy positive news about love???

“Yeah,” Caroline agreed a large smile on her face. “That’s the most exciting news I have.” Thankfully it was good news. Because dreams could definitely lead to bad news sometimes. Or like most of the time. Did anything good come from the dreams? Between hers and Peeta’s she didn’t think so.

“How does it feel to be home?” Caroline had never spent much time in the hospital herself, but she knew her mom much preferred resting at home than the hospital. She could only assume it as similar for Anna.

“Well it’s definitely good news that’s exciting!” Love was a wonderful thing. Anna might not have it, but she loved that those she cared for did. That was the important thing. She had her dreams, she had her books she read and the epic romances there. And while sure, it would be nice, it wasn’t something she was desperate for either. Just seeing her loved ones happy was enough for her.

Did anything good come from the dreams? Definitely the question. For Anna, hers weren’t as terrible as others she had seen mentioned. A lot of it was mostly internal issues for her. Fears about Elsa pulling away, things like that. Nothing super traumatic. Okay, the blight was pretty bad and the constant nightmares. But compared to others? She had nothing to complain about.

“It feels really good. I was so not wanting to end up spending half of my life in a hospital. Been there, done that. Home is much better. Even if I did at least get to go to the children’s ward to see the kids and talk with them and let them know they aren’t alone and that there’s always hope. That was nice.”

“Awww! I’m sure they really liked that.” Sounded like Anna made the most of her time at the hospital. But yeah Caroline was definitely glad she didn’t have to spend half her life there. That was definitely no way to live. It was bad enough Anna had spent so much of her childhood there.

“Do you have to like take it easy still?” Caroline wouldn’t be surprised if she did. And yeah that was definitely better than being stuck in the hospital. But still it wasn’t fair that Anna couldn’t fully live her life.

It wasn’t Anna if she didn’t find a way to make the most of a situation. Even being stuck in the hospital. She just knew what could have helped her when she’d spent so much time there and figured she would give the kids there what she hadn’t gotten. “They seemed to!”

As for if she had to take it easy.

“For the time being, yeah. Once I’m not having lingering coughing anymore and they know for certain that I’m okay, I should be good.” Or she’d have to go back to how it used to be, always watchful, less lung capacity, and all of that.

“You know you could probably still go and talk to them from time to time. Unless you’ve had your fill of hospitals.” Which would be completely understandable. But it did sound like Anna truly enjoyed her time in the children’s ward.

“I hope that clears up sooner rather than later,” Caroline said in her usual cheerful tone before growing a bit more serious. “I’m just glad you are okay,” she added wrapping her arms around Anna in a hug. Her health was all that mattered.

“I probably could. Kristoff might help me with that.” Which was inadvertently the first time she had mentioned him, but she figured that he might be willing to help again? Maybe? It was something to consider at least. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t already volunteering at the ranch to work with kids or anything. But doing what many would consider too much had never stopped Anna before.

Blinking, Anna smiled and returned the hug.

“Me, too.”

And she was. As much as she put on a brave face and always did what she could to reassure her friends and especially Elsa, to the point where she might alter course if she felt she had upset them, it had been scary at times. Mostly when she was alone and with her own thoughts and memories and old fears and anxieties finding their way up.

Caroline’s brow rose as she pulled away. “Kristoff?” she questioned picking up on that immediately. Caroline was pretty sure Anna had mentioned a Kristoff in her dreams. And it wasn’t exactly a common name…

Of course Caroline would pick up on that. It wasn’t like Anna could remember what all she had mentioned about Kristoff or the Dreams, probably not too much but definitely enough that it would be noticed all the same when she mentioned him, and specifically mentioned Kristoff helping her in the waking world.

Laughing nervously, Anna scratched the back of her neck some.

“Yeah. So. He’s a nurse at the hospital...and had to untangle me from the breathing tubes??? It was really awkward. But he also kept stopping by to check up on me because he’s actually sweet behind it all even if it’s not super obvious and he helped me get to see the kids once I wasn’t in such bad shape to let them know there’s always hope…”

Was she rambling? She felt like she was rambling.

Caroline was about to question how exactly Anna had gotten herself tangled in breathing tubes but Anna wasn’t done talking. It was almost as though she was gushing about this Kristoff guy. Though if he made a point of stopping by.. Well he did sound like a nice guy. And perhaps even interested in Anna.

“Sounds like you didn’t have the worst time in the hospital,” Caroline commented, a knowing smile on her face. How had she missed Kristoff’s visits? “Did you guys like exchange numbers?” She had mentioned him helping her talk to the kids again. Caroline figured she had to have some way to contact him now that she was home.

Nightmares were awesome for getting tangled in breathing tubes. Really and truly. And it was more a nervous energy about someone from her Dreams showing up than gushing. Because it was awkward when she asked about Sven and he had no idea and what if he showed up and started Dreaming as well??? She didn’t see Kristoff as the social media message board type but well, Orange County. Stranger things could happen.

So instead she just ignored the knowing smile because it wasn’t like that. Yes, there had been the odd sense of familiarity and the easy silence because she was used to Kristoff from the Dreams but it wasn’t knowing smile worthy.

“I mean I’ve definitely had worse.” The comment was said with a shrug. As for exchanging numbers. “Yeah, we did…” She hadn’t really decided what to do with that but it had happened. If anything she would just throw random gifs and animal videos at Kristoff to break up the day given his work and school and all.

Caroline refrained from frowning at that first comment. She really hated that Anna had to deal with hospitals too much in her past. But there wasn’t any point in focusing on that now. All that mattered was that Anna was out and stayed healthy.

“And?” Caroline went on still smiling. “Have you texted him yet?” Because really who called people anymore.

The past was the past. It informed but just like the Dreams, at least in Anna’s opinion, what mattered was the here and now. Or she just had a very live life as if each moment is your last because she knew how fickle it was and figured why dwell on what had already happened when there are days in front of you.

The question was met with a shrug.

“A couple of times. Mostly just animal videos.”

“I mean nothing wrong with a cute animal video,” Caroline replied. She enjoyed watching them herself. “But enough about hospitals,” and Kristoff though part of Caroline did want to know more. She could ask at another time. When Anna wasn’t fresh out of the hospital. “Let’s have some pastries!”