I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-02-08 14:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | jesse custer, maxine gibbons |
i_seekgod In the interm (Max)
Babs had been gone for over a half an hour. It left Jesse with nobody to talk to but Max, so he had been babbling on about Kojak and what the dog had been up to. The loss of a toy, the gleeful recovery from it from under the fridge. The near destruction of the big hunk of bone. The thankful appearance of the dog food, because he hadn't been able to find that pet store again on his own.
He'd squeeze her hand every once in a while, and relax when she squeezed back.
The rest of the house seemed really quiet. Nothing much was going on out there, and if Babs was downstairs doing something, she was being mighty quiet about it.
The cigarettes were played with, the lighter was fiddled with, and the flask of JD was contemplated more than once. He never actually drank from it, but kept looking at it. When this was all over? He was going to go back to the hotel and get incredibly drunk.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 16:20:41
Max had no clue when the push back to concsiousness was finally made on her part. It was a long process, she knew that much. Ever so slowly the haze that surrounded her brain like a fog thinned, and she became more aware of where she was.
One of the first things that hit her was sunlight. Not full blown, the curtains to her room were closed, but the light coming through was enough to make her blink several times and shift in the bed. That brought about the next sensation. Pain.
She groaned softly as she tried to move around, but even the simple things like moving her neck seemed to provide sharp reminders of the previous day. What she could remember of it at least. Everything went sort of blank after Jesse's apartment.
Max turned again, baring the pain just long enough to turn to her right. She was hoping she wasn't alone.
"Jesse?" She whispered hopefully. Her vision was still a little blury, but there was someone sitting on the floor. A male someone and she didn't think it was Tim or Bruce.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 16:54:23
Jesse turned and smiled. "I'm here, baby."
He pulled himself up to his knees to lean over her. She wouldn't have to move or strain like this.
Long ago, he'd gone quiet, mostly because his voice was hoarse and raspy from talking so long, and so much, and so constantly. It had started to hurt, so he'd resorted to squeezing her hand and shaking her every once in a while.
Babs had not returned. It was okay. Jesse hoped she was getting things done, or sleeping. She'd seemed tense.
"How are you doin, baby?"
He pushed pink hair from her face, placing it gently behind her ear.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 17:04:09
"Hi." Max tried to smile, but that hurt too, so she settled for giving him half of one. Pitiful, but better than nothing.
He was easier to see now that he was closer, much less fuzzy. "I think maybe I feel kinda worse... but I don't really remember. I'm kinda tired. Is it only the next morning?"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 17:06:38
"It was a long night, darlin. We had a scare with you. I don't doubt that you feel like shit. But you're okay. I'm sure you feel better then you did, only now you're fully aware of your state, so it seems worse."
Jesse bent and kissed the back of her hand, not sure what felt okay and what didn't.
"I'm so glad to see you awake. So very glad."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 17:17:11
"Scare?" She asked. "I feel like I've been up all night, but I guess- well, everything's not really there. You'd know better than me." Nothing was coming up as Max tried to think. It was as if last night had ended in Jesse's apartment. The ride in the cab and her arival at the mansion were very questionable, and everything after that was a blank slate.
It didn't hurt when he kissed her hand, though it was hard to show her approval. She tried lifting that arm and found that it was one motion that didn't hurt. Pleased with that, she reached for Jesse's hand to hold. There was something wrong with her other shoulder, she could feel a dull throb.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 17:21:30
"Didi showed up." It was all he was going to say on the matter. Period.
He laced his fingers with hers.
"Babs was only going to be gone for an hour. I don't know what happened to her. But she'll be glad to hear that you're up. As soon as we get the okay from her, you can take a nap. I bet she won't let you sleep too long, but she'll let you. You're lucid now, which is more than you've been all night."
Jesse decided to risk the pain for Max, and bent to kiss her gently.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 17:33:56
There was no way Max could hide the shock she felt upon hearing Didi had been there. She didn't ask, but from the look on Jesse's face she could guess that she hadn't just been paying a sympathy visit.
Max was not at all upset she didn't remember that part of the evening.
It frustrated Max that when Jesse kissed her, she lacked the energy or ability to make it anything but a brief and chaste kiss. She couldn't open her lips for the kiss, much less press them against his. She could only squeeze his hand in response.
"Thanks for staying with me," she said when they'd separated. "You didn't have to, especially if I was just out of it. Did you get to sleep?"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 17:40:49
"Are you kidding? Of course I didn't sleep. How could I sleep? I had to make sure that you were going to be alright. And after that scare... Max, I left the room for five minutes, and when I came back..." He shook his head. "There was no way I was sleepin."
He kissed her again, then sat back on his heels.
"I'm so fuckin tired." Jesse tried to clear his throat and make his voice sound right again, but it wasn't working. "And I'd kill for a glass of water."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 17:50:34
"I didn't know I was that bad. I made it back to your apartment alright, didn't I? Or am I making that up?" Frustration welled up again as she wished she could remember. "I just remember the scrapes being really bad." With her good hand, Max reached up to her cheek and felt the bandages. At least she'd remembered that correctly.
"Where did Babs go? There's a bathroom down the hall, you could get some water there. I don't mind, really." She didn't. He'd stayed up with her all night apparently, and she couldn't even remember. "I'm not gonna go anywhere."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 17:54:11
"Neither am I." Jesse replied. "Not til Babs gets back. She went to ... I don't know. Stuff. I told her to sleep if she needed it, so hopefully she did just that."
He blinked his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. "You got back okay, you were messed up, but you were walking. Things went downhill from there. You aren't an easy one to keep awake, you know that? I had to use The Word on you."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 18:06:36
Between Didi showing up and Jesse having to use The Word, Max was now completely convinced of the gravity of her former condition even if she didn't remember a bit.
"I didn't, no," She said thoughtfully. "You just... commanded me to wake up? Didi hadn't... I wasn't um, dead? Was I?" If she had been well, what a disappointment. People always talked about their near death experiences; seeing white lights, and feeling a serene peace. Max couldn't recall any of that."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 18:33:18
"No, you didn't." It was close. But she hadn't. "She looked like she was going to touch you, and then she didn't, and then she smiled at me. But we still couldn't get you up. I was on top of you, screaming in your face, and you didn't twitch. So I did the only thing I could think to do. I told you to wake up. And you did. You didn't go back to sleep again after that."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 18:45:24
"S'why I'm so tired then. You went and got all godly on me," Max laughed softly.
She would have touched him if she could have reached. "Thanks, Jesse. I don't remember any of it, but I think you did a lot last night. Even more than what I remember you doing before my head went all wonky."
Max reached up and rubbed her own forehead instead, wishing she didn't feel so much like a headache was coming on.
"I hope this'll be the last time you have to."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 18:48:01
"I hope so too, baby girl. I hope so too."
He sighed and looked at the door. Then at the dresser. There were those pills. He should talk to her about those. But. Not now.
"I'm gonna see if there's a way to get Bab's attention. So she can know that you're up, and let you know if you can sleep."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 18:54:36
"m'kay," Max said. The pillow behind her head did feel quite inviting. She wasn't hungry or even thirsty yet, just tired. She would take sleep even if she was only allowed a few hours.
"I'll bet Alfred's downstairs." She leaned back a bit more, getting comfortable in the anticipation of sleep. "he probably knows were Babs is. Get some water for yourself? And I don't mind if you need to sleep too, okay?"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 19:03:40
"I hate leaving your side. But even I've gotta admit that you're doing a lot better than you were previously. Crap. Alright. I'm gonna go find someone."
Jesse got up and kissed Max again, lightly.
"I'll be back, okay? Promise."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 02/08/2006 19:12:06
Max nodded and a yawn slipped out, making her wince a bit. "I won't go to sleep until Babs comes up. I'll be more sociable when you get back, we'll both be more awake."
She took his hand for a second, just to feel it, and then let go. "I love you, and I'll see you later."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 02/08/2006 19:17:13
"I love you too, pink."
Jesse got to his feet completely and went to the door. He spared her one last look before heading out to find some sort of sign of life.