Eddie (i_puzzle) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2013-09-02 12:26:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | edward nigma, enigma, zz:status complete |
Waiting to die....(Edward/Effie Log)
Beep...beep....beep....
That sound was becoming too much. Too definitive. Too real. That was the sound of defeat. The sound of his life hanging on by cables and wires.
Oh Scarecrow, what have you done?
Edward couldn't remember much. Some of the things his damaged brain showed him could've been a dream...a nightmare, or it could've happened in reality. The boundary between what was true and false was no longer there to separate the fantasy from the reality.
His mind was blending things together that shouldn't have ever been mixed.
Effie? Was that you?
Edward took a gasping, wheezing breath and he forced his eyes to open. Instantly the haze covering his vision was penetrated by the glare of harsh fluorescents.
A cough, and a shift which earned a grunt.
His body felt like it was made from cement, and boy did it itch.
Edward lifted a hand to scratch, or at least he thought his hand was lifting when really all his fingers were doing were clawing desperately at the sheet beneath him on the bed.
That's better.
A sigh, and finally after making his eyes open from the wince they'd taken Edward was able to see clearly. Or as clearly as he could. Had he a mirror Edward wouldn't have been able to recognize himself.
His face was swollen from the punch he'd taken which had resulted in the loss of a tooth, which was an underlying cause of the ballooned injury.
His body was worse, bandages covered his wrists from the burn he'd received during the constant struggle, the burn he'd taken on his thigh was wrapped and the 'S' shaped wound on his side was patched and mending. His broken leg was re-set and wrapped in a hard cast. Bruce had even pushed his arm back into socket.
Face numb, Eddie emitted a gurgle. His eyes swept the room and he was unable to place where he was. This wasn't familiar. Most hospitals looked the same...the bed with the curtain and the television in the corner playing some crappy show or infomercial.
This was entirely different. No television for starters, and it looked more like a lab than a hospital room. And where was the nurse?
With the tilt of his gaze, Edward looked for a call button, seeing nothing.
He shook, and winced as his body screamed for him to lay still. A whimper and Eddie obeyed. For once....God for once he obeyed.
"...Ef-fie..."
--
Effie was sitting near her father’s bed, her glasses sliding down her nose as she typed rapidly on her laptop, working on some designs she had been putting together. She heard him shifting, but ignored it, assuming her mind was playing tricks on her as they had been for the past several days.
Her back hurt from constantly jumping, thinking he was waking up.
At the sound of his voice, however, she froze before turning, staring at her father before jumping out of the chair and almost tripping over herself, glasses tumbling to the floor, broken and forgotten as she threw herself onto him, clutching him tightly. “I’m here, daddy,” she whispered.
--
Edward winced as she threw herself onto him, teeth exposed as his lips pulled back in display of pain.
Through the pain there was relief. His eyes lifted and he looked at her face but his body felt numb, unable to move. He wanted nothing more than to hold her close, but he settled for trying again to lift his hand.
His fingers twitched and the limb rested still once more, though Edward didn't seem to notice. Again he managed softly, "Effie."
He closed his eyes and groaned softly, shifting a bit against the bed he was laying on. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open, the medication was numbing, but he forced his eyes to open slowly anyway.
"Hurt..."
--
“Oh!” She quickly got off of him, reaching out to smoother her hand down his front, fixing the sheets. Turning, she adjusted his IV medications, giving him a tiny bit more of the morphine before lightly kissing his cheek. “Good morning, daddy,” she said softly, smiling at him, as if she hadn’t spent every night and day by his side, worrying.
Despite her perkiness, the time he was in his coma was visible on her, deep shadows under her eyes (set off from the paleness of her anemia), and sunken cheeks from not eating much. She was also trembling slightly, weakened by not taking care of herself, though Bruce had done a far better job than she ever had of trying to get her to pay attention to her own needs.
“Do you need anything?”
--
When she moved away Edward breathed out and instantly his body felt hot and itchy. He winced, pressing himself against the bed to try to distract himself from the pain and the feeling.
As the morphine settled into his blood, Edward began to feel more at ease and he looked up at his daughter fondly. He noted her condition, keeping silent for a moment as his eyes trailed over her face and features.
"Help....sit up..." His hand flailed some against the bed as if he were trying to find the button on the bed that would make it move so he could sit up and see her better.
He wished his face wasn't so swollen so he could talk better, say things he needed to. He knew she would have questions, that she would want to know everything and he would tell her when he could.
As it was, he couldn't even maneuver his arms to hug her, or even hold her hand. His body felt weak and broken but hot like it was trying its best to recover.
--
“Of course, Daddy!” Effie gave him another bright smile, moving to first carefully lift him up a bit, supporting him as she raised the bed to meet his back, finding that easier then suddenly jerking his body around and causing it more pain.
She laid him back against the mattress, fluffing his pillow behind his head before sitting on the edge of the bed near his legs, reaching out and taking his hand in hers, petting it. She needed the touch, after watching him lay lifeless for so long..or what seemed to her so long.
Yes, Bruce would need to be notified, but right now, she didn't care. She just wanted to be with her father.
--
Eddie winced, biting back pain as she moved and shifted his body. He was worse off than he'd thought originally, able to tell by the shifting of his body for a mere act.
When he was settled, Eddie rested back against the pillow and he watched her as she sat on the bed near his feet.
When her hand found his, Eddie's fingers moved slowly, trying to hold her hand in return. Her touch was welcoming and Edward found relief in it.
"..thank you." His mouth managed words despite the soreness and swollen skin, "..sorry...for everything." He groaned and swallowed, shifting again against the bed and pillow.
His eyes looked over her, glad she was there with him. He could remember snippets of what happened, those twisted rhymes and the voice of the Scarecrow singing. Oh that singing.
Edward closed his eyes tight to hide the dilating of his pupils with fear at the memories.
His heart picked up and instantly the beeping in the machine began to race.
--
“You don’t have to be sorry for anything,” she said, smiling at him, frowning as his heart monitor began to indicate a higher rate. “Daddy, DADDY!” she yelled, shaking him slightly. “Don’t think about it, think about me...or Bruce, you know, think about how much you’d love to kill him…” she said, trying to distract her father.
Yes, Bruce had done a lot for Edward, bringing him back from near death, but she held no illusions that this would magically fix everything between them.
--
Eddie choked as she shook him, the beeping growing louder, harder....then it stopped and fell back into normal rhythm.
He breathed out with a gasp, forcing his eyes open. Instantly his forehead and face were beaded with sweat.
He breathed heavily looking at his daughter, before shaking his head at her, "Not yet." He would love to kill Bruce but Bruce was what made Effie happy.
Eddie couldn't take his life no matter how much he would have liked to.
"...too vital to you."
Edward licked over his lips, his hand finding hers once more, squeezing her fingers.
--
She blinked, staring at him at those words. She hadn't been...around for most of the drama between the pair, but from what she knew, that was not something her father would say about her or Bruce….ever.
She smiled softly, holding his hand, kissing his nose lightly. “Then think of how much fun you’re going to have when you get better...all the banks you’re going to rob and museums to break into,” she said. No, she didn’t like her father being a criminal...but she wanted him to be happy.
--
She didn't seem too affected by what he had stated, which was a relief. He breathed out and closed his eyes for a moment.
Every time he closed his eyes though, he saw that face...the sutures, the pealing laughter....
He forced his eyes to open and his heart picked up again for a moment, skipping through a few hurried beats.
When she mentioned 'fun' Edward nodded, "Lots....of fun."
--
“Lots and lots,” she said, giving him a bright smile, trying to keep his mind off what had happened to him. She then looked around the room before giggling. “So, what do you think of Stark Tower so far?” she asked, joking.
Yes, the Med Lab wasn’t the most impressive sight, but hey, it was further in then Edward had gotten before!
--
"Classy..." He managed, taking a sweep around the MedLab with his eyes. He took in the sights as best as he could.
He had been in the building before, back when Jack hurt Enigma, but he hadn't been given the guided tour.
This was a hell of a way to see it.
"Good place for you." His daughter deserved a good place of employment, a place to be satisfied and excel in her life. If anyone could give her that it was Stark. As much as Eddie hated Stark.
--
“I’ll show you around when you’re up to sitting in a wheelchair,” she said, grinning at him. “Their tech is amazing.” She gave a happy sigh at that, looking like a girl in love...with machines. “And our apartment is adorable, all done in soft purples with little hints of green.
She had a feeling there would have been more geen if Bruce didn’t put his foot down. Something about seeing too much of it normally.
“I would have prefered pink, but Bruce just stared at me when I suggested repainting.”
--
He nodded, "...Better." He was trying to tell her that she had better be giving him a tour, with all of the fancy frills, but that was all he could manage. He could only hope she would get it.
He listened to her color choices, finally able to make the corner of his lips twitch upward into a smile of amusement.
"Nothing wrong with green....purple." He shook his head at her slowly.
--
“Nothing wrong with it...but pink is better! With sparkles!” She said, almost bouncing in her excitement over the colours. She did so love sparkly things.
Timmy had already outlawed glitter from the apartment however, after having to try to vaccum it up and clogging his hoses.
...for such a tiny robot, he sure was vicious when annoyed.
“Hungry, daddy? Or Thirsty?”
--
"Whatever...makes you happy...baby." He shrugged a shoulder at her and then winced slightly.
He shook his head at her next. The thought of food was appealing but it made him want to vomit. And drinking....well, he would get there. He didn't feel up for much of anything.
"Not yet."
--
“Okay...may I check your bandages? Bruce taught me how to change them!” In between her stealing kisses every time her husband was adorably doctory...but her father didn’t need to know that. She slid off the bed, looking at him expectantly.
“Don’t make me put on the nurse’s cap,” she teased.
--
Edward didn't really have a choice and it was probably for the best if she checked them. He didn't need to bleed all over the place if he could help it.
He nodded at her.
The thought of her in a nurses cap.....
He shifted and sighed, waiting for her to do what she needed, trusting that she knew what she was doing.
--
She smiled at him reassuringly before pulling back the bandage over the S mark, making a face and throwing the dirty one away, grabbing a new one after washing her hands. She gently stroked her fingers over the edes of the wound, lightly scratching at the healing skin to releive any itching and remove some of the dead skin cells before lightly washing and bandaging it, moving down to his thigh.
She did the same thing for the burn, though adding cream as she lightly soothed his itchy, healing skin, wrapping it losely so air could still flow around it before moving on. “Feel better?”
--
If Edward had been a dog, he would've kicked a paw in response to Effie's fingers scratching at his itch. But he wasn't, though the relief at the itch being satiated was evident by the look on his face.
When she had patched him back up, Eddie nodded. His head ached from the swelling but he could move it around alright for the most part. He hated feeling so disabled and vulnerable.
How he was going to face the world after this, he wasn't sure. Or Jonathan for that matter.
But he would cross that bridge when the time came.
--
“Don’t be glum, daddy! You’ll be back on your feet before you know it!” She gave him her best perky cheerleader smile before washing her hands again. She left the lab for a moment, returning with an ice pack for his facial swelling, and a large book on great antiquities of the ancient world.
Taking a seat on his bed again, Effie put the ice pack on the worst of the swelling, before opening the book t read to him, describing all the great treasures he had yet to steal.
--
He lingered in the silence after she was gone, breathing out a slow sigh. He closed his eye for a brief second, not long enough to remember, before making his eyes open again.
It was almost too much being there. He ached to be back at Arkham. But he hated that place too. Loathed it. It was bad for everyone there.
Something about the building itself that plagued them.
When she returned he leaned into the cool, refreshing feeling of the ice pack and listened to her read about artifacts. His prized possessions and some he had yet to claim. Oh but he would in time.
--
“Now, no running out to steal things before you’re healed!” she chastised over the top of the book before returning to her reading, content with the time she was spending with him. Yes, she would prefer he was fully well...but nothing could change these moments for her.