hurt & helped ? [Continued from 'Helpless']

This was probably going to become a mistake.

There was a reason he did not always write down the coordinates of the visions.

It was going to ruin his reputation or something, he knew it. He could feel it, this was not what he had bargained for. His headache had dulled upon finding the two girls in the forest, but after the encounter, it had pounded back. Pain-killers wouldn’t help, he thought grimly with his hand planted on the steering wheel. He stopped at a red light before quickly turning down another street. The large building loomed up ahead, and while it could have been a beacon of hope, he saw it as his demise. Any time he was too close to a large amount of people, he was uncomfortable, but this was different. The girl who was by now inside the front doors had changed the entire feeling of him being close to other beings.

He was helping someone, with little hesitation, he realized with a frown. No money. No visions besides the one that had led him to the woods. Then again, he figured the reason he hadn’t gotten another vision was because he was involved. It never worked when he was involved with the future scene. He quickly parked the car in the visitor parking, almost slamming the door as he jogged between cars. He was three feet away from the front doors when a vision came over him, and he stopped abruptly in front of the automatic sensor, the doors opened. His vision blurred for a moment, as the sounds poured into his mind. The people walking in an out ignored him, probably thinking him another distraught visitor.

An unfamiliar voice, sickeningly cheerful. “We’ll move her to Room 136. Would you mind filling out some information about her?”

A short vision, but it would do. He quickly found his way to the lobby and detected which nurse had been in the vision. “Excuse me, ma’am,” he said sternly, interrupted her train of thought. She was tiny, but her expression was vacant. His brow creased as he improvised what to say. “I have a friend who just got here. She’s in Room 136. Would it be possible to see her at this time?” The nurse frowned slightly as she typed words into her computer, trying to find information for the alien girl. After a moment, her face lit up, and she peered at Nathaniel. The disgustingly happy voice came up, and he almost did a double-take based upon her posture and attitude moments before.

“Just down the hall and to the left. She isn’t alone, one of your other friends got here first.”

He smirked to himself at the thought of the Titan leader being his friend.

A couple of minutes later, he slid into Rom 136, shutting the door behind him. He hadn’t even been in the room for thirty second before shedding his jacket on the back of a visitor chair. He ducked into the chair, eyebrows raised. His fingers wove together, before he quickly scanned the room. A hospital bed. The typical devices that every room was equipped with. Even though they had probably only gotten there within ten minutes, it already appeared that a doctor or nurse had checked up on the girl. His head tilted slightly before he spoke, and he didn’t bother to mask any of the confusion in his voice.

“Can somebody tell me what’s going on?”

Raephen was in and out of consciousness. Her breathing was regulated. Her wounds were patched. She had very few scars, the doctors noted, and after examining her eyes, were a little startled. They seemed pupil-less, and almost blank. They glowed slightly, and of course, were red.

It didn’t help the fact the boy burst in asking what was going on. “Well, it’s a hospital, right?” One of the nurses’ snorted. She was short, her form quite large and rotund, her hands fat, and her fingers like sausages. She looked annoyed in an appalling way. Her voice was cracking, and as she scribbled down things with her pen in a quick manner, she looked up at him. She crinkled her already wrinkled nose and snorted again.

“She’s not from here, is she? I mean, sure, there are those damn tattoo parlors, but why would she get one on her head that looks like that!” She pointed her pen towards the triangles. “Anyway, she’s fine. Don’t get your pants in a bundle. Sit down, and we’ll make sure everything’s fine.” She looked down at the girl with a bizarre sort of glare before shifting and moving out of the room. “Doctor, when you get the chance...” Her voice faded as the nurse wobbled off.

Her eyes opened slightly, the red dull and eyes watery. Tubes were hooked upon her arms as she glanced around, touching the plastic wires. She saw the liquid IV and tilted her head, placing her fingers upon the bag. She looked at the boy, a smile curling on her face. He finally made it. It felt like hours being trapped in a room with these people. They never seemed to happy to have such a strange thing in their hospital.

“They had commented on my markings.” She said, the smile disappearing. “They said I was ‘bad for their business’.” She twisted her hands in the bed sheets. “What did they mean?” She looked saddened, almost offended. She tucked a sheet of her ivory hair behind her ear and turned towards the monitor. It showed a heart beating, and her pulse. She sighed heavily.

“What is this place?”

Nathaniel fought to keep from lashing out at the nurse. She had no right to speak that way, no matter who the girl was. Still, it could have been something even harsher, and it was that which kept him from shooting off any sort of angered response. He hadn’t quite directed the comment to the nurse; she didn't know what was going on, either. Vivian was probably the closest to knowing besides the mysterious girl, but she wasn’t here from what he could tell. He remained silent while the nurse scribbled down notes before waddling off. It was then that he allowed himself to send a glare in the direction she had walked out. He shifted in the chair, leaning back if he owned the place. “I hate hospitals.”

He fell silent for several moments, digesting a few of the nurse’s words. Not from here? Not from Jump? No, that wasn’t it. There was absolutely no way she wasn’t from the city, but that didn’t mean anything. She meant Earth. She had to have. He scowled slightly. Starfire had been an alien in Jump City, and he thought there had been a few other heroes and villains who weren’t from the planet. It seemed like the only explanation that made sense, and the scowl relaxed. It still didn’t make complete sense. Why would she have come here? Oh all of the planets and continents, she could have gone anywhere. Unless this was closest, he figured some aliens were just as lazy as some humans. He chewed on his thoughts a moment longer before speaking.

He frowned slightly. “I’m not sure, to be honest.” Bad for business? That seemed like a strange term to use in a hospital. “I think that nurse just doesn’t like things that she doesn’t see all the time.” Though, he had a feeling that if the roles were switched, she would claim he was bad for business. Not that there weren’t tons of teenagers already out getting themselves into ridiculous situations. He glanced down, trying to think of something more to say. When that failed, he moved on to her next question. He smirked faintly. It was something he did know the answer to, something he would be able to explain.

“A hospital.” He paused. “When people get really hurt or sick, they come here. People work to…” Another pause as he figured out how to word it. “Fix you. If you’re bleeding too much, then they can stitch it shut. They have medicine. I’m not sure how else to phrase it. I don’t like them, though. There’s never a guarantee that people recover fully from whatever they’re here from.” He shivered slightly, falling silent again. After a moment, he smiled faintly. “They said you’re going to be fine, so whatever they did worked.”

[Athena 'Shift' Logan]

"For now, at least - her body might react differently to Earth medicine than on her home planet.", Athena said, speaking up from her spot in one of the farther corners from the door. The room was empty aside from their little group, so she had elected to stand near the window sill, which would make her usual modus operandi quicker, had she need to use it. The nurses hadn't even given her much more than a second glance, although one had handed her some paperwork, and another one had asked after her own injuries.
It was a sad thing when the nurses recognized you because of your injuries, Shift mused to herself, rather than what you look like. It was a nice break from the whole 'oh, you're that green Titan', though, she had to admit.

The teenagers' eyes traveled from he door - which was open, with a curtain pulled in front for some privacy - to the alien on the bed. it could wait until she got a bit better, but Shift also kne that the quicker she got some answers, the more she'd be able to tell any feds who wanted to investigate the newest inter-space Jump City arrival. Raephen could rest later, and Nate being nearby seemed to calm both of them down a bit. "But I'm more concerned about how you got those injuries, now that they're being fixed up. Do you remember anyhing about them?"

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Raephen smiled.

“Hospital. I cannot remember if we have had one of these buildings before.” She nodded somewhat sleepily. She sighed, shifting closer to the backing. The nurse did seem rather harsh, and from the look of her friend, he seemed rather upset. She titled her head before looking away. She turned her attention to her leg where the bullet had struck. It stung as she touched it, retracting her hand before touching the area around it. She felt it pulsing slightly. She hated those bullets.

She looked up at the green furred girl, standing in the corner of the room. Raephen nodded and sighed. “Yes, I do.” She nodded more and lowered her gaze to her hands. “I have this feeling they will find me sometime soon. I cannot endanger this planet.” She sighed. “The Orgmorgogs are dangerous. They will stop at nothing to find their leader’s playthings.” She scrunched her nose. “Maybe, it is not the best time to speak of such things, yes? Perhaps, when I am allowed to go...”

The look of them seemed strange, even to her. Almost slug-like, small and grotesque. She only hoped those things haven’t dug their way in too deep. They’d track her down, she knew it. She growled slightly. She hadn’t notice her hand slipping towards the string, before retracting once more with a little “Ouch.” She looked up at him and sighed heavily.

“I am unsure of what to say.” She paused, biting her lip. “I assume your customs are different then mine, yes? In Vultrixia, we greet with kisses, and you, I am unsure.” She bit her lip again, playing with a sheet of hair. “When we are rescued, normally we grow attached and form a bond. Still... If you would rather it be, I can live on my own.” She smiled. Living on her own seemed logical. These people, she assumed, aren’t like Vultrixians. Despite the looks and native language, certainly they had their own form of customs.

Why was she informing him of her customs? Why did it matter? They were alive and well... No need to go into detail. Still, she felt it was right. She needed to know this place before she left. If she wanted to leave. If she had to leave. If they found her... No, she shouldn’t fill her head with such thoughts. It wasn’t right. It would make her wounds worse, she assumed. She sighed, about to speak when the doctor’s voice echoed through the halls.

“Well, well, well,” The doctor strolled in, a smile perched stubbornly on his lips. “Good to see you’re alive for now. I wasn’t sue of your blood type, so I tried my best and gave you a universal. I can see your better. Like I said, that’s good, right? Here, I can hear your stomach rumble down the halls.” The doctor tossed her a brown bag, marked M&Ms. It seemed good. Raephen, took it, examining the bag exterior and tried her best to open – her teeth, hands. Nothing seemed to work, she pouted lightly, glaring it at.

The doctor kept his eyes on her for a moment. “Well, I need to know your name, age, sex, exetera.” He had his notepad in hand, pen in the other. He sat on his stool beside her, taking down the obvious notes. “Gender is female, obviously...”

“They say my name is Raephenrenroj’mok.” Her red eyes narrowed onto his paper, pointing at the Name space. She began to explain her age, her height, everything the doctor had asked her. His brows were arched as she scribbled down the notes before standing up, bidding them a good day.

“And, one more thing.” He handed the boy his sheet of paper. “Pain killers and sleep, that’s all she needs for now. If she gets worse, come back and we’ll try our best.” He glanced around the room with another “Good day.” And left.

He didn't know much about biology, but Athena's statement did seem to make sense. Metabolisms and all that stuff. All he knew came from classes in high school, but he hadn't forgotten everything he had learned during public schooling. How the girl's body would react to the drugs depended upon several things. He had his own reactions to certain things, which was partially why the painkillers would have made no difference to his headache. He decided it best not to delve any deeper, one of his hands moving to rub his temples in a circular motion. He glanced at the Titan for a moment, his face blank. She certainly didn't seem to beat around the bush, but that didn't really surprise him. If there was any danger to the situation, Athena was the one most likely to try and detect it.

Orgmor- what? His lips moved silently as he tried to test out all of the names. He had originally thought her mute, but something had changed that. She seemed to be perfectly capable of speech, though he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Vultrixia. That seemed remotely more familiar, but he didn't have a clue why. Maybe somebody in a vision had mentioned it, but he figured if that was the case, that he would have remembered the vision. He looked even more confused for a moment as he tried to place all of the pieces together. She had fled from someone, these Orgmorgogs. Who were they? And what was Vultrixia. There were several questions he forced himself to choke down, and he bit his lip, peering down.

At her explanation of her customs, his eyebrows raised. His cheeks lit a crimson shade. "Greetings depend on who people are and how they relate to you," he said faintly, his words quiet when he realized how irrelevant that was to the situation. He glanced down, feeling foolish at the petty thought. Did she want him to provide housing, or who? He hadn't been the first to encounter her, despite the fact that he had gone to the hospital. He didn't know enough about Vivian to reach any conclusions about her. A thought dawned on him. That probably meant she didn't have a house. "If you aren't from here, you can't just live on the streets. Not when you don't even have a coat." Not when he had no idea if she could defend herself from some of the worse crews of the city. He may not have been a hero, but he didn't want something that heavy weighing him down.

He couldn't wipe the smirk from his face as she was handed the candy. Could she not get the bag open? Or was she just really confused? He was about to offer some form of assistance when the doctor handed him a sheet of paper. He glanced down, quickly scanning. Raephenrenroj'mok? That was certainly a mouth-full. He frowned slightly before glancing at her. Surely he wouldn't have to refer to her as such every time he addressed her. He smiled sheepishly before speaking. "Do you go by any nicknames? I feel a little awkward not calling you by anything, but I think I'd butcher the pronunciation." He couldn't pronounce Orgmorgog, probably, yet alone the alien girl's name.

[Athena 'Shift' Logan]

Shift was silent, watching the doctor, then Raephel, then nate - Nate the least, mostly because he didn't really seem dangerous, and thus he was less important. She didn't want to know why he was out wandering around in the woods, any more than she wanted to know why the rest of that little rescue group had been. What people did was thier own business; she had only been in the area because she had decided to patrol, and had thought they were a gang or something at first.

As the doctor left, she thought that anyone who had just gotten shot up and had lost a lot of blood didn't need to be living on her own. maybe what's-his-face could watch her for a while. It was that, or she'd probably get registered with the alein-immigration thing that they had in Jump, and most big cities in the US. and about the world, too. Unless she wanted the FBI to come a-knocking or something; the government was nosey like that.

"Orgmorgogs?", the Titan repeated, sounding the strange name out. Guh, that was a mouthful. not that alot of alien names were eay to pronounce; that was one of the reasons that Starfire had wanted the team to call her that; or so Shift had been told by her dad; they had kept messing up her Tameranian name, which sounded something like Koriand'r, weird asterick included. Maybe Nate was on the right track, and they could arrange something like that for Raephenrenroj'mok.

Shift winced; yeah, defineatly Vultrixian.

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“Nicknames? What do you mean?” She never heard of nicknames, let alone anything relating to Nick’s name. “Who is Nick? Someone I should know?”

She titled her head in light confusion. She watched as a few nurses came jogging inside to help her on her feet. They remove the tubing, the IV. She touched the little orb of blue forming from the needle. The nurses looked at it with interest for nearly a moment before the rather cranky nurse stepped inside. “Quite pestering the girl! It’s obvious she knows she’s not from here... Don’t make it worse!” She rushed them along, and as the gentle hands of a nurse placed the small, round band-aid on her little spot of blood, she bid her and the other farewell before following the others. Raephen poked at the band-aid in slight surprise.

As she stood in the room, her hospital gown nearing her knees, she began to make a step. She walked fine luckily – perhaps those bullets didn’t do much damage? Had they been removed? She certainly hoped so. She took another step. It was easier the second, even though the pain from the stitches didn’t do much good. She kept herself balanced, her eyes focused more at her feet then anything else. If nothing else.

She shifted towards the corner in search of that clothing she found. Taking hold of the newly dried shirt, she undid the gown and slipped herself into the shirt, smoothing down the light wrinkles. The collar was around her neck still – were they unable to get it off? Possibly so. She touch the cool silver steel. It needed polishing. She sighed and turned back to the bed before taking hold of the candy. “How do you open this?” She blinked, looking to and from the others.


ooc: I guess one of you can start calling her raephen or something. and maybe it's a good idea to tell her your names. xDD

Hesitation. How was he supposed to respond to that? "Nicknames are names that people call you that's shorter than your real name. Sometimes people don't like their whole name. And sometimes people just get sick of having people not be able to say their names correctly.." He paused, trying to think of a good example. His own name probably fit well, but he was slightly nervous that it would get some sort of reaction out of Athena. He didn't think West was a common surname, and didn't want to have to go through any sort of judgment if she figured out his parentage. "Like, my name is Nathaniel West. I normally go by Nathaniel, and some people call me Nate." His brow creased for a moment. "I don't know why they're called nicknames. I don't think there's someone named Nick who has anything to do with it."

He finally stopped talking for a longer span of time, unsure really what to say. He glanced down at the doctor's notes, scanning them over. Raephenrenroj'mok, or whatever she wanted to be called, had been shot, apparently in the leg. He assumed these Orgmorgogs had done the shooting, she had claimed they were dangerous. She had also used the term "plaything" - it certainly didn't have a positive connotation. Had she been from Vultrixia, then been captured by the Orgmorgogs? He didn't know. He wasn't even sure if Vultrixia was a place. He slowly looked back up, peering between the two. Athena was much more difficult to read, and his head tilted slowly to one side. Was she sizing up some sort of alien invasion?

As the nurses entered once more, he frowned slightly. They seemed amazed, and slightly stunned. Confused, perhaps, like he was. As one shuffled past to exit, her forearm brushed against the tips of Nathaniel's fingers as he shifted in the chair. It was only for an instant, but it was more than enough. Instantly, his vision blurred up. "Get out! I never want to see you again!" An argument, a woman yelling first, then a man. "I'm never coming back!" Heavy footsteps, then the slam of a door. A divorce? He instantly seemed to pull himself back further into the chair, shrinking away from the rest of the nurses as they left. His eyes were wide as everything came back into focus, and he shuddered. He couldn't stand accidentally coming in contact with people. His disgust was soon put on pause as the attention shifted elsewhere.

When the alien girl got up, his brows knitted together once more. She seemed to walk okay, and he found himself placing himself on the edge of his seat, preparing to stand up if needed. "Careful, that's probably not a good idea," he said quietly. His head tilted slightly to one side again, and he glanced once more at Athena. She didn't seem to be too entirely worried, but he had a feeling she was exposed to more of this stuff more often. His usual crew were superstitious morons or very greedy people with money, not normally people who were from other planets.

She fiddled with the candy bag again. Had her strength disappeared? Her people weren’t normally known to become weakened so easily. Something in those bullets, perhaps? Raephen grumbled, her fingers managing to tear the bag slightly. She smiled, excited over her victory. She took a few steps, finding herself sitting upon the wrinkled sheets as she poured herself a bag of M&Ms. She popped a few in her mouth, chewing before swallowing the chocolate candies. At first, her lips were pursed as if judging the taste. After a few moments, she smiled and took some more. “These are wonderful!” She hugged the bag close. “What do you call these tiny little disks?” She held up a red one, before looking at Nathanial and offering him the piece.

“Quite delightful.” She continued to smile. “Nathanial West. I cannot hear anything wrong with your entire name. It is lovely. And what of you?” She turned to the green-furred girl, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. They were almost like fire, sparking with embers. And even if the green-furred girl seemed almost hesitant around Raephen, she never seemed to much notice entirely. Standoffish, perhaps, but it was for a good cause. As she had mentioned, their planet and city could go under attack all because of her. She bit her lip and paused, lowering her hands to her lap. The candy bag was nearly emptied, she noted.

She had something, at least.

Something was always better then nothing.

Raephen slid her legs into a cross-legged sit as she arched her back. So many stitches – one upon her leg, the other on her back and shoulder. It stung horribly. She’d have to get over it. They were helping her, correct? She needed it, after all. No use fighting them off; she’d make herself stand out even more. Even so, haven’t they known of her species? These healers seem standoffish and rather annoyed of her arrival. Perhaps her people never landed on Earth. She was certain Tammeranians have; after all, Koriand’r was a Tammeran, correct? They knew of her. Right? She was certain so. Still, Raephen grumbled before sighing.

“Is it ‘okay’ if I stay with you for a while, Nathanial West? I do not wish to be so bothersome, though.”

Once again, her teeth bit into her lip as she tilted her head to look at him.