poly_chromatic | Accidental Video

Entry tags:

original character - lucy locke

Accidental Video

[Yesterday Lucy got bit. She was just going out for milk because it was important to have milk and she was dealing with the whole ghoulish state of the City by baking and cooking. As a result, she'd run out of milk and needed some. She'd gone during the day, reasoning that was the best time for venturing out and she'd thought she was safe. She'd even worn her converse so that she could properly run if she'd needed to.

She'd gotten her milk and she'd done well until she saw him wearing the suit they'd buried him in. He couldn't be here, could he? Maybe he could. Maybe he was. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. At first he'd looked like her Daddy and she'd hugged him, ignored the signs that he was dead like the slightly gray pallor to his skin or the way he'd never do his hair the way the funeral parlor had done it when they'd buried him.

Then he'd bit her. On the neck when he'd hugged her.

She'd reacted by shoving him away, tears in her eyes as she fumbled for the laser screwdriver in her purse. She'd shot at him with it then turned and ran before she could see the damage she'd done.

Back home, she'd tried treating the bite herself (after having a good, sobbing cry at the bottom of her closet) and she'd been determined to stay in the apartment with her milk, her baking and her cooking, but the fever had gotten out of hand. By the time she stumbled her way to the hospital, it was already high and had been for a little while.

Now at least she was in the hospital when the delirium set in. Delirium that is now being caught on video because in her flailing, she's accidentally pushed the record button to broadcast over the network.]

Please, please can I go home? Please? [She's near tears and she's pleading with someone off camera.] I left the milk out and the dog needs to be fed and Masha might eat Ingram.

[Hands push down on Lucy's shoulders and a soft voice assures her that everything is fine. Lucy reacts in a very un-Lucy like way, with rage, pushing back and screaming.]

You can't promise that! You don't know! No one knows that!

[A struggle ensues and in that struggle the device gets knocked off the bed, bouncing before going black.]

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[ That did not sound good. ]

...Miss Lucy?

What's going on?

[By the time she picks the device back up, she's sobbing again.]

They won't let me go home, Li. They're hurting me.

[That's not true. Though she does have an IV and she's being given light sedatives as well as inflammatories and antibiotics. She's sick right now. She needs to be there, but she can't reason that way right now.]

[ Delirious, clearly. But she's in the hospital. Situation under control. No need to divide risk factors of the zombie-bite into predisposal, precipitation and perpetuation. He pitches his voice slow and soothing. ]

I'll talk to them if they're hurting you. [ What's one white lie to a professional liar? ] I'm sure you'll be able to go home soon.

[ Or at least until she rides out the fever and the threat that bite poses. ]

[And it's a white lie that makes her feel better even if the hospital staff aren't hurting Lucy at all. She relaxes visbly.]

Thank you, Li.

[ Marginally calmer. A good sign -- although he's aware that can fluctuate at a moment's notice. ]

Is anyone there with you? Anyone you know?

[ A familiar face closeby is always a plus. ]

Paval is here for a little while. He's going to go check on all the animals at the flat.

I see. [ Still friendly and concerned, but subtly probing, ] How did you end up in here? Did the zombies corner you outdoors or at home?

I needed milk.

[ Milk? For god's sake. He manages not to sound dry, even if he's secretly exasperated by the priorities. ]

Oh? I didn't know you took your vitamin D intake so seriously.

[He gets a confused look.] What? I was baking. I needed milk.

[ Baking? Oh. ]

You cook when you're stressed? [ Fact. He does too. ]

Pretty much. It's something to do besides worry.

You're right about that. But with this curse, even a grocery-run can land you in a hospital. It's why I stocked up on non-perishables. Everything tastes like cardboard but -- [ a shrug ] it's better than the alternative.

Cupcakes with powdered milk aren't the same.

They aren't, no. [ He smiles, a shade too kindly. But it's obvious to no one but him. ] I could always bring you a batch. Once you're out of the hospital.

[She wouldn't catch onto it even if she weren't in the hospital and distracted.] Yeah? That'd be really nice, Li. Thank you.

[Forget responding. Chekov, who has been ignoring his own ghoul experience by keeping busy, runs right to the hospital. It doesn't take much for him to convince a nurse to tell him where Lucy is; he's practically a regular there himself.

He knocks on the door frame before entering.]

Lucy?

[She'd been given a sedative after her outburst and if it weren't for the fever burning through the medicine so quickly, she'd be completely asleep. As it is, she's just out of it, her words a little slurred.]

Pavel, I wanna go home. Take me home. Please.

[At least she's semi-coherent. Pavel gives her nearest hand a squeeze and leans over to kiss her forehead (he doesn't know what kissing the forehead of someone who is sick is supposed to do, but his mother always did it and it made him feel better).]

You were hurt, Lucy--you need to stay here. If you're worried about the animals, I will go and take care of them, but you need to stay.

[She quiets when he squeezes her hand and kisses her forehead. It's calming, soothing in a way. That's why mothers do it. Lucy's used to as well. She opens her eyes when he tells her that she needs to stay. There's a sort of desperation in her voice and her eyes that don't make any sense given that she's being taken care of.]

You have to make sure Masha can't get in the room with Ingram. Even if he's in a cage, I'm afraid she'll kill him. [It's a slightly paranoid, unfounded fear. Yes, Masha is a genius, brain washed cat, but she can hardly open a cage door to kill Lucy's rabbit. her eyes take on a panicked sort of cast to them a moment later.]

No. No. They were wrong. He didn't hurt me. He was just giving me a hug. I haven't seen him in so long and he missed me.

[Except there's a bandage on her neck that testifies that someone hurt her.]

I need to find him and let him know that he can stay with me. I don't want him to leave, especially without saying goodbye. Can you find Daddy too? Bring him back to see me? I don't think he knows where I'm at, Pavel. He's never been to the City. He's probably scared.

[It's very sad to see Lucy like this--confused and desperate and unable to understand that she is where she is for her benefit. Chekov strokes her sweat-dampened hair.]

I will make sure.

[It takes him a moment to piece together her panicked ramblings and, once he does, he wishes he hadn't. Lucy must have encountered something that looked like her father. She's not thinking clearly enough to know what's going on or how impossible her request is.]

Lucy... shh, не беспокойся, don't worry. I will see if I can find your father. Everything will be fine.

[She'll probably be both embarrassed later and very grateful. His assurances that he will take care of both her pets and her father (however impossible the actual task might be) make her relax a little. After a moment, her eyes go wide again and she looks a bit more afraid than she did before. When she speaks, it's a whisper as if she's telling him a secret, something she doesn't want the rest of the hospital to hear.]

Be careful, Pavel. I think..he's scared. [Her mind is providing her with images that are close to the truth, perhaps made more morbid and gruesome by her imagination.] I think he--he thought...[Her bottom lip trembles as her emotions shift drastically and suddenly again. Her eyes filled with tears.] I think he bit me.

[He sits on the edge of her hospital bed and fumbles for a response to her tearful admission. There has to be something to say to make everything better.]

When I look for him, I promise I'll be careful. Everyone will be okay, whatever he thinks. You and him and me and the animals, everyone. [Chekov can't lie, but he can dodge the truth. The creatures in the City can't actually be the people they resemble, so Lucy's father isn't here.] You only need to rest now.

I don't want to rest! [She raises her voice slightly, not quite yelling. Her tone is more petulant: cranky, exhausted six year old rather than grown adult.]

Everyone wants me to rest and be still and they stuck me with a needle! [She's got an IV in her arm. Her voice lowers, but the petulant tone remains.] I want popsicles.

Lucy, shh. [He kisses her again, this time on the nose.] You need to or you won't get well quickly. The needle is good for you.

[Chekov really should see to her pets and let her rest...]

I will ask a nurse if you can have them.

[He knows how to calm her. She sighs at his declaration that the needle is good for her. He should, but she'll probably extract a promise from him to come back later.]

Am I contagious?

[because she doesn't want him to get sick.]

What if I bite you? Will you get a fever? Am I going to become a zombie?

I don't think so, no. No to all of that. The doctors say that no one has turned into anything and that the fever will go away.

[He doesn't know if Lucy's up for humor or not, but he smiles.] All the same, I would prefer that you not bite me.

[She is up for humor, but then she usually is. It makes things less horrific. She giggles and it sounds a little morbid, a little wheezy.] I'll save that for when they let me out of the hospital. Deal?

[At least she's still very much Lucy, fever and all.] Deal. I will hold you to it.

Will you be fine for now if I go?

[that is fear and near panic in Lucy's eyes. She squeezes his hand tighter but forces herself to nod. She has to think about Bryant, Masha and Ingram. She knows that.]

Just---you'll come back, right? [She bites her bottom lip, keeping herself from pleading any more with him.]

I promise I will. [And one more kiss--just one--to assure her.] Just as soon as everyone is cared for.

[The kiss is nice, but when he pulls away it's all the pouting. Pouting is good though. Pouting is a normal Lucy reaction.] Okay. Be careful.

[Even when she's not entirely sure of her own mind, she's aware that he's probably going to go out and help people and put himself in danger.]

Of course, but only for you.

[This is mostly a joke. Chekov usually knows where the line between "good" and "stupidly heroic" is drawn and, as a rule, stays on the less stupid side of that line. The fact that Lucy is both concerned and ill does, however, make stupid heroics even less appealing.]

Will you rest and listen to the nurses?

[Good. She understands that he needs to help people. She likes that he needs to help people, but she wants him safe. She nods at his question.]

As long as they're not mean to me.

[They haven't been. Ever. Sometimes she thinks they're being mean though.]

No one would want to be mean to you.

[It's close enough to 'yes.' He reluctantly pulls himself away from her. The sooner he leaves, the sooner he can come back.]

I will try not to be very long.

Okay. [She hesitates, seeming like she wants tos ay something. Finally, she speaks.] Pavel, I like you so...don't get bit.

I won't.

[That seems inadequate, but he doesn't know what else to say.]

I promise that I won't.

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