Post by silent.lullaby on Jul 29, 2009 21:56:03 GMT -5
Boot Camp For Terribly Twisted Teens [Chapter 36] Forgiveness
Nick was driving the van. I along with my mother and brother sat in the back seat, everyone else was piled in and keeping quiet while we caught up. “So, you’ve been in an institute, trying to help others like us?”
Lily nodded, “I wanted to come back to you two, but knowing how against you two seeing me Josh was...” Lily shook her head, “I didn’t know what he filled your head with while I was gone.” She laughed bitterly, “had you not developed from my genes, you might have thought I was just as crazy as your father assumed. Being a necromancer isn’t something easily shown to others, especially when you’re only a Spirit Phone.”
An eyebrow crept up, “uh... spirit phone?”
“Those necromancers who can see and communicate with the dead, I hear you are far more advanced than that,” my mother smiled at me. I looked away.
“What happened to your face?” Cory asked me, and my mother glared at him.
“Got burnt. Same with my arms and legs.”
“There are doctors at the institute,” Lily offered, “but... it’s been to long.”
“I know,” I replied, I hadn’t looked in anything reflective in a few weeks. I could imagine how much of a disaster I looked. As vain as I use to be, survival was far more important to me than my appearance. I guess having near death experiences will do that to you.
My mother told Nick the password when we got to the gates of the Carlin Institute. By this time, I had been filled in on everything from everyone else’s point of view, including what happened to my father. As worried as I was about his well being I convinced myself he would be just fine. He was completely normal, they wouldn’t want anything to do with him.
We all started to pile out of the van. Everyone was getting excited, Janet had called Lily to tell her each of us had a room set up. We were all looking forward to a hot shower, a nice bed, and a hearty meal. I stepped out of the van and Mary stood in front of me, “can I talk to you for a minute?”
Everyone paused and looked at me. I waved them off, “sure.”
Mary and I watched everyone gradually enter the institute doors, and then turned to each other. “I’m so sorry,” Mary started, “things got out of control. I can’t believe all of this happened over a hair cut! I’m sorry, I never meant for it to spiral so far out, you know. It’s just this power, sometimes when I latch to something... I’m not myself, like when I latch to it, it latches back to me, like I’m not even really the one in control.” Mary ran her hand through her hair, “it’s so hard to explain.”
I shuffled my one foot, “I get it. We deal with the dead... we’re kind of in a weird ass league of our own.”
Mary looked up at me, “you don’t have to forgive me. I just... I really want to get these Kennedy people. For what they’ve put us all through. We just need to work together, you don’t have to like me, or forgive me or anything.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, I could still feel the deep gashes of when the corpse bit me. The burns and heat blisters which covered at least thirty percent of my body. “I forgive you.”
Mary’s eyebrows drew close, “what? Really?”
“I think...” I looked off trying to find the right words before I caught her eyes, “we have more than enough enemies. I’m not saying we’re going to be great friends, but we defiantly need all the help we can get right now.”
Mary nodded and mulled it over, “you’re right... thanks for at least forgiving me.”
I nodded, “we should probably get back in.” Mary nodded back and we walked across the spacious grounds in silence. Once inside we took off our thrift store boots, snow was beginning to fall outside, and I wondered what month we were in. November? December? I couldn’t recall.
“Claire?” I turned and seen my mother, “I have the doctor down the hall. Mary, everyone else is eating just down that hall and to the left.” Mary nodded and took her leave. “Did you get everything worked out?”
“As worked out as it’s going to get,” I replied.
We entered a small medical room, “Clairissa, this is Dr. Allen Chritoff.” The doctor was much younger than I expected, he had a full head of dark hair and dark eyes, he vaguely reminded me of Daniel, though the doctor’s jaw line was completely different, as was his nose which looked like it may have been broken at one point, and his mouth seemed to have a permanent smirk on it. I already didn’t like him. “His father taught him everything he knows,” Lily continued, “both are absolutely brilliant.”
Dr. Allen smiled, “why thank you Lily, such kind words of praise.” He turned to me, “well come on over and take a seat.”
“Lily?” Janet poked her head in, “we need you in the meeting room.”
Lily nodded, “you’ll be okay?” She asked looking at me, I nodded and she left.
“These are some burns,” Allen said studying my face, “do you have any more burns or injuries?”
“My left arm and leg are also burnt,” I replied, “I’ve got a nasty bite on my right arm, and I probably still have some glass embedded in my back.”
He raised an eyebrow, “some fight.”
I swallowed, “you could say that.”
“Alright, I’ll need you to strip down.” I turned and glared at him, “quit being bashful, all your injuries are places I can’t get to when you’re dressed like an Eskimo.” My glare faltered, he was right of course, but it didn’t make me feel any less uneasy. He thankfully turned away, and I started to take off my top, Hawkeye had just pulled up the sleeves since for one it was cold, two, he didn’t know about the glass shards.
I bit my lip but still ended up letting out a sharp yelp which got the doc to turn around. “Forget it,” he said coming over to me with the scissors. “This will be much easier.” He started cutting the sleeves and my top pretty much fell in half. He started cutting the fabric on my left leg and I just stripped off the uninjured side.
“They weren’t very flattering anyways,” he said with a slight smile, I just glared and he laughed. “I’m not some kind of pervert you know,” he said as he got some solution, cotton swabs and gauze from his work station and came over to the bench I was sitting on. “Though I dare say, I don’t get such cute girls in here often.”
I could see myself in the mirror across the room. I was worse than I expected. My hair, was nearly straight from it not being washed in a week and a half, not to mention it’s horrible black colour. Then there was my dirty, ash covered face which gave me a creepy grey complection. I hadn’t had a good night of sleep in forever and my eyes showed it with their dark circles and heavy lids. Not to mention I was sickly thin and the burns and heat blisters looked even worse than they felt.
“Hey, hey now, it was a compliment!” Allen exclaimed wiping under my eye. I was puzzled for a moment before I felt a tear fall.
“Sorry,” I muttered pitifully.
“You still are pretty, you know.” Allen reassured. He hummed debating something, “there is too much ash, soot and dirt for me to really be able to do this properly.” He stood and grabbed my hand helping me off the high up table I had been sitting on. “Lets get you showered.”
“I think I can handle it,” I bit sharply.
“Let me just show you where everything is.” There was a bathroom in his office, a glass standing shower, a cupboard where there were a few brand new face cloths, and sponges. I decided a sponge might be best with my injuries and ripped off the tags before getting the water to lukewarm.
I bit down on my lip to keep from screaming as the water hit my burns, I washed my hair which retained a lot of dirt and ash. It took three washes for it to rinse clean. I washed up my body, despite the protests it was nice to feel clean again. I got out and dried off carefully. There were bits of skin from the burns that were peeling away, it looked disgusting.
I walked out in the towel and Allen turned to look at me, “feel better?”
“Yeah... actually, a little.” I walked in with damp feet, “I don’t have another set of undergarments,” I admitted a little bashfully.
“Just lay down on your stomach,” Allen said turning away from me.
As much as I didn’t really like him, he was now my doctor, and I needed to get fixed up. I laid down on the bed. I hated those doctor beds, they are far to high, they have that horrible paper thing, and they are incredibly short. Still I laid down, from my knees down dangling. I placed the towel over my butt like I was about to get a massage. I took a breath, “okay, ready.”
“Oh my.”
I turned, “what?”
Allen shook his head and grabbed a pair of tweezers, a bottle of peroxide and a little dish. “About how long ago did you get these shards stuck in your back?” he asked in a tone that made me a little worried.
“Does it look that bad.”
“Honestly?”
“No lie,” I responded rolling my eyes. “Yes, honestly!”
“It doesn’t just look bad. It definitely is bad, parts have healed over the glass, others have gotten infected. I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut the skin a bit to pull out the glass.”
I swore, and he sighed. “Just... try to relax.”
Out of my peripheral vision I seen him pick up a scalpel. “Yeah, relaxing is going to be real easy,” I responded sarcastically.
I felt him start the incisions, I hissed through gritted teeth, I felt the cool tweezers pulling out shards and them being discarded into a petri dish. “Look on the bright side,” he said as I heard another plink of glass to the petri dish, “the burns are going to be easier than this.”
“Not helping,” I responded through gritted teeth.
“How about this, a rabbi, a priest and a hooker walk into a bar...”
I snorted, “highly unlikely.”
“It’s a joke, besides maybe this hookers a little choir boy.” I whipped my head back, my jaw dropped. “Took it to far didn’t I?” Allen asked with raised eyebrows. I snorted back laughter, despite my initial uneasiness with Allen, (he switched from jokes- since he was actually quite funny and I was shaking with laughter which made it difficult for him to work- to stories that kept me entertained) I felt comfortable with him in the end.
Forty seven incisions and pieces of glass later, and endless stitches, he was on to the burns... Yay. He turned and started cutting up gauze strategically and opening caps of alcohol and getting other equipment ready, I started dozing off. I was exhausted, and despite the bed being short, it was more comfortable than the cave floor I had been sleeping on. I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t feel a thing.
Nick was driving the van. I along with my mother and brother sat in the back seat, everyone else was piled in and keeping quiet while we caught up. “So, you’ve been in an institute, trying to help others like us?”
Lily nodded, “I wanted to come back to you two, but knowing how against you two seeing me Josh was...” Lily shook her head, “I didn’t know what he filled your head with while I was gone.” She laughed bitterly, “had you not developed from my genes, you might have thought I was just as crazy as your father assumed. Being a necromancer isn’t something easily shown to others, especially when you’re only a Spirit Phone.”
An eyebrow crept up, “uh... spirit phone?”
“Those necromancers who can see and communicate with the dead, I hear you are far more advanced than that,” my mother smiled at me. I looked away.
“What happened to your face?” Cory asked me, and my mother glared at him.
“Got burnt. Same with my arms and legs.”
“There are doctors at the institute,” Lily offered, “but... it’s been to long.”
“I know,” I replied, I hadn’t looked in anything reflective in a few weeks. I could imagine how much of a disaster I looked. As vain as I use to be, survival was far more important to me than my appearance. I guess having near death experiences will do that to you.
My mother told Nick the password when we got to the gates of the Carlin Institute. By this time, I had been filled in on everything from everyone else’s point of view, including what happened to my father. As worried as I was about his well being I convinced myself he would be just fine. He was completely normal, they wouldn’t want anything to do with him.
We all started to pile out of the van. Everyone was getting excited, Janet had called Lily to tell her each of us had a room set up. We were all looking forward to a hot shower, a nice bed, and a hearty meal. I stepped out of the van and Mary stood in front of me, “can I talk to you for a minute?”
Everyone paused and looked at me. I waved them off, “sure.”
Mary and I watched everyone gradually enter the institute doors, and then turned to each other. “I’m so sorry,” Mary started, “things got out of control. I can’t believe all of this happened over a hair cut! I’m sorry, I never meant for it to spiral so far out, you know. It’s just this power, sometimes when I latch to something... I’m not myself, like when I latch to it, it latches back to me, like I’m not even really the one in control.” Mary ran her hand through her hair, “it’s so hard to explain.”
I shuffled my one foot, “I get it. We deal with the dead... we’re kind of in a weird ass league of our own.”
Mary looked up at me, “you don’t have to forgive me. I just... I really want to get these Kennedy people. For what they’ve put us all through. We just need to work together, you don’t have to like me, or forgive me or anything.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, I could still feel the deep gashes of when the corpse bit me. The burns and heat blisters which covered at least thirty percent of my body. “I forgive you.”
Mary’s eyebrows drew close, “what? Really?”
“I think...” I looked off trying to find the right words before I caught her eyes, “we have more than enough enemies. I’m not saying we’re going to be great friends, but we defiantly need all the help we can get right now.”
Mary nodded and mulled it over, “you’re right... thanks for at least forgiving me.”
I nodded, “we should probably get back in.” Mary nodded back and we walked across the spacious grounds in silence. Once inside we took off our thrift store boots, snow was beginning to fall outside, and I wondered what month we were in. November? December? I couldn’t recall.
“Claire?” I turned and seen my mother, “I have the doctor down the hall. Mary, everyone else is eating just down that hall and to the left.” Mary nodded and took her leave. “Did you get everything worked out?”
“As worked out as it’s going to get,” I replied.
We entered a small medical room, “Clairissa, this is Dr. Allen Chritoff.” The doctor was much younger than I expected, he had a full head of dark hair and dark eyes, he vaguely reminded me of Daniel, though the doctor’s jaw line was completely different, as was his nose which looked like it may have been broken at one point, and his mouth seemed to have a permanent smirk on it. I already didn’t like him. “His father taught him everything he knows,” Lily continued, “both are absolutely brilliant.”
Dr. Allen smiled, “why thank you Lily, such kind words of praise.” He turned to me, “well come on over and take a seat.”
“Lily?” Janet poked her head in, “we need you in the meeting room.”
Lily nodded, “you’ll be okay?” She asked looking at me, I nodded and she left.
“These are some burns,” Allen said studying my face, “do you have any more burns or injuries?”
“My left arm and leg are also burnt,” I replied, “I’ve got a nasty bite on my right arm, and I probably still have some glass embedded in my back.”
He raised an eyebrow, “some fight.”
I swallowed, “you could say that.”
“Alright, I’ll need you to strip down.” I turned and glared at him, “quit being bashful, all your injuries are places I can’t get to when you’re dressed like an Eskimo.” My glare faltered, he was right of course, but it didn’t make me feel any less uneasy. He thankfully turned away, and I started to take off my top, Hawkeye had just pulled up the sleeves since for one it was cold, two, he didn’t know about the glass shards.
I bit my lip but still ended up letting out a sharp yelp which got the doc to turn around. “Forget it,” he said coming over to me with the scissors. “This will be much easier.” He started cutting the sleeves and my top pretty much fell in half. He started cutting the fabric on my left leg and I just stripped off the uninjured side.
“They weren’t very flattering anyways,” he said with a slight smile, I just glared and he laughed. “I’m not some kind of pervert you know,” he said as he got some solution, cotton swabs and gauze from his work station and came over to the bench I was sitting on. “Though I dare say, I don’t get such cute girls in here often.”
I could see myself in the mirror across the room. I was worse than I expected. My hair, was nearly straight from it not being washed in a week and a half, not to mention it’s horrible black colour. Then there was my dirty, ash covered face which gave me a creepy grey complection. I hadn’t had a good night of sleep in forever and my eyes showed it with their dark circles and heavy lids. Not to mention I was sickly thin and the burns and heat blisters looked even worse than they felt.
“Hey, hey now, it was a compliment!” Allen exclaimed wiping under my eye. I was puzzled for a moment before I felt a tear fall.
“Sorry,” I muttered pitifully.
“You still are pretty, you know.” Allen reassured. He hummed debating something, “there is too much ash, soot and dirt for me to really be able to do this properly.” He stood and grabbed my hand helping me off the high up table I had been sitting on. “Lets get you showered.”
“I think I can handle it,” I bit sharply.
“Let me just show you where everything is.” There was a bathroom in his office, a glass standing shower, a cupboard where there were a few brand new face cloths, and sponges. I decided a sponge might be best with my injuries and ripped off the tags before getting the water to lukewarm.
I bit down on my lip to keep from screaming as the water hit my burns, I washed my hair which retained a lot of dirt and ash. It took three washes for it to rinse clean. I washed up my body, despite the protests it was nice to feel clean again. I got out and dried off carefully. There were bits of skin from the burns that were peeling away, it looked disgusting.
I walked out in the towel and Allen turned to look at me, “feel better?”
“Yeah... actually, a little.” I walked in with damp feet, “I don’t have another set of undergarments,” I admitted a little bashfully.
“Just lay down on your stomach,” Allen said turning away from me.
As much as I didn’t really like him, he was now my doctor, and I needed to get fixed up. I laid down on the bed. I hated those doctor beds, they are far to high, they have that horrible paper thing, and they are incredibly short. Still I laid down, from my knees down dangling. I placed the towel over my butt like I was about to get a massage. I took a breath, “okay, ready.”
“Oh my.”
I turned, “what?”
Allen shook his head and grabbed a pair of tweezers, a bottle of peroxide and a little dish. “About how long ago did you get these shards stuck in your back?” he asked in a tone that made me a little worried.
“Does it look that bad.”
“Honestly?”
“No lie,” I responded rolling my eyes. “Yes, honestly!”
“It doesn’t just look bad. It definitely is bad, parts have healed over the glass, others have gotten infected. I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut the skin a bit to pull out the glass.”
I swore, and he sighed. “Just... try to relax.”
Out of my peripheral vision I seen him pick up a scalpel. “Yeah, relaxing is going to be real easy,” I responded sarcastically.
I felt him start the incisions, I hissed through gritted teeth, I felt the cool tweezers pulling out shards and them being discarded into a petri dish. “Look on the bright side,” he said as I heard another plink of glass to the petri dish, “the burns are going to be easier than this.”
“Not helping,” I responded through gritted teeth.
“How about this, a rabbi, a priest and a hooker walk into a bar...”
I snorted, “highly unlikely.”
“It’s a joke, besides maybe this hookers a little choir boy.” I whipped my head back, my jaw dropped. “Took it to far didn’t I?” Allen asked with raised eyebrows. I snorted back laughter, despite my initial uneasiness with Allen, (he switched from jokes- since he was actually quite funny and I was shaking with laughter which made it difficult for him to work- to stories that kept me entertained) I felt comfortable with him in the end.
Forty seven incisions and pieces of glass later, and endless stitches, he was on to the burns... Yay. He turned and started cutting up gauze strategically and opening caps of alcohol and getting other equipment ready, I started dozing off. I was exhausted, and despite the bed being short, it was more comfortable than the cave floor I had been sleeping on. I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t feel a thing.