Taking It Easy [open]

[DesperateDark]

Caleb was beyond relieved when Melissa told him he hadn't hurt her. He knew they should both press on, even if it hurt, or else Melissa would probably end up even more hurt out here in the wilderness. The sun was rising over the horizon, it's rays slowly warming the air between the trees and casting it's light. Caleb actually felt a little better now that it wasn't pitch black anymore, and he turned to Melissa with a shy smile. It's always darkest before the dawn, according to certain very wise people.

Melissa put one arm across his shoulders, pulling his own arm across hers and pulled them closer together. She then told him that she was glad he came back before placing her face against his shoulder. He tensed up a bit, not sure of what she was doing. But instead of being distracted by that, he turned his head towards the sunrise, pointed to it with his free hand and said; "Akatsuki, sunrise."

They walked for a while, supporting each other's weight so neither would go tumbling. Caleb wondered what the nurses at the clinic were doing, or if they've noticed his disappearance at all. During his stay in Noatak, he hadn't gotten to know many people. He preferred to keep to himself in the little house at then end of the lane, going out to the market to get groceries, taking walks in the park, et cetera. He never really interacted with a lot of people.

The walk back to civilization wasn't as long as he had thought it would be. He tripped once or twice because he was both tired and injured, but the trip back was without incident. The clinic was just up ahead, and at that point he paused, wondering if he should go back to the clinic or not. He was fine and had been treated, as far as he could tell, and he didn't want to go back to the bleak and sterile environment again. It was Melissa who needed help. Then again, he didn't want to leave her alone either.

"Mel, you want me join?" He questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly in an innocent, puzzled look. One part of him hoped she would say no, yet another part said that he should go with her anyways, just in case she needed help or if she got scared. Caleb's thoughts were conflicting, so it was possibly all up to Melissa to make that choice. Hopefully, after all this, they would meet up once again someday, maybe go out for lunch or something. He owed the girl at least that much.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Hearing Caleb’s soft whuffle of breath as he exhaled reassured Mel. Thankfully, the few hours she’d spent passed out had helped her system gather enough energy to re-start itself. The same could probably be said for Caleb too, since he was smiling again. Her bleeding had stopped for the most part. Maybe it’s decided that if it bleeds like a normal person’s would, you’re going to die one of these times when something attacks you. Her talisman’s smugly said input wasn’t appreciated at the moment, since now she was too scared of it and wouldn’t respond.

Though Caleb seemed uncomfortable with the closeness of their bodies, Mel let them stay that way anyways. He’d appreciate her support when he stumbled, just as she would him. Sorry. I’m just glad you’re here. I don’t want to be alone right now. If she kept this up, she’d be crying again in no time, something she wished to avoid at all costs. Instead, she turned her attention to Caleb, who was staring at the sunrise like he’d never seen one before. Vainly, Mel tried to repeat the word for sunrise. Acatsucky. She looked optimistically at him, hoping she hadn’t mangled the word too badly, but thinking that she probably had.

They were making pretty good time, all things considered. In Mel’s mind, as long as Caleb could talk he was fine. Though, in truth, Caleb hardly said anything at all anyways, so it wasn’t something you could really go on with him. The streetlights were turning off now, since it was getting light enough to see by. Caleb was biting his lip, like he was trying to make up his mind about something. Deciding to give him time, Mel pretended she hadn’t noticed, and instead looked at other things.

They hadn’t gone much further when Caleb asked her a question. “Mel, you want me join?” And he was giving her the puzzled look? Trying to decipher what exactly he was talking about was about as easy as trying to open a coconut with just your teeth. Impossible. Umm . . . I don’t know what you mean Caleb. Usually she could figure it out piece by piece, but right now her brain just wasn’t functioning normally.

[DesperateDark]

When Melissa expressed that she didn’t know what he was talking about, he quickly tried to sort out the words before they arrived at the clinic. Then again, he thought if he should be asking her this at all. How was a gentleman supposed to act in Canada? He absolutely did not want to just ditch her at the clinic, but at the same time, he didn’t want to go to the clinic either. Caleb began to nibble at his bottom lip again, wondering what to say.

”You want me coming to clinic with you?” He questioned at last, his heavily accented, broken English as evident as ever.

Caleb began to limp a bit more as he put strain on his knee from walking so far, and the first half of it had been spend carrying the weight of another person. It had turned into the wee hours of the morning, and the sun was steadily making its way up into the sky. People would begin to wake up soon and go about their daily routines, and here he and Melissa were limping through the streets after just barely getting out of a cougar attack in the middle of the woods.

As he walks along the street, making sure not to fall off the sidewalk like he did last week, he tried to keep himself preoccupied as he waits for Melissa’s answer. He found his thoughts wandering, rather sadly, back to when Reyes was still around. Caleb stared down at his feet as he walked along and remembered that one time he had sprained his ankle while hiking and Reyes had literally carried him down and back to the country hospital. Caleb had sort of tried to do the same for Melissa, but he couldn’t even get her halfway out of the forest. Then again, Reyes was a lot bigger and stronger then he was.

The clinic was coming up just ahead; he could see the white painted walls of the building already, along with the parked ambulance off to the side. After this, Caleb thought of asking if Melissa wanted lunch or something. It was the very least he could do, after all.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Watching Caleb struggle for words was painful to say the least, not to mention the pain of listening to the broken, heavily accented English. Earlier she’d been doing a pretty decent job of deciphering what he was saying, but right now she was too tired. He appeared to be struggling with some sort of decision, so she let him take his time to figure it out. ”You want me coming to clinic with you?” With a relieved sigh, Mel halfheartedly tried to respond. ’Sup to you, really. The nurses’ll probably want you back, since you took off. With a sadistic snort, Melissa could picture a large, mean looking nurse lecturing Caleb in English, complete with his confused expression as he tried to figure out what she was saying.

They continued walking, and it gradually became more apparent that Caleb was limping, favoring one of his legs. His injury made Mel a little more aware of what was going on around her. It forced her to pay attention to something besides herself. You’re hurt too, so you probably should. Caleb was staring at the ground with a melancholy expression, blended with a mixture of shame and self pity. What’s the matter? It wasn’t me, was it? Whether or not Mel wanted to admit it, she was worried about Caleb more than she was about herself; he seemed so down when there was no distractions.

With relief, the white washed walls of the clinic appeared in front of them. After letting the automatic doors slide open, Mel collapsed into a chair, the same one that Aras had sat in when they’d first arrived. Wincing at the shots of pain that were running through her body, Mel wished that he were here now. She needed something steady to support her before she passed out. It wasn’t a kind thing to do, leaving Caleb to explain their situation, but Mel couldn’t fight the steady pull that screamed she needed to rest. Without thinking about it, her eyelids fluttered shut, blocking out the sudden bustling of the nurses, and the softness of Caleb’s voice.

[DesperateDark]

Wow, that sure helped. Melissa said that it was up to him whether he wanted to come along or not, though the nurses might want him back since he ran off earlier. Then came a bit of more helpful advice, that he was hurt and that he should probably go too. As he was thinking about it, Melissa asked him; "What's the matter? It wasn't me, was it?" What? What wasn't her? She hadn't done anything wrong, so why was she asking such a question?

Before he could answer, they had already arrived at the Noatak clinic and Melissa collapsed onto a nearby chair. He didn't know if she was completely out of it, or if she was still conscious, but before he could get to her, the nurses came first. At least five of them swarmed Melissa while two or three more immediately began to question where he had gone off to that morning. It was all in English, and he was barely able to comprehend a word of it. All he could do was hold a confused and worried expression as he looked back and forth between the nurses and the collapsed Melissa on the chair.

"I is okay," he tried to say in somewhat comprehensible English as he pushed his way to Melissa's side, pointing to her. "Mel, she needing help." They had better be able to understand that, or else Caleb felt as if he would die. Some of the nurses caught his drift and began to tend to Melissa, while some of them continued questioning him and checking his bandages. They kept telling him that he had 'overworked his injured knee', whatever that meant. When they made him lay down on a stretcher-type thing, the first thing he could think of was that they'd better not stick a needle in him, he was terrified of needles.

"Is Mel being alright?" he questioned, but received no answer as he was brought into a different room then her. What happened after that, he didn't know. They were trying to fix up his knee or something, and refused to talk to him about Melissa and what would happen to her.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Being told what to do didn’t sit well with Melissa; she liked to run her own life, thank you very much. In this case however, her body hurt so bad that she really couldn’t have cared less. Plus, Mel probably couldn’t have moved if she’d tried. Caleb’s panicked expression –oddly enough, it was a deer in the headlights one- gave Mel motivation to mumble out to him, as loud as she could. S’alright Caleb. I won’t let them hurt you. What she probably should have said was, ‘they won’t hurt you’, but Mel was suddenly too busy to worry about grammatical errors.

As she was being picked up and placed in a bed, she vaguely heard Caleb’s worried voice again. He was on a bed near her; she could still make out his agitated expression. He looks stressed. Mel felt guilty for convincing him to come back to the clinic with her, though she knew right well that he needed the medical attention. His voice sounded as though it was coming through a fog, and though she tried really hard to answer him -to reassure him- she found that she was unable to. All of a sudden, Caleb’s bed wasn’t next to hers anymore, and Mel started struggling –as much as she was able anyways- trying to make them take her back to him. Caleb! Caleb!

Cold hands were touching her now, observing her injuries. She whimpered when a particularly tender spot was pressed, though she’d tried to choke the noise back. None of the faces near her were familiar, and Mel longed for someone –anyone- to help her through this. A needle and thread were strung before her eyes, and Melissa whimpered again, louder this time. Someone called for more anesthesia as she struggled harder, and a mask was slipped gently over her face, causing her to unwillingly tumble headfirst into the darkness.

*******

With flickers of her eyelashes, Mel abruptly jolted into awareness. Sunlight streamed through a window beside her bed, and she blinked in confusion. Where am I? Within moments everything returned to her, just as it had the last time, and she was wondering where Caleb was. She began frantically pushing the buzzer, willing the nurse to hurry up and tell her that Caleb was okay.

[DesperateDark]

Caleb had no idea what happened the night before, but when he woke up, he was in a dark room. The only light source was the one window off to his left, the blinds were half closed to keep the room dim. How long had he been here? What time was it? He blinked once or twice, clearing his vision, and only then did he realize that he was surrounded by people. Nurses and doctors mostly, whom were speaking to him in English and he didn't understand a word of it. His head was still groggy and he felt incredibly sleepy.

They had probably put him on anaesthesia or something, he reasoned, or else he wouldn't have fallen asleep. It took him a few more minutes to even begin touching up on other thoughts, but one of them was definitely Melissa. Where had she gone? He turned to one of the nurses to ask, but was quickly cut off by more of her hurried, quick English.

Caleb slowly and very gingerly got up; the nurses allowed him to after a while. But they have him crutches and instructed him to not put any more pressure on his knee, which he had practically killed and it would be of no use for the next little while. Unless, of course, he wanted his knee to fail him completely. It was still fairly early, he realized, and they said that Melissa probably wasn't awake yet. The nurses only confirmed that fact and told him to go home, because he was going to be okay now.

With great hesitation, he finally gave them a nod, agreeing to leave now. However, when he passed the receptionist, he paused and told her to pass a message on to Melissa. "T-tell Mel I love her, okay?" Or was 'love' the wrong word in this context? He just wanted to express that he cared about her, and wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. But before he could make any effort to correct himself, people had already moved in front of the reception desk and he was quickly turned away with a reassurance that his message would be delivered.

So he dragged himself miserably home using hiss crutches and hoped that everything would work out in the end. If only, if only.

[Melissa|Tristan]

As her fingers weakly pressed the nurse call button repeatedly, a matronly woman in a white uniform entered briskly through the door. With a no nonsense look on her face, she sternly reprimanded Melissa for not being more patient. As the woman began to lecture her about hospital ettiquette, Mel practically burst into speech. Where's Caleb? Is he alright? I need to see him. Now. The woman's expression changed completely, now to a look of sympathy understanding.

"I'm sorry. The young man has been discharged." After sitting bolt upright in bed, wincing but ignoring the pain, Mel gave a yelp. What!? Discharged? The woman beast clearly stated that if Mel didn't calm down right now, she'd be kept for a week, or more. The threat wasn't taken lightly, and with great reluctance Mel settled back on her pillows, grumbling to herself as she did so.

After the nurse left, the doctor stopped in, said her shoulder had had to be restitched, and the scratch on her face would look ugly for a while, but it would fade within a matter of weeks. Until then, she was to take it easy, and come back in 15 days to get the stitches taken out. She was free to leave, so long as she promised to relax for a little while. With a sigh, Melissa gave in. It was high time she had no stress for a while anyways. I promise. With that, he agreed to let her leave.

After washing up a little -with the nurses help- Mel got her trusty running shoes on and prepared to leave the clinic. Again. It was pretty embarassing to have to be helped get dressed by someone else, and since Mel's tightly wrapped shoulder was stiff and sore, that's what she had to do. I've seen you in here before, haven't I? The nurse's eyes were narrowed as she tried to place Mel. Were you that bear attack case, that stumbled in here in the wee hours of the morning? With a silent groan, Mel mentally shook her head. How could the woman remember that far back? Surely she had hundreds of people in a week? Yeah, that was me. Aras too, but mostly me. How is it that you're winding up with all the boys, my dear. An embarassed blush stained Melissa's cheeks, but she chose to say nothing. The moment was soon forgotten in Mel's struggle to wash herself. As the nurse helped Mel wash off, she told Mel about Caleb's condition. He was almost as exhausted as you were dear, and that knee of his will be sore for quite some time, I'm sure. He was very confused, poor thing. Didn't seem to understand a word we were saying.

A small smile appeared at the corners of Mel's mouth. He doesn't understand English very well. He's from . . . Japan . . . I think. Giving a creepy knowing smile, the nurse smiled slyly at the girl. For the most part he seemed to ignore everything we were saying to him. He kept asking for you though dear, obviously wanting to see you. Oh, that reminds me. I heard through the grapevine that he have the receptionist a message for you, before he left. He seemed very attached to you. The nurse could be feeding her a line, but judging by the woman's expression, it wasn't likely. Mel could tell that the woman remembered the whole incident well, and was merely trying to make her ask what the message was. Her attempts failed, since Mel was just trying to leave the room. So, how long have you two known each other? The nurse was trying to trick her into answering, but Mel wasn't even aware of anyone speaking to her.

She looked around the room for her backpack before remembering that she'd lost it back at the campsite. Thanks for your help. There was a mixture of hesitation and confusion in her voice. No problem dear. Mel made her way out to the reception area, and spoke to the secretary. She had the same smile on her face the nurse had, making Mel confused and embarassed. A message from Caleb, right? Ah yes, now I remember. He said, 'Tell Mel I love her, okay?' The sly smile on the woman's face had grown even bigger at the sight of Mel's surprise, then much stronger blush. Ackward. Embarassment made Mel desperate to leave. Quickly, she blurted, Thanks for the message. Gingerly moving out of the room and through the automatic doors, Mel looked both ways down the street, but didn't spot Caleb.

Ironic how she'd done the exact same thing upon first arriving in Noatak. Then it had been Aras with her, and he too had disappeared before she'd woken up. He however had given no message, and certainly never would have said that to her or anyone else. Unless at gunpoint. Maybe not even then. After giving one final look down the street, Mel headed back to her apartment, more than ready for a real bath and clean clothes. She'd go back for her backpack in a couple of days, when the effects of the anesthesia had completely worn off. And once she'd gotten some much needed sleep. Tomorrow was a new day after all, and hopefully it was cougar free.

[DesperateDark]

And we're done here. That was a great RP, Mel. =D

[Melissa|Tristan]

Thanks ;D You weren't so bad yourself!