A House Call

[Elizabeth]

Elizabeth: With it settled that Doc would come and help her in her circumstance, Elizabeth moved to the door of the penthouse, unlocked it and pulled it open. It was propped open so that he need not knock, but to enter. Near the couch was a first aid kit that had been opened and used for the other wounds she received, but there was one she simply could not attend to herself. Elizabeth sat down upon the couch with a wince, or three, as she waited for Charles to make his appearance.


Doc: Top floor of the Towers she said. Penthouse. Doc depressed the P on the elevator control panel and waited as he was taken up. **** him. He should have made sure which Towers. Alpha, Beta, West.. or Ivory.. would be his luck it is was Ivory. The elevator doors, opened and glanced out, before actually stepping out. He moved to the door. It was locked. Probably not this one. He read his tome, and and then headed to the portal hub. then sent her a telepathic message ~Which Tower?~


Elizabeth: Her eyes glanced down to the various sized bullets that had been removed from her persons, along with the broken blade of the knife that had nestled itself within the top of her head, as Elizabeth sat back upon the couch. She tipped her head to the right as Doc’s thoughts entered her mind, to which she replied in the same method. ‘The Alpha one. In Gullsborough.’ Her eyes looked down to the dark purple robe in which she wore, second guessing the choice in attire...but he was a doctor. And in knowing that, Elizabeth was aware that he had seen more than a shoulder, or the neckline in which she would offer Doc with what she was wearing.

Wearing: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b4ltrxQJ4jU/T ... ++plum.jpg


Doc: ~Right.. almost there~ Yes. He would have gone to West next. He took the portal that landed him just outside the Necropolis, then it was a short quick walk to 'the' Tower. The first one. Again he took the elevator to the Penthouse, again he cautiously stepped out. An open door. Relieved, for an unknown reason, he knocked on the door jamb, "Lizzie? I'm coming in." Stepping just inside, suddenly things felt.. awkward. Why? Blood, he smelled blood. Surveying the room, he saw her sitting on a sofa. Sitting uncomfortably on the sofa. He grimaced. "**** Woman.. what happened?" There was a sizable gash to her head. Crossing over to her; taking his jacket off, and rolling up his sleeves, "I am surprised you were able to contact me.. "


Elizabeth: She looked up towards the door when she heard the knock and the sound of Charles’ voice. “Are you?” She watched him approach and settling into a ‘working’ order. “I am a telepath. Even without a body, I could still call thee. If I so desired.” Elizabeth reminded him, before moving to lift the injured shoulder, as if to wave it dismissively, before it dropped and came to settle upon the couch. “You should see the others…” She mused, before exhaling the air from her lungs. “I had an unfortunate...incident in the Coastside area.”


Doc: "Well last time I had a wound like that.. I shot three people who gave grief about my aphasia. The wound made a distinct deficit to my humor, and impulse control abilities." He helped himself to the first aid kit, opening it and not seeing any vials of painkillers. "You should have told me.. I have drugs. They wouldn't have lasted long. But they would have definitely taken the edge off. " The look he gave the first aid kit's scalpel made him cringe. It had a plastic handle. A ******* plastic handle. "So you do this often? Fight Club was it? I hope the others are suffering.." He soaked some gauze with alcohol, "This will hurt." the words barely out of his mouth, as he swabbed the wound, then flushed it with the small bottle of saline. "I am getting you a proper first aid kit."


Elizabeth: The reference to fight club was lost upon her, as was the reference to his aphasia. Her mind whirled to recognize what he was talking about in the latter aspect of things, then frowned. She had never noticed such a thing. “I do not, no. But it was necessary. The soldiers from the chemical plant were encroaching upon the territory in which I, and a few others fought for months ago...I was not ready to part with such an area.” Elizabeth said quietly, looking to the gauze. “More than being shot and stabbed?” She inquired while pulling at the neckline of the robe to reveal the shoulder and the large entry wound within it.


Doc: Doc sucked in a breath in a disgruntled manner, at the sight of the other wounds. "What did they do? Make you tank? You should shoot them. " He paused, "How did the rest of your team make out? Anyone else I need to see to, after you?" Then he muttered something about her stitching them up herself, when she should have been seen to first; and carried on with the cleaning and swabbing the wound. "


Elizabeth: “Do?” She inquired, before closing her eyes and pressing her teeth together. “They were quite apt with the usage of their guns. The sword users were not as decent...with the exception of this one…” She pointed to her head with the free arm, “Here. He was very good with a sword, but it broke and alas...he did not fare so well once that happened.” Her eyes opened as her lips cracked a smile. “And no. No one else will be needing your services. No one else was injured. As for the soldiers...we shall not be seeing them for a while.” She informed him, hoping that it would be never. She doubted what she managed to pull off would happen again.


Doc: Taking the plastic handled scalpel, he opened the bullet wound so that he would have a better access to the bullet. "Hold still.. " He inserted the dubious quality forceps into the wound. "No.. I wasn’t asking what the cretins did .. I was asking who of your team.. made you tank." He silent as he slowly slid the forceps in deeper. "Tank.. made you go first? You should never go first.. send a killer into tank. They typically can withstand more than..." his voice was vague, as though he were preoccupied with something else, when suddenly he paused. He found the slug. Now he had to open the forceps and grab the bullet. ".. than most vampires.."


Elizabeth: It had been a long time since Elizabeth had endured any wound more than a grazed thigh, or arm. Years. Everything he was saying, and doing was vaguely familiar, but the discomfort was far from it. “Oh.” Elizabeth acknowledged as she moved to a slightly different angle to hold still as instructed. Her good arm and shoulder lifted and came to rest on his, fingers clamping around Doc’s shoulder as the forceps pushed their way into the wound. “No one.” Her voice raised in pitch as Elizabeth took a breath in and refused to exhale it out of her lungs. “I did. I had no choice.” She confessed, before looking at the broken blade on the table. “At the expense of being completely vulnerable in many ways...There was no one else to assist me. I have two childre who remain within the city...the others have vanished without a trace, or are traveling and I know not when they will return. They would not have made it here in time. Those...I have adopted...well…” She bit back her thoughts and focused on something else. “I needed my one childe to remain here. Keep some things going in the more than likely chance that I would have died tonight. He, against his desire, agreed to such a thing. As for the other...we have not been close. They were not an avenue in which I could pursue.”


Doc: He heard her as she spoke, but the words didn't completely register, due to his concentration on the task at hand, clamping on, and then removing the projectile. His first attempt failed. The bullet shifted when he tried to clamp on to it. "Apologies..." He didn't pause in his movements, he didn't want her to tense. After another long few moments, he had it securely clamped, and needed to extract it. Withdrawing it slowly, so as not to tear any more muscle, he finally focused on what she had told him. "Wait.. " He paused the bullets retreat for a fraction of a second before continuing, "You took on a whole squad by yourself?" Once he had the bullet out, he took a step back to look at her, "You were prepared to die.. and you didn't think I was good enough to ask to help you?" He let the bullet drop from the forceps' to the land with the other bits of 'bric a brac' she collected in the fight. "You think that.. 'highly' of me?" His words dripped with sarcasm.


Elizabeth: Her eyes narrowed, even as his apology, feeling the discomfort level raise ten fold. The air had left her lungs once again, as he paused and Elizabeth pressed the thumb of her nail into his shoulder. Just enough to make him aware of the discomfort she was feeling, before he stepped away. Elizabeth slowly nodded at his question, before she realized the ‘tone’ of things had changed. “Help me...what?” She asked, looking at the forceps in his hands and then the bullet that he had pulled out. Has she not asked him for his help just now? “If you mean with the soldiers..it is not that one is not good enough for such a fight. It is not your fight, Charles. It is unfair and unrealistic to expect someone with no ties to a family, or faction to fight and potentially die for a cause they know nothing of. Do you not agree?”

[Doc]

Doc: "No." He did not elaborate. No he didn't ******* agree. She faced an entire squad of attackers, alone, thinking .. expecting she would not survive it.. and she still didn't ask for help. He took a clean gauze pad and founded it before placing it on the wound. Doc was annoyed, and yet... He understood her point of view. He did not agree, but he understood. His voice, went back to professional mode as he tended to the would. "Hold this.. " He waited for her to hold the gauze before he pulled a piece of medical tape and tore it loose. Taking another piece of gauze he rolled it in a tube, "Alright.. Let go. And take the gauze away.." Once she had moved her hand, he packed the wound with the rolled gauze, and taped over it. "Alright.. leave that in, until tomorrow. It will help the wound heal. When you remove, all you need to do, it place a fresh gauze over it. Not in it like this one. Just over it. Now I want to look at that head wound.."


Elizabeth: Elizabeth had not expected that answer and he did not expand on his thinking. She held the gauze as instructed and then listened to his directions. Elizabeth nodded, indicating she heard and understood, before stepping away. “No.” She said with a slow shake of her head. “It can wait. I am not dying today.” She cracked a small smile, before pulling up the shoulder of the robe now that it had been tended to and cared for. “Why does one not agree? You cannot say no, and then not explain yourself. Well, you can, but how can one learn from a possible error in calculation without an understanding of the error in which they had made?”


Doc: Doc looked at her, his face blank of expression. He had said he wouldn't lie to her. However, the true reason he didn't agree was because, he felt protective of women. Well women he liked. A woman of worth, should never have to fight her own battles. She was a woman of worth. But, telling her this could give her the completely wrong impression. She could presume he meant 'like' in the manner he didn't mean., and would think he was hitting on her. Wanting something more than friendship. Alright, yes he would do friends with benefits with her in a second.. but it was still nothing more than.. like. There was no commitment here. So then he would have to explain about his fucked up childhood. The silence stretched on as he ran the different iterations of outcomes in his mind. Each one ended with her angry and throwing him out; her disappointed in him, and throwing him out, her sad and throwing him out. "I cannot elaborate, except to say, there are few I count as worthy to receive my assistance. But you are one of them."


Elizabeth: “I see.” Elizabeth nodded her head, before stepping forward again. “But, am I not receiving your assistance now?” She inquired, as her left hand reached for her blonde hair and pulled it away from her forehead. “I will keep such things in mind, should another scenario arise.” In truth, Elizabeth was tempted to talk to the Disciples like the last time and give them yet another territory in which her family had claimed for a variety of reasons; personal and logical. She could not keep fighting battles by herself, or even with a thrall, and one other. And, perhaps with a peace offering to the Crow herself, she would be tempted to return. Elizabeth could only hope, the latter would one night be true.


Doc: "Yes You are.. but if this happens again.. call me ... before you get sliced and diced." He gave her a frustrated look, because on the one hand he was impressed that she single handedly, handed an invading team of thugs their *** to them, but the other, maybe she was just ******* lucky. And when she admitted she was basically alone apart from two spawn that must either be young, or not battle ready; he felt gutted. What if she had died. He wouldn't have known. She would have silently gone to the shadow realm. With very little holding her here.. would she return or give herself to the fade? Could he tell her this? No. Because she would think he thought her weak.. and make him leave. He couldn’t ******* win. "There are those that .. even if you do not think it.. would help based on the fact you are vampire, and should not be targeted. I believe Wendell to be such a one. And if he is not available.. His sire Ariadne." He Frowned, and added, "Chub needs no excuse to shoot someone.. I am sure she would happy to groin shoot some fuckers."


Elizabeth: “Very well, You will be the first in which I notify.” Elizabeth conceded, with a small smile. “I do not know these people very well. Or...at all.” Elizabeth professed, while she looked up at him. “How does it look?” She pointed to the half-way acceptable stitching job she had done. Being unable to see the area in which she needed to work with, it was more a ‘feel and fix’ scenario. Which would probably explain the tiny amounts of blood that were matting her blonde hair to the top of her head. “The other wounds were much easier. Those, I can see.” She apologized, before sighing. “I need to sit.” She informed him, before moving back to the couch. While she had been victorious, it was a very close defeat and she had known it. And with that piece of knowledge came a dozen or so wounds in various areas. Some of which he could not see, thankfully. Elizabeth could only imagine what it was he might think or say if Doc could.



Doc: He had to be concede, that if she did not know them well.. or all, it would be very presumptuous of her to ask their help. If someone he only knew in passing asked him for help, he would no doubt suspect a trap, trick or misdeed was in play. Doc nodded, as she said she needed to sit and silently berated himself for keeping her standing. Once she sat, he did have a better view of her handiwork. "I cannot lie.. Lizzie.. your stitches are crooked and there is a pucker. If you weren't so weak and tired.. I would make you pull them out and do them again." He gave her a magnanimous look "However, taking into consideration you fought off.. five or six miscreants.. it is a passable job. Nothing to compare to mine.. of course." he started to roll down his sleeves. "Are going to be alright alone, tonight? I can sleep on the sofa." he paused, "I could be inclined to leave and bring back some drugs.. Too."

Elizabeth: She knew how many there were and felt no need to imply as much. What good would it have done either of them, and she was not the type to boast or brag. It has been a long battle, one of wits and skill and she barely managed the upper hand. The last individual she had encountered had almost killed her. He had certainly done the most damage. If only she had encountered him first...her aim would not have been so poor the first few times she shot him. However, it was over and done with.

“Perhaps tomorrow you may berate me and speak poorly of my stitch job.” She tempted him with a small laugh. Elizabeth glanced around, then back at him. “I would not be adverse to the company, but if one has other plans, I suspect that I would make it through the night.” It was tempting to walk into the fade to restore what she had lost, of even dig a grave in the roof above the penthouse and hunker into the earth, but she had not the energy for either of them. “As for the drugs, I doubt they would do me any good. I can barely hold down water...a pill would only give thee a round two of Christmas.” She reminded him, before addressing his proposition of sleeping on the couch. “Unless one plans on sleeping with me, you may have to claim the chase.” There was a bed, but it would take at least thirty or more steps to get there and she was not planning on moving. “I must apologize for being a terrible hostess this eve, but...this couch is now mine. I have claimed it.” Her brows raised, as if tempting him to defy her.


Doc: Doc smirked at her comment about lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "I have no other plans. Don't you think you would be more comfortable in bed? You are what? 110 pounds.. I think I can manage to carry you that far, and get you tucked in." He gave her a knowing look, "You are going to want to shift, and roll.. it's a nature reaction. You will tense when you realize you cannot, thus causing yourself more pain. Unnecessary pain." He moved over to her side. "Reach around my neck, we will have sorted in two minutes.. and then you can relax and shift and roll with no issues. And then I can have the coveted couch."


Elizabeth: “One hundred and seventeen, I shall have thee know.” Elizabeth informed him, as if seven pounds would make the world of difference to a vampire-let alone him. She was not positive she was buying into the idea of rolling and moving-since it brought her some moments of pain, but then again...who was she to argue with a doctor? “It is a good couch.” Elizabeth half-heartedly protested, but obliged Doc in his grand plan on getting her into her bed. “Very well.” The arm closest to him wrapped around the back of his neck, while the other pointed to the left. “It is that way...that is, if one is able to manage one hundred and seventeen pounds.” Her lips quirked into a sideways smirk while she looked at him.


Doc: "**** me.. 117?" he rolled his shoulders, "Not a problem." Doc slid an arm under her knees and around her back. "Alright.. Lifting.. " He didn't rush,. he took his time, and then headed the direction she pointed. Carrying her to the bedroom, he made it to bed, and set her down with ease. Then he let out an exaggerated breath, like his strength had been taxed almost to the extent of his abilities. "See?" He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand as he shook his free hand, as if it needed stimulation. "No problem..." He smirked at her, "Rest well Lizzie." He left the room, pulling the door mostly closed. Then laid down on the sofa with an exaggerated sigh of pleasure. "This is a ******* great couch..."