[FIN] Deep Breaths

[BlackFireKitsune]

Just lie down and relax he said, and much as Abel didn't want to do either - how could he, with Zevran so injured? When he may very well die at any time? - he was far too exhausted to argue or do anything except acquiesce. He shifted a little and moved one or two of the adorable cushions, picked up the Raichu plush so he didn't squash it, and laid down with his head resting on the arm of the sofa and his feet still on the floor. That was good enough, right? Probably. Taking his shoes off and lying down more properly sounded like far too much effort, so hopefully half-lying down would suffice. "I feel like I can't really relax," he admitted with a soft sigh. Isaac made a soft noise in the back of his throat as he clambered over his trainer before he curled up against his chest.  

[TawnyAngel]

No surprises there; Dith nodded. "Of course; you're worried." Worried was too weak a word but there wasn't one that he could think of that fit better. "I know it's not too much help but if anything changes I'll hear right away." Dith tapped the pager on his belt for emphasis. "And even if you don't feel relaxed lying down will be good for you." He wouldn't be surprised if Abel fell asleep; no matter how stressed a person was sooner or later their body decided it had had enough for now and turned off the lights. "The best thing you can do is try to look after yourself so that you're functional when he wakes up." He really hoped it was 'when'.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Worried didn't even begin to cover it, but he couldn't think of a better word nor did he really care to try, so he simply shrugged a bit with one shoulder. "That sounds like a huge understatement, but yeah. That... helps a little though, thanks." Not really, actually, but maybe Dith would feel better if he said it did? Maybe. He was starting to feel too exhausted to care.

With another quiet sigh he set the Raichu down and wrapped his arms around Isaac, hugging him close. Lying down was good for him, eating was good for him; why didn't he want to do either? Why did he only want to sit at Zevran's side until he woke up, sleeping and eating be damned? "I've been trying to tell myself that but it's... it's hard, I... When do you think they'll wake him up?" Because it would be 'when' and not 'if', he would make sure of it.

...but how could he, when all he could do was sit at his side and talk to him? What good would that do if he really did take a turn for the worse? What would he do then?  

[TawnyAngel]

A massive understatement. At least the contact of the pager seemed to give Abel some reassurance, it was about all he had to offer at the moment.

As the kettle got close to boiling Dith switched it off and poured the hot water over the instant coffee and powdered milk he'd spooned into two waiting mugs. He stirred the cups and made a thoughtful noise as Abel asked his question; when would they wake Zevran up? It wasn't really his area but he could at least make an educated guess.

"With the caveat that I'm just a slasher and don't really understand the subtleties of their work in the ICU, I would guess in the next twenty four to forty eight hours," Dith said as he carried one of the mugs over to Abel; it was black and had some kind of vaguely tribal-looking symbol printed on it in red. "Dr. Chakwas' team might have a better idea by the time we return, she'll be occupied with handover but the nurses will have all his information." It was the nurses who generally knew the most about any given patient, they spent the most time with them after all. "They'll probably ask you to fill in some gaps in information before long," Dith added as the thought had popped into his mind. "Address, any medical history you know of, that sort of thing." It was pretty obvious that Zevran had a pretty colourful past; the man had an unreasonable number of scars of extremely varied ages. What had he and Abel been doing when they'd been shot?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Twenty four to forty eight hours... That wasn't bad. "Alright," he said quietly, pondering on that. So tomorrow or the day after... if things went well. "I'll ask them when I go back down there, but that sounds good." He would wake up. He would, he would, he definitely would. For sure.

...oh. "Uh," the blond replied eloquently as he sat up straight to accept the mug Dith passed him; he couldn't really drink it lying down. "Well I'll... tell them what I can." Address? Medical history? As if.  

[TawnyAngel]

What he could? Dith gave Abel a faintly puzzled look for a moment or two but then he nodded. "Whatever you know could be helpful, if he has any allergies or anything like that especially." Probably not everyone insisted on knowing detailed medical facts about the people they were close to; another 'doctor thing' he guessed.... Or did Abel mean something else by 'what I can'? As in 'I can't say some things I do know'? Dith crossed back over to where his own mug waited on his desk, paused there and drummed his fingers on the glass briefly. "Nobody will ask any 'why' or 'how' questions," he said after a couple of moments, his back still turned to Abel. "I don't know if that's relevant but," he shrugged, "I thought I would mention it."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mmh, I don't think he has any allergies or anything, or at least none he's mentioned," Abel said with a small shrug as he stared down into the coffee in his hands. He couldn't even appreciate the design on the mug because all he could think was that Zevran would probably like it.

He lifted the mug to his lips for a sip even though he suddenly found himself not even wanting the coffee anymore, but Dith had gone to the trouble of making it for him and he didn't want to waste it.

...ah. Abel frowned down into his coffee again as he debated what to even say to that. "Mmn. Thanks again for the coffee," he said. How could he even reply to that? He was far too exhausted to think of a way to do so, so he simply left it at that and quietly hoped that would be enough.  

[TawnyAngel]

That was a non-answer if ever he'd heard one but now wasn't the time to press on the matter. Dith turned around with a smile and nodded to Abel. "You're welcome."

Hum, what was Abel going to do later if the team wanted him out of the way for a while?... Dith's mind wandered to the old ID card in his filing cabinet, the picture had worn off but he'd kept it in case he lost his current one so that he could still get around the place. He really shouldn't give it to Abel, in fact there were bolded parts in the employee handbook about that sort of thing, but he shouldn't technically be taking a personal interest in any particular case to begin with. Everyone did it if it was somebody they knew, and in fact a certain amount of moral rule bending - and breaking - went on every day. As with so many things in this job sometimes you had to trust your instincts.

Dith reached a decision and moved to the cabinet with a bass rumble to himself in Russian, so long as Abel was discreet it would be fine. "Here," he fetched a key out of his pocket, unlocked the cabinet, retrieved the worn plastic card from the slim draw right at the top, and turned to walk back over to Abel. "This will get you back into my office if you're asked to leave the ICU any time, feel free to make coffee and have biscuits from the tin if you want.... It will also get you into restricted parts of the building but please don't use it for that, and try not to let anyone see you coming in here." He didn't say that he shouldn't be doing what he was doing but from what he had said he knew it was pretty obvious.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel made an attempt to smile in response but it didn't quite make it that far, so he simply stared back down at the coffee mug in his hands instead. Just a day or two and they'd wake him up. Nothing bad would happen in that day or two, he would be fine, and he would wake up and then... and then they could figure things out from there. Zevran would need him - would need both him and Taavi - because he would absolutely for sure wake up, no question--

What?

Abel blinked up at Dith as one hand moved on reflex to accept the card, but he stopped himself just before doing so and his hand hesitated a few inches away. As exhausted as he was - his mind included - he was at least aware enough to know how extremely against the rules that probably was. "That's... Are you sure?" He asked, feeling a little stunned that Dith would make such an offer when it could very well... "I don't want to get you in trouble or anything."  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith winked, at least presumably it was a wink, and gave Abel another small smile. "What nobody else knows can't hurt! You'll be spending quite a bit of time here over the coming days I'm guessing, I'd like to think at least you have somewhere comfortable and private to be when you can't be with Zevran. Rose will be in to clean late afternoon but she won't say anything- actually I'll text her to let her know you might be here." The sprightly, slightly fearsome when crossed cleaner would no doubt attempt to mother him if she did see him. It might do him good.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I... Yes I will, I... thank you. I don't really know what to say," he admitted as he accepted the card with his free hand gently, as if it were a precious thing that might break if he wasn't careful. It wasn't, of course. In reality it was a little plastic card, but the meaning behind it was enormous, and not lost on his exhausted brain. Dith was trusting him a great deal with this. "Thank you," he repeated a little more certainly this time as he glanced back up at his friend. "I'll be careful and I won't go anywhere but here with it, I promise. The last thing I want to do is get you in trouble."  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith shook his head; "You don't need to say anything, I just hope it helps a little." He just hoped that Abel didn't end up sleeping here, he'd done that himself for a few days once and in retrospect he had been slightly losing touch with reality by the end. Hospitals were not places you should stay for seriously extended periods of time, unless it was necessary obviously. There was probably a book in there somewhere about spirits pressing through, or dimensional rifts or something but he wasn't creative enough to build anything beyond that vague idea. As if he'd have the time to write it even if he were!

Dith crossed back to his desk again and this time he sat down behind it in the large swivelly black chair, which he'd brought in himself because his arse hardly fitted on the standard office chair that had been here when he arrived. After a sip of coffee he fired up his laptop, seen as he was here he might as well check his emails before things got busy for the day.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Man, he'd need to properly thank Dith once everything was over, Abel couldn't help but think as he set his mug down on the floor carefully so he could fetch his wallet out of a pocket to place the card in to avoid losing it. Maybe he'd... no, he was too tired to think of anything even remotely useful right now. Once his wallet was back in his pocket he picked up his mug again to keep drinking it.

...except he only managed a few more small sips before he realized he'd started nodding off despite what he assumed was regular coffee instead of decaf this time. Setting it aside once more with a small, quiet sigh, he curled himself back up on a small section of the sofa instead and gave in to his body's need for sleep. He'd barely had time to get comfortable with Isaac cuddled up against his chest before his breathing evened out and his consciousness slipped away.


An hour later it snapped back as lightning quick as the gunshot in his mind - in his nightmare - and he bolted upright just as fast, the Espeon in his arms tumbling right out of them and onto the floor with a sleepy, startled noise.  

[TawnyAngel]

When Abel curled up and dozed off Dith gave a quiet sigh of relief, heaven knew the man needed it. It looked like Amigo had gone to sleep too, and Isaac too. Much as seeing all of them dozing made him kind of want a nap there were things to do and if he slept now he'd just be groggy when his shift started, which was no good at all. While his guests slept Dith tapped away on his keyboard and sipped at his coffee.

About an hour later Abel jerked upright abruptly; Dith looked up sharply for whatever might have startled him but a moment after that instinct had kicked in he realised that it was more likely something internal that had shaken him from sleep. "Alright there? It's about eleven fifteen," Dith supplied, because he suspected this was about the first thing Abel would want to know.

Abel's abrupt awakening didn't send Amigo flying as it did Isaac but it did shake him awake; the Butterfree yawned, fanned his wings, and looked around a little blearily.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel aimed a bewildered, still startled look at Dith for a few moments while his racing heart threatened to beat right out of his chest. A dream, it was just a dream - a nightmare - and he willed his heart to relax. It probably wouldn't work though, or at least not right away. The blond sighed and rubbed at his face. "I guess I fell asleep for a while," he observed rather needlessly - he obviously had fallen asleep, duh - but couldn't help but note he felt wide awake now, thanks to the nightmare, and a little more human perhaps. He really had needed that nap. "Oh, thanks." And he still had another 45 minutes to go. Better than two hours.

Isaac huffed goodnaturedly as he hopped back up onto the couch to curl up again.