It's the Healing that Hurts (Openish)

[kayla]

(( OOC: Basically... if you have a reason to be at the hospital then it's reasonable that you could be in this scene. For posterity's sake I'm gonna say that Kyle, Mercy, Casey, and Ty are definite shoe-in's for the scene. ))

The room she was moved to was much nicer than the ER she'd been in. There was even a little potted plant of lillies in there to help with the smell of hospital and disinfectant that clung to the walls like a twisted stubborn vine. The TV droned on some silly talk show that gave some sound to the room apart from the noises in the hall that carried to Kayla in her bed.

But, the thin gown was like any hospital gown, too long and open in the back if you moved the wrong way. A pair of warm fuzzy socks had been given to her but she'd have felt a lot better if she'd had some underwear to put on. Less naked.

Kyle had done as he'd promised, bringing her cellphone to her and she'd done as promised for Dr Rowe, staying put. Staring at the screen on the phone she let out a sigh as she looked at the name there; 'Ty's Cell'. She knew she should call him. Especially after last time. She really should but...

How can she explain this one? it was too fantastical to believe even when she said it to herself in her head. He'd never buy the gator line and then there was the whole thing of getting rescued by another man like last time.

Not to mention....she hated worrying him. he'd seemed so stressed and distracted of late. She knew there was something going on with the people he considered family and maybe that was what was troubling him. She didn't want to add to his worries. She'd be fine. A little sore and uncomfortable and maybe scarred but fine.

Shaking her head she scrolled the contacts to Casey's number and pushed the button that sent the signals out over the air to reach him.

The sound of the phone ringing came through the speaker and she waited for it to ring several times, afraid it was going to go to voicemail. Oh how she hated voicemail. But then there was finally an answer, an out of breath Casey on the other line.

"Casey? Hon? I got a real big favor to ask of you. I'm hopin' you can help me out. See, I um.. I had a little accident.." she paused as she was questioned, wincing a little as she bit her bottom lip.

"No I'm fine. Really.. gonna live and everything.", she said with a little chuckle and cleared her throat. The pain was still in her shoulder and seemed to radiate inward along slow lines. She figured that would make sense, the muscles reacting to the injury and all and thought no more of it.

"I was hopin you'd be able to run the Cafe for a few days. If you come down to the hospital I can give you..." She winced again as the questions and somewhat excitedly concerned voice came through the speaker at the word hospital.

With a sigh she leaned back into the pillow. "I promise I'll tell ya later about it okay? But if you'd come and pick up the keys I can give ya a run down of what needs to be done. Alright?"

She listened as he spoke and nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Alright...see you in a few. I'm in room 315." Snapping the phone closed she looked over at the lilies and wondered where they'd came from as she let her eyes close to get a bit of rest before he showed up. She didn't want to be looking as tired as she felt when he got there. She'd need to put on a brave face for then.

[Casey Callahan]

That punching bag he had was a great way to pass up some time and get in shape. With his uncanny ability to ruffle the feathers, he had to be on shape when there was a rumble or he’d get smashed to a pulp one of those days. And add that to the loud music playing and one would understand why he didn’t hear the phone ring at first.

It was only during the end of one song and the start of another that he really heard it and turning off the stereo, he pressed the button on the phone and brought it to his ear.

“Hello?” he asked a little out of breath and hopping it wasn’t any of those annoying telemarketing offering him insurance or anything alike. HA! If they knew him, no one would allow him any insurance!

A smile crossed his lips when he head Kayla’s voice on the other end, but it quick faded into concern when he heard she had an accident and happiness turned immediately into concern. Was she okay? She was a kind soul that took him and gave him a job when he needed and kept her mouth shut about his passport situation.

“Are ye alright? Ya need anything? Just tell me where ye’ are and I will be there in a minute…”

Her claims to be okay did little to soothe his concern. Casey wanted to see for herself to easy his mind. His concern was obvious in his voice and even as she spoke he was already moving for the door.

“I will be on me way boss lady, see ya soon. And ye better be alright.”

…

About 20 minutes later, there stood Casey, with a bouquet of flowers and a get well card he’d picked up on the gift shop downstairs. He believed the least he could do is to cheer her up. They didn’t knew each other for too long, but he felt a great bond to her, a friendship not many would offer a person that they didn’t knew completely.

Looking through the numbers in the rooms in the path the nurse had pointed him, he pasted a smile and did his best to shrug off the concern and be comforting. That was it, room 315. Giving a knock on the door, he pulled it open when he heard the voice from inside and wandered in.

“Boss lady, I came as fast as I could. Do ya need anything? I’ve got some flowers to make the room look better for ye.”

[kayla]

Kayla blushed as she was caught, speaking along with the movie that was running on the television. The Princess Bride, one of her all time favorites. A slightly strained smile is given to Casey as he enters and she looks at the flowers, her heart melting a little at the sight. "Oh hon...you didn't have to do that." she says as she beckoned him over to the bed.

"But they are beautiful. thank you." A kiss is given to his cheek as he nears and she does her best to look normal. It's a pretty good impersonation though there is strain that shows around the eyes from the pain in her shoulder. A bit of white gauze can bee seen peeking above the collar of the gown as she lays there, trying not to move around too much.

"Actually you can do me a huge favor by taking care of the Cafe. That's all I really need right now." she says, not saying the rest of what she feels, that a certain pair of arms to hold her would be nice to but that the man would think she was crazy if he learned why she was there.

She forces the smile to her lips as she looks up at the Irish man. "I have some things in the freezer already made up that you can put in the oven to have for the menu. There's cookie dough and frozen cobblers and pies too for desserts. Oh and the coffee percolator has been acting a little funny too lately so you'llhave to watch that." she goes on trying to remember everything.

Without thinking about what she is doing she tries to sit up using the arm that's injured and winces, going a little pale from the pain that laces through her limb and laying back again. "Oh and one other...big thing." she says, getting the words out through grit teeth as she rides the waves of pain, waiting for them to subside. "Um.. you know Ty right? the big guy that I'm sort of well..kinda seein'?" she looks to Casey's eyes and bites her bottom lip to see if he does remember seeing the man that acted as a handyman around the shop as well.

"Um well... Don't mention this to him? I won't ask ya to lie. I couldn't do that but just...if you could see your way to not bringing it up? I just don't wanna worry him is all." And that is the stark honest truth of it, at least...most of the truth. She is concerned over his reaction quite a bit.

"They wanna keep me here a few days to make sure no infection sets in so I'll be out about three days. When they let me out though I'll be back in and ready to go. The keys are on the table over there. Oh and the bank bag is under the register if you need to drop some off. I got extra deposit slips in there."

[Mercedes Rowe]

The good doctor knocked on Kayla's door before stepping inside, something she customarily did to give the patients full warning she was about to enter. Her hazel eyes fell on the man on the room first. "Good morning. I'm Dr. Rowe," she introduced herself then moved to the side of the bed, hovering over Kayla. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She didn't want to stay long and intrude on their visit, so she went straight to work, checking over the woman's vitals. "It won't take me long. I'll be out of the way before you know it," she said quite apologetically to the two of them.

Her eyes moved over the heart rate monitor, looking at that as well as blood pressure. She furrowed her brow and went around the other side of the bed to reach for the digital thermometer. She pulled the thermometer out and put a sleeve over it. "I just want to get your temperature then I'll be out of your hair, for a moment," she smiled and brought it to Kayla's mouth.

Once the machine beeped she pulled it free and wrote down the woman's temperature. Then, disliking the temperature reading she got, she leaned in towards Kayla and pulled the gauze back from her shoulder to inspect it quickly by pressing her fingers gently against it to see if there was an infection. "I'm sorry," she knew it must hurt. Setting the gauze back down gently, she stood and spoke quickly. "I'll be back in a moment. I have to go check up on something," she nodded to Kayla then smiled at the man on her way out, giving that calm doctor look before exiting. She did not need Kayla worried.

She really disliked being that doctor that rushed in then rushed out, but there was something off about Kayla's vitals. It had Mercedes nervous. All she could and had been thinking about was that redcap. She hoped the woman was not getting an infection. She knew little about them, but she hoped that Kyle had found some information, and she was glad he had left his cell phone number to call and ask him.

Stopping at the receptionist's desk, she used that phone to call his. She listened to the phone ring until he finally picked up. "Kyle this is Mercedes Rowe. I just checked on Kayla's vitals and they seem...off. She has an elevated temperature, but I looked at the wound and if its an infection it isn't showing any signs yet. Her blood pressure and heart rate are off as well. Did you find any information of what we discussed about last night?"

He said something else then a lot of other noise followed. She couldn't tell if he had just hung up or maybe the call had been dropped, but it sounded more like he had dropped the phone to her. "Hello? Kyle?" She waited a moment before giving up and hanging up the phone.

Biting her lip nervously, she sat down at one of the empty chairs at the receptionist desk and pulled up the internet on the computer. She should have tried to see what she could find there, but something told her she wouldn't find much about Redcaps.

[Casey Callahan]

Casey was going to pull a though front, like it was nothing because he knew Kayla wouldn’t want to see the worry in him, but heck it was a lost cause. That girl was very important to him, when he was down on his luck she gave him a chance and opened her business for him, gave him a chance to work when he wouldn’t blame her for turning him down. He owed her, and that’s why he would do exactly what she was asking him to do.

But at this point, the concern in his eyes and the questions on his mind had to be excruciatingly obvious.

“I’ll do that boss lady, ya don’t worry yer pretty head about a thing,” he started to say before he noticed her struggle to sit up in the bed and rushed to her, but by the time he reached her, she seemed already settled.

“Don’t go pushing yourself, ye hear? I want ya out of that bed and in yer top shape.”

Giving her a smile, he added, “Ní mná áille a dhéantar pian a bhraitheann”
- Beautiful women aren’t made to feel pain –

Raising a brow when he heard her mention about the big fella he’d seen on the café more than a few times, Casey eyed her intrigued. It was obvious that there was something going on between the pair, even if he was blind he would have noticed that, what intrigued him as why she wanted to keep secret from the guy.

“I’m sorry boss lady, but if I was that lucky fella, I’d want to know what had happened to ye and would want to be right here with ya. Don’t ya thing that ye should call him and let him know? Call him here?”

When he saw that dead-set look on her eyes, he knew she wouldn’t head to his advice and sighed. “Will ye at least tell me what happened? Ye look…I’m not sure…different. But I can’t say exactly why.”

And that was when the cute little wolf doctor walked in, so Casey stood back and let her do her job. Once she left however he returned to his questioning. “So boss lady, yer going to tell me what happened?”

[kayla]

Casey's words made her blush as she heard them, understanding the language far better than she could speak it thanks to her Gramps. "Oh hush you." she said waving a hand at him. Her silver tongued devil. "I'll be right as rain once these stitches heal up. Just gotta remember I can't use that arm like I'm used to is all. It's not so bad, really." she tried to reassure him, hiding her pain and knowing she sounded less than convincing.

Kayla smiled to the good doctor as she entered. Sure the woman was keeping her here when this is the last place on earth she wanted to be but...she was nice about it and there was a definite sense of empathy that showed in the woman. She cared for her patients and it showed.

She opened her mouth dutifully and allowed her temperature to be taken, shivering a little as the gauze was pulled back, revealing the stitches and the redness there from the recent wound. She knew, even though he was being gentlemanly, that Casey saw that and chewed on her bottom lip a bit. Oh how she hated the lying! It just grated hard and uncomfortably against her nature.

There was a wince and she bit down harder on her lip as the wound was inspected but nodded to the apology that was given about it.

It niggled at the back of her mind, Casey's words. She knew she should call Ty. She knew he'd be ticked that she didn't. But how could she keep a huge secret from him? As Dr. Rowe hurried out she thought nothing of it, not worried about her condition. Heck, she'd been healthy as a horse most of her life, even healed from regular childhood diseases quicker than most. There had been scraped knees and the sort and burns from the oven but nothing serious. She was rarely even sick with the sniffles. She assumed it was just a small bonus of her gift.

A small sigh left her lips as Mercy left the room and she saw the look on Casey's face. No way was she going to be able to skirt around this. Not with the way those eyes were looking straight through her. Shifting a bit uncomfortably she looked down at the blanket over her and pulled the gown up a bit more onto her injured shoulder, trying to hide the bandage.

And here comes the bad part., she thought to herself as she prepared to lie to him as she had the doctor. She hated it. With a burning passion! Not to mention she wasn't very good at it.

Keeping her eyes averted from his she opened her mouth and began to speak, spinning the tale. She couldn't endanger her 'angel' by telling the truth. Nor could she tell the truth and be seen as mentally unstable. It was the only way.

"After I closed up last night i decided to go do some fishin'. I wanted to catch some catfish for the lunch menu and fried catfish is always good on a Friday. Well...", she swallowed and went one quickly, plucking at a bit of thread that poked up out of the weave of the blanket.

"It was kind of a swampy area and all and when I was reelin' one in I guess I was leaned too close to the waters and a gator took a swipe at me. He didn't get to sink his teeth in luckily but it tore the skin pretty good when I jerked back where it scraped them. This nice man named Kyle was out fishin' too and heard me screamin' and came over and brought me here. I just...lost a lot of blood is all."

She got it all out in a rush and took a deep breath, eyes casting over to the side to glimpse at him to see if he was buying it and away just as quickly.

"But maybe you're right...maybe...I should call Ty and let him know so he won't worry that I've disappeared." she spoke softly, her heart breaking as she tried to quickly change the subject before questions could be asked. Flipping open the cellphone in her lap she pressed a few buttons that sent her connection down the line to Ty's phone.

It rang several times. No answer. Blessed voicemail. this would be much easier to do without him screaming into the phone or growling. At least she could get the story out in one fell swoop and not have to look him in the eye as she did it. Maybe... just maybe she could come across believable over the phone.

Maybe.

Recounting the story to his voicemail as she stared at her lap she gave him the hospital name and room number after reassuring him in the message that she was fine.

Clicking the phone shut she bit her lip and glanced at Casey, a plea in her eyes but not spoken that he not question it. A plea...and a silent apology.

[Casey Callahan]

He was a Callahan, and either believe the tales or not, but there was something magical in his family that allowed certain members of his line some gifts humans don’t usually have.

His was sight.

But it wasn’t his gift that told him she was lying. He didn’t need it for that. That look on her face as she looked away and the way she spoke without giving him a chance to reply told the whole story. What his sight told him however was that like that cute doctor that had been in the room just a moment before and the big fella Kayla was dating weren’t exactly human. Casey knew that mankind wasn’t the only race on this earth, and that being different didn’t necessarily mean being evil.

Even if the first thought that came to his mind was that her boyfriend might have hurt her and that was way she didn’t want to call him. He had seen him before, a girl who was too scared of her boyfriend when the jerk hurt her and threatened to kill her, Casey had given the guy a piece of his mind and one thing was sure, the man wouldn’t ever lay a finger to harm a woman again. No matter how big this Ty fella was, but if that was it, he would be sending the man to the hospital.

But by the way Kayla repeated the events in the phone in the same way she had told him, the guy was most likely as clueless about what had happened as he was.

Softly mumbling to himself, the word ‘bréag’ – lie – departed his lips. He wasn’t all too happy that she was lying to him, but what the heck he could do? She obviously didn’t want to tell him and Casey didn’t felt like pressuring the wounded and sweet girl. But if he ever found out who had done that to her…he would let the one know just how unhappy he was with that.

So reluctantly Casey bit back his uneasiness and upset and did his best to give her a reassuring smile.

“Ye just relax and don’t worry yer pretty head, I will take care of the café and make sure everything runs smoothly,’ then trying to lighten the mood and put a smile on her because it pained his heart to see her in that state, he added, “And I’m entitled to hire a cute assistant to help me out, since the beauty of that place will be here for a while, aye?”

[Tyreese Gla'dour]

“HADES, woman! I’m not a pincushion; watch where you stick that thing!” The growl cut through the small room in which he sat, practically echoing off of the walls. The doctor currently tending to the gash on his side paused in her work, took a deep breath, and returned to what she was doing.

Damn human was probably used to getting growled at by big, scary men, given that she was on Screamers’ payroll. With a sigh, he shoved the pain to the back of his head, taking a swig of the whiskey he’d filched from the bar.

It was night and practically every moron and their brother had decided to swarm into the club, bent on destroying the place. So far, he’d had to break up three fights and about five potentials, not to mention more than a few cat fights, and about a dozen ‘don’t grab the ladies there.’ The fight had been between some drunken frat boy and an angry bodybuilder- of frikking course- and at one point, the frat boy’s friends had jumped in to save the day. He and a couple of the other bouncers ran in to take care of things, and he’d done his best not to kill the morons for making his night so complicated.

It was always when he tried to be nice that he got slashed on the ribs with a switchblade. Figures.

“God, listen to the old woman whine,” A voice cut through the muted pounding from outside, and the uneven growls coming out of the skinwalker’s throat. Leaning against the side of the employee’s locker room, Brom Fenrisulfr smirked at the larger man, raising his beer to his lips. “Suck it up, Shirley. Don’t you know that chicks dig scars?”

Ty just rolled his eyes, unable to speak as the doctor proceeded to pour on about a river’s full of antiseptic onto her stitch work. It was all he could do not to haul back and punch the hell out of one of the lockers. So, in order to keep his reputation for being a bad ass intact, he threw a glare at the wolf and snarled a few choice curses.

Brom just laughed. “Ty, I don’t think I could bend that far back. Calm yourself, brother; I just thought you might need some humor to stop you from strangling Dr. Garlan’s throat. See how she’s running for the door?” The big man leaned sideways, getting a good look at the departing doctor’s hind end. “Mmf, maybe we should get you wounded more often, truth? But alright, you’re still alive so I’m heading back out to the floor. How much you bet that the blonds you pulled offa one another would be willing to get bury the hatchet…under me?”

A laugh echoed in the locker room as the younger of his friends sauntered out. Ty couldn’t help but join him, though he kept his mirth a bit less conspicuous. The shifter had a big enough ego; he wasn’t about to let it known that the big, scary ass ex-gladiator had a sense of humor. Standing, he lifted his arm, testing out the tightness of the bandage around his ribs, and the stitches beneath. Before he could get too far, however, Brom’s voice rang out again. “By the way, your phone went off while you were threatening the Doc. Better check it; it might be your girlfriend.”

The word was said in such a childish manner that the skinwalker just had to throw the closest thing on hand at the other man’s head. With another laugh, Brom just made it out of the room before a boot hit the now closed door. A smile was still clinging to Ty’s face as he picked up the scratched cell phone, flipped open the cover and listened for the voicemail.

He was still getting used to people referring to Kayla as his ‘girlfriend,’ especially when it came from the Fenrisulfr brothers. Having known them for so long, their opinion mattered a lot to him…not to mention that they knew exactly what buttons to push, to have him skulking around his apartment, wondering what the hell he was doing in a relationship.

But none of that really mattered, now that she was in his life. That amused smile that had been clinging to his face turned into something wider, softer, as her voice rang through the tiny speakers against his ear. He’d never really understood it, when Erik had gone so bat shit crazy over his voodoo woman, and he’d practically laughed his ass off when Wulf started chasing after that annoying Greek Goddess. But now that Kayla was in his life…the curtains were beginning to lift up.

There was someone in the world who cared about what happened to him. There was someone who wanted to know his secrets…and who was someone he’d gladly tell his secrets. He couldn’t explain what he felt, but he didn’t really need to. All he needed to know that every time he heard her voice, he was…at peace. For the first time in centuries, he wanted to live another day, if only to see her face.

…Now, if only said voice wasn’t informing him that she was in a hospital, wounded, and alone. All the switchblades in the world couldn’t have cut his heart the way those rushed words had, and for the first time in a long time, he felt the cold rush of fear.

It was safe to say that his bike had practically exploded by the time he’d gotten to the hospital. He’d snarled something at Wulf when he’d left, dismissing an offer to accompany him, and whatever poor dancer got in between him and the exit found themselves souring through the air. Memories had probably been erased, and more than a few fights had more than likely started out in his wake, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was making sure that Kayla was alive and well. She’d called him, sure, so that meant that she wasn’t on death’s door…but he had to know. He had to see her for himself.

And Gods, when he did, hell if his knees didn’t get weak from relief. Thank Hades that that guy who worked at the cafe from time to time- damn...what was his name? Carl? Chris? Casey, that's it- in the room, or he might have sank to the floor. Straighten up, Tyreese, he snarled to himself.

He only had eyes for Kayla as he entered the room, sparing only a fleeting glance at Casey on his way to the bed. Sitting gingerly on the edge of the hospital bed, he leaned forward, inspecting her face for signs of bruising, before he moved lower, gritting his teeth as he caught sight of the bandage on her arm.

“I leave you alone for one night, Murdough,” He growled, voice rough. To anyone who didn’t know him, it would sound as if he were ready to rip the poor woman’s throat out. “And you go get yourself gnawed on. What am I gonna do with you?”

[kayla]

She'd heard his softly whispered word and it burned her ears. She hated the lying but it was necessary. It wasn't just her own secret she was keeping. So when that rascal smile of his reappeared like sun from the clouds on Casey's lips she felt a bit of relief. At least he wasn't going to pressure her. "Beauty of the place he says... what a rapscallion. I'd think you had enough girls to flirt with with the customers that come in.", she teased him lightly before nodding. [/b]"But yeah.. if you need any help go ahead. I should be out of here relatively soon....I hope."[/b] The last was added in a small voice, a sigh accompanying it.

"I just...I hate hospitals. Have ever since..", her voice trailed off a little and she looked down at the phone in her hands still, her voice going even softer. "Ever since my grandparents' accident. Brings it all back you know?" The confession made her swallow hard past the lump in her throat and she blinked several times to clear her eyes before putting on that brave smile and looking back to Casey.

She spent the time chatting with him about various things having to do with the cafe, giving him the spare key to the place and making sure he remembered the various homeless persons that came in for free meals. She also reminded him of the strays out in the alley and to put the leftovers from the scraped plates out for them at night. There was no sense in having her trashbags ripped open after all and them going hungry. Might as well do both at once. Not to mention her kind-heartedness extended to her furry friends as well.

A throb of pain when through her , leaving her feeling a bit weak and her face a little paler, her big brown eyes standing out in her face as she tried to hide it. The wound in her shoulder felt like it was on fire. The little heart monitor acted as a tattle-tell though, showing the strain she took through the ebb and flow of the pain even though she hid it herself with tight smiles and gentle conversation. it had just eased back to normal when a figure appeared in the doorway over Casey's shoulder and she glanced that way.

Her heart did a little skip at the sight of Ty before the guilt of making him wear those creases of worry on his brow and around his eyes. She couldn't help but to turn her strained smile his way as he stalked into the room and took up perch on her bed. The hand of her good arm raised to slip into his as she tried to be reassuring and gave it a little squeeze. She knew him well enough to know that the harsh tone and words weren't a threat but merely an indication of how worried he was. She hoped Casey realized it as well.

"Not gnawed on, just scraped. I'm a tough little bird.", she tried to reassure him as she looked from him to Casey."Casey Callahan...Tyreese Gla'dour...Ty..Casey.", the introductions were made. "And I swear all I need is my big brother here and the mother henning and scolding will be complete." the teasing was aimed at the two men lovingly, her smile softening as she looked at them both.

How had she gotten so lucky to have such wonderful people in her life?, she thought to herself. No matter what happened to her or what weirdness or hardship cropped up she had that to be grateful for. She counted herself blessed. "Doc Rowe wants to keep me a couple days to make sure that there's no infection but she stitched me up and I should be alright..just with an interesting couple-a scars to show when it's healed. Talk about a good fish-story.", she attempted to lighten the mood of the room and distract them from the occasional erratic blip of the monitor. For a few moments her lips appeared a little blue and she fidgeted in her spot a bit, a strange sensation of discomfort sliding over her skin and through her before it passed.

[Casey Callahan]

Doing his best to lighten the moment and make the boss lady smile, Casey believed he was doing a good job. The last thing the poor girl needed was him pressuring her to tell him the truth of who hurt her. Even so that he would so love to find out the truth and kick the hell off whatever sorry ass that that had hurt her.

He took the keys from the café like she had told him and it was his turn to play the nice employee. He would get everything in order until Kayla was back in her feet and ready to return. Good thing she had enough food for one army pre-cooked or stuff he could just throw into the oven because otherwise his skills of bowling water and making noodles wouldn’t be of much use. Only thing he really knew how to do was that spice sauce that his grandmother had taught him and had helped him sell hotdogs before he started working on Kayla’s shop.

The two spent some idle time chatting. Not like boss and employee, but like the friend he considered her to be. All the while he tossed one or two flirty comments here and there, but they were all innocent and platonic. For all that she was pretty and sweet, Casey was into the bad girls that drive a man crazy and he knew Kayla had her eyes on the big fella.

And speaking of the devil, the guy entered the room and it was obvious in his eyes the concern he felt for the girl. If Casey still believed the big guy was responsible for hurting her, all the suspicion would have dissipated right there.

Nodding to Tyrese when Kayla formally introduced them, the Irish man nodded and gave him a friendly smile.

“I think I better give ya two some private time to talk, I better get going and get things ready at the café. And I have pretty girls to interview to hire as me assistant.”

With a playful smile, he took one last look at Kayla and froze for just one second. There was something off with her, that angelical aura he’d seen on her all the time seemed a little off. Maybe it was just the stress…yeah, maybe it was it.

[Mercedes Rowe]

Sitting at the nurse's desk gave Mercedes a display of each patient that was hooked up to the machines. It would let off an alarm as well if someone's vitals started to go out of the normal, which was what happened after she had hung up the phone with Kyle. Her eyes darted to where the alarm was going off at. Kayla's oxygen level seemed to drop, as well as blood pressure. It could be nothing, maybe Kayla had moved and caused the machines readings to be off, but she wasn't going to take chances. She had already noted that the woman's vitals were not in the norm.

Hopping off of the chair, she quickly strolled back into Kayla's room. Her eyes fell on the two men inside. A rather large man was hovering over Kayla now. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you two to leave," she told the men. "It will only be for a moment. I need to go over Kayla's vitals," she nodded to them. The main reason she didn't want them in there was for the patient. She knew that most patients didn't want people hovering over them while probed at.

If Kayla wanted them to stay then that was different. The doctor wouldn't mind. She leaned in towards the woman. "Kayla, I need you to tell me on a scale from one to ten how well you are feeling today. You need to be completely honest with me. And if there is anything that really hurts, some sharp pain anywhere." She was truly worried for the woman. She had checked the wound about thirty minutes ago. There were no signs of infection, so she knew it wasn't that, but something was going on that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

To be on the safe side she called one of the nurses in. "Get me a CBC on Kayla and make it quick," she ordered the woman. If there was poison in her blood, which had been her worry from her attack then a CBC should show any abnormalities.

"Your blood pressure is low, which is a concern. I'm going to try and figure this out for you," she smiled. "There are medications to raise the blood pressure up, which I will order up soon. It will help it, but it doesn't answer why your blood pressure keeps dropping or the reason for your oxygen level getting low." Mercedes hate it when she didn't have an immediate answer for a patient, but she was going to do all that she could to find it out.

A phlebotomist strolled in with their kit. "Morning, Dr. Rowe," the man smiled and went over to Kayla to get her blood drawn.

"Morning, Aaron. Do what you can to get that test back to me as soon as possible," she told him. He nodded then went about shoving a needle in Kayla's arm to draw blood.

[Tyreese Gla'dour]

It was only because of Kayla’s introduction that Ty finally noticed the other man in the room. Instinctively, he felt the strange urge to turn around and snarl ‘SHE’S MINE’ at the man until he peed on the floor, even going so far as to scoot a bit closer to the wounded human while he flashed a tight lipped nod in his direction. Thank all that was holy that he had some control over himself, or he’d have definitely gone caveman right then and there.

Sometimes, it really did suck to be a non-human. All of these annoying urges to kill, dominate and protect his woman; it really played merry hell with a guy’s social life. Not to mention that law nowadays didn’t exactly like murder defenses that revolved around ‘he deserved killing.’

He did manage to offer up a thankful sound when Casey decided to give them some privacy, mentally deciding against cornering the guy and forcing a urine sample out of him. He knew Callahan from the café and knew that he was one of the good guys…but given those parting words, that Kayla’s pride and joy was being looked after by him? Hell if he didn’t want a full background check done on the dude.

There he went again, being completely protective, because it actually hurt to have anything make his woman unhappy. How the hell did Erik and Derek stand this shit, man? It was crazy!

Turning back to her when she spoke again, his face instantly softened, a fond smile pulling at his lips. “You obviously need a bit of ‘henning,’ woman,” He grumbled, taking her healthy hand to place a kiss on her knuckles.

Gods, he hated seeing her like this; so small and fragile looking in the large hospital bed. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips to her forehead before leaning it against hers. Relief and fear poured through him as he breathed in her scent beneath the stink of antiseptic. From what he remembered from her voicemail- everything after ‘hospital’ was a bit hazy thanks to adrenaline- she’d mentioned something about a catfish. How in the hell did an oversized, mustached animal end up making her so…pale? And she flinched as if her entire body were aching.

Intent on her face, he started to ask her to explain what happened to him again, but was interrupted by the doctor. A scowl formed on his face as he turned to face the woman, not budging from his perch on the bed. There was no way in any of the damn nine Hells that he was moving from the room.

When the woman began to move around, taking vitals and deciding on treatment, Ty rose to stand beside the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m staying,” He growled, eyeing a nurse when the woman gave him a pointed look when taking Kayla’s blood pressure. His eyes narrowed when the phlebotomist walked in, went stiff all over when a needle was brought out, and felt for all the heavens like he was about to explode when the thing came near Kayla’s arm.

“Yes, hello, Aaron,” He repeated in his best lethal voice. “Let’s get one thing straight: if you cause this woman any amount of discomfort, or if I see one little flinch on her part, I will rip your arms off and beat you with them.”

[kayla]

"Bye Casey...keep me updated okay?" she gave the Irishman a smile when he froze, trying to reassure him as she held Ty's hand in her own but the smile didn't translate to her eyes entirely despite the brave face she was putting on for all their benefits.

Those big brown eyes turned to the man at her side as he kissed her hand and his face softened. There he was, the man she'd fallen for, the warm heart and gentle touch that hid beneath his tough exterior. Her hand tightened in his a bit as she looked up at him and into his eyes, drinking in the sight of him and it hit her with a bit of surprise as she realized it wasn't just affection she felt for this big, burly, bald man...

...it was love.

The realization made her heart clench in her chest a little and something rippled through her physically...as if something inside her were resisting that feeling of pure golden light that filled her spirit. As he leaned in to kiss her forehead and rested his to her own her hand slipped up to cup his cheek softly, fingertips stroking against his skin tenderly. "I'm fine...especially now that you're here.", she whispered to him before the Doctor came into the room, interrupting them.

A bashful smile, like a teenager being interrupted on the front porch after a date, crossed her lips and a slight blush rose in her cheeks as she looked over at Mercedes. "Oh he can stay...as long as you know..there's no nudity involved." She added the last quickly, the words nearly running together as she blushed deeper and a small giggle escaped her compressed lips before she raised a hand to cover her mouth, the action making her stitched shoulder sting and a jolt of pain move through her. She wasn't quite able to stop all of the small pained sound that came from the rash movement. It was going to take a while to remember not to use that arm as much.

Biting her bottom lip she glanced from the Doctor to Ty and then down at her feet that were covered by the sheet. She didn't want to get him more worried than he was. "One to ten? Well probably about a 6 but I guess that's to be expected when a gator takes a swipe at ya, right? No pain other than what's to be expected really." It wasn't entirely a lie but it wasn't entirely the truth either.

Worry showed on her face as the Doc called off the things that were causing concern and she took a slow breath. "Heck if I was home I could just whip up a batch of collard greens with country ham hock to get that blood pressure up. Any way that I could just eat some real salty stuff?" she asked hopefully, knowing it wasn't likely to be accepted but trying.

A bit of a grin stole over her as she added the next, "I'm sure the oxygen drop is just from gettin' my breath taken away from me when someone happened to show up in the doorway." She glanced up at Ty and blushed a little. She wasn't usually so forward but perhaps it was the hospital making her a little bolder or the pain killers or something.

She paled a little more as she saw the needle that was pulled out but one glance at Ty's face and the sound of his words made her bite her lip to keep any sounds from coming out. She didn't think he'd really do it. It would get him thrown out of the hospital but....

....better not to take chances, right?

Softly she said, "Ty...everyone flinches when they get a needle in them. Be nice now. I don't want you havin' ta leave any sooner than ya have to."

The strange part was that weird feeling deep within that seemed excited by the potential for violence. She tried to ignore it and dismiss it as some strange reaction to not liking needles but even she knew that wasn't it entirely.

She held still as the needle was slid into her and bit down hard on her lip at the pinch of pain, looking away from where the syringe was going in, up to Ty's face to distract herself. [b]"I hope I didn't interrupt anything when I called. I assumed you'd be workin on somethin or another. But I'm sure glad you're here darlin'."

[/b][/center]

[Mercedes Rowe]

Mercedes paused a little in step as she moved in. The scowl coming from the big guys face had her frown. "Very well. If you insist," she nods to him and Kayla as well, since she spoke that she wanted him to stay. She had no problem letting people stay in the room, as long as Kayla expressed that she wanted them to stay, which she did.

"And the other man?" She nodded towards Casey, unsure what roll he played in Kayla's life, but if she didn't want him there then he needed to leave, which he might have did already. She wouldn't have known because her eyes turned back to Ty, giving him a glare for scaring the phlebotomist.

The phlebotomist was completely startled by the man's threat. It made his hand shaky as he went to draw blood from Kayla's arm.

Mercy dropped a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "It's alright. He won't harm you," she spoke quietly, trying to soothe the man and keep him from accidentally jabbing Kayla in the arm. "Make sure you get these test back to me as soon as possible. It's urgent."

"Salt will not fix this, Kayla," she said gravely. The drop in blood pressure and oxygen level was quite dire to her. She shook her head. "And getting your breath stolen from you when seeing someone you care for will not cause your oxygen levels to drop that low."

She wanted to talk alone with Kayla to let her know she knew that wasn't an alligator attack. Things were starting to change now. She needed the woman to be completley honest with her.

After the phlebotomist left, she cleared her throat. "Kayla, can I speak freely in front of this man?" If he was going to stay, she assumed it was okay, but she wanted to ask. Once she started to explain the fear of poison that could be associated with the Redcap, maybe Kayla would understand the need for honesty at that point.

Her eyes darted up to see if the other man was still there. If he was then she asked Kayla if she could speak freely in front of him as well. She knew though that once the cat was out of the bag they would not like what they heard, since she knew Kayla had been feeding everyone the alligator fib.

[kayla]

Her eyes followed Mercedes' to the door where Casey was slipping out. "Oh he's on his way out." she said as she held Ty's hand in her own. His mere presence was soothing to her, despite it all. The doctor's manner had her all in knots inside, as if something were very wrong. How could that be? It was just a scratch, albeit a nasty slicey scratch.

She swallowed hard as the lady Doc replied to her attempt at humor and her hand tightened on Ty's briefly as she tensed before she forced herself to relax.

She had no idea that Mercedes knew the truth of the attack. She assumed that speaking freely was just a part of the whole HIPPA law thing. A small smile crossed her lips as she looked up at the massive bald man at her side. "Sure ya can Doc. 'sides, Ty would find out anyway sooner or later. I know it's hard to believe with his laid back and easy going demeanor but he really is the protective sort."

Again, another attempt at humor to lighten the darkness that seemed to have stolen over the room. Gently she poked at Ty's side teasingly, not knowing that he had some fresh stitches himself under that shirt or bandages over them.

Had she known for one second it would have been another story entirely. But ignorance is bliss as they say and she was clueless without the enhanced senses of those around her.

Hospitals still made her uncomfortable but with her man there well...it was tolerable at least. If she examined it closer she might realize that part of her aversion to hospitals were more than just losing her grandparents in one. It was darker memories of that night. Memories that she had pushed away. She'd tried to go to them, to heal them with the gifts she'd been given but they hadn't let her. Her family had held her back, knowing that to do so would have killed her. But, at the time, it had been a sacrifice she had been willing to make. When this girl loved, she loved hard and completely with nothing held back.

Well almost nothing...She stole a glance at Ty again, wondering if she would be able to keep holding back. She'd always said that she would wait for marriage but...it was just damned hard now where it had never been an issue before. Not even when she was engaged. Just the man's kiss alone made her toes curl and made her feel as if she were lighter than air and floating. Did it get any better than that?

"So...is it like rabies or something?" she asked shaking herself out of her thoughts and looking back to Mercy. Ugh.. more needles and in the stomach. The thought of it made her pale visibly as she shivered a little in the bed. She was far more exhausted than she was willing to admit, putting on that brave face for those in the room.