groovygamers.com

OOC: This is for the heroes and action at the hospital.

Kel arrives at the hospital huffing and puffing after a solid run and leap-fest.  He checks his watch, hoping that he'll still have the energy to arrive back at the bunker on time and do whatever needs to be done with the witches.  He sets a timer hoping to give him some time to speak with her and then make it back.  He looks at the hospital staff and then requests directions to her room.

The staff tells Kel she's in the ER, they'll be releasing her.  She's not hard to find, and as he comes around the curtain and sees her she cocks her head slightly, "Kel?"

Sammy settles back and closes her eyes to rest a little bit.  She hopes her mom isn't having a nervous breakdown in the chapel; better a screaming match with the insurance company than that.  Mom always did better when there was something tangible to fight.  Being forced to standby and not be able to fix things was never good when one of her children was involved.  Sammy felt a little more comfortable knowing that Elrod was looking after Mom too.  Maybe when things calmed down, he could come over to supper sometime.  That would be nice.

She could vaguely hear the sounds of a tv coming from outside the room, but couldn't understand the words.  I wonder if they're covering the school emergency?  Too bad I'm here.  I could be on TV.

"The one and only baby." Kel says as he walks in and pulls up a stool next to her, "So what happened?"

Breanna hops off the exam table and throws her arms around him.  It's the hug of someone that needs to feel safe in a world that is suddenly very unsafe.  "I was in the bathroom and some girl said, 'He's mine, keep your hands off bitch.'  then cracked me over the head with something.  Next thing I knew there was smoke and fire alarms and no one around.  Lucky for me some girl came along and got me out, although I'm not exactly sure how we got off the roof, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth either."  She holds onto him for a few minutes before she continues.  "So, I told this to the girl that helped me out, and told her that I only know two boys, you and Elrod Janush.  She seemed pretty positive it wasn't Elrod's girlfriend, so I'm guessing the girl that hit me meant you?"

Kel is a bit surprised by the latch on hug, but then wraps his arms around her and gives her a nice firm hug in return.  He is a bit surprised by the story, and says, "I guess that's what the person would mean, but I can't think of a lot of girls who would do that."  He begins thinking and then says, "Are you sure it was another girl?"

Megan looks at the phone as Sarah hung up and said her and Sylvia were on the way.  She had seen Elrod leave while on the phone with John, so the blonde teen made her way over to Sammy’s room and back inside.

She was about to speak when she saw Sammy’s eyes were closed, so she just stood off to one side, waiting till Elrod or Sammy’s mom returned.

Sammy opens her eyes at the sound of someone entering the room.  She hoarsely whispers "Not asleep".  She gestures for Megan to sit down in one of the chairs.  Another note is written.

"El went looking for my mom.  You can stay if you want, but you'll have to do most of the talking." :) 

“Don’t strain yourself Sammy.”  Megan said as the other girl indicated she was not asleep. 

Taking a seat when Sammy indicated one and took the note, glanced at it, her eyes scanning across it almost to fast to be seen.  She almost immediately raised her eyes back up to look at Sammy as she smiled.  “Yeah, I saw him go, thought you might want some company till he or your mom got back.  If you want to just rest, just gesture for me to zip it and I’ll shut up.”

“John is getting the message to Kel about Breanna, and Sarah and Sylvia are on their way here.  Guess it might be as good a plan as any for us to stick around here till we know more of what’s going on.”

She chuckles slightly, "Maybe you're more popular than you think.  I'm pretty sure it was a girl.  The sound of the voice is all I have to go on, but I'm pretty sure it was a girl.  Maybe a little older than me."

Kel sighs, it could've been the witches, it could've been someone he had randomly hooked up with, but frankly he had no idea, "Well it's flattering I guess.  But the important thing is that you're ok, right?"  He says helping her settle down onto the bed.

"Yeah."  Breanna says, "They put stiches in my head, I got a shot for pain, and other than that they say I'm gonna be fine."

Kel smiles, "Well that's good.  Did they say what you got hit with?"

"Something hard."  she says, sarcasm evident in her voice.

The curtain is moved and Kel sees a woman, obviously Breannan's mother from the look of relief that crosses her expression, "Bre."  she says, taking the girl into an embrace.  "I was so worried when you didn't answer your phone."

"Opps."  Breanna says, "I lost when I got hit I guess.  Mom, this is Kel.  the boy I told you about from the party."

The woman straightens up and extends her hand, "It's nice to meet you Kel."

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Kel says pulling out all the respect he can muster, as he shakes her hand.

[Kel]

"They say it's okay to take you home.  It was nice meeting you Kel."  Mom seems a little uneasy, it might just be the fact that she's meeting the boy her daughter talked about in an ER while she's there to pick up said daughter.

Breanna doesn't seem too bothered as she gets off the table and gives Kel a hug, "I'd say call me, but I can't find my phone.  I'll call you later, okay?"

A few moments later they're gone, and Kel realizes the ER is a really noisy and smelly place.

Kel smiles and says, "Sure."  Before heading out and making a nice long way down toawrds the bunker for the meeting.

Sarah sees the hospital finally and breathing hard slows down.  Her legs feel rubbery.  She can hear Sylvia's steps coming up from behind.  After wiping some sweat from her forehead she stands up straight and turns.  "What... took you...so long?"

She grins and adds, "At least there were no dogs this time.  Let's go find Sammy and Megan and get this stuff over with.  I don't know how you popular girls deal with this all the time."

"Slander, pure slander," Sylvia says, giving a dry-throated cough or two as she tries to catch her breath.  "Purple-haired elf, sure.  But popular?  Them's fighting words."

Sarah starts laughing and coughing.  She walks the rest of the way with Sylvia into the hospital and asks where they can find Sammy er.. Samantha Jameson.  On the way she slides out her cellphone and gives Megan a call.  While it starts to ring she tells Sylvia, "I hope Megan didn't decide to run into Chicago for a quick shopping trip while she was waiting.  Maybe she snuck into the medical library to read through the books just to piss off the interns." 

*Ring*  "Hey Megan, you still around the hospital?  We're finally here and ready to get this pixie dust washed off." 

Syl has to pass on answering that.  Too true is too cruel.

Megan was talking some with Sammy (well, talking to Sammy) when her phone rang and she saw it was Sarah.  “Hey Sarah.”  She said in greeting.  “Yeah, I am still here, sitting with Sammy.”  When Sarah mentioned getting the spell off them, she paused.  “Yeah, that.  You really should have given me a chance to talk earlier, Sammy can’t really talk at the moment.  She took in a lot of that gas and smoke, so she should probably rest and not strain herself.  We’re up in room [room number].”

"Oh," says Sarah, "Okay, well we'll be up in a minute to check in on Sammy."

Sarah hangs up and turns to Sylvia.  "Looks like we're stuck being fabulous for a while.  Unless you think that spell would work with Sammy whispering?"

Syl has to think it over.  "It's not like they have to hear us for it to work.  It's kind of all about intent, right?  We want it off us, we have to get together and wish it off us.  We should try, anyway."  She pauses.  "Unless you're serious about liking the fabulousity."

Elrod and Sammy's mom come back in.  Mom has a file folder full of forms and Elrod has a bucket of crushed ice.  "Here T-bone."  El says, handing her the ice, "Comfort munchies until the docs clear you for food.  Nothing like eating crushed ice when your throat is sore."

Mom sits down next to the bed, "Dad will be here in a little while.  He's gonna pick up Steph on the way."

Megan smiles over at Sammy’s mom as she tells the brunette girl that her father was on the way.  “Hello Mrs. Jameson, I’m Megan, a friend of Sammy’s from school.  I was just help to keep her company.  I’ll wait outside in the hall if you want, a couple of other friends are here to see her and are on the way up.”

"No, that's alright Megan.  I'm sorry."  she says, extanding her hand, "I'm Kim.  It's nice of you girls to come to visit."

Elrod's phone rings, and he glances at it, then looks back at the girls.  "I gotta go take this, I'll be back in a few T-Bone."  He goes out in the hall to take the call.

Megan shakes Mrs. Jameson’s hand.  “That’s alright ma’am.  You have a lot to worry about.”  She looked over at Sammy with a smile as the older woman mentioned coming to visit her.  “I know that being in the hospital can suck, I got stuck there for a weekend of observation at the beginning of the year.  Made me miss the first game of year.  Hopefully Sammy won’t have to be here anywhere near as long.”

Sammy sucks on some ice, appreciating the sensation of the cool water dripping down her insulted throat.  She was glad to hear that Steph was probably okay; if Dad was picking her up, then she probably hadn't been hurt in any significant way.  She felt a little guilty for not thinking of her older sister earlier.

She scribbles another note and hands it to her mother.  "You okay, Mom?  You were gone a while.  Thought you got lost."

Mom looks at the note and smiles, it's the smile she puts on when she doesn't want people to think she's worried.  "Nothing, just worried about you, things.  You know, it's what parents do.  We worry."

Sammy's brow wrinkles a bit.  Something's up, but she isn't sure what.   Not really able to do anything else to help at the moment, she reaches over and grabs her mom's hand, giving it a squeeze then holding on to it.  She whispers, "It'll be all right, Mom."

"I never did find a palanquin for the boys to carry me around in.  I think I'm just as happy having only one boy think I'm fabulous."

When the girls have made their way to Sammy's room Sarah knocks politely.

"Mind if two more come in?"

Sammy looks over at the open door and waggles her fingers, trying to convey the idea that its perfectly fine to come into the room right now.  Then she takes another mouthful of crushed ice, figuring that there are plenty of people here to do the talking for her while she lets the cool water soothe her throat.

Sylvia comes in after Sarah, folding away her phone.  "Hey," she says, looking Sammy over with concern.  'How are you?' is such a dumb question that she keeps it to herself.  "Ready to get this spell off us?"

Megan looked over at Sarah and Sylvia as the made their way in after Sammy signaled to them, giving them a smile in greeting.  She wanted to get the spell off, but wondered if they should really be making Sammy talk.  “Maybe we should give her a bit more time to let her voice rest and her throat feel better from the ice?”

"I guess,"  says Sarah, "I'm still just wired from all the scares at school and it didn't help much that we ran over here."

"It's okay," Sammy whispers hoarsely.  "Let's get this over with."  She looks at her mom, who doesn't know a darned thing about any spells on her daughter (on top of all the other problems), and continues "They can explain now or I'll explain later."  She turns back towards the other girls, and gestures at them to talk.  "Explain to my mom or tell me what to do."  All of this sets off a fresh bout of coughing.

Sylvia tries not to prolong the process.  "Witches cast spell.  Spell makes pretty.  Boys go crazy.  Spell go away now," she explains.  Then she further explains the counterspell.

Megan smirks slightly as Sylvia’s very concise explanation (though how truly clear it might be is another matter).  “Well, if your up for it Sammy.”  Megan replied.  “I am tried of running from my boyfriend.”  She listens to Sylvia explain the counterspell once more.

Sammy grunts something that might sound like assent or even "me too", although if Elrod was there it might sound like "hot tub" to his ears.  It's hard to tell.  She tries to focus on Sylvia's words to make sure she understands what she needs to do.  It sounds like she only needs to be there, try to say the words, make a good faith effort to will the spell away, and everything will be just fine.  Easy-peasy.  Then she can get back to her own concerns.

"Klaatu, Varata, Nikto'', she thinks.  "Klaatu, Varata, Nikto''.  Got it.  Wait.  "klaatu baratu niktu?"  Damn.  She listens to Sylvia say it again.

The girls perform the simple ritual and utter the incantation.  Nothing special seems to happen, but they hadn't noticed anything when the spell was cast either, so it's possible that it's gone.

Megan looks around at the others.  “Hmm, maybe we should ask Elrod in to make sure its gone?”

Sylvia nods and steps into the hallway.  "Elrod," she calls.  As he enters the room she asks, "Do these outfits make us look fat?"

"Whoa.  Are you trying to find out about the spell or get the guy beat down?" asks Sarah.

"'And, remember, this is for posterity, so be honest.'"  Syl bares an evil smile.

"If you're asking about the bizarre urge men have to want to hump you like dogs, then it seems to be gone.  If you're asking me honestly, then yes the cloths make you look fat and you should toss them away in favor of nudity.  Remember to take pitures though, it's for posterity after all."

Megan chuckled at Elrod’s answer and then breathed a sigh of relief.  She looked down at Sammy as she asked.  “You feeling okay?”

"Hurray!  I've never been so happy to be ordinary!" says Sarah.  She goes over and gives Sammy a little hug, careful not to make her cough.  "Thanks Sammy, you're the best!"

Sylvia finds Sammy's hand in there somewhere and gives it a squeeze.  "Give me a call if you need anything.  Guys," she tells Sarah and Megan, "I'll see you at the bunker."  She mentions the time and then excuses herself.  When Dylan shows up, she doesn't want the stares.

Sammy nods "yes", she's okay, removing the spell didn't hurt her, etc. She doubts she'll need to call for anything that her family or Elrod won't get for her, but accepts the offers with good grace.

When Sylvia leaves the hospital Dylan strollls out the door with her, like he was there all along.  "Purple is a nice color."  he says, touching her hair.  "Donnie called, but I wanted to be here in case of mayhem."

“See you there Syl.”  Megan says as the other girl makes her exit.  She then gives Sammy a smile as she squeezes her hand as well.  “We should probably get going to not crowd the place up too much when your dad and sister get here, and to meet back up with the boys to figure out what to do now.  You hurry up and get better so you can help kick a few witches' butts for all this.”

Megan turns to Sammy’s mom as she says, “it was nice to meet you Mrs. Jameson.”  Turning to Elrod, she grinned.  “Later El.”  She then looked at Sarah and nodded slightly towards the door and stared to make her way out as she waved goodbye to Sammy.

She gives him a warning look and pulls her hair over the opposite shoulder.  "No mayhem.  Just a little cut-rate witchery.  What'd you find out at the magic shop?"

Once out in the hallway, Megan took out her cellphone and dialed John’s number.  She needed to call her mom and likely her dad as well, but wanted to speak with him first.

Sarah sighs and nods.  "Yeah, I guess we should go.  Do you need anything from school Sammy?  Trombone?  Homework?  I can stop by on my way to the meet and then bring it later or drop it at your house or whatever."

She gets off Sammy and grins.  "Get well soon.  We'll go looking for heffalumps and woozles when your up for it."

She heads out of the room and into the hall where Megan is using the phone. 

[Megan]

John answers after only a couple of rings.  "Hey, everything okay?"

[Sylvia]


"They bought a pile of goodies."  he hands her the list, it's a copy of the receipt from the shop.  "Donnie should be able to make some sense of it."

“Yeah, we managed to remove the spell.  You over at the bunker yet with the rest of the guys?  If not, meet me at the park near my house and we can head over together.  You know, by our racing oak.”  She said cheerfully, reminding him of when she had let him know she had superpowers.  “Sammy seems to doing better.  She had iced her throat some and was able to speak a bit.  Seems in pretty good spirits.  Her dad and sister are on the way as well.”

"Ah, okay.  Meet you there in a few minutes."  he says.

John is waiting there when Megan arrives.

Megan hangs up and looks over at Sarah and makes her way out of the hospital with her old friend.  Once the two were outside, the blonde teen looked over and smiled.  “I’m going to head off and meet up with John.  I’ll see you at the bunker.”  With that, she is gone in an whoosh of air and a blur.

It was less that three minutes later that she had covered the three or so miles to arrive at the park to see John waiting.  Coming to a halt near him and the tree, Megan smiles up at him.  “Well, things back to normal now?”

"They certainly seem like it."  John says, taking her in his arms and giving her a warm kiss.  "Today was a hard day to be a hero."

Megan eagerly returned John’s kiss, welcoming the feel of his arms around her.  When he mentioned how harrowing the day had been, she was still in his arms with her arms behind his neck.  “Yeah, it was.  I’d like to believe days like this will be rare, but know that might be too optimistic.  What happened with Sammy was scary, yet it is something we will have to face the posibility of probably far too often.”

“But it is still worth it.  For if we don't, then who will?”  She adds as she moves her right hand from behind his head, her index finger running along his cheek softly.  “Should we go meet up with the others, or do you think we have some time to spare?”  She asked in a slightly husky voice.

Sammy waits until she's pretty sure the girls are gone.  Then she looks over at her mom, who still has that odd expression on her face.  She scribbles out another note, and says with a worried expression, "I'm not dying, am I?" as she hands it to the woman.  You didn't look this worried when you came in here and didn't know everything that was wrong with me.  Now you know, and you look like something is really wrong.  Am I really going to be okay, or are people just saying that so I don't freak out?

Sarah barely has time to say, "Okay" before the blur that is Megan is a two blocks away.  She sighs.  "No, really I'm good.  I'll uh catch a cab or something.  You don't have to wait for me.  Dammit.  I see why Seth is always drooling over getting a car.  I'd settle for a scooter." 

Her grumbling fades into silence.  There are always cabs pulling up at the hospital and she waves to one that has just dropped off a fare.  "You got money kid?" the cabby asks after seeing how young she is.  She nods and gives him an address near home and sits back and closes her eyes.  Even Colin's bike is looking pretty good right now.

A few minutes later the cab pulls over and Sarah fishes the few bills in her pocket out.  She looks at the meter and sighs, handing the lump total over to him which is fortunately enough to pay but only with a meager tip.  She climbs out and says, "Sorry."  The man waves it off.  "Forget about it.  I'm glad to see a kid that doesn't just hop out and run.  Good night kid."

"Goodnight." 

The cab pulls away and Sarah heads back down the block and into the house where Mom and Dad are waiting to rain hugs and kisses and parental concern down on her.  It doesn't feel too bad for a change.  Mart asks her all about it and she leaves out all the superhero parts. 
Finally she gets free and grabs a shower and a change of clothes.  She tells her parents about an important meeting while building a sandwich in the kitchen.  "I shouldn't be back late or anything tonight.  This is just a planning meeting I think."

She takes a skateboard out of the garage and heads down the block towards Greg's. 

She looks it over, but it likely makes no sense to her.  "You should come with me, meet the gang.  I mean, I'd like it if you'd come along.  I think you'd like them, they'd like you."  She finds herself babbling and tries to stop.  "Donnie said it would be okay."  Imaginary Sylvia--not illusionary Sylvia--is slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand.  What is it with this guy?

[Megan]


"There are days it's hard, things just don't work out right sometimes.  But in the end I still think it's worth it."  After she asks if they have time he looks around, "I think we can spare a few minutes."  he says with a smile.

[Sammy]


"No, you're not dying.  I just never realized how dangerous it was to be a hero too.  Being a villain it made sense that it was dangerous, but I always thought heroes had it easier.  I just realized today that it's hard to be a hero too."  She squeezes Sammy's hand, "I just wasn't ready for how hard it would be to be a heroes mom."

[Sylvia]


"Sure.  We walking or flying?"  he asks a they move towards the parking lot.

“Yeah, and it doesn’t help when you let your guard down either.  And it is the right thing though, I guess my mom raised me to be more like her than she really realized.” 


Megan smiles back.  “Good.  Before we had far too much to worry about at the school, but when I reached the back parking lot and saw you in that fight I felt a lot of things.  There was anger at the witches for everything and concern for you as you were outnumbered.”  She paused as she looked into his eyes.  “But it was also rather hot to see you using your powers at full strength.”  Megan then leaned in to kiss him.

"I was walking.  You can fly if you want, maybe hand Donnie this list if it helps."

Sammy leans back into her pillow, relieved.  She scribbles another note for her mom.  "Just the paperwork alone is scary, huh?"   :)

Then she remembers that Kel didn't get back to anyone here about Breanna, at least not that she knows.  She tugs on Elrod's arm.  "Breanna."  She writes some more.  "I pulled Breanna out of the building -- did you see?  Do you know if she's okay?  B. was hit over the head by some girl who was jealous about a boy.  B. said she only knows you and Kel.  I know I didn't hit her.  Can you check around for me, see how she's doing?"

[Sylvia]


"Now you're just being stubborn.  Fine, I'll walk with you.  I'm in no hurry."

[Sammy]

Elrod nods and exits.  He returns a few minutes later, "They put a couple stitches in her head, the cops took her statement and they sent her home."

He gets a smile filled with thanks.  The part about the statement bugs her a little bit, because that means she'll probably have to make one too once the doctors give the thumbs up.  Guess its time to decide on a Name, she thinks.  They're going to need one for me.  She starts to scribble candidate names down, scratching out the less favored ones as she goes along.  I wonder what Mom's name was?  She probably wouldn't want me to use it though, just in case somebody noticed.


Whirlwind
Whirlaway wasn't that a racehorse?
Mistral
Scirocco
Zephyr
Tornado
Dustdevil
Typhoon
Breeze
Brisa
Chinook
Squall
Mariah nobody would get it
Cierzo
Santa Ana
Ariel
Tempest
Viento

Sylvia makes faces, practicality at war with propriety.  "Why is it that you can fly and Donnie can't?"  She didn't quite understand what Donnie was telling her that day.  Her mind wasn't entirely focused on the words coming out of his mouth.

"Donnie's not a dragon.  We're reflections of each other in a way.  He's a human that can summon dragons from the Reach and work human magic, I'm a dragon soul born into the flesh of a human that still has the powers I had as a dragon."

Sylvia listens to this with the usual somber expression.  Then her smile spreads.  "No-o-o.  Get out of here.  Really?"  She looks up at the sky, thinking about the fantasy novels she's read.  "Do you breathe fire?"

"Why, do you need me to light a cigarette?"

She grins and goes on, a born interrogator.  "How about, um . . . ooh, like Anne McCaffrey's dragons.  Do you have telepathic powers?"

Sammy begins to wonder when Dad and Steph will get there, then smiles.  When she was little, Dad, embarrassing geek that he was, would distract her by pointing somewhere and saying in an excited voice "Look!  The Winged Victory of Samothrace!".  Gullible kid that she was, she'd always look.  That would so serve him right... Winged Victory.  Except I have no wings...  Victory?  Samothrace?  She had looked it up once.  It was some famous Greek sculpture of the goddess Nike.  Nike?  No.  That's been taken.  Other goddess names maybe?  Calliope?  Terpsichore?  Nemesis!  the daughter of Justice, avenger, vengeance.  Oooh.  That got added too.  Who knew paying attention in the myths and legends part of last year's lit class was going to come in handy?

She adds Winged Victory, Victory, Samothrace, and Nemesis to the list.  Nemesis.  That one felt...comfortable.  But was it something she could live up to?

[Sammy]

Sammy's dad and sister eventually arrive.  Steph has little to say about the events of the day.  She evacuated with the fire alarm.  Mom and dad are just glad that the girls are both alright.

[Sylvia]

Dylan gives Sylvia a look that indicates he's not going to be the subject of her questions.  They continue to the bunker.

Somebody gets the TV activated, so there's noise going on in the background.  Sammy slips Elrod a warning note.  "Steph doesn't know about me."  :)

Mom fills in Dad and Steph about what has happened so far, and what the doctors are saying.  She asks her sister to let Heather know about Sammy, if Heather doesn't already know.  She tells her dad she probably lost her cell phone in the chaos.  After a while Sammy just kind of lays there listening to everything around her, eyes half closed, thinking about hot tubs and hero names.

She drifts off to sleep.

Dreams of fun fill Sammy's head.  She is warm mand safe in the hospital.  Everyone went home and mom promised to be back in the morning.  The doctors said Sammy should be able to be released tomorrow.

The nurses are in from time to time to wake her up and ask if she's asleep.  They check her pupils and vitals and then leave her so she can go back to sleep.  It's just another night in the hospital for them.

The last time someone comes in she barely wakes up.  The routine is a little different, but they don't disturb her too much as they sedate her and bundle her up.  She's sound asleep as they drop her into the laundry baket and wheel here out the back to the trunk of a waiting car.  Taking her to a very important appointment.

OOC:  That's nice.   :-*    Let me know when she wakes up.