Edge of Breaking [ReD]

As tired and sleepless she was, Adelene was back to the hospital first thing in the morning.

In the first place, she hadn't wanted to leave Lochlann last night. But his doctor, Dr. Hart, had insisted otherwise. She was forced to take a cab home, forced to try to rest, but coming home and leaving Lochlann only gave anxiety and worry and fear some space to reach and claw on her chest and stomach. She couldn't sleep even though she tried. Her eyes only stared at her ceiling when she had lied down, blinking against tears whenever her vision blurred.

She hadn't had breakfast. She only took a quick shower and changed clothes before heading out. Her face was colorless, her eyes had dark and swollen bags, as she entered the hospital at 8 am.

Through the entrance, through the lobby, through the heavy air and the echoing sadness, she walked quickly to the assistance desk to ask how Lochlann was doing. She needed to know if he was doing okay, so she could visit him in his room.

No one told her anything.

"We're sorry, we can't let him have visitors at the moment," was mostly what they said.

How can they even say that to her? Poor Addy, sleepless and stressed and full of thoughts that kept her on the edge just before breaking. Her face darkened. Her brows furrowed down above her nose as her eyes narrowed to a sharp stare. "Why?" she asked. But they kept insisting for her to just come back later. And she can't have that.

They needed to be thankful for the counter being too high for Adelene to jump over easily. Because just before she can even try, a nurse had already called her, a soft, "Miss Cross?" from behind. She turned around frantically, expecting this nurse to tell her something she wanted to know.

Instead she was told that Dr. Hart wanted to see her. Well, good enough.

The nurse led her to the doctor's office. She came inside quietly, almost too quietly. And then she greeted, "Hello, Doctor." It wasn't really appropriate to greet good morning.
@"ReD"

"Why won't they let me see him?"

She had no time nor did she care enough to look around his office. With it being spotless, nothing else really caught her eyes but the doctor himself, and well, the pot of coffee as he approached the said thing. Her voice was quiet and dejected, tired; but her tone as she spoke was everything that was needed to let the doctor know she wasn't here to have a nice and friendly chat. He should know just how stressed she was. After all, he was the one that sent her home.

"The people in the assistance desk won't let me go to his room. I'd visit him anyway, honestly. But... here I am instead." She shrugged. Even the way her eyes lowered looked dejected. "I was wondering if you'd tell me what happened while I was... gone. He's... okay, right?"

He had to be. Dr. Hart already treated him last night, so he had to be better after that. And this made things more confusing to poor Addy, because there shouldn't be a reason for them to keep her from going to his room. That is, if he really were okay. Reverse that, not letting her visit would mean something was wrong. Just thinking about it made her stomach turn, as if it were trying to grind hard stones.

The coffee smelled inviting though. It was probably the only good thing around her so far.
@"ReD"

The joke wasn't funny. Just hearing the word 'dead' made her knees weak, and for a moment, the air was knocked out of her lungs.

She took in a heavy and shaky breath, as if she was trying hard to hold her sobs. She needed to take a seat. Slowly and hesitantly, she approached the chair by the doctor's desk. Sat down. Even though she was still too tensed to realize how relaxing the chair's cushion was.

"Blood work?" she repeated, almost inaudibly. Her hands were fidgeting with one another. How could she stay put like this when all she could think of were bad things? Her only relief was that Lochlann was alive, and that he was being observed by a specialist. And if he tried to jump from a window, which was stupid, that meant he had enough energy, right?

Adelene bit her lower lip. Looking up from her lap and to the doctor's face, a confused look twisted her own, as she shook her head to let Dr. Hart know that she had no idea what he was talking about. "Me?" she asked "What do you mean..? Of course I'm alive, nothing... nothing bad happened to me."
@"ReD"

((It's fine~ we'll work something out with that. But I can give you more details on Addy's background if you need them.))



"Wait, what?"

Suddenly, her only memories, her vague memories, of that night almost twelve years ago flashed before her eyes. She froze, as her mind took her back to her first memories, of that night when she woke up lying on her belly, staring up at blurred figures of wrecked cars lit up by red and orange light which she knew without a doubt were flames. There was the smell of damp grass and soil just literally under her nose, mixed with the stench of burning gas, burning wood, burning flesh. And there was blood. Strong scent of musky metal all around her. Her ears, too, were filled with the roaring and cracking of the big flames. And, even though she was absolutely unhurt sitting there in front of Dr. Hart, she felt pain all over her once more, on her head, her chest, her back, everywhere.

She cringed. She couldn't really remember most of the other things that happened that night, so as the flashback ended, her eyes refocused on the doctor, despite the trails of pain and confusion and loss that still lingered in them.

As if Aiden just hit the bull's eye.

"How do you even... know that..?" she muttered. She'd drop this conversation, if only she wasn't so troubled, so confused all of a sudden, and so distressed. "I can't even remember much of it, Doc. I don't even know if my real parents died, or if I was even with them that night." Suddenly, her eyes darkened, sharpened and narrowed. Suddenly, there was a look in them that showed she wanted an explanation. "Where did you get that info?"
@"ReD"

Adelene curled away in her seat.

She closed in, her shoulders hunched as she leaned back against the seat as far as she could, because there really was no reason for her to feel comfortable and assured at the moment. Dr. Hart scared her. Him knowing about that night scared her.

He was looking at her with concern, but she replied with a wary look that showed she wasn't entirely willing to talk. Nor can she really talk so much about it, to be honest.

"Why do you want to know?" For the moment, Aiden managed to pull her attention away from Lochlann. It's all his for now. Her eyes lowered to the table, scanning it absentmindedly as she tried to recall that night. Even though she wasn't comfortable talking about it, facing this topic made her want to remember anyway. "I really can't remember much about that night, Doc. I passed out and woke up to... new parents. I don't know what happened before that, just... burning cars was all." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Doc. I can't remember."
@"ReD"