Sequal to : Insane
The first time he hadn't showed up in three years.Something was wrong, she just knew it. He always came, always always. He'd skipped press conferences, mayoral awards, work shifts… There wasn't a thing that would prevent him from coming to see her, unless… But she wouldn't think like that. He couldn't be. It would be on the news if he had. But then why wasn't he here…
She shivered standing on her balcony, as a warm July breeze ruffled her skirt.
The first time he hadn't showed up in three years.
"How is he?"
"Bad. But nothing that he hasn't taken before. He should wake up sometime in the next two days, and we'll see from there."
"When will he be able to go home?"
"Home? Mr. Nightwing, I'm not sure if you understand how bad a condition he is in. Home shouldn't be an option for a good week if we're lucky."
"I understand what his condition is perfectly. You should be worrying about how he takes it when he wakes up."
"How he… ?"
"Tomorrow is Tuesday. If you have restraints I suggest you use them."
It was a sad sight. Garfield Logan lay bruised and beaten on a cold hospital bed, his chest, rhythmically rising and falling with mechanical help. It had been a long battle, and his injuries more than told the tale. His ribs were bruised, if not cracked. His left eye was swollen and purple. He had had a bullet in his thigh and several barbs in a line up his back. Some knuckles were broken. Some hair was singed. Even his ear was tattered.
If he was awake he would have shrugged it off (if the pain from the gesture hadn't made him pass out), like the old jokester we all knew. But he stayed asleep (drugged) long into the night, nestled in the dark with the beeps and whirrs of his lifeline.
"What's happening?!"
"He's awake!"
"Someone get the restraints!"
"I though we gave him something to sleep."
"We tried but-"
"I have to go!"
"Mr. Logan, please!"
"Let me out of here I have to leave!"
"Mr. Logan you are in no condition to be acting like this! You will only injure yourself further if you continue-"
"I'm late!"
"Where are those restraints?!"
"Someone give him a paralyser"
"I would if I could get close enough."
"Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, you are needed in the infirmary immediately."
"Aaahh!"
"What's going on?"
"You need to calm him. Please. He won't listen to us at all."
"I told you already."
"What?"
"I told you to keep him unconscious, or restrained for that matter."
"We tried sir. We were just about to administer the next dosage and he woke up."
"Let me go!"
"B, calm down man! We know you're going to miss it today but-"
"Let. Me. Go!"
"He won't listen to reason."
"Should I make the call?"
"Yeah…"
"The… the call? Where is he going?"
"Just worry about getting him asleep."
Rae, I know you're there. And I know you're wondering about Gar. He's hurt real bad, and he's in the Watchtower infirmary. He's trying to get out and see you and he's just hurting himself even more. If you could make it up here it would help him a lot. I know how much you mean to him."
The Watchtower was suddenly very quiet. Even Flash looked up from the game of 'pop your block off' he was playing with John. The pale woman in the white dress blinked and silently floated down the stairs, ever so slowly making her way across the room. Excited whispers made the air buzz.
"Is that-"
"I thought she was dead."
"What is she doing here?"
"Isn't she insane?"
"Hey!"
"What?..."
Her purple eyes flicked around the room, enticing more whispers and blatant staring. Her toes dragged across the floor, towards where she knew he would be. Her purple locks drifted behind her, almost as long as her teenage colleague. The dress she was wearing was his favorite… she just knew.
"How is he?"
"Well… he put up quite a struggle, but he settled down after about an hour. He's going to have to stay longer now, and he's got some more injuries to add to the list. I'm pretty sure he opened up the gash on his chest."
"Will it leave a scar?"
"Oh definitely."
"He'll be fine then."
"You superheroes and your beatings. I've worked here a long time, long enough to see Batman have to take bed rest, and I've seen him here before. He was always so laid back, and co-operative. Why was he so anxious to get out of here today?"
"Well you see, it's Tuesday."
"… What?"
"Excuse me miss?" Doctor Morsett was used to shoo-ing off after hour's visitors. She was a stickler for the rules and was a fierce negotiator. But even she faltered at the sight of this stranger. "Can I help you?"
The woman said something odd under her breath, and went right by, barely moving. She headed straight to the end of the hall and opened the door without a sound. The Doctor was used to odd powers in her line of work (and city) but there was something distinctly different about her…
Garfield Logan was not someone to go quietly. It seemed appropriate that he almost killed himself in the attempt to get out of the musty room and escape to Jump City, Delilah Crescent, Apartment 32. His heart monitor steadily beeped beside him, the continual pattern of green blazing brightly in the dark. His eyes opened groggily, and tried to focus on anything without the drugs in his system forcing him to sleep. His heart monitor became more frantic as he struggled to lift his head, but with little strength left, it flopped to the right.
He should have been seeing stars (literally) and the blue glow of Earth, but there was a distinct figure blocking his view. She sat perched on a stool, curling her bare toes around the bar. She smelled fruity, like lavender and jasmine. And then he remembered the one person who still burned incense.
"Raven.. "
"Here." She whispered. She moved her hand over his, and as he adjusted to the dark he saw her eyes, gazing unblinkingly at him. Her fingers slowly ran along his forehead and through his hair, wiping away smudged ash and soot. "Hurt." She frowned at him. It seemed that she was told about his little struggle. "Shouldn't." her fingers slid along his scuffed cheekbones, and his stitched chest.
His fingers grabbed for her hand again, and she looked into his eyes again. He managed a shaky smile for Raven before his eyes started to droop again.
"Here now." She said, sliding onto the bed beside him. She nestled under his un-injured arm and blinked at him, her amethyst eyes whispering promises and words of comfort. Her hand rested on his stitches.
"Here now…"
"The former Teen Titan Beast Boy, more commonly known as Beast now, was currently injured with his job in the Justice League." Said the female anchor of the five o'clock news, clearly wearing too much makeup.
"That's right Dianne." Said her co-anchor, a dark man who liked to use his eyebrows a lot. "According to eye-witnesses he took quite a beating, and only stopped fighting when backup arrived on the scene. Our sources say he's in the Watchtower infirmary, sustaining severe injuries."
The camera switched back to Diane in her tweed pantsuit. "But fortunately, he's got some company. We've been told that the pronounced dead Titan of years ago 'Raven' is staying at his side. I believe we managed to get some kind of footage or photographs of her?"
On screen a grainy photograph of a pale woman in a flowing white dress. Her eyes were closed, and her hair flew in wisps around her. Black magic was spiraling up around her ankles and whoever had taken the picture had obscured the bottom right of the picture with their finger.
"Well Diane, she doesn't look very dead to me." The anchor laughed. Just as the camera was switching to Diane again, the television was turned off.
"Well… looks like she made it." Nightwing turned to Cyborg. Who in turn turned to Starfire, who in turn, turned to the infirmary window, where a very conscious Beast was talking softly to Raven.
"Do you think he'll let her leave?"
I think it's apropriate that the one story i did without writing it down on my notebook first, has a seuel that i also did without writing down. The sequel to insane, where Beast Boy almost misses a tuesday.
I'm thinking about doing another one after this, but i'm really busy with trying to finish McAdams and doing the first ten words of the fifty word challenge.
I know that maybe she isn't acting like she did in 'How Long Is Forever' but i like her anyways so stick it.
Woot for Harry Potter. But i read it before it was cool :P (1997)