It was 6:00 in the morning when Dr. Horse first welcomed himself into the still-injured athlete's room the following sunrise. Prior to her stay at C.H., Rain had never realized just how early hospitals sprung to life. Just when she had benumbed herself to that stale hospice melody of beeps, air-conditioning, hurried foot-steps and humming lights, the brunette had (surprisingly) managed to re-welcome slumber for a short span of time. Well, after six-and-a-half hours of indulging in Daring Do, of course.
If it wasn't for Rain's ADHD, she'd have finished the book that night--but a significant bulk of her reading was spent deconstructing the text or forcing forward elaborate visualizations in order to spice up the extravagant tale even more. Even still, only about a fourth of the story remained, making her wish more than ever that these wounds of hers would get ahold of themselves and heal already. Luckily, Daring Do was keeping Rain from shattering the rightmost window and diving through--But whenever it was that she would end up completing it, she wasn't sure how she was going to cope.
Dash mourned over the assassination to the perfectly-peaceful dimness which blanketed her room only seconds before the nurse rolled the blanche blinds open so that luminous rays could rive their way through. As much as she thrived in her wakefulness, the hyperactive lass priced her snoozes with lofty regard as well.
"Really?" she groaned, rubbing away her fatigue with a weak fist to the eyes.
The doctor paused and snuck an attentive look over his shoulder before replying, "Very sorry Miss Rain. I was just about to run some more blood tests on you and I didn't want to startle you awake, so I figured this might help." A smile imprinted upon his maw as he strode back over to his portable set up of varied medical supplies and tools--If it were more polychromatic and vibrant, Rain might've even compared the wheely contraption to one of Piper's party carts.
She stared at the ceiling listlessly as Dr. Horse exchanged her fluids once more, drew forth his needle, and collected vials of the scarlet substance from her free arm, scrunching away some of her bandage for a good vein.
Rain was never one to be fearful around needles, which was something--like many other things--she had been abnormally proud about for as long she could remember. However, she had a feeling this routine would come to get real old, real fast while she stayed here at C.H.--especially if it encroached upon her valued slumber like this.
"Didn't you just do this yesterday?" she pressed. Dr. Horse released a soft chuckle before replying, "Yes, but those were injections. And we will be taking blood-samples every morning just to track your progress and ensure all is well." He reorganized his haul before proceeding, "Breakfast will be served in about an hour. Could I get you anything else before I go?"
Dash lit up at the reminder of her and her friends planned engagement to come. "No, thanks. And tell them to hold off on the breakfast here, that base is already covered," she announced and earned another laugh from the doc in response before he nodded and dismissed himself.
The brunette spent the two next hours wrapping up Daring Do--exclaiming, "Wow," once she flipped the book closed. She was shocked when a gleeful reaction emanated from her left, "Is it really that good Rainy-Rain? Maybe I need to start picking up action-stories too!" Piper leaned in with an evident lack of spacial awareness, causing Dash to recoil with consternation. She set a palm to Pie's forehead and slowly steered her back, warning, "Piper..."
Notably unbothered, the poofy-haired girl bounced back another step, yawping, "Oops! Right. Personal space. Sorry Rain!"
"It's fine Piper," Rainbow tittered, "It's really good, I'm bummed it's finished now though." The young athlete was stoked to see Piper here--though she expressed it with little words--but wondered where the rest of her crew was. She decided against asking, however, when Tiana and Rachel breached the curtain with cordial smiles moments later.
Knowing Piper, she probably took the stairs and still beat them, she mused to herself.
"Hi Rain! How are you doing dear?" Rachel asked, cerulean orbs bright with an elegant charm even Dashie could appreciate. Out of all of her friends, Rachel gave off the most motherly energy--always fretting over the wellness of her friends. Well, her and Tiana--who came to stand next to the dignified woman at the foot of Rain's bed.
"I'm okay, just..." the brunette athlete trailed off, but Tiana intercepted with, "Bored? I don't blame you. Hospitals are the worst." The nerdish woman then found a seat on the teal leather couch wedged in the far-right corner next to the window sill, to which Piper and Rachel then joined. "Exactly," Rain replied.
Dash almost didn't even notice when Fae slipped through the drapery on the other side, clenching two takeout bags beneath dainty fingers.
Rainbow felt the most pacified by Fae's presence--the two had been longtime childhood friends since before they started reciting the alphabet and counting by 5's. It was times like this, where she was really struggling the most, that that sisterly bond between them really shone. Fae knew Rain almost as well as she knew the inner-workings of a rabbit--and that said a lot.
Once they made eye-contact and exchanged warm nods in greeting, the shy lass mumbled, "Hi Rain, I hope we're not too late...AJ and I went to pick up the food before heading over."
Then...where the hell is AJ? Was what Rain thought, but she tried not to be rude. Though, her keenly lit glances along the perimeter of the room must've given her away, as Piper displayed her freakish telepathy by stating, "AJ should be here anyyyy second now. Her and Fae carpooled over here."
Fae turned and peeked back behind the curtain, appearing to mouth indistinguishable words through a faintly troubled expression. She then inched back a few steps and allowed the cowgirl to creep through, who held another two bags full of takeout at her sides.
Shit. It was only upon seeing AJ that Rain realized how awkward this was gonna be.
AJ stood motionless for a time, an unreadable look crossing over her visage and eliciting the formation of sweat droplets across Rain's back. The perturbed jocky didn't even know what to say--so instead she broke the haunting trance by allowing her amber gaze to fall down towards the floor at the right of her bed and creep up to the window.
It seemed to work, because AJ shuffled forward and cleared the space between the entrance and the couch in a few short clacks-of-a-boot. The farm-girl recognized that there only existed one remaining spot on the bench, and so beckoned Fae over with a sweeping hand before offering, "Yuh can come sit over here sugarcube, I'm fine standin'"
"Oh, uhm...are you sure AJ? I'm really okay to stand too you know..." Fae uttered, fidgeting with the contents in her hands.
"Nonsense, Fae, take a seat. I'd best not stay too long anyhow, them critters back at home don't feed themselves y'know," AJ replied, lifting a forearm to itch her freckled nose.
Not stay too long? But you just got here, Rain thought, stifling a disgruntled frown. She understood that AJ was a busy gal, but still, she couldn't prevent a woeful sensation from slithering into her chest. Dash was beginning to drift off into a state of rumination until Rachel recovered the conversation, "Well now, let's dig right in, shall we? I bet Rain is starving after having to suffer those horrid meals they serve here."--That fanciful lady was absolutely right about that. No food beat the sogginess of a hospital tuna-sandwich.
"Oooh, yes! I am hung-gah-ree!!!" Piper squealed. Fae set her rump to the sofa and the six began to divvy-up drinks and meals as according to their usual breakfast orders. For Tiana, french toast; Rachel, a croissant; Piper, some waffles; Fae, a cup of oats; AJ, a large apple fritter; and Rain, an egg-and-ham sandwich.
"So, Rain, you finished Daring Do already?--I don't even think I read it that fast when I got it!" Tiana remarked once she swallowed the first mouthful of her food. Rain didn't bother with such table manners, she answered immediately with her mouth still stuffed, "Yeah man! Are you kidding?" she gulped down the bite, "...what else am I supposed to do? There's hardly any wifi or service here, and the staff only come in every few hours or so," she then dove right back in for another chomp.
"Well, there's no more left in that series as of yet, butttt if you want I can try to recommend you some other action-packed reads," suggested the bookish woman, waggling her brows in a sheepish grin. Was this her attempt at ploying her into becoming an egghead like her? No way! It was Daring Do and Daring Do only for this chump!
"No thanks, I'll pass," she lifted the novel and sapped up it's beauty one last time before tossing it over to a now sulky-faced Tiana and proceeding, "It was reallyyyy good though, especially that part where Daring kicked that dragons ass, and she..." Rainbow fan-girled openly about the series with Tiana for another five minutes or so before Piper scoffed down the final morsel of her waffle and chirped, "Hey Rainy, when did the doc say you'd be out? I may or may not have found the funnest, most amazing karaoke bar ever for your welcome-home party." The corners of the afro-haired girl's mouth sprung into a widened grin.
"Pie..." cautioned Tiana from behind gritted teeth. "She's only just got here darling..." Rachel added in an almost whisper.
But it was good to know that she wasn't the only one desperate for Rain to make a bust from this place. "...Uh, I don't know, they haven't confirmed with me yet...but I can't imagine they'd keep me here much longer, I've come way too close to punching one of the nurses out, and I think they can tell," Rain joked, and all girls laughed in response.
All, but AJ.
Not only did AJ usually snicker at nearly every one of her jests within a conversation, she'd often quip back a few of her own in return. Come to think of it, AJ hadn't spoken a word to Rain since she got here this morning. Were those nurses sure they didn't send that stubborn blonde home with a screw loose or something? Something was definitely up.
Rain couldn't stomach the reticence any longer--she turned her attention toward the cowgirl suddenly and blurted, "How have you been AJ?"
Fuck. Way to be subtle about it, the dud scolded herself inwardly, mortified by her own words. Her heart thrummed against her chest as AJ took an abnormal amount of time to react--She was certainly more caught off guard by Dash's question than the athlete had anticipated.
Finally, the cowgirl stuttered, "A-ah've been...just doin' my work on the farm and all, y'know how it goes...You?"
Rain frowned. That was not the sort of response she'd been hoping for. She knew AJ would jump through flaming hoops not to tell a lie, but man, did she have to say it like that? Obviously she'd been slaving away at her usual farmyard routine, but AJ's answer really didn't address Rain's concern about her, you know, entire emotional and physical welfare?
In fear of where this conversation might lead in front of all her friends, Rainbow dropped the topic altogether with a simple, "I'm fine." and then, "Piper, whats the name of that bar you're talking about?"
"Crystal Empire! Kind of silly right? But it's a reallll fancy one! Rach, I think you would love it too, half of the waiters have loopy moustaches and everything costs way more than it should," the cheery woman beamed, obviously unawares of--or unconcerned with--the slight shift in tone that swept briefly over the room from the temporary interaction between the two tomboys.
Fae cleared her throat gently before murmuring, "Uhm, Pie, are you sure we'll all be able to afford such a place? I don't know if it's within my budget..."
"What? No silly, you're not paying, you're a guest! I've got my ways..." Piper sniggered, and the girls seemed to have mutely decided against questioning it. This was Pie, there was no clear solution to any of her mysteries.
As the ladies nattered comfortably to one another, Rain found herself coasting in and out of their confab. While she tried to enjoy what she usually would have regarded as a faultless morning, she couldn't repudiate the fact that some key piece was missing. And that 'piece' stood dully in her tawny-hued ropers, her viridescent gaze stripped of a certain spark that Rainbow grieved like a drug. The air grew cooler, and goosebumps bloomed as she stared into the detached blonde, wishing she could leap from her hospital bed and shake some wakefulness into her. But even if she could, she wouldn't. Something in the space between them was stale, tense, and not to be touched. Dashie only hoped that whatever it was, she could figure it out, and that it wouldn't stick around for too long.
"Rain dear, you've gone awfully quiet, is something the matter?" Rachel pealed Dashie from her glum daze, a look of worry polluting her face. The other girls went silent and their attention turned towards the athlete at her mention.
"What--oh, yeah, I'm just tired," she lied.
"Oh, well we're okay to leave early if you need some more rest," Tiana stood up and earned nods of agreement from the others, who seemed equally as worried.
Before Rainbow could object, Dr. Horse entered, rolling a wheelchair in front of him and said, "Perfect timing! I was worried I'd be interrupting, but Rain, we need to bring you downstairs for your next X-Ray."
The group bid their farewells and left Rain isolated for the rest of the day--Losing herself in disconsolate pondering. She began to wish she had surrendered to Tiana's new book proposition after all, but the time had passed, and now all she had to do today was compete with the one thing she struggled to win against (other than AJ):
Her thoughts.
___
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Ello lovelies! I loved writing this chapter, don't get me wrong, BUT I JUST WANT TO SCREAM MY PLANS OUT TO THE LESBIAN CHASM. I have some exciting things planned for this fic if you couldn't already tell, and I'm hoping it doesn't flop before I get there :,))
As always, please be sure to leave a vote or a comment if you are still enjoying this fic--Y'all I promise I see every single comment and I read them over and over. The support I've been getting from this fic has been so inspiring, so thank you.
Have a wonderful rest of your day/night!!
(I will be editing and revising tomorrow lol)