Medical City Hospital
Bright, wide lights hang from the ceiling, casting the clean and sterile surroundings with brilliant light. A reception area sits centered before the door where people can check in, or ask for directions to other areas within the hospital. Past the desk is a small hallway with elevators leading to the upper floors, and signs that point to radiology.
Two large metal doors to the left of the entrance lead outside to the ambulance loading dock. The doors are marked 'EMERGENCY ONLY' in large red letters.
It's dark outside, which means it's night. At least Hope can only /assume/ it's night. She can't really see much outside of the room, and it's definitely nice and bright in the room. The curtain around her bed is drawn closed, since she's supposed to be resting. The problem with having an infection fever that the antibiotics aren't working on? She can't actually sleep restfully. So she's been tossing, and turning, and muttering funny stories about turtles and yelping about mucousy frogs.
For all she knows, she's still in the room by herself. The pretty wildflowers that Hana delivered are on her bedside table. They brighten up the otherwise drab room considerably.
Outside of the room is a single police officer, perched on a chair outside the door. At least he's /supposed/ to be there. Only he's gone off for a coffee from one of those awful vending machines. Which means that there is an empty chair outside the door, and with the nurses busy with the newest emergency the floor is pretty silent and empty.
With Hope's current condition she likely has no real idea of who all has been in and out of her room. It isn't just her room any longer, however, as the eldest Cornett sibling is sharing it with her. Robert is also asleep courtesy of a high dosage of drugs post surgery. His leg is supported as it heals from the operation, his hands on his stomach as he sleeps. He's oblivious to her condition or else he'd be by her side, moreso than he already is. Sharing a home together would be one thing but sharing a hospital room is something that he wishes was not happening.
Good ol' evening. The nice thing about it is it's a great time for college kids to be hanging out and so it goes double the case for Tripp- Two for the price of one! Or.. Something.
Tripp had spent the last week or so trying to get his affairs in order and it'd been a reasonable distraction from things going on with the twins.
Tonight brings him to the hospital however, for obvious reasons- It's convenient for him that the guard has temporarily stepped away, allowing the black-clad teen to slip into the room undetected- Clad in black jeans, leather coat and a white t-shirt; sunglasses atop his head. In hand is a bouquet of flowers- Nothing expensive mind.
Seeing that Hope has a roomate catches him off-guard, but.. Well whatever, he had no idea who the guy was. Standing in the front of his friends bed he simply stands there quietly; and what was supposed to be a thirty second trip eventually becomes fifteen minutes.
When someone stares at you for fifteen minutes, no matter how delirious you are, you're going to notice. Only in her fevered state, Hope thinks she's having one of those weird hallucinatory dreams. The blonde Tyler twin rubs her eyes a few times, and then positive that it has to be a dream because, let's face it, Tripp is dead to her, she squeaks, "OHMYGOSH, TRIPP! Where's Faith? Did she come with you?" There is a struggle with the blankets on the bed, and despite the nasty wolf-bite on her leg, she's trying to stand up.
"I'm sorry I missed the concert. I got bogged down with a project. You guys had fun though? It was a good concert? Man, I wish I could have been there. I really wanted to see them play."
Someone starting at Hope isn't going to make him wake up. He's far too gone for that, even if he normally is a fairly light sleeper. What does begin to wake him up is the fact that his ex girlfriend is moving around and talking. The words are heard but not processed; Robert stirs but he's not actually awake just yet. It likely is a good thing or else he'd not be in bed at this point. Tripp deserves his alone time with Hope.
"W- What." Tripp suddenly looks taken aback; he thought Hope was just, he doesn't know, talking in her sleep or something and it was just so -unusual- that he couldn't help but just watch. It's kind of like a train wreck, but with a considerably cuter face.
What doesn't miss his eye is the bite on her leg, so Hope doesn't get much further than kicking her legs off the bed before the young man sets his hand on her shoulder and tries to keep her from standing, "Woah, easy there," he starts with a small, but worried, smile.
"I didn't to go a concert with Faith tonight, Hope. I'm visiting you here in the hospital.." he says, tone gentle and quiet; no point in softening the blow he decides, "It looks like you hurt your leg."
"No, she totally dragged you to see Van Halen!" Hope shoves at his shoulders, trying to nudge him away from stopping her getting up. "Quit trying to play a joke on me, Tripp." She glances around, but doesn't seem to even realize she's in the hospital at all. "There was something I had to tell you. I remember. Only you kissed Faith." Hands rub at her temples like she's trying to remember, but her foggy brain just won't let her. This must be what Faith was feeling in the institute. Only, Faith has never been in an institute, right?
"Where'd you go after the concert? Pleeeease tell me you guys went to get pizza. I'm starved."
That is most certainly Hope talking, and she's making no sense what so ever. In fact, he has to stop and wonder if it is the drugs talking. So Bobby's eyes open and move over to the curtain area, watching as best as he can form his bed. Again he remains silent, if only for now. It can't be possible that someone not cleared to visit is inside the room so he's trying to figure out who exactly is the man that she's speaking with.
"R- Really.." Tripp replies, and of course Hope pretty much has no chance of nudging him away, "Ok ok just relax, and sit down, ok?"
He's trying to be as gentle as possible with his touch, as he tries to process what cuold be going on in Hope's head. Well, she's probably drugged up- So what should he do, play along or tell the truth? He decides to just be vague for now, heck maybe he might even learn something? "We uh, we didn't get pizza I'm afraid. Something kind of came up.." his cheeks redden slightly to the mention of Faith's kiss, and then a moment after that he double-takes, "W- Wait a minute, you -saw- that?"
"I guess I'll have to sneak down to the kitchen later." No pizza means no snacking, and her stomach is grumbling something awful. The real world filters through her fever-dream though, and she asks, "Have you seen Bobby? Faith was supposed to tell me something about him, but she forgot."
Then the fever-state takes over again and she nods. "I saw it. It made me angry. I can't remember why. It's why I sent you guys away after the party. So you could be alone. You know, to kiss some more or something." Hope shrugs, but she settles back onto the bed without too much more struggle.
Okay, now he knows that something isn't right. She's all over the place, past and present, and the raging douche in the room isn't making things any easier for her. She's sick, potentially a lot more than anyone knows, and he can't stand for that. How does one enter into a conversation at this point? To just blurt out that he's here seems rather impersonal, even if he does feel the need to kick this stranger out of the room. So Bobby reaches for his crutches and eventually sides himself to be sitting on the bed. The movements will easily be heard, especially by the vampire but he doesn't care.
".. Oh." Tripp replies, clearly a bit stunned. So stunned is he that the fact she plans to move off later doesn't register- At least not right away. In fact, come to think of it, "I.. Don't know who Bobby is." he confesses, it must have been someone the twins met while he was away at his old University. Maybe they were briefly introduced but he really has no idea.
He stands there a bit awkwardly, really uncertain why it bothers him so much that she'd seen the two kiss but somehow it just -does-. There's the sound of shuffling nearby, gaze shifting in that direction, ".. I'd better get going."
"Did you hear that? Maybe Faith brought pizza!" The thought makes her rub her tummy, and she just smiles at Tripp. "I remember now. I didn't tell anyone except Faith, and not until later." Though she recalls mentioning it to other people, just not /who/ the it was. "I love you. That's why I was angry." HELLO FEVER DREAM. Goodness. If she knew she was talking to a vampire, she'd go all samurai and commit seppuku. "I was jealous. Only you're not here. You're dead. So I guess I'm talking to myself."
Just as he's about to stand she drops that bombshell. Instead of standing right away, one of his crutches falls to the floor with a loud clatter. Snapping out of it he uses his remaining crutch to get out of bed. The fallen is retrieved and instead of moving to them, Bobby moves to the door. "I don't want to interrupt the lovebirds," he mentions somewhat darkly. Just as his hand is out of a cast his knee is obviously the focus of the surgery. He also has bandages on his leg from a wolf bite. "I'll come back once you're asleep." Eyes barely glance at Hope in the process but he does size Tripp up and down before reaching for the door.
".. Hoboy." Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwkward
*clatter* Tripp jumps slightly, quickly looking in the direction of Bobby again. He doesn't recognize him.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, I just.. We're not going out " Tripp starts, and then starts stumbling on his words as the 'bomb' sets off again. And now she thinks he's dead again. Just -what- happened to Hope? "Look, before you go can you tell me what happened with her? Do you kn-" he notices the same marks on his leg. Suddenly their rooming togeather seems less a coincidence. And just, god, so awkward, any change of subject would be good about now. His face is red as a beet; probably an impressive feat for a Vampire.
Then again, that final comment from Hope might have worked heavily against him in talking to Bobby. Hope he missed it.
The loud clatter is enough to make Hope jump up on the bed. Of course, this causes her to put weight on her bitten leg, which causes her to topple right off the bed, onto the floor. "YEOW!" There goes her tailbone. She'll have to worry about that later. "Bobby! You're here! Your knee… you made it through surgery! Where are you going? What lovebirds?" There's a pause. "I don't see any birds." She blinks a few times. "You can see my hallucination?"
The temptation to just leave is there, so very there, but Robert is not one to completely give up on those that he loves. He turns to face the two of them just as he reaches the door. There is a moment where he nearly moves to her, the expression on his face softening only for Hope. "She's been bit by a creature. Werewolf or something else, I don't know, but it was in the shape of a wolf. This is likely the fever that killed my father." A hand rubs at his face as it is all he can do to stand there. "Same one that got me." Bobby looks between the two before fixing on Tripp. "You have to tell her, or else I will."
Tripp should have moved a little faster; by the time he's crouched she's already hit the floor, causing him to cringe. But if the young woman allows, he'll scoop her up as carefully as he can and set her back into the bed, still seeming flustered. But now that he thinks about it she has a boyfriend now, doesn't he? Surely she must have gotten over him, right?
Y- Yeah, that has to be it. Werewolf attacks. Tripp furrows his brows a bit, "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm new to Texas, so I'm not really up to date on the current happenings," he explains, "A- Anyway, she already has a boyfriend.. It's not me." the second part is said in a much much lower tone, making a subtle cut-throat motion.
After that he nods in agreement, "Hope, listen to me.." he says, rubbing a bit awkwardly at his arm, "He's not here for surgery, he's here the same reason you are. You got attacked earlier, by a creature, you're both here for the same thing. As for me being here it's complicated. Not really important right now."
"Bobby, don't leave me. I'm scared. And there's a policeman that might hurt Serenity." She sounds so desperate. So needy. So /scared/. "But I had to tell them. I /had/ to. They were asking all these questions, and my brain was fuzzy. They think it's after you. That girl-wolf. Well your family. I don't know. It hurts… and you were in surgery. I need you please don't leave me again?"
"He's not my boyfriend, he dumped me for a witch." Quite literally. "But he can't go. I need him."
"No, Faith said he came for surgery for his knee. So that he'd be okay again. Faith wouldn't lie to me anymore. I know she wouldn't." A glance is given back to Bobby. "It's not going away. I can't make the hallucination go away." That she's on the bed again, that the hallucination lifted her up onto it doesn't even register. She's reaching out for the man in the doorway.
The crutches are held close to him with his elbows as he uses his hands to rub at his face. This is going to be a long process. "Hope, you have to listen to me. You're fevered due to the bite but you're not seeing things." There really is no easy way to do this. It's only with quick thinking that he moves away from the door, if only to free an escape path if anyone so chooses to use it. "I had knee surgery, yes. But we both did get attacked by a wolf." Knowing not where to move, Bobby remains standing. It hurts but he's doing it anyway. "I didn't dump you for her. But now's not the time to argue about semantics. Right now you have to realize that you're not seeing things. You're fevered but not seeing things. There are three of us in this room."
Oh. Ok, Tripp supposes he's the hallucination now. The boy gives a bit of an exasperated sigh. Though wait a minute -he's- Bobby, is he? Apparently dating a witch? Huuuh? He stares at him blankly for a moment, and then starts to look confused.
And then a bit of panic when Bobby insists there are three of them here, "Um, Bobby, I- I don't think this is a good idea, it may be better if she doesn't think I'm here. I just came to drop off flowers anyway."
Then again, he can't really leave without knowing a little more about this.. Wolf attack. It definitly sounds like something he should look into.
When Bobby doesn't leave, Hope seems to settle a little bit. She continues reaching out for him, wanting the comfort of the night she was bit. "Right… they gave me antibiotics, but the nurse said I'd see things." Knee surgery. "Bobby! You need to be resting. Come here." She motions for the bed, so that he can sit. She's worried about him, after all. "Wolf… okay. I know that. It's why my leg hurts… wait, three people?" Pointing at herself and him, that makes two. She glances toward Tripp, then back to Bobby. Then back and forth a few more times. The color swiftly draining from her cheeks. "Nonono," she wails. "He can't be here. He's /dead/. Dead people don't walk."
"Flowers? Hana brought me flowers." She looks between Tripp and Bobby again. "Is he really real? I'm not imagining it? But he… that means he's a vampire again, doesn't it?"
"So what? You're just going to leave flowers and let her figure it all out after the fact? Smooth, man." A pause. "And the name is Robert." He wasn't nice to the King of Texas so he certainly isn't going to be all that nice to Tripp. "I'm fine. I even got them to let us share a room." Slowly he works his way over to the bed, ready to be there for her without actually sitting down. "Stay down and rest. It will be okay. You'll see. We're getting through this together, right?" Bobby looks back to Tripp. "The fever will break eventually, even though it killed Dad I don't think we have to worry. But you might need to brush up on your wolf knowledge. Help finding the dick who did this would be nice, too." In this moment Hope almost reminds him of her sister. He now realizes that he has far more patience than previously expected. "Well, what do you want, Hope? For him to be gone when you wake up or for him to be real?"
"Mnngh.." Tripp grunts with a bit of frustration at Bobby, "Well no, I mean, it's not because I -want- to. I mean- It's complicated." is about the best he can put it given the circumstances. But feeling like he's sort of been put on the spot in a different light, he reluctantly sticks around and hopes that it's for the better rather than the worse.
His eyes shift between Robert and Hope, back and forth, then to the male, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I was thinking Isobel may be aware of the situation so perhaps I should talk to her.. Thanks for the advice regardless." Well one thing's for sure, despite Bobby's attitude, Tripp was already liking him more than Ivan. Practically a saint in comparison, really. "I forgot to mention before, I was a little distracted, but I'm sorry to hear about your father. Have.. You recovered already?" Tripp isn't really sure what to think really; something in his mind has convinced him that Hope shouldn't have trouble getting through her situation, seeing as she's been in arguably tighter spots. Or maybe, in the back of his mind, he feels he already has a solution?
Kind of creepy if he thinks about it too long.. Which he doesn't.
Either way, he doesn't confirm if he's a vampire or not, his gaze shifting off to the side.
"I told Faith that too! I knew this was the same fever. See? I'm /not/ crazy." Perhaps not exactly sound of mind, but she still has her mental faculties, even if they're fever-addled. "You're sharing a room with me? That's supposed to help recovery." Thus, she apparently approves. There's a frown when Bobby doesn't sit on the bed, but she grabs for him possessively. "I don't know. I don't… it's against the church. I… this is wrong. He's just a hallucination." He has to be or she'll be going insane again. But her hallucination is being regular old Tripp, which is making things worse. It's hard to wish one of your best friends dead, especially when you carried a torch for him for so long.
"I just don't want /you/ leaving, Bobby. Please stay?"
Bobby is a douche, especially if anyone asks Ivan. He's still a man, however, and still not completely unaware of certain situations. "I don't know who this Isobel is, but I'll talk to her if I need to. This has got to stop. How many innocent people have to be hurt?" As Hope reaches for him, Bobby places a hand on her head. Every now and then it will move, almost to reassure her, but still he won't sit just yet. "I honestly haven't had time to think about my own situation. Lord only knows what will happen." Yes, he's speaking over Hope as if she's not even there.
"He will always be your friend, Hope. You remember him, you have him in your heart and he will always be there." This is said so that she doesn't have to believe that Tripp is there. He's a horrible liar but she's sick. "You're not like Dad, though. He never woke up, and here you are. You'll make it through this no matter what." Church be damned he'll make sure that she's alive. "I understand complicated." This offered back to Tripp. "Some people just aren't ready to understand."
Tripp doesn't think he's going to ask Ivan, thanks. Tripp will be just fine with his more oblivious knowledge. Bobby's consoling of Hope doesn't even bother him at this point, he seems pleased that the man is a source of comfort even if he may be an ex. But he also feels a bit jealous, it's really difficult not being in the know of things but he's got to be patient. Soon enough he'll be settled in and be able to do proper research.
He watches quietly for a moment, a thumb slipped into his pocket, and then.. Well he starts to feel a little hurt. So what's the deal, were Hope's claims of love a hallucination as well? Why was his presence hurting her so much? Why did she have so many boyfriends? This girl was so different, he just doesn't understand anything now.
Slipping his sunglasses down from his head to his eyes, he sets his own flowers on the desk next to Hana's, "Yeah," he says to Bobby, "But I appreciate what you're doing, just wish I could help. I'd better head to work, I'm late." and with that he makes with an exit; normal at first, but only till he gets to the doorway where he gets his ninja on.
Hope doesn't have many boyfriends! Hope had one boyfriend since the death of her first love. One and only one, and he's pretending she's not here. The blonde Tyler twin doesn't mind though. She's just happy that he didn't run off. "Right! Fight this together. I'm going to get strong again, and then we're in this together. I promised." Pausing she quietly asks, "Is Serenity okay?" Yes, she's got puppy on the brain. It can't be helped.
"Tripp was my friend, but he died. That's not…" She looks at the flowers and smiles. "… it's confusing." Way more confusing than it should be, and not due to the fever. More or less due to the fact that her entire life now is based on Tripp dying, and if he's not dead then it's all a lie. This is the type of time when she needs to talk to Reverend Newlin, but she's almost afraid to discuss this with him. Maybe Hana can help.
