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.
There's a soft knock at the door before it creaks open, a doctor's head looking in as he says, "Excuse me for interrupting. Ms. Bosch? I'm Doctor Franklin, I've been working on your brother, Hugo. If you'll come with me, I'll fill you in on his condition and take you up to see him?" Brown eyes flicker between the small grouping, but it's not hard to guess why they're all in here, telling Josephine what happened. "Just this way…"
Nodding, even as her attention is called to the door, Josephine's face washing with relief, then urgency. "I gotta…" Taking some steps backwards to the doctor, but leaving them like this just doesn't seem right. Biting her lip hard, the woman suddenly hurries back to Paige's bed, the free side that is, and murmurs briskly, "Listen, don't know you and all, but…" She leans in to give Paige's cheek a featherlight kiss - making sure she's not leaning on any sore Paige-parts. /Then/ she'll run after the doctor, not even thinking about slowing down to close the door behind her.
Once in the hallway, the doctor pulls Josephine to the side and straightens his glasses before explaining, "Ms. Bosch. Your brother is in intensive care but I want you to know that this is for purely precautionary reasons. Mr. Bosch suffered a fairly severe blow to the head, possibly more than one, and for that reason alone we want to monitor him carefully. There are some signs of swelling, but nothing that we're too terribly concerned about at this time. In addition to the head trauma, your brother has broken his arm in two places and has fractured some of his ribs on the left side. He has a number of bruises, cuts, and contusions that one would expect from an accident of this type, but otherwise he seems in good health. No internal bleeding, no damaged organs. Still, we want to keep him here at the hospital for at least a few more days for observation, just to make sure nothing has been missed and that his condition improves." He pauses only for a moment before continuing, "Now you can see him if you want to, but please keep in mind that he's suffered from a fair amount of blood loss and is still quite weak and disoriented. We have him on some pretty heavy duty pain medication, so he might not be the most coherent right now."
Mind spinning while trying to absorb the information, Josephine unconsciously digs out her cigarettes, taps one out. It's pretty easy to tell it's an automatic response to great stress, her eyes not once leave the good doctor, her focus solely on the news. "Blood loss. So he was bitten? Is… Yes. I want to see him. Can we? Now? Cause I…" Hand with cigarette runs through her hair, some of the color returning to her face, but not eagerly so.
"Ahhh, I'm sorry Ms. Bosch, but there's no smoking aloud inside the hospital," and lifting one hand, the doctor points out the sign on the wall that very clearly states, 'No Smoking' with a big red slash through a cigarette. Frowning in confusion, the doctor blinks and returns, "Bitten? This was a car accident, Ms. Bosch, not an animal attack." Turning, Dr. Franklin touches Jo's arm lightly and leads the way to the elevators, pushing the up button and then waiting. "Some of his injuries are … peculiar. The EMTs stated that he had been removed from the car, which might explain the severe damage to his left arm, but I think it will heal cleanly. Arms are excellent that way - the bones are practically like magnets. They want to set back together. Entering in as the doors open, Dr. Franklin escorts Jo to the room where Hugo is resting, an IV drip and heart monitor in place as well as some electrodes attached to his head, monitoring his brain activity as well. "Just … try not to upset him too much or over-exert him. He's still very confused and disoriented."
"Van den Bosch," Josephine answers, "Though Hugo… Nevermind. Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Crumpling the cigarette, she dumps it in a bin along the way and stuffs the pack back in her jacket. She's easy to be led along, her only question while they walk being, "Peculiar?" But even that is forgotten when she finally gets to see her little brother and the sight of him stops her clean in her tracks. Stricken. A hand to her mouth, and at that moment, she's, in gesture at least, the spitting image of their mother.
"Some of the damage done to the muscles and ligaments … they're more like he was handled very roughly when he was removed from the vehicle. They're…. just not in keeping with the sort of accident he was in. But perhaps the vehicle was in danger of exploding and his rescuers didn't have a choice in the matter." But the doctor goes quiet as they reach Hugo's door, letting Josephine step inside. The right side of her brother's face looks practically normal, but the left side? Not so much. A large bandage covers his temple and the rest of his face is bruised and swollen. A black eye and formed around his eye, the skin puffy, and it looks like it might spread over to the other eye, a hint of bruising and puffiness crossing over the bridge of his nose. His arm has been carefully bound in a restraining cast from shoulder to palm, only his fingers and thumb visible. The rest of him is covered in bedding and unknowable, but according to the doctor, what you see is the worst of what he got. His eyes are closed, his breathing soft and shallow, the sounds of beeps and humming equipment the only sound in the room. "Well," murmurs Dr. Franklin, "I'll let you be. He has a clicker for pain medication, should he need more. Ring for the nurse if you need anything." And with that the doctor departs, leaving Josephine and Hugo alone.
Nodding faintly, maybe not even half registering the doctor's words, Josephine stares at Hugo as if she hardly dares to close in. Get an even better view of the mess of him. A shaky breath of her own while she summons the courage and sets a foot before the other eventually. And another. Until she's standing above him, tears streaking down her face. "Oh-fuckin' hell…" Quietly, as the doctor ordered. "Hu-Hugo?"
At the sound of his name, Hugo turns his head and opens his eyes. Well, one of his eyes. The other one tries to open but is little more than a slit within the swelling. He looks up, his gaze clearly a bit unfocused and confused as he rasps softly, "Jo?" and then blinking he starts to look around himself, panic starting to mount as he asks, "Wh-where am I? What's going onnn?" his speech slightly slurred as he starts to struggle to sit up only to gasp softly and stop, whining softly, "Owww-ww…"
"Oh! No-no-no-no-no… Lay back sweetie, easy." Her hands hover over him, not daring to touch, but urging him to lay down. "Sshh, it's me, lay back Huug, you're safe now." Even if that hardly sounds convincing. Easing herself onto the edge of his bed with the greatest of care, she leans in a little so he can see her face without having to strain his neck. Soft, soft fingers brushing hair from his face, "I'm here."
"Jo," he repeats again, with more assurance as he does indeed stop struggling and just lay back, his gaze rolling slowly from right to left, taking everything in before he asks slowly and carefully, "I'm in a hospital. Was there some sort of accident?" His brow creases slightly as his gaze lifts to Jo's face, one eye blinking as he asks, "Are you okay? I… I can't seem to remember…" He takes a slow shuddering breath, relaxing b degrees as he gives his sister a small crooked smile and says, "Hi zusje. Long time no see."
"Broertje…" Maybe it's not his sister. She never showed this degree of relieved warmth to him before? After a long pause, her attention is caught by something dripping on the sheet and almost surprised she traces it back to her own cheeks. A quick wipe will settle that score and a wavering grin back tries to assure him. "Check." Brushing fingers now brush the tips of his. "You had a car accident sweetie. And you're messed up bad, so you lay still and try to relax. Sooner we'll get you outta here. Alright? Gonna take right good care of you." Perhaps it is a comforting sight, his sister, all concerned. And for once not dressed like a grungy 19-year old, even added a little scarf to her neck.
Blinking again, Hugo lifts up his right hand slowly, the IV tube draping from it as he touches Jo's cheek, wiping away a tear before asking, "Are you crying?" Josephine Anastasia Kristina van den Bosch does not cry. Blinking again Hugo asks, "Is it that bad? It's that bad. Am I dying?? I must be dying if you're crying…" He doesn't sound all that upset about the fact that he's apparently dying, more just bemused. "Don't cry zusje," he murmurs, giving her a crooked sort of reassuring smile. "What is it they say in that Monty Python movie??" And then he croaks in a British accent, "I'm not dead yet! I'm getting better!" and then "No you're not. You'll be stone dead in a minute…"
"Nah, they can't take you like that," Josephine murmurs through a wavering little smile, "Against regulations." Sniff. "You're not dying Huug, but it's bad. You broke a lot and they're scared you bumped your head too hard." She embraces his hand with both her own, planting a soft kiss on the back of it before she lowers it carefully back to the bed. Sniff. "And of course I cry. Fuckin' human…"
She's totally confusing him, that's for sure. He listens and blinks again, shifting a little to get himself more comfortable before sighing and complaining, "I'm on my back. I hate sleeping on my back." Course most mornings that's how he finds himself upon waking, but logic has very little to do with Hugo's brain at the moment. He pauses and tries to concentrate, murmuring as if his memory was just starting to come back to him, "I was in a car accident… and there was a woman, but… but it wasn't you in the car?" His eye squints as a look of worry starts to surface again. "Is, is she alright? The woman that was in my car?" His hand squeezes hers lightly as she places it back down. "Fucking human? Wha?" And then, out of nowhere he states, "Desiree is fucking a vampire." Oh. My. Well, what else could Jo be talking about?
Josephine nods and tries to assure him, "Paige is alright. Her ehm… Uncle is with her now, watching over. Is what family's for, right." To hold hands and to cry. "And I'm sure your Desiree is having a" *snort* "grande ole time, but I don't think she was in the car. I wasn't at least. Just got here Hugo, it was all over the news…" Idly her hands keep stroking his, trying to comfort, soothe.
Even more confused, Hugo queries, "Who's fucking the human then? Did I miss something??" Frowning he turns his head from side to side, a slow shaking as he counters, "No, no Desiree was definitely not in the car. I haven't seen her in awhile now." Ironically, it's Josephine who's in need of soothing, but Hugo's a little too out of it to realize that. "Well," he notes definitively and with relief, "I'm glad you were not in the car then. Where you been keeping yourself? Or do I need to get into more accidents just so you'll come by and visit??"
"Huug?" Patpat on the hand. "Sweetie, you're barely alive. A truck rammed you. And I'm thinking it was someone you know. Don't you." It visibly pains her to be asking him this, but Jo needs to know. Badly. "What do you remember."
"I am so totally alive," Hugo corrects. "I couldn't be in this much pain if I weren't alive&" He shifts again, grimacing as the pain seems to be coming back, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes before releasing it and opening them again. "Wha? Someone I know rammed my Porsche? Oh. God. The Porsche. Fuuuu-uuuuck." But at her insistence, Hugo takes another deep breath and closes his eyes, his brow crinkling as he tries to remember. But there's just nothing, he can't remember being in his car, he can't remember Paige, he can't even remember what he was doing earlier or even what day it is, or, or, or anything. Josephine can likely hear his thoughts getting more frantic and upset as he's starting to realize that he's not even sure what the last thing that he can remember is, or when it happened. Pizza with Abbey, he remembers that. A fight with Paige, he remembers that. Meeting Todd and the aquarium and Marius, fuck, Marius, he definitely remembers that. Opening his eyes again, there are tears of frustration, worry, and pain as he whispers, "I'm sorry Jo, I'm really sorry I just … don't remember…"
"Sshh," His sister goes, soothing fingers smoothing his forehead again, "It's alright hon. Perfectly normal that you don't remember. Bump to the head will do that y'know." A deep, shaky breath and none the wiser, at least from Hugo. But she /needs/ to know. "Huug… Paige described a vampire. It really sounds like Tareq…?"
He makes a soft strangled noise in his throat, his right hand patting over the bedclothes now, looking for something a touch frantically. "Owww, fuck it hurts…" He's not really listening to Jo now, too intent on finding relief for the pain that his body is starting to feel again, his attention elsewhere till Josephine mention's Tareq's name and then Hugo's hand stills, his eyes lifting up to hers as he echoes, "Tareq?" His brow creases, but the name doesn't help jog anything, his head turning again from side to side as he rasps, "I don't remember seeing him. I don't remember a vampire."
Screw Tareq, her brother obviously is in pain and she reaches out to press the button that calls the nurse. "Right. We'll fix the pain first sweetie, memory later. I promise. You just get well. You will get well." Nothing wrong with convincing herself.
"Nooo-oo," he groans, "there's a button… somewhere…" The cord that Hugo uses to self-medicate has fallen off of the bed it seems, but a nurse comes in shortly, frowning as her eyes first rest on Hugo's monitors before she comes over to his side and asks, "What do you need, Mr. Bosch. You in pain?" Hugo nods and it doesn't take her long before she finds the cord and the button on the floor, pulling it up and pressing it into his hand after giving it a few clicks. "There you go, hun. Just give it a few second to kick in and then click if you need more." Already the tension in Hugo's body is starting to ease, his head bobbing slowly as he breathes, "Thank you…." sagging into the bed once again. Touching Jo's shoulder the nurse notes, "Just have him click that if he's feeling bad. It will cut him off before he can do anything like overdose, so don't you worry 'bout that." And once she's assured that everything else is okay, the nurse heads out again.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Josephine leans in to plant the lightest of kisses on her brother's forehead, concern edged deep on hers. "You feelin' better?" Another deep, deep sigh, fighting nicotine addiction with compassion. Hugo wins, surprisingly easy, for now. "Try and get some sleep Huug. I'll be here, alright? Keeping my eye on you. They'll have to drag me away. I promise. Ssh…"
He's already starting to drift off, his eyes flickering shut as his body continues to relax by degrees, his breathing gentling and slowing down into a steady and calm pattern. "Mmmmm, better," he mumbles softly, "m'ch better." His fingers reach out, finding Jo's hand and curling about it before he mumbles, "Glad yer here. Stay wit me till I fall asleep??" But within second of asking, Hugo is asleep, his fingers going lax within Jo's.
Josephine stays. And she keeps her promise, and pretty damn near has to be dragged away eventually when the doctors order her to. And will be back at his side the first opportunity she gets.
