Awake, Again

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 been nearly a week since Hugo started bleeding into his brain unexpectedly. A week since the doctors decided to induce coma rather than operate to relieve the pressure. And it's now a week later that the doctors have decided to let up on the drugs that have kept Hugo in this coma state, all of his tests coming back stable and normal, the danger past and the damage healed. But they warned Josephine that it might take some time for Hugo to recover and wake up, and that even when he that it would take time and a lot of rest before he would be back to his usual self. In the meanwhile? Much sleep, rest, and patience would be required as Hugo would be likely rather confused and disoriented. The swelling on his face has gone down, though the bruising is still visible, if faded. The bandage that had covered his head has been removed, a stitched up cut on the side of his head hidden mostly by his hair. His breathing is slow and even, his body a bit thinner from having been on an IV all this time. Better, but not fine.

Josephine has been by his bedside every moment she could, but since Charles took up guard during non-solar hours, at least she was able to catch hours of sleep every day. Still, it's baggy eyed, pale and worried. And unknown to the doctors, she kept a careful vigil over any and all thoughts she was able to pick up, even over the past week there probably were none. Right now, at his side she sits, dozed off a little, head and arms resting on the railing.

There's a sound, a soft shifting of the bedclothes as Hugo moves for the first time in a week, his hand flexing, his head turning on the pillow as he takes in a slow deep breath and then opens his eyes. He blinks, groggy and disoriented, but still too under the effects of the medications and the residual of the coma state to be panicked. There is confusion, unspoken but thought as he tries to focus his eyes, turning his head slowly this way and that. «whereami?whathappened?hospital?whyamIsoweak?godi'msothirstywaitisthatjo?whatisshedoinghere?» His eyes are now on Jo as she leans against the railing, his hand moving over by slow increments till it manages to brush hers. He opens his mouth to say her name, but it comes out more like a soft croak than any actual vowels or consonants.

It was the string of thought words that did it, Josephine waking with a start, head up, needing a moment or two to get her bearings. "Thirsty." That one stuck and from laying still to active rising, leaning over to give him a kiss on the forehead, a murmured, "Hey slaapkop," and pouring him a glass…. It might be a bit much for him. But as she holds the glass and directs the straw to his lips, she's still the best Florence Nightingale she can be. "Drink. It's all right." In an afterthought she presses the button that calls the nurse.

Blinking slowly, Hugo's lips curl into a tired smile at the endearment and the kiss. He tries to sit up a little to drink, his body trembling with the effort after being still for so long, but he manages to get his head up enough to be able to suck on the straw. He sips slowly and carefully, even though he feels like his throat and mouth is filled with sand, taking some breathes before drinking again, waiting until it feels at least like wet sand before tilting his head back. "Wha happened?" he asks softly, his voice still rough and gritty, but at least able to form words.

Josephine does her utmost to facilitate him with the drinking, hurrying to prop another pillow under his raised head. Hell, even straightens the sheets where she thinks they may have been wrinkled. "You had an accident," she tells him, alto quiet, openly concerned. "Bumped your head pretty bad hon, but they say you're gonna be okay." A short pause in which she brushes a lock of hair to the side, even if it was already there. "Vince says hi." Which will probably tell him his condition was pretty serious if Josephine called her eldest brother. But she always was big on promises kept.

There's a disturbing moment where Hugo's gaze goes blank with confusion at the mention of Vince before he realizes that Jo means their brother Vincent, comprehension flooding back in as he both frowns and nods. "An accident," he murmurs softly, his eyes shifting over to his left arm that is in a cast from his shoulder to his palm, frowning a little more now as he queries, "What kind of accident? Was I doing a skateboarding trick or something?" Ha, ha, Hugo doesn't skateboard, but this apparently is his idea of humor at the moment. Lifting blue eyes to Jo's face, he studies it and murmurs, "You look worried. And tired. But I seem to recall you looked like that before too, so I guess it's not so bad then?"

Josephine tries a smile, succeeds halfway even, but the stress of the past week has taken toll. Sitting down again, she takes his hand and simply holds it, thumbs occasionally caressing. "Kinda. You went all Jackass with a shopping cart on a snowboarding slope and…" Grinning wider now, she shakes her head, and continues more serious, "You had a car accident. And yes, it roughed you up bad, but nothing that can't be fixed. Doc's promise."

"Car accident," he echoes softly before his thoughts are interrupted by the nurse who enters in, cheerfully noting the obvious. "Mr. Bosch, you're awake again I see. Welcome back." She quickly and efficiently checks the various monitors, making notes on Hugo's chart and doing some quick tests, having him squeeze her fingers and move his toes before nodding and turning to include Josephine in her next comment. "I'll let Dr. Franklin know that you've regained consciousness. He'll likely have a number of tests that he'll want to run." «to make sure there isn't any brain damage» is the unspoken caveat in her head as she gives both Hugo and Jo a smile before departing from the room. Turning back to his sister, Hugo's thoughts are uncharacteristically slow and clear, pretty much reflecting what he says and asks. "I seem to remember an intersection… and I wasn't alone. Someone was in the car with me." His eyes flicker over Jo uncertainly, not seeing any obvious damage or injuries as he asks, "But it wasn't you? Did I do something stupid? Did I," and he swallows, his heart rate jumping suddenly as he rasps, "Did I hurt anyone?" «Kill anyone? Oh God… what did I do??»

Grabbing his hand more firmly, enough for him to feel it at least, his big sister shushes, bringing her face a little closer so she can effectively reassure him, "No hon, you didn't, someone drove his car into yours. It wasn't your fault, understand?" A breath later she continues, "Accidents happen. This was just a stupid accident. Wrong place, wrong time." He might note that she's a little white around the nose since the nurse left, and is speaking quickly, trying to overrule the thoughts toiling around in her head. "There was a girl with you, Paige. She's alright. I've seen her, she's okay. You didn't kill anyone."

He blinks, surprised at his sister's sudden ferocity and urgency, but also reassured by it. Jo can be quite the tigress when it comes to defending her own, but she wouldn't lie to him. Not about something like this. Nodding, he relaxes a little, his brain still sluggish to respond, which seems to be actively frustrating Hugo now, albeit in a muzzy and drug-addled sort of way. "Paige… Paige…. But she's alright. That's good." His right hand lifts to trail over his cast, frowning at it before muttering, "What a mess." His gaze lifts to Jo before he murmurs, "I'm sorry … that I worried you. Tell me what happened?" His eyes close but his voice is surprisingly firm as he mumbles, "I wanna know everything…"

"Later hon," Jo disagrees. "Doc promised me major spanking if I didn't go easy on you alright? The important thing is you're safe." And despite her previous statement, she adds, "I made sure of that. Nothing but the best for my little brother, capice." Another kiss on his forehead. "Try and get some sleep? Is the quickest way to get better and be strong enough. Trust me?"

Trust? That's a hazy question to ask, especially in the light of Jo's evasive answers to his question. If she isn't telling him what happened, then something bad happened. If she had hoped to ease his worries, she just gave them a jumpstart. His eyes narrow as he murmurs, "What are you hiding from me?" and then, "What have you done??" His fingers tighten on his hand, too weak to hurt her, but still a hard grip. "Jo," he repeats, with greater urgency and concern, "What do you mean, you made sure that I'm safe?? Safe from what?" The heart rate monitor is beeping quite a bit faster now as Hugo is starting to struggle to push himself up, doing the exact opposite of what Jo had just been suggesting. "What happened? What's going on??"

"Lay. Still." Stern Florence! Josephine rises, looming over him with her eyes in concern at that monitor. "Hugo, chill, please. This isn't helping you. Please calm down?" And from stern to helpless, that easy. "It's nothing, I promise. Nothing you wouldn't have done if I had an accident alright. Please?"

"If it's nothing," he replies, gritting his teeth from the pain all his struggling has caused, "then just tell me." He can't read her thoughts and right now that is foremost in Hugo's mind as he stares into his sister's eyes as if just wanting it could lay what she is thinking, what she is hiding from him, bare. He trusts her, but not completely. He doesn't trust her to not do something foolish or dangerous. He doesn't trust her to not bite off more than she can chew. He doesn't trust that she wouldn't endanger herself to protect him, something that is utterly unacceptable to Hugo, and right now he doesn't know what to think or to do, and he can't bloody well remember and why can't he remember and just how long has he been here anyways and just what the hell is going on??

Instead, Josephine leans over to kiss his forehead, a tender smile curving her lips trying to take the attention away from the sadness she can't keep out of her eyes. "Later broertje," she says softly. "Now is not the time? Just wait until… Hm." About the time she realizes he'll find out anyway when the sun goes down. "I arranged for someone to watch over you when I'm not here," she confides at last. "His name is Charles and I think you'll like him."

He gives in, not because he wants to, not because he isn't upset and brimming over with questions and accusations and upset, but because the pain has reached a point where he has to stop for a minute and the nurse comes in the next, confused as she looks at Hugo's heart rate and the patient, asking, "Is something wrong? Mr. Bosch's heart rate just spiked rather dramatically…" Crossing over to Hugo, she leans in and asks, "Are you in pain? I'm sorry, I can't increase your medication very much. The doctor wants you to be as present and aware as possible and the drugs tend to interfere with that." But she does adjust Hugo's drip slightly, studying Josephine for a moment before noting, "The doctor should be here shortly. I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside while he conducts his tests, miss." Naturally she suspects Josephine has somehow upset Hugo, but she doesn't outright call her on it. "You need anything Mr. Bosch, you just ring for me," she notes soothingly, putting the nurse call button within easy reach of his hand. Hugo waits until she is gone before he leans back, hissing softly and growling, "Right now I don't think I'm going to like anyone. Especially since everyone is treating me like some kind of invalid and won't tell me a goddamn thing…"

Sitting down hard, Josephine hides her head in her hands for a moment, exhausted. When she at last looks up, it's to pinch the bridge of her nose, looking at him like that. "Promise me you won't get upset."

"Too late," Hugo replies, because, well, it is. He's already very upset. "But I won't do anything stupid" «at the moment» "because if nothing else I really can't…" Even though his exertions were not so much, his hair is already damp with sweat, a condition that doesn't sit well with Hugo at all. He doesn't like being helpless or weak. Never has. Fortunately it hasn't been much of an issue for most of his life, but he's frustrated and angry and feels too weak and disoriented to do anything about it, which only makes him more frustrated and angry. Taking a deep breath, he lets his eyes close and tries to focus on his breathing, on relaxing, murmuring after a few moments, "Tell me."

Nothing left to do than wipe that brow clean then, ending with a kiss. Softly she says, eyes shifting between him and the monitor. "It was Tareq, Huug. He drove his car into yours. Paige and some cop saved your ass. Simple as that. Charles is working for William Grant and will make sure that bastard doesn't get another shot at you." The last is stated with conviction. And the green of her eyes too is made of steely resolve. "You're safe. Is all that's important for the moment. Tareq'll get his, there's no doubt. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose you."

He blinks, shocked and surprised by the news but as promised, not upset. "Tareq. Are you sure? Why… why would he do that? It doesn't make any sense…" His fingers curl about Jo's as he notes, "You're not going to lose me. My head is too hard, you should know that by now." But he's still more bemused and almost disbelieving than upset or even scared. The name William Grant means nothing to Hugo, so it doesn't even occur to him that this 'Charles' might be a vampire, or that Jo might have done something terribly inappropriate in arranging for his protection.

And when he's not asking, she won't tell. That's not lying. "I hope you'll never have the chance to find out," Josephine shrugs, squeezing back, sighing deep. "I made the gods out there some crazy promises to get you back safe and sound," she grins, but fails to call forth true amusement.

Sighing, Hugo's eyes have closed once more, weariness rising up in the wake of all this exertion, tugging him down once again, hard. "Stupid brain," he mutters, "can't think… can't remember anything. Guess I better talk to Paige, find out what happened, figure out what to do next…" His eyes open to threatening slits, well, as threatening as a man in his condition can manage as he rumbles, "You better not have made any promises you shouldn’t have…. I'll be mighty pissed if you've done something stupid on my account…." His eyes close again as Hugo mumbles, "I pay my own… debts…."

"And I mine," she promises. There's a cough at the door and she glances over, nodding as she rises. "Promise me you'll call me when you see her. I'll be back later, but…" Pause. Studying the floor. And a deep, deep sigh. "Keeping my brother alive long enough to have him nag at me again /is/ my account. Broertje." And then the good doctor enters the room.

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