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Post by Kero on Mar 10, 2009 16:01:55 GMT -5
{A private thread. I would prefer if this was invite-only. Thanks!!}
She didn’t like to believe in fate.
Call it a modern rebellion against old ideals, or call it realism, or call it so much a load of tripe. None of the guesses anyone held for her reasons as to why she stubbornly fought the world alone like a tree at a cliffside would have been even close to right
Kara fought the concept of destiny because she could see it.
To see how one’s own parents would die is a horrible thing for a child. To know when the family dog got run over, to know the time when her brother came home drunk and smashed the wall mirror she had just got for her fifth birthday into pieces, ten years in the future; these were all things that she saw when her skin so much as came into contact with another being. Touching and feeling others was likened to coming unstuck in time, and the feeling, to any sane woman and especially to Kara, was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. Perhaps even the ultimate cost, just short of death.
Every day she lived since she was old enough to realize that a layer of material stopped her visions, Kara had worn gloves. She wore any sort of gloves, in any sort of heat or cold. She still had pictures of her standing with her family, wearing mittens in the heat of mid-July.
A chance contact earlier that day had brought her a vision of a man standing in a pool, naked, screaming up at the sky during a violent lightening storm. She didn’t know why, or what purpose the man might have found in the scene. It was only an instant, but it had left her sick and shaking. She had excused herself and left the room, but the image never left her mind. They rarely did.
They always seemed to happen eventually.
Later, though, as she laid in her warm, cozy little bed that she’d made with some help from the kindness of her roommate with a book in hand and her feet drawn up snugly under the thick covers, she wondered why she didn’t warn them. But the answer to that came almost as immediately as the violent nausea at the thought of admitting that she saw things did. People claimed to want to know what would happen to them, but when they did, and if they tried to prevent it, it never helped. Sometimes it made it all the worse.
It was better to let people think they had a say in how their lives went. Kara firmly believed it was true that it was so. There was no fate. And there never hand been.
After the firth time reading the same paragraph, though, she had to admit to herself that she was wandering in circles. There were things to be done tomorrow. For now, she turned her bedside light off, burying herself under the blankets as much as possible.
When she woke up, she was sick.
That same violent nausea from before pushed her out of bed at an early hour, and she only just made it to the bathroom in time to spill her guts, literally. She was only lucky that the therapist office was one of the few places at the camp that had an attached lavatory. But once she was done, she slumped on the cold floor, shivering and as pale as a ghost. This certainly didn’t feel the best at all, and, feeling her forehead, she was dismayed to find the skin there burned with heat.
“…Oh, no…”
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 14, 2009 13:35:52 GMT -5
Josephine walked in with a happy smile. She was glad to have someone to keep her company that wouldn't call her clients "Crazy". She shut the door and put her files on the desk when suddenly she heard awful noises coming from the bathroom. The door was open and inside was a frightening sight to behold.
Her new roommate, pale as a ghost and shivering on the floor, and the toilet filled with vomit. At first she gasped but quickly put her hand to Kara's forehead. Her head was burning up, and she quickly dragged Kara over to the bed and laid her down. Jo sighed and brought over a trash bin just in case and went back to flush the toilet. Jo quickly walked back to Kara and knelt down beside her, smiling sympathetically, "I believe you are very sick... You need to rest... I'll be right back to get a cold compress... You just wait right 'ere!" she quickly left the room to go get the compress.
Jo had no idea about Kara's powers so she had no idea that the contact she had with Kara could result in some strange visions from her future...
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Post by Kero on Mar 14, 2009 14:16:02 GMT -5
The first thing Kara knew was that she was somewhere else.
Dreamlike but oddly clear, like a place more real than was real, the house around her was homey and comforting to be in. It was dark, possibly night, and she drifted through it as if she were a ghost, hardly aware of her own motions. Distantly, she was aware of a roiling in her gut, and that she was being moved, but her physical body was hardly important when she was Seeing. She was aware that she made small noises, perhaps a groan, but her ethereal form was following something. Sounds of laughter, shadows in the darkness… She groaned a bit mentally, not wishing to See any more as the vision progressed, but of course, the visions chose their own times to end. She didn’t control them any more than she controlled time itself, which seemed to love unraveling for her and her alone.
She would never see Jo the same again, though. When the vision finally ended, the only thing she could think to mutter was ‘Who’s the redhead guy…?’ Opening her eyes after. But, of course, thankfully for her that statement could have been taken as anything. Unfortunately, the sudden fear at revealing that she knew things she shouldn’t, even in a half-dazed, half-feverish state, made her gut clench, and she almost threw herself off the bed in order to get to the bucket. It was painful, this time; there was nothing left to throw up, and she clutched at the mattress a bit, trying to catch her breath after she had calmed down.
“…. Flu… it has to be flu…. Damn…” flopping back dizzily, she put a hand to her own head…. Unfortunately, a bare hand, her gloves off and sitting on the table…
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 18, 2009 17:20:17 GMT -5
Jo noticed something odd about Kara, but her priority right now was to make Kara as comfortable as possible which wasn't going to be easy. She returned with the compress and placed it off to the side.
When Jo heard the red head comment, she wasn't too surprised. She always kept a picture of Alistair on her desk so she didn't think much of the question, "Oh, zat's just Alistair... My boyfri-" suddenly she noticed Kara trying to throw up again and cringed. She hated seeing another person in such pain. Jo sighed and tried to think of what to do next, "Oh dear, ze flu? Well at least eet isn't anytheeng too serious... You'll just need to rest and drink fluids... I'll stay and keep you company zough... Eef you want"
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Post by Kero on Mar 19, 2009 7:56:36 GMT -5
This was humiliating.
A government agent, sent to oversee the perfectly harmless camp and be certain that everything was in order, was taken out of commission within the first week. It had to be a record or some such, she was sure. And despite the fact that the flu had been going around at her work, she’d never thought she might get it.
Stupid her…
The explanation of the redhead being Jo’s boyfriend, though easily written off as part of a lightheaded moment of her sickness, was enough of a slip to make the pale woman wince again even after she was back in something resembling a halfway comfortable posture. Her hand on her head slowly moved down over her face, lips pulling back in disgust as she could tell that she’d forgotten to cover them. There wasn’t much point, either. This sick, she’d just ruin the expensive things, and as unpleasant as being thrown into witnessing future events was, it wasn’t as unpleasant as cleaning puke from white leather.
“Jo….” Kara opened one eye slowly, her hand falling to rest against her own neck limply, “….aren’t you afraid that you’ll just get it, too…? You’ve helped so much already…” the cold compress… well, that would be a godsend. Reaching over, she tried to search it out on the table where it had been set, biting her lip. Her head was burning…
“…Is there... a doctor or anything at the camp? M-maybe they could help out…? So you don’t get sick too…” after all, a doctor would well know ways to keep people from getting certain viruses. At least, all the doctor’s she’d known had been full of themselves advice.
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 21, 2009 10:43:29 GMT -5
Jo quickly handed her the compress she was trying to reach for, "Oh dear... No, I don't worry about getteeng eet... As long as I keep washing my 'ands I should be good..." she said with a warm smile.
When asked about the doctor, Jo tried her best to think. Originally it was Sheegor who was the camp nurse, but she wouldn't dare bring her in to help take care of Kara. Then she remembered that new man at camp. She remembered him saying something about being a doctor at the staff introduction meeting and tried to recall his name. "Hmmm why yes I do believe zere's a doctor 'ere... He 'as white 'air, but he eezn't old... I zink 'is name started wiz... Was 'is name Oreo?" Jo finally said after trying to piece everything together. She snapped her fingers, "Oreo! Yes! Doctor Oreo Bell!" she grinned at her 'achievement' of 'remembering' his name. She got up and walked over to a phone. There was a phonebook with camp related numbers to the side and she began flipping through the 'B's', "Hmm... Bell... Bell... Ah 'ere he eez! I'm sure he'll know 'ow to take care ov you better zan I could!" she said with a relieved sigh.
Jo was glad there was someone who'd be able to help Kara more than she could.
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Post by Kero on Mar 21, 2009 15:12:51 GMT -5
Ridiculous was a useful, many-faceted word that could be applied to many situations for many, many different reasons. With a meaning ranging in all sides of the spectrum of good and bad, when it stood alone, one could only use themselves as a measure for which end it leaned toward. Therefore, it made a good judge of personality. Pessimistic leaned toward the bad side, and optimistic, as these things went, leaned toward the good and light meanings.
Kara’s version was stuck somewhere in the middle.
Far be it from her to argue with the therapist, though. Kara found Jo’s presence reassuring, anyhow, and despite her stubborn nature and unwillingness to be responsible for any hardship at the camp, the other woman’s capable and confident attitude about her own health was enough to let any argumentive chords in her mind to be quelled. For the moment, she was content that she would just have to be taken care of for a while, and when it came to being taken care of for her health, if that meant she’d have to have a few visions, then she could only deal with it as best she could. They weren’t always going to be so…. embarrassing as the first.
It was perhaps her content to lay there, not feeling sick so long as she didn’t move, that made her miss when Jo was babbling about a doctor. But when the name ‘Oreo Bell’ came up, she could only think of one thing and one thing only. Her gut clenched so painfully that she couldn’t even think of throwing up as she shot up in bed, the cold compress clutched tightly in a hand, though she didn’t notice how it was freezing her fingers.
“NO!! I mean… isn’t there someone…. Oh, god…..” dizzy all of a sudden, she had to flop back down, glad that she wasn’t further into the flu. She probably would have fainted when she shot up if she had.
“Ooooooohhhh… no no no no….” Kara groaned softly, “…He can’t be the only one, can he….? Gods, my head……”
Orien Bell…. Talk about a blast from the past…
“…Orien… why him? Why now?” she seemed almost feverish, talking like that, waving her hand slightly and just noticing her frozen fingers, “…ow. Oh, call him anyhow... If he’s the only one I know he at least does his job right….”
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 24, 2009 15:32:51 GMT -5
Jo jumped when Kara shot up. Apparently, Kara really didn't like this Orien guy. Jo scratched the back of her head and placed the phone book back down, "Eh, I'm sorry Kara but... Eet's eizer him or Sheegor..." she said with a melancholy sigh. Considering Kara's reaction, she knew Orien all too well, Jo could sense it... Even if it was pretty obvious. Jo then looked at Kara.
Kara seemed like she was in so much pain, so much agony. The constant wretching and headaches, the sickness, the horrid feeling, the vomit. Jo just didn't have it in her to leave a person like this. She tried to force herself to not call but she couldn't help it. She snatched up the phone and began to dial Orien's number, "Oh I'm so sorry Kara!!! Please forgeeve me!! I just deedn't know what else to do!" she said exasperatedly as she finished dialing and held the phone up to her ear. It was ringing. It would only be a matter of time.
Jo gulped nervously, not wanting Kara to feel even more uncomfortable than she already did. But Jo just didn't know what else to do. Sheegor would've killed her or maimed her rather than help, and Jo's knowledge as a nurse could only go so far. Jo twirled the phone cord through her fingers and tapped her foot. It was clear to see that she didn't want to do this, but it was also clear to see that she cared about Kara and wanted the best for her new roommate and friend.
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Post by Kero on Mar 25, 2009 1:43:33 GMT -5
Dizzy was one of the worst feelings the woman knew… but dizzy didn’t compare in the least to feeling dizzy and nauseous without even having to move to trigger it. Distantly aware that Jo was dialing a number, Kara slowly resigned herself with a feeling of cold dread in the pit of her stomach that something bad was going to happen. It wasn’t any sort of precognition, just her own fears that she couldn’t really find the energy to be afraid of.
More than that, Jo’s reaction to her sudden reaction had her smiling a bit, somewhat embarrassed that she’d made the other woman feel so bad. Holding up a hand weakly, she tried to signal that it was all right, and that she understood…. It wasn’t really known if Jo would calm down at this point, but Kara had to try, and that fact that she was near laughing, even though it hurt, was a good sign of that.
“It’s alright… Jo, don’t worry about it… thank you…”
Far away, on the other side of camp….. okay, maybe not the other side, but not entirely close, a phone just outside the nurses’ office started ringing. Loudly and obnoxiously. The first to notice it were the cats, both of which hated when their sleep was interrupted by loud sounds. That was mostly because their bed often moved when loud sounds came up. Their bed, of course, was Orien himself, who, even though his arm was across his face and he was sprawled across the bed, found himself quite comfortable. That is… until his sleep was rudely thrust into wakefulness.
His eyes flickered open more quickly when Apex tried to lay on his arm to get him to go back to sleep, and with a grumble, he shoved the cats off him, sleepily staggering up to move out of the room toward the phone, much to the felines’ loud complaints. He wasn’t quite aware that he was shirtless as he grabbed the phone, putting it up to his ear and leaning against the wall tiredly. Not a morning person, was the new doctor.
“Mmmmmm…whadisit?”
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 25, 2009 15:04:00 GMT -5
Jo jumped a bit at the other voice on the line, "Oh! Um 'allo Doctour Bell? Zis eez Josephine LaBelle! Ze camp therapisd? Well I 'ave a roommate 'ere who eez very very very seeck... She keeps vomiteeng and 'aving dizzy spells, and blankeeng out as eef she's goeeng into a trance... We're in ze therapisd's office of course... But please! We require your services immediately! Zank you so much! Good-bye!" and with that she hung up and went back to Kara.
Jo pulled up a chair next to Kara's bedside and and sighed sadly. It was so hard to look at Kara in such a state, but she had to if she was going to make sure she didn't die or something. Jo placed a glass of water on the little nightstand next to the bed in case Kara wanted it. Suddenly Jo noticed the gloves and placed them on top of the wardrobe away from the bed, "No use een 'aving zeese in ze way of zings..." she mumbled as she placed them down. She walked back over to the chair and sat down, sadly but kindly looking at Kara.
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Post by Kero on Mar 25, 2009 15:58:31 GMT -5
The first thing Orien thought was ‘….what?’. It was hard enough to decipher the French accent on a normal day, but to have an overexcited French woman babbling to him on the phone when he was barely awake enough to form separate words was not a good thing when it came to communication. In fact, Orien came away from the conversation having only understood two things. This was the camp therapist calling, and someone she had near her was sick.
“What the-? I… uh…. I’ll be right there...” that said, Orien hung up the phone and ruffled his hair up, trying to wake himself up a bit. The cats would be fine where they were for this one; it would be a quick trip out. So, looping his medical belt about his waist and throwing on his long trenchcoat to keep warm, the doctor headed down the stairs and out into the belly of the beast that was the night.
“Heh…. I’m not dying…. ‘Least I don’t think I am…” Kara reached out toward the water, her fingers closing over it shakily as she silently assessed if she was strong enough to lift it without getting wet, “I…. oh, my gloves….” She watched Jo move them with a bit of a wince, unable to protest lest she give herself away, but shaking enough that she had to put the water down from it’s half-lifted state, feeling suddenly at a loss. She’d always had her gloves close… without them now, there was no telling what she could get into…
“…You’re a good friend, Jo…. I’m glad I met you… and I’m so sorry about all this.”
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 26, 2009 4:42:45 GMT -5
As Jo walked over to the door she noticed Kara behaving strangely. Her first thought was to write it off as a feverish trance, but there seemed like there was... More behind it... Jo forgot all about this though after hearing what Kara said.
You’re a good friend, Jo…. I’m glad I met you
Jo appreciated words like this. She felt much more loved, much more wanted. Jo was always a bit depressed, despite being good at hiding it. She longed for words like these, anything to make her feel useful and helpful. Ever since that guy stood her up, and even a bit here and there before that, Jo often felt unneeded, unused. Like she didn't belong. Alistair was a huge boost to her confidence and Kara was only helping. Jo giggled thinking about the friends she was making at WR and sighed happily as she waited by the door for Orien to arrive.
She hoped he'd be here soon, she couldn't stand to see Kara so uncomfortable...
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Post by Kero on Mar 26, 2009 14:30:58 GMT -5
If there was one thing that could do wonders for waking oneself up after being roused from bed at what some considered an ungodly hour, cold mountain morning air was certainly one of those things. Crisp and refreshingly cool to the point of cold, Orien tucked his long coat all around himself with a shiver, his mind snapping into focus while he covered his mouth slightly with one hand. Cold air wasn’t good for breathing, after all, and though the warm-blooded kids could stand it, they could also afford to be sick, and most of them had scarves. Orien would just have to make do.
He’d had some time to think as he made his way across the campgrounds, not bothering with taking the long way in the face of an emergency. His biggest focus was figuring out what could possibly be so wrong as to make someone need to call him so early. The only logical explanation was something that had sprung up overnight. That happened a lot. The camp doctor sighed heavily, his breath puffing out and being left behind to crystallize in the open air while he continued on, finally reaching the Therapist’s building.
It only took a quick trip upstairs before the white-haired man had arrived, knocking on the door for courtesy before he opened it up himself. If there was really an emergency here, he’d assume it wasn’t locked.
“Hey, Jo… So what’s all this fuss in the middle of a perfectly good- KARA???”
Blank mind, blank face, and at a complete loss, Orien didn’t know if he should have been happy or dismayed at seeing this reminder of a less than happy past, his face contorting slightly until it was little more than… a half-grimace.
“A perfectly good Kara… there’s a new one…” the woman on the bed averted her eyes as Orien came into the room, her form limp on the bed now that she felt the oppressive weight of bad memories as well as the overwhelming grip of disease raging through her. She’d given up on the idea of water by now… she’d just throw it up at this point anyway, and for now, she was blessedly without need to vomit. She did hide her hands under the covers, though, eyes half-lidded into an expression that couldn’t be named, “I have the flu… nothing perfectly good about me, I’m afraid. I know you can’t really do much, doctor… just do what you can.”
“‘Doctor’…” the man sneered the word, halfway looking as if he might have just left, and slammed the door behind him to boot for all their trouble, but something kept him rooted to the spot, indecisive enough to stay his decision until, finally, he snapped out of poise, stepping forward to sit on the chair near Kara and give a glance to Jo, “…you sure know how to pick ‘em. C’mon, Kara… let’s take your temperature….”
And the man proceeded to check basic health statistics as he sat there, taking extra considerate care not to brush a single inch of the other woman’s skin with his own in a practiced, almost habitual manner.
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Post by Lovenu on Mar 28, 2009 4:26:56 GMT -5
When Jo heard that Kara and Orien knew each other, she gasped a little and drew back. Now she knew why Kara seemed so uncomfortable, aside from the sickness. Jo looked between the two, Kara to Orien, Orien to Kara. Jo blushed a bit at Orien's comment about 'picking them'. Jo sighed and scratched the back of her head as the awkwardness and tension rose in the room. She didn't really know what else to say, what else to do. She was lost and a bit confused, but she decided to stand quietly and watch from afar with a sympathetic look towards Kara, "Eef zere's anyzing I can do to 'elp... Anyzing at all... Just tell me and I'll do it..." said Jo as kindly as possible. Jo really did want to help, she didn't like feeling useless. She knew though that Orien seemed like he knew what he was doing, but for some reason he wouldn't touch her skin directly. This was a bit strange to her so she decided to pull up a chair and watch the recovery.
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Post by Kero on Mar 28, 2009 13:55:24 GMT -5
“I know what you can do to help,” Orien’s voice was rather steady for the moment, and nearly thoughtful as he checked over all of Kara’s vitals, certain to produce two gloves from his pouch before he attempted any skin-to-skin contact with the woman. Kara, too, looked a little grateful for the care that was being taken, though she still refused to look directly at the man, instead glancing over to the red-haired woman whom had taken such care of her beforehand before blushing at her confused look and settling her gaze against a wall. Through all of that, the doctor sat and took blood pressure, pulse, and listened to Kara’s heartbeat; all around, he was just being a good doctor.
“… As soon as you can, come over to my office. I’ll have a flu shot set up for you. We don’t need you getting sick, too, and the best way to prevent it is by making sure you can already fight this. I’d like you to take a few days off work … just so no campers get exposed to this. If there’s anyone you contact regularly, get whoever it is to come over and get a flu shot, too.” Orien bit his lip slightly as he considered his options for Kara, sighing finally, “Flu I don’t have any cures for. It just has to run its course. I can give you some sedatives to give her if she gets too sick to sleep well..”
“‘She’ is sitting right here, Ori, and can hear you perfectly fine,” Kara frowned at the wall, her eyes narrowing to slits as she felt Orien’s gaze flick to her, well aware she had just started something but feeling too rebellious, sick, and confused to care much.
“…Calling me ‘Ori’ now? That’s odd, using a nickname for your doctor.” The reply was quick and biting, as the man was clearly either a bit agitated or a bit stung, it was hard to tell which, “Next you know, you’ll be asking for people to touch you…. Where are your gloves, anyhow? Don’t tell me you got over that, too?”
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