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darker_london2014-04-17 04:40 pm
crookedstart.insanejournal.com) wrote in darker_london2014-04-17 04:40 pm
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Something ugly this way comes - Astrid, OPEN TO VIC LANE I FORGOT TO SAY
In the basket on the front of Astrid's bike, there was a present wrapped in silver star paper she'd found in Deirdre's wrapping paper drawer, and wrapped in a blue ribbon from that same drawer. (She lived with someone who had a wrapper paper drawer, which was a new experience for Astrid. The Kensingtons always kept their old wrapping paper from presents, but it could hardly ever be found by the time that things needed to be wrapped again. It made Astrid wonder where it all eventually ended up.)
Today Zoe was eighteen and that was one of the big important birthdays, and although they didn't really hang around in much of a social sense, Astrid had been there when Zoe had first come to London. She'd been part of the rescue mission to collect her from that horrible auction house and the two of them had lived under Jude and Alexei's roof together for months. They didn't really have much in common - and other the last years they'd had even less than that - but Astrid still felt a connection to the American girl. (Maybe it was that - magical Americans far away from their home nation and thrust into a world of terror. That alone would be enough to make a person want to cling.)
She'd not even really known what to get Zoe. What did Zoe even like these days? Eventually Astrid had settled on a book about a teenage psychic during World War II and a music voucher - she didn't know if Zoe really read much or if she listened to music, but there it was. It was the thought that counted. Someone once told her that a gift is a piece of the giver. Maybe a piece of Astrid would be okay for Zoe.
Zoe's place wasn't far from Astrid's new home, but she didn't end up making it there. Turning off her street, a car going too fast collided with Astrid's bike, crumpling the metal as she was thrown off onto the street to the sounds of car horns.
There was pain and shock and her heart beating so hard it felt like it was tearing itself apart. Something was bent wrong and it hurt but Astrid couldn't quite work out where the pain existed beyond 'part of her body'. From where she was lying, trying to remember best how to breath, she could hear someone coming closer and saying, "oh shit! Oh fuck! Oh shit!"
She opened her eyes to try and look at them, but warm blood trickled into one and she blinked it rapidly away, watching the world go half-cerise.
"Hey, don't try and move, okay?" the voice was saying. Astrid sat up on the road and blinked at him again, the blood vision clearing a little. She tried to put weight on her arm and whimpered like a dog, pulling it close against her stomach. That was the part that hurt. No, Astrid clarified with herself as she thought about it, that was just one of the pasts that hurts.
The man kneeling in front of her wore a look of deep concern and Astrid asked, sounding and feeling a little slow right now, "did you run me over?"
"I am so sorry," he told her, and Astrid thought he was trying to look her up and down for injuries now. "I am so so so goddamn sorry, shit! I was just... there was a phonecall and it was- it seemed like it was- it doesn't matter, I'm an idiot, I'm a goddamn idiot and I could have killed you."
Astrid felt like this was a lot of words. Too many words. Why so many words? Her head hurt and that worried her a lot. "My head," she said, trying to reach up with one hand to unclip her helmet. "Hurts." But she couldn't get her fingers to work the opening and eventually the man helped her do it instead.
"You probably hit it against the ground," he said, holding her helmet in both his hands.
"I have... there's a... thing." She couldn't think straight. What was the word she was looking for?
"Blood?" He tried and then nodded, "your forehead is cut. That's where the blood's coming from. It doesn't look too bad though?"
Astrid shook her head which turned out to be a mistake and she moaned, feeling a little nauseated. "No. I've got a... a brain bubble." No, no, that wasn't it and the man just looked confused. "Brain bubble!" she repeated with frustration. Then she realised she didn't need to do that, and instead pulled her hair aside so that he could see the short patch of hair and angry pink scar still visible beneath. The man's eyes grew even more shocked and he said, "oh shit, you've had some sort of brain surgery? Oh god, okay, we need to go to a hospital."
"Yes."
"I can take you there in my car - it'll be quicker than waiting for an ambulance."
"Yes."
"Can you walk at all? Here, let me help you up."
She felt dizzy and unstable but leaned against the man as he took her and sat her down in his front seat after shoving some paperwork and folders off it.
Astrid said, "my arm is broken."
The man started the car. "The doctors will set it. Real soon. Just... don't die or anything please."
*
By the time they got to the hospital and Astrid had filled out the paperwork - or, more correctly, had told the man what to write while she half-lay down in her plastic chair - she was feeling a little more stable. Maybe it was all just shock then.
The doctors did an MRI to check there was no damage - with her history that was important - and they concluded that it was just a light concussion. They set her broken arm, as well as cleaning up the various cuts she'd sustained when she'd decided to leave sections of her epidermis with the street.
"This could have been much worse," the doctor checking putting a sticky bandage on her unbroken wrist told her. "You're very lucky."
Astrid thought that if she was very lucky then she wouldn't have gotten hit by a car. She didn't say this.
Out in the waiting room her nervous car driver was waiting and he stood up when she came limping back out. "Could you drive me home?" Astrid asked him. He nodded quickly and held out an arm if she wanted his support. She did, and so she took it.
"Is... is your brain okay?"
"Yes," Astrid said, because she didn't want to nod. "Just concussion. They said that I just need to take it easy at home."
Even not looking at him Astrid knew when he let out a relieved breath. She supposed the knowledge that you hadn't destroyed someone's brain was good knowledge to have. Astrid liked knowing it too.
"We should get your bike," he said when they were both in the car. "See if it survived. Uh, if it didn't, I'll buy you a new bike."
Astrid didn't argue with that. She didn't want to be without a bike and she kept losing them.
The bike had not survived. It was bend at an angle even stranger than Astrid's arm had been and from the car Astrid looked at it sadly while the man held it up to show her. She didn't want to get out of the car more than she had to. He put it back down on the side of the road, leaning against someone's brick fence, and came back over. "Yeah," he said, "I'll get you a new bike."
"Okay. My house is a bit up this way." She pointed directly ahead of them through the windscreen and he nodded, starting the car again.
"I remember. From your forms," was what he told her. "And I'm Cal, by the way. I already know your address, full name, and date of birth so it's probably only fair you know my name at least. I could tell you those other things if it would help?"
"Why would it help?" Astrid asked him.
"I don't know," Cal said a little awkwardly. "Just... thought it might. I'm so sorry," he said again, for what Astrid thought was the 47th time that afternoon.
"This is me," she told him, pointing again. "The one with the inflatable deer in the front yard."
Cal pulled up to the curb and then got out, coming around to open her door and help her out. "Wait," he said and leaned back into the car, fishing among the discarded paperwork on the floor for a business card. "This is my phone number. When you feel up to it, give me a call and I'll get you a new bike. I swear to god I won't let you down on that."
He seemed so adamant and worried she'd think badly of him there and, well, okay, he'd hit her with a car because he'd not been paying attention, so maybe he had a point. But he wasn't malicious and most of Astrid's injuries in life had come from monsters or people in monster masks or virulent tumors that tried to destroy her brain. Careless and accidental was new and almost nice.
"I'll call you later," Astrid told him. "When I'm... better."
"Or for anything else, if you need it," Cal added quickly. "I mean- okay, so you look like you've probably got more money than me, this is a really nice place actually, but, seriously, if you need anything give me a call and I'll help."
They'd reached the door and this was all just so much pressure for Astrid right now and she said, "I'm very tired now. Gonna go inside."
Cal nodded and stepped back, down the stairs and onto the path. "Cool. Sure. You've got my number."
Astrid wondered if he would go but he seemed to be waiting for her and so opened the door and went inside, pulling it shut behind her. Then she went upstairs to see if anyone was around to keep her awake for a while.
Today Zoe was eighteen and that was one of the big important birthdays, and although they didn't really hang around in much of a social sense, Astrid had been there when Zoe had first come to London. She'd been part of the rescue mission to collect her from that horrible auction house and the two of them had lived under Jude and Alexei's roof together for months. They didn't really have much in common - and other the last years they'd had even less than that - but Astrid still felt a connection to the American girl. (Maybe it was that - magical Americans far away from their home nation and thrust into a world of terror. That alone would be enough to make a person want to cling.)
She'd not even really known what to get Zoe. What did Zoe even like these days? Eventually Astrid had settled on a book about a teenage psychic during World War II and a music voucher - she didn't know if Zoe really read much or if she listened to music, but there it was. It was the thought that counted. Someone once told her that a gift is a piece of the giver. Maybe a piece of Astrid would be okay for Zoe.
Zoe's place wasn't far from Astrid's new home, but she didn't end up making it there. Turning off her street, a car going too fast collided with Astrid's bike, crumpling the metal as she was thrown off onto the street to the sounds of car horns.
There was pain and shock and her heart beating so hard it felt like it was tearing itself apart. Something was bent wrong and it hurt but Astrid couldn't quite work out where the pain existed beyond 'part of her body'. From where she was lying, trying to remember best how to breath, she could hear someone coming closer and saying, "oh shit! Oh fuck! Oh shit!"
She opened her eyes to try and look at them, but warm blood trickled into one and she blinked it rapidly away, watching the world go half-cerise.
"Hey, don't try and move, okay?" the voice was saying. Astrid sat up on the road and blinked at him again, the blood vision clearing a little. She tried to put weight on her arm and whimpered like a dog, pulling it close against her stomach. That was the part that hurt. No, Astrid clarified with herself as she thought about it, that was just one of the pasts that hurts.
The man kneeling in front of her wore a look of deep concern and Astrid asked, sounding and feeling a little slow right now, "did you run me over?"
"I am so sorry," he told her, and Astrid thought he was trying to look her up and down for injuries now. "I am so so so goddamn sorry, shit! I was just... there was a phonecall and it was- it seemed like it was- it doesn't matter, I'm an idiot, I'm a goddamn idiot and I could have killed you."
Astrid felt like this was a lot of words. Too many words. Why so many words? Her head hurt and that worried her a lot. "My head," she said, trying to reach up with one hand to unclip her helmet. "Hurts." But she couldn't get her fingers to work the opening and eventually the man helped her do it instead.
"You probably hit it against the ground," he said, holding her helmet in both his hands.
"I have... there's a... thing." She couldn't think straight. What was the word she was looking for?
"Blood?" He tried and then nodded, "your forehead is cut. That's where the blood's coming from. It doesn't look too bad though?"
Astrid shook her head which turned out to be a mistake and she moaned, feeling a little nauseated. "No. I've got a... a brain bubble." No, no, that wasn't it and the man just looked confused. "Brain bubble!" she repeated with frustration. Then she realised she didn't need to do that, and instead pulled her hair aside so that he could see the short patch of hair and angry pink scar still visible beneath. The man's eyes grew even more shocked and he said, "oh shit, you've had some sort of brain surgery? Oh god, okay, we need to go to a hospital."
"Yes."
"I can take you there in my car - it'll be quicker than waiting for an ambulance."
"Yes."
"Can you walk at all? Here, let me help you up."
She felt dizzy and unstable but leaned against the man as he took her and sat her down in his front seat after shoving some paperwork and folders off it.
Astrid said, "my arm is broken."
The man started the car. "The doctors will set it. Real soon. Just... don't die or anything please."
By the time they got to the hospital and Astrid had filled out the paperwork - or, more correctly, had told the man what to write while she half-lay down in her plastic chair - she was feeling a little more stable. Maybe it was all just shock then.
The doctors did an MRI to check there was no damage - with her history that was important - and they concluded that it was just a light concussion. They set her broken arm, as well as cleaning up the various cuts she'd sustained when she'd decided to leave sections of her epidermis with the street.
"This could have been much worse," the doctor checking putting a sticky bandage on her unbroken wrist told her. "You're very lucky."
Astrid thought that if she was very lucky then she wouldn't have gotten hit by a car. She didn't say this.
Out in the waiting room her nervous car driver was waiting and he stood up when she came limping back out. "Could you drive me home?" Astrid asked him. He nodded quickly and held out an arm if she wanted his support. She did, and so she took it.
"Is... is your brain okay?"
"Yes," Astrid said, because she didn't want to nod. "Just concussion. They said that I just need to take it easy at home."
Even not looking at him Astrid knew when he let out a relieved breath. She supposed the knowledge that you hadn't destroyed someone's brain was good knowledge to have. Astrid liked knowing it too.
"We should get your bike," he said when they were both in the car. "See if it survived. Uh, if it didn't, I'll buy you a new bike."
Astrid didn't argue with that. She didn't want to be without a bike and she kept losing them.
The bike had not survived. It was bend at an angle even stranger than Astrid's arm had been and from the car Astrid looked at it sadly while the man held it up to show her. She didn't want to get out of the car more than she had to. He put it back down on the side of the road, leaning against someone's brick fence, and came back over. "Yeah," he said, "I'll get you a new bike."
"Okay. My house is a bit up this way." She pointed directly ahead of them through the windscreen and he nodded, starting the car again.
"I remember. From your forms," was what he told her. "And I'm Cal, by the way. I already know your address, full name, and date of birth so it's probably only fair you know my name at least. I could tell you those other things if it would help?"
"Why would it help?" Astrid asked him.
"I don't know," Cal said a little awkwardly. "Just... thought it might. I'm so sorry," he said again, for what Astrid thought was the 47th time that afternoon.
"This is me," she told him, pointing again. "The one with the inflatable deer in the front yard."
Cal pulled up to the curb and then got out, coming around to open her door and help her out. "Wait," he said and leaned back into the car, fishing among the discarded paperwork on the floor for a business card. "This is my phone number. When you feel up to it, give me a call and I'll get you a new bike. I swear to god I won't let you down on that."
He seemed so adamant and worried she'd think badly of him there and, well, okay, he'd hit her with a car because he'd not been paying attention, so maybe he had a point. But he wasn't malicious and most of Astrid's injuries in life had come from monsters or people in monster masks or virulent tumors that tried to destroy her brain. Careless and accidental was new and almost nice.
"I'll call you later," Astrid told him. "When I'm... better."
"Or for anything else, if you need it," Cal added quickly. "I mean- okay, so you look like you've probably got more money than me, this is a really nice place actually, but, seriously, if you need anything give me a call and I'll help."
They'd reached the door and this was all just so much pressure for Astrid right now and she said, "I'm very tired now. Gonna go inside."
Cal nodded and stepped back, down the stairs and onto the path. "Cool. Sure. You've got my number."
Astrid wondered if he would go but he seemed to be waiting for her and so opened the door and went inside, pulling it shut behind her. Then she went upstairs to see if anyone was around to keep her awake for a while.