Fic: Crazy People
Sep. 10th, 2008 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalA little filler scene set in Spin Recovery
I am in love with a crazy person, Hazel thought.
She looked down the length of Rufus’, sorry, the Viscount Ru Ofanius Brushtail, of the House of Brushtail’s, body. Okay, technically not a body. Okay, he had a body, he just wasn’t a body, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. Anyway, dead people didn’t have so much OhHolyDenMotherpreserveus crap stuck in them. From where she sat in chair beside his bed she could see three separate tubes feeding separate drugs and glucose into his one good arm, three stuck in his chest to cycle blood and drain fluid from the cavity where his heart once was, and another jammed down his throat feed his body oxygen. Half of his pelt had been shaved away it seemed like, making what was left of him look that much smaller, naked and helpless.
Damnit, he can’t be a corpse. They always look so much healthier at their funerals. She glanced over at the amber display screen displaying Rufus’ blood-oxygen count (lower than average), brain activity (minimal) and heart rate (none at all). Now that he was stabilized, the doctors seemed confident of his continued survival in his current state. What they weren’t so sure about was whether he was going to live through the operation to install his artificial heart. There were about 50/50 odds on that one, with much lower odds of him waking up without significant brain damage.
There was a soft knock on the open doorframe. Bethany, Rufus’ sister, slipped in, dressed in her noblevixen finery, seemingly oblivious to how ridiculous it looked in this sterile hospital. She nodded to Hazel and took Rufus’ flaccid hand in her own, squeezing it tightly and greeting him with a, “Good morning, Rufus.” Her eyes looked tired, and she sat down on the chair beside Rufus’ bed with a less than dignified thump. “Good morning, Hazel.”
“Morning Beth,” she returned. She checked her chrono. It wasn’t even 0600 yet. “You’re early.”
“I couldn’t sleep. Any change in the night?”
“He started choking a bit around 0200 and the night staff pulled out the respirator to put more goop on it before they stuck it back in.” She yawned widely. “That’s about it.”
“I see.” Beth rubbed her eyes. “I’ll have to speak to his physician when he comes in. They were talking about installing his mechanical heart in the next 48 hours yesterday.”
“I heard that from the night nurse. How’s your mum?”
“Frantic. She’s been talking the ear off of our temple’s priestess, in between naps and trying to run the district. She’s managed to convince herself that she’s somehow sinned against the Holy Den Mother, with the whole mess of trying to evict you and your neighbors from Rufus’ lands.”
“Bit late to start getting pious now,” Hazel said, then shook her head. “Sorry, you didn’t need that.”
“It’s a fair complaint. She allowed herself to be blinded by the Council’s paranoia. I can understand the reasons why she did it, but forgiving her will be harder.”
Hazel sighed. “I think I’m in love with him.”
Beth offered no comment on this, beyond a bland, “Ah.”
“This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?”
“You’re an ex-military officer, so it wouldn’t be such an extraordinary jump as…. Well, as it could be.”
“I’m a commoner who got drummed out of the service with the rank of Flight Leftenant. That’s barely above pond scum compared to a viscount.”
“Rufus doesn’t care about that.”
“Rufus isn’t the one I’m worrying about.” She buried her face in her hands briefly. “I don’t even know why I’m in love with him. He’s erratic, high handed, impulsive…”
“Honorable, brave, chivalrous....”
"Insane," Hazel finished.
“I can’t argue with that one.” Bethany looked over her brother with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. “He never took the straight and narrow path if he could find a way to start doing barrel rolls.”
“He never let anything stop him, either. Maybe that’s it really. After my accident, after I kicked out of the service, I must have spent almost all of my time before I met with Rufus either in a doctor’s waiting room or sitting in a chair flipping through the entertainment channels. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted to rot.” She frowned. “Rufus didn’t accept that. He pushed at me, forced me to look past that damned leg of mine and at the world beyond.”
“Before you start making my brother out to be a saint, I should point out that he did a fair bit of rotting himself for quite a number of years”
“Okay, I won’t deny he was a great example of what not to do. But he was able to push beyond that finally. I didn’t think I ever would.”
“Truth.” Beth looked at her with a serious expression, the very image of a responsible Farm Lord. “So what are your intentions towards my dear, idiot brother, Lt. Swiftfoot?”
“I’d like to be his mate, if he’d have me.” The words came out of her mouth without conscious thought behind them. No calculation, just a fact as bare as poor Rufus’ chest right now.
“Even if he’s crazy?”
“Well,” Hazel said, “it’s a good thing I’m pretty crazy too.”
The End
I am in love with a crazy person, Hazel thought.
She looked down the length of Rufus’, sorry, the Viscount Ru Ofanius Brushtail, of the House of Brushtail’s, body. Okay, technically not a body. Okay, he had a body, he just wasn’t a body, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. Anyway, dead people didn’t have so much OhHolyDenMotherpreserveus crap stuck in them. From where she sat in chair beside his bed she could see three separate tubes feeding separate drugs and glucose into his one good arm, three stuck in his chest to cycle blood and drain fluid from the cavity where his heart once was, and another jammed down his throat feed his body oxygen. Half of his pelt had been shaved away it seemed like, making what was left of him look that much smaller, naked and helpless.
Damnit, he can’t be a corpse. They always look so much healthier at their funerals. She glanced over at the amber display screen displaying Rufus’ blood-oxygen count (lower than average), brain activity (minimal) and heart rate (none at all). Now that he was stabilized, the doctors seemed confident of his continued survival in his current state. What they weren’t so sure about was whether he was going to live through the operation to install his artificial heart. There were about 50/50 odds on that one, with much lower odds of him waking up without significant brain damage.
There was a soft knock on the open doorframe. Bethany, Rufus’ sister, slipped in, dressed in her noblevixen finery, seemingly oblivious to how ridiculous it looked in this sterile hospital. She nodded to Hazel and took Rufus’ flaccid hand in her own, squeezing it tightly and greeting him with a, “Good morning, Rufus.” Her eyes looked tired, and she sat down on the chair beside Rufus’ bed with a less than dignified thump. “Good morning, Hazel.”
“Morning Beth,” she returned. She checked her chrono. It wasn’t even 0600 yet. “You’re early.”
“I couldn’t sleep. Any change in the night?”
“He started choking a bit around 0200 and the night staff pulled out the respirator to put more goop on it before they stuck it back in.” She yawned widely. “That’s about it.”
“I see.” Beth rubbed her eyes. “I’ll have to speak to his physician when he comes in. They were talking about installing his mechanical heart in the next 48 hours yesterday.”
“I heard that from the night nurse. How’s your mum?”
“Frantic. She’s been talking the ear off of our temple’s priestess, in between naps and trying to run the district. She’s managed to convince herself that she’s somehow sinned against the Holy Den Mother, with the whole mess of trying to evict you and your neighbors from Rufus’ lands.”
“Bit late to start getting pious now,” Hazel said, then shook her head. “Sorry, you didn’t need that.”
“It’s a fair complaint. She allowed herself to be blinded by the Council’s paranoia. I can understand the reasons why she did it, but forgiving her will be harder.”
Hazel sighed. “I think I’m in love with him.”
Beth offered no comment on this, beyond a bland, “Ah.”
“This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?”
“You’re an ex-military officer, so it wouldn’t be such an extraordinary jump as…. Well, as it could be.”
“I’m a commoner who got drummed out of the service with the rank of Flight Leftenant. That’s barely above pond scum compared to a viscount.”
“Rufus doesn’t care about that.”
“Rufus isn’t the one I’m worrying about.” She buried her face in her hands briefly. “I don’t even know why I’m in love with him. He’s erratic, high handed, impulsive…”
“Honorable, brave, chivalrous....”
"Insane," Hazel finished.
“I can’t argue with that one.” Bethany looked over her brother with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. “He never took the straight and narrow path if he could find a way to start doing barrel rolls.”
“He never let anything stop him, either. Maybe that’s it really. After my accident, after I kicked out of the service, I must have spent almost all of my time before I met with Rufus either in a doctor’s waiting room or sitting in a chair flipping through the entertainment channels. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted to rot.” She frowned. “Rufus didn’t accept that. He pushed at me, forced me to look past that damned leg of mine and at the world beyond.”
“Before you start making my brother out to be a saint, I should point out that he did a fair bit of rotting himself for quite a number of years”
“Okay, I won’t deny he was a great example of what not to do. But he was able to push beyond that finally. I didn’t think I ever would.”
“Truth.” Beth looked at her with a serious expression, the very image of a responsible Farm Lord. “So what are your intentions towards my dear, idiot brother, Lt. Swiftfoot?”
“I’d like to be his mate, if he’d have me.” The words came out of her mouth without conscious thought behind them. No calculation, just a fact as bare as poor Rufus’ chest right now.
“Even if he’s crazy?”
“Well,” Hazel said, “it’s a good thing I’m pretty crazy too.”
The End
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-13 09:45 am (UTC)The Missing Link - here it is =)
Thank you for filling this gap. I like it :)
The two of them get along pretty well, the sisters in law to be =)
I pity Rufus' and Bethany's mom a bit being shocked with the actual testimony and "proof" of the real existence of the HDM - even if it was just by drugs.
But now I am still wondering about (read: looking forward to and waiting for) the sequel...
mjkj