[RP Log] The Pretty Reckless

"Lighten up, Abs, it wasn't that bad! We got away, didn't we? And look, neither of us are hurt this time," Casper grinned, running a hand through her hair in an attempt to give it some semblance of not sticking up everywhere. She took in big lungfuls of air in between talking, trying to let her body catch up with the daredevil escape they just pulled. They were nestled in a side alley, the stench of city air seeming amplified and stale here. It had been a somewhat close call- closer than what the newbie hunters usually managed- but in the end, Casper managed to walk away with someone's... well, something attached to their motorcycle. She wasn't too well-versed in mechanics, but that hardly mattered, right? She grabbed a thing that made it stop working- that was good enough for her. It should be good enough for Abeni, too, but judging the look on the other werewolf's face, she didn't feel the same way.

--

Abeni was most certainly not going to lighten up. She bad continued looking over her shoulder. concerned that they might have been followed- until they had ducked into the side alleyway. That was close. Too close. She elbowed Cas in the ribs. "You could have gotten yourself killed, stupid," she hissed, but after a moment, she did give into a half-smirk. The motorcycle thing was pretty cool.

--

"Aww come on, you think you could get rid 'a me that easily?" Casper returned the smirk. Even in the face of near death, Casper's demeanor was as laidback as ever. Either she didn’t seem to grasp the severity of what could have happened, or wasn't too bothered by it. "I had the situation under control, they were just mad we outsmarted them."

Feeling her trophy in her pocket, she pulled it out, admiring it for a moment before shrugging. "Don't need this anymore," she said, tossing the miscellaneous motorcycle part into one of the many nearby trashcans.

--

"You definitely didn't have it under control, but... you're safe. That's what matters," Abeni stated plainly, taking a step pack to size her friend up.

Scanning Casper from head to toe, she frowned a bit. "Anything hurt? You ok?" she asked, acutely aware of the throbbing pain in her own ankle, but ignoring it for the moment. "Come on, we should get back to my place," she added, taking Casper's wrist and pulling her through to the other side of the alleyway and getting ready to wave down a cab.

--

Casper tried not to roll her eyes at Abeni, but fell short of the promise. "I'm fine, mom," she replied sarcastically. She didn't seem to know that Abeni's ankle was injured yet- after all, the other werewolf had kept up with her just fine, and Casper wasn't always the most observational if she wasn't actively scouting. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, not that way," Casper pulled back as Abeni tried to tug her along, trying to get them to fall back in the shadows. "I've used this escape route before- last time I went that way, it, uh, didn't end so well." She didn't elaborate on just what went wrong, but instead was scanning the alleyway, looking for another way out. "If we cut through that one side street over there, it'll take us to 47th."

--

Abeni sighed as she looked down. "Ok, but you gotta lead the way," she stated, rolling her ankle a little and hoping the pain would fade. She winced when it didn't, but tried not to give any other indication that she was in pain as she followed Cas down the alleyway. Then arose a much larger problem- someone was at the end of the alleyway, and now they were looking straight at the two. "THERE THEY ARE," he shouted, suddenly sprinting down the alleyway. It was at that point that Abeni insisted on her original route, pulling Casper along with her wordlessly.

--

Casper was about to do just that- right up until their pursuers showed up in the alleyway she was about to head down. Blanching for a second, she felt a tug on her arm and was led back down yet another alleyway. A string of expletives left Casper's mouth as she raced forward, now running alongside Abeni. Calling over her shoulder, she shouted back, "Can't you take a hint!? Get lost!"

They were going at a pretty decent speed, but Casper's frustration was evident- they were going slower than normal in the heat of the chase, or rather, Abeni was. "Come on, Abs, we gotta go," she urged her friend, not seeing what the problem was.

--

Abeni didn't know what to do- especially when a few police officers rounded the last remaining exit to see what was going on. It was then that she knew what had to be done. It was risky, and it was stupid, but there was no choice in the matter. Three working legs were better than one. One moment, there was a woman running full speed at the police, and the next a large, brown wolf was rushing at their legs. She knocked them over and kept running, hoping Casper would catch on. There were screams and exclamations now coming from those out on the street, but she couldn't dare be bothered.

--

Fuck, not the police, too. 

She nearly lost it when Abeni went to shift. In a panic to try and draw attention away from the very obvious werewolf shifting in the middle of the city- granted, in a secluded alley, but still- she weaved to the side and chucked a stray garbage can in the air, pulling off the lid and letting the contents fly in a frenzy. Did this woman not just reprimand her for being reckless ten minutes ago!? And she was shifting now!?

She kept running, but she didn't shift. As foolhardy as Casper was, she didn't dare risk that in broad daylight. Not here, at least.

When they got closer to the exit, she chucked the garbage can lid at the last man standing, leaping over them and just barely missing the one cop who reached out to snag one of her legs. "Follow me!" She called once her feet hit the pavement again, and off they ran. They veered to the left, heading for Central Park in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, people would be stupid enough to believe Abeni was a dog and not a wolf. Maybe then, they could shake their pursuers. She had a couple hiding spots in there, anyways- never knew when they could come in handy.

--

While Abeni did feel like a fool for the shift she had done in a panic, she committed fully to the role, dogging, literally, Casper's every step. She was thankful that the young woman had thought of Central Park, as she heard the sound of distant police sirens now.

--

If Casper wasn't already running as fast as her legs could carry her, definitely would be with the sound of police sirens hot on their tail. At this point, she didn't even chance looking back to see how badly they were being chased: had to keep her eyes on the prize, after all. Green started to open up in front of them as Central Park was three blocks away, two blocks, one....

How they managed to weave through New York traffic to get there, honestly, was a gift and sheer dumb luck. You don't get good at these kinds of things with two left feet. Once they were racing over grass and not pavement, Casper shooed Abeni away. "Split up! I'll draw them away so you can change." It sounded a little odd, hearing that spoken to a wolf and not a person, but it was still innocuous enough that someone overhearing wouldn't draw the connection.

--

They did, and she did. Diving headfirst into a bush, Abeni curled up as small as she could and shifted back- though she didn't move. No, there was no way she could get out of here quick enough the way she was now- she could feel her ankle swelling more and more with every passing moment. So she texted Casper- [Injured, cant run on two, catch up with you later,] before stashing her phone once again and trying to lie as still and as quiet as possible.

--

Casper barely noticed the buzz of her phone in her pocket as she dashed like a madwoman through Central Park. If these bozos wanted a chase, then she’d give them a chase. She wasn’t called 'Casper' for nothing- it was time to disappear.

She saw a tunnel up ahead and went for it. The sound of her footsteps echoed around the brick as she ducked inside, but she didn’t stop there. Instead, she veered sharply to the right and through some bushes. The branches scraped at the denim of her jeans, but she pressed onwards, trying to weave around people, behind trees, whatever she thought might make it hard for them to keep up.

She finally lost them somewhere around a huge cluster of stones and a pack of dogs who probably should have never been off leash in a public area, given their tendency to herd anything in a group. Casper, however, sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it right now.

Instead, she nestled herself comfortably in the shadow of one of the boulders, taking one last look around before checking her phone. Typing quickly, she sent back: [How bad? And when the hell did you get hurt?]

--

[When you grabbed the motorcycle part- rolled my ankle. Got worse running from the cops.] Abeni quietly sighed and noticed now how her ankle was throbbing, the pain shooting through it. "Shit," she hissed under her breath- she couldn't wait until the area started to clear out. [You safe?]

--

Casper thought back a moment, only to curse under her breath when she made the connection. [Shit, Abs, you’ve been running on it that long? We gotta get you to a doctor. Hang tight, I’ll find you.]

They had a vague idea of where she left Abeni, and with an ankle that bad, there’s no way the other werewolf could have gotten far. Once the coast was clear, Casper began to retrace her steps. She took great care to use cover whenever possible while trying to remain inconspicuous. It was a delicate balance, but somehow she managed it until she reached the area where they first entered the park. “Abs?” Casper called out as loudly as she dared.

--

[Dont compromise yourself,] was her response. She wanted to be mad when she heard Casper's calls, but couldn't help but be mostly relieved. "Over here," she responded as loudly as she dared, moving to try and stand on her own. What Casper might have seen was a woman going to rise from a bush, before yelping and falling back into it. It was then that Abeni looked down at her horrendously distorted ankle. Oh. Maybe it was more than just a roll.

--

[Yeah yeah, you worry too much.]

Casper was grateful for Abeni responding back- her nose might be about as useful as a potato was useful to write with, but her ears worked just fine. She hadn't seen the other woman's attempt to stand, but she did hear the rustling. Casper knelt down as inconspicuously as one could kneel down next to a bush in the middle of a park. "What hap- ohh fuck, that's really bad," she cringed as she noticed the still-continuing-to-swell limb. Even she knew this wasn't a simple 'ice and hope for the best' injury, as much as she wanted it to be. "Can you stand at all?"

--

"Yeah, well..." she was unimpressed with herself at this moment, and while she tried to stand up, she didn't quite succeed. Not even a little bit, actually; she fell right back over. Luckily for the two of them, the sun was just beginning to set, so it wasn't as obvious as it might have been at. say, high noon. "I can stand on one leg. Probably. If you hold me."

--

Casper caught her right before Abeni was fully able to collapse onto the ground, already working to sling one of Abeni's arms over her shoulder. "Way ahead of you," she said, making sure Abeni was secure before trying to stand up with her. "You know which place is closest?"

--

"Ah, not quite sure about that one, kiddo. Probably King's County. What are we gonna do, call a cab?" she scoffed, feeling stupid about the entire situation. How could she have put the two of them in so much danger? It was pretty reckless.

--

Wordlessly, Casper fished into her jacket pocket, pulling out two dollars worth of coins and a half-eaten pack of gum. She could have sworn she had at least five bucks worth of stuff in her pocket. Maybe some of it fell out during the chase? "Uhhhhh..... you got any cash on you?" she asked, shoving the pitiful change back into her pocket. She could probably walk there no problem- King's County was only seven minutes away, but.... she looked down at Abeni's ankle once more and winced again. She wasn't sure if Abeni could swing that.

--

"Mmmm...." Abeni looked into her own pockets. Her left had the usual; hand sanitizer, a mini packet of tissues just in case, and, luckily, the right also had the usual. 20 bucks. "Alright, yeah. I guess we're taking a cab to the hospital," she couldn't help but smile as they hobbled over to the street- they lived in a city where it was cheaper to take a cab to a hospital than to call an ambulance.

--

There was a shudder as Abeni mentioned a hospital- she knew it was the best place for her friend right now, but man did she not like them. Too bright, too colorless, and worst of all, no fun. It was all doom and gloom there, at least in Casper’s eyes.

They hobbled over to the nearest street corner and watched for yellow. In about 20 seconds, Casper had a cab flagged down, and she helped Abeni into the back seat before heading to the other side and hopping in herself. “118 7th street.”

--

Abeni herself wasn't too keen on hospitals, but every now and then that was the only choice. They sat through the cab ride in awkward silence as Abeni ground her teeth, trying to keep a straight face despite the fact that it felt like her foot was about to fall off at the ankle. It wasn't a long trip, and Abeni left the driver a decent tip as she struggled her way out of the cab and leaned on Cas once again, looking at the large revolving doors of the hospital.

"Dude I don't think I can do this, I'm sure it'll be fine," she refused to look down as she said so.

--

Casper helped Abeni out of the cab as gently as she could, feeling a stone in her gut as they now faced the hospital doors. She wasn't even the one hurt, here, but she was already dreading walking through those doors. So she tightened her grip on Abeni, just a little, and said, "Don't tell me you're losing your nerve, Abs. You'll be fine- you got me after all," She said with a grin. "But your foot won't be if you don't get it checked out."

--

Abeni couldn't help but give her a disapproving glance, though a sincere smile sat just below her eyes. "Yeah, I guess someone's gotta be the tough one around here, and we both know it isn't you," she quipped, and started her way through the doors. When she saw open wheel chairs to the right of her, she took the opportunity to grab one so Casper wouldn't have to continuously drag her around. "You know you don't have to stay with me right?"

--

"Hey, I'm plenty tough!" Casper protested, almost forgetting they were about to walk into a hospital, and that she should keep her voice down. She helped Abeni into the chair as she nearly dragged Casper over to one, and put a hand on her hips when Abeni tried to shoo her away. "Yeah yeah, like I'm gonna leave you to the sharks when you're not even checked in. You wanna get rid a me, you gotta try harder than that."

She looked over at the reception desk, and said, "Stay put a sec, I'm gonna tell them why we're here in the first place." Not like Abeni could really go far, anyways. Did she even know how to use a wheelchair? The brakes were on, so if she didn't, she really wasn't going anywhere, but- come on, focus, Cas!

She went over to the reception desk, talking with the woman in a low voice for a few minutes before coming back to Abeni. "Guess we wait 'till a nurse comes by."

--

Abeni frowned at that. "Thanks, Cas," she sighed, before unlocking the chair and wheeling herself off to the side in the waiting room, so she wouldn't be blocking anyone's path into the hospital.

--

"Don't mention it," she shrugged, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets as she stood with Abeni. It was about twenty minutes before a nurse came and got them, scrutinizing Abeni carefully. "What happened here? It looks like you banged up your ankle pretty good."

--

"Fell running in the parkl" she explained, looking embarrassed about the whole situation as the nurse did her intake. They seemed very crowded- then again, it was a Friday night and they WERE in New York City. It took another minutes or so before Abeni was finally wheeled back and transferred onto a bed, where she seemed even more tense than she had before- a feat she had thought impossible just minutes before. "You really don't think it'll just get better?" It wasn't often that Abeni openly showed fear, but this was one of them.

--

Well, it wasn't a lie. Casper said nothing as the nurse got Abeni settled into a bed, looking around periodically as she crossed her arms. "I'm no doctor, Abs, but I don't think an ice pack and some aspirin's gonna make this just go away," she said sympathetically. "'Sides, you'll be outta here in no time. I broke my leg once after fallin' outta a tree as a kid and I was in and out. We ain't stayin' long."

--

Abeni nodded, looking down at the disfigured and swelling ankle. She knew if they took much longer, they would have to re-break whichever bones had begun to heal over, and that wasn't something she was here for right now. Another nurse approached. "I'll just be taking your vitals and some blood, Mr. Bello." 

Abeni scowled.

"Ms." she corrected, to which the nurse frowned. "Right, but the ID on your intake identifies you as male," she stated plainly as she prepped the needles. Generally, Abeni was pretty decent with needles, but... not by strangers; and not when they were TAKING something. She looked to Casper, holding out a hand.

--

Casper’s jaw tensed briefly when Abeni was misgendered, grumbling something under her breath as it was sorted out. When they went to take blood, Casper took Abeni’s hand, knowing how the other werewolf was with needles. “You got this,” she said, but then decided a distraction might be best. “Remember what happened on your last birthday?”

--

"Yeah, YOU happened on my last birthday," she snorted, rolling her eyes. She still felt the prick of the needle, and she could have sworn she felt the blood slipping easily and neatly into the vials. She was wrong. "One more stick, I missed the vein," the nurse stated clearly enough for Abeni to hear. The wolf shut her eyes and took another deep breath.

"I gave you ONE JOB, Cas," a grin played across the woman's face as the nurse stuck her again.

--

"Hey, not my fault that the place we were all supposed to go to got busted for being a drug ring," she said with a shrug, trying not to focus on the nurse just as much as Abeni was. It was probably for the best that they didn't go, anyways- imagine being caught up in the middle of that? "We made it work, didn't we?"

--

"I mean, it would have been one hell of a birthday," she admitted with a wicked little grin. "Just maybe not exactly the right kind of interesting," she let out a little laugh to go with that statement.

"Okay, Mr. Bello, I'll just be hooking the IV up now," the nurse said. And then there was pain. So much pain. It felt like her arm was going to explode from the pressure, and her head snapped towards the nurse, contorted with discomfort and pain.

"Take it out. Right now. Take it out." It was harsh. It was cold. And, truth be told, it may or may not have been a little frightening.The nurse looked alarm at Abeni's harsh demands and started backing out of the little cubicle nervously.

"Can- Can someone help me?" her voice could be heard as she closed the curtain behind her.

--

Before Casper could come up with a retort for that, there was a situation unfolding. The IV was wrong, Abeni was starting to panic, the nurse left in a flash. Truth be told, Casper wasn’t sure what to do in this situation, so she did what she always tended to do in these situations; roll with the punches and wing it.

“Talk to me, Abs, what’s going on?” She asked, peering over Abeni’s hospital bed to see what was written on the bag.

--

"I don't know, Cas I don't know. It- It burns. It-" She couldn't help herself. She reached over and, as if in a movie, ripped the catheter clean out of her arm. Blood splattered and spurted as she put pressure on it, trying to stop the bleeding. Of course, it stopped fairly quickly, and Abeni took a deep breath and looked to the needle on the floor.

Oh. The needle. Right,

"The uh.... it's silver," she turned to Cas with an awkward smile, suddenly embarrassed of what a mess she had made and what a scene she had caused.

--

Casper went to stop Abeni from ripping the catheter out, but the other girl was too quick. A sharp hiss of breath escaped her mouth as she looked at the quickly reddening scene. "Dammit, Abs, at least warn me before you do that. Or like, do it in a way that won't make a mess," She clicked her tongue as she looked around for paper towels, or really anything that would wipe up the tiny red splatters on the wall next to her.

She didn't dare touch the needle. It clicked at about the same time it did for Abeni. "Oh, for fuck's- well, that makes sense, at least. We'll try to convince them outta poking you again."

--

The rest of the hospital visit went fairly smoothly after that. The blood was cleaned, and she explained that she was extremely allergic to silver. They found a different needle which worked just as well. They fixed her foot and her ankle, and she was out of there. Not in no time flat- quite the opposite, actually. As Abeni crutched her way out of the hospital, she gave Cas one last smile before they parted ways.

"Thanks for having my back, Cas. I love you."

--

Normally, Casper would've ruffled Abeni's hair, or playfully bumped into her, but seeing as the other woman was on crutches, she settled for a very light punch on the arm. "Aww, love ya too Abs. Pack's gotta look out for each other, y'know?" She waited until Abeni had a cab pulled up for her before waving her off. "Get home safe, you hear?"

--

"Only if you do, too," she teased back- and then they parted ways.