Categories > Original > Drama > Separation
November 30, 1977
It would not be until days later that schedules coordinated to arrange a conversation of any length. Ray was still weak and the pain medication made him groggy, causing him to sleep through huge portions of the day. This was probably just as well since many of his secondary injuries had yet to completely heal. A fractured jaw, a shattered arm and broken ribs, as well as countless other less serious bumps and bruises made the short list of the damage sustained in his last face-off with the forces of evil. The shaft of iron and concrete had cut him deeply, leaving a gash that had severed his spine, slitting his flesh starting at the base of his head and reaching around almost to his ears. The shrapnel had missed his major bloodlines by millimeters, only just nicking the back of his windpipe. Though the rainbow had restored some feeling and mobility, it would take time for his nerves and muscles to become fully reacquainted. Sensation was limited, movement sluggish and spasmodic, the half-felt touches of his caretakers inspiring uneasiness instead of reassurance. It was the numbed feeling of the rainbow punching through his skin and into his brain and spine that unnerved him the most.
The device was by no means a prototype, though Julian agreed it could use some fine-tuning. At present it protruded from Ray's neck in a colorful double-bridge; copper prongs embedded deep in his flesh with the wires outside. This would have made lying flat on his back extremely awkward if not for the neck brace. The padded, plastic collar had wide spaces for ventilation which allowed the wires to stick through without coming in contact with anything else. Even the slightest disturbance of the rainbow would pull on Ray's nerves, making him shiver and gag. While Julian perfected the design, Karl, with the help of many others, did what they could to build up Ray's strength as well as his spirits.
While the accident was not widely publicized by the media, local word had gotten around that both Carmine and Raymond Kalahearn had been seriously injured; Carmine in saving the day, Ray in the cross-fire. Despite having lain asleep for almost three months, during the sporadic moments when Ray did open his eyes he was met with the sight of a veritable garden of flowers, stacks of cards both bought and homemade, huge bunches of foil balloons, a zoo of stuffed animals, and countless other "get well" paraphernalia from the Super community as well as the general public. His Sunday school class had sent him a wide banner of construction paper scrawled over with crayon and poster-painted handprints, the 'Fedoras an over-sized card bearing dozens of signatures and a copy of their most recent CD. However, the most welcome gift was probably one he already had.
"Hey buddy, how you feelin'?" Charles asked, taking a seat where Ray could see him.
"Mph..." Ray managed through a jaw rendered immobile by wire and swelling, his mental response only mildly more articulate.
"Okay, I think."
The words scrolled past on the monitor meant to be documenting his visions, should he have any. Since the accident, nothing had shown on the small screen, and in the interest of convenience, Julian had reprogrammed the device to pick up and record conscious thought rather than unconscious. Charles had laid a hand on his friend's uninjured one and Ray eyed it warily. A sort of nervous discomfort shivered up Charles' own arm at the contact.
"...does that freak you out?"
"Kinda. I can only tell that there's something touching me; if I wasn't looking I wouldn't know it was you or if it was even a person. It doesn't feel warm or cold it's just...something there." And he didn't like receiving only fragments of information like that.
"Sorry," Charles replied, retracting his hand. Ray, while not overtly "touchy-feely", had always found the touch of another person comforting. Now with that assumption reversed, it was difficult to remind himself that any such gesture would have the opposite effect than that intended.
"S'okay."
"At least that's something, right?"
"Yeah. Better than nothing."
A blank silence passed as Charles felt awkward and Ray felt tired, his eyelids drooping and attention redirected inwards. Alex shifted in his seat, belying his own unease. For a while no one said anything; Charles, because he wasn't sure if Ray was truly awake and Alex because he couldn't think of anything intelligent.
"Tired..."
The word was exhaled without syllables in a heavy sigh that probably would have hurt if not for all the pain medication. Supers with mental abilities had a reputably low tolerance for pharmaceuticals, but the already high doses prescribed to Ray probably could have been upped a bit in Charles' opinion. Barely dulled pain drifted just below the surface like black pond water beneath a layer of brilliant green scum. Too uncomfortable to fall asleep again, Ray lay quietly, going through the groggy mental paces that allowed him to take a back seat and become a passenger in his own body. Charles didn't blame him.
"Do you want us to go?" he asked.
"No, not yet."
"Okay."
"Hey, um," Alex began, reaching out of Ray's line of vision. "We brought someone to see you."
"Who?"
Bleary brown eyes cast about the room but there was no one else there besides his two friends. A gentle brushing of soft fabric against the scruff of his cheek made him start. He guessed it a moment before the fuzzy green face of a familiar amphibian popped up into view.
"Kermit!" The smile was brief and grisly, revealing broken teeth held together with wire and plastic, but the joy behind it pleasant enough. The elation faded to amusement as Alex balanced the stuffed toy on Ray's chest where he could see it. Kermit, it seemed, had had some misadventures of his own. In an attempt to mimic his own injuries the boys had wound bandages around the flimsy felt arms and legs and had dressed the little frog in a doll-sized hospital tunic. A wide bandage of cotton had been wound around its throat and an over-sized Band-Aid covered the back of its head. Ray's inner chuckle was obvious, even without the perfunctory "heh" printed on the monitor.
"Thanks guys."
"No problem," Alex smiled in return, tucking the toy against Ray's cheek where he could feel it. "He's actually been here since your first night, but poor Kermit's been feeling kinda crappy too. We thought you both deserved the rest."
A soft knock on the door was followed by a matronly woman in a white uniform. "I'm sorry gentlemen, but Mr. Kalahearn needs his rest."
"Oops, drug time," Charles grinned.
"No problem, Margie," Alex assented. After three months, all of them were on a first-name basis with the nursing staff.
"We'll see you tomorrow, man," Charles promised, stooping long enough to briefly kiss Ray's forehead.
"Yeah, see you then," Alex told him, copying the gesture. Ray said nothing. The medication having dampened his pain, he had gladly succumbed to exhaustion and was already asleep, Kermit tucked in beside him.
It would not be until days later that schedules coordinated to arrange a conversation of any length. Ray was still weak and the pain medication made him groggy, causing him to sleep through huge portions of the day. This was probably just as well since many of his secondary injuries had yet to completely heal. A fractured jaw, a shattered arm and broken ribs, as well as countless other less serious bumps and bruises made the short list of the damage sustained in his last face-off with the forces of evil. The shaft of iron and concrete had cut him deeply, leaving a gash that had severed his spine, slitting his flesh starting at the base of his head and reaching around almost to his ears. The shrapnel had missed his major bloodlines by millimeters, only just nicking the back of his windpipe. Though the rainbow had restored some feeling and mobility, it would take time for his nerves and muscles to become fully reacquainted. Sensation was limited, movement sluggish and spasmodic, the half-felt touches of his caretakers inspiring uneasiness instead of reassurance. It was the numbed feeling of the rainbow punching through his skin and into his brain and spine that unnerved him the most.
The device was by no means a prototype, though Julian agreed it could use some fine-tuning. At present it protruded from Ray's neck in a colorful double-bridge; copper prongs embedded deep in his flesh with the wires outside. This would have made lying flat on his back extremely awkward if not for the neck brace. The padded, plastic collar had wide spaces for ventilation which allowed the wires to stick through without coming in contact with anything else. Even the slightest disturbance of the rainbow would pull on Ray's nerves, making him shiver and gag. While Julian perfected the design, Karl, with the help of many others, did what they could to build up Ray's strength as well as his spirits.
While the accident was not widely publicized by the media, local word had gotten around that both Carmine and Raymond Kalahearn had been seriously injured; Carmine in saving the day, Ray in the cross-fire. Despite having lain asleep for almost three months, during the sporadic moments when Ray did open his eyes he was met with the sight of a veritable garden of flowers, stacks of cards both bought and homemade, huge bunches of foil balloons, a zoo of stuffed animals, and countless other "get well" paraphernalia from the Super community as well as the general public. His Sunday school class had sent him a wide banner of construction paper scrawled over with crayon and poster-painted handprints, the 'Fedoras an over-sized card bearing dozens of signatures and a copy of their most recent CD. However, the most welcome gift was probably one he already had.
"Hey buddy, how you feelin'?" Charles asked, taking a seat where Ray could see him.
"Mph..." Ray managed through a jaw rendered immobile by wire and swelling, his mental response only mildly more articulate.
"Okay, I think."
The words scrolled past on the monitor meant to be documenting his visions, should he have any. Since the accident, nothing had shown on the small screen, and in the interest of convenience, Julian had reprogrammed the device to pick up and record conscious thought rather than unconscious. Charles had laid a hand on his friend's uninjured one and Ray eyed it warily. A sort of nervous discomfort shivered up Charles' own arm at the contact.
"...does that freak you out?"
"Kinda. I can only tell that there's something touching me; if I wasn't looking I wouldn't know it was you or if it was even a person. It doesn't feel warm or cold it's just...something there." And he didn't like receiving only fragments of information like that.
"Sorry," Charles replied, retracting his hand. Ray, while not overtly "touchy-feely", had always found the touch of another person comforting. Now with that assumption reversed, it was difficult to remind himself that any such gesture would have the opposite effect than that intended.
"S'okay."
"At least that's something, right?"
"Yeah. Better than nothing."
A blank silence passed as Charles felt awkward and Ray felt tired, his eyelids drooping and attention redirected inwards. Alex shifted in his seat, belying his own unease. For a while no one said anything; Charles, because he wasn't sure if Ray was truly awake and Alex because he couldn't think of anything intelligent.
"Tired..."
The word was exhaled without syllables in a heavy sigh that probably would have hurt if not for all the pain medication. Supers with mental abilities had a reputably low tolerance for pharmaceuticals, but the already high doses prescribed to Ray probably could have been upped a bit in Charles' opinion. Barely dulled pain drifted just below the surface like black pond water beneath a layer of brilliant green scum. Too uncomfortable to fall asleep again, Ray lay quietly, going through the groggy mental paces that allowed him to take a back seat and become a passenger in his own body. Charles didn't blame him.
"Do you want us to go?" he asked.
"No, not yet."
"Okay."
"Hey, um," Alex began, reaching out of Ray's line of vision. "We brought someone to see you."
"Who?"
Bleary brown eyes cast about the room but there was no one else there besides his two friends. A gentle brushing of soft fabric against the scruff of his cheek made him start. He guessed it a moment before the fuzzy green face of a familiar amphibian popped up into view.
"Kermit!" The smile was brief and grisly, revealing broken teeth held together with wire and plastic, but the joy behind it pleasant enough. The elation faded to amusement as Alex balanced the stuffed toy on Ray's chest where he could see it. Kermit, it seemed, had had some misadventures of his own. In an attempt to mimic his own injuries the boys had wound bandages around the flimsy felt arms and legs and had dressed the little frog in a doll-sized hospital tunic. A wide bandage of cotton had been wound around its throat and an over-sized Band-Aid covered the back of its head. Ray's inner chuckle was obvious, even without the perfunctory "heh" printed on the monitor.
"Thanks guys."
"No problem," Alex smiled in return, tucking the toy against Ray's cheek where he could feel it. "He's actually been here since your first night, but poor Kermit's been feeling kinda crappy too. We thought you both deserved the rest."
A soft knock on the door was followed by a matronly woman in a white uniform. "I'm sorry gentlemen, but Mr. Kalahearn needs his rest."
"Oops, drug time," Charles grinned.
"No problem, Margie," Alex assented. After three months, all of them were on a first-name basis with the nursing staff.
"We'll see you tomorrow, man," Charles promised, stooping long enough to briefly kiss Ray's forehead.
"Yeah, see you then," Alex told him, copying the gesture. Ray said nothing. The medication having dampened his pain, he had gladly succumbed to exhaustion and was already asleep, Kermit tucked in beside him.
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