Red Remedy

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:30 pm

Haru took this time of loneliness and solitude to think:

It's not fair. I didn't do anything to deserve this, but... I don't know, it's weird. I'm not supposed to be... Well, I am supposed to be a human but I don't even know how to be. It's been so long since I changed and the memory is all scratchy; I can barely make it out. Mom was there. That...lady was there and the song...

He took a breif pause in his thoughts for a difficult inhale followed by a sweet, rejuvenating exhale. Pain no longer bogged his mind to the point of him begging for unconsciousness, so he let his thoughts roll on:

And then there's Jackie. She's nice and she saved me, but then again, you know, I kinda wouldn't be like this if it... No, that's dumb, I can't blame her for changing me. I don't really get it but it has to do with the song. I remember it clearly and if it does have something to do with Jackie, then it also has to do with blood somehow. But I don't remember her bleeding. I bled a lot. I--

A soft creak drew back the lids of his eyes well enough for him to see just the girl he was thinking about enter his room. The sky had darkened slightly since her remembered being awake, the sun dimly winking at him from behind some barrier on the wall. With enough strength to hoisted himself up on one arm, he closed one eye through his grimace before opening them both to give her a confused, red-eyed blink, his head cocked to one side as a dog would do.

"Do you ever bleed randomly? Like, out your body?"

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:40 pm

"What?" Jackie said, startled. She blinked and tilted her head back at him in unconscious mimicry. "No, of course not. The only time I bleed is when I do something stupid, like last night. Not that you were very nice about it either, saying I was bad at bandaging you up after I did it," she said with a bit of a giggle, holding up her hand to show him the newly healed cut on her left index finger.

She smiled and pulled up a chair next to his bed, then sat down.

"I'm really glad to see that you're awake. One of the doctors who fixed you up told me that you're going to be fine. You just have to take it very easy for a while. Do you want to stay with me? I don't think going back to the forest is a good idea until we're sure you aren't going to open up again.."

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:25 pm

Her bandaged hand was what started the series of events. Firstly, he jolted into a full sitting position so quickly that a burst of white lights followed by a stinging pain in side zipped through his body. He bit back as much as he could, but a restrained grunt still escaped him. Haru took a few seconds to recover from his stupid mistake. A line of sweat trickled down the side of his brow even as he steeled Jackie with a serious gaze.

"So, you bled. On me. Jackie... Jackie that's not go--" His worried rambling was cut abruptly by the hum of his door room open from side to side. The amazed reaction of it died out a while ago after he watched the nurses walk in and out of his room before he went to see. In walked a tall, aging man dressed a little nicer than the nurses, but only because his suit was a darker blue and white verses the bland teal the ladies wore. Grey spots speckled his slicked black hair, wrinkles lining the would-have-been handsome face. Haru eyed the notepad in his hand and slid his gaze down to his linen sheets in silent. He didn't want to answer anymore questions.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sun Aug 25, 2013 4:02 pm

Jackie was puzzled. It seemed like Haru was about to say that it wasn't good that she bled on him. But what did that have to do with anything? It wasn't like she did it on purpose! Come to think of it, that was probably exactly what she said when he had mocked her bandaging abilities after cutting herself in the first place..

Her thoughts were interrupted as a man walked in. Not a doctor, she assumed from the lack of a lab coat and stethoscope. Male nurse, perhaps. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the pad in his hands. Coming to finish the questions? Probably. She didn't imagine that Haru was terribly forthcoming before the procedure and he had obviously been out of it afterward. Crap.

"Can I help you?" she asked after a moment, cocking an eyebrow at the silent man.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:31 am

"Yes, you can, actually,"he replied matteroffactly, eyes never leaving the pad even for a fraction of a second. "My name is Nurse Francis Jernot and I just have a couple of questions and concerns regarding Mr.Peacock here." A pen was pointed towards Haru's chest, a gesture he decided he didn't like. A good thing it was that Nurse Jernot's eyes were not on him, for Haru bared his human molars, preparing a growl of challenge.

"It says here that he was raised in the forest by some woman called Alphy Male. I don't see why his mother would change her last name from Male to Peacock unless through marriage, which, Mr.Peacock can assure you she did not. He also stated that he lived in a 'hollow burrow of his choosing.' I'm not sure if this is slang, or what, but we need an exact street name." Finally, after grueling seconds of waiting, Jernot finally cast his eyes upwards to exchange glances between Jackie and Haru.

"I also asked if he had a spouse or someone he was living with. He responded: 'Yeah, we were going to mate until she got hit by a car.' I... I'm at a loss for that one." Haru merely blinked to Jackie, lifting his shoulders in puzzlement. "What I am trying to say is that, if we don't get valid information from either one of you, I'm afraid we can't permit Mr.Peacock to stay in the facility under false identification. Feel free to clear up the grey areas now, if you wish, Miss..." Jernot quirked his pen towards Jackie, an action that made Haru snap his teeth together. The sound went unheard.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:45 am

"Oh.." Jackie managed, struggling not to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. She really had to talk to Haru about all of this at some point..

"I'm so sorry. He must have been mixed up because of the drugs. My name is Jackie, by the way. I've met Mrs. Male and she is very kind. Haru was adopted, and he retained his birth name," she explained with an easy smile. Oh god, this was going to be difficult.. "The whole hollow burrow thing is just a joke," she added, rolling her eyes for good measure. "It's Horde Street. You know, with that big empty lot with all that awful graffiti in it? The kids call it the Burrow."

Was it true? No, but hey, maybe she'd start a trend!

"His fiance was in a car accident, but I don't think that's really vital for your records. I don't think Haru is really up for all of this right now.. Is that enough information, Nurse?"

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:16 am

If Nurse Jenot's brow could rise any higher, it would have hit the stratosphere.

Haru still had no unearthly idea what the two were talking about, so he directed his attention elsewhere. It started with the rim of Jenot's shirt. Fastened to it was something shiny and every time he flickered his wrist across the pad he held, the sunlight from the window would reflect and bounce onto the wall. Haru found the dancing light interesting and had to resist against resistance to not pounce from his bed to chase it around in a never ending game of chase. After the light bored him, he slid his red eyes to Jackie's position in the chair. She had one leg crossed over the other, tilting her head towards Jenot as he talked. Haru looked down at his own feet and wondered if he should be doing the same as she. Was it some sign of respect, or something else entirely?

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you for clearing that up, Miss Jackie," Nurse Jenot coughed, "It really gives us a lot more to work with. I do understand that the medication may have had an early effect than the real anesthetic would have during the procedure. At any rate, he is good to remain here for the next 3 days." Haru swung his head towards Jenot, his mouth opening in protest.

"But... Can she stay too?" His head quirked towards Jackie, white strands of hair falling in front of his eyes as he did so.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:14 pm

Jackie thought she was going to faint.

The nurse actually bought it. His expression was somewhat disbelieving but he seemed to be in agreement that the medication must have messed with Haru's answers. It was farfetched, but who cared?! For now, it was fine. She nodded a little as he said that the wolfboy was to stay here for three days. That was definitely a relief. She didn't think she'd be able to keep Haru contained without the help of nurses and doctors at her back who could tell him all sorts of bad things that would happen if he checked himself out.

She glanced at Haru as he spoke, an involuntary soft smile showing up after she understood what he was after. But why did he want her here..?

"I can stay at least for visiting hours," she said, then she paused and glanced at the nurse. Would they kick her out overnight..?

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:55 pm

"Yeah. By 9:00pm in the evening, however, we're going to have to ask you to leave. His condition was very serious. I have never seen the wolves get that fierce during this time of the year..."

"No, they're always like that. She had a huge ego, thought I was going for her and not the boar. I'm glad I didn't try to mate with her." Nurse Jenot blinked at Haru while Haru winced to lay back down on his pillow. The nurse exchanged an awkward with Jackie.

"The drugs must be present. Ah, there is nothing for it but to give him time to recover. Don't worry, he'll be fine here, Miss. I will have another nurse check on him every 45 minutes if you like. For now, I want to put this information in the system so they don't think we've kidnapped a man just to save his life." Jenot chuckled at his own joke, flipping his pad down and nodding to the two of them. Once he exited, Haru swung his red eyes, which were now the size of golf balls.

"Wait, 9 in the evening!? No, Jackie, you can't leave me here at night!"

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:23 pm

Jackie gave the nurse an uneasy smile and just shrugged. Yeah, drugs, that was it. She wanted to blush and facepalm at Haru's 'mating' comment, but she managed to resist. As she watched the nurse leave, she realized didn't have long before she would have to leave. That surgery had taken a long time! She frowned and looked over at Haru, who was clearly panicking.

"You'll be okay," she said soothingly, going over and taking his hands in hers. "All you need to do is sleep all night long. It'll be hard because hospitals are noisy at night, and I know that you're used to the sounds of the forest.. but you need to try. You need rest in order to get better. I don't want you to be in pain, okay?"

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:39 am

Haru was absolutely stricken. His eyes couldn't have gotten any wider of someone tried to manually inflate them with ball pumps. The red grew lighter and lighter, fear smogging over his expression.

"No, that's not it!" She hushed him with the bringing of his hand into hers, a gesture he was unfamiliar with, liked, but didn't know how it was going to help him settle the fear in his mind and heart. She didn't know what she did to him, and if she really understood, the two would be bursting out of that hospital! Painful as her words of comfort were, he wasn't about to let Jackie walk out those doors uknowingly. He squeezed her hand tightly to get her attention, his red eyes shading over in darkness.

"Alright, listen to me right now, Jac. Listen and listen good." His voice dropped a tone or two in those seconds, the expression on his face going from worried to irritated. A small wrinkle grew over his left brow. From fear to anger in 2.5. "I don't care what those nurses said. I don't care about the forest sounds or any of that crap. If you leave this hospital tonight, you'll be leaving these people in the sights of a white wolf, and I ain't promising I'll be nice to them." A series of beeps erupted behind him in a panel shrouded by his bed's headboard, but he ignored it, the grip on her hand getting tighter.

"Your blood turned me into a human temporarily. I'll be a wolf again at 9 regardless if you bleed for me or not. When dawn hits, and I get your blood, I'll be human again for a day, then wolf by night. The cycle continues. So, unless you want to get bitten, I suggest you get me the hell out of this hospital now." The wrinkle that was above his brow somehow made it above his nose, signifying that his threat to harm her was real.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:45 am

Jackie's jaw dropped and she stared at him. They couldn't have a wolf in the hospital! She glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes. Shit! She looked back at Haru and frowned. He was in no condition to even move, how was she supposed to get him out of here?!

"Okay, don't panic," she said, more to herself than him. "This is fine. We have twenty minutes to figure this out before we're dead.. Wait, wait! I have an idea," she said, interrupting herself and pulling her hands free. "Do. Not. Move," she said sternly, running out of the room. Time to raid the nurse closet.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:47 am

The look on her face was finally one he was expecting: horror. It clicked in her head that by 9, Haru would be back to having fur and four legs. He didn't find that news so bad, especially having being healed very slowly. He wasn't in perfect condition, but it was a lot better of an improvement than earlier. His anger slowly started to dissipate, the wrinkles of frustration disappearing into nothing while the shade of his eyes lightened back to it's deep red. With Jackie out of the room, Haru took his time playing with any and everything he could get his hands on. One thing button made his bed lurch backwards, sending a pain shooting up his side.

He didn't touch that one anymore.

A couple more modules made beeping sounds, changed glowing words on a screen that had a line going from it to his body, something that sounded a lot like air being pushed out of his bed, and some more one noted tones were all he was able to do until Jackie made her return. If she made her return.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:36 pm

Jackie found the nurse closet and casually paced outside of it for a few moments before the hallway was empty. She darted inside and closed the door behind her. Scrubs.. scrubs.. Ah, here they were! She pulled out a set too large so that she could pull them over her clothes. There was no mirror in here, but she looked down at herself and nodded. Good. She pulled out a rubber band from some spare office supplies and used it to pull her hair back into a messy bun, then slid a mask on. That should be adequate, right? For good measure, she grabbed a spare mask and a blanket.

She carefully went back into the hallway, then walked confidently down the hall. Nobody even looked twice at her. She grabbed an empty wheelchair and pushed it along, finally getting back to Haru's room. After closing the door behind her, she pulled down the mask to around her neck so that she could talk without coughing.

"Okay. We'll get all those wires and stuff off you, then I'll help you into this wheelchair. The mask and blanket are to disguise you," she explained quickly. Eleven minutes to go. She went over and easily removed the heart rate monitor and flicked off all the machines, but then she saw the IV needles. Uh oh.

"I don't think I can pull these out without making you bleed.."

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:07 am

When Jackie came back into the room, he had to blink rapidly to tell if it was her or not. She changed clothes to make herself look like one of the nurses before. She even pulled her hair into a high bun of some sort. He didn't like that look as much as he did the one she had before, but she definitely look liked she worked there. His red eyes fell to the wheelchair and he frowned.

"I have to get back in there?" She confirmed his question an he sucked in his groan like a man. While Jackie moved over to his side and observed the wires, Haru's head suddenly stung like someone stabbed him right in the head. His hands flew to either side of his head. A sharp inhale later, he opened his eyes again, both of them now darker than they should be.

"Just yank 'em out! Hurry up! HURRY UP!" Haru's body spasmed one time and his hands flew to his mouth to hold back a loud grunt of pain and anger. Sweat crept down the sides of his neck and temple with every passing second. There was only one answer for his condition: he was changing and he was changing fast.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:38 am

Jackie stared at Haru in surprise, taking in the change in eye color for the first time now that she was entirely focused on him and not the problem. She flinched as he spasmed, stepping back a little in fright before she realized she had to just get over it and help him. Nodding a bit, she moved forward and carefully but quickly took out the IVs. They didn't bleed as much as she expected it. She pulled the sheet down and helped him sit up, then guided his legs over the side of the bed.

"Take a deep breath," she murmured, before pulling him over to sit in the chair. That probably didn't feel nice, but she did it as fast and gently as she could to avoid ripping his stomach open. She tucked the blanket around him like a nun, hiding his hair and face and covering his body. Once he was set, she got behind the chair and pushed it out of the room and down the hall. Oh, please don't change in the hospital..

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Aug 31, 2013 10:28 pm

Every injury in his body came live once again when Jackie took the tubes and wire things out of him. Though he wasn't looking, he could feel the blood pull out of him in tiny increments, angering him more so than he already was. It was an anger he had no control over, starting as a small bud and suddenly sprouting into something bigger and far more scary than his current one. Emotions uncanned and whipping wildly in his head and through his heart, tears streamed down his cheek without noticing it. A dark blanket covered his eyes figuratively and literally, a distant, cracking voice joining it.

"By blood slain
By blood remained
Daylight's peace and
Night fall's pain

By love born
By love slain
By blood the peace
Will dawn again"

"No, don't!" He shouldn't have yelled, but he could no longer help his actions and feelings. Life was swirling before his eyes like a whirlpool of colors. Jackie was no where to be seen and he felt like he was flying, not bale to associate the two feelings to one another.

Blood, flying, Jackie, speed, darkness, blood, Jackie, darkness, blood, Jackie, Jackie again, no Jackie, blood, blood...

Before he was aware, he felt a rush of cold air before all 5 senses hit him at once. Snapping his eyes open, he took an inhale through his nose and smelled everything around him, including Jackie's scent somewhere close behind him. It was obvious that he was a wolf again. Shaking his from side to side due to the blanket smothering his ear, his head poked out of blanket, turning around to see Jackie, her eyes as wide as tennis balls.

Oh... Was that as scary for you as it was f--

"Hey! What are you doing? Get back here with Mr.Peacock or I'm calling the cops!" Haru didn't bother to look towards the voice even though fear pricked the inside of his chest.

The cops are bad guys?

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:55 pm

Jackie didn't know what to do.

Haru had told her that she had to bleed on him again to turn him back into a human. It was no big deal since it was only a drop of blood, but the issue was that he wouldn't insta-turn. Of course, there was the other issue of now being chased by a doctor. They were going to call security..

She darted into an elevator around the corner and slammed the Door Close button before anybody saw them, then she sent it down to the basement garage.

"Cops aren't bad except right now they are. I'll explain later," she said hurriedly as she stripped off her scrubs and let her hair down. "I'm going to carry you and claim you're a therapy dog. Dogs are just non-wild wolves, so no growling or biting even if anybody pets you. We're going to go back to my car and get out of here, okay?" she said, pulling the blanket off him as the doors opened. "Come on," she encouraged, holding her arms out to him and trying hard not to panic at the idea of having a wolf climb into her arms.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:27 pm

His head cocked to one side as she spoke about the cops and the plan. All the while, he dug his claws into the seat of the wheelchair in an attempt to hang on for dear life. Jackie was pushing them at a very fast pace, zipping around corners and rushing through a door that opened up to them as soon as they walked to it. He sniffed once, facing Jackie again with his large, curious brown eyes. Smells like he'd never smelled before rushed through his sensitive nose. The smell of something sweet and unnatural, the dull scent the blankets were covered in, the savory smell of something far off yet still enough to cause his mouth to water.

That smells really good. It's kind of like meat, but burned. Haru noticed that Jackie was still frantic as she opened her arms out for him. He cocked his head to the other side, not quite sure what she was asking for him to do. When a loud thud sounded from behind them, Haru thought no more and bound into her arms, taking extra care not to scratch her with his massive paws. His weight was a bit overbearing for her, he could tell, but if she didn't hold him, he would be slightly useless if he had to run with his bad paw. Haru turned his head behind the two of them, bending his ears back and snarling towards the rushing nurses.

Back off.., he warned, very aware that they couldn't hear his words, but the growling was enough.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:40 pm

"Stop growling!" Jackie whispered softly, doing her best to walk as though his weight didn't make her want to topple over. She gave the nurses a smile as they came out of the other elevator. They were looking for a fake nurse in scrubs pushing a wheelchair, not a college girl holding a wolfish dog.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully. "Snowball's all done his therapy rounds today. See you tomorrow!"

And with that, she walked casually to her car, thankful the nurse who had spoken to her wasn't in that crowd since he would have recognized her for sure. She was relived she hadn't given her last name to him. Now all they had to do was break in to the dorm..

Great.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:57 am

Haru ducked his head in punishment when Jackie quietly scolded him for growling. He knew it was bad for him to do it, but it was just in his instincts! He was feeling protective of Jackie and the nurses looked threatening to him. He already deemed that he didn't like hospital or anyone it. All they did was ask questions and put strange things in and up your body that hurt. It did stop Haru from hurting badly out of his side and paw, but he didn't like the way he went to sleep and woke up not knowing what was going on. It also didn't help that Nurse Jenot gave Hali those questioning looks when she explained his situations. Haru suddenly didn't feel so bad for growling again at the nurses, and even after Jackie degraded him, he still kept his brown eyes plastered onto their faces, even when they exited. A warning glare.

Haru carefully climbed out of Jackie's arms when she shoved him into the car, twisting himself around 2 times before finding a comfortable spot on the passenger's seat to sit down. For the first time, he noticed the yellowish substance on his side that was soothing the patched up wound. He would be able to bound and leap across logs in no time. Licking the top of his black nose, Haru closed his mouth down on the seat belt, struggling to put it on himself.

This isn't so easy to do without hands and fingers and stuff. Do I have to put it on? I don't really like it.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:36 pm

"No, you don't need to. You're an animal now, so nobody will care if you aren't buckled in. Being pulled over right now would not be good.. Just lay down so that I don't have to worry about you getting hurt if I have to stop really quickly or something."

Jackie buckled her own belt and quickly left the hospital. They were in the clear. She sighed in relief and turned, going toward the university. Now what? She had a wolf in her passenger seat who could not do anything in public until dawn. But.. until then, he could just be a transfer student. Her classes were large enough that an extra guy wandering in every day would go unnoticed.. Except for his hair and eyes. Dye and a hat? Maybe.. He might not like having his hair dyed, though.. Maybe he could just hang out in her dorm room while she was in class.

"We are going to my school right now. School is.. kind of hard to explain, but humans go to school to learn things. I'm going to have to sneak you inside, somehow.."

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Sep 07, 2013 12:18 pm

Haru nodded in understanding, pushing his nose next to the glass of the car to watch all of the human things outside again. Human, something he didn't think he'd ever experience again, but there he was, only a few moments ago. The curse said by blood slain, by love born, by love slain... He had always thought it meant his mother, loving him and giving birth to him and loving him still while she protected him until her death, but he was starting to get the feeling it was something more. Was it just Jackie who broke his curse, or could any ordinary human bleed for him and turn him back into a human? There were so many questions that he had no answers for, and so many more that Jackie brought up but didn't have time to explain. Blinking his large red eyes at the darkened outside, he licked the tip of his nose out of habit.

I get it. You go there to learn things but I'm not allowed in there because I'm a wolf, right? Don't you have somewhere to stay? Why do we have to go to this school place? He then realized that maybe asking more questions while she was in that state was not the best plan of action, so thumped his white tail to remind him that he needed to shut about it. Minutes passed before he decided to take a new course of action. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, his mouth gaped open into a large yawn, his tongue curling all the way up until the yawn was over.

Are you okay? You don't seem so happy that we got out of that evil place. I could have just killed them all for you, he commented, wagging his tail at the prospect and blinking innocently towards her.

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Sat Sep 07, 2013 12:27 pm

Jackie sighed softly. Not that it was Haru's fault, but she was really starting to regret not having her own apartment instead of living in the dorms. The only relief was that she didn't have a roommate, so he could lounge in her room undisturbed. There was still the problem of getting him in to her room, however..

"Most students live at the school. We sleep there, eat there.. It's easier. So we'll need to sneak you in somehow. It's late, it shouldn't be too hard.."

Hopefully.

"I'm okay, I just wish we could have stayed in the hospital," she said quietly, glancing at him. "It would have been a lot easier for you to heal if you could have stayed. But we can't, because of you being a wolf.. Hm. Anyway. I guess you can either stay this way or we can switch you back again."

Subject: Re: Red Remedy Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:29 pm

He was hoping that she would give him permission to go back and slaughter them for her, but she didn't. He hid the disappointed slowing of his wagging tail by keeping it at the same pace. A blur of lights zipped past the window with a wialing sound following it, and his head instantly turned towards that direction, looking at the car of many colors. Jackie didn't look as 'okay' as she said she was. In fact, Haru was oddly beginning to notice almost exactly how she was feeling against his own will. When she sighed, his ears would lower on the sides of his head. When she glanced at him, he would lick his nose nervously.

Hey, don't worry about me healing. I feel fine, really. Well, my paw still hurts a little, but if I walk on it, I should be fine. My stomach is feeling better because of this sticky stuff. So, don't worry about me. At the mention of changing back, Haru curled his large tail around his legs and pressed his nose against the glass, breathing outwards to fog up the window. When he did so, he jerked back quickly at the fog he created, licking at the spot menacingly. The fog disappeared, so he did the motion again, creating more just to lick it away: his new game.

I'd rather not. Turning back would involve you bleeding and I don't like that. Besides, I like being a wolf. Being a human is too hard.