Shaded & Jaded

William sighs. Figures. He'd always been a sort of hero. "Did you see him get hit?"

Katie: Um... once in the face, but I don't know about with the other guy.

William was about to say something else, but a doctor walks in and looks at William and Katie. A lot more time passed than William had noticed.

"He has a broken rib, which went far enough as to puncture his lung," the doctor said in a somewhat rushed, somewhat calm tone. "Which explained the blood he was coughing up. He's stable for now, but he did lose a lot of blood when he got here."

Katie: Will he be alright?

The doctor sighs. "Well," she begins. "We might need to give him more blood, but we don't have enough of his blood type. O Negatives can give blood but they cannot take but their own type. This is why they are only universal donors."

William looks at Katie, hoping that maybe she was the same blood type because he knew he was actually the opposite.

Katie: I nod. I am an O Negative, so I would like to donate some blood.

William lets out a sigh of relief.

The doctor brightens up and nods. "Wonderful!" she said. "If you would come with me, we'll do that now. We don't need much."

Katie: Alright. I allow the doctor to lead me. If donating blood will help Keynai, I will gladly do it without a second thought.

The doctor leads Katie into a room a ways down the hall. "I know Will," she said, preparing a needle and such. "I wouldn't tell him this, but the reason your friend is in need of blood is because when we got him into the room, he spit out a lot of blood and went into a series of coughing fits." she sighs. "Will cannot know... Not now, at least. You just have to know him... He'll take it as if your friend is already dead."

Katie: I guess William is better not knowing for now, then. He seems really scared for Keynai and adding more stress wouldn't be beneficial. I look down. This never should have happened, though. Keynai shouldn't be hurt and William shouldn't have to deal with this situation.

The doctor takes some of Katie's blood. "Take it easy for a while," she says. "And don't blame yourself, hun. Those two have been in and out of here so many times before. They'll get through it."

Katie: I nod. Thank you.

The doctor smiles. "Just be careful what you let Will know or see when it comes to him," she says. "Now... Do me a favor and go out there and give Will a hug. Don't let go if he resists for a minute. He needs it but won't admit it. He cares deeply about Keynai and needs someone to show they care... Will is hard to understand but sometimes what he doesn't like is what he needs." With that she walked out, blood bag in hand.

Katie: I walk back to William after the doctor leaves and hug him.

William stares at Katie for a moment confused, then starts trying to gently push her away. "What.. What are you doing?" he cries, almost like a child. "Stop!" Even though he yells stop, he melts into her arms and begins to show how worried he really is. "What if he doesn't live?" He says, almost in tears. "What if he's already dead?!" He sounds like a child at this point.

Katie: Kenai will live. He is strong enough to make it. I gently tell him. Everything will be okay in the end.

Abbie: "we could watch one, they are so sweet but some of them can get pretty strange."

Zane: I am pretty sure nothing could be stranger than dealing with Peyton.

Katie: My own anxiety about the situation threatens to bubble up but I try to suppress it. In any difficult situation, I always manage to keep a brave face, but my resolve has been cracking lately. I keep up my happy facade because nobody should be miserable because of me but they still are. It is all his fault. Maybe I should just give up on resisting and return to Blake. When Keynai recovers, I will; I just need to know he will be okay first. I will surrender to Blake's idea of a future: me as his obedient wife -- allowing him access to my father's wealth -- and his little heirs surrounding me. The very thought is disgusting and causes me clench my jaw in attempt to keep my composure. I don't want that at all. There is another for which I yearn but there is no scenario that I see ending well.

William looks at Katie as she clenches her jaw and watches a moment before saying, "It's not your fault, you know. He... He does these sort of things all the time - things that could kill him I mean. Sometimes I wonder if he has a death wish, but... I don't know. Whatever happened, don't blame yourself. Whatever he did, it was voluntary. Don't let it eat you up.. and, you know... He'd do anything for me but also... for you."

Katie: [b]Voluntary or not, Keynai wouldn't have been hurt had I not angered Blake a few years back. There would have been no threat presenting itself. This may not be the first or last time that he is injured but that does little ease my guilt. And I appreciate that he would do anything for me, I just don't want to cause him pain.[/b] With that said, I try to regain my composure. Cole once yelled at me about doing this, saying that I shut down just after being forward about how I felt.

Abbie laughed some and picked out two of the movies, "I will narrow the choices down." she shows him the two, "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure, a toxic forest with giant mutant insects, cool stuff like that. Or we could watch Howl's Moving Castle, a girl named Sophie meets an attractive wizard but she gets turned into a 90 year old by some angry witch. Pick your Ghibli initiation movie." she laughs a bit

William sighed. "We can't predict the future or alter the past. It was his choice to save you but thing is... he knew exactly what the consequences could be. He knew he could get injured or killed or even make it out perfectly fine. You wouldn't have known any of this would've happened, but you should be glad he helped you. I don't know what that guy was trying to do to you but, whatever that may be, it's prevented for the time being. Keynai caused his own pain, as he always does, not you."

Zane: Let's go with the Valley of the Wind option as my initiation. I laugh as well. No attractive wizards for me, please.

Katie: I am thankful that he helped me; do not mistake that. I respond. I could go on all day long voicing ways that this is my fault, but what good would that do?

Abbie smiles and puts the other, "good cause I was not in the mood for Howl either." she looks at him smiling.