authenticity [c]

He wasn't wrong in guessing the redhead's response in this made up scenario where she called him. Imagining it, Adrian doubted that she would have been able to keep any sort of calm if that had happened. Thinking on it, even when she was at work handling meetings with other rangers, she did not react well to those that had no courtesy of respecting another's time. Once more Arkwright would repeat the fact that he had indeed said he would return and the woman would shake her head at it this time. If he was going to keep reiterating that then there was no used trying to argue further. Thus the ranger would reluctantly drop the topic for now in favor of moving on to the next.

Not that the next one was any better for her. Watching as Arkwright take off his coat as he clarified his plans, the woman would noticeably pause without a word. For one reason or another the second he had said he was leaving before evening rolled around, it felt as if a weight had dropped on her entire chest. "Right..." she's say slowly, her voice lowering slightly in conjunction. She had assumed wrong and her heart should have been fluttering with joy upon learning that Arkwright was not planning to stay overnight. That he wouldn't be doing anything strange or keeping her up into the wee hours of the evening. It didn't though and perhaps it was due in part to the ever overarching question of whether Arkwright would return.

The man would provide some information on his whereabouts before he had come to the hospital and it would only serve to further condemn the woman. In some attempt to catch herself, Adrian would forcibly raise her voice. "Well I'm sorry I'm such a bother." She'd say in a defensively sarcastic tone as she readjusted her sitting position to where her pillow would find itself in her lap. Arkwright's fickle behavior shouldn't have mattered to her at this stage. As of this moment the ranger was catching onto the fact that as long as she required medical treatment, for whatever reason, Arkwright would come back. Plus Adrian was becoming used to the unreliability and being alone - in fact she savored her time alone. So was this crippling feeling due to the fact that this precarious balance could be destroyed at any time?

She hated this.

Among these thoughts Adrian would be watching Arkwright carefully as he retreated to his corner. A chide would be thrown in her direction in regards to her behavior and she would have huffed obstinately at the remark had her mind not been drawn elsewhere. The fact that Arkwright had not repeated himself like she asked would be forgotten as the woman would squint at the dark spots coloring the lower part of his pants leg. Instead a mixture of concern and anger painted over her features. "Yet you're the one bleeding," she'd snap back right as he had completed his last sentence. Shoving away whatever reservations she had, the ranger's very nature would come forward as the ginger swung her legs off the side of the bed and tossed her phone onto the sheets without so much as the slightest ounce of hesitation. The overpowering inclination to check on Adrien had outweighed the detriment of her injuries to herself as the woman placed her feet on the ground to walk over to the small bed despite whatever would be undoubtedly said to dissuade her.

"You idiot," she'd reiterate the word to bounce back the insult. Honestly who did he think he was? They were in a hospital for crying out loud, there was no way he was going to hide it from the staff and it was insulting if he thought he could hide it from her. "Let me see your wounds." Her tone shifted from concern to straight out demanding, though the concern was still there. While Adrian was no nurse, rangers were taught to identify injuries and to be able to administer first aide at any time so she figured she would be able to at least be able to decide if he indeed needed to see a nurse. Nevermind the food, she wouldn't be able to eat in good conscious, and if he didn't comply then she wasn't above being forceful about it.

Denying that he was bleeding did not go over well with the redhead whose expression turned from moderately concerned to vexation. Despite his earlier exhaustion affecting his tone minutes before, he sounded stable now. Not that it deterred the woman after seeing the dark splotches in the first place. "You said you wouldn't lie to me," she rebuked immediately. If not for her concern being the highest priority in her mind, perhaps she would have dwelled more on that thought. By the time that she had managed to make her way to Adrien's temporary bedside, the man had since then sat up and recoiled at her demand.

The ginger pressed her lips into a thin line at the reaction, the sight reminding her of child trying to hide evidence of a fuck up. Taking note that he swung his legs backwards, she knew that the man was aware that he was hurt too. "Oh, yeah. Like that's going to convince me." Not even attempting to hide the sarcasm in her voice, Adrian ignored the rest of his complaints without bothering to acknowledge them. Reaching a hand out, she'd unabashedly lay a hand on one of Arkwright's legs in an attempt to grab hold of it and force him to show her. She was not worried about injuring him further or causing him more pain mostly because it would not have been an issue if he was being cooperative in the first place.

"You shouldn't have left, you idiot." While this had been directed to Adrien, the way that the words were said sounded more as if she was scolding herself. Somewhere Adrian had felt that she was liable for whatever injuries that Arkwright was trying to hide now. To her there was no reason to attempt to hide them aside from saving the other from potential guilt. Not that she had any right to complain about him doing so since she had done the same back in Canalave. "I should have stopped you."

Despite all that the ranger attempted in her current state, Arkwright would be able to outmaneuver and overpower her from a now standing position. While the ranger's own injuries were not doing her any favors, she's catch glimpses of Adrien's expression as he had stood. It baffled her how much resistance he was putting up and no part of her could understand why he would go through that anymore than he had to. Nevertheless the ginger couldn't help but stand there as Arkwright managed to grab hold of her wrist and begin berating her. Surely he would have known that she would lash back.

"Stopped me?!? You aren't my keeper, Mastry!"

The intensified grip had her wincing this time which caused her to refrain from saying anything immediately lest a gasp of pain escaped from her lips. There was so much she wanted to say - to rebuttal and defend herself. Yet Arkwright would not allow her that opportunity. His voice amplified to the point that it reminded her of earlier in the day. Except this time his words sort of stung. And of all things he would lecture her about, it was responsibility? It was as if the state of affairs were reversed, Adrien was using her own argument against her.

But this situation was different.

Very Different...

The instant that Adrian loosened his grip on her wrist, she'd try to pull it free. Whether she succeeded or not was inconsequential. "I'll start listening once you stop being stubborn and start taking care of yourself!" she'd finally lash back as her glaring expression returned. Locking eyes with the man, Adrian would begin having her say once more. His threat to call the nurse was taken with a grain of salt. At this point Adrian wanted to call the nurse herself to send his way. He was obviously suffering, so why would he refuse to even get treated if he was so insistent she got treated? "Why are you being so stubborn!?" she'd suddenly blurt out in as her rage built up once again. While the volume of her voice did not match that of Adrien's, the anger seeped into it was sure to be heard outside the room as well. "It's not like I'm not going to eat so why won't you let me HELP!?" Her muscles tensed as if restraining herself not to punch him or shove him back on the bed. The possibility was there, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. At least not yet.

"I don't fucking get it! Why would you get mad at me for being WORRIED about YOU!?!" Truthfully part of her didn't get it herself. Why had her concern for Adrien's health bothered her to this extent? If it had been someone else she was sure she would have told them they looked like shit but otherwise left to go their own pace. Yet it stood that Adrian was worried and refuting her attempts to help would only make things worse.

Done her way... that might have been true. That didn't change the severity in her glare however. Maybe if she had understood why he was acting out in such a way, she might have taken some of what was said to heart. Perhaps even considerate to his wishes if they made sense. The fact that there was no justifiable answer however led her to believe he was being difficult just to be difficult. She acted out of concern and she saw nothing wrong with that. Taking notice of the irritation that saturated his voice, Adrian rolled her eyes. "UGH I can't believe you!" she exclaimed with exasperation overtaking her as she threw hands up defiantly, not even bothering to correct his opinion of her. It was not the worse thing she has heard said about her.

Why couldn't he fucking consider how she felt about this? His self-centered attitude wasn't just going to kill him, it was going to kill her too. If he wanted to talk about pity, shouldn't she be the one that should have felt fed up with his pity? She clenched her teeth at the thought. Before, with enough argument, Adrien had backed down in some respects but there did not seem to be any indication for him doing so this time around. "Is that supposed to stop me from caring!? I'm not-" her words were cut off as Arkwright began his startling trek to the door. Impulsively her hand reached to grab at his wrist the same way that he had done to her in an attempt to stop him. "Stop!" her exclamation sounded both forceful and desperate. She had watched him leave the first time, let him go hurt himself and for what? A bag of clothes and some food for her sake? She wouldn't make the same mistake again.

With all the moving around he was doing, his wounds were only going to get worse and the fact that he couldn't understand that after he forcibly shoved those thoughts onto her was inconceivable. Her grip would intensify at the thought of him pushing himself for nary a reason. "What the fuck do I have to do to get you to let a nurse patch you up!?" she'd finally ask. "Because I'll fucking do it if it means you'll listen!"

A little he said. Her eyes trailed to the dark spots that were still apparent on his pants leg. There was no way that Adrian was going to believe that. The gaze that met her's however was what gave her pause, enough so that he would be able to yank himself free from her grip. "..." The request he made was a simple one but she doubted that it was in any way going to lead into him getting treated for his own injuries. He was probably going to hide it and he expected to get away with it without her making a fuss. It was stupid. Pure idiocy. There was no way she was going to go along with it.

Then there was a sharp intensity at her chest.

Right as the nurse peeked into the room, the ginger would turn away from the door clutching her chest. The sudden onset of pain was excruciating and so while Arkwright was preoccupied by the nurse's appearance, the ranger thought over the possibilities despite the difficulties she was having doing so. _"...Idiot," she'd mumble under her breath filled with spite. Focusing on evening her breathing, she'd keep her back turned from Adrien and the doorway in favor of ceding to his request. Forcing her hand down to her side, Adrian exhaled hard as she took unsteady steps back to the hospital bed. It would be a loss but it was better than the alternative - the possibility of collapsing.

There would be no words spoken to rebuke the galactic admin's assertion to the nurse as she rolled herself back onto the mattress. With closed eyes she'd lay there without a word with her left arm extended to her side to allow the nurse easy access to reattach the IV as necessary. The nurse would come in with her equipment and work quickly to secure the IV once again, verbally warning the ranger against removing it again, not that Adrian responded to this one way or another. A small part of her acted to part her lips to see if she could redirect the nurse to Adrien himself, but decided against doing so. The fatigue was getting to her and she had yet to eat the entire day, making the situation no better for her.

She wanted to yell at Adrien and tell him how unreasonable he was being. Yet now he was pushing her away again and at this point even if he attempted to leave, she wouldn't be in any position to stop him.

This sucked.

The strain that the woman felt in her chest felt almost as if it was crushing her, suffocating her to the point she could no longer breathe. At this point Adrian truly wish that Arkwright had shot her heart. The faint sound of Adrien's voice would be heard and internally the ginger cringed. She hoped that he wouldn't catch on and that the nurse would go away after putting the needle in her arm. The hope that whatever this was would pass without incident. Unfortunately the feeling of fingers pressing against her wrist and her neck meant otherwise. Adrian could not stop the nurse from doing whatever examination she was attempting, being too lightheaded to make any drastic moves. She couldn't think anymore and everything around her was becoming more of a fuzzy blur. Hear hearing was fading and she was hard pressed to keep conscious. At some point she couldn't even hear the shuffling or her name being called out and everything turned dark quickly.

The nurses would be swift to flank the bed, one of them requesting that Adrien exit the room or at the least move away from the patient. Whether or not he complied was another matter. The facts as it stood was that the ginger's vitals were crashing rapidly, her breathing coming to a stop soon after. The doctor would call a code blue upon further inspection and the nurses would act accordingly. Since all the necessary monitoring equipment was already in the room, the nurses took to attaching them back onto the ranger's body and the defibrillator would be brought out onto the crash cart in the room. By now if it was not obvious to what was happening, the heart monitors would flip on and display the irregular beating of the ginger's heart steadily dropping into a flat-line.

The jolts that came after to shock the woman's heart back into rhythm would last for four sets. The first two received no response. The third one regained a faint vital beat. The final one would be the one to fully revive the woman's pulse. A nurse would breathe a sigh of relief as the doctor ordered additional monitoring to be kept. As for Adrian herself? She wasn't going to come to soon enough. Whether Arkwright would stick around and wait for her come to would be left in the air

Hours. Hours would pass and the ginger remained unconscious and unaware of her surroundings. It was only during this time that the woman felt at peace, unable to feel pain coursing through her nervous system and above all unable to think. The serene bliss of silence engulfed her form and at that the woman was hard pressed to wake from her slumber, not that she had much choice in the matter to begin with. Dreams clouded her memories as events played back one by one. Yelling, screaming, threats, more pain, more yelling, more obstinate stubbornness. Claws from an Excadrill flashed in her thoughts. Then a gun did the same. Each time, each snippet of memory played back like a short clip, she could feel her heart beating in her chest - hear it from within the chambers of her mind. Why would she want to go back to that?

But between all of it though there was a hint of... tenderness? Somewhere in there there was some warmth. A small glimmer of light that made some difference. A promise? A smile?

A rhythmic beeping noise served to answer her, breaking through her consciousness. It was an unsettling sound to wake to. Nevertheless the slow flickering of her eyelids to allow the open stream of light in the room to blind her eyes made it so Adrian became painfully aware of how groggy she felt. The sensation of waking blindsided her as all of her other senses began to reactivate all at once. All the pain had been dulled from all the medication that was shot into her veins. Her eyes were readjusting to the brightness of the florescent lighting. The distinct scent of disinfectant overpowered her nose. And as for her hearing.

"For as long as I can,"

She'd squint at the voice. It sounded familiar. She knew who that was but part of her did not believe it to be true. Yet somehow Adrian wanted to know. Wanted to see to believe it. Thus the subtle sound of shifting could be heard as Adrian tilted her head to the side, her emerald irises falling upon the one eyed man that sat at her bedside. His head was down from her angle looked different. Like he was out of it. She'd blink, unsure if this was real or a vivid dream, but would part her lips to speak. "... Adrien?" a weak voice no matter how much effort would be put into making it sound otherwise. It did not stop the woman from cringing at herself as she swallowed a bit of air in a futile attempt to rid herself of that tone.

"What are you-" she'd make an attempt to sit up as she attempted more words but would recoil at the jarring pain in her head. The result was her head falling back onto the pillow pathetically. "Ugh..." A breath of annoyance as her eyes returned to look towards Arkwright. Of all the things to first see upon waking, his face was not high on the list of what she expected. Especially not when his face was looking like he had swallowed the bitterest pill in the world. Unable to process why, Adrian exhaled a breath. She wouldn't attempt to sit up again but she would attempt to move her hand upwards instead. "... That is you, right Arkwright?"