thedispatch | (no subject)

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[ It's happening once again - her life, flashing before her eyes.

The shock that gripped her chest, as the demon grasped her face, muttering against her lips that it would erase the pain of her pathetic existence. Meeting William's gaze with excitement as they threw themselves into the throes of battle. Launching herself at him when he'd announced that they would be investigating a case together. Waking up that morning in a cold bed, before pulling herself out of it to piece herself together.

Hundreds of other beginnings like it, contrasting the liveliness she threw into her days, the unusual occurrences that came with her occupation, and the way her heart twists around that one special man. A time of fiery passion, bloodshed, lust - so brief, less than a thousand days of bliss, before reality tore the blanket from her eyes. Thirty-six-thousand like the ones that proceeded them. Love. Meeting William. Rage. Being "reborn," they said. Throwing herself into the ocean from cliffs high above.....

Her body relaxes as it all fades away. It's nearly bliss-- until the beast tears her scythe from her hands to plunge through her chest. Its laugh is wretched, gravely, as it steps on her shoulder to remove the blade and brandish against William.

It slowly walks back, giving the man the unspoken option to pursue it for battle, or approach his colleague. ]

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[ Very rarely does a look of shock grace William's features. In actuality, it had only occurred once before, in a scenario quite similar to this. And much like that time, William suddenly finds himself frozen, only able to watch something he should have foreseen and attempted to stop, even if his efforts would have done no good.

His partner's record flutters through the air around them, but not a single frame is paid any mind as the wretched creature leaves his prey to die and focuses on him, next. And again, there's the ultimatum presented; pursue revenge in a fit of rage or scrape together any shred of hope that he can save his partner. While he's stronger now, certainly, at least Grell could stand a chance, should he act quickly enough. So the demon's watched cautiously as he appears next to the redhead, scoops her up in his arms and retreats to their home realm.

He needs to get her treated as quickly as possible. Hopefully his faltering hasn't costed her her second life. ]

[ The resilience of a reaper is a funny thing; though the scythe may prove to be fatal to their kind, she still maintains the faintest shard of consciousness when William scoops her into his arms. The color has drained from her fair skin, body limp in his arms as she bleeds out. Her bleary eyes scan his face, breath shuddering, as her vision fades to black.

Upon William's arrival in their treatment facility, the nurses are rather shocked, themselves. In her pursuits of excitement and recklessness, Grell has landed herself in the hospital many times, but never like this. Certainly, never cradled in the arms of her manager.

Thankfully, they are quick to act, fetching a gurney and guiding him settle her atop it. ]

[ As she's whisked off, William finds himself hovering in the waiting room, the nurses asking him for any details he can give on what happened. He absently recalls the fight for them, his true thoughts lingering elsewhere. Despite how irritating Grell has always been, he'd still grown fond of her. In the sense that he couldn't visualize his afterlife without her there, constantly clinging to him, nor did he want to know where his own sanity would drift to if she wasn't always there, keeping him on his toes.

William doesn't realise he's been anxiously bouncing his foot until one of the nurses asks him if he's alright. ]

What?

[ He catches himself, quickly trying to negate any ideas the women might have that he's honestly worried for his coworker. ]

Honestly, this information won't be of any use with you lot hovering around me.

[ His cold judgement of their work practices gets them to disperse, and, finally alone, William takes a seat and tries to focus on anything else. ]

[ It’s some time before Grell's condition has stabilized, and she's been moved into a room. Everything has been confirmed present, mended to some extent, and the rest left to rely on supernatural healing. She's been supplied fluids and a great deal of medication - some of which will keep her under until the worst of it passes.

The nurse that relays this information suggests that William return home and get his rest for the night - and tentively asks if he would like to be contacted in the case of any significant changes. ]

[ William has occupied the time scrawling out the details of the event in his work binder. Certainly he'll have to report it tomorrow, but he may as well write it down while it's fresh in his mind. As he does, he absently wonders why he's torturing himself with reliving the moment only hours after it happened. He could claim it's to get a head start on work, but he silently knows he's condemned himself to reliving his past for so long, what is another excruciatingly similar moment to tack on top of the pain?

When the nurse arrives, William hesitates in his answer. ]

Contact me should he wake.

[ Standing, he gives a brief look towards the door to the doctor's rooms, then quietly exits. ]

[ It isn't until the next afternoon that a young nurse shows, meekly rapping at his door, and wrapping her hands over her apron whilst waiting for his acknowledgement.

Upon his response, she forcibly brightens her expression with a smile. ]

Ah, hello, Mister Spears! I'm glad you're here. I wasn't certain where I'd find you.

Where else would I be? Honestly.

[ With so much documentation to fill out, he's been stuck in his office all morning. Granted, the nurse can't have known that so he tries to lessen the icy tone to his voice, if only slightly. ]

Has he woken?

[ Bowing her head slightly, she blushes! In her embarrassment, she nearly admits, she considered that he might have taken the morning off. Thankfully, he changes the subject before she has the chance to stammer her was through that one. ]

Yes. Much sooner than we anticipated, actually.

[ That should be good news, but her face doesn't show it. ]

[ Despite her words, the lack of a smile does not bode well. Somehow his frown seems to deepen. ]

Has he already become a nuisance?

[ He hates to admit it but for once that might be the best situation ]

[ With a sigh, her brows press together just so. ]

In a manner of speaking, yes. It is my hope that your presence might alleviate his-- situation. [ She very nearly rolls her eyes, but catches herself, averting her gaze while tucking a piece of fringe behind her ear. ]

[ Well, that reasoning sounds a bit more normal, William being the go-to solution for any Grell outbursts. With a sigh, he sets his pen aside and rises from his desk. ]

Very well, then.

[ He follows silently along side the girl, allowing her to lead him to Grell's room. ]

[ A quick pop into intensive care, and she's leading him to the nearest private room. Clearly, they didn't wish for her to disrupt the other patients.

Grell, however, isn't nearly as noisy as one might expect. Her voice is tired and raspy. Without her glasses, without makeup, undereyes sunken with fatigue. Currently, she has a nurse attending to her IV. ]

You mean to tell me that you purposely lessened my medication? [ A heavy sigh, as she pushes some of the fringe away from her face. ] You're a terrible woman. [ Now, she's attempting to pull some of her hair to the side, as it's getting in the way of her lines! ] Why is there so much--...

[ The nurse ignores Grell's commentary entirely, glancing over to their new guests with a bright smile. She's much more familiar with William, being the head nurse.

Would you look at that, she says, Annabelle has returned, and she's brought Mister Spears with her! ]

How am I to look in my current state?

[ Aside from looking the part of someone who's been rescued from a second death, Grell seems fairly normal. Peeved and complaining and not feeling the slightest bit ashamed for talking down to others. However, he does note the lack of enthusiasm when the nurse speaks his name.

He hums, approaching her bedside and taking up the red frames that sit on the side table. He opens the arms, with the intention of placing them on her, but pauses to remove that absurd chain she's always had them dangling from. ]

Honestly, you rarely wore your spectacles properly, to begin with.

[ Of course his first words to her would be a scolding. The arms of the frames are hooked atop her ears and slid fully up her nose to sit as they were properly intended to. Finally, Grell's surroundings will start to come into focus. ]

Didn't I?

[ The redhead's tone don't change - and she nearly turns away from his touch, until her glasses are close enough for her to see, and she makes sense of the gesture.

With everything in perspective, she takes a moment to glance around at her surroundings - and the glasses feel funny on her nose, so she's immediately adjusting them a bit lower.

One of the first thing she notices are the nurses huddled together, watching with anticipation. With a furrow of the brows, she gives them a side-eye. ]

What?

[ William's gaze joins hers. The nurses are certainly acting strange. It isn't as though Grell's causing a huge ruckus that he has to dispel. Those events always get gossiped around, mainly by the ladies in HR. But the redhead is tame enough at the moment that he can't see what they'd be so interested in. ]

I'd like to know the same.

[ While Annabelle flusters at the attention, the head nurse is much more confident in the way she regards their questioning.

We had hoped that you were feeling a bit better, Mister Sutcliffe, that's all. ]

I'm certain that I was very clear when I'd said I'm in pain--

[ The nurse abruptly clears her throat with a forced smile.

With the new company, I meant. ]

Who, Mister-- Spears, was it? He hasn't even properly introduced himself. [ With the tired snark, she looks up at him. ] You don't bear the title, nor the garb, of a doctor, so I'm at a loss.

[ William opens his mouth to retort but is at a loss. He glares up at the girls, assuming they must have done something. ]

What exactly have you been giving him?

[ He could claim that Grell was just teasing him but, he hasn't been regarded by her in such a disinterested tone since they first met. He hardly thinks she that good an actress. ]

[ Were Grell in a right state, and also a mind reader, she would be very offended by that opinion! How could you, William.

Even now, she's giving him a very unimpressed look for being disregarded. It's with a half-hearted roll of the eyes that she rests her head back against her pillows.

The head nurse nods Annabelle off, who quickly dismisses herself after bowing her head to William.

Actually, we've weaned him off of what we could, believing that might be the cause of his-- apparent loss of recollection.

At that, Grell picks her head up to shoot an affronted look at the nurse. ]

Excuse me?

[ The nurse only shakes her head.

Mister Sutcliffe, you've done less for attention or entertainment. ]

[ At that news, William's ever present frown takes on a more concerned look. A rare sight, indeed! ]

What else has he forgotten? Something must have initially brought this to your attention.

[ If it's not a side effect of a medication she's been administered, then they're dealing with a much larger issue. Her record. ]

[ Grell looks between them with disbelief! ]

I can't remember a damned thing, and frankly, it's been rather terrifying, you know?! And yet, most of my questions have been disregarded and scoffed at. All I've had to go off of are the remarks you all think I can't hear - or perhaps you simply don't care.

[ She has to stop for a moment, pressing a hand over her chest with a sharp breath. The nurse ticks her tongue and moves in to lay Grell back against the pillows, but the unsettled reaper smacks her hand away. ]

Leave, all of you! [ Laying back herself, her breath is laboured, but she's too stubborn to say anything else! ]

[ William gives a nod to the head nurse to head out, but remains standing at Grell's bedside. Because obviously 'all of you' doesn't include him. ]

Stop. You're going to cause even more trouble for yourself.

[ Call on me, if necessary, the nurse says with a sigh, giving William a nod before she departs.

Meanwhile, Grell is only further upset by their dismissive attitudes! A glare is shot William's way. ]

What-- [ Wheeze! ] -- are you still-- doing here?

[ Lifting an arm, she points to the door very sternly. ]

[ William ignores her gesture, not even looking towards the door. ]

Calm yourself. You very nearly died as I was bringing you here. I don't need a repeat of that.

[ He huffs as he presses a thumb and forefinger to his forehead. He can already feel the headache coming on. ]

[ Hand clenching, she allows her hand to fall as her eyes close with absolute frustration. ]

As you might guess... I can't recall... [ Leaning her head back to breathe a bit, it seems she's given up at present, at least! ]

[ Since she seems to have relaxed, at least from the level of raging, William pulls the visitors chair over to settle himself into. ]

What can you remember, then? Of anything.