Chase quickly lost interest in the tube that was plugged into Hokee's arm. Whatever it was, it seemed to calm Hokee down.

>> "Cool huh?"

"What is it?" Chase inquired.

Hokee asked if Michael wanted to move the bed, while Chase moved to the side, surveying the pouch that contained Hokee's pain medication, or what was otherwise known as "healing water".

>> "Look.....I got......a pee......bag."

Chase chuckled at that, surveying the bag from a distance. He then clambered onto Hokee's bed and sat its foot, carefully seeking out the one unoccupied spot before settling. Sure, he and Michael had snuck up, but now that they were there, Chase wasn't too sure of what to do or say.

Michael looked at chase, his eyes were slightly wide. It was a silent plea to just keep talking to Hokee. He’d never really been amazingly interested in hospitals or how they worked, so he didn’t know what else he could possibly say to make this situation any better. Looking at his puzzle, Michael shook his head at Hokee. He didn’t want to move the bed, it wasn’t that interesting.

The boy moved over to a chair near the door, and fiddled with his own metallic piece. On piece slowly was wormed off and he looked at it triumphantly, the lifted it up to show everyone in the room just how clever he was in figuring that one out. He looked down to see if there was anything else he could do for some more, and seemed to be absorbed.

Michael would probably be interested in moving the bed if it was just as magical as pressing the button. He would press the button again whenever Hokee asked. But the bed was too easy to figure out. He moved the button up, and the bed would go up. Besides, if he moved it too much he might flatten Hokee, or Hokee might break, and his muscles would fall out.

There was no telling what those actions would cause! So, he looked over at chase, and after a moment, looking back down at his feet, he mumbled out a bit more. “Where’s…” He forgot her name, didn’t he? Yup. He kept doing that. She was really nice lady though. He frowned still fiddling with the clinking metal as he tried to figure it out. Giving up, he continued anyways. “The lady?”

The duo seemed to quiet down very quickly. So much for company or entertainment. He wasn't exactly the host kind of person and this wasn't a very welcoming situation either. When life just threw everything and anything at you and abruptly slamed into your body full force, no amount of safety restraints could ever prepare or take away the brunt of the pain and agony left behind. The very restrictions that were there to protect, they were the verythings that left marks of reminders of how things collided. A tease or not, he couldn't tell for sure, and thinking much at all was rather difficult. The sound of the heart monitor behind his head was the only reminder of his continuation of life on earth in the land of the living. With his eyes shut reality blurred away into the drug induced illusions.

With the room growing quieter by the moment, the sounds of the machines filled his head yet again. The hissing sound of oxygen shoving its way up his nose, the bleeps of his heart....it was amazing the stuff wasn't giving him a headache, but it would be difficult to pinpoint any pain in his head compared to other parts of his body. The sensation of feeling the pound in his chest along with the throbs of his body to the beeping sound of a machine was strange, but it could be worse.

Since neither of the boys seemed to want to help him sit up, it was up to himself...or call the nurses and hope he didn't get the one that smelled like a mix of rubbing alcohol and old lady farts. Old nurses should be limited to the maternity ward or at least to other old patients, that or come with air fresheners. It might be worth the risk. With a deep breath, his fingers found the button he needed, or thought it was the right button. The IV started to drip down liquid into his arm, and it wasn't until the second hit he realized the mistake. Well, it was certainly going to make sitting up be easier now. Pushing the remote away, he found the right one and pushed the button in.

Beep...beep......beep.......beep..beep....beep...beep..beep........beep.

The nurse soon came in, the one that had a mustache that triggered the gag reflex . If the visual wasn't bad enough, she smelt like a fresh smoke break. "Whatcha need honey?" Lucky for her his snark remark was numbed by a fresh wave of medication. His eyebrows knitted with each other, trying to pull his lids up. "Sit, maybe?"

The smell of the nurse was stronger as she shoved her body over him yanking him up after getting the bed cranked up a bit so he was semi sitting. With her overly large triple 'e' self, the puzzle on his chest didn't roll in any direction or another. It was a rather good thing he was the one with the dreadlocks and not the nurse, for if the hair had been switched, the smothering of hair would have clogged the tube shoved up his nose. Wake up call for sure, he wasn't certain if he should gag or choke to death with the overwhelming smell of her. Not only did she stink from the cigarette smoke, but she had that funk going on somewhere between the twin peaks. Thankfully she shifted the pillows under his head and jelly rolled herself out of there.

Hokee's mouth dropped a bit as his tongue stretched out. Twisting his face in new directions, he couldn't help but wish Cree was there to free him from the horrors of sense of smell. With his eyes a bit more open then before, he looked towards the duo a bit better. The puzzle on his chest seemed to have a different dimension now since he could see it more clearly. Both hands moved their way across his chest till he could actually handle it. The fingers slowly felt around the metal bends and twists. His mouth twitched a bit in the corners. So Mikey called Taylor the lady...nice. The kid was moving up on the scale there. "Hows it........work?"

Chase watched with owlish eyes as Hokees’ hand found the remote, and punched a button repeatedly. He must have been hurting a lot. But… the I.V. wasn’t twitching at all, no more of the pain reliever was descending down the tube. He must have been hitting a different button. Chase waited for something to happen… maybe for the t.v. to turn and/or change channels, or for the bed to start rolling towards the door. (It was a robotic bed, right?) But none such thing happened. In fact, an older nurse with facial hair and an awful smell came stalking into the room.

Chase winced involuntarily as the woman stalked over and, in a voice that was worn ragged by decades of smoking, asked Hokee what he needed, to which Hokee curtly answered that he wanted to sit up. Chase would have readily obliged, but—Scary Nurse Lady was making her approach. The young shapeshifter felt a bolt of fear one down his spine. He wasn’t sure that this woman was actually a woman, much less a human. He wanted to get away from her. Thus, minding his steps, Chase clambered over Hokees’ outstretched legs to the opposite corner of the foot of the bed, farthest from the Nurse Lady.

The Nurse approached, pungent aroma following. She managed to get Hokee into a sitting position after a minor struggle, adjusted his pillows, and then departed just as fluidly as she’d come, without so much as a twitch of an eyelid at the two children that were accompanying Hokee within his room. Chase stared at the door for a few moments longer, before finally exhaling a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“She was kinda scary,” Chase mumbled, nose wrinkling slightly, “And she smelled funny.”

Chase watched as Hokee toyed with the puzzle, and asked Michael how it worked. Sure, Chase liked puzzles, but he didn’t have nearly as much of an affinity for them as Michael did. Michael was a prodigy when it came to puzzles. On top of that, Chase was practical as opposed to patient—a child like Michael would be able to solve a Rubik’s cube legitimately. Chase would either break the Rubik’s cube apart with a hammer before rearranging it, or peel the stickers off and put them in the proper places. That didn’t mean that he didn’t like watching other people solve puzzles, though.

Gemma's head was slowly clearing up. She got a healthy dose of painkillers, and she was only out in the waiting room because she threw a fuss. Otherwise she would have still been on a hospital bed, probably spending the night too. She had just been in a car accident, after all.
Damn adapted field. DocProf would have made everything a lot easier.
At least Chase was healed. And Jorge on the way. The kid looked much better now that they were here, but also anxious to see Hokee. Problem was they wouldn't let them. So Gemma sat, swimming in and out of hurting and being exhausted, trying to keep an eye on Chase and his little friend. She was also worried, damn worried about Hokee, but there was this whole keeping a low profile on the healer thing that kept them from bringing DocProf into the hospital. And they were sure as hell not letting them bring Hokee out.
Gemma shuddered, and looked around, noticing that the kids were gone. Damn. Holding on to the back of her seat, he stood and looked again, trying to see where they went.

It took her seconds to figure it out, but long minutes to actually get there. She thought about asking a nurse, but the way she looked they would have made her sit back down, or even go back to the bed. Hell no. Making her way slowly down the corridor, she searched until she found the room. It was not hard. It had two kids talking inside.

"Hey" she said quietly, standing in the doorway "Let him rest, boys. I'll meet you outside."

It was not her mother voice, but it would still do the trick. Eventually. Besides, she needed to talk to Hokee on her own.

He wasn’t much into talking to people, especially not nurses, so Michael did not even pretend to feign interest in her entrance. He actually just glared at his puzzle until he left. Then, and only then, did he respond to Hokee.

“You gotta make the metal pieces come apart…and then put them back together again. See?” Without looking Hokee in the eye, he held up all the pieces of his metallic puzzle. They were all separated now, that was for sure, and they were tangled when he came in.

Michael would have said more, he really would have, but he was much too busy. He had to put them back together again in the right order…but he didn’t want to. It was conflicting. The boy wanted them to show to someone, to have them tell him he did a good job, but completing the puzzle was more important than the approval of a nurse, or the next person who walked in.

This turned out to be completely untrue, as Mama T walked into the room next, and spoke to them. She wanted Michael and Chase to let him rest. Michael shimmied off of his chair, holding onto the metal pieces tightly, and then moved over to her. She was still known as the lady in his mind…because she wasn’t like a puzzle.

He couldn’t figure her out at all. No name seemed appropriate yet. In any case, Michael held the pieces up for her to look at, also not meeting her gaze. It was clearly, wordlessly, something he wanted to show as a sense of pride built up.

It was good see the faces of Chase and Michael better, but the after shock of nursezilla was priceless. They were lucky they didn't have her bosom all up in their faces and such. The closer you were to the nasty nurse the worse she smelled. To bad hospitals didn't have some quota on how hot nurses had to be. Though, it was possible all the really hot nurses were saved for the upper levels where people were actually a bit more coherent. Not his fault he was rather messed up right now, it wasn't like he asked for this to happen.

Medication, or the beauty of it all, there was a sliver of a smile on his face. Little by little, the kid was starting to see the world how it was. Now the other guy, he was just lost in his own world with his puzzle. Not knowing exactly what Chase did in his spare time, other then falling in frozen pools of water and crashing into a parked car, so it was possible that the now silent kid was just a sidekick in ways. Who was he to know or judge.

The dark eyes flicked to the puzzle on his chest, so the parts were to come apart and go back together. Different. He certainly wasn't used to things like this, wasn't this more of an expensive toy the high class kids played with? Oh well, it was something to do to pass the time while he laid around in the bed all day. Worth his wild, possibly. With his eyelids growing heavy, he was soon just watching things again with one squinted eye as the other teetered in exhaustion.

The pits of hell soon broke open and the fire mouth ambassador made herself highly present. Why did she have to appear? Letting his eye close completely, he kept the mental image in his head of the duo's eyes of wonder when his IV gave him the first dose. Taylor could pull bull out of her backside all day long, but he knew for sure that Chase had more respect for him then she ever could. "No." It was plain and simple, not that he had much of any bite in his words. Sure he might be exhausted physically and his voice wasn't fully there, but the spite in him could never vanish completely. "They......stay.." The squinted eyes fought against everything to open and stay that way.

His hands left the puzzle on his chest and slowly moved to either side of his hips. Pushing down on his palms, he could feel the shooting pain radiating his body. The nurse might have gotten him sitting up slightly, but he was not going to just lay there with Taylor looking down on him. No matter or soreness was going to keep him down.

Beep..beep..beep..beep..beep.beep.beep.

Hokee's right arm gave out under him, his body shifted lopsided as he tried to move his arm back into place to hold himself up. With his body in the shape it was, this really wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do, then again when did he ever do the smart thing. For the moment though, he would just have to deal with being lopsided. Maybe this would give him an edge of sorts. "My visitors." Taylor should be happy that the kids were there, he had a few choice words and one rather itchy finger to use. "I....want....Chase." With a heavy breath, he gave in letting his body slump back into the bed. "I want...Chase and Mikey....to stay."

Beep..beep.beep.beep..beep.

With his head whirling about, his pain receptors were in overdrive. Even with the shots of morphine he took a few moments ago, they were barely touching the new throbbing sensation. His fingers staggered across his chest till he was soon touching the puzzle with one hand. His Adam's apple throbbed and innards twisted. Eyelids fell, as his chest rose heavily. Dry air filled his nose as the tubes kicked in again. One eye flickered open to catch the sight of the shy shaggy head holding up the pieces to the puzzle that was now solved. Closing his eye again, his concentration drew towards the hissing and beepings of the machines he was connected to.

Michael hopped off of the bed to show Hokee how to solve the puzzle. And, as always, Chase watched intently.

>> "Hey."

Chase froze, and looked towards the doorway. Just as with any child, Chase knew the sound of his mama's voice. He looked up quietly, fearing that he was in trouble, but Gemma just looked tired.

>> "Let him rest, boys. I'll meet you outside."

Michael got up obediently and walked up to Gemma, holding his puzzle up for her inspection. Chase shifted slightly, but didn't get up.

He didn't want to be in the hospital room, but he didn't want to leave either. He wanted to stay with Hokee, and make sure he was taken care of. Chase didn't trust the smelly nurse, nor anyone else, really.

Hokee started to get all worked-up, started trying to get up and put-up a fight.

>> " "No. They......stay.. My visitors. I....want....Chase. I want...Chase and Mikey....to stay."

Hokee was in a sad shape, struggling to sit up and putting himself through a lot of pain to do so. Chase was split-- obey his tired mother, or accompany his tired friend?

As he was still scrunched up at the foot of Hokee's bed, the best that Chase could do to reassure Hokee was to lightly pat the older boy's leg, and murmur, "Calm down, Hokee. It's okay."

Chase remained planted at the foot of the bed, contrary to his mother's request. With how worked-up the older boy became over the idea of the kids leaving, Chase could only fathom how he would react if Chase actually left. He looked towards Gemma imploringly, little brow stitched into a knot.

"Mama, may I please keep Hokee company?" Chase pleaded, "You can rest, I won't go anywhere else, and I'll be so quiet, he won't even know I'm here. Please, Mama."

Chase didn't trust the unfamiliars with the well-being of his friend. The only way that the eight-year-old could be sure that his friend was well cared-for was if he stayed there.

"Please, Mama," Chase whined. He wouldn't disobey Gemma. But if Gemma made him leave, Chase would probably cry.

>>"No. They......stay.. My visitors. I....want....Chase. I want...Chase and Mikey....to stay."

Hokee struggled to sit up; Gemma walked over to the bed. Mikey offered her the puzzle for inspection; she smiled at him, but didn't say anything. She liked the kid, he was quiet but bright, and always really kind. Chase seemed to like him too, and Gemma was happy that he was making friends.

Hokee was in a bad shape, made to look even worse with the beeps and the machines and by struggling to sit up. The look he gave her was anything but kind. But he made it abundantly clear that he wanted the kids to stay. He could hate Gemma all he wanted, as long as he liked Chase and Mikey, he was okay in her book.

>>"Calm down, Hokee. It's okay. Mama, may I please keep Hokee company? You can rest, I won't go anywhere else, and I'll be so quiet, he won't even know I'm here. Please, Mama... Please, Mama,"

Oh now that was just unfair. No mother can ever say no to those colorful puppy eyes.
Gemma sighed and gave up, sitting down into the chair by the bed.

"All right, you can stay. Just let him rest."

Leaning over to look at Hokee, she couldn't help but still feel guilty about the whole thing.

"Hokee?" she adjusted the covers over him "I'm sorry..."

Michael was frowning now. He really didn’t feel like he got the credit he deserved for completing such a thing. Pouting slightly, he sat on the floor to complete his puzzle. Maybe after seeing it was completed again, the lady would like it better. He was about to start in when the monitors started to beep more.

This scared him quite a lot, but he forced the fear down once again and took some deep breaths. Michael, knowing what was best for him, moved along the floor in a sort of crawling fashion, to the other side of Hokee’s bed, where the monitor couldn’t get him.

He moved closer to the bed slowly and Michael stared at it. The bed itself wasn’t intimidating, but he lifted himself up just enough to look over it, and look at the monitor, still beeping away. He was basically peeking over the top, as though he didn’t want to be caught. The little boy narrowed his eyes at it, but just in curiosity. He couldn’t show too much emotion otherwise he’d have to take off his glove and let a little piece off to go explode in the air outside.

He stared at the monitor intently, as though he was having a face off. He was just waiting for it to start attacking like the robots in that comic…it could happen. They beeped too. He knew that the monitor beeped for a reason…but so many different beeps must mean something.

After he got out of this hospital bed, he was going to have to get Chase something really good. Not a paintball gun, but something really nice....a sling shot, a...a....boy was his head ever spinning. Either way, it didn't matter. Chase was pleading to stay there, not because he said for him to do it, but because well...he wanted to? That was cool, nice, but cool. He didn't have much to offer and neither did Chase, but it worked.

His blanket soon rose up on his body causing the puzzle to shift on his chest. Opening his eyes, he found himself peering into the eyes of pure evil. Did he ask for her to tuck him in, no, so why did she do that? Crying out loud, where was the mustache nurse, he'd rather her leaning all over him then Taylor. Taking a hold of the puzzle again, his one hand started to fumble with it. Working with one hand was hard, but he wanted to leave one free in case if she got all close on him again. Taking advantage of him while in bed, what a sick and twisted woman she was.

Where did the other kid go? Mikey was near the door and now he was gone. Chase seemed to be glued to his bed, but the didn't see the kid who gave him the puzzle. This was odd. Kid must have run, if he was that age and stuck with Taylor, there was no doubt Hokee would have made a dash far from her. Looking away from the chair that Taylor had to go sit in, he soon found himself looking at the lost kid. What was Michael looking at?

Beep..beep...beep..beep..beep....beep.

Closing his eyes again, Hokee tried to push the thoughts of Taylor away. If he didn't feel like pure crap, he could have pulled the tube from his nose and tie her to the bed so he could get away from her. No, he was stuck there, stuck in bed and unfortunately stuck with her watching him. Blanket or not, he could feel a cold shiver creeping over his body. Hell just froze over, Taylor apologized to him. He didn't have the energy for her right now and she had to start things with him. Great.

Beep..beep..beep.beep.beep.

His fingers curled slightly. She better be sorry. It was her fault he was even in the hospital. Forcing him to do school, not letting him have a car. Those things were what drove him away and he got a car, a job and went back to school full time. If being responsible brought him into the hospital, then he wanted nothing to do with it. Well, he like the garage, and his car, having money....the school part he could live without.

He needed to sleep...no...he had to stay awake. His eyes flickered open again, and his focus shifted to Michael. He was really quiet, not saying anything not doing much of anything either, just staring. The beeping of the machine was really starting to drive he nutty. He could handle the duo there, but Taylor was a third wheel he could live his life without. Half tempted to pull the thing off his finger so his heart couldn't be monitored, he instead watched the lines jumping about on the monitor. "Sorry for....not...killing me?"

>> "All right, you can stay. Just let him rest."

Chase nodded dutifully, a smile in his eyes momentarily before he dropped his head. Gemma drew closer, her aura encompassing Chase as she did, and Chase drew his hood as the involuntary shift descended upon him, his gaze flicking towards Michael.

Gemma moved to the bedside, tucking Hokee in with a faint sentiment of sympathy.

>> "Hokee? I'm sorry..."

To which Hokee replied with a sentiment that was both expected and unexpected from the older boy.

>> "Sorry for....not...killing me?"

Chase frowned, an involuntary shudder skittering down his spine upon reflecting on the accident. He'd been so scared, so blindly terrified, but above all, Chase remembered the glimmer of dull recognition as he looked into the other car, and his panic as Hokee was whisked away by the EMT.

Chase picked at the blanket that covered Hokee with trembling hands. His eyes were solid black with residual anxiety. He couldn't look at Hokee, or at his mommy, because Mama was over by Hokee. Chase looked at Michael, biting his lip against his raw nerves. Had Chase told Michael about the accident? Chase couldn't remember.

Whether or not Gemma would take offense to Hokee's line was beyond Chase, but Chase was both confused and uncomfortable.

"Why would we be sorry that we didn't kill you?" Chase demanded, tone trembling as he did. He lifted his head marginally, just enough to fix Hokee with a stare without looking at him dead-on. Chase refused to cry, not while he was here. Not now. But his expression said otherwise. He looked blatantly dismayed.

His tone was fraught with words that were left unsaid by those too kind or too shy to call attention to the obvious. Gemma hadn't been at-fault in the accident, and even so, they had been worried sick for Hokee's well-being. To imply that they hadn't been wasn't only offensive to Gemma, but it was slightly damaging to her son as well. He just couldn't wrap his mind around why Hokee would think such a thing about his mama.

"I was scared for you," Chase mumbled, "I'm pretty sure Mama was, too."

That being said, Chase carefully clambered over the end of the bed, and onto the floor beside Michael. He didn't want to talk about the accident and didn't want to think about it, but even Chase knew it was coming. The eight-year-old combed his hair back with his fingers. It wasn't a conversation that Chase wanted to partake in.

She was aware of Michael scooting away; she would have to spend more time with him later. Her attention was momentarily divided; but she knew without thinking that she had to deal with Hokee first.
The only problem being that, apparently, he did not want to deal with her.

>>"Sorry for....not...killing me?"

She winced at that; and Chase did too, and even though he looked shy and close to crying, he managed to speak up before Gemma did.

>>"Why would we be sorry that we didn't kill you? I was scared for you... I'm pretty sure Mama was, too."

She brushed her fingers through Chase's hair; he was such a sweet kid. He scotted away and joined Michael on the floor, but she knew he was still listening to everything they were about to say.

"I'm sorry for not getting DocProf there sooner. You should have been healed."

She did not go into details. He either knew already that DocProf could not come to the hospital, or he did not care anyway.

"Can't we just call a truce for now? I don't know about you, but I don't feel like fighting. Let's get you out of here first, and then you can hate my ass all you want. Hm?"

Michael’s eyes closed for a moment, and he let out a breath. It was so hard being in a place with such negative emotions. He really wanted to just go and hide somewhere maybe. But he had to be better about not hiding in his room all day, which was one of the big reasons that he went on this trip to the hospital. Being around people was supposed to help him “get better.”

He was actually getting prepared to crawl under the bed, not wanting to be subject to the bad emotions running rampant in the room when he saw chase slip down next to him. The boy sunk down from his watching the monitors, and he bit his lip a little bit. What does a person say? Chase was sad! He looked at the ground. This was so confusing.

Scratching the back of his head, he tried to keep calm, and ended up doing it. The boy looked at his puzzle, once again properly tangled up, and put it on chases lap. Remembering that chase didn’t like to touch his things, he tried to wipe it off with his sweatshirt, intending nice thoughts. Of course it wouldn’t make things better, but Michael still didn’t really understand Chase’s powers.

He then moved his hands away and looking down at his legs, he spoke softly to Chase. “You’re a nice person.” That was something that he meant as a few words to cheer the boy up. He wasn’t used to cheering other people up at all.

Laying in bed with someone he didn't want around him while feeling like utter crap was not how he wanted to spend his afternoon, or day....what time was it? Chase and Michael were fine in there, even if they weren't talking much at all. There was no harm they could do and were semi entertaining. Not that he was planning on becoming all babysitter material after he got better, that was girl stuff. The remark he made was answered by the least likely person, or second least likely person honestly. Chase. Dangit So maybe it might have made a little sense to why she wanted the younger pair out of the room. To bad, he'd just have to watch what he said after this. It was one thing to push her buttons, but he wasn't going to screw with the other two, there was no need to yet.

It was the morphine! He could blame all the slips of his tongue on that right now. Just hopefully he would remember to tell Chase that later. Being slick about this all was slightly harder with his current condition. Fighting off and on with his eyes, he finally caught a glimpse of a fleeing Chase. Not seeing Michael all that well, it only made sense they were teaming up together again. Lucky kids. Only person he had to team up with right now was Sister Sheets and Pastor Pillow.

The heart monitor continued to flux between the rapid and slowing beeps. Chase had been worried for him. Chase. A kid. The very one that knocked repeatedly on his car to wake him up, the kid that morphed into him to drive the car through McDonalds while he rummaged for his wallet in the backseat. Who would have thought a little guy like him would worry about him. Old people, sure....but someone young.

"........two apple pies.... and.......... a..."His body sunk into the pillows more as his nonsense answer replied back. He couldn't think of anything to say to Chase now, he just couldn't do it. the kid would understand later, hopefully. "...number 4." Eyes clamped shut, the visual of golden arches filled his sights. Not necessarily asleep or awake, there was that odd haze of which realm of reality he was lingering in. the thin tube that peaked out from under the blankets shifted from a clear color to yellow.

"...two apple..... pies.... number 4."

Beep...beep...beep..beep..beep..beep..beep........beep.