(no subject)

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

Date/Time: 20 May, early evening
Location: Lobby, and wherever this takes us
Summary: Let the new plot commence


A taxi came to a halt in front of the manor. The driver looked at his passenger with concern. “Sir, are you sure you don’t want me to take you to a--?” he started to ask.
The man in his back seat interrupted him hoarsely. “Yes!” he snapped. “Here.” He dug some folded bills from his pocket and shoved them into the driver’s hand before he pushed open the door and got out of the car.
The driver stared at the money, both because of the bloody fingerprints left on it and because the man had much overpaid him.

The nameless stranger he had brought here was already moving towards the building. His gait was lurching, and he kept his right arm pressed close to his side, covering a spot where blood seeped steadily through his tightly buttoned jacket with his hand.
He barely made it up the few steps that led to the door, and stumbled into the lobby. For a moment, he stood at the door and looked around, his breath rattling and labored. Anyone looking at him had to see that he was in pain and at the limits of his strength, hardly able to remain upright. The traces of a recent beating were livid in his face. Judging by the scraped knuckles of his hands, he had at least managed to get in a few good punches of his own.

Comments

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael had been curled up beneath a window, staring dully as a spider created a web between the sill and the baseboard. The minute he heard the man enter the lobby he snapped his head up and leaped to his feet.

He's hurt... Despite his own denial of his purpose, Raphael raced to his side, hoping in some way that he could help. "Sir...? What happened?"

He didn't bother to ask are you okay? since it was clear he was not. 

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose looked up from the reception desk when the front door was opened and froze for a moment in surprise. She could smell the blood clearly and that man looked awful. She jumped up from her chair and ran over to the man, but Raphael was even faster.

She went to the man's other side to be able to catch him in case he fell and looked up at the newcomer, waiting for him to answer Raphael's question. Raphael was, after all, the one who had healer knowledge...

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

A girl and a red-haired man had come running to his side. He tried to focus on each of them in turn.

"I need..." he said, as the room started to spin around him."

"...your help." He wasn't sure if he managed to say the last words out loud or not as he feld his body collapse and darkness rose up to claim him.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael grabbed the man when he collapsed. "Sir? Sir? Can you hear me?" He carefully laid him down on the floor, pulling off his own jacket to pillow beneath the man's head. He turned to Rose. "Rose, can you... can you bring me a washcloth and a bowl of water?" He thought a moment. "And if you can't find disinfectant a bottle of Vodka will do. And... and some guaze. We needto stop the bleeding."

You are the Healer of God!

One of the Seven that stands before the Lord!

He started removing the man's shirt. Internal bleeding... Oh this isn't good...

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose nodded, asking "There should be disinfectant in a first aid kit, shouldn't there? We replaced the used ones after your arrival..."

She really didn't know, but she went to the storeroom. She'd find everything there - well, everything apart from the vodka and maybe that wouldn't be needed. Grabbing a first aid kit and a washcloth she tucked both under her arm, then took a clean bucket - she couldn't find a basin here - and placed it in the sink to fill it with fresh water.

As soon as the bucket was filled to two thirds of its height she turned off the water faucet and carried bucket, washcloth and first aid kit back to Raphael.

"I couldn't find a basin but the bucket is clean," she said as she placed said item next to Raphael, kneeling down and holding out washcloth and first aid kit.

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

The unconscious stranger lay limp under Raphael's hands. A good number of his ribs were broken, and his torso spotted large, dark bruises. Some shallow cuts croscrossed his ribcage, and a deeper stab wound was still steadily oozing blood. It had an unhealthy tinge to it that looked like nothing a relatively fresh wound had any right to look like.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Despite his own denial of who he had once been, Raphael easily slipped back into his nature, his expert fingers knowing exactly what to do. "Hang in there," he told him, taking the kit and wascloth from Rose. He quickly found the guaze and disinfectant, going for the stab wound first, when in truth there were so many injuries on the man they all needed immediate attention.

"Rose..." He turned to her. "I need you to hold this guaze here, press really hard so that it stops the bleeding."

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Nodding, Rose put her hand where Raphael indicated and pressed hard. She didn't use full strength yet, not wanting to break the stranger's bones, and looked questioningly at Raphael.

"Like this, or harder? I mean, I can press harder, but I'm not sure if that wouldn't cause him any more injuries?"

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

"That's perfect, Rose, thank you." He got to work on the other injuries, trying dsperately to move quickly but there were just so many of them! "This one too," he said, indicating another slash that he had quickly bandaged. He shook his head, trying to clean away the blood with the washcloth. "He needs a hospital, why didn't he go to a hospital?" He felt human, sothere should be no reason why he...

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose pressed her second hand on the other injury, using as much strenght as with the first. With every breath she inhaled the coppery scent of fresh blood.

"Do you think we can get one of the angels to heal him enough to get him safely to hospital? Or should we call an ambulance?"

She was afraid that calling an ambulance would bring unwanted attention to the manor. What if the police decided to start a thorough investigation at the manor?

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael knew exactly of the concern of calling an ambulance. "Try to find someone who can heal him. Any of the angels... Atlan maybe... Even Crowley or Belial might be able to help but please hurry!" He would not normally have been so demanding but he knew given the circumstances that Rose would understand. He ripped another strip of guaze from the roll.

Please please... Father, please...!

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose nodded frantically, pushing herself up from the floor. Her hands were bloodstained but she didn't want to take the time to wash them. So she just rubbed them clean on her jeans and ran to the desk to write down the room numbers of angels, demons and Mr. di Arcone.

Note in hand she ran up the stairs and started knocking on the doors on the first floor. Belial didn't answer the door and so she went to Mr. di Arcone's room, knocking more loudly than she would have in a less urgent situation.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael didn't watch her go, only quickly pressed his fingers against the wounds to try to stop the bleeding.

You are the Healer of God! One of the Seven that stand before the Throne!

Father's just teachin' you to rely on others...

He's bleeding all over the floor and nameless faces and hands and voices help him, take him... Save him...

Try not to get that badly injured again, okay?

...

Father... Please!

He sees the young boy dead, the blood oozing from his skull. He sees the pain in Rose's eyes as she tell him her story... She sees Gabriel dead -Because of him- in a nightmare... A blade he had carried and eventually used to cut away at what remained of the angel he once was...

Raphael placed a hand on the man's temple. "Sir...? We're getting someone to help you. If you can hear me... please... try to stay conscious... I know it's hard..." And he would know, having been on his side of the situation not too long ago. "But please try... please..."

There was nothing more he could do except wait for Rose.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael shook his head. "I can but he needs to stay conscious. He's bleeding into his skull and if he loses consciousness he might..." He inhaled a shuddering breath, biting his lip and shifting she that he was holding the injured man against him, grasping the flailing arms to keep him still. "Please, we're not going to hurt you... Try to hold still, please..."

Please please please...

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

"Don't... can't..."

The man choked out a few syllables that might have been those words, in any case. He was staring at the man white hair and the odd pendant, though it was hard to tell what he actually was seeing at that point.

His reaction to the angel's attempts at calming him were marginal at best. He did not fight his grip, either from trust, exhaustion or pain - either seemed an equally likely option.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose made sure to stay next to the stranger and Raphael, taking hold of the stranger's legs to make sure he didn't move away again. Her hold was strong, but she was careful not to injure the man any further with her werewolf strength.

"Can I do anything else to help, sir?" she asked Mr. von Arkon.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

"Actually, Rose..." I have to try... "In my room, top drawers behind the shirts there is a tiny bottle with a gold label. Can you bring it to me? Make sure the lid stays screwed shut so you don't accidently inhale it." That was his way of telling Rose Don't use your nose to find it.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Loki had been about to enter the lobby, but what he saw through the first crack of the opening door was quite enough to turn him freeze and stay where he was. He would not be press-ganged into helping out there. Still, curiosity kept him rooted in place, safely hidden and secure from discovery. Now if that wasn't something he could tell that Anathema girl...

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose listened and nodded. She'd make sure to breath carefully and certainly not inhale in the direct vicinity of that bottle. Though she wasn't sure why her friend would have something dangerous in his room.

She ran up the stairs to the first floor and into Raphael's room and pulled the top drawer open, rummaging through the shirts in there until she felt something hard beneath her fingertips.

Grabbing the bottle, only casting one quick look at it to make sure it had a gold label, she hastened back downstairs to hand Raphael the requested bottle.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Still using an arm to keep the man pinned he nodded his thanks to Rose and carefully unscrewed the tiny cap. Quickly he put a cloth over it, then moved the cloth-covered bottle just at the edge of the man's face. The dampened fumes should be enough to calm him down without knocking him out completely. He needed to stay conscious, but Atlan is right, he's only going to hurt himself flailing around like this...

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

The man's movements grew weaker and stilled even before Raphael's bottle came close to him. His head fell heavily back against the angel.

[kristallprinz.livejournal.com]

Atlan reached out to touch the man's neck. He looked up at Raphael and shook his head.

"Too late," he said. "He's dead."

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael's insides chilled to ice. Swallowing his horror he quickly capped the bottle, awkwardly wrapping the rag around it and tossing it aside.

He lost the pulse.

The man had lost his pulse.

In one fluid movement he quickly laid him back down, his own heart pounding in his ears and drowning out everything around him, including Atan's words.

"You are the Healer of God!"

"Can you feel their faith in you? Their love for you?"

Breathe... Breathe, please just breathe! Father, please!

Everything around him faded away. Atlan, Rose, Trilby, Loki... If they spoke to him he was unable to hear it as he desperately tried to revive the man's heartbeat.

One... Two...

"I'm not an angel! I'm not an angel anymore!"

"Who did this to you, Raphael? Tell me. Who cut off your wings?"

"...I'm not an angel!"

The echoes shrieked in the depths of his mind, bloody fingers working to massage the heart to bring it back to life. Every moment that flicked by seemed like hours. Please... Please... Father, please! He felt his vision blur but forced those infernal tears back; this man needed help! It was the time to help, to heal, not cry like a simpering child!

It had probably been an eternity later by the time he realized the life he had tried to save simply left its broken shell.

He was gone.

Raphael clenched his eyes shut, fisting his hands on the man's still chest. Long clumps of hair hung in front of his stricken face like streams of blood.

He was gone. 

[kristallprinz.livejournal.com]

Atlan sat back and put his cell activator back on.

"You did what you could," he told Raphael. "We couldn't have saved him, no matter what."

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose stiffened. Dead? The word echoed in her mind. They had tried to help this man, had done their best and now he was dead. It made her sad that they couldn't help the poor man, and it frightened her at the same time. What now? At home, the pack would try to deal with everything that endangered their safety, their secret. But she didn't have a pack here and she didn't know how people would react.

Would someone call the police? Would the police dig around in people's backgrounds?