Resort Island- Not Quite a Hangover

[@ Dizzy @]

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.





She was floating. There were arms holding her. Sure, strong arms, and... a smiling face. He had nice eyes. Sea green. And brown hair, and- no, where was he going? He was waving, and seemed so sad-

Then there was pain.

"Unngh." Carmen tried to open her eyes, to a blaze of white light and pain. She squeezed them shut tighter instead. She tried to think. She had been at work, then... then... No dice- there seemed to a black hole between her serving ice cream and her winding up... wherever she was. Carefully, she tried to open her eyes again, squinting. There was beeping, and.. white sheets, and white walls, and... wires?

"Where... where am.. I?"

[The Huggernaut]

Carmen regaining consciousness did NOT go unnoticed, however, as a familiar relieved voice spoke up next to her.

"You're awake!"

Sitting next to her hospital bed, the normally mellow fossa was uncharacteristically tense, his hat gripped tightly in his hands, and allowing his shaggy hair to hang free, some of it hanging over his eyes. He'd been sitting there since he was allowed in, and he'd been told she had several injuries, among which had been a rather serious concussion. So he was worried for good reason.

"How're ya feelin, chica?"

[@ Dizzy @]

"Skater?" She turned her head carefully, eyes half open. "Que pasa? What are you... doin' here? Did you.. get me from work or..." She winced, covering her eyes with one hand. The other seemed to have tubes coming from it. "Where am I?" Her body felt leaden, especially her head.

[The Huggernaut]

Right. Memory loss was a possibility. Well then, it was up to him to refresh her memory.

"Actually, ya came down to the Gear shop, saying you just quit after getting yer butt kicked or something, and wanted to race t'clear your head."

Now, to see if this jogged anything.

[@ Dizzy @]

"I quit my job? Why would I have quit? And my manager's bigger than me, I would have never-"

Then it hit her, quite like the counter against her forehead. She sat up suddenly, hair flying, eyes wide. "I WAS ROBBED! Oohh- ay, ay, ay..." Sitting up was a bad idea. The world tilted and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her head pounded in punishment. "Okay, so... Yeah. There was this hyena and he robbed the place, and I quit... I went to the shop, and... then what happened, again? And... where am I?"

[The Huggernaut]

Well, Skater now had someone to add to his VERY short list of people he didn't like.

But that could be dealt with later. First, he needed to help clear up more confusion. "Ok chica, once ya came to the shop, ya wanted a race with me. I wasn't sure about it, but you were insistent, so I finally did it." He paused, and glanced away.

"Race got called on account of ya passing out. You're in the hospital now."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Hospital. Is it.. is it that bad?" Her eyes widened, a sudden pang of fear making her stomach churn. "I... I've never.. lost a fight this bad before. I..." Her eyes were filling up with tears. What the heck kind of fighter was she? All this training, and one good battle sent her to the hospital? "Oh man..." She tried to fight back the tears; losing, then crying about it would just be icing on a cake full of suck.

[The Huggernaut]

You gotta give a Fossa credit. He knows how to recover quickly.

"Naw, chica. I mean, yeah you were pretty banged up, But it looked like ya took a buncha hits to yer noggin." He managed a small smile. "I bet you totally were beatin the crap out of him and he jus fought dirty."

[@ Dizzy @]

Quickly, she wiped her eyes with the back of her free hand, sighing weakly. "He did fight dirty. I think... I think I hit my head a couple of times. But I got him back some." The tiniest of proud smirks came onto her face. "Hit him in the head with a napkin dispenser. Probably dented the puta's head." She winced, slowly sitting up a bit. "Still can't believe I got beat, though... by some untrained criminal."

[Gatorman]

At that moment, a platypus, dressed in a doctor's coat and eyeglasses, entered Carmen's room. He fit the "busy physician" archetype to a tee: he was busy reading Carmen's health chart attached to a clipboard, writing in the margins, and adjusting his glasses while barely acknowledging Skater in the room. He pulled his clipboard away from sight, finally getting his chance to speak to a conscious otter.

"Miss Neptuna—?"

[@ Dizzy @]

"Yes, that's me." She offered a nervous smile. Hospitals made her nervous. Too many smells, too many sounds, not to mention the fricking tube in her arm, and the fact that her mother wasn't here- her mother? "Um... Am I going to be allowed to go soon? My mother will be worrying about me." How long had she been out, anyway?

[Gatorman]

"I'm afraid not, Miss Neptuna," he said, writing comments on her health chart. "We've confirmed the concussion, but we need to determine the magnitude of your injury before a course of action can be decided upon." He took a break from writing to resume eye contact with Carmen. All throughout, he didn't sound too stern, but didn't sound cheery, either. "Unfortunately, our hospital doesn't run on a budget comparable to big-city hospitals. We don't have the resources available to conduct the tests, although we're planning to transfer you to Central City." His eyes shifted again to the clipboard. "We may contact your mother to let her know, if you consent."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Please- I mean... she should be home, still. Or on the island, somewhere. I mean... I don't want to go anywhere! Except home! I just..." Everything seemed to be getting to her all at once, and her eyes filled with tears once more. From being beaten up, robbed, cursing out her boss and losing her job, waking up and having to remember all of that in such a short time span- it'd be a bad day on anyone's record. "I...I..." And then she did start to cry, just hang her head and weep softly.

[Gatorman]

The platypus sighed and shook his head. He put the clipboard away, made his way to Carmen, and placed a hand on her shoulder. He had to take her to Central City anyway, for her own good. "Miss Neptuna," he said in a soft voice, "we have to take you there. If we just let you go without treating your injury, it may worsen. Now, please..."

[The Huggernaut]

Skater had... a LOT to take in. When the doctored come in, he'd hoped the platypus would have good news. But now, not only were they not sure the could let her go home, the were sending her to another city!? Amazingly... Skater compressed all his feeling about this new situation into four words. Well... for starters.

"That's messed up, dude." The fossa mumbled, ears folding back as he gripped his hat a little tighter.

"She just totally had the crappiest day in the history of crappy days, and now she's gettin sent outta town?"

[Gatorman]

Finally acknowledging the fossa's presence, the platypus removed his glasses and folded them up. "Better a crappy day than a crappy life, sir," he said, bluntly. "If they find the head trauma isn't serious, they may send her home today. Otherwise, she'll need more time to recover."

[The Huggernaut]

Skater went quiet for a minute... then nodded to himself.

"Kay then. I'm goin too. I'm not just gonna let one-a my best surfin buddies get shipped to another city all by herself." Skater then stood, looking steadily at the doctor.

"And nothin ya say's gonna change my mind." As a sort of final note to his statement, Skater then put his hat-holding hand on the edge of the otter's bed. since he was now between the chair he'd been in, and the commanding piece of furniture.

[@ Dizzy @]

Carmen, who had stopped sobbing by this point, carefully looked up at her longtime friend. "You'll really... stay?" There was a long list of better things to be doing than being stuck in a hospital. She could see his new board leaning against the wall, and she knew how much he loved to test run a new toy. And yet, he was staying.

"You... You're-" Without a proper word to call him, she simply tossed her arms around him with great force, half smiling and half crying.

[The Huggernaut]

He was lucky that chair was there... as he was COMPLETELY not expecting to be hugged by his friend, who last he checked got sent for a loop by sudden movements.

He should prolly stay put in case she DID get wobbly. So he made no move to remove her, just looking very surprised, before grinning at her. "Hey, Hospitals are bad enough with friends around. Alone would just be cruel, right, chica?"

[@ Dizzy @]

Carmen didn't release her friend for some time, having to fight back another wave of sudden movement wooziness. This was going to suck... she remembered having the flu as a child, and her mother all but locking her in her room to force her to slow down and rest. "Thank you, Skater. You're... you're pretty much awesome." She let him go and settled back into her pillows, cheeks flushed. "So, doc, if I've got to go, call my mom and let's get on with it."

[Gatorman]

"Very well. I'll make the arrangements to transport the two of you."

With a satisfied grin, he picked up his clipboard and left the room. He had paperwork to fill out, after all.

[@ Dizzy @]

With business finally taken care of, Carmen settled back against the pillows and shut her eyes. "I guess this is gonna put me out of the running for... well, everything for a while, isn't it, Skater? You think you can handle being the best Gear rider around for a while?" For a moment, her old smirk was back, followed by a wince of pain. This... was going to suck.

[The Huggernaut]

Chuckling a little, the fossa just shrugged. "I'm sure I'll handle it." He grinned, pulling his hat back on.

"I mean, at least it's not like that time you sprained your leg, right chica?"

[@ Dizzy @]

She groaned, chuckling softly. "Don't remind me of that! I almost went stir crazy! No surfing or skating or doing anything fun for nearly three weeks? I thought I was gonna die! I would've gone nuts if you hadn't let me ride tandem down to the beach every other day." She remembered that, clinging to Skater's back while they rode down to the beach. She barely had the strength to keep her balance, let alone swim, but just sitting in the waves was soothing enough.

"You're always taking care of me. It's nice to have a brother."

[The Huggernaut]

"Hey, what can I say? Life'd be a lot more boring without you around." He smiles, sitting down next to the otter's bed.

"Besides... Central City could be cool."

[@ Dizzy @]

Carmen nodded, looking distant. "I was born there, yanno. My mom and dad met there. She left with me when he died. Hasn't been back since." She bit her lip. "I didn't even think of that... I wonder how she's gonna take it." She blew out a sigh, making her bangs flutter. "I mean, she'll already be stressed enough with me being hurt and all, then having to think about my dad?" Most thropes her age were pretty much on their own, but Carmen never had the want nor will to leave her mother alone.

[The Huggernaut]

Blinking, Skater scratched the back of his head. That was a good question, but he could at least hope she'd take it well...

But they'd never know until... well, her mom called or something.

[@ Dizzy @]

As if on cue, Carmen's cell phone went off in her bag. Luckily it was close enough to her bed for her to grab it. "Hola?" A loud string of panicked Spanish burst from the phone. Carmen winced. "Mama? Mom- wait, mom, calm down-" She paused, shaking her head slightly. "Yes, it's okay. I'm fine, just... No, Skater's here with me." Another pause. "Yes, I'll thank him. But listen- are you going to be okay? I mean, going to Central City? I know you haven't been back since-" She was cut off, and as she listened, tiny tears formed at the corner of her eyes.
"I understand. I'll see you there, then. Thank you, mom. I love you." She closed the cell phone shut, running the back of her hand across her eyes, embarrassed to be crying for the second time that day. "She'll be fine, Skater. I have a feeling."

[The Huggernaut]

Sure, fossas had sharp hearing, but it wasn't sharp enough to hear both sides of Carmen's short phone conversation, but he could guess at what'd been said. Carmen's mom was probably going to be going to Central City and meet them there, even if that wasn't the easiest thing to do.

He really had to respect that. Of course, he also had to make sure that's what was happening.

"She's... gonna meet us there, huh?"

[@ Dizzy @]

Carmen paused, taking a few seconds to find her voice. "Yeah, she'll pack some things for me, and be there when I get there. She says thank you." Aquaren Neptuna had actually told Carmen to kiss Skater for her... but she wasn't going to do that. "She... she said that... well, she said-" She gulped past a curious lump in her throat. "That her sadness is... nothing compared to how much she cares for me." It was this sort of thing that kept them close- when half thropes her age had their own places, she stuck by her mother's side.