Heard You Got Turned Into Paste [Candice, Giselle]

Well, the discharge hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped. She'd been fucked up by hollows before. But well....perhaps not quite so fucked up as Ichigo had done her in. She had walked out on day one, to try and free up a bed for the civillians and the like. She was a tough girl right? Only for her to collapse halfway to the Silbern and start puking blood. A good portion of her shoulder had started to melt into a bloody porous mess, and she'd had to be taken right back into the hospital to be cleaned out. All that rotten hollow reiryoku clogging her body did a harder number on her than she thought.

Several surgeries had taken place to get the Hollow reiryoku out of her body. It had been cleaned out of her blood easily enough, but getting it out of her bones was proving a little difficult. Were it not Giselle, it would have doubtlessly been a very long arduous process of surgeries. But it still wasn't fun. She was scheduled for two more scrubs. Most of the crap was in her ribs and her right arm, the most Getsuga Tensho'd of her areas. Thankfully most everything else had not actually gotten into the bone. But well, now that she wasn't falling apart, there were others that were in need of their own surgeries, at Giselle's request, her surgeries were lowered in priority.

And well...when she felt that spiritual pressure... she opened her eyes. Fresh off her last surgery before being pushed down the line, she had intended to sleep the rest of the day, assuming she didn't go puking anymore. But any notion of rest suddenly went out the window when she turned and saw that pretty blonde head enter her room. And a tired smile formed over her face.

"Helooooooo nurse." she murmured, notably less energetic than usual. And ...WOOF... VERY thankful that Candice hadn't shown up earlier. She didn't need Candice seeing her like that.
"You're alright. Well that's good. I was worried you were in town when it happened." She sighed softly, Fondness painted across her features.

Giselle chuckled softly and gave a nod of her head. Oh she could tell Candice wasn't happy, She watched as the woman planted herself at the side of the bed and pulled up her chart. Giselle took the opportunity to admire the woman. Even a tired, grumpy mess, it was still a sight for sore eyes. Look at this woman worry... worry over HER of all things. It was adorable to say the least. And she wondered how many graves spun with the knowledge.

Heh. As if the dead were ever allotted their memories when they passed on.

"No you're not candice, because they can't force me to have surgery while I'm cognizant. Not everyone can afford to wait like I can." She noted calmly, there wasn't even a shred of uncertainty or capitulation. Shown quite clearly with how soft and light her voice was. "Candice. Put the chart down. If the asshole that showed up wasn't a hollow, I'd already be fine and on my feet. Now put that down, and look at me. Okay? I would have called you but my phone got kinda melted." she insisted, sitting up and reaching for Candice's hand. She wanted to redirect the woman. Get her head out of what was clearly a fog of worry. She sure as hell didn't get chopped up to sit in a hospitabl bed and stare at the back of Candice's head.

Giselle snorted softly at that. "Electrical burns are a mess to heal. You throwing a tantrum will only add to the number of surgeries I need." She muttered, sighing softly and then smiling a bit at Candice. Perhaps infuriatingly so as she watched the other woman get so ..... bent out of shape over it all.

It was enough that she had to look away for a second.

Some small....part of herself had truly wondered what Candice felt about her. After all...Giselle....wasn't right in the head. She knew that well enough. She was aware that calling herself a little crazy was an understatement. Attachment. Affection. connection. Empathy. She was trash at the lot of it. Even out there....fighting against that man. She knew that, in essence...she had been protective. But .....would she have lamented the death of any of them? Would the hundreds who WERE dead .....weigh on her? How much did she actually care?

And yet, Candice cared about her. She could see it in the woman's angry eyes. The woman cared about her so much that it was making her furious to see Giselle....behaving so pragmatically. "I love you." She murmured softly, sighing a bit as she reached out and gently let her hand rest on the woman's thigh. A soft, light expression of contact that for once, wasn't leading anywhere. Gentle. Lingering. And i whispered:
'I'm glad you're here'.

"I'm not being a hero. I'm being...... I don't know what I'm being." She closed her eyes, and sighed softly. "I don't know what's going to go on from here on. Hollow attacks are bad enough. But this one had a purpose. They ..... kidnapped someone." She murmured, shaking her head. "Arrancar tend to be solitary. But ... this has the kind of intent that means this particular one, might not be." she closed her eyes. "which means..... that once I'm.... fit and ready for duty. Things are going to get busy. Some of the others might be dead. Probably are. As inclusive as we are, the Reich doesn't exactly have a surplus of non-quincy." She murmured, rubbing her eyes.

"It's a lot to have happening all at once. An extra ..... day or two waiting for surgery. Will probably do me better than being on duty..." She murmured. With no shortage of ..... shame in her voice. She hadn't had a fight like that in a very very long time.

Not since Kenpachi.

"I'm .... not used to .... this..." She gestured down at her gown, the ....monitors and everything. "I haven't been ill in.... a very long time. I know .... you want me to get better soon. I ....I just ..... need time ... to get used to all this." She noted quietly. Feeling .... a little sick to her stomach. She wondered if this was cowardice. Or just ....irony. She'd seen some of the others. they were fiery. BURNING to get back to action. to start training.

And here she was. Here she was .....what? Afraid? Having....trouble? PTSD? She could only imagine the looks on her supervisor's faces at the sound of it. She could only imagine Candice's expression because...frankly...she couldn't bring herself to look up.

Giselle was glad to feel that hand. And ...well... knew se probably sounded a lot less cool and menacing than usual. and that affirmation felt nice. She even allowed herself a glance up, smiling a little as she noticed the look on Candice's face SEEMING to soften just a little. "How can I regret with legs like that?" She pointed out, at least her comebacks were still snippy as ever. All the same, she rubbed the back of her neck and let out a sigh as ...well...Candice doubled down on her previous assertion. It really was a ...moral conundrum. On one hand, she was not as much in need of this shit. But on the other.... she was probably gonna be needed in top form. If she could be in top form. She had a feeling Candice probably didn't understand that. Could anyone know this sensation? To be reminded of one's mortality after so long. The very thought made her fingers clench into fists.

But here she was with a her girlfriend who ...frankly...needed her to be okay. Frankly, not many others would care. Well, aside from Liltotto. Ah shit, liltotto was gonna freak. she thinned her lips and sighed at THAT thought. Yea.... candice was probaly right. The last thing she needed was what few connections she had seeing her like this. Honestly she should have had herself together before CANDICE saw her like this. But well.... she sure was an impatient one.

"I'll talk with the doctor." she assured the woman. It was easier to push herself when Candice was prodding her into it. She gently gave a little squeeze to where her hand was, an added assurance to try and ease the woman's mind. And when Candice scooted close, she slipped an arm around her, gently hugging her close. "But ya know. If you really wanna go kicking arrancar ass. You DO know that I'm gonna have to steal you away from all that business shit." She reached up, and gently grasped Candice's chin. And that smile vanished. She didn't squeeze hard, but she was very suddenly firm. She made eye contact, and for just a brief second, she made SURe Candice felt the gravity in her voice. "I know this sucks. But you .... need to be careful. Okay? I don't want you ....picking fights with arrancar. Do you understand me? If you want to go kicking asses. Then we BOTH need to get stronger." It probably wasn't what Candice was expecting. Hell, SHE had been fully expecting to just.....tell Candice to back down. The idea of seeing Candice;'s smoldering corpse.... she didn't like it. It .....scared her. But ....well.

She wasn't a fucking idiot.
If Candice so much as got a whiff of that Kurosaki's cologne, she would be on the warpath. The best way to keep Candice safe was ....well to get a WHOLE lot more involved in her training. If she....DID ...train? Actually she had no idea if Candice had trained before. That would be a project. And a .... difficult one to do ontop of Vandenreich stuff. But well, its not like she had much of a personal life outside of Candice to sacrifice. She ...wondered if this was insane. If she were just a normal human...if she'd .... push herself to try and ....talk Candice out of fighting. And ...she tightened her grip on the blonde. To wonder just how ...fucked up she was. A lot .... probably. She wished she could be normal. MORE normal. SOMEHOW normal. If only for Candice. She wished she wasn't so ....fucking....jaded.... so callous. even looking at Candice...she knew that she could only have an ...observer's ...appreciation for what Candice was going through. What did Gigi know about worry for someone else? What did Giselle know about .... caring if someone died? But she banished those thoughts for now.
"I'm sorry I made ya worry."

She enjoyed the contact, and the sudden lush of Candice relaxing into her arms was the kind of catharsis that put her faith into .... this. Such a simple little thing to put things at ease. IT was strange, and yet holding Candice did fill her with some .... sense that things would work out. Insipid as such a meager thing would actually present in the grand scheme of things. She didn't care. Holding the woman made her ....relax. MAde those worries seem smaller. She probably should have ....waited. Held off on that firmness for later. But ....well. She was anxious. And as Candice put on that pretty pouting face, Giselle was visibly upset. Not angry, but .... anxiety writing itself across her face.

And ....she just didn't know how to put it in a way that wouldn't make Candice prickle. She struggled for several long moments to .... think of something that wouldn't just devolve into an argument. And it was then that a wave of nausea rolled over her. Guh..... dammit. She turned to the side and .... gently closed her eyes, swallowing audibly as she .... settled herself. Thankfully it didn't feel like she was bleeding anywhere, but she took a moment to quickly glance over herself. No red stains. that was good. The last thing she needed was for Candice to freak out. And a sigh of relief spilled out.

"You know what I mean." She murmured, turning toward the blonde and .... just thumping her forehead against the woman's shoulder. Resting it there as .... just how truly tired she was showed through. And that soft, idle, caressing hand that had been so idly running along Candice's thigh gave .... a soft..... clutching grip. Not an advancement, or a joke.... or some punishment. But the soft.....helpless clutch of a woman trying to keep a hold of something that was incredibly important to her. Even if ...she didn't know to what capacity she could care for Candice. even if she ....feared for the cold callousness bred within her personality. At least one thing was very easily parsed by her. And it was just how much this woman meant to her compared to just about everything else around her. The only other person to compare was her daughter.

She didn't want to lose Candice. She didn't even want that as a risk. And as much as she usually enjoyed that spunky rebelliousness. In this moment, it only fed the fear that Candice would get herself killed. And what was worse, she wasn't in any position to keep Candice safe. Not against hollows. An that fear was exhausting. She didn't even know what to threaten Candice with. What to ....bribe her with. Candice had every right to want to hunt that man down, but that would only spell death. How could she convey that to someone like Candice?

She sighed. And laid back against the bed, covering her eyes with a hand. Defeated. And frankly....miserable. She just didn't know what to do. She was too tired to figure out what she wanted to do. So she kept her hand on Candice, and held onto her firmly.

It was all she could do. Just.....keep her close.
"Whatever.... just.....stay here for now. Until I'm feeling better....please."