A New Leaf [Candice, Giselle]

Candi had been in the process of getting ready to head over to see Giselle when the text arrived, she assumed that it was just an update. There was still a little time before visitation hours and, after her multiple debacles with the staff during the first few days of her stay, she was on thin enough ice to have to care about those things. The sound of the phone ringing was enough to send her scooting over to the desk as her fingers tried to work the touch screen whilst also holding her outfit together. It was a delicate game, but she was quite dextrous when it mattered.

"I wanna see you too, Z, but the nurses get pissy at me if I sneak into your room outta hours."

She teased, all too happy to hear that Giselle sounded mostly cognisant today. There had been some tough days lately, the ones where she just sat at the side of the bed and held onto her hand for hours on end, but at least today it might be a little different.

"But if you really want me to then I can. Just gimme a few minutes to get dressed, 'kay?"

Candi didn’t know exactly what Giselle meant by saying not to worry about things. Maybe she had found a better way for her to sneak in, but she also didn’t really tell her much so she was left in the dark on that. Regardless, it wasn’t like she was not going to go over right away anyway.

Meandering back into the next room, she finished buttoning up her shirt and spared a moment to ruffle the black-and red hair of the girl that was still sprawled out on the couch. Candi’s lips curled into a wry smile as they responded to her touch, but she tutted at them for attempting to move with those casts on. She’d be back in a few hours anyway, probably. It was hard to stay away really.

The car ride over was a quick one, though she did spend it mostly wondering what exactly she was in for. She’d been in contact with some Swiss doctors back home, a couple would be flying out in the next couple of days to consult on Giselle’s case and see what could be done. So that was good news, at least then they’d have a picture of what the next few months looked like.

As the car pulled up to the hospital, Candi found her gaze drifting to a woman sat outside in a wheelchair. A slight little thing, she had that same raven black hair that Giselle did. In fact, she looked a lot like Giselle. It was Giselle…? What was she doing out of her room?

Candi practically tumbled out of the car as soon as it stopped moving, most of her usual elegance already lost to the rush. She thundered over to the woman, heels clicking rapidly against the sidewalk, as her expression lingered somewhere between anger and confusion. As soon as she was close enough, a hundred questions began to pour from her lips.

“What are you doing out here, Z? Do we need to get you back inside? Are you cold? Did they just leave you out here? Ugh, I knew those nurses weren’t all that—“

The confusion written upon Candi's face only compounded as she looked down at the bags and the discharge papers. It didn't make any sense, Giselle had said herself that she wasn't getting any better and that her usual healing wasn't working, so why would she be getting discharged?

"I... You..."

The words struggled to come, because there were so many and so few all at the same time. Was this a miracle, a gift from the higher realms? A trick perhaps, a vicious illusion spun by the cruellest of dreams? She pinched herself just to be sure, but this felt oh so real. And then suddenly Giselle was standing, she was walking towards her, and, though it was only a few short steps, it was more than Candi had seen her do since her relapse.

"You're gonna be okay? Like, really okay?"

Her arms wrapped around Giselle as she was in turn captured by an embrace, and then suddenly it was all too much for the Heiress. The tears came in earnest, falling down onto her chest and Giselle in equal measure. She didn't know what this all meant, she didn't know what this would all mean, but she had been trying to come to terms with the fact that she might never get a chance like this again and suddenly it was right here in her arms.

Of course, she kissed her back, as brief of a thing as it was, and that did bring the tears to a stop. But there was still an expression of utter bewilderment that Giselle had failed to truly assuage with her words so far. Her actions spoke loudly, certainly, but Candi didn't even understand how those actions were possible. She laughed too, if only because she was following Giselle's lead and had no idea what else to really do.

"Alright, alright. Yeah, let's get out of here."

Letting herself be shuffled back towards the car, she slid into the driver's seat and waited. It wasn't like she was in a fit state to go anywhere right now anyway, as Giselle reached across to bat at the tear stains that ruined her freshly made-up face. It took one deep breath, and then a second, flushing all that confusion from her system to dig at the happiness that lay buried beneath. Because she was happy to see Giselle doing so well, and that didn't change even if she had been healed by some miracle.

"So. You're up and walking around and all fixed up. What the hell happened?"

"Wait why do we need to know about Shinigami and stuff? Like, I get all that but also don't know why it's relevant. We aren't Shinigami, we're humans that got a little messed up along the way. Is that what they do?"

Candi was trying earnestly to keep up with what Giselle was saying but it was all quite a lot to come out of nowhere. She had expected this to be a medical explanation, not a spiritual one. Or maybe a little bit spiritual but like not to the level of delving into the esoteric history of the Quincy race. There were more questions that came to mind, but they only further took them away from the point of all this. Giselle. It wasn't like she really cared for the deep lore, but it was important enough to Giselle that she was putting so much effort into the explanation that she would listen out of respect.

"Alright, alright, I'm following. So you had a fragment of this really old dude in your 'inner world' because he saved your life when you were a baby. Or, well, before you were even that I guess. And he was really powerful, so what did he do? Did he save you again?"