Its Ok Now [Ehefra, Bauher]

It was pretty amusing she supposed, being in a hospital. She knew the damage. Shed scanned herself plenty to know what the damage had been.

Fourteen fractures.
Two ruptured kidneys.
A torn liver.
Heavily bruised intestines.
Eleven sites of internal bleeding.
Punctured lungs. Thank you ribs.
Surprisingly undamaged appendix, thanks pelvic girdle, I guess.
Torn muscles in her thigh, mid-back, shoulder, and left calf.

Most of that wasnt even fully from the damn fight. Turns out injuries from last year had signs of healing. Some of this shit had apparently popped when jefferson went down. Old wounds from miani had returned. And china had brought them all together like a medical chart family reunion.

Shed be pretty damn furious if she wasn’t on so many pain killers. She sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. Thinking of the damn relocation project. The students shed taken up.

The Liltotto that was still missing.
Her jaw tightened.

Yea that one still stung.

“Miss Kleinmund. He’s here.” The nurses voice jarred her from her thoughts and she shifted slightly in her bed.

”Yea. Go ahead and send him in.”

Bauher offered a gentle smile and a nod to the nurse as they walked by eachother, slipping into the room and pausing as he found himself in the doorway, looking at his Daughter in the hospital bed. A pain kicked him square in the chest. How many times had he seen Belle in one of those. How he wished he'd never have to see his girl in one. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he let his hand gently slide along the back of his neck, a sigh escaping him as he made h is way across the room.

"Heff..." He stopped just short of the side of the bed, opening his eyes and tilting his head a bit to the side. He sat down next to her bed and took a moment to look at her. And a gentle smile formed on his face as he ...appreciated the difference. Hm, still nice and warm coloured. No paleness, and her eyes were still full of life and ...stubbornness. Heh.

"You look about ready to tear a hole in the ceiling. Not causing trouble for the nurses are you?" He ventured, just the softest trace of playfulness as he reached into his jacket and pulled something out. Setting it on the side table next to her as he then let his palms rest on top of his knees and looked to her. The item itself was a little stuffed turtle, holding a celebratory balloon that said 'Get Shell Soon'.

"So, what are you in for?"

She gently tightened the grip on her blanket as she watched him stop at the door. She could figure what was going through his head when she saw her, and she found herself sitting up just a bit more, looking anxiously off to the side as she herself remembered seeing Mom like this all the damn time. But the sound of him stepping across the room had her looking right back up as he set down that little plush and then settled down himself.

Oh....

She froze for a moment as she saw the stuffed animal, and she was hit with so many memories. She hesitated for just a second... before she reached out and plucked Shelldon from the table, pulling them to her chest and promptly hugging the little guy. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, a mistake, as the familiar smell of her old room still clung to the little plush. And she ....was briefly brought back. To ... well...different times.

She opened her eyes and looked up at her dad. "Cheater."' She murmured softly, setting Shelldon down on her lap as she settled back onto the pillow and cleared her throat and sighing a bit before eventually answering his inane question.

"Robbed a bank. Figured they didn't need all those gold plated harmonicas." The tiniest little smirk on her face as she looked to her dad. "What about you?"

That little smile deepened and turned genuine as he watched Ehefra hug that little guy. He was so small to her now, and god she'd gotten so big. He looked over to the end of the bed, making note that she at least hadn't hit the end. hm, she was still a bit taller than when she'd left. He remembered when she couldn't even reach halfway down the bed. Her accusation brought him back to the present and he smiled back.

"He missed you, you should have seen him on the way here." He assured her, leaning forward until his elbows settled over his knees and he lightly tapped the base of his wrists together as his fingers laced and he considered her answer, eyes closing in concentration. "Hmmmm. Gold tiaras? That's a good fifteen to life. Pretty ballsy." He noted appreciatively, opening one eye and smiling when the question was turned on him. A knowing little smirk as he reached past his shoulder and promptly produced a little deck of cards from thin air. "Oh I managed to snag this from the Governor." He set it down on the side table and leaned to the side as he promptly peeled her chart from the end of her bed, not to leaf through it, but eyeing the thickness. His brows raised. "Quite the rap sheet. What's your bail looking like?"

Ehefra glanced back to Shelldon and reached out to pet his head, eyeing the little balloon and then glancing back to her father as he shuffled a bit in his seat. She could tell he was feeling a bit restless, and well she had a feeling she knew why. But she didn't bring that up for now. She raised her hands up and smiled somewhat smugly. "I like to live dangerously." She stated simply, letting her hands slide back down and slump into her lap, her lips thinning a bit as she watched him glance at her chart. Yea... there was a lot there. She itched her nose and sighed as she mentally tallied.

"A lot of stitches. And uh... Medical restrictions. Its not too bad." She insisted, her face contorting a little as she paused.

She wondered if she sounded like mom just then, and she felt bad for that. After a few more seconds she ... cleared her throat. "Fffforty stitches. Some reishi plates. And a lot of painkillers." She conceded, lightly rubbing her hands together as she looked up at the ceiling. A sigh slipping out as she closed her eyes. "I kinda don't wanna go back. Work kinda sucks right now." She murmured very quietly, blinking a few times as warm wet salt pinched the edges of her vision and ran down her cheek. What an understatement. And maybe ... like. Irresponsible.

What would helle think? Maybe that she was shirking her work. That they needed to keep going for the fallen or something. She hunched her shoulders and looked back to her Dad. Wincing a bit as she felt more tears budding up. "Like... it ... really. Really. Sucks."[/color]

Bauher snorted softly at that and smiled just a bit wider, raising a brow mischeivously and tilting his head. "I also like to live dangerously. Guess you had to get it from somewhere." He lightly itched the edge of his ear as he sat back just a little and straightened himself up. A steady breath through his lips as he eyed the chart... and then looked back to her. A suppressed wince, but it didn't take long for her to elaborate. That ... was a lot. He nodded slowly as he absorbed the information, but well. She was stable, and seemed they had a care plan. A lot ... but nothing that couldn't be fixed, it sounded like. Plates? He looked back to her and only imagined what she'd been getting into. He knew about her hollow hunting escapades before his contact wasn't willing to keep up once she'd joined the vandenreich. Was she still bullying hollows? He'd always felt that was a dangerous game. But no, she'd be more ... annoyed if that were the case.

However, as that shift in tone hit his ears, he immediately looked to his daughter. It wasn't long before he was on his feet, slipping onto the bed and promptly reaching in to gently pull her into a ...careful hug.

"Whoooaaa there. Hey heyheyhey. It's alright Heff" He whispered softly, settlign next to her on the bed as ... cautiously as he could as he gently pulled her over so that she was leaning on his side, worry creasing his brow for a moment before he gently ruffled her hair.

"Cmon now heff. Work always sucks. Just you know... theres a bit more stuff ontop of the suck. But it's not gonna suck forever." He noted softly, having to quell the instinct to just...scoop her off the bed and set her in his lap. Hug her close and let her cry into his shoulder. If it weren't for all the damn ... IV lines he would. But even so, this would do for now.

Ehefra offered no resistance as she was plucked up and pulled into a hug with her father, closing her eyes and resting her head against his chest as he gently wrapped her up in his arms. How long had it been? Since they'd hugged? If it werent for her damn IVs, she'd be hugging him right back, but for now, she simply leaned into him and wiped her eyes as the soft dull of his voice soothed those budding worries. She didn't really know if it was going to be okay. Frankly.

She was getting fucked up on the regular. Emotionally. Physically. She'd been all jacked up at Miami. Then got busted up recently at Jefferson. Then ANOTHER asswhooping in China. And it was clearly having a toll on her body. She winded slightly as she thought of the number of plates currently keeping her together, temporary as they were. All the shit that had rebroken, reopened, and just .. was wearing her down.

Honestly at least the Steingruft work was.... going.

She'd been able to fufill some normal requests. But .... she couldn't help but feel as if she was ... failing. The Grandmaster had assigned her the task of getting plans together for the relocation of the city. And honestly... she'd had Beeps do most of it. She'd reviewd the work of course, and her Steingruft were putting in the work to ensure that things were moving. But she felt so damn... distracted.

"I...I just don't know. It's been a lot. I have a lot of responsibilities. and also...Snfff. Stuff like this happens. And I gotta get better. And still keep working." She smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "This is like...super lame right now." A rueful sigh escaped her. As her insecurities crept in. Thinking of what people would think if they saw her right now. And the weight in her chest doubled. Thinking of her ... friction with her other upper management.

"Administration sucks..." She sniffled softly.

Bauher furrowed his brows as he listened to his daughter, and honestly, he couldn't entirely understand what was going on. He'd heard a little about what it was that she did, but honestly it was a bit astonishing that she saw active combat so often. But well. Could he have expected anything else? Heffy had always been the scrappy type, he wouldn't doubt that an organization like the Vandenreich would utilize her to her fullest extent. And well, this was the sort of situation that wound up happening as a result. Hell, he remembered how much he'd gotten sucked into the projects at Karakura. It certainly wasn't a one to one, but he'd been just as guilty of being swept up in feeling like he had to do everything.

And it'd taken Belle's health taking a nosedive for him to realize just how much he'd been taking on. And so many times, he'd wished he'd known to enjoy things when they had been.. better. He didn't want her having that same regret.

"Heff. You. Are not a machine." He stated softly, glancing down and gently lifting her chin so that she met his gaze. "You're a smart, talented, scrappy little nerd, just like your dad was when he was your age. But you don't have to be all of those things at the same time. You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, but you have to understand sweetie, that it doesn't HAVE to be yours. And sometimes, you need to make sure that you take care of yourself." He noted softly, his attention drifting off to the side as he briefly thought about his own work.

"There's .... nothing I regret more, than not spending more time with you when I had the chance. Both of you." He gently held her just a bit tighter. "If it wasn't for you, there's no way I could have made it through half the stuff I had on my plate. And when you weren't there. I couldn't eat a bite." He gently ruffled his daughter's hair and closed his eyes. "Don't think you have to eat everything on your plate, Kiddo. You're not in any shape to be handling everything all at once. So get some rest, heal up. And take things one at a time. If handling everything at once is putting you in these situations, then you just have to take the time and figure out what's most important in the here and now."

She didn't even have to imagine. She knew exactly how he felt. Even if she'd just been a little kid. thinking back, she was old enough now that... she knew exactly what he meant. She'd been in love. Or ... something like it. And she could only imagine what things would have been like if she'd had a kid. But more than that, her mind went right back to the one thing they had both missed out on: Saying goodbye to Mom.

Maybe that was something Mom had wanted. She ... had always tried so hard not to think about it. What it must be like, to both have someone there, and ... not. She had been too little to understand. But at the same time, thinking to... Candice. She felt like things made a little more sense. Sortof. Maybe it was selfish, but she still wished she'd been there to say.....

And all at once, she found herself thinking about the last thing she DID say. Years ago. When Dad had still been mad about the whole Quincy thing. No...probaly more...scared than actually angry. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Mom. She never said goodbye. But at the very least, the last thing she'd said to her was ... 'I love you'.

The tears came right back up. she held onto her dad just as tightly and she felt her chest tighten as tears threatened to well back up. She didn't know what she wanted to do right now. But something did come to the forefront of her mind.

She wanted to say goodbye to Mom.

Wiping her eyes on her wrist, she pulled her father into a hug and...felt glad that he was here.
"Thanks dad."