after It Speaks
Cessily carefully knocked on the door to Rachel's room. She had only caught a glimpse of her friend when they saved them from the lab. Rachel had looked... Cessily couldn't even describe it. According to Dr. McCoy she was ready to get visits and would even be able to leave the infirmary later that day, but he had warned Cessily that they were still figuring out what had happened to her.
Rachel glanced up from her spot on the bed and frowned. She couldn't 'hear' anything, which meant it was...who was it she could never get anything off of? Vic and Cess, right? Yeah, that was right. She would've opened it with her teke, but she hadn't used it in a while. "Come in..."
Cessily took a breath and opened the door a bit, then cautiously poked her head inside, a small smile on her face. She didn't know what to expect and McCoy and Rogue had told her that Rachel apparently was still traumatized by the events. "Hey, Rae." Cessily at least managed to not look shocked at Rachel's change, thanks to Rogue's heads up.
She looked over at the door as Cess came into the room. So, she had to explain what happened again? Oh well. At least she wasn't as bad as she had been. "Hey, Cess," she said quietly.
She entered the room and gently closed the door behind her. "How are you?" Cessily stepped over to Rachel, fidgeting with her fingers. She figured that saying something like 'Hey, you look good.' just wouldn't be very appropriate at the moment.
Rachel ran a hand through her hair, trying to think of an answer and eventually giving a shrug, "Alive."
"Hey, that's good. Being alive is awesome." Cessily laughed a little and sat down next to Rachel on the the edge of the bed. "Definitely beats being dead and stuff." She looked over to Rachel and smiled again. "I'm happy to have you back. I missed you."
Are you sure you're alive? Rachel swatted the thought away. Be sane for one fucking conversation. She managed a small smile, "I missed you, too. Glad to be back."
Cessily nodded, then hesitated for a moment, but eventually couldn't resist pulling Rachel into a hug. "Hey, I'm not going to torture you with questions about what happened back there, okay? You probably need some time to adjust and get better." She pulled back and smiled at Rachel. "But just to let you know, whenever you want to talk about anything, I'll be there."
Not going to burn. Rachel tensed up before returning the hug, "Cool. Everyone wants to know what happened. It's kinda hard to answer 'cause I don't remember everything, or I do...it's just fuzzy."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Cessily nodded slowly and looked at Rachel's oddly coloured hand. "That's pretty much how it was when I changed into this form. It's difficult to explain, too. But I guess it's actually for the best if we don't remember such things too clearly, don't you think?"
"Probably. I remember changing though. It hurt a lot," she glanced at her hand. "I thought I was going to die..."
Cessily gave Rachel a compassionate smile and reached out to carefully squeeze her hand. "I'm sorry, Rae." She chuckled humorlessly. "That's how I felt back then. So it looks like we have a few more things in common now. Believe me, I wish it weren't so."
"I don't want to look like this anymore. It'd driving me insane, literally. When he got rid of the scars was bad enough, but now I'm talking to myself and everything...."
"Really?" Cessily blinked. "Oh. Well, I guess that's probably just the shock and the trauma from what happened to you. I'm that will get better." She forced the small smile back on her face. "Hey, Dr. McCoy will certainly find a way to help you. And looking different won't make you go insane. I should know, no?"
She chewed on her lip, "Yeah, I guess." Rachel resisted the urge to cringe at the word doctor. It was McCoy though, not Essex. "I feel like shit, but I guess that's to be expected."
"I think you need some rest. And some happy places to hang out. Like, Ms. Munroe's garden. And many walks in the forest. That always helps. Better than any medicine." Cessily shrugged. "But if you're really not feeling well, I'm sure McCoy or Annie will give you something."
She shook her head, "I don't think I can take anymore drugs. I kinda just started talking again...well, to people besides myself."
Cessily made an awkward face. "Were you alone all the time there?"
"It depended on what tests he was doing. We were all placed in the same area though, and Meggan was my cellmate. Didn't know that for a while. I spent a lot of time in isolation."
"My... that must have been horrible. I'm so sorry." Cessily bit her lip before looking back a Rachel. She needed several attempts to continue. "I felt very bad when we had to... had to leave you behind."
"It's not your fault." She shrugged, "It's one of the things I can't really remember."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Cessily nodded slowly. "Still, you keep asking yourself, you know? What if I had done things differently? Maybe then you wouldn't had to... had to..." She didn't finish the sentence but gesticulated towards Rachel instead.
"Yeah, well...don't worry about it. Nothing's going to change anything now. I'll be fine eventually." I hope.
Cessily didn't say anything at first, but just nodded and smiled. "I'm glad you're not angry at me or something. And of course you will be fine." She hugged Rachel again. "Do you know what helps, too? Chocolate and ice cream! Hey, did McCoy say anything that you're not allowed to eat certain things for a while, or would that be okay?"
She grinned. That sounded good but made her stomach turn at the same time. When was the last time she'd had something to eat willingly? "I dunno. I'm know I'm allowed to leave, which I should tell Josh, so he's not freaking out. I would think it'd be okay..."
Cessily smiled as she saw's Rachel's face light up - besides literally lighting up, of course. "Well, you could try. I think ice cream would be worth it. Or we find something else you could try to eat. I'm sure Kitty would love to make one of her awesome soups. And we could tell Josh, if you want."
"I've talk...well, he talked to me after we got back. Anyway, soup would probably be better. Then, maybe, I could try some ice cream."
"Alright." Cessily nodded again. "So I guess you're ready to leave. Would you want to stop by in your room? I'm sure you want to take a shower and get some new clothes."
Rachel glanced down at herself. She'd forgotten about clothes. The black covered them up, too. Shower...Wasn't water bad for fires? "Yeah, that sounds good."
"Want me to come along?" She looked around at the room. "Since you don't have any stuff down here, I think we could just escape the infirmary."
"Uh...yeah, sure," she shrugged, still debating whether she'd melt if water touched her new skin.
Cessily jumped off the bed and unceremoniously grabbed Rachel's hand. "Then let's go!" She halfway dragged her towards the door. "You have been sitting around way too long. It's time for you to get out and do stuff. That's what will make you feel better."
Rachel let herself be dragged out of the room with a small grin. What had she gotten herself into?
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