i'll be watching over you | {cleric/helena}

The first thing she asks the nurse is, "When can I go home?"

This seems to startle the older woman, who gazes down at Helena's legs with one eyebrow quirked in concern. Both of them are wrapped in casts up to the knee, elevated by some sort of pulley system that has rendered the girl completely immobile. And restless. Reminding herself of her predicament seems to cause her nerves to come back to life, the sheer agony of two broken limbs rising above the pain relievers in her system. She winces.

"I know you've had a rough day, but I don't think I need to tell you that this is going to be a long recovery, dear. It'll be a good bit before you're out of this bed, let alone the hospital." Of course, Helena had assumed as much, but she doesn't regret asking. The last thing she wants is to be trapped somewhere against her will for weeks on end. The nurse's words cause her to throw her head back against the pillow and groan in misery.

There are more important things! Reuniting with her dog, for one. Everyone she's spoken to has assured her that Hero is being cared for, but just the idea of being apart from him makes her stomach toss and turn. "Dr. Pirowhet will be in shortly for a consultation, and please take this seriously. Healing should be the only thing on your mind right now."

Left alone with her woes, Helena is staring daggers into the wall when the doctor in question finally enters, shadowed by a younger intern around her age. The boy's figure is tall and lithe, and his sandy hair catches the faintest rays of sunlight in the room. Dr. Pirowhet blanks on his name, but he later introduces himself as Cleric Apollyon. A pretty name for a pretty boy. She crosses her arms across her chest, defensive by habit, as the older man asks for clarity on what exactly happened to her.

"My dog and I went for a walk down one of the hiking trails at the edge of the district. I got cocky, and I went off the beaten path." This isn't entirely the truth, but the reality isn't something she can share without consequences. The girl who solved a cold case two years ago misses the rush and is illegally trying to solve another. This version of the story is much better. "By the time I came up on the ravine, I was going too fast to stop. I tripped over the side, and hit the ground feet first. Whoosh, thud, snap." She flicks the thick cast around one of her legs, her expression pouty but determined.

"And now I'm here. Waiting to learn what I need to do to get out of here."