Neutral Omens

"Don't mind him," Gabriel sniffed. "He just fancies the role of the brooding protagonist." And indeed, he doubted that whatever had happened would warrant the tangible guilt that hung about Constantine, but he couldn't disregard it completely. If the opportunity arose, the angel might try find out more about what had happened between them.

For now, though, there were other things to attend to. "Well, I expect he'll be around quite a bit in coming weeks, even after he wakes up," he said, nodding to the unconscious god. "We might as well get him settled into his own room. Anathema, would you mind? If you could just see that there's a room prepared, I'll bring him in..."

From:

"Of course," she said, going over to the nearest private room and looking about it. It was big enough for at least small walks around, just in case Loki was up for it when he was awake, had the normal hospital bed and a bedside table wih a few shelves in it. Well, if Loki wanted anything to read she could go to the library or get someone else to go get him some books.

She went about making the bed and gettign everything ready for the god that would be occupying the room for however long it would be preoccupied. She would really have to see about reading material for the room, but until she knew what Loki lied reading, she left a few books in there, fiction and easy to read. There was also a bible that looked a bit ragged and worn that must have survived whatever must have happened to this building.

She made her way back into where Loki was at the moment and nodded to Gabriel.

(deleted comment)

From:

"Wolves? I haven't seen any wolves..." Ana said to that, wondering if she was missing something here. Wasn't it Odin who had the wolves?

"Um, sure. I think it will be alright...for the time being any way." She looked to Gabriel again, this time wonderign if having animals, even ones that were gods, in the hospital was alright. Some human places like these let in animals for therapy after all, why not in here too?

From:

first-catwoman.livejournal.com

Bast leapt off the god's chest and onto the floor, pacing back and forth to and from the private room. //Is it okay if I come and stay with him occasionally? I think he'd like that, if he wakes up. Also, if it's okay, I could get someone to bring some of the other animals in here...//

From:

Gabriel blinked down at the cat as he wheeled the unconscious god into the private room and prepared to transfer him to the new bed. "Preferably not all at the same time," he said carefully, trying to find the nicest way he could to say that he didn't want to see the hospital turned into a zoo. Angels could, in theory, be relatively any size or shape they wished, but that didn't mean he was used to having animals in a workplace, even those which were not animals in their true form. "But I suppose that is what visiting hours are for..."

He addressed Anathema as well as he continued, "I'm not sure there's much more we can do for him until he wakes up. Even if we were prepared for chemotherapy right now, we can hardly start it on an unconscious patient. I'll see that he's hooked up to the monitors, and I think for now we just watch and see that there are no drastic changes in his condition. Would you like me to stay for the rest of your shift, or will you be all right?"

From:

After ransacking Loki's room (Christ, what a mess; books and playing cards scattered all over the place, and some of the empty booze bottles looked like they'd been piled there on the floor for months) John finally located Loki's medication in the bottom of a backpack lying near the couch. He came back to the hospital wing to find the exam room empty, and followed the sound of voices to the private room where Loki had been taken.

Walking into the room, he gave a sharp, short whistle to get Anathema's attention and tossed the bottle to her underhand. "Found that in his room. How's he doing?"

From:

... He was in a nice soft bed. Comfy. He could stay here for a while.

Wait a minute! Hadn't he just been talking to John? Something about Ezra and that murderous Crowley.

If he'd just been talking with John, how could he be in bed now? Had it been a dream? Loki opened his eyes. Where was he? Too many black spots in his vision again, but he was used to that by now. Better wait a little before he tried to sit up, though.

From:

Everything began happening at once. Before she could answer Gabriel's question about him staying on for the rest of her shift or not, a sharp whistle coming form the door had made her turn, just in time to see John throw her what looked like the medication that she had asked him to go find.

Before she could answer either of those two, Loki stirred on the bed and opened his eyes.

"Loki? I wouldn't sit up too fast. Do you know where you are?"

Blinking at the sudden rush of people to answer, she turned to Gabriel and smiled. "You can stay if you want Gabriel, I won't kick you out just because it is my shift."

She then looked down at the medication in her hand and frowned. "And yes John, I think this is right."

She hoped that the people in the room would be enough to convince Loki to go back on his medication.

From:

Huh? The voice was familiar, but who?

Ah yes, Anathema, the pretty one with the unusual name. Who the fuck was Gabriel, though?

John was still here? Good. Or maybe not. Could he still trust John? It hadn't been a good idea to trust a human in the fist place and nothing would really have changed between them just because Loki seemed to have blacked out.

He got the feeling that this place was all in all too crowded. Wherever this place was.

"Wh.. What happened?" It sounded a bit more intelligent than 'Where am I?, he thought. Or maybe it didn't, but now he'd already said it and couldn't take it back.

From:

"You went off your meds like a sodding moron, moron, and it caught up with you," John said gruffly, leaning in the doorway. "What the fuck'd you think would happen?"

From:

Gabriel shot John a less than friendly look. "Could we please refrain from insulting the patient for the time being?" he asked, clipped.

His tone was considerably more cordial, however, as he addressed the god. "Loki,you're in the hospital wing at Tadfield Manor. I'm Gabriel, and this is Anathema, and we're just trying to help you. Do you remember what happened?"

From:

"Damn pills weren't working anyway," Loki growled at John.

Gabriel's answer was a lot more helpful, though he wasn't sure how to answer his question. He wasn't even entirely sure which events he was referring to. What had happened before he'd ... well, fainted apparently? What had happened after that? Or how he'd got the cancer in the fist place?

Who was Gabriel anyway? He didn't remember ever seeing him around before which was alarming. Unless Gabriel was a very recent arrival it meant that Loki had either been very sloppy in his exploration of the manor or there was more than just one hole in his memory.

His mind was working slower than usual, but Gabriel definitely wasn't a human, nor any god Loki recognised ...

"Oh, not another not-god!"

From:

"Not-god?" Anathema asked, rather amused by the way that Loki had said it. It sounded like such a bad thing.

She shook her head slightly. "Can you tell us what you were doing, where you were going, before you collapsed? And there are different medicines you could have tried."

From:

"God that isn't allowed to call himself god," Loki explained.

"Library. Talked with John." He shot Ana a tired look that should have been a glare. "They didn't work either."

If his answers were a bit incoherent he didn't notice, though he did realise that his brain still wasn't back to it's normal speed. He was dizzy and tired and a little frightened even though he'd expected to die soon. It still seemed too early.

From:

"It's the sodding curse, it's gotta be," John muttered, a trifle sullenly. His bedside manner might need some work, but he was trying to help, dammit. Adam alone knew why he bothered. "Odds are we're gonna have to find a way to lift it before anything will really work."

From:

"Curse right," Loki agreed. "The curse that Czernobog himself couldn't lift."

From:

Anathema frowned at this. "Well maybe this curse needs to be lifted before anything will work. If the God that did this to you couldn't reverse it...well maybe a different way of breaking the curse is needed?"

How she didn't know, but she would like to give it a try, after all, someone she knew was dying right in front of her. "I'll help. You never know...maybe we can come up with something..."

She also didn't know who she could enlist to help her...maybe Uriel would? She was an angel after all...

From:

John rubbed at his forehead, frowning thoughtfully. "Don't suppose good ol' Czernobog mentioned what class of curse it was, or what he did to try to lift it? It'd save some time if we knew."

From:

Loki attempted to laugh. It didn't sound quite right.

"Czernobog had no idea what he'd done," he explained. "Was surprised it actually worked at all. And he wasn't the only one that tried. I've asked actual healing gods. It can't be lifted."

Definitely not by two humans no matter how cool John was.

From:

Gabriel arched a brow coolly; the powers of the mortal pantheons had always seemed so scattered and sporadic that he wasn't sure how thorough Loki's endeavor might have been, and he wouldn't be convinced until they'd at least made an effort with this curse themselves.

"Nevertheless, I think Constantine's right," he spoke up. The words hadn't tasted as foul as he thought they might, but he still quite intentionally didn't look at the man after he'd said them. "I think that will have to be our first course in treatment. After getting you back on your medication, of course," he added, nodding toward the pills in Anathema's hand.

From:

"And trust me, you will be taking them, mister," Anathema replied, smiling slightly. She wasn't lying either. If necesary she would ram the things down Loki's throat. What a silly thign to do just because nothign seemed to be working. That didn't necessarily mean they weren't at least keeping the disease at bay for a while.

She shook the bottle of pills and opened the lid. "So, think he should start taking them now?" She said the question to both John and Gabriel. And was it her imagination, or did those two not like each other very much?

From:

"They don't work and make me sick and dizzy," Loki complained pouting. "I really don't see what they're good for."

Of course he knew why he was supposed to take them. He had read about them, after all, and he wasn't stupid. He just didn't want to. He'd had enough of the fight. Couldn't those damn doctors ever leave one to die in peace?

From: