xp_logs | Waking up; Angel and Sooraya

xp_dust posting in

After Toad nearly strangled Sooraya, she wakes up in the medlab and Angel is with her.

Soft beeps, a deep ache in her chest and a strange haziness in her head were the first things Sooraya became aware of as the world started to take shape around her. She felt the darkness pulling at her and in the hope of chasing it away, she set about opening her eyes.

With nothing else to do but wait, Angel had tucked her legs under herself and spent the last few hours alternating between looking up random junk on her phone, watching Sooraya sleep, googling if parrots were legal to own in New York, watching Sooraya, looking up different braiding techniques for her hair, watching Sooraya...

Finally the need to occupy her hands became too much, and Angel had set to work with actually braiding her hair while she watched over her friend. Of course, she was still watching Sooraya closely, so the minute she saw those eyelids flutter, her hair was abandoned and her phone clattered to the floor as she uncurled and leaned over. "Sooraya?"

The sound of her name pushed away a little bit more of the haze and a memory rose up from the still clawing darkness... some had told her to go back... Sooraya forced open her eyes just a little bit. "Yv'te?" She mumbled in the lowest voice possible.

Angel jolted at the name, quickly looking around to make sure no one was nearby to overhear. "Not quite," she murmured back, taking Sooraya's hand and squeezing gently. "I like to think I'm pretty good too, though." The last bit was teasing.

Finally managing to get her eyes open all the way, Sooraya realized the red she saw was not Yvette's skin, but Angel's hair. "Angel?" She asked as more clarity returned. "Where is she... she was here... She told me to go back..." Her voice trailed off in a bout of raw coughing.

"Easy," Angel said gently, pouring water from a pitcher and waiting for Sooraya to get control of her breathing. "You've kinda been out for a while."

Sooraya slowly searched the room as the coughing subsided, her eyes gleaming wetly as she did not find what she was looking for. "Yvette is not here..."

"Did you have a dream?" Angel asked. She dreamed about Yvette a lot.

"Can I have a bit of that?" Her throat still felt raw and she focused on the glass in Angel's hand as she tried to make sense of the vague impressions. Yvette'd been there in some way... and she'd said things, but it had no felt not like a dream. The haze clearing up didn't help much.

"All yours," Angel said, handing it over. "Drink up. How're you feeling?"

Sooraya had struggled up a bit and took a few sips before her hand started to shake too much. She held out her arm, hoping Angel would take the glass before she dropped it and created a mess. "Still a bit fuzzy... and my chest is hurting... How long have I been out? And what happened?"

Angel ran a hand through her hair, undoing the half-done braid. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "Things were...." She waved her hands, trying to describe the rather violent scene without words. "I think Toad got his tongue around your throat and tried to strangle you before you could dust out."

"Ugh... that explains why my throat feels like sand paper... how did I get back here?"

"Blackbird Express." Angel rubbed the back of her head. "That was kind of a rough fight."

"Ouch..." Sooraya winced. "I don't remember... except... Angel... I think Yvette was there... It was so real..."

Angel frowned, tilting her head slightly. "Sooraya you were kind of.... out. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"I mean... I don't think so." Sooraya frowned as she tried to make sense of what had happened. "I remember it so clearly. She told me to go back, Angel... I think I would have been gone otherwise... if she hadn't done that..."

"Well..." Angel hesitated before smiling. "Whatever it was, I'm glad you stayed."

"It's not the only thing she told me..."

"Yeah?" Angel said, checking again to make sure no one was nearby. "What else?"

"What did she mean with it? I..." Sooraya spoke to herself. "It doesn't make sense... Unless..." Suddenly she felt tears welling up in her eyes, the raw feeling in her throat becoming more fiery as she tried to stifle the sob that was trying to escape. Her face was lit up in wonder though.

"Sooraya," Angel said gently but firmly. "Talk to me. Please."

"She told me to have trust and to have faith..." Sooraya looked at Angel, her eyes gleaming wetly and glowing at the same time. "To have Trust and to have Faith. Angel, what have I been struggling with for so long?"

"Faith," Angel said at once. They'd had a lot of conversations about it.

"I told you about realizing that I still believe... that I was just very angry. What if..." Sooraya hesitated, thinking it through, before carefully venturing. "What if it's a message... a conformation or something like that..."

Angel bit her lip uncertainly. "I.... I don't know, Sooraya. Maybe."

"What are you thinking, Angel?" Sooraya asked quietly.

"I don't know." Angel shook her head. "I think it depends on how you want to see it. If you told one of the science people they'd probably go on about hallucinations and lack of oxygen to the brain and blah blah blah. If you talked to a religious person they'd call it a sign. I don't know what to think." She paused, then added, "I'm jealous you got to talk to her though."

Sooraya's face fell. "I suppose that could be it... a hallucination..."

"Or it could be real," Angel reminded her gently. "No one knows. However you want to take it."

"If it was that..." Sooraya looked wishful. "... I wish we could have had more time. It was only a few words."

"You got to see her, though." Hallucination or not, Angel would've given anything to see Yvette again. The dreams were never exactly the happiest. "That's something."

She could not stop the yawn from escaping. "I think I need to get some more sleep... Kinda wish I'd had more time with her though."

"Get some more sleep," Angel said, smiling sadly. If it had been real... and she really wasn't sure, anything was possible, but <i>if</i> - she was glad it had only been brief. Any longer and Sooraya might not have come back.