[CLOSED]

[sweetlies]

who: Ciel, Jason Todd, Undertaker, Beverly Crusher
what: Ciel has an asthma attack
when: 9/17
where: Book store, hospital
warnings: None?

He'd had time during the day, business was slow and if he stayed, he might have fallen asleep in his office. So he'd sent a message to Jason, inviting him to join the teen at a local bookstore to pass the time. And with the intent of picking at his brain a bit for more reading material, things he could read to keep himself up at night until he was too tired to dream.

If he couldn't dream, he couldn't disturb anyone.

He got himself a cup of tea while he waited, resisting a cough. What an inconvenient time to get sick. Hopefully it wouldn't spread to Jason- maybe he should have thought this meeting over more carefully.

Comments

BOOK STORE/ASTHMA ATTACK

[sweetlies]

[hititwithacrowbar]

Jason had made his way in a little different than usual. He had rolled out of bed when he got the message. Being the type that he's up once he's up he confirmed he would come. Took a quick shower and showed up in normal attire, not feeling like a full suit at an hour he deemed early with his odd hours.

A leather jacket and a t-shirt over his nicer jeans. His helmet had ruined any style to his hair but otherwise he looked like he usually does. He made his way to meet Ciel at the table stopping to grab some coffee as he dropped his keys next to him and started pouring cream into the coffee.

"Sorry I'm late, my hours are messed up from working nights." He offered. He figured the Earl would see him in his normal gear eventually so better a day he's tired.

"How are you today?"

[sweetlies]

His clothing choice wasn't quite anything he was used to, beyond seeing some people dressed similarly in passing. Sometimes even stopping into Funtom, but he'd never given it much thought beyond wondering how it was comfortable.

"It's perfectly fine. I'm sorry, I hope I didn't disturb you." He offered a smile, sipping at his tea and resisting another cough for a moment for it slipped out. "I was hoping to pick at your brain for more book recommendations. I thought now is as good a time as any to start a collection in the apartment."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Jason felt more comfortable in civilian clothing, which was half the reason that before his more recent body armor he used to just fight in the same style of clothing he was wearing right now. Though with a mask of course.

"Don't worry about that. I needed to be up anyway." He waved it off as he took a drink of his coffee before arching a brow at that cough, sitting it aside. He was kind of glad that he no longer gets sick easily since his trip to the pit. "Would you like something more modern or more classical today?" He asked, waiting just a second more before inquiring. "Are you getting sick, Earl?"

[sweetlies]

Of course he was going to ask, Ciel wasn't exactly surprised. Although he had hoped it would go ignored. Getting sick was inconvenient, for work and in general. It meant he had to avoid being near the candy in the store so as to avoid spreading anything.

"Just a cold." He coughed again but then waved his hand dismissively. "Perhaps something modern, it behooves me to read a wide variety of material."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Of course, it would be rude not to ask, and while he could be rude as hell some days. He strived to be better around the young lord, someone Alfred would be proud of. "Just make sure you get some rest later, it does wonders." He spoke, just a bit of concern but trying to not let it show to much, he hated being babied when he was Ciel's age so he wouldn't do that, not unless he needed to.

"Well, off the top of my head I would say you might like the Outsiders, but I cant be sure, it's about two groups of kids through the social classes, the greasers and the Socas, the greasers are the poor kids and the Socas are the rich kids. It's a good read, it takes place in the 1950's or 60's, so some of it might not make sense to you but, i can always help."

GETTING HELP

[sweetlies]

Text To @Undertaker from @givesyouhell

[hititwithacrowbar]

[ what kind of name was Undertaker? Whatever it didn't matter Ciel needed help so he texted the number managing to keep his cool.]

Undertaker? Earl Ciel Phantomhive asked me to contact you. He is having an attack of some kind and needs medical attention. We are at the bookstore.

[ He enclosed an address not sure if his message was right. Victorian people and texting was strange but his concern was Ciel.]

action

[somakemelaugh]

[There was a sound he'd never heard his phone make before. Curious, he pulled it from his pocket and brought it close to his face to see what he could. Not that he had a hope of trying to fix it if something had gone wrong, but no. There were words on the screen, a message directed to him of some kind from someone he didn't know. He poked at it and managed to bring it up to read it...

... and stopped dead in his tracks. He and the child, they had played tricks with each other before, but this didn't feel like anything the young Earl would get up to with him, and if this was a trick by someone Ciel knew, well. He'd deal with that when he got there.]

[He didn't bother with a response. There was an address included, one that he ignored. If he tried to search for it it would take him too long to get there, but he knew the bookstore well enough. He took a step forward and found himself right before it, though he had been nearly across town a second before. Someone behind him gave a cry, startled, and he ignored that as well, moving into the store with purpose. What he lacked in vision, he made up for with other senses and he listened, hoping to pick up sounds of commotion somewhere to direct him.]

The boy, Phantomhive. Where is he? [He isn't playing games, and he won't ask twice.]

[hititwithacrowbar]

The second the attack had started Jason's coffee and everything else was forgotten. He had launched from his seat to help the young earl. He grew up in the ghetto he knew an attack when he saw one. Granted his mind screamed that it could be the asthma that the boy mentioned or with a Victorian it could be tuberculosis, but being a noble that was a lot less likely. His bat-training however made him kick into high gear. He texted to Ciel's wish to the man with the strange name as his fingers went to work to undo the tie and top buttons of Ciel's shirt. Luckily for everyone he had been a huge dork in school and did a project on Victorian fashion so he knew what he was doing.

Hearing Ciel's last name he looked up seeing the man.

Was he related to Nico? Either way he whistled to catch his attention. "Over here!" The casually dressed Gothamite called out.

[somakemelaugh]

His head jerked toward the whistle; Undertaker was moving in that direction before he had even heard the words that followed. There was the Earl, caught in and out of breath in no good way. This world had its technologies that he didn't understand, something far beyond what his own knew, and medicines that had advanced in amazing ways but that he had little knowledge of, so he worked in the mind of one who had come from a world where such fits could kill a person. That end was not something he could tolerate. He didn't wait to be invited before crouching at the child's side, one hand going to the thin shoulder to try and soothe him. "Milord. Let's get you to a hospital."

Without waiting further, he reached his arms gently, carefully to try and guide the boy to him so he could get those small arms about his neck. If he could, he would gather the boy up and be on his way. This wasn't ending in a funeral if he could help it.

HOSPITAL

[sweetlies]

[dancingmd]

When she gets the page to come to the emergency ward, she doesn't know what she'll find, but she certainly doesn't expect to find someone she cares about lying on the gurney and struggling to breathe. In a moment, she's by his side and she takes his hand.

"Hey, Ciel. Don't worry, I'm right here."

The nurse and EMT give her his information and vitals as they continue to push him towards one of the patient rooms. Asthma attack. Rare, in her era, but it's nothing she can't handle.

[sweetlies]

Ciel had turned onto his side and was coughing again when Beverly made her way over and took his hand, his good eye widening in surprise. He had known she would work here, as a doctor, but the odds of her finding him in this state...

And with his guardian close at hand. He would laugh if it wasn't so hard to get a full breath.

"S-sorry doctor."

[somakemelaugh]

For his part, he could do little but stand at the boy's bedside and wait. One hand stayed at the Earl's back, long nails lightly scratching up and down, soothing him. The people here knew what they were doing, he'd told himself, and one of the nurses had assured him that this wouldn't be fatal for the boy. But for the concerns welling in him, it did little to ease the tug in his chest.

He looked up, not surprised to see Beverly enter, and did manage a nod to acknowledge her. He looked back to Ciel again then, focus returning to the child, and stayed silent to let her work.

[dancingmd]

Beverly nods back at Undertaker, all animosity forgotten. Right now, he's simply another parental figure worried about their kid. Maybe other doctors would shoo him away, but as long as he doesn't interfere with her work, she's content to let him stay. She brushes Ciel's hair off his forehead and her voice is soft and soothing as she says, "Shhh, no, don't try to talk."

For a moment, she turns her attention to the nurse, telling them what she needs in a soft murmur. Something about a nebulizer. As soon as the nurse is off, Beverly turns back to Ciel and the Undertaker. "You're going to be okay, I promise. We have a special machine that will help you start breathing better and then we'll talk about a plan moving forward."

Her next question she directs towards Undertaker, so Ciel won't be tempted to talk too much. "How long has he been having these attacks? And do you know what sorts of things trigger them?"

AFTERMATH

[sweetlies]

[hititwithacrowbar]

When Jason arrived he had waited out in the waiting room of course, he was not a relative and really didn't have a way to explain who he was. He had never been the best with these kinds of thing. So, he waited, he didn't mind that much. He had his phone to keep him busy and flipping through the copy of the Outsiders he had bought for the boy.

Each time some one came through the doors he would look up from where he sat. He knew hospitals could take a long time, but it wasn't until he saw Undertaker coming through those doors he felt a bit of tension in his shoulders ease that he had not realized was there ease. Pushing himself up, he cleared his throat a bit, to bring attention to himself. "How is he doing?" He asked, curious and worried enough to cut past the pleasantries.

After talking to the other man a few minutes, and feeling more like this man and Nico must be some kind of relation or something alike in their respective worlds. He finally made his way back. He hated hospitals so much, but this was important. He stepped quietly into the space where he had been told he could find the young noblemen. The book in his hands still, and his leather jacket on unlike it had been at the store he offered a slight smile Ciel's way.

"Hey."

[sweetlies]

In that, they could agree, a mutual hatred of hospitals. Ciel was accustomed to his aunt coming to the manor to tend him or his mother when an asthmatic fit became too much for Vincent or Tanaka to handle with their normal methods.

Right then he'd prefer to be in his own home, or apartment, rather than a sterile smelling room. Wrapped in warm blankets, with tea and something sweet. Or warm milk and honey like his brother would sneak for him in the night so he'd sleep better.

"Jason." He managed a smile of his own, glad his hair was no longer sticking too his face, that he could breathe better again. "I apologize for worrying you."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Leslie or Alfred were the only doctors Jason ever let near him. Usually he'd dig the bullets out of his own skin and stitch himself up if he had a choice. Last time he had gone to a hospital it was because of Roy. Sitting at his former best friends beside praying he made it through the night. Ciel wasn't burned and on death's doorstep, but Jason still felt the same anxiety, he didn't know the kid well enough to go over and old his hand but he did offer a weak smile and finally making his way over sitting The Outsiders book down beside him.

"Don't apologize, Ciel." He spoke as he stood and crossed his arms, trying to not let the worry show but it did. "Your alright and that's all that matters. How do you feel?"

[sweetlies]

He could definitely see the worry and, for the moment, Jason has more of his attention that the book. It does get a glance though, and a little more of a smile. That was a gesture he hadn't been expecting. Gifts, he'd gotten some before. Usually Elizabeth insisting on getting him something for his birthday

"Better. Doctor Crusher took good care of me. I am tired though." He was always tired afterward.

[somakemelaugh]

One step was all he needed and there they were, in the middle of their apartment again. He hadn't been there to turn on the lights, but it wasn't necessary for him to navigate the room he knew so well by now and get them into their shared bedroom. Without a word, he crossed to Ciel's bed and settled the boy over it, placing him down on the sheets with a gentleness that wouldn't seem like something he could manage.

Once the boy was on the mattress and sheets and curled comfortably, he sat down on the edge of the bed himself and set about tucking Ciel in, a gesture that wasn't necessary but he felt it was needed anyway. "You've had quite a rough time of it this past day."

[sweetlies]

He was tired, admittedly, arms wrapped around Undertaker's neck as he took them back to the apartment. When he'd found Ciel in the bookstore, he's been coughing so much that he couldn't recognize or appreciate his ability to just teleport. Now, it was a little strange, being so far and so quickly.

The teen curled easily and comfortably when set on his bed, muscles relaxing instantly with the familiar comfort. It felt strange that this place was already comfortable compared to his own bed in England.

"I'm exhausted. I didn't think I'd have a fit." He watched Undertaker quietly, not quite ready to sleep but neither was he willing to get up. "I wasn't sure you would get Jason's message."

[somakemelaugh]

While Ciel made himself more comfortable, Undertaker sat silent, just watching, listening to his breathing for any signs of a relapse. He trusted the doctor's methods, but he needed to see it working for himself and see it continue to work before he would relax completely, even if it was better already. More than better.

"I happened to have my phone with me. Turns out when I receive some manner of message that he sent me, it makes a strange sound." One hand raised in a dismissive gesture. "You could have died, milord. This world has its ways and its advancements, but how long would it have taken that boy Jason to get you to someone who could help you breathe again?"

Here he was, chiding the Earl, when before he wouldn't have shown as much concern. When he caught himself in it, he turned away and looked toward his own bed, suddenly realizing his own need for rest.

[sweetlies]

It was much easier for him to breathe now, a few lingering wheezes still escaping him as he exhaled but nothing that was dangerous. He was sick though, it would likely linger until he was over whatever he'd caught. And he didn't want to face the idea that he'd put himself in this situation.

It was a little surprising still to see Undertaker's concern so plainly. Yes, he'd noticed the care. No one moved in with someone so suddenly unless they cared at least a bit.

"I know." The words came slowly, voice going a little softer. He could have died, and it brought to mind all of his warnings about his soul and keeping it safe. "It's part of why I asked him to contact you. I knew you'd be able to help."

He'd always been a comfort to him when he'd been smaller. Now that he was older and had learned just what Undertaker was capable of, that he was truly worried for him at times, he became even more of a welcome comfort.