Fantasy The Restart Rehab

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Nora

"I don't believe the bike story either, but she's safe here now with Everest. We can rest a little easier knowing that." Nora flashed a sweet smile up at Nora before looking back and waving at the others. "Dinner Sunday, text me if you guys need anything." With that she was out the door with Yuu, her fingers happily lacing together with his. As they made their way to the car she listened to him and kept glancing up at him. She completely understood his outrage, but just as she was about to respond she found herself being yanked back. "Honey you're good to drive, right?" The withdrawal symptoms would have happened by now right? Still, she watched him take the drivers seat and bit at her lip nervously.

As Yuu drove them back to his place the rain started and he seemed even irritated by the rain. His words made her heart swell happily and her frown slowly turned into a small hopeful smile. "We'll get you help. I love-" And then it happened. Nora was looking over at Yuu as he drove and the look of terror made her smile falter. However, the car struck something. Nora's body was lunged forward and smacked right into the dashboard and cracking open her head. By the time the car rolled over in the ditch Nora was out completely cold.

---

The accident was called in to 911 when an oncoming driver noticed the basically blown apart deer. They seen the tire tracks, and finally they seen the rolled over car. Two rigs showed up and ended up needing the jaws of life to cut the door off of the demolished car. They finally got to the pair before they were separated and transported them to the hospital. By the time they had reached the hospital they already had to resuscitate Nora once. She was losing blood, and she was losing it fast. They got her to surgery and managed to fix the pierced liver before they had to revive her again. The next focus was the brain swelling.

The Doctors said it was a miracle she survived. In the end they had to put her into a medically induced coma to reduce the swelling on her brain. The physical breaks and fractures would heal, now it was a waiting game to see if the swelling of her brain would decrease. Until then, Nora would lay in the ICU bed hooked up to wires and monitors, her face and body beat up, deeply bruised and broken.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Delphina

"You're going to get your job back, you're a brilliant. So Sunday we'll have a nice dinner. Bye guys!" Delphina waved back to everyone as they walked out the door together, Delphina quickly shrugging on her jacket as her eyes looked over Raven. He looked plain miserable, but she was so thankful he had agreed to call the doctor. "Thank you." The pink haired girl smiled sweetly up at Raven as she slid into the car, her eyes following him as he made his way back around the car. The coughing fit was obvious, she could see his body doubled up and it broke her heart. She didn't see the blood, not even on his dark jeans in the dark car.

His tune on the doctor seemed to have suddenly changed and that put her a little more at ease. He was admitting something was wrong, and that she wasn't crazy for worrying. "We'll get you fixed up no matter what. I'll be right here for you the whole way." Then Raven began to rub at his eyes relentlessly, even going as far as pulling off the road. He began to double over again and coughing up what seemed to be both lungs by the sounds of it! "Raven what is going on-" Delphina flipped on the light of the dark car and her eyes widened in horror at all the blood.

"We are going to the hospital." That wasn't a question. Delphina was out of the car and moving to the drivers seat to help Raven safely get into the passengers seat. There were no words she had to say she was so terrified, so she pressed her lips to his forehead and got them to the hospital in 3 minutes flat. Thank God they had been so close.

--

As soon as they got to the ER they took Raven from her and abandoned her in the waiting room. She sat in the chair and went between panicking and crying. Every time she asked for an update it was the same We're running some tests. The man was coughing up blood, how many sicknesses did that?

Delphina had held on to Raven's phone for him when he was taken back to the ER. So while she waited for any news, between panicking and crying, she was able to call her dad. She explained her being back needed to be kept on the down low for now but that Raven had found her abandoned on an island. Delphina explained that Raven was sick and she was going to stay with him and help him get better. He'd deposit the money in Raven's account and Delphina would visit or call when she was able to.

As soon as they got off the phone the doctor came out and had her follow him back into the ER. He brought her to the ER bed that Raven was laying in. As relieved as she was to see him it killed her to see him in that bed. "Hey handsome. How are you doing?" Slowly she pulled up a chair and sat next to him, her eyes swollen from crying and blood staining her clothes and cheek. Her hands reached out to his on the bed and laced her fingers together with his, terrified that if she hugged him like she wanted to that she'd break him. "Any news?"

 

[Colt Voltage]

Everest

While Everest was thankful that Marisol didn't kill him over the decoration he couldn't help but feel a heavy weight on his chest. The bike story was a load of garbage, Viola couldn't possibly think that they would believe that excuse. Everest wanted to interrogate Viola and get the real answer out of her but he refrained. Instead Everest played the games, chatted it up while he caught up with everyone. Eventually Marisol took Viola from the group and had a long talk with her, an almost unbearable nervousness taking over while they were gone. What had she been checking the time constantly?

"Sunday, got it. Drive safe you guys." Everest forced a small smile and waved goodbye to his friends. Once they were gone he ran to the kitchen to splash some cold water on his face. He had to snap out of this paranoia. He had made a decision, Viola wasn't going back to a man that hit her, not while Everest was alive. He wasn't a hero like Castor but he could still protect what was important to him, so as his light blue eyes landed on a vehicle recklessly pulling into a driveway Everest took a deep breath. "The fucking time." Everest rolled his eyes with a long sigh.

Quickly he dried off his face and turned to see Castor and Marisol on the couch. "Keep Viola in here. We have an unexpected guest, I'll ask him to leave. Call the police, he won't receptive to words." As much as Everest was a hopeful person he was also a realist. This man was dangerous and unpredictable, and in order to keep Viola and everyone alive and safe he had to stay alive. He moved to the hallway closet and retrieved the pistol from the safe, silently praying the guy would come to his senses. Not that he deserved a second chance for what he did to Viola, the thought alone boiled his blood and made him see red.

Suddenly outside there was yelling and screaming. "Christ." Everest moved to the door with the gun tucked into the back pocket of his pants. He slipped outside and shut the door tightly behind him, his blue eyes narrowing down the stairs at the psychotic man. "I don't know how things work in your world but the laws of this nation say you are not allowed to harass people on my property. You've done enough to her, now leave her alone." Everest crossed his arms over his chest and shot the man a stern glare. He stood at 6'6" and fairly strong, he wasn't going to be intimidated by a coward of a man.

 

[Sir Damien]

Castor

"I tried to stop him, but you know how determined he is." Castor couldn't help but chuckle at Marisol's reaction to the party and decorations. She took it all with good spirits and it made him reminisce about the first time they all had met. He was pretty sure if they did to her this in their last life she'd murder them. The thought made being at a party easier. A few months ago he would have gotten trashed at any event and was advised to avoid them during rehab. This was for the most important person to him and he couldn't miss it, plus being a serpent again seemed to wipe out the desire for any alcohol.

The night winded down and everyone was headed out. Marisol was exhausted and leaning on his shoulder, and Castor couldn't help but chuckling. It had been a long day since he brought her home, he couldn't blame her for being tired. "Would you mind if I take you out to PF Changs tomorrow then?" The dark haired man smiled gently down at her before pushing a strand of hair out of her face. Was he asking her out? Yes. They would be able to talk about whatever else they needed to, and Castor would be able to tell her about what happened in the water that day. "You also look exhausted, I think it's time you tucked in for the night girly. I should head back to the hotel." The 6'4" man stood to help Marisol stand, though he tensed up when he heard the shouting outside.

"Everest?" Dark brows furrowed as he watched the white hair man open the safe and retrieve a pistol. "Everest seriously, let me handle this-" The fucking idiot! Before Castor could even move to stop Everest he was out the door ordering them to call the cops. "Fucking shit. Marisol can you and Viola hide somewhere?" Quickly he pulled out his phone and dialed 911. Castor turned off all the lights in the apartment and moved to the window to watch Everest. After the phone call he'd go out and help restrain the guy until the police arrived. "Yes there's a deranged man screaming outside of our house, we need a police car sent over as soon as possible please."

 

[ZombieBaee]

Marisol

Everything was starting to wrap up for the evening and Marisol found her eyes falling shut every few moments as she got more and more comfortable in her spot on Castor's shoulder and the couch. She wasn't ready for him to leave again... even though she knew it would be happening soon. Now that she had her memories back she was even more conflicted than she had been before her first injury but despite her confusion it was growing painfully clear that she was grossly in love with this idiot. "Hmm?" She chuckled and opened her eyes as she felt him brush her yellow locks out of her face. "Would I mind? Psssh. Of course I would. But for PF Changs I think I can put up with you a little longer." She let out an honest smile at the end of her sarcasm before a blush crept across her face at his mention of tucking her into bed. She was about to mention he could stay if he wanted... but that was ruined when all hell began to break loose for what felt like the millionth time.

Castor helped Marisol to her feet and quickly she went from dreamland to wide awake. Why was someone yelling outside? Was it some idiot ex-husband of one of her clients who was mad? This had happened once before but the guy was drunk as a skunk and passed out in the ditch after about 3 minutes. "What's going on?" Suddenly Everest was charging past and getting into the hallway closet as he mentioned keeping Viola inside. That was when it all clicked for her. "Wait that's not Viola's fiance is it?! Everest! Hold on! You've never even shot that thing you idiot!" However he was already gone when she started yelling more. "Oh my fucking God. You give the guy a gun one time and he thinks hes fucking GI Joe."

Castor was already on the phone with the police when Marisol tapped him gently on the shoulder and whispered, "Tell them its for my place, drop my name so they send a friend of mine in the precinct and not one of her fiance's buddies." She then took the time to head down the hallway and knock on the closed bathroom door a few times.

"V? You okay girlie? What's going on? How about me and you go hang out in my room and watch a movie or something?"

 

[ZombieBaee]

Yuu

As soon as the car rolled over Yuu had been out cold, he remembered waking up for a moment as they were being pulled out of the car but the sight of everything made him spiral into a breakdown and he was sedated by the EMTs. While in his slumber he was met with his old self, not even the memories of his time in purgatory but his life before then. His life in the kitsune village, the fires and all the death and destruction. How terrible the humans were to their kind... But this time those memories didn't plummet him into terror like it had when he died the first time. No, this just made him realize how amazing his friends really were. They were all so different, personality and physically, and they still respected each other. And Nora... Nora was human and loved him, had loved him, despite his past.

Yuu wasn't sure how long he had been asleep but when he woke in his hospital bed he woke up with such a start that the nurse nearly called for help sedating him again. He was sore but a quick look at his body revealed that his injuries were mostly superficial, his left arm was in a cast and his nose felt broken but playing hockey made him pretty used to injuring himself. "Is the girl I was with okay?" The words came before any questions about his own situation and the nurse simply raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a sad smile after a few moments that made Yuu nearly rip out his IVs and go looking himself. Thankfully the woman finally spoke up though and kept him from acting like a psychopath.

"She's alive." Yuu waited for more and the woman seemed hesitant to continue, "Listen I really shouldn't tell you more anyways. You're listed as her emergency contact sure but you just had your own trauma kid. When the EMTs brought you in they told us about your panic attack and I would like to keep that from happening again. You might feel okay right now but you're on a lot of pain meds and getting worked up isn't going to help. Just because you're sitting up doesn't mean you're okay yet either."

Yuu stammered for a moment before clearing his throat and trying to sound calm, "I-okay yeah but if you don't tell me what's going on I can almost promise I will get more worked up than you think." He started holes through the nurse and she blinked a few times before sighing and giving in.

"The girl is alive, she lost a lot of blood and has a lot of external and internal injuries. But most of that will heal with time and she will be okay." The way the nurse paused made Yuu know there had to be something worse coming, "However she did have a brain bleed and was in some danger so she has been placed in a medially induced coma to try and heal." There it was. There was the scary thing. Yuu wasn't the brightest but Nora was so thankfully he wasn't too lost as he listened to the situation.

"W-Well okay. Uh two things. When can I go see her and can you call my friend Delphina?"

 

[EclipseRosee]

Viola

Viola felt like she couldn't breathe as she sat on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. How could she be so stupid to think that she could ever get out of this? Even if she got away for the night it would only last a week before her parents made her go back. That was the whole reason she was even with Jason. That stupid party! This was her way of fixing her reputation and getting a good job and here she was, AT ANOTHER PARTY AND RUINING IT. Sure it was terrible... but maybe once she got older she could leave him and still keep her status. Or maybe she needed to stop putting so much of her self worth on material things...

As Viola went through her mental breakdown she had no clue what had already started outside. How could she know he would get here so damn quickly?! The knock on the door of the bathroom pulled her quickly to her senses and she jumped up from the floor and wiped the tears from her face before throwing the door open. "No thank you Marisol, I actually really think I should go home, I mean its really okay-" Then the sound of Castor on the phone and the yelling outside hit her. "Wait, what is going on?"

Viola searched Marisol's face for an answer before pushing past her friend and heading down the hall and straight to the window in the living room overlooking the front yard. "Oh my god! What is he doing?!" Her eyes landed on Everest and she nearly fainted before turning on Castor and Marisol with wide eyes. "Who let him think this was a good idea?!" Despite asking the question, Viola didn't wait for an answer. Instead she grabbed a random coat from the coat rack and yanked it over her shoulders before running outside, ignoring any protests from her friends.

"S-Stop it!" Viola spoke weakly as he heart broke to Everests words. "Everest you should just go inside. I-I can go home. It'll be okay." As she spoke she hugged herself tightly and tried to put on a brave smile, at least until her fiance started laughing across the lawn.

"See, she LIKES it. At least she gets some form of attention from me. Plus mommy and daddy love me and the work I do for her campaign." He was looking at Everest at first but soon flicked his gaze over to Viola as he took a few steps forward, "Plus without me she would be working at Target so.... I think it's time to come home now love."

 

[KAYDEN]

Raven

"Not amazing, but I've been worse." Raven tried his best to put on a brave face but he knew he had to look like hell. Since he had gotten admitted he had been poked and prodded a million times it seemed. The first step had been getting him stable and setting him up with oxygen and IV fluids. His lungs were operating at a very minimized capacity and it was starting to affect his entire body to the point that the nurses were shocked he had been driving less than an hour ago. They had suspicions but nothing that Raven was willing to say out loud... not until he knew for sure. Before then it would just make Delphina panic.

"They have some concerns but there hasn't been any results yet. So for now I'm just going to focus on the fact that I am already feeling a lot better." The biggest possibility was that he had pneumonia so bad that it was causing him to go septic. They had drawn blood cultures on him but they took 24 hours. Of course the other option was cancer but... he refused to even go down that road. Of course being septic wasn't better at all... there was a strong possibility that could kill him as well but...

Raven shook his head side to side, pushing the negative ideas out of his head and sighing deeply as the oxygen moved slightly from him nose for a minute as he moved. "I would really rather just try and keep a positive outlook on this. I already feel stupid enough for waiting so long to come here.. I should have listened to you sooner."

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Delphina

It was clear that Raven was putting on a brave front. Whether he was doing it for her sake, his sake, or the both of their sake it didn't matter; Delphina would be as positive as he needed her to be. "You're here, they're going to take care of you and fix you up. Then when you get out we're going to find you some place where you can relax and get better. We can go anywhere in the world. And, bonus, I'll be by your side the entire time and see to it you make a full recovery." Though the situation looked grim she wasn't going to lose that small glimmer of hope she in her eye. That didn't help the worry the guilt that weighed heavily on her. Everyone was on the boat because she left, which meant that Raven getting sick was her fault.

"Huh?" Long lashes bat over her watering eyes as she looked down at Raven's buzzing phone in her pocket. "Hello?" The remaining color drained from her face as the caller spoke. It was the hospital, the very same hospital Raven was admitted to. Yuu and Nora had been in an accident and while they couldn't reveal the status of the duo the nurse urged for her to come to Yuu's room. "Y-Yeah of course, I'm actually in the hospital right now. I'll be there in a minute." Delphina hung up the phone and she let out a long sigh. "Well, Yuu and Nora are in the hospital too."

--

It had been three days since Raven, Yuu, and Nora were admitted into the hospital. Despite him being in the ICU with visiting hours no one asked Delphina to leave, so other than making trips for everything they needed she stayed the night on the hospital room couch. During the day she peeked in on Yuu and Nora, Nora actually admitted to the room across from Raven. Delphina made sure to stay in contact with Everest and the others but, from the sounds of it, they had their plate full with Viola's ex.

"Here, some non hospital coffee should perk you up. I called the school and they said no worries they'll schedule your meeting for when you get out of the hospital." As she pulled up her chair next to Raven's bed she handed him the coffee, quietly yawning as she did. Most of the nights she would pretend to sleep but she'd just peek open her eyes to make sure Raven was still breathing. They still didn't have any answers, and although he claimed to feel better all she could do was blame herself for whatever was happening. Staying positive was harder as the days went by. Her hair was tied in a bun on the top of her head, had one of Raven's sweaters on, and a pair of black leggings.

"Oh, Nora's brain swelling went down. They took her off the meds to make her sleep and they're going to wake her up today. Yuu's pretty excited. Did the doctor come by yet?" Delphina glanced up at him with a small hopeful smile. Maybe good news that he's better and she'd get to take him home?

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Nora

When they did the scan on her head the only intended to see how swollen her brain was, the doctors didn't anticipate the swelling to be completely gone. They also didn't anticipate for her memory to be gone. She woke up in a panic almost as soon as they stopped the medicine, before they could have gotten Yuu to let him know. The doctors told her that her name was Nora, she was in the hospital and she had been in a car crash. None of that rang a bell. It was safe to say she couldn't remember her Yuu or her friends.

"Don't let anyone know that I can't remember them, I don't want to worry anyone." Nora pleaded with the nurse as she left the room before she let out a long sigh. Her arm and a few ribs were broken in the crash, she had surgical wounds from where they opened her up to stop the bleeding. On top of it all she had a wicked headache. There were memories flooding her head from three different lives and she couldn't grasp at any of them.

Nora scrolled through the phone that was in her purse and looked at all the pictures she had. Quickly she flipped between apps to learn about herself and life, trying desperately to remember anything. She was dating a guy named Yuu and she seemed to be text a few other people frequently. Raven, Marisol, Everest, Viola, Castor. She'd have to remember those names.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Everest

"I'm sorry Everest, we held him as long as we could. It's Monday and he posted bail. Call us if anything happens." And, with a click of the button, the Chief of police hung up on Everest. When the cops arrived they took Jason down to the station. His lawyer tried to get him out of jail but Everest called in a favor the Chief owed him. He was able to hold him over the weekend at least, hopefully it cleared the psycho's mind. Everest knew it wouldn't though, so inside he was preparing for the worst.

Everest insisted Viola stayed with him for the time being. He drove her back home to get a few things, offered to escort her anywhere she wanted, but other than that he made sure they were safe in the apartment. He knew he couldn't provide for her the way Jason could have, or give her the opportunities he could give, but Everest could show her that a man didn't treat women like that. Castor was doting to Marisol and Everest was doing everything he knew to make Viola comfortable. He even gave her his room and crashed on the couch.

With a heavy sigh Everest flicked his cigarette on the ground and stomped out the embers before making his way up the stairs and inside the apartment. With a deep breath he put on his most positive face and walked to the kitchen. "They're waking up Nora today, and Delphina is positive today is the day they find out what's up with Raven." He pulled out a few waters from the fridge and moved to the living room. As he crashed down on the couch he sat the bottles of water on the coffee table, grabbing one for himself and taking a long drink of it. Silently he tried to piece together the speech he was going to give on how Jason was out, he just didn't quite know how to word it.

 

[Sir Damien]

Castor

Yesterday was the day Castor put on his brave face and took Marisol on their first date to PF Changs. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He was actually terrified he would ruin it, but after a while he realized that nothing had changed. He still loved her more than anything and the date only confirmed that. Unfortunately Castor had to leave later tonight for work, so while they were on the date Castor presented her with a first class ticket to Texas, offered to take her with him. When he signed up for the team it was a multimillion dollar contract and he had yet to touch it for anything other than partying and booze, he barely made a dent in it. Anything he had was hers and that's what he offered her.

The rental car parked outside of the familiar detective agency, his luggage packed neatly in the back. He stood from the car and took a deep breath to try and summon his courage. Castor told Marisol to think it over for the night and now here he was standing outside, too afraid to go in and get her answer. What if she said no and they'd have to split apart again?

"Fuck it." Caution to the wind he ran up the stairs and walked inside the apartment without so much as a knock. "It's Castor, don't shoot." He was dressed in a pair of black jeans, a blue polo and sunglasses that rested on the top of his messy black hair. He had yet to tell her about the whole sea serpent business, there had been so much going on with the date, the psycho Jason, and the others being in the hospital. That and he was still working out the conversation in his head. Still, he knew she was smart and that she had her suspicions.

"Hey guys how are you? Is Marisol in?" Castor grabbed one of the bottles of water and took a long drink of it before letting out a long sigh. "Are you sure you guys don't want to come to Texas? I'll buy you guys a ticket. We can blow some money on such a huge house we'll never even see each other. Texas is a great place for people to start a new life."

 

[ZombieBaee]

Marisol

The ticket was a shock. So much of a shock that when Castor had given it to her, she went from being wildly outgoing their entire date to being too shy to say anything. It was sudden, Marisol was a outgoing and sudden person but this was SO SUDDEN. Honestly she was shocked they had gone on a date let alone him asking her to go with him. She wanted to, SHE REALLY wanted to. But the agency... and everything with Viola and the others. It felt so strange to leave them after they had done so much for her... After he dropped her off she had gone inside and laid in her bed for a long while staring at the ticket before finally getting the nerve up to go talk to Everest about it.

The talk was exactly what she needed. The push to just live her life... There was nothing that she couldn't do for her friends from the phone or a webchat. And it wasn't like they couldn't travel! Plus there had to be scumbag cheating husbands in Texas so the agency could expand! Franchise baby!

After that Marisol took the time to pack and clean her room up a bit, she packed a suitcase of clothes and another of her necessary things in addition to her bat Squishmallow and all of her makeup. Castor wasn't very clear about what "Come with me meant." so she didn't want to assume much but she also didn't want to be unprepared. At some point Viola had come in and they spent a while together while packing. Marisol let her know that she was more than welcome to take over her room and redecorate, just asked that her things were packed away in the closet until she fully knew what was going to happen. Viola seemed... strange... about the suggestion but honestly Marisol hoped she took it.

A while later Viola and Everest were downstairs alone and Marisol was getting dressed and ready to leave. Her hair got tossed into a bun and she yanked on a pair of black yoga pants with a loose black tank top and an oversized cardigan. Her two bags were already downstairs but she just needed to grab her purse and shoes now. Downstairs she heard the door open and close before Castors yelling and her face suddenly went bright red. Was this insane? She still wasn't even brave enough to tell him about her memories but she was packing up and heading to Texas on a plane A THING SHE HAD NEVER BEEN ON BEFORE AND THEY DIDN"T SOUND FUN.

"Ah fuck me." Marisol sighed and tossed her backpack of a purse across her shoulder before heading out of her room and out to the living room. She could hear the others speaking in the kitchen so she tossed her bag on the couch near the other luggage and made her way in. "Yeah guys, I mean I know Everest said he would handle business from here but we could just move the whole operation." As Marisol spoke she tossed a glance and small smile Castor's way, she hadn't explicity told him yet what her decision was but... she hoped he would catch on.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Yuu

The last few days were torture. The nurses kept bringing Yuu updates whenever there was any but that was about it. Thankfully Delphina came and checked in on him every so often, though he felt awful that she was here so much because Raven was fighting his own battle elsewhere in the hospital. It also didn't help that he was having flashbacks everytime he slept. For the most part, it seemed his memories had returned from his old lives. Which was great! It felt nice to connect some of the dots... but what was terrible was the nightmares. They would alternate between the memory of Nora in the car crash and the memory of his own death back in the kitsune village.

Today he was finally being discharged but before he was fully ready to leave one of the nurses let him know he could stick around a while after and see Nora. She was waking up! They made him promise to take it easy and to remember that she was waking up out of a coma after a traumatic event and he gladly obliged. He texted Delphina to let her know what was going on and updated the others as well. Though from what he had heard they all had their own shit going on...

After a little while Yuu changed from the hospital gown to his own clothes and was escorted up to Nora's room where he was once again warned before being allowed to enter. "I know, I know!" Yuu nodded and waited impatiently as the nurse knocked and slowly opened the door, allowing him to step in and take in a deep breath. It was all he could do to keep from jumping on her and hugging her until she asked him to stop. Just seeing her sitting up and breathing was enough for him... for now. He was so lost, scared.... he didn't know what he would have done with himself if she hadn't gotten out of this... it was his fault after all.

"Hey Nora. How you feeling? Ah shit that's a stupid question isn't it..."

 

[EclipseRosee]

Viola

Jason was arrested and honestly Viola felt like she could finally breathe again... she hadn't realized how long it had been since she felt relaxed. Even before he became physically abusive she had felt so anxious... knowing that he was behind bars somewhere was good. She wasn't naive, she knew it wouldn't be forever but she just hoped that during the time he was gone she could get her life in check without him. Her parents were furious at first when the news of his arrest hit the media but once Viola screamed at them over the phone to listen to her... they were at least human enough to feel slightly bad for putting their daughter into that situation. She was also able to get a moving company hired to go get some of her things from the house and take them to a storage unit that was in Marisol's name so it would likely never get traced back to her just in case. Everest and Marisol let Viola stay with them, Viola stayed in Everests room despite how bad she felt taking over his bed and making him sleep on the couch...

Viola felt good. The physical separation was now there and she was beginning to work on the emotional. She had no emotional attachment TO the man but she had social ones that affected her deeply. Viola wanted a job in government and this wouldn't look good if Jason was able to get a spin on the situation before her so she quickly worked on contacting the reporters that reached out to her. And all she did was be honest. Their relationship was one of mutual benefit for their careers and he was an abusive man and she was a crass woman. They could not mesh. Now all she could do was hope that it worked.

"Well that's good." Viola smiled up at Everest from where she sat at the coffee table and tried her hardest to read the look on his face. "He's out isn't he?" It wasn't hard to tell something was bothering Everest and it was monday which meant a judge could now pardon Jason and let him out without bail. "It's okay, I knew it would happen." Viola reached across the table to where Everest sat on the couch and took his hands. "Marisol said I could stay here and if you're still okay with that I fully intend to stay away from my old life. I would like to have a friend by my side when I do..." The door opened and Viola quickly sprang back from Everest to look over at Castor as he put his hands in the air. "Funny. Yes she was in her room. I think-" As Viola was speaking her yellow haired friend joined them and Viola rolled her eyes slightly. "Texas is NOT my idea of a fun time. Hot. Racist. Republican. Ugh."

 

[KAYDEN]

Raven

Raven wasn't ready to hear what was wrong with him, honestly at first he really did think it was just a really bad cold but as the days went on sitting in the hospital he was realizing how bad he must have been. He wasn't breathing properly, that much was apparent but the why was questionable. They had taken him for another plethora of tests the day prior and today was the day that the doctor would be coming in and speaking to him about what the next step should be. He was terrified of the possibilities but supposed it would be good to get some answers. Plus maybe he could go home... and Delphina could stop spending every waking hour at the hospital between him and Nora and Yuu.

"This is amazing. Thank you... I don't deserve your kindness." Raven smiled weakly over at Delphina as she handed him the coffee and moved her chair closer to him. He took a small sip and sighed at how good it was compared to the watered down shit that he was able to get in this place. She mentioned that Nora was waking up today and Raven nodded, "That's good then. I probably won't be able to see her... I wonder if I should send flowers to her room or something." As Raven hummed he shook his head to her question about the doctor but it might have been too soon since the knock came to the door and soon a man in a white coat was entering with a nurse and a file of what Raven had to assume was 100s of test results.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Raven fought to sit up straighter on the bed as the doctor sat on his stool and began talking. At first he asked if it was okay for Delphina to hear the information to which Raven simply nodded and reached over to take her hand with the free one that wasn't holding his coffee with white knuckles. He was nervous... so nervous that his already hard breathing was getting harder.

"Raven you're a man of academia like I am so I'm not going to beat around the bush with any of this. I think that is best here. You have stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer. It is treatable but it's not easy, especially when it's caught this late. You also have a mild case of pnemonia that has been made worse by the cancer but honestly you should be thankful for it because who knows how much longer it would have been before you decided to listen to your body and come in and see someone." The man continued to explain that he could be discharged tomorrow after they set up everything for his treatment plan and what they should do next but honestly Raven had gone numb and really hoped Delphina was still listening...

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Delphina

With a small smile Delphina took a long sip of her hot apple cider. "I can be your own personal secretary if you think I'm so good." She shot a playful wink at him before giving a small shrug. "Yuu I'm sure is smothering her with affection, I'll send some flowers later. Right now our priority is getting you better." The bags underneath Delphina's eyes were getting darker with each night of sleep she lost. The worry for her friends and the guilt that this was all her fault ate away at her.

When the doctor walked in her ocean blue eyes watched as Raven sat up, her soft hand gently holding onto his as he reached for her. The news revealed what no one wanted, but he gave them a small glimmer of hope by saying it was treatable. They'd go home tomorrow after they set up plans for his treatment, radiation and chemotherapy. Delphina did her best to pay attention but she wasn't Nora, she wasn't a doctor and didn't understand everything. All she could do is try to remember everything he said and do her research later.

After the doctor left the room there was a bit of a silence before she spoke up again. "It's treatable he said. I'll be by your side the whole time, okay? You're not alone in this." Delphina smiled reassuringly before squeezing his hand gently, her lips briefly pressing to his cheek. "We've got this." She fought back the tears and tried to remain on the positive. This was treatable.

--

Following Raven's discharge Delphina quickly found an adorable furnished three bed two bath rental home right around from the hospital, so she boxed up the things they needed from the boat and packed the car. They could go back when he was better if he wanted, but for now his health was the top priority. The rest of the week was filled with taking Raven to his twice a week appointments, googling ways to relieve the symptoms he had, doting on him and making sure he was taken care of. She also made sure to keep Yuu in the loop and kept tabs on how he and Nora were doing.

Raven said that he would wait for Delphina but they never really got to discuss much about their relationship after that. Now wasn't a really good time to discuss it with him being so sick, so Delphina had Raven take the master bedroom while she took the bedroom next door to his. Not that she spent much time sleeping, mostly googling ways to help Raven. The treatments were supposed to work, and while they were warned that things may seem worse before they got better she never expected him to be so sick.

Delphina busied herself making some tea, humming quietly as she tried to focus on remaining positive. She needed to be strong for Raven right now, and with his compromised immune system she had to make sure he stayed as healthy as possible. The house now had a dehumidifier that helped purify the air running all the time, she had a wide array of essential oils next to the wide array of medication Raven was on.

"Raven are you in the mood for some tea?" Delphina made her way into the living room with the two cups of tea. To be frank she had focused so much on Raven's health she seemed to have failed to notice her own illness taking over. The necklace she wore allowed her to appear human, no one mentioned that she would still need the ocean for her mermaid self to remain healthy. Her pretty tan skin had started to lose its color and she had far less energy than she normally did, her vibrant pink hair even started to turn dull.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Nora

When Yuu walked in the room her vision started to play tricks on her. She seen a sly smirking man with fox ears, though after blinking a few times she could see the real Yuu that was standing in the room. He felt familiar and she knew what he was to her so she gave him a small smile. "I'm fine, just a little fuzzy in the head. Doctor said everything should hopefully clear up soon." The doctors didn't know if her memory would return or not, she had severe head trauma that healed far sooner than they had expected. There was no telling what the future had in store for her. So Nora planned to fake it, go with the flow and hoped her memories would return.

"Doctor said that after a few days of monitoring and some PT and OT I should be able to go home. Wherever that is."

--

Three days later Nora was finally discharged and able to go home with Yuu. The few days she had been in the coma weakened her already frail body so she needed to make sure she kept up with the exercise while also not moving her arm that was in a sling. They also gave her memory games to do daily, though they were sure that something would spark her memories at some point. That didn't explain the confusing memories of mythical creatures that whipped around in her head. It also didn't help the nightmares she had of being locked in a trunk.

Before she left the hospital though she received a call from her instructor. Apparently she attended medical school over three thousand miles away, and after she and the doctor explained everything they put her on a temporary leave from the school. Once she was better she'd be able to come back, but with the missing memory it made medical school damn near impossible. So she went home with Yuu with the hopes something would spark her memory.

Nora was never someone to just sit and relax. She busied herself in the apartment cleaning, cooking, doing her memory games and exercises. After a few more days she even began to apply for a few local jobs, absolutely hating the fact that she was freeloading. Plus, Yuu seemed off. More anxious than she recalled, and he seemed distracted. Maybe she did something wrong? "These games aren't helping any." Nora leaned back into the couch as she pushed away the pack of memory cards with a small huff.

"We went to a hot springs before with the others before, right? Maybe going back would help." In reality none of her memories were missing, in fact all three of her lives were running rampant through her head. She couldn't tell which one was which anymore, all she knew was that she was incredibly grateful for Yuu's help and she owed him big time.

 

[Sir Damien]

Castor

Since it was Marisol's first plane ride he decided to make it a little special. Castor was the most sought after quarterback and signed with the biggest name in football, the company was happy to oblige to the request for their private plane. Being a celebrity had its perks and he was happy to use them to make Marisol more comfortable. So, nearly four hours later on the plane together in the plush chairs, they landed in Dallas. He lugged the bags through the parking lot, retrieved the sleek black Jeep Gladiator, and drove the pair of them to his home on the outskirts of the city on a quiet river. It was a gated home that led up a winding driveway to a private home that he rented, it had a pool and access to the river from the backyard and was surrounded by the woods.

The first day with alone with Marisol was slightly off. Castor was nervous, and they were both just acting like nothing had changed. She literally picked up her life and moved thousands of miles away from home, there was no way this was just some friendship. And he knew he wanted more too! So why did he stall? Castor finally swallowed his pride and laid it all out on the table for her; his feelings for her since he met her in their last life, and what happened in the ocean. There were no more secrets and it was a heavy weight lifted off of his shoulders.

Marisol reciprocated his feelings, and he suddenly asked her to be his girlfriend. What was his was hers, even gave her his card to start up her new agency and to get anything that would make her comfortable. The next day Castor had to return to the team for practice again. Thankfully the sea serpent powers he had made him even stronger. He literally ran laps around his teammates, all the coaches said he was going to be unstoppable. Everything was turning out for once.

Castor walked into the kitchen, planted a small kiss on Marisol's cheek, and grabbed an apple. "Morning. I've got the day off, are you busy? We could, uh, go on a date or something. There's that six flags amusement park, the aquarium, grab lunch, we could even go just walk around. Or borrow the jet again if you're feeling real adventurous." Castor sat on the marble island of the kitchen before taking a large bite of the apple.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Everest

Marisol moving across the country was bitter sweet, but she was expanding the business and living with Castor. It would be good for her, plus that gave him some time to focus on Viola. She was staying with him now in Marisol's old room and, honestly, Everest had never been happier. She was safe and that was all he had ever wanted for her, he had even installed security cameras, alarms on the windows, a security pin to enter the house, and motion detector lights on the outside of the building. Hell he was even looking at different homes, but for now he made sure this one was secure. Other than that living with Viola was a dream.

Living with Marisol for such a long time taught him how to be attentive to women, and Viola was the most special woman in his heart. Everyday he cooked for her, the OCD level cleaning was still maintained, and he even offered to help her get a job. Everest also assured her that no matter if she worked in politics or at Target she was worthy of love and a life where no one hurt her. For once everything was working out just fine. Well, save for the few threatening notes that looked like they were personally put into his mailbox. That was his reasoning for the cameras, but after they were installed the notes had stopped. He had even begun going to the shooting range to practice with the pistol. Since then everything seemed to be going over well.

Obviously everything was going too well. Like every morning Everest woke up to make breakfast. Usually by the time it was done Viola was joining him, but today was different. Viola didn't join him, and when he went to check on her she wasn't there. Over the course of the week she had seemed like she was over him, like she would never go back to him. Something must have changed, he must have threatened her or something and scared her into coming back.

Everest didn't have time to think. Viola had snuck out early in the morning or late last night, she was bound to be there by now. So Everest grabbed the gun, hopped into the car, and sped off towards Jason's home. Delphina was busy taking care of Raven, Yuu was busy helping Nora recuperate, and Castor and Marisol were in Texas. Everest was on his own, and the whole way there he felt his nerves eating away at the cool demeanor he usually had. The car went 100 mph the whole way and he was honestly surprised he didn't get pulled over, yet thankful he didn't.

Once he arrived at the large home he parked in the driveway, having no fear whatsoever. What was Jason going to do? Kill them? Call the cops? "Jason open up! I know she's in there, I need to see her and make sure she's okay." Everest banged loudly on the door. "I'm not leaving, and if I have to call a friend for a search warrant to search for your battered ex-girlfriend that can be arranged. Cops busting open your door won't look too good on the news, I can call in a reporter friend of mine too. Great headlines!" Everest was baiting him. Most people including Jason were smaller than Everest, he was sure he could physically restrain the man and search the house for Viola if need be.

 

[EclipseRosee]

Viola

.
For a whole week everything was bliss... Viola thought, she foolishly thought, that it was actually all over. That they would be able to move on and just leave Jason in the past and pretend he never existed. She had blocked his number and he had finally stopped getting new ones to contact her. That is until the day she woke up puking and noticed that she was nearly three full weeks late on her period. Viola wasn't religious but that day she prayed... just like the day she had been assaulted. She couldn't be pregnant! There was no way in hell that would happen. She was on birth control and despite it being assault, he wasn't stupid. No. NO. Viola took the test and nearly screamed when the positive result showed up. That was the day she made an appointment with her doctor to make sure. That was also the day her doctors office called back to the house phone and Jason got the voicemail. That was when Jason reappeared.

At first he was just trying to repoen communication but it wasn't long until she got the message from a unknown number that changed her mind. "If you don't come home, I WILL ruin Everest's reputation. He will never work in this town again. Or any if I have to go that far. Come. Home."

So Viola did. She waited until she was sure that Everest was asleep and called for a car to come get her. She hated this... she really did. She finally thought that maybe they could be happy. That maybe she could keep waking up to him finishing her breakfast, and hoping that soon her mental health would be in good enough shape that she could get out of bed and cook him a meal. She wanted to be able to be soft and caring without being scared. She was getting there! Finally! Then this...

When Viola got back to her house that morning she was instantly sent up to the bedroom that had been her prison while Jason went to work in his office. She didn't dare leave... she didn't dare do anything. She couldn't even cry. That is until the banging came to the door downstairs and her heart stopped. Quickly Viola jumped out of bed and pulled her plush robe over her shoulders before stepping out onto the second story balcony and peering over the edge.

"E-Everest! Stop it! What are you doing here?" Viola spoke in a harsh but hushed voice as she waved her hands at him to get him to stop making noise. "He will get you arrested just for being here! You know that right? You know how quickly he can do that?! He has GUNS in the house Everest! You should leave. Please. I don't want to see you get hurt. I-I have to be here okay? I'm really sorry that I was a burden for longer than I should have but really... I'll be okay here." It was hard to push the lies out of her mouth with a smile but who knows how much longer Jason would stay in his office with all the racket outside, hell he could already have security called for all she knew!

 

[ZombieBaee]

Marisol

Marisol, in any of her lives, was never well off. Her first she was a ratty unwanted orphan who lived with multiple other ratty unwanted orphans and thrived off of shady shit. This new life she was at least given her mother but still, they were poor and worked hard for what they had. Not that Castor didn't! But so much luxury felt so foreign, though she didn't dislike it. What she DID dislike was the awkwardness of the first day. Part of her thought she picked up and moved, that meant they were like... a couple right? But the other part felt like Castor wasn't there... like he wasn't getting it? She didn't want to assume but like... shouldn't it have been obvious?

Finally Castor made the jump and Marisol was thrilled. Neither of them were ever relationship people, sure Castor had been on dates with multiple of her sorority sister but she tried not to hold too much of a grudge since that was before their memories returned. Which thank GOD they both finally got that off their chest. Sometimes she really thought how similar the two of them were was scary. Neither could have a serious conversation to save their lives. But now that they did... everything felt so much better. So right. Marisol had just picked up her life and moved who knows how many miles across the country but she had never felt more where she belonged.

"I am not feeling adventurous. Fuck those things. I'm more of a water gal than a sky person anyways." Marisol turned away from the coffee maker for a moment to wink at Castor as he climbed up on the counter before turning back and finishing filling two mugs with the piping hot liquid. Once done she turned and handed him a cup before leaning onto the marble next to him and peering up through her glasses. "Careful its hot. Uh..." She paused while she thought about what he said. "I actually wanted to give the others a call today and check in. I feel terrible I'm not there to help any of them. The only mother hen still standing is Everest and your brother just HAS to be lost without me." She chuckled evilly at the thought of him struggling to handle the angry wives from the agency. "But aftttterrrr...." She set down the cup of coffee and sighed, pushing off the counter and sweeping her hand across the room in a dramatic motion.

"I want to go shopping and make this place more US than NFL star bachelor pad who never bothered to decorate?" Marisol stopped and turned back to Castor with a smirk before looping her arms around his neck and grinning. "I mean I know we've been dating for like 5 whole minutes but considering , for some stupid reason, I keep liking you even after dying and coming back to life... I think I can assume we're okay to buy new dishes."

 

[ZombieBaee]

Yuu

All of Yuu's time since they left the hospital went into the both of them making a full recovery. His nose was healing quickly, as was his arm, both he assumed to be attributed to his supernatural powers slowly returning. Nora's recovery on the other hand... seemed slow and strange to be honest. Yuu had made notice of her comment about "wherever home was" back in the hospital but at first just thought that was her being unsure if she was returning to school or staying with him for now. Which apparently meant she was going to stay with him, which he was thankful for, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Nora had been acting different, distraught and confused about things that she normally wouldn't have been confused about. Nora was the smartest person that Yuu knew, besides maybe Raven but still! He had made notice of little things like asking questions of her doctors and medical staff that he knew she should know due to her education. She would clean and ask where things went in the apartment that SHE organized when Yuu had first moved in. For a while he thought it must just be the shock of the accident but now it had been a full week.

"Hey Nora-" Yuu went to say something but stopped and stood silently when he heard her on the couch. "Wait-" He quickly made his way into the living room and plopped down besides her on the couch, looking over her face for a long moment before finally speaking. "Did you just say the hot springs? Like when we all went together? Like when we were all-" Dead. Yuu couldn't bring himself to say the words aloud but he knew Nora would know what he meant. "Nora are you remembering too? I-I know that weird man in black told us some of it back at Daphne's dads house but he didn't tell us any specifics. That time at the hot springs would only come back up if you could remember a lot more now."

 

[KAYDEN]

Raven

Delphina was too good for him, no, she was super woman in a mermaids tail. Raven crumbled all over again, his health physically and mentally was ruined. He quickly felt himself falling into the funk he had been in when she ran away but thankfully she was there to keep him a float or honestly he would have been dead by now. The week was both terrible and amazing, Delphina had gotten their lives in order in less time than it would have taken him by months and she doted on him like he was the only things that mattered. That was the amazing part. The terrible part was that his illness was quickly taking over ever aspect of his life when he finally was in a position to be happy. His body was being stolen from him and all he could do was TRY to make the treatments work.

Raven was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper when Delphina came in with tea, causing him to look up at her with a small smile. She looked beautiful as always but even so, Raven had to admit that she too was starting to look tired like him. His illness was taking over his body, making him weak and shortening his life, soon his treatments would also physically weaken him, take his hair and ruin the way he ate and drank. His illness was completely running Delphinas life rampant and overworking her already because Raven struggled to do the every day things he needed to survive. It drove him mad!

Raven stood and took in a few deep breaths from the anger that was taking him over as he drown in his own inner monologue. It was like something clicked. He turned to Delphina and gently took the cups of tea from her before setting them on the side table and turning back, sliding his hands along her cheeks and cupping her jaw before pulling her in and pressing his lips against hers. Raven was done living like a coward. He likely didn’t have long left and he was going to use what time he had to fight to be happy. He was going to fight to get better. He wasn’t going to leave without doing what he wanted. He wasn’t going to play the polite way and always be the one who gives up to ensure no one is uncomfortable. He had fucked up back when he and Delphina fought. He lost all that time with her and now here he was making her miserable again. If he was going to have to leave her, he would make sure she was happy until then.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Delphina

At first when Raven stood to take a deep breaths she felt worried, like something was wrong with him. When he took the tea she blinked a few times curiously, her blue eyes looking up at him as he moved to take her face in his hands. Instantly her face lit up. Delphina had never loved anyone, she dated Yuu for a minute but the love she felt for him was more of the best friend type. Raven had been love at first sight, she knew that she never wanted to leave his side. When their lips met she felt that spark the fairy tale stories talked about, she felt her heart and the world around her melt away.

After savoring their kiss for a long moment she pulled away with bright red cheeks. "How about we get out of the house for a few hours? A change of scenery and some fresh air may do you some good. Think of it like a first date?" Manicured hands snaked around his neck slowly to pull him closer to her, her pretty lips turned up into a small grin. Delphina was over the moon happy.

--

Four months. Delphina had hoped and prayed to whoever would hear her to make Raven better for four months. She even offered God to trade places with him. The world just wasn't fair! The doctor's kept giving them false hope, they kept saying that the treatment would work. But it wasn't, and it didn't. Every time they took an image of Raven's chest to see the tumor it always ended up worse. Either the tumor was bigger or they found another one. Three months in they found that the cancer spread, and at that point there was nothing more they could do. They put Raven on hospice, sent Raven home with Delphina. They told her to make him comfortable, and a nurse would stop by twice a week to see how he was doing.

That's how the pair spent the last four weeks. Delphina did everything in her power to make sure he was comfortable and as happy as he could be, and it helped her forget the shattering world of hers and the crumbled heart in her chest. It also helped her forget her own deteriorating health. Delphina knew what it was and she wasn't willing to leave Raven again just to heal herself. Delphina was dying being apart from the sea, showers and baths helped stave off her own death but she knew it was coming soon. She just had to hold out so she could be there with Raven.

Before Raven got too ill, when they both knew deep down that he wouldn't be getting better despite their wishes and her prayers, the pair eloped to Vegas. In a week she was able to put together the perfect wedding, though any wedding with Raven would have been her dream wedding. They went to a chapel, got a video and pictures and everything they would have at a real wedding. Their friends were even there, though it was over a Zoom call since they couldn't make it.

Delphina walked from the kitchen to the bedroom with the herbal tea she had made. Her now pale pink hair was tied in a tight bun on the top of her head, she was dressed in a long sleeved shirt and sweats to keep her freezing failing body warm. "Raven are you feeling up for some tea with your medicine?" The hospice nurse said it would be any day now, that the medicine was just to make him pain-free and comfortable. Even going to the kitchen to make tea or to make him food that he was able to eat made her anxious, she was always afraid she'd find him gone. Gently she sat the tea down on his nightstand before crawling into the plush bed next to him.