There was some random beeping noise to the left, a whirr of voices outside the room and a pain in her right arm. When Miss Hawthorne Pierce opened her eyes the world came in a blur then very slowly slid into focus. Violet eyes slowly looked up to a woman at her bedside who met those eyes with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Pierce."

There was a name embroidered on the white coat. LaBlanche. Hawthorne looked back up to the woman's grey eyes.

"How long have I been ...?"

"Out?" Hawthorne nodded, it hurt but then again so did talking. The woman sighed and shifted her wieght as she thought about it. "I'd say a couple days Ms. Pierce. Do you remember anything? I realize you probably aren't ready for questioning, but the police came yesterday asking to talk to you."

Hawthorne watched her for a long time and shook her head. Liar. She knew perfectly well what happened, would it be difficult to explain though? Yeah ...

The woman nodded and placed a small cup of pills on the beside table, "When your ready ... theres a glass of water right there." She pointed to the glass beside the pills and took her clip board.

"I'll return about two thirty ... theres a button right beside you you can push if you need something."

Giving Hawthorne another smile the woman left.

Charlie hated hospitals too, both of him. After all George had died in a hospital from an unproven polio vacinne and Charles had been in and out of mental hospitals for a number of years. Very few things could compel him to go to a hospital for anything. Jenkins was one of those few things though.

Mr. Jenkins was Charlie's employer, and somethng of a friend. He had called Charlie at the antique shop to let him know he'd been admitted after a car accident. When Charlie had gotten off the phone with the old man he'd decided he'd better look into it.

Of coarse what Charlie didn't know was that right now Mr. J was being discharged. The nurse that had given Charlie a room number missed that memo as well. This little discrepancy resulted in Charlie checking out an empty and seemingly unoccupied room. He assumed the nurse was an idiot and checked the room to the left, also vacant. Then he checked the room on the right, it was occupied, but it was hard to see by just who in the dim light. The blinds were drawn and the lights were out.

He stepped into the room and spoke softly, "Jenkins?"

Hawthorne had closed her eyes when the nurse left, leaning back into the pillow missing the sleep that had been stripped away.

"Jenkins?"

She turned her head to look at the man. "Sorry no Jenkins here." In the dim lighting she couldn't see his face. It made her nervous, afterall she had just been attacked by a male something or other. Her body hurt as the muscles tensed. The button was right there, if he tried anything it was just an arms reach away ... yeah. Thats what she had thought about her gun.

She sat up straining to see him, "If it's not too much to ask would you get the blinds please? It's really dark in here."

"Sure." he said quietly. He crossed the room with easy strides and opened the blinds.

In the increased light it would likely be easier to see the tall but wiry man. He seemed fit but wasn't an impressive physical specimen really. Glasses, chestnut hair, grey eyes....He looked rather ordinary and average. He wore a pair of pressed khakis, and an ironed blue button down, with a pair of steel toed work oxfords. Even his clothing was unremarkable, except for the fact he wore a pocket watch.

He moved back away fom the window. "Sorry to disturb you." he said in what some would call a library voice.

He looked great compared to her. She looked pale, violet eyes standing out against her skin. There was bruises, small wounds decorated her skin and Lord knows what her hair looked like. Hawthorne flinched as he opened the blinds, then opened them slowly letting them adjust to the light.

"Thanks." She shook her head as he spoke, it made her neck hurt so she stopped. "No, it's alright ... company might do me some good." He kind of reminded her of a Norman Bates type, but hey, couldn't judge people on looks. She smiled and it seemed her physical condition didn't affect it at all.

"I hate hospitals." he remarked casually, "But I did come all the way over here to visit. They seem to have lost my friend though. I'm hoping he wasn't hurt very badly in his car accident." he said looking around the room and trying not to look too intently at her injuries. To do so would be rude. If Charles were present no doubt he would stare, but he was somewhere else, and not concious in the body right now. George was used to it, he seemed more normal even if he was a tad antiquated in his ideas. Most of the time Charles didn't even really object to George's presence anymore.

He slouched against the wall and crossed his arms over his stomach. "What are you doing here all alone anyway?" he asked, she was pretty enough, it seemed to him there ought to be a boyfriend or an over-protective father around.

"The nurse left a few minutes ago ... and I'm guessing my brother hasn't heard about it yet." She didn't seem too upset about being left alone. Sighing she looked out the window, there were still police to talk to, a brother to calm down after he would learn about what had happened and a whole cup full of pills with her name on it.

He was polite enough not to stare, Hawthorne was grateful, she knew she looked bad. "My name's Hawthorne." No need for a last name, at the moment she didn't feel too trusting.

(short >.<)

"Heard about it? Aren't they supposed to contact your family for you....sorry. I'm Charlie." he said.

He could hear announcements coming over the PA system in the hallway, while doctors got paged and a group of techs ran down the hallway with a crash cart. It was very loud. He walked over and shut the door to drown at least the chaotic babble from the corridor out. It still left the various noises in the room though.

"I never had understood how people were supposed to get better in hospitals. I think the circus is more restful, including the clowns who get shot out of cannons." he said with a half smirk.

Hawthorne shrugged. "Vincent isn't home alot, I wouldn't be surprised if they left a message and he hasn't gotten it yet." Vincent was such a devious son of a bitch if he had got a message chances were good he deleted it. Some big brother.

She watched Charlie move across the room to get the door and shifted uneasily. That made her nervous. Those violet eyes watched him carefully.

"This is probably my second time in a hospital, it would be more comfortable at home I guess." She smiled at the smirk on his face. "I've never been to the circus."

"Well I may be overrating the circus too, I haven't been since I was a very small boy." He said his smirk waned to a simple smile.

He walked to foot of her bed and read over her chart. He had a degree of familiarity with medical terms, he had spent a long time "Haunting" hospitals so to speak. One can learn a lot while disembodied.

"It looks like they're only keeping you here till someone signs you out, and you talk to the police." he said looking it over. He thumbed through the doctor's instructions. "The doctor has instructions for whoever takes you home to care for you, and some prescriptions. Hopefully your brother will come soon." he told her.

Hawthorne sighed as he spoke, taking the cup of water in one hand and the cup with the pills in the other. The pills went first, there were no sugar pills, all bitter, large and rather disturbing to her body. It took her a few swallows not to throw up. She chased the taste down with the water and leaned back into the pillow.

"Hopefully." Vincent should come soon ... maybe. Hawthorne didn't want to ask someone like Charlie to sign her out and take care of all the perscriptions and police work. Not only did she not know him that well, but it was rude.

***

Vincent had come into the hospital at least an hour ago, he had expected that a woman in the nurses station would submit to bribery when she had stated that the docter wasn't allowing visitors in for Ms. Peirce at the moment. He found a way however after several minutes of arguing as he usually did.

He strode down the hallway, glancing at room numbers and peeking in windows. The resemblance to his sister was uncanny, with his auburn hair and violet eyes, very feminine had it been someone else but he made it look utterly masculine. He wore a white shirt and jeans, which was odd compared to his usual suit and tie.

Vincent peeked into a window and stopped suddenly. Finally. He knocked on the door softly before pushing it open.

"Hello."

He looked from his sister to the man at the foot of the bed. Those violet eyes narrowed slightly. There was something off about him, couldn't put his finger on it but Vincent could sure enough feel it.

"Vincent, this is Charlie ... Charlie this is my brother."

"How do you do. We were just talking about you." Charlie said extending his hand to shake. He was relieved to see that her brother had shown up. He believed she had been apprehensive about wether he would or not.

The resemblance was marked, though there was something slightly different about her brother, something the ghost found somehow familiar.

He waited quietly so that she could fill her brother in and he set her chart back on the hook when he finished reading it.

Vincent took the man's hand, in any other situation he would have decided otherwise, but he was curious and with his abilties he could explore perhaps a little further. There was definetly something different, it rode on the skin of the man so named "Charlie" and prickled over Vincent's. Ah. Vincent smiled.

"Really?" He turned and looked to his sister.


***

Hawthorne smiled as Vincent came and sat on the side of the small bed. "Charlie was keeping me company ... he said that someone needed to sign me out and take me home. Would you mind?" She paused as he glanced at her wounds, where the fingernails had bit into her skin, where the bruises turned her skin a light purple or green and finally looking down he saw the small splints on her fingers.

"What happened?"

Hawthorne was silent for a few moments, violet eyes looking up to Charlie then to her brother. Gently she placed a hand on his arm and smiled. "I tell you later." She didn't like the look she had recieved as a response but he nodded and let it go.

"Well I'll go and sign you out."

***

Vincent looked over to Charlie as he stood and a shiver of power rode the air. It was a warning if anything, whatever it was inside that shell of a man hadn't done anything so far but Vincent wanted to be safe rather than sorry. He left closing the door behind him leaving Hawthorne and Charlie alone.

Charlie watched Vincent leave and waited a few minutes before speaking.

"You must have a very interesting family." Charlie said softly. He tingled with exploratory resonances. He wasn't sure what they were just that the tingles had no harmful intent. It felt nothing like when Jenkins used magic. It felt familiar in a different way. He shrugged.

"So whatever happened was pretty bad eh?" he asked quietly. He had theories, but he wouldn't push. She was a complete stranger the last tiem he had meddled in the lives of strangers it had ended in total disaster.

"Well hopefully your brother wil help you get things all sorted out. I'm sorry not to have met you under more pleasant circumstances." he said.

Hawthorne gave a crooked smile. "Yeah. I guess thats one way of describing my family." She shook her head, "I'm sorry about him, what happened was pretty bad and I suppose he was afraid of you. He wouldn't use his power to threaten usually." Those violet eyes looked up at him, Vincent wouldn't have released magic if Charlie was completely mortal, it was safe to tell a little.

If Charlie had guessed rape he was right, though it wasn't exactly the thing you go around telling strangers about. He got brownie points for not pushing. "I was walking through Redway when it happened, some kid was in the middle of the path that I was walking and when I started to go around him he attacked me." Hawthorne sighed and shook her head. "Turned out he wasn't a kid after all."

She nodded. "Yep ... Vincent's good with paper work and police, that will be less that I'll have to worry about." Gently she pushed back some auburn strands back into place. "Maybe when this all is finished we'll see each other again." Yes. That would be nice.

(sorry it took me so long, I was hoping to finish up the other rp before I had a chance to reply ... but it's not going as fast as I thought it would go.)

(OOC-worry not my life is chaos at the moment anyhow ((when isn't it?))

Charlie gave a tight lipped frown at her short narrative. It wasn't so much the things that she said, but what she didn't say that amde him suspect what had happened to her. You don't spend as much time in mental wards as Charlie without learning to read between the lines when people talk about traumatic experiences.

"It's good he'll be able to help you talk to the cops. It's understandable you don't really want to talk to them after a traumatic experience." he said.

As for Vincent, he didn't feel very threatened at all by him, but he would keep on his toes. "Sure, maybe you'll see me around. I'm a furniture mover. Never know where or when I'll be hauling around furniture." he said to her.

Hawthorne gave a nod in agreement. It certainly wouldn't be a pleasant experience trying to tell the police exactly what happened. Not only was she tired and ready to be in the comfort of her home but trying to avoid them along with charges against certain deeds was too much. Not including the small part that police took information on facts, not supersitions. If Hawthorne came before them claiming it was a vampire that attacked her she doubted they would take it lightly. Vincent was a born liar and accustomed to covering up situations in his corporation, best to let him handle something Hawthorne doubted she could.

"Maybe. I live in an apartment, theres people moving in and out all the time." The door opened announcing the entrance of a rather old and short nurse. So much for knocking.

"Ms. Peirce are you ready to go home?"

As much as she did Hawthorne hated for the meeting with Charlie to end. She extended her hand to him and smiled. "I hope we see each other again soon."

He took her hand and raised it to his lips. Charlie can be old fashioned at times. "Till we meet again." he said softly.

It might not be such a good idea to run into her again. She seemed nice enough. It might not do at all for her to get mixed up with Charlie. He did afterall belong to a demon. He smiled warmly. "I hope you get to feeling better soon." he told her. The nurse glowered at him and he took his leave of the room in search of Jenkins.

( OOC-it's short, crappy and I seem to have killed the thread. PM me if you'd like to do another. I am still able to get on at least every other day right now.....with any luck things will stay that way)