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Post by nikki on Sept 17, 2007 21:25:58 GMT -5
Waiting was torture. Carmen had already known this; she had learned that patience really was a virtue many times in her life, especially recently, but never had she been so eager not to wait as that day. She wasn't sure when they'd be allowed to see Riv; soon, hopefully.
For now, though, all she had for company was her mp3 player - which she had long since forgotten about and didn't even attempt to get back into listening to it at that moment - and the other occupants of the waiting room.
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Post by Envy on Sept 17, 2007 21:30:53 GMT -5
At length, Mal ceased his watching of Carmen and approached her casually, intent on making her listen. She knew nothing about Riven -- that is what he continued to tell himself, and he tried not to view her as what he had called her before; a whore. He doubted highly, however, that she'd pay attention to him if he merely walked up, so upon nearing her, he tapped her shoulder with his forefinger.
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Post by nikki on Sept 17, 2007 21:34:53 GMT -5
Jumping and twitching like her younger brother Zem from the contact, Carmen whirled around and almost tripped on her own feet. "What do you want?" she queried roughly; she had not yet forgiven Mal for hurting Riv like he had done so many times. They were countless in her mind, and she'd probably never forget that.
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Post by Envy on Sept 17, 2007 21:42:53 GMT -5
"To tell you what you don't know about Rivenborn." He squinted his eyes at her as if it were much to bright to see her. And, clearing his throat and dropping his arms limp at his sides, he began his tale of long ago. "A few years back, I left to go get something. My girlfriend had stayed at the house, and both he and Zen were there. When Zen went by to ask his something, you know what he found? My girlfriend was naked from the waist up straddling his waist, and he was kissing her neck. I was told he seduced her into his room, and soon after that she left the town all together. Do you want to end up like that?"
He exhaled then, trying to rid himself of the pent up anger that was raging in his veins.
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Post by nikki on Sept 17, 2007 21:51:56 GMT -5
Carmen stared at Mal; the one face who she thought she despised above almost all other ones, with the exceptions of some of the kids at school. She had winced horribly when he said 'naked from the waist up' and also 'kissing her neck' - perhaps Carmen was remembering the feel of Riv's lips against the skin on her neck from only a few short moments ago, though those moments felt like years.
"Fuck," she mumbled, letting out a string of other words that would have gotten her grounded for a week if her mother heard her use them. She wasn't sure why she believed Mal - but she did. There was something that screamed that he was telling the truth; something about his wording, about the story, about the anger in his face, in his eyes.
"Why didn't he ever tell me?" Carmen's brow furrowed in sudden fury as she aimed a kick in the wall that released zero percent of her anger and only added a pain in her toes to her already overwhelming discomfort. "Why the hell didn't he just tell me? The fact that he was hiding it only makes it more incriminating... damn... dammit... Riv..."
All of a sudden, she didn't feel so eager to see her boyfriend anymore. The knowledge of what Mal had just told her was like a seed of loathing... but loathing for what or who, she wasn't sure... because by that was the love for Riv that she had always had... right?
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Post by Envy on Sept 18, 2007 18:21:39 GMT -5
Taking her actions into account, he said, "I'm sorry he didn't confess what he was to you, and that such an act went on so long." However, Mal knew well it wasn't an act. You don't stab your brother as an act to keep your bed partner. Revenge, sadly, was the stronger emotion here. He wanted Riven to pay like he had. And he had gotten exactly what he wanted.
Stepping calmly into the none too friendly atmosphere, a nurse announced, "You are all allowed to see Rivenborn now, he has been moved to a room."
Neither brother said a word. Instead, they both looked at Carmen.
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Post by nikki on Sept 18, 2007 18:25:58 GMT -5
"What he is to me?" Carmen thought silently. "Which is... what, exactly?" Feeling more confused than ever, she bit her lip and met nobody's eyes.
"I suppose we should see him," Carmen muttered, almost inaudibly, after a tension-filled moment. "I have a bone to pick with him, in any case..." Her fury, bewilderment and most of all, broken heartedness had not quite gone away.
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Post by Envy on Sept 18, 2007 18:35:39 GMT -5
"This way," the nurse instructed, gliding back down the linoleums floors to the door that held the passage to Riven. Placing the papers in a plastic holder attached to the wall, she nodded and left. Mal and Zen had mainly come for the show.
Or, at least, the show of Riven being cussed out and exploded at. It'd hurt him more if it were by his own now ex-girlfriend. What a treat for the other two brothers. Yet, what a horrid fate for the disabled and already broken Riven.
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Post by nikki on Sept 18, 2007 18:39:30 GMT -5
Taking a deep breath that did nothing to fortify her weak soul or cease the fact that her hands her shaking, Carmen entered the hospital room, clutching her arms tight to her sides.
"Riv?" she inquired, her voice trembling a little, though she fought to keep it calm. She was planning on how to open fire, though she probably sounded just worried.
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Post by Envy on Sept 18, 2007 18:47:55 GMT -5
Opening his eyes -- which he had closed to block out the sight of the depressing room -- he glanced blearily around. "Carmen?" Vision clearing, he saw her stepping into the room and gave her a weak smile -- the best he could manage from the energy that had been drained from him.
However, the grin lasted only shortly. As he noticed how she was acting, he found agony clog his heart. "What's wrong, Carmen?" he queried softly, and never would he guess it was something from his past revealed to the ears of his love.
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Post by nikki on Sept 18, 2007 18:51:09 GMT -5
Carmen turned away, facing the wall for a few seconds to catch her breath; her breathing was a pant, coming out uneven and choppy as though she had just completed a marathon. But this was so much more stenous than any kind of athletic activity. Learning such a burden about a loved one is not easy, and never will become any easier in life's course. It is one of the rare subjects that you never grow used to.
"I had a most enlightening chat with Mal a moment ago," she began when she could breathe right. Looking right at him, she stabbed her ice blue eyes deep into his own. "He was telling me about a girl you both once knew."
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Post by Envy on Sept 18, 2007 18:58:43 GMT -5
He tried to keep his eyes from widening or even popping out of his skull. "Carmen, he doesn't know that full story, he only knows the part Zen told him." His words came out weak, fragile, just like the ice he was treading on mentally. The way her eyes held such a cold emotion for him stabbed into his heart, picking it apart.
No, he was thinking, This can't be happening. "Let me explain, please..." Riven nearly winced by how defeated he sounded in that sentence, how it seemed she was vanquishing him with her mere half knowledge.
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Post by nikki on Sept 18, 2007 19:03:35 GMT -5
"Explain what?!" Carmen burst out, her rage finally boiling and frothing so much that she lost it; she could feel her body heating up from sheer lividness as she glowered at him. "I don't know how you could make this situation sound any better for yourself, but then again, you always were good with words -" the past tense sounded so odd to her - "so maybe you can manage it somehow!"
It was all she could do to stop herself from throttling him in her rush to get an answer. Carmen often did things she sorely regretted when she was mad - but she quickly pushed that from her mind. Not now. For now, she was allowed to be angry.
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Post by Envy on Sept 18, 2007 19:12:16 GMT -5
Riven flinched visibly at her words, his heart throbbing in its miserable state that only seemed to deepen. "Carmen, I..." He didn't finish. She was set with her mind on how he had acted, always the poet in her eyes. And even the real story wouldn't do much to save him the rage of her words -- the other half of the story was still his fault. His. Riven, the odd one out. Had he deserved it?
By this point, he thought so. Bowing his head and inhaling to fill his empty lungs -- he had held his breath in as she exploded on him -- he tried to keep his mind on calming her. If only that were simple. "I'm sorry. I know it doesn't express much and it doesn't have the meaning I wish it did... but I'm sorry."
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Post by nikki on Sept 18, 2007 19:21:58 GMT -5
"You're sorry, is that all you can say?" Carmen's knuckles were beginning to turn white from how hard she was clutching them together, and her fingernails were making red marks in her palms. "Well, that's poetic," she spat out, the words drenched in sarcasm. "I see I was obviously wrong about you on many counts."
For a moment, the anger on her face was replaced by a shadow of extreme sorrow and she looked away again, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. But she was given away by the choked-up sound of her voice when she spoke.
"Dammit, Riv, why? Why did you have to do it?"
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