twisted -- OPEN

[Talia Winchell]

Tal was supposed to do a prank today. At seven-thirty AM sharp, she had planned to be down at the Ares cabin, massive cans full of a nasty-smelling kind of Febreeze in hand. Instead, she was still in bed. When was the last time she had deliberately missed a prank? To be honest, she had absolutely no idea. It had to be, like, third grade or something. Yes, instead of being out dousing the Ares cabin in musty, nasty, copious amounts of so-called air freshener, she was in bed, clutching her stomach and quite honestly trying not to throw up. Oh my Gods. She felt so horrible.

Her mom had always said she had an unnaturally strong immune system. Well, her dad was a god, what did she expect? She hadn't been sick since...Wow, she hadn't been sick since that thing in fourth grade. But now she was sick as a dog. Again. And she was missing a prank. Honestly, something had to be drastic for Talysus Giselle Winchell to miss a prank. Pranking was, quite honestly, her life.

She stared at the Hermes Cabin's graffitied walls, trying to collect herself. It's just a little thing, she told herself. You'll be over it soon. But that was false. She had been feeling a bit off for ages. And now it was in full swing. The overall pale green color of the cabin's walls made her want to throw up. Her stomach rolled unpleasantly. Her hair was a mousy mat on her pillow. She knew she had to get to the bathroom but she didn't want to get up. She didn't want to go anywhere.

Swallowing the feeling, Tal became aware of a pounding headache. Ugghhhh. She picked at the weirdish bruise on her arm, the one that she'd first noticed two days ago and not known where in Tartarus it had came from. It had become a source of stress-relieving for her sine then, picking it whenever she was nervous. If she was sick — she hadn't been sick for, like, almost a decade — something was definitely off here.

The walls made her want to throw up. The texture of her sheets itched. Her head and mind were clouded; her forehead was throbbing. Her tongue felt dry and weird. Her mouth tasted horrible, like she had swallowed a barf-flavored Tic Tac. Lovely comparison, no?

Wincing as she forced herself to sit up, Tal felt dizzy. Extremely dizzy. And then she realized — she wasn't in the cabin, she was in the infirmary already. Why?...Oh yeah. Something had happened to her ankle the other day while she was with Bailey. Dammit. This definitely ruled out pranking.

Well, maybe it was a little better? It had to be...It was probably just twisted. She tentatively prodded it then gasped. It was definitely not just twisted. It began to throb. Ohh, my gods. This was more than she could handle, as awful as she felt admitting it. Her stomach hurt. Her foot hurt. It was bandaged, and an ice pack was pressed to it, but it still hurt.

Shit. Obviously, she couldn't go anywhere. She felt so damn vulnerable.

[Winter O'Hara]

Winter bustled around the infirmary, busily attending to this camper who needed another ice-pack or that camper who wanted a drink of water. Good gods, there had been so many sick people lately! Most of the cases looked like flues, but there was also vomiting and fever, and a weird purple blotch that she didn’t recognize. Not being able to recognize a sickness made her feel rather odd, since as the daughter of the god of healing, she should know these kinds of things.

Still, it was nice to be busy – not that she was happy that so many people were sick – it just made her feel more useful when she could help. With a cheery smile to some campers her age who were looking thoroughly miserable, the ten-year-old blonde continued on her path through the building, tucking in loose blankets and patting sweaty hands.

A wider smile came to her face and added a sparkle to her eyes as Winter thought about what her stiff and starch aunt would say if she saw her niece now. Most people would never understand why the little girl loved helping out anyone feeling down, especially as she was usually very shy. Sometimes, when irritated victims snapped at her, she didn’t know herself. But for some reason she just kept coming back. Besides, it was something to do!
Passing by some more occupied beds, she noticed a camper who was actually sitting up and apparently trying to get up. "Wait, no!" Alarmed, Winter quickly made her way over to the girl and gently lowered the weak camper back onto the bed. "You can't get up until you're completely better or else it'll get worse," she explained confidingly. Sure, the text quoted directly from the sloppy handbook made up on the spot for people who wanted to help with the surge of sick campers, but she meant it and it was true, probably.
Suddenly she was acutely and painfully conscious of the fact that this was an older camper, maybe even a counselor, and someone she had never met before. "Um... y-yeah." Tucking a light strand of hair behind her ear, the small daughter of Apollo trailed off and finally ended with a professional but still stammering, "And d-do y-you n-need a-anything e-else?"


Words: 379
Muse: Good for a Thursday.
Notes: Hiya.

[Talia Winchell]

"Wait, no! You can't get up until you're completely better or it'll get worse!" A flash of blonde hair and Tal's head was back on her sweaty pillow again, her ankle throbbing unpleasantly — more than unpleasantly, really.

"Um... y-yeah. And d-do y-you n-need a-anything e-else?" the blonde healer asked, stuttering as she looked down at Tal.

Tal's cheeks were burning. A ten-year-old had just told her what she had to do. A ten-year-old was in charge of her right now. She had the flu, she had an injured ankle, and she was in the Infirmary. She felt incredibly self-conscious and stupid. "Uh—no. I don't need anything. But thanks," Tal said, trying to sound normal but instead using the high-pitched, croaky gross voice that people had when they were really sick. "Do you know what's wrong with my ankle?" she added, not actually daring to prod it again but simply gesturing to it. It was wrapped up, but that was really it. "Nobody's told me, and well, I kinda want to know. If you have any idea, of course." All the rambling was wearing her out, but she really did want to know.

Tal turned and flipped on her stomach, partly out of embarrassment. Shit. Her ankle hurt like hell, but she tried not to notice it. Instead, she stared at the graffiti on the walls. Daniel and Jana 4eva. Kennedy is a bitch. The Red Team rules. Casey was here. The norm. Nothing interesting, all from ages ago.

A coughing fit from someone across the room brought her back into reality. Her life totally sucked right now...

((OOC: Sorry, my muse stinks))

[Winter O'Hara]

"Uh—no. I don't need anything. But thanks," the girl croaked. Winter winced involuntarily at the hoarse voice which must be a result of a really sore throat, offering a sympathetic smile. "Do you know what's wrong with my ankle?" the girl added, gesturing to her ankle, which was wrapped in a generous amount of white hospital cloths. “Nobody's told me, and well, I kinda want to know. If you have any idea, of course."

“W-well,” Winter tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, not sure of what to say. “N-no one’s actually examined it y-yet; most of the official healers are working on figuring out what the sickness is. But I’d say it’s either a small break or a heavy sprain.”

“Neither one will keep in here for very long, I think.” Winter softly smiled again at the sick girl. “Does it hurt much? I can get something to stop the pain, if you like. That’s what the volunteer infirmary helpers are for.” Turning her face away to hide a blush – she hadn’t spoken so much for a long time – she smoothed out the sheets of the bed and adjusted the pillows behind the girl.

“I’m W-winter, b-by the way.”

Words: 203
Muse: R. I. P.
Notes: Sorry this took so long.

[Amber Craze James]

Amber was so, so, so very sick of the infermary.

She had been there so late the day before, and so early that day that she might as well have slept there. I mean, Gods, just slap a bandaid on there and GET. OUT. Why did people have to pe like that? They where all ''Ambeeerrr! You need to stop pacing!'' and ''get me water! Now!'' and ''Man, you suck at this, Amber!'' it was so horrible!

She walked along the corridor, looking at everyone and getting things they needed. She was about to sit down and take a break when she stooped, seeing her favorite little sis, Winter. She was the most adorable girl ever! The sweetest, too. But there was a girl sitting in the bed next to her, Tal, Amber thought. She didn't really know Talyus all that well, but she seemed nice enough. On closer examination, it appeared that she had a broken leg.

''Hey, Winter!'' Amber said, ruffling the little girls hair. Without a pause, she pressed on. ''I can take a look at that leg for you, put a cast on it?'' the older, blonde Apollo kid asked. She liked putting casts on. Well, more so liked it more then, say, taking blood. Not that she was squeamish, but one little slip and blood is spewing everywhere. She had actually seen that happen this week.

Amber wasn't the best girl to heal, she was more the singer type. But she did have a knack for healing, just as all Apollo kids. I mean, she wasn't that strange. You know, maybe. Okay, so not really. Her abnormal traits cancelled out her normal ones, by far. But you know what they say: 'for there to be a normal, 75% of the population would have to be exactly the same, therefore everyone is weird.' Okay... so maybe Amber's the only one who says that... but it's true! And even according to that law Amber's strange.

[Talia Winchell]

“W-well, n-no one’s actually examined it y-yet; most of the official healers are working on figuring out what the sickness is. But I’d say it’s either a small break or a heavy sprain.”

A small break or a heavy sprain. For a child of Hermes who spends their life either high (on candy, of course), running, or hiding from prank victims, this is one of the worst injuries possible. It ruled out basically...everything you lived for. The words bounced around in Tal's brain as she tried to make sense of them. A break or a sprain. No, that couldn't be right...it just couldn't. "I'm uh...probably fine," she said in her post-hacking-cough voice that basically screamed out I'm freaking about to die, probably, look at me! "I doubt it's that bad." She was only fooling herself.

“Neither one will keep in here for very long, I think. Does it hurt much? I can get something to stop the pain, if you like. That’s what the volunteer infirmary helpers are for.”

It actually did really hurt, but Tal wasn't about to admit it or anything. "Um, no thanks. It's fine," she said, trying not to stare at the color of the walls that was making her stomach roll. She hadn't felt this shitty since, like...ever.

“I’m W-winter, b-by the way.”

"Well, hey Winter," Tal said, cracking a half-smile. "I'm Tal." She felt totally ridiculous and she knew she sounded like someone who was dying in the hospital or something. "So uh...how long have you been helping at the infirmary for?" It was a stupid question and she knew it, but she was pretty brain-dead, in her defense.

''Hey, Winter!" Another girl had come over and patted the small healer-in-training on the head. Tal knew her name — Amber — and basically knew her only as Bailey's girlfriend's friend. "I can take a look at that leg for you, put a cast on it?''

She was sick of just denying everything. "Uh, sure?" she half-asked, half-stuttered.

[Winter O'Hara]

“Well, hey Winter,” the girl said, cracking a half-smile. “I’m Tal. So uh… how long have you been helping at the infirmary for?”

“Oh, just a couple of months,” Winter said shyly. “It’s been r-really fun, though. And I g-get training for being a full helper while I w-work, which is g-good.” Suddenly, out of nowhere, one of Winter’s sisters popped up--Amber--and greeted them, ruffling the little half-blood’s blond head of wispy hair.

“Hey, Winter!” Timidly, Winter returned the smile and cautiously, inconspicuously moved back a couple of steps. It was usually best to keep one’s distance with Amber with the other, energetic child of Apollo, Winter never knew what to expect next. “I can take a look at that leg for you, put a cast on it?”

That poor counselor looked worn out, maybe because of the leg, maybe because of something else. At any rate, Winter felt glad that her sister was offering to see to it. Throughout the short conversation, she’d been semi-conscious of considerable pain behind the other girl’s words, and if that leg was hurting as much as she thought it was, then getting a “real” healer to attend to it would definitely be a good thing.

“Uh, sure?” Immediately, Winter gave a relieved smile, releasing her unconsciously bated breath. Sometimes people could be so unreasonable about getting healed; they must think it was bad to admit that they were hurting or something silly like that. “S-so, I’m g-going to get you some c-cough drops,” the little girl informed Tal firmly.

Every instinct inside Winter’s head had been urging the little demigod to get her temporary patient something for the terrible voice, and when Amber came over, Winter felt free to get them. “I’ll b-be back in j-just a minute,” she added with an encouraging smile.

Words: 303
Muse: Crap.
Notes: *dies*

[Amber Craze James]

As Winter yold Tal she was getting her some cough drops, Amber smiled, approving. ''There in the cabinet two doors back, we ran out of the ones in the other cabinet.'' Amber said. Then she set to work, getting Tal her colors. She went up to a cart, picking out rolls of bandages, all different colors. ''We've got purple, blue, red, white, black--,'' Amber was cut off by her own clumsiness. She slipped on her shoelace that she had no idea was untied, and crashed into the cart behind her.

Amber sat there, on the ground, and let loose a very colorful swear word that she was very thankful Winter didn't hear. ''I just organized that rack!'' She exclaimed, picking verious bottles of medecine off her, and picking pills that had spilled open out of her hair. She had a serious pain in her arm, but she was angrier about the cart. Two hours organizing that one alone, just to be gone in a clumsy step. Trying to control her anger so that no more sickies woke up, she just tied her shoe, taking deep breaths.

She stood up once more, ignoring the rack and turned to Tal. ''So what color did you want?'' Amber's key was to trying to ignore what was bothering her, and right now, it was working. After Tal answered, Amber turned right around and set another minor healer on cleaning up.

She had cleaned that cart once, she was NOT going to do it again.