Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Eela’s Apartment- Processing (TMODJ)

Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in Eela’s Apartment- Processing (TMODJ)

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Eela’s Apartment- Processing (TMODJ)
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Early the next morning…

Karilan awoke at 0500 out of habit, and was momentarily disoriented until her conscious mind remembered where she was. She looked at Eela and smiled, brushed a strand of hair from her face, and then slid out of bed. She moved down the hall, got dressed, and then they went to the kitchen and made coffee. Once brewed, they checked the clock and walked into Eela’s bedroom. They set the coffee on the bedside table and then sat down on the edge of the bed next to Eela. “Eela… darling it is time to wake up. Go slow… but I made coffee.”

Karilan

A voice floated over her mind drawing her closer to… something. Eela blinked her eyes open and saw no one there but she instantly felt Karilan’s presence and turned her head. She smiled through her groggy haze. “I hope you did say coffee. I could use a lot of coffee today.”

In a motion she had perfected since the recovery from her accident, Eela planted her hands firmly on the bed and pushed herself slowly upwards, carefully not to bend her back. Thank goodness for her continued physical training! She pulled her knees up underneath her and then sat up carefully, letting her head equalize as it found itself upright. She blew out a breath with a grunt of pain and turned herself into a sitting position. “There are slightly easier way to get up, but it usually involves some sort of carefully roll out of bed,” she said with a smirk as she settled the other pillow behind her back.

“How did you sleep?” Eela asked, reaching for the coffee and taking a grateful sip.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

“Not bad, surprisingly.” Karilan said. “A little disoriented when I woke up, so I suppose I was really asleep.” and they smiled. “How about you? Did you sleep alright?”

Karilan

She gave a small nod, despite the aches in her body she was feeling now. “This particular muscle relaxant at the higher dose knocks me out pretty fully, but it does leave me a little groggy. It’ll wear off soon though.” Eela took another sip of her coffee and then set the mug down and reached for the cane that was hanging on a hook between her bedside table and the bed. “I think I’m going to need some help getting up though.” Normally, it would be just her and she had ways of coping when she was having a bad pain day, but Karilan was here and she was strangely okay asking for the help. Normally she’d be fighting to assert her independence again after yesterday, but for a lot of reasons she could dissect later Eela wasn’t playing that game today.

Pulling the covers aside and planting the cane firmly on the floor, Eela pivoted her body and rested her feet on the floor. She held out a hand to Karilan.

Karilan took her hand and put the other one on her elbow. “Go slow. No rush.” and they held her gently but firmly as she rose.

With Karilan’s help, Eela stood and blew out a breath. She was in pain but it was different than her usual back pain. “Oh, I’m glad Jal’na is coming this morning. Normally I’d take something when it’s this bad, but I know it’s aches from the tension of perceived pain. It might feel different after physio. Jal’na will tell me if she thinks it’s a good idea or not.” Eela closed her eyes and breathed deeply, just standing there with Karilan’s support. “Once I get moving, I’ll be okay,” she said opening her eyes. As much as she cared about Dash, she really wished she wasn’t feeling his experience still. Caridee better be right about this going away after today, but she chided herself for the thought knowing her daughter had made no absolutes in a situation that was rather unprecedented.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

“Well, she should be in just a little bit.” Karilan said with a glance at the chronometer. “Let’s get you to the bathroom and then we’ll see about changing clothes for you. Do you want to go to the couch and wait after?” they asked.

Karilan

“Yeah, the couches in the living room are easier for me to get up from than the sitting area off the kitchen. I can have my coffee there and deal with comm stuff.” There was something humbling about needing this level of help, but the months after the accident were even more intensive than this. Still, for someone as fiercely independent as she was, Eela was letting Karilan help more than she might outside of her health care team. It was like there was the mental divide between medical help and the help others gave her. One had felt necessary and the other often felt intrusive. But not now. Maybe it was the Kuskaaritz or maybe it was grieving Dash, but she offered no resistance as Karilan guided her to the bathroom. She told them where she kept her workout gear in her walk-in closet and even let them help her dress into the tank and shorts. It was a deeply intimate thing to do, but also necessary under the circumstances. She did worry all this would shift something in perhaps more a negative way but she brushed that thought away. She understood on a deeper level that Karilan and her had crossed some sort of threshold of connection and that only made them more willing to be in the muck along with herself right now. So many people were and it was lovely and humbling.

As they made their way to the first space next to her bedroom, Eela stopped, holding herself steady with her cane and turned to face Karilan. She reached up and rested a hand against the side of their face. “I am so deeply grateful for you, just in case you need to hear it. I know yesterday was a lot, and so will the next few days, but I can’t imagine going trough it without you.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Karilan turned to face her fully and stepped into her softly, setting their hands on Eela’s waist and looking deeply into her eyes. “Darling… those words mean more to me than you can possibly know right now. But know this… we are we. Where you go, I go. And I will support you however I can. You mean a great deal to me… and I am just grateful to be a part of your life.”

Karilan