tinstar | Slingin' from the hip, never the heart.

Nodding at the instruction, Raylan was confident they could handle that. He glanced over at Athena's question, smiling a little himself at the Doctor's answer. Well, it was a fair one.

"That'll be fine, thank you," he said graciously. "How long of that before you think she'll heal, assumin' nothin' goes wrong?"

"Two to three weeks is typical for this kind of burn, as long as it's treated as directed."

Athena grimaces. "That's forever."

The doctor raises his eyebrows. "Trust me, it's not."

"Better than gettin' an infection. You don't wanna go on that ride, it ain't fun," Raylan said kindly to Athena, skipping the faraway threat of gangrene, before nodding at the Doctor again.

"We'll keep it clean and dressed." If the Doc was a good one, he'd give them a prescription of antibiotics that would cover that time. Raylan hoped, otherwise, they were gonna havta get creative.

The doctor straightens up, nodding to Raylan, who seems to have risen maybe a micron in the nurse's opinion.

"What pharmacy do you use?" The question is directed at both the patient and the presumed guardian.

"We use the one in Harlan but you'll be lucky to get them on the phone," he said with something of a self deprecating laugh about the state of Harlan to begin with. "We can take it to one here in Lexington, on paper, our way home and they can call in to verify. Least you'll be guaranteed a voice on the phone either way," he promised sincerely.

Why yes he was throwing some of that easy charm and good natured 'go with the flow' vibe on it, but he needed this to go smoothly.

That micron of approval from the nurse vanishes into another scowl. The doctor makes an impatient noise.

"God, I don't even know if we have paper prescriptions. Hang on, I'll check the desk--can you dress the wound?"

The last it directed to the nurse, who nods. She eyes Athena for a moment. "You don't sound like you're from Harlan."

Athena fixes her with a baleful look. "I'm here because my New York based parents are dead, but thanks for poking your fingers into my personal business."

Raylan's eyebrows rolled in the equation of a shrug; not all of Kentucky was as fancy as Lexington fancied themselves to be. Hoity toity assholes. The feeling was gifted to Athena with a pass of his eyes and somehow, they said it all before he was looking sweetly back at the Nurse.

"One of my sister's couldn't wait to get outta the holler but we talked her back with the promise of a good party. Maybe a little too good, considering," he granted pleasantly. "We're lookin' into talkin' them into moving back but there's somethin' about this place that must be keepin' them away."

Gee, wonder what that might be.

The nurse looks back and forth between Raylan and Athena, then clearly decides Raylan's story is the more credible. She cleans the burn with gentle soap and water, then shows them both how to wrap it. Athena squints through the whole process, trying--not particularly well--to act like it doesn't hurt.

The nurse very happily excuses herself. The doctor returns with the prescription as she's leaving.

"You're in luck." He holds up the little paper. "We had a prescription pad with exactly four slips left."

He was a good note taker in school and that hadn't gone anywhere; Raylan watched attentively, nodding again once she was done. Yes, defiantly doable.

The prescription was taken with a grateful bob of his head as he folded it and tucked it into his inner jacket pocket. It meant he had to let Athena's hand go, but once the note was tucked away, he set it back within her reach. "You might wanna consider orderin' more. Not everyone in the state is as lucky enough to live within reach of this particular hospital and your specialists. Do you have her discharge papers, or is she clear to walk out?"

There wasn't much of any room for argument with his tone or expression. He was about done with the attitude and general vibe of unhelpfulness they had gotten.

The amiable hostility in Raylan's tone sent the nurse hurrying for the discharge paperwork, and the doctor excusing himself for his next patient. Athena raised her eyebrows.

"You need to teach me that one."

Raylan sucked his teeth softly at the drawn curtain before turning his half annoyed expression down at her.

"What're they gonna do, take the information back? Hold you hostage?" He scoffed and sat back down. "We'll stop at a CVS for supplies before we leave town, but we'll get the prescription filled tomorrow in Harlan. In the mean time. What kinda fast food are you wantin'?"

By the time they'd figured that out, the nurse was back with the discharge papers and the wheelchair.

"Go ahead and take a seat," the nurse said, letting Raylan help Athena off the bed and into the chair. They were wheeled out to the sidewalk, where Athena was off loaded onto a bench so that Raylan could pull the car around.

"Alright, come on. We got a hellva drive ahead of us."

Athena feels intensely silly, being wheeled out when she can walk fine, but if it gets them out of there so be it. She plops onto the passenger seat, wincing slightly. Now that it's cleaned and properly tended to, her ankle is starting to sting again.

She sits there for several seconds, staring into space, and then looks over at him.

"Waffles. Bigass, chocolate chip waffles absofuckinglutely soaked in syrup."

Having been in and out of hospitals more times than he would like to admit, Raylan knew and understood the whys of the wheelchair and it wasn't worth arguing against. Not when that argument might bring them more scrutiny. While they had to come, he was glad to be back in the car.

"I know just the place."

With a quick stop at a CVS as promised and those bags tucked safely into his trunk, Raylan pulled them up to a clean but small mom and pop looking restaurant with tall windows and a tilting roof that gave it a cute look, attached to a motel that offered 'Low low rates!'

"Onn'a the best places in Lexington for big ass waffles," he said with a smile as he got out of the car. If Athena wanted all that, it was better to get it in her before they hit the road and frankly, Raylan preferred real food to fast food. There wasn't any of the latter in Harlan and Raylan didn't have the goods for big ass waffles at Arlo's. "If you don't eat it all, we can take it with us."

Athena stares at the building for a moment after getting out of the car, taking in the sight of people moving around inside. Not shadows. Not ghostly women in the woods or shapes in the water. No one familiar. Just people.

She can’t help some embarrassment when she takes Raylan’s hand again, eyes still on that front window and the careless life inside.

“This is so fucking weird,” she whispers.

Rushing her wasn't on the agenda and when she stops and stares, he pulls up beside her wordlessly to stare himself, glancing down when her fingers found his again. He squeezed them softly and turned back to look with her.

"Took me three weeks before I could eat with other people like this," he admitted. "Wait til you think about grocery shoppin' or goin' to school." The words were slipped out with a deep inhale and exhale that spoke to how weird he'd found it.

"One thing at a time."

Going to school. Her throat squeezed up at that. That's a long-haul plan. A 'we don't know how to fix this so we've got to keep living like we won't' plan.

She blinked. "Money is a thing again, huh."

She might need to get a job, something low commitment for pocket money. To help Raylan pay for his room or wherever the fuck they end up staying.

Athena gripped his hand a little tighter, looking up at him. "You're not going to put me in some foster care bullshit place, right? I'm like six months from that not being a thing anyway."

Hard stones to swallow, the responsibly of living when you weren't trying to just survive. Raylan had thought it would be easier to slip back into everything he'd known. It wasn't.

"Tends to be," he quipped softly.

The grip on his hand and the question drew him and his furrowed brow down towards her, body turning to face her slightly with a shift of his weight.

"No way in hell. You're either stayin' with me or with your people, if we can find 'em. Jeff or your Aunt Lenore. Someone we can trust." Raylan tugged her into a hug and wrapped his arms around her. "I ain't lettin' you go back out into the wildness like that."

A panic that had started building eases away again. She hugs him back, tightly. "Well good. Because I'd make you fucking regret it."

It's said with an attempt at good humor. She draws back enough to look at the restaurant, nerves squeezing at her again. "Could... can we get stuff to go? I don't... know if I'm ready for that yet."

The hospital was hard enough.

"I believe you," he huffed gently.

Raylan glanced at the windows and nodded down at her. "Do you want to stay in the car while I get it?"

God, she hates that she's getting teary over ordering fucking waffles.

"Yeah. Yes. Please."

"Alright darlin', it's okay," he assured, rubbing her shoulders. "C'mon. We'll set you in the car, you lock the doors. You can keep your eyes on me and I can keep mine on you," he continued, shifting to open the door and guide her back down into it. "Lock the doors," he instructed again as he closed the door.

Once he was sure she was secure, he headed inside with another glance at her over his shoulder, gut twisting in an instinctual 'Don't leave her alone, she'll get snatched' that he had to try and control as he ambled up to the counter.

Two waffles with chocolate chips on the side for later sprinkling with bacon on the side, along with a bacon cheeseburger, dressed and with fries. Raylan stayed where he was, eyes on the door and his car and the precious cargo inside until it was time to collect, where he added on one more thing. Bags and a large Styrofoam cup in his hand, Raylan came back to the car and slid in. The bag was set on her lap, cab instantly filling with delicious scents and Raylan tucked the cup into the cup holder before presenting her with a straw.

"The waffles will hold but chocolate milkshakes won't."

She almost goes in, a couple of times. When the wait gets long enough for her to get paranoid that he’s gotten hurt or disappeared. She doesn’t really exhale until he walks out again, and when he hands her the straw, she lights up.

“Holy fuck, milkshakes exist.”

Her enthusiasm was still infectious. Raylan grinned as he turned the engine over and started pulling them out of the parking lot.

"It's the least that I could get you for the ride you're about to suffer," he said with a laugh. "Takes two and a half hours to get out to Harlan county, if you obey the speed limit."

His smile curled a little further and once they were on the open road, she would know what he meant. Raylan's Crown Vic towncar was a newer version so there was some power under her hood, and he was no afraid to use it.

"Music is back too. One time offer for the radio," he said with a nod towards the dash unit.

For a wrenching moment, she realizes her phone and all the music on it is gone. Then she shakes it off, sucking down milkshake until she has to squint one eye shut against the brain freeze. “Hit me, cowboy. Though whatever you pick I guarantee I’m going to fuck with it.”

Edited (I can put orders in words) 2021-09-17 23:49 (UTC)

"All I'm gonna be puttin' on in this car is country and southern rock. Hope you like CCR and ZZ top."

He wasn't all country. Raylan kicked the radio on, gently blasting The Allman brothers.

He knew what he was getting into. He was sitting next to a Bard for fucks sake. You didn't just hand them music and expect them to not do anything with it.

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