2024-07-26: Well Wishes
- Log: 2024-07-26 Well Wishes
- Cast: Sheryl Nome, Alto Saotome, Ranka Lee
- Where: Macross Frontier Fleet
- OOC - IC Date: July 26, UC 0099 (2024)
- Summary: Alto and Ranka come visit Sheryl in the hospital.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
The news has been tight-lipped on Sheryl Nome's condition. This is thanks in large part to Grace deftly keeping a lid on what information goes in and out of the Lagos hospital where she's been recuperating after the Vajra attack on her concert. There have been a lot of speculation pieces, but little actual updates.
There is one update now, though: Sheryl has woken up. She's in terrible condition, but she is awake and cognizant. Lagos is having an increasing number of its own problems, so with Sheryl's consent, Grace arranged to have her transferred to a Frontier hospital so she can at least be closer to her second home--and to her friends.
Not that Sheryl wants her friends to see her in this condition. But Grace nodded and smiled in understanding when Sheryl went on and on about not letting anyone see her like this; then she sent a call to Alto and Ranka to let them know Sheryl is awake and what hospital and room she's in, and that Sheryl explicitly has stated she wants no visitors but if they come at X o'clock there will be a change in the nurse shifts so concerned parties can sneak in, not that Grace would ever condone such an act, wink wink.
...However else she feels about what she's done, Grace takes pride in the Fairy-9 she raised. Call it one last kindness.
And so, as promised, at X o'clock, the nurses change shifts and chat for a few moments as they do, and so it's easy to slip past the front desk. Once they're inside, no one will pay Alto and Ranka any mind as long as they act like they belong there. And once they're at Sheryl's private suite on the top floor...
Well, it's a spacious room, at least. It's almost more like a hotel room than a hospital room, with how plush the seats and even couch are, how elegantly the walls are decorated and how big that wall-mounted HDTV is. The wall-wide windows are draped with velvet curtains, even. It's very much a room for VIPs. However, there's no mistaking the heart monitor, the e-clipboard at the foot of her bed detailing her condition, the tile floor around that bed, the medicated bandages (changed twice daily) that cover a significant portion of Sheryl's body, the IV stand and the IVs that keep her hydrated and medicated, or the elevated casts on her right arm and both her legs. (On the positive side, at least there's also the wall-to-wall get-well presents--mostly flower bouquets.)
She's going to have a lot of physical therapy later. Right now, she mostly looks bone tired; dark semi-circles ring her eyes, and even her golden tresses look limp. A bedside table in reach of her one good arm sports a glass of water, a small stand from which her fold quartz earring hangs, and a couple of remote controls, one for the bed, one for the TV. Said TV is set on nothing in particular at the moment--just some random drama that happens to be airing right now. Sheryl's barely paying attention to it.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto has been given a difficult mission: To sneak past the nurses at the front desk and make his way to Sheryl's room with Ranka. All without being noticed. This is going to require a lot of cunning, skill, as well as an outfit which keeps him from standing out too much. So what does he choose to wear to accomplish this difficult task? A plain white shirt and dark pants.
Isn't that what he usually wears?
Yes. Yes it is.
And it works! The shift change keeps the nurses occupied and Alto just casually walks past like it's nothing. You can tell this isn't an event organized by Grace because the security here is kind of lax.
Alto knocks before entering Sheryl's room. His first thoughts at the sight that greets him is... Holy shit, they have rooms like this!? When he gets injured, he's lucky if he's not sharing a cramped medical bay with four other guys. And you can forget the big HDTV.
The sight of Sheryl all bandaged and battered does cause him to briefly pause in his steps. He's definitely never seen her so bad off before. But thankfully, in his line of work he's seen people injured like this before, so he's able to keep his expression neutral as he looks at Sheryl, saying, "I know you weren't happy with the idea of visitors. But too bad, you're getting some." He smirks, before looking to Ranka entering behind him.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka's been blowing up Grace's phone ever since news of Sheryl being hurt in Lagos broke. She tried to schedule at least one flight to Nigeria, but got headed off at the pass by Grace gently reminding her that she had obligations to her fans and that she'll update her as soon as there's news.
In part she's been passing the time between fan events, interviews, and even military testing talking to Alto, worrying and trying to console him as best as she can.
And then came Grace's message, as her hair lifts, and she has the biggest smile.
>thx so much <3<3Osanshoo-wiggle<3<3
-=-=-
Ranka murmurs to Alto as the nurses finally occupy themselves with handover reports, "Alright, we'll just act nonchalant."
Ranka is wearing her old yellow dress with it's teal trim and her scarf wrap, in part because it's something that doesn't scream 'Ranka Lee' to her fans.
She's hitched that scarf up over her face some, as she walks past, waving to the nurses.
Alto may have to either block view or stop her.
Fortunately, they make it - and she nervously fidgets while Alto knocks.
Ranka herself steps in behind her, peeking out around the wall, and her hair leaps seeing the room, because SHE'S never seen one this nice herself.
Ozma doesn't rate a room like this after all.
"Sheryl!" Alto speaks on how she's getting some, and she nods emphatically, "We just..." She trails off, and corrects, wondering if that's too presumptuous, "I just couldn't go another minute without seeing you."
She explains, trying not to react to this image of Sheryl, and perhaps failing a little, "I've just been so worried." She murmurs, softer.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl's always complained about Alto's lack of fashion sense. Maybe this is his way of attempting to cheer her up pre-emptively, by giving her something to give him a hard time about...?
No, realistically, he just put on what he always does without thinking about it. It's Alto, after all.
He and Ranka make it inside safely, despite Ranka's insistence on trying to wave to the nurses; indeed, security is a little too lax. Rather than Grace not organizing this event, maybe she organized it in the opposite direction...? But surely she wouldn't do that.
Sheryl ignores the knock at first, assuming it's a nurse come to take some measurement or blood draw or something or another. It's later than it ought to be for that, but honestly, the painkillers have her a little constantly out of it, so that simply doesn't occur to her. When Alto and Ranka walk in, though, the shock of it cuts straight through the fuzziness of the morphine and make her shove herself upright with her good arm.
"What are you two doing here?!" With a surge of energy, she grabs her pillow and hurls it at them. It flies wide. "Get out!! I don't want you two seeing me like this!" She turns away as best she can then, her long hair curtaining her shoulders and face, as her heart pounds--but not just from the surprise. They were both that worried about her that they snuck in here...? "H-how did you two even get in here?"
As much as she's sincere when she says she doesn't want them seeing her in this state, though, there's no denying the surge of happiness in her heart to see them. When she finally woke up, she'd lost almost two weeks of time. It was disorienting to say the least. Disorienting, and isolating, and anxiety-inducing. A star who fades from view for too long is a star that's fated to die. But... at least the people who really matter still remembered.
God, though, she doesn't even have any make-up on... She must look like a wreck.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
When Ranka brings up the fact that she really wanted to see Sheryl... And almost roped Alto into that same category. He glances off to the side a little, scratching at his cheek. Unlike the more outgoing Ranka, he's not actually going to say it. But one could probably tell from the mild embarassment that he was probably thinking it.
Alto is not at all surprised that Sheryl's initial reaction is to try and get them to leave. Though the pillow flying in their direction, as badly aimed as it is, was a little more surprising. He watches the pillow fly past before looking back at Sheryl, asking, "See you like what? Like a normal person? Like someone who isn't perfect every second of every day?"
Alto walks up towards one edge of the bed, the exact opposite of getting out. And he gives Sheryl a teasing grin, "Sorry to tell you this, but we already knew that."
Now that he's a little closer, Alto looks Sheryl over for a moment before asking, "How are you feeling?" It's a cliche question to ask someone who's injured... But there is an obvious hint of concern in Alto's tone and expression.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
As Sheryl throws her pillow, Ranka's hair leaps again in alarm, as she cringes at her initial tone, at first it feels like she might just say 'Sorry!' and go but.
"No! I'm not leaving!" She replies stubbornly, with her eyes pinched shut, "Who cares about that right now!? You're in the hospital and you're important to us! That's what we care about!"
And indeed, Ranka was the type to livestream even in hospital while in quarantine with minimal makeup.
It's a different approach perhaps from Alto's teasing, and perhaps indicative of how Ranka has changed over the years. But... she says how she feels.
(And this time she did accidentally rope Alto into it, in the heat of the moment.)
Eventually she peels herself away from that corner picking up the pillow en route, and approaches near Alto. He already asked the question she wanted to, so instead she asks, "Is there anything we can do to help make you more comfortable?"
A little sheepishly, she offers back the pillow... as if that's a thing she can do, whether it becomes another flying missile or not.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sadly, turned away as she is, Sheryl doesn't see Alto's embarrassment. However, she does hear his teasing and his approaching footsteps. And where Alto employs sarcasm to make his point, Ranka is painfully, poignantly direct about how she feels. And as Ranka expresses just how much she's grown from that timid, self-deprecating girl she was when Sheryl first met her, Alto acknowledges that she's more than just 'Sheryl Nome'...
Sheryl huffs a little as color rises in her cheeks. She lets Ranka offer her back the pillow, though she's pushed it back under her head before Ranka asks what they can do. (Even if she said I couldn't go another minute without seeing her earlier. She's so sweet...) "Like garbage," she says bluntly to Alto first. "It's almost like I got blown up and sent hurtling into a lake." She slumps back on her pillow with a groan. "Apparently I just barely managed to avoid impacting with the S.S. Nome's bow and drowning to death. I don't remember it, though. The last thing I do remember was that one Vajra wriggling out from under Lucine's mobile suit." She groans a bit as she crooks her good arm over her face. "Next thing, I was in a hospital in Lagos set up--" She gestures down at herself. "A lot like this."
She manages a thin, tired, but sincere smile Ranka's way. Other girls who're also musical rivals, she might suspect of being here to gloat at her misfortune. Ranka, she knows isn't like that at all. "The nurses have that covered. I have them on call whenever I want." Indeed, if Ranka and Alto look down, there's also several call buttons on the side of her bed, many of them labeled for specific requests and levels of urgency. "But thank you for the thought, Ranka. If you two are absolutely going to insist on seeing me at my worst, then just a little company is fine."
She doesn't have the energy to fight them on that anyway--not past that initial adrenaline-boosted surprise.
"...What happened with the Vajra? Grace won't tell me--says I don't need the extra stress right now," Sheryl adds.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto does actually nod a little as Ranka includes him in her comment this time. Hopefully this time for Sheryl to see as he is trying to comfort her a little. In truth, when he'd heard the news about what happened he had tried to jump into his Messiah and fly to Lagos immediately to see Sheryl. Which actually would have been a problem, given he was in the middle of a job at the time. It was only the words of Luca, and a chokehold from Michael, that had forced him to calm down.
Now though, Alto actually looks a little guilty as Sheryl starts to recount the events that she remembers. By the end of it, Alto looks away to hide the shadow on his face, before saying, "... Sorry I wasn't there. Maybe I could have..." Have saved her? Stopped it from happening at all? He doesn't know. All he knows is Sheryl's life was in danger and he wasn't there. If was still her bodyguard, he would have been... But there's nothing he can do about that. It's not his choice.
Sheryl asks about the Vajra and Alto seems reluctant to say anything about it. It's not a happy ending, after all. And he tends to agree with Grace. There's not much point in telling Sheryl about it only to make her worry more about it. After all, it happened during her concert. The fact that the Vajra weren't driven away... That they're still there, remaining a threat to the city and it's inhabitants. He knows Sheryl would not be happy about it. Maybe even-
-Unfortunately, the three hadn't noticed as the TV drama playing on the screen had ended and a news program started up. And at that moment, the next segment begins...
( https://srtmoo.net/mediawiki/index.php/2024-07-27:_New_Infection_Strikes_the_Lagos_Quarantine_Zone! )
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
As Sheryl describes her experiences, Ranka looks horrified, she's been in so many Vajra attacks herself, including her first. Part of her almost says 'I can't believe they did that.'
Almost.
Her opinion of the Vajra had been changing, even if she kept it to herself, but now it's pretty decisively against them.
"That's awful! I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been." Ranka notes, and as Alto says he's sorry, she puts a hand on his arm, as if to console him, as if to say 'it's not your fault'.
But, she doesn't verbalize it, instead telling Sheryl, "Your fans... your fans say you didn't stop singing, not until then... I really admire your bravery. I'd probably be useless, facing that down."
There's a sincerity there, Ranka has certainly forced herself to sing in countless attacks, but if something like that was approaching her...
... her head shakes, like a dog shaking that thought out of her head. "I'm just so relieved you're... still with us." She was so scared, and she does smile as she describes that her needs are tended to.
"Alright, but if there's anything we can do, anything at all." She smiles as she stammers an exception, "O-Other than leave."
As Alto answers her question, and the TV drama segues to a news program, Ranka looks at it in horror, her hair flattening against either side of her head.
Part of her is tempted to just run over and turn it off, but it's too late, she sees both of them have heard it, the damage is done.
"A Quarantine?" She whispers, "They did say... they were testing me for that, back then. 'V-Type Infection.'"
It gets worse, as it segues to the pundits and she puts her hands over her mouth, "They- really think...?" She breathes, horrified at the mere thought, before it becomes complete indignation, "There's no way!"
Ranka reaches into her bag for her phone, and pulls it out, as she quickly tries to call Grace, "I'm not going to let the whole world think that!"
It keeps ringing, "Pick up... pick up...!" When it does, "...Grace are you watching this!? You have to call that network right now. We can't let this stand!"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl's gaze softens as she lets herself look at Alto. The next moment, though, she makes herself smile. "You should be sorry! That's what happens when you let your contract with me lapse! ...Just kidding," she adds, shutting her eyes. "You can't be everywhere at once, Alto, and there was plenty of security there that night. No one could've predicted the Vajra would show up." She breathes out a sigh and murmurs, "God, I wish they could've."
Her eyelids droop as she sees Ranka put a hand on Alto's arm. She glances away. "...Honestly, it was terrifying. One of them flew right up to me. I don't know what would've happened to me if Lucine hadn't come in that second. I wouldn't have gotten away with just a few burns and broken limbs, that's for sure."
She's not so sure Ranka would've been useless, though. If it'd been her singing... It probably never would've gotten that far in the first place. It's not as though Sheryl's song can influence the Vajra. She chuckles a little at Ranka's stammered exception, but it doesn't last long.
She asks her question, and there is a momentary quiet. For a second, she hesitates too. She can tell Alto's also reluctant to tell her. But right now, if there's anything she wants out of him--she reaches a hand out towards him, seeking his to hold...
That's when the new program starts up. Sheryl would tune that out too, except the word Vajra drills into her ears and excavates her attention. She blinks over at the TV, listening to reports of failed attempts to route the Vajra, how a Vajra-related pathogen is running through the city. Her blink turns to Ranka when she mentions that's what she'd been quarantined for back when they returned from Gallia IV. "Was that what it was?" But before Ranka can answer, the pundits are going on--specifically, arguing on about how they think that all this is the fault of...
"What?" Sheryl says sharply, scooting herself upright as best she can with only one non-broken appendage. (The morphine, thankfully, blunts any pain.) "How the hell is any of this my fault?! I was attacked!! Galaxy was attacked!! How dare they?!" Her face only reddens further when the pundits claim Sheryl somehow sicced the Vajra on Ranka to get rid of a rival, that she somehow controls them. "Turn that trash off!! I don't want to hear another nanosecond of it!!"
Of course, she also caught that Ranka is supposedly joining the Space Assembly League to fight the Vajra--but after everything else, it just isn't at the forefront of her thoughts. More immediately, she sees Ranka calling Grace, and Grace picking up.
"Ranka? What network do you mean?" Grace says on the other line. After confirmation, she's silent for a moment, before she murmurs a low, weary, "Oh dear... Another tabloid network bitter because I won't let them invade Sheryl's privacy." Her tone turns soothing: "It's all right, Ranka. I'll submit a formal complaint, but it's just an opinion show, not a real news channel. Trying to stop them from talking will only make Sheryl look guilty. Besides, there's no way her true fans will take that nonsense seriously. You'd better turn that off, though--I'm sure Sheryl's furious, and I don't want her overexerting herself and exacerbating her injuries... It'd be just like her to storm over to that talk show, broken legs and all." She lowers her voice and adds, "I'm counting on you and Alto to keep her safe, all right? Now if you'll excuse me..."
...Grace is right about one thing: Sheryl is absolutely steaming and looks fit to tear herself out of bed.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
The hand on his arm brings Alto back from his thoughts a bit and he gives Ranka a small smile. Sheryl's words-teasing aside-also put him a little more at ease. At least right up until she says they couldn't have predicted the Vajra would show up.
That's not entirely true, is it? With Ranka's help, they might have been able to detect the nest before it got that far. Alto clenches his fist a little... They need to do more to stop the Vajra.
As Ranka and Sheryl's attention is drawn to the news report, Alto too looks.
Alto was already aware of the situation regarding the Vajra nest in Lagos. And he's not surprised that so far the NUNE forces haven't been able to deal with it. The Vajra have been getting more and more difficult to kill. If something doesn't happen soon, it may even reach the point where humanity's weapons just won't do anything to them at all.
The news about the sickness spreading through Lagos is clearly not something Alto was aware of, as surprise forms on his face as he hears about it. A sickness spread by the Vajra? Is that possible? Alto turns to look at Ranka as she mentions she was tested as well. He does recall the extensive quarantine she went through after the Gallia IV expedition.
Alto crosses his arms as he considers the implications of a infection with the Vajra as the source, "This could be a problem... There's already a lot of Vajra in the Earth Sphere. And any nest we miss results in more..." Alto groans, "Great, how could this get any wor-"
It's at that point that the program switches to show what happened at the summit. At first Alto is in silent agreement, as the source of the Vajra aggressiveness is a question that, for a while now, has been hanging over those who have to fight them.
But as the discussion quickly devolves into wild speculation, Alto smacks the nearby table with a hand, "What the hell!? That's insane!" He looks between Ranka and Sheryl quickly. It's so plainly obvious to him that they wouldn't do anything like this. Alto groans again, pinching his nose as Ranka quickly calls Grace, "They're a bunch of idiots. Making wild ass accusations that are completely baseless."
After a moment though, Alto goes quiet as he becomes a bit more pensive. He looks at Ranka as she's on the phone with Grace, recalling what he knows about her history. And the things he's seen her do.
He then looks at Sheryl, recalling the discovery of her grandmother's work with the 117th Research Fleet.
There do seem to be some strange things going on between these two and the Vajra.
But then Alto shakes his head. Even if that's true, he knows these two. Whatever's going on, it's not intentional on their part. He won't believe it, no matter what anyone says.
As Ranka is finishing up with Grace, who is counting on Alto, Alto muses to himself, "Maybe I should 'accidentally' send a missile at their building one night when no one's there." Alto's no killer. But a little property destruction? He can live with that.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka nods in complete agreement to Sheryl's words, "As much as we wish you could be." She does say, with a smile, it's not meant to be telling so much - just both Sheryl and him both feel safer with him on security.
She doesn't catch Sheryl's reaction to her hand, but... "I'm so glad she was there." She murmurs of Lucine, making a mental note to send her flowers. No more than flowers.
Perhaps Ranka just is still skeptical of the idea she has that influence, or perhaps it's just denial or maybe - if she says she doesn't, then she just doesn't have to interrogate her feelings while she was kidnapped.
Either way...
... she nods slowly to answer Sheryl, "It's... what they were worried about. It's why they had me in quarantine for so long." They tested her for far more than just that, but...
"I can't believe it's so widespread."
How did she NOT have it? How does Sheryl or Alto or members of the SMS not have it for that matter? The first time Vajra attacked her, she wasn't in a suit...
Ranka confirms the network to Grace, before, "I don't want anyone to think Sheryl could have done this though! She's done nothing but support me!" Grace however, makes certain points, "That... you really think they'd-" Ranka rubs her face, it's so hard to believe, she doesn't want the world thinking Sheryl tried to take her out.
Her eyes flit over to Sheryl, those feelings are difficult to miss as if confirming Grace's words, "Okay Grace, just leave it to us. I'm counting on you to... do what you can."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Maybe with Ranka's song, they could have located that nest beforehand after all--but Sheryl's not going to lay this one on her feet. The Earth is big, and sometimes horrible coincidences happen. Sheryl sure wouldn't disagree with the idea that they need to do more to stop the Vajra, though. Horrible creatures.
Horrible creatures that spread a horrible disease, on top of that. It makes Sheryl sick knowing that people--that her fans--are still suffering over all this. She's CERTAIN she didn't make the Vajra attack anything, and she sure as hell wouldn't have sicced them on her own fans. It can't possibly be that they were only attacking the concert, either. It probably only looked like that superficially.
Still, it feels gratifying that Alto and Ranka are just as pissed off as she is. "It is insane! They're just making things up for ratings! I hate 'reporters' like that!" she fumes. That fiery heat dies down as Ranka frets about the spread of the V-type Infection. "That's scary, too. It's good you hadn't caught it, Ranka, but this seriously feels like it came out of nowhere. All of it does!"
Of course, that's not really true. As Alto has already noted, there is the fold quartz research that Dr. Nome was working on... and Vajra produce fold quartz in their own bodies over time, and fold quartz can be used to communicate from stone to stone... and Sheryl is never without her fold quartz earrings, so it might well be possible that she's had a subtle influence on the Vajra all this time without realizing it...
But that's supposition--theory--not proven fact.
Her fury melts a little more as Ranka insists to Grace that Sheryl would never do that to her, that she's never done anything but support her. She can't clearly hear Grace's side of the conversation, but she knows her manager very well and what kinds of arguments she'd make. When Ranka gives in and hangs up, then goes to turn off the TV, Sheryl heaves a sigh and slumps back on her pillow. "I hate it too. But Grace will handle it," she says firmly. As rocky as things had been with them lately before Sheryl proposed the new tour--well and fully canceled by now--she trusts that Grace will have her back in the end.
Her blue eyes soften at Ranka's anger; she snorts, smirking, when Alto mutters about 'accidental' missile fire. A would-be chuckle turns into a cough--a cough that goes on worryingly long--but it's not like that extreme fit she had at the SMS HQ. She covers her mouth with her free hand, and when it peters off, she sags on the bed.
"I really hate this," she says wearily. "If it's not one thing, it's another, these days." She pauses as Ranka draws closer and holds her hand; when she looks at her and Alto, it's with eyes shimmering as if with tears on the verge of being shed. "Oh, Ranka... Thank you." She shuts her eyes, a smile lingering on her lips. "I'm so glad I met the two of you that day."
Or in Alto's case, met again. But for right now... she'll leave that be.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto shakes his head a little bit as Ranka says she wants to deny it, "That's probably not a good thing to do. If anything it'll just bring more attention to it. Best to simply ignore it and move on. People will forget about it when the next supposed scandal breaks." He's seen it before, as he suspects Sheryl has as well.
Alto was joking-mostly-about the missile. Though as Sheryl is clearly amused by it, he smiles, happy to see Sheryl a little more jovial after how she seemed when they first arrived. He still doesn't remember their actual first meeting, but nods along in agreement about the next one.
Hoping to help change the subject away from the annoying TV segment, Alto asks, "So how long are you going to be in the hospital for anyway? Knowing you, it's going to drive you mad just lying around doing nothing."
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
It really does feel like it came out of nowhere, doesn't it? "I just don't get it. We never had quarantines on Frontier over it..."
She murmurs softly, before giving Sheryl a softer look because for however angry she is, Sheryl's the one who's stuck in bed, injured, unable to really focus on anything but healing.
A thought briefly crosses her mind, what if Sheryl has that kind of infection too after the attack but? Come on that's ridiculous, Ranka had way worse exposure to the Vajra and... nothing.
Alto points out however that responding to it will have negative consequences, just like Grace did, "I have to say something to my fans at least." She indicates to him after a moment, "I don't want them to hate Sheryl over the opinions of people who don't know a thing about Sheryl. If I put out a statement... they'll listen at least."
She hopes? Mostly though they've always thrown themselves behind what she came out for publicly.
Sheryl however laughs - or at least it would be, if it didn't become a long coughing fit. Ranka looks at Sheryl in alarm, and for a time looks at one of the various call bells like she's just going to reach over and hit it but-!
Mercifully, it stops. And she relaxes some, falling into the rhythm of trying to deescalate the anger in the room so Sheryl doesn't hurt herself, on accident - or on purpose.
Part of her lists the symptoms in her head that were on TV, and 'cough' isn't one of them.
"Me too." She says, with complete sincerity to Sheryl's words on being glad she met them, "You changed my life Sheryl, I mean it."
She tells her, with that same warmth, as she squeezes her hand, before Alto asks the question, and- "Yeah absolutely. Have your Doctors said anything about when you'd be discharged - even just an estimate?" Before she adds, "We're happy to keep visiting while you're here too."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"As infuriating as it is... Alto's right. Those leeches are gossiping about this because they don't have any real information, and blaming it on me will get them a ton of attention," Sheryl grouses. "You'll get the same treatment sooner or later, Ranka. Watch out for that, okay?"
She can't help but smile a bit as Ranka says she'll at least make a statement to her fans. "Oh, if you insist."
With her hand caught in Ranka's, Sheryl turns her head away for a few lighter follow-up coughs. They don't last, though, and as Ranka has already noted--'coughing fits' wasn't one of the symptoms they listed for V-Type Infection. So obviously this can't be that. It does leave her wheezing a bit as she leans her head back on her pillow.
"God, I don't even want to think about that," she groans to Alto, of being stuck here to recuperate. "The doctors have me on some regenerative treatments to help speed up the process, but even with that they said it'll probably be at least two months, and maybe a lot more if anything goes wrong or any complications crop up, and even then I'll have to do a lot of physical therapy afterwards to get myself back into performing condition, and that'll take even more months."
She stares at the ceiling at that. At least once she got to the physical therapy stage, she'd be able to leave, but... There's no guarantee she'd be able to dance like she used to. Especially with two broken legs... One wrong move and this could be a career-ending hospital visit. As much as she hates it, she has to behave--just like she has to take her Witchcraft. No matter how awful it makes her feel.
At least the IV has it covered, presumably.
But she smiles again at Ranka as she offers to keep visiting. Alto doesn't say it, but Sheryl knows he's thinking the same. "As long as you don't mind the depressing sight of me laid up like this, I suppose I can let you two come by again," she lilts. "You already saw me in this state once, so twice or more doesn't matter anymore." She sighs again as she shuts her head. "...But ask Grace first. The medicine they've got me on has me out of it a lot. I'm probably going to be spending a lot of time sleeping. Better than having to spend all this time laid out and awake, I suppose."
But she still hates that, too. The legend of the Macross songstress doesn't always pan out, it turns out--or maybe she wasn't good enough to make it pan out. Sheryl keeps that thought to herself, though.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Sheryl agrees with Alto-shocking enough as it is-but it seems even the two of them can't disuade Ranka from saying something. If even only to her fans. So Alto doesn't press the issue. Besides, maybe it'll work out?
Alto's trying to avoid bringing any attention to the coughing. It's not a symptom one typically expects with the injuries that Sheryl has. Which combined with the fit he once witnessed before, he gives Sheryl a concerned look once again. If they still haven't been able to figure out what the cause is...
Ranka says that they'll stop by when they can. And Sheryl even agrees to it. And while Alto certainly would like to do so...
Alto chuckles apologetically, looking a little guilty as he rubs the back of his head, "Uh, I'll certainly visit when I can... I mean, when I'm in the fleet. But... SMS are shipping me out to Side 2 pretty soon and I'll probably be there for a while. Don't know when or how often I'll be able to get back." He's mostly looking away as he says this, but towards the end he glances in Ranka's direction.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
"I'm definitely not looking forward to that part." Ranka grimaces at Sheryl noting she'll get the same treatment sooner or later, "Even if I know that means I've made it." It's a sorta sheepish joke, there. She's not unaware of some of the darker sides of fandom and fame though, she just hasn't experienced it much yet.
"I do." She grins happily, "I won't tolerate any Sheryl hate in this house." Another light joke, because obviously her fans fight over who's better with Sheryl's, but-
She doesn't want them to hate Sheryl, that's unacceptable.
Hearing Sheryl's gonna be stuck here for two months, "That sucks." Ranka says succinctly of the situation, "But I'm going to ask you do what your Doctors tell you and do all that therapy because - I don't want you in here a moment longer than you need to be."
Maybe she said that partially for Grace's sake, but it's definitely for her sake too.
"I don't mind! And don't worry, we'll check with her first, just to be sure you're going to be up to it."
Alto however, notes he's going to be shipping out soon, to Side 2, and Ranka looks at him out of the corner of her eyes, and then takes a breath, clears her throat and-
"I'll visit some more, promise... but... I'll be going soon too. You probably heard about the deal I made with the League." She looks sheepish, "I wasn't really thrilled about it, it's still just - hard for me to think that I can do the things they think I can do to the Vajra."
She keeps a hold on Sheryl's hand, and in that moment, that lack of self-confidence recedes, "But if they're right, and I can help spare even one person from what just happened to you, then - I'll do it." There's a look of determination in those eyes, "And I'll do it without hesitation."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Hearing Alto's explanation and seeing him glance at Ranka, something clicks in Sheryl's head, even before Ranka confirms it. "Oh... That's right. That piece was saying something about you joining up with the Space Assembly League to help hunt down the Vajra." She looks back at Alto. "You're on the same mission, too, I'm sure."
She's distinctly unenthusiastic, even disappointed, for perhaps obvious reasons--and maybe less obvious reasons. She just shakes her head, though, and puts on a bright smile, or at least as bright as she can manage in this condition. Ranka's determination is heartening, even if a lot of other things about this situation aren't. "Well, that's all right! I'll be just fine here; I just need time to heal up. The Vajra aren't going to wait around, though, so you two better give them a good whalloping--for me!"
She squeezes Ranka's hand back and gives Alto a knowing look. Even if Sheryl can't do what Ranka can... she knows they'll do at least this much for her.