What A Cliff Hanger [Harold]

[Andrea Rose Watson]

The Ravine was not a typical place for Andrea to be spending her time. She was afraid of heights, and therefore a steep gorge was not her cup of tea. In fact, she'd normally avoid it whenever possible. It might have been a silly fear, and Andrea recognized this, but the idea of slipping and falling to a watery doom did not sound like much fun to her.

She was staying away, as usual, when she heard an odd noise coming from the area. Her first instinct was to run away, as she was already on edge even being near the area, but a shout of pain stopped her in her tracks immediately, and her entire demeanor seemed to change. Instead of continuing away from the gorge, she made her way toward it. While she couldn't pretend that it did not bother her, she knew that there was something more important happening. She had medical training from her past life, and she was reasonably knowledgeable in modern basic medical training as well, from having a mother who worked in the field. If someone was hurt, she wanted to make sure they received the proper treatment.

Andrea wasn't sure why anyone would want to be near the gorge anyway, given how dangerous it was, but then again she supposed that was what lured some people to the area. It wasn't that she had a problem with being outside, or even playing outside - She'd been a tomboy in her past life, and preferred spending her time outside as compared to indoor activities. 'Playing' near a ravine was just asking for trouble, though, if you asked her. Then again, perhaps that was the big sister in her talking...

She moved slowly the closer she came to the steep incline. She had to repeatedly tell herself not to look down, for that would only make things worse. She needed to make it to the person. It vaguely occurred to her that she didn't have much in the way of medical equipment (save for a few bandaids in her purse...again, the older sister in her speaking), but at the very least she could offer some assistant. She approached a young male, who appeared to be injured. Andrea could only assume that he was the one who shouted out, but just in case, she asked him a few questions. He looked vaguely familiar, as if he might be a student at Riverdale High. "Where are you hurt? Was anyone with you?"[/color] The first question was obvious in nature, the second one not so much. She wanted to make sure that no one else had been with the boy and perhaps plunged over the gorge. Just the thought of that nearly made her shudder, though she would handle it if it came to that. She always did. She crouched near the young man, waiting for a response.

Word count: 489
To: Dante/Harold
Notes: Thought this was more in Andrea's nature. Her fear of heights wouldn't have her just be wandering around a gorge, so...to me, it made more sense to have Harold be the injured one. If you want me to change anything, though, let me know.

[Harold James Greyson]

Where was she?! Where was she?! No emails, no text, no phone calls, nothing! It was like she'd died! Harold had regressed the past few days, severely. He was unshaven, his hair was messy, and he was very, very confused. Not even math was going to lend him a hand, here. Where was she? Where was the red hair, the soft words, the gentle hand? He'd gone to her house and been sent away by people he'd never seen. So he'd gone everywhere he had ever known Alice to go, or that she had ever mentioned.

She had mentioned this ravine once. Harold walked along its edge, looking for her. This was a very dangerous place, even for the dexterous. Harold was not so dexterous. An neither was Alice. She was, after all, in a wheelchair. This could be a deathtrap for her, let alone him. The rocks were slippery and some were loo- Harold let out a cry of terror as some loose rocks skittered out from under her feet and he found himself falling. He reached out and instinctively tried to stop his fall, which didn't work perfectly. He slowed, but didn't stop, and thudded into a ledge twelve feet below, a sharp, fearsome pain shooting through both his ankles. He let out a cry of pain and crumbled, but didn't stay down for long.

The fall had woken him up, so to speak, to two things. One, if Alice was down here, people would have come looking for her days ago, and two, Alice could not have gotten here without help at least - though more likely she would have needed to be carried. So what was he doing down here?!

Now, he needed to get his ass back up the ravine, which wasn't going to be easy. He picked himself up, ignoring the pain in his ankle - the right was particularly searing - and the scrapes and bumps he'd attained, mainly on his hands. He also felt a warmness on the right side of his face, where he'd gone scraping up against some branches, but that cut didn't bother him too much. He looked worse than he was, really, grass stained and gravelly and messy to have started with, all compounded. But, for hat Harold lacked in some parts of the mind, he made up for in pain tolerance, do he grabbed onto some rocks and heaved himself up, then to the next rocks, and so it repeated five and a quarter times before he pulled himself back over the ledge and stood up, stumbling a few steps before going down again, his right ankle giving way. Harold thought perhaps he sprained it - it certainly wasn't broken.

It was then he noticed a person approaching and he looked up as she crouched down. Did he know her? Sort of. He thought he knew her face, and as he was trying to figure it out she bombarded him with questions.

He took a moment to assess her questions, before he spoke. "E-everywhere. Ankles. C-c-chest. H-hands. Face. B-but s'all right eventually, r-right." He told her, as though to reassure her. "N-no one's here. Just me. Now you. She's n-not here, so s'all good." He affirmed with a nod. Was she here looking for someone, too? Or maybe she was lost. Or maybe she had come looking for him. Yeah...right. Fat chance of that one.

--------------
words| 604
tagged| Andrea / Mandee
notes| I fail at noticing threads, but this time it's for the better. >3

[Andrea Rose Watson]

As she waited for an answer, Andrea was looking over Harold in more ways than one. Her past experience as a nurse was taking over as she gave him a look over for injuries. There was a cut on his face, but that didn't look too serious. At least, not life-threatening. He may need a few stitches, but it certainly wasn't anything she needed to perform prompt first aid for.

When he answered her question, she instantly looked over the parts he mentioned. Obviously, she'd already taken a look at his face, so she'd already made note of the scratch there. Her gaze next went to his hands, which looked badly scrapped up but, again, nothing too serious. She wasn't so worried about his hands anyway. His chest and ankles were what concerned her. First she took a look at his ankles. Instantly, she could tell that something was wrong. She moved in closer, feeling the worst of the two ankles, which was already swelling. Her fingers were gentle, though she still kept looking to Harold's face to see if she was hurting him in any way. Not only because she didn't want to continue doing something if it hurt, but because she could gauge what hurt and where and base her treatment on that. Of course, the ultimate goal was to get him to a doctor where he could be x-rayed to make sure that nothing was broken, but while they were out here, Andrea was going to do what she could to help him.

After she was done examining the ankle, Andrea posed her next question. "Have you tried to put weight on the ankle? Were you able to stand on it?"[/color] She knew that asking if it hurt would get her nowhere. Of course it would hurt! However, knowing how much it hurt would help her greatly. If he could apply pressure to the ankle to some extent, it meant his injuries were not as extensive. It also meant that treatment this far away from a medical facility would be easier. "I heard you yell out..."[/color] She decided to explain how she'd ended up there in the first place.

Of course, Andrea was not completely business. She was very determined to get her job done, as evidenced by the fact that she had even gone up to Harold and talked to him. Normally it was hard for her to even speak up to people without them speaking to her first. She realized that she couldn't just talk to him about his treatment. There was something...different about him, for one thing. The stuttering didn't sound as though it came from the pain, and the way he spoke was different from what she was accustomed to. While on one hand this might be attributed to a concussion, other than the scrape on his face Andrea could see no obvious outward signs. Still, she wanted to proceed with caution. "Who's she?"[/color] Andrea caught at the end of Harold's diatribe, suddenly confused. Little did she know that this young man was actually the recipient of the llama she'd helped a girl in a wheelchair retrieve at the amusement park a month or so before. She was looking at him with concern etched in her features, hoping that his injuries were not worse than she'd already examined.

Word count: 571
To: Dante/Harold
Notes: Yee? Yee

[Harold James Greyson]

Harold was still trying to figure out who this kid was, a kid that spoke like someone much older. She had a doctorish tone about her. He didn't like doctors. But she didn't seem quite doctorish, either. It was a strange mix. He had come to the conclusion he didn't know her name when she touched his ankle, and he jerked back. Not from any pain - though of course it was there -, but his expression said it all. He did not want to be touched by random people. In the back of his mind, he knew she probably meant well but that didn't change the fact Harold did not appreciate the random touching.

"Yes." Harold answered her question rather grudgingly, and got up to prove it. It hurt. Bad. He wobbled, and teetered forwards a few steps before looking back at her. He was clearly in pain, but he looked almost smug about having gotten up and walked. "A-a-all right eventually." He told her, a little more gently than he'd spoken before. He doubtlessly was not making this easy for her, but he didn't mean to make things not so easy when she meant well. The brown-haired senior was just carrying on with life in the ways he could do so. If he could. He'd never gain his freedom falling all over ravines and losing girlfriends, that...that just didn't make sense, not even to him.

Harold nodded to her explanation of how she was here, accepting it without further question. If he wasn't so preoccupied, he might have tried to make conversation by asking what she was doing within earshot, or some similar question. As it was, he didn't care. He'd limp back to his dorm and limp around for the next while and get all bruised and try and sort out his life as he went about his days, so then he could graduate and not be locked up or under someone's watch forever and ever. He limped a few more steps than almost went down; the uneven surface of the ravine was not helping at all, and so he sat back down on the leaves and sticks and rocks, watching the girl. He'd sit here for a bit, work out his next move (literally) and make bother talking to the girl who'd tried to help him, right? Besides, she had asked him a question.

Questions were meant to be answered, and Harold always had plenty to say about Alice. "A-Alice i-is my girlfriend. Or w-was. I dunno." He said with a nod. He didn't know if he could be her boyfriend if she'd just vanished. That didn't seem like it could work to him. "B-but she's gone, so, so, so, I looked for her h-here." Harold detailed. "Silly i-idea, now t-that I think about it." He added with a sheepish smile that was direct just over the shoulder of the girl he'd met, refraining from eye contact for now. "I-I didn't find her." Harold finished, rather redundantly as he wiped blood from his face.

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words| 572
tagged| Andrea / Mandee
notes| hey look! a post!

[Andrea Rose Watson]

He jerked back when she went for his ankle, which at first she attributed to the pain, but then saw the look on his face. He was staring at her warily, almost as if he didn't trust her. Andrea got the message pretty easily - She wouldn't be doing that again, at least without warning. Still, she needed some way to find out just how she was injured so that she could best treat the injury.

Her eyes widened when Harold rose to his, and she shot up to her feet as well, standing in a position so that she could catch him if he happened to fall over. She smiled when she saw that he could retain his balance, and at the fact that he seemed almost prideful of this fact. She looked closely at Harold's eyes, making sure that he did not have unequal pupils, as that would be a sign of a concussion. An injured ankle was bad enough, but a concussion could result in far more dangerous complications. Taking out her cell phone, she proceeded to call her mother. "Hey, Mom? Can you send someone out here to the Ravine? There's an injured young man out here. Probable ankle sprain, a few cuts and scrapes, and possibly a concussion. I think he's alright, but I also think that he should be checked out just in case."[/color] A pause, followed by a smile from Andrea. "Thanks Mom. Yes, I'll talk to you later. Bye."[/color]

She turned her attention to the boy in front of her. He looked to be doing as decently as he could be for someone who took a tumble off of a cliff, but she didn't want to take any chances with his safety. She was thorough when it came to her job, even if it wasn't exactly her job anymore. In fact, she normally would not have approached Harold so easily, but she meant business, and that meant that it was a lot easier to communicate with Harold. "I'm sure you will be alright, but we should probably get you an x-ray just to make sure. Why don't you take a seat and get off of that ankle?"[/color] Yes, it was great that he could walk on it, but he'd clearly injured it, and too much movement could cause the injury to worsen. Plus there was the simple fact that walking on it had to hurt more for him too! He didn't need to cause himself pain to prove that he could do it...

Andrea's eyes widened a little when Harold mentioned Alice. She, too, knew an Alice. "The Alice with the llama?"[/color] She mused more to herself than anyone else, though felt a bit silly for saying it. Nevertheless, she'd only met Alice once, and it had been at the amusement park with a stuffed llama. The fact that said 'Alice' was gone only cemented the deal, as Andrea realized that Alice had moved back to Australia. Apparently this boy didn't understand that, or didn't know. She noted that he refrained from making eye contact with her, and finally came to the conclusion that the reason for his strange behavior may have nothing to do with his injury at all. Choosing not to address the Alice crisis, especially with Harold already in distress, Andrea decided to take another route. "What is your name?"[/color]

Word count: 588
To: Dante/Harold
Notes: Took long enough for me to do this. XD

[Harold James Greyson]

When this strange new girl picked up her phone, and when she called for help, everything changed. No longer was Harold standoffish, he began to look downright hostile. A mix of fear, pain and anger was evident in his eyes, and the big, well-muscled boy tensed visibly. He was NOT going to the hospital. Not on his life. His parents would take him away, and this was his last chance! He had to escape this girl, however good and well-meaning she truly was. He had to get away! He look down along the ravine, his mind racing. How could he do it?

When in a panic like this, Harold's mind got oddly clear. He had a few options to him. He could run through the bush behind him. He could go back down the ravine. He could fight this girl, but that would cause more problems. Or, he could run along the ravine and then into the bush. Either way, he needed to get out of here! He watched her in mild horror as she hung up, and then his eyes narrowed as she spoke to him again. "No." His voice came out in a menacing growl that spooked even him.

His face lightened briefly when she asked about Alice with the llama. He nodded, but that was it. He turned on heel, pulled a large branch off a tree in some semblance of a walking stick, and bolted off. Using it as something between a machete and walking stick to go at a surprising rate. He was used to running from bullied who hurt him, the pain was awful and he'd rather not run, but he HAD to. The girl didn't know what she had just possibly done to him, and a girl so doctor-ish as this would be likely to call back and say it was okay. So, like a hunted animal, Harold fled.

He ran along the edge of the ravine briefly, then ducked into the brush. He tripped, fell, forced himself back up, and kept going. When he looked back and saw the general path of destruction he caused, he veered back out along the ravine, until reaching a footpath and scrambling in along it. He tripped and fell and the pain was awful, the scrapes accumulating, but he kept going. Eventually, he came to a group of trees that had fallen, in a fire or something. There was a space between them and he squirmed in under, hidden perfectly from view, save for the stick he torn off the tree poking out, and a shoe that he'd unknowingly left behind at the entrance to the footpath he'd run down.

And so there Harold lay, hidden save for that stick, laying in mind and bugs under several dead trees. He was lucky to have found this spot, but also frustrated. Why couldn't he just have a normal day? He felt like an outlaw! And if he wasn't so frustrated, he might have noted the thought "I feel like an outlaw" was a simile with something other than numbers - something he didn't often do.

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words| 552
tagged| Andrea / Mandee
notes| run away!

[Andrea Rose Watson]

Making sure that Harold was alright was of utmost importance to her right now, and, to her, that meant ensuring that he was properly cared for. Yes, she was capable of treating patients herself, but the kind of nursing that she practiced was somewhat outdated, not to mention it wouldn't be considered 'real treatment'. If this boy could get treated by medical professionals who had the licenses to back them up, that would be best. Andrea was fine with doing medical treatments for RSOR members who couldn't seek out other options, but she preferred not to take this direction with someone who she could direct to her mother and her coworkers.

At least, that was what she thought until Harold snarled a 'no' at her. The force that he used surprised her, and she took a step back. The phone was still in her hand, and she let her arm fall to her side as she pondered what to do next. She smiled a little when she saw his face lighten, his nod to her question about Alice...and then he bolted.

He bolted, on a clearly injured ankle. She instantly thought to call out his name, but then remembered that she didn't even know his name. "Hey!"[/color] She shouted out, running after him. "You shouldn't run...you're going to make your injuries worse!"[/color] The problem was that Harold could run a lot faster than she could, even with his injuries. It didn't help that she was wearing sandals. Sandals made it next to impossible to run in any way that was considered effective when trying to pursue someone. She thought she'd lost him (which would actually result in something worse for Harold, as she'd planned to call authorities in that case, since she didn't trust this guy on his own) when she saw his shoe laying on a footpath. Andrea opted to continue down the path. If she'd gone down this path at night she would have been spooked out of her mind, but in the bright daylight it wasn't bad at all. Plus, she needed to find Harold.

Nearing Harold's hiding spot (which she had yet to find), Andrea sighed in frustration, looking down at the phone in her hand once more. She was about to call a search party when she noted an odd looking stick poking out of a bunch of old trees that appeared to have been cut down. Frowning, Andrea placed a phone call once more. "Mom? Nevermind my last call...yes, I'm sure. It was just a twisted ankle, I think. Yes, I'll see you at dinner. Love you."[/color] Andrea hung up the phone and approached Harold's hiding spot. "You can come out now. The doctors aren't coming."[/color] She informed him, putting two and two together and realizing just why he'd run the way that he had. The look on his face when she mentioned what she'd done was unmistakable. He was running not from her, but from the prospect of going to the doctors. And forcing him to do so wasn't going to make things any easier for anyone. "You really shouldn't have run though...that could have made your ankle worse. Though...I will say it showed that at least you could run on it."[/color] Andrea couldn't help but comment with a small smile. Now, she just had to hope that he could still run on it...

Word count: 597
To: Dante/Harold
Notes: Run Harold Run! -Said like -Run Forrest Run-

[Harold James Greyson]

i139.photobucket.com/albums/q319/Dante_Chris/Charrie%20Pics/haroldbanner.jpg

Not only did a hiding Harold feel like an outlaw, after a moments contemplation in his little hole, he felt like a animal, chased down, hunted. Was it too much to ask to live a normal life? Was it? Was it really? He couldn't let this happen, so he had to run like an outlaw and hide like an animal to live like a person. That sort of connection was a rare one for Harold, but it didn't make him feel much better. The girl had seemed nice, and he's run away. But Alice had been nice, too, and she had run away....just like him? So was he bad? No! He had a lot to lose. hung up, and then his eyes narrowed as she spoke to him again. "L-lots..." He whispered to himself. hung up, and then his eyes narrowed as she spoke to him again. "To lose." He nodded, but no sooner had he whispered did he hear footsteps, and he tensed, begging the girl not to find him. He'd lose his fight, his freedom, if she did...

Or would he? She walked right past his hiding spot - he could see her shoes, and he could hear her. She was talking about sending people away. Not him, but...other people. Was she, perhaps, having mercy on him? He saw her face a moment later, and blinked, shock, confusion - but also relief - on his face. He crawled out, covered in dirt and general muck, as well as his cuts and scrapes. He looked like an over sized wild boy, rather than a student of an upstanding boarding school. Still on his knees, he spoke to her; this time with no hostility. His eyes narrowed as she spoke to him again. "Promise?" She could feasibly be lying, but Harold liked to think that people told the truth more than they told a lie, given he couldn't always tell the difference and he always assumed the good in people. "I-I hope you promise." He said, trying to create a tone of warning.

Harold said nothing to her next words, and instead focused on standing. Sharp pain ran up and down his leg, emanating from his ankle and he winced. Running had definitely not helped too much, but his leg didn't give in. If he stood on it long enough, he hoped it would just go numb and he'd forget about it - and so would this girl. She just came in here and....and...asked if he was okay.

Well....that wasn't so bad. It was interfering, but it wasn't bad interfering. Now that Harold thought about it, he might have done the same thing himself. "I'm Harold. W-who are y-you?" He blurted out, then stood about, swinging his arms rather awkwardly, as though he hadn't gone off a cliff and running through the bush like a madman just moments before.

------------------
words| 535
tagged| Andrea / Mandee
notes| finally~

[Andrea Rose Watson]

This wasn't at all what Andrea would have expected to come out of the day. She hadn't even expected to be anywhere near the ravines, but for the yelp that she'd heard...the yelp that she now knew came from Harold.

Fortunately, they were away from imminent danger as far as she could tell. They were no longer near any steep cliffs that could result in a plunge. Andrea was no fan of heights on a good day. A fall like the one that Harold suffered would be her worst nightmare come true, yet Harold appeared to be taking it in stride. So many things about Harold confused her, yet she admired his ability to shrug off, for the most part, what happened. It seemed as though it wasn't the injury bothering him so much as the thought of doctors. She'd seen a great many patients back in the day, but she'd never met one quite like Harold.

When Harold asked if she promised, Andrea nodded. "I promise. If you don't want to see a doctor, you don't have to. I-I could bandage it up a bit if you want."[/color] In reality, she had the right amount of training to do it. Harold might not want to see a doctor, but she did want him to receive treatment. The fact of the matter was that he'd sustained quite the injury, and without something to support his ankle the risks of injuring himself were actually greater. She wouldn't be doing her job if she didn't, though she wanted him to know that he had every right to refuse treatment if he wanted to. "Why don't you like doctors, if you don't mind me asking? You don't have to answer...I'm just curious."[/color] Andrea questioned the senior. She knew she'd have to tread carefully with this boy, but she still wanted as many answers as she could gather.

The fact that he was introducing himself at last was certainly a step in the right direction (and if he decided to bolt again, she could call out his name this time!). "Andrea Watson. It's a pleasure, Harold."[/color] She stated with a small smile, trying her best to make sure that it looked reassuring. Not only did Andrea put a lot of effort into such things anyway, but after everything that happened it seemed like the right thing to do. Especially if she wanted to keep Harold's trust. If she wanted to give him proper treatment and make sure that he was no worse for the wear, she needed that trust.

Word count: 444
To: Dante/Harold
Notes: This one's a shorty.