Reconnoiter || Guns N Roses, David Bowie, Bon Jovi

Reconnoiter: Fifteen

The lights came on, and there was some gasping. I suppose that was in order, but no one was really surprised until I sat up and revealed the monstrosity on my face, which was hot and throbbing at the moment.

Of course Axl looked the most surprised, still slightly pale from his sickness. Steven looked saddened as did Jon, Izzy looked kinda indifferent, and Slash looked at Axl the way one would look at a bomb before it explodes. Duff had his doctoring face on in an instant.

"So... no one cares if I crash here for a while, right? This couch is pretty comfortable, but... if not, I'll get a hotel. I just need money... for that." All that talking made my cut ooze a fresh spurt of blood, and Duff was at the cabinet in seconds. "That's gonna need my attention." Axl beat him to me, kneeling in front of me and gently pressing his fingers against my other cheek. "Calliope, what's wrong?" His eyes suggested he was more pissed off than I was.

"Relax, Axl. I'm fine, it's... just a little cut." Duff shook his head. "No, you got blood all over the throw pillows." Sure enough, the fabric was stained a dark red, almost brown. "Oh, sorry." Steven was approaching slowly, standing on the balls of his feet to see over Axl's shoulder. "Damn, did someone pull a box cutter on you?" Axl sent him a look of death, and he joined the other guys at the card table across the room.

"Calliope, what's going on?" Axl's voice was so firm, but I know it was because he cared. He was the opposite of everything Cap said he was, and it made my chest ache with sadness. I didn't want to hate Cap, but part of me did for what he'd done to me. I guess this was apparent on my face, because he clutched me tighter, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Who did this to you, tell me now."

"It's nothing," I whispered as Duff came and sat beside me with a suture tray in his hand. "Don't worry about me." My eyes were watering again. "Calliope, please." He was literally begging on his knees, but I couldn't. I just shook my head and looked away.

"I, uh... I'm gonna need to go ahead and stitch that up, unless you want a pretty ugly looking scar." Axl nodded him on, and stared hard at me. I couldn't look at him without feeling like a liar, so I just didn't look at him. "Uh... there's some Lidocaine in the cabinet there, I'm gonna need to numb this up for her. Could you get it?"

Axl's eyebrows dipped in confusion. "Why is there Lidocaine in the cabinet?" Duff just blinked at him, so Axl hauled himself up and retrieved a syringe. I didn't even flinch when Duff gently inserted the needle just above the cut, I'd been injected a few times in the last week. "I'm gonna throw a running whip stitch, which is usually used in surgery but'll be pretty useful to you now. Scarring-if any occurs, will be extremely minimal, and could easily be covered with makeup."

He snapped on some latex gloves and threaded his needle, which looked pretty sharp to me. It felt even worse when it was puncturing me face. "Ow," I whimpered, and Axl jumped to his feet again. "You're hurting her! Give her some more Lidocaine!" Duff sighed and ignored him. "This is why patient's loved ones aren't allowed in the room during treatment."

"I'm okay, I'm fine." I tried to assure Axl but he didn't believe me, of course. "No, you're not! You keep saying that, and you won't let me in! You won't tell me shit, and it's driving me insane!" I knew I was being unfair, but in my mind telling him would only start a war that couldn't possibly lead to a positive outcome for anyone.

Duff finished up and gently swabbed away the blood with an alcohol pad, before adhering a bandage to the wound. "Alright, I'm finished here." I stood quickly after thanking him and sped down the hall toward the bathroom. I knew Axl had more to say, but I frankly didn't wanna hear it. I locked myself inside the tiny and uncleanly place, turned on the cracked porcelain sink, and sat down on the floor. I thought I'd cried as much as one person could, but before I knew it my cheeks were soaking.