Ariella made a face. She thought she had been doing alright. She hadn't hit any cars and had only crashed into a lamppost. That was a lot better than what it could have been. She thought she had been doing alright given the circumstances. And she did not appreciate him insinuating otherwise. "I thought I did fine," she grumbled under her breath.
"Please, just call me Ella. Calling me Ms. makes me sound old." And she was not old. By Earth's time and date, she had about another month until her twenty-fifth birthday. That wasn't old yet. "And no, I don't." It technology wasn't a lie. She didn't know who was in the other car but she knew who they worked for and that was enough for her to run when they chased instead of putting up a fight. It was their version of a cartel. Only so much worse than anything the humans could have done.
Marc snickered softly but didn't comment on her driving again. Though he had made up his mind not to visit America if they all drove like she did.
“Well, if you don't know their names, that’s fine but did you notice anything about them that could help us identify them?” he inquired. “Or any idea why they were chasing you?”
Ariella was really not prepared to answer any of these questions. And while she was usually good at lying ger way out of things, her head still pouding and it was impairing her judgment. "I had something they wanted." For obvious reasons, she couldn't tell hom what they looked like. She wasn't sure what they would look like to him versus her. She saw their true form but there some sort of magic or other that hid what other species truly looked like to humans.
Marc looked back up at her from his notebook and raised a brow. That was actually pretty specific… and might help them catch the others involved. “And this… thing, would it be something still with your personal items?” he pressed.
"I don't have it anymore." Ariella had sent it with the others. She had nothing on her person other than her small knife she used to draw blood for the portals. Though she supposed that had been confiscated. Which was annoying because she had liked that knife. She was sure she should find something in this room to use instead. Blood was the price that had to be paid to open a portal. And it was a price she didn't mind paying.
Marc hummed, choosing to believe her for now. “But they may not know that. Is that part of the reason why you want to leave so quickly? Because they might come after you?” he assumed gently. It wouldn't surprise him really. If the people in the other car were willing to crash Ariella to get what she had, then a second “attack” wouldn't be unlikely.
Yes and no. Ariella fully believed they would retaliate. Even if they knew she didn't have the orb they might very well come for her simply because she slipped their grasp. And because she knew of it. They didn't know that she had no idea of the importance. But it had to be important enough to want to kill her for it. Fortunately, she was proven to be hard to kill. But this man was assuming she was a damsel in distress. She might be able to use that. "Yes," she said quietly. Technically the truth. "And it's hard not to he suspicious when I didn't get a good look at any of them. I don't know who's after me." Then she squinted her eyes at him. "I don't think I ever caught your name."
“Ah, forgive me. That was my fault. My name is Malone. Marcus Malone.” he answered as he realized she was right. As an extra assurance, he took out his police ID and showed it to her.
“Now, I don't blame you for being concerned but, if you'd like, I can arrange to have an officer stand guard until the hospital staff discharges you.” he offered, fairly sure that he would end up taking a shift there too.
Ariella leaned forward as much as the cuff would let her and examined the badge. She stared at it perhaps a little longer than necessary then laid back down once she was satisfied. She didn't particularly want a someone to stand guard for her until she was discharged. She just wanted to go.
"What will you do with me once I am discharged?" She wanted to know if she was being arrested. She likely was but she prayed otherwise. She was not in the mood to escape police custody. While she'd done it before, ger head was still throbbing, even if jt wasn't as bad as before, and her broken nose was painful to every slight movement. She had to breathe out of her mouth and even just talking caused some pain.
Marc let her stare. He was quite proud of the ID, silly little thing though it may be. He had worked hard to earn it. “Well, I’m afraid there will be a fine for the destruction of public property and reckless driving. And you may have to appear in court.” he admitted professionally. “At least, we have proof that you weren't drunk but the rest is up to you. If you can help us find the people who were chasing you and might make another attempt, things might go over easier.” he coaxed.
A fine was a lot better than being arrested. And she would be long gone before any of that came to court. Satisfied, her lips pulled up in a small smile. This was going a lot easier than she had initially thought. "So," she drawled, "If I'm not under arrest can you take the handcuffs off now? And do you think I could get my clothes back? And my knife?" She doubted she would get her knife back but it was worth a try.
Marc chuckled a little at Ariella’s tone but shrugged. “I can take the cuffs off but your clothes and any other personal belongings are being held by the hospital. Which means they likely won't give them back until they’re satisfied with your recovery.” he admitted as he pulled out the key. “And you’ll still have the guard outside your door.” he added with a wink, suspecting that she’d still try to escape.
Ariella pulled a face as he mentioned the hospital had her clothes. She wanted those back. They were the only pair she had. And she couldn't very well call someone to bring her clothes. She didn't have anyone. Especially not on this side of the ocean. She didn't have any money either to buy new clothes. She was relying on the hospital to not mess up her things.
She was also not very happy with having a guard outside her door. She was hoping to be able to slip out and leave. She had things to do, places to be. But instead of pulling another face, she said with a sultry voice, "You know, if you ever want to use handcuffs, all you have to do is ask."
Marc gave her a sympathetic look as he took off the cuffs. “I wouldn't worry too much. The hospital staff usually takes pretty good care of their patient's things. At least they didn't have to cut your clothes off.” he added.
He blinked, freezing for a moment at the unexpected remark, and looked at her in surprise before shaking his head. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m still on duty.” he managed to smirk. “Besides that would be a conflict of interest as long as your case is ongoing.”
Well, that was good new to Ariella. Her clothes should be in mostly decent shape. She only hoped they didn't have too much blood on it. She hadn't bled much from what she could see other than the nose. Perhaps she got lucky and it didn't stain her collar but she doubted that. Hopefully she woukd be able to get a new shirt as soon as she was out of here.
Her face lit up in a grin as he responded to her flirt. "Oh, come now, don't be like that. I won't tell if you don't, and I'm very good at keeping secrets." She was getting out of this one way or another. "And what's wrong with a little risk. You might find you enjoy it."
This time he did chuckle but shook his head. “I am well familiar with risk and, yes, there are times when it’s worth it. But right now, this is my work, and because of my own history, I can't take that risk.” he admitted, pulling back with cuffs in his hand. “But I will be seeing you again, Ariella.” he smiled politely back as he turned towards the door.
Ariella looked him up and down as she rubbed her wrist. Her eyes slowly traveled the length of him with a satisfied look in her eyes. Pretty men truly were her weakness and this was a pretty man. She was almost disappointed he didn't take her up on it. And even more so that he was leaving.
She raised her hand and gave him a little finger wave. "Hmm, will you be my guard, Mister Malone? Or is someone else taking up the duty of standing outside this poor damsel who poses no threat." A lie she thinks they both know but she gave him an innocent enough look.
Marcus raised a brow as she sized him up but let it happen. She was certainly an attractive young woman even if she was trouble. “Oh, I’m sure I will be back sometime tonight.” he smirked. “Though I think your skill at driving makes you less of a damsel than you claim.” he teased, quickly closing the door behind him as he exited the room.
Ariella huffed out a laugh before wincing as she moved her nose too much. She let out a quiet groaned as her head flopped back on the pillow. She quickly regretted that as it sent a wave of pain through her head. She made a quiet moan as her headache began to spiral again. She needed stronger meds than what they had given her but even she knew there was a risk giving too much pain medicine to a concussed patient. And she'd had one enough in her life to know that she was concussed. The only question was how severe was it. Thankfully, her doctor came in shortly after Marcus left and explained her injuries. Broken nose, which she knew, and mild concussion, which she had suspected. The wanted to keep her over night to monitor the concussion to make sure it didn't get worse and then she would be discharged.
Marc smiled in relief when he heard Ariella laugh at his cheeky comment. A part of him had said that saying that would make her mad but… then again she was American. Maybe they appreciated that kind of humor a little more or were just less touchy about it. Or maybe it was just her and he got lucky. Either way, he walked out of the hospital in a fairly good mood. Despite the fact that he had such a slim lead to go on for this little case. It would certainly make things interesting.
Without much to do until they discharged her and gave her back her clothes, she decided to take full advantage of the hospital. They had free Healthcare right? She had a movie on the TV, one of the few things she missed about Earth. She had ordered food and was currently munching on a lagansa with garlic bread. England's hospitals had much better food than in America.
The rest of Marc’s day was fairly normal for a policeman. He had to report everything he now knew about Ariella’s case to his supervisor and was unsurprised when he was assigned to guard duty for her. At least he might get more information out of her… Hopefully.
It was late by the time he finally returned, relieving the current man on duty. Though he only knocked once the other officer was out of sight.
Ariella also got dessert after dinner that was so much better than terrible American pudding. She got a slice of chocolate sponge cake with ice cream. She almost didn't want to leave. She was enjoying herself too much. She even liked the nonslip hospital socks on her toes. She was watching a rerun of Harry Potter. She was in London, how could she not? If there wasn't a need to get back to her friends, she would have gone to visit platform 9¾. Alas, she couldn't this time.
She raised her head to look at the door as she heard a knock. She paused her movie before speaking. "Hello?" She really hoped she wasn't speaking out to a would be killer bur she doubted anyone sent to kill her would just knock on the door.
“It's just me.” Marc assured as he opened the door, to let her see. “I told you I would see you again.” he smiled, walking into the room and closing the door behind him. “Are you feeling better?”
Ariella hummed as he stepped back in. "Hmm, they always come back to me. I'm too irresistible." And cocky, apparently. But how could she not be? She was attractive enough and made up the rest with her confident personality. She shrugged her shoulders. "The headache is gone for the most part as long as I'm not near anything loud. The nose will heal by itself in a few weeks. Nothing much can be done for a broken nose."
