It's early afternoon, an ordinary day really. Andrea has the day off, Chrissie has her accounts though. Andrea has promised not to make said accounting impossible. She has things she ought to be doing anyway, like paying bills, checking up on her father, cleaning out her car. Nothing major, but life's little chores pile up if you don't stay on top of them.

So when her phone rings and it's her father's number, she doesn't think much of answering it. She was going to check up on him anyway. She isn't expecting what she gets when she answers with her usual, underemphatic Hey. Chrissie's the only one who gets her calls answered with genuine enthusiasm.

It's Andrea's mother. "I think you'd better get over to the hospital to meet us. I'm in an ambulance with your father."

"What? What the hell did you do to him?" Andrea blurts. So much for an ordinary day.

"I didn't do anything. So far the police seem to think it's gang related. Drive by while he was coming out of the grocery store with me. He shoved me out of the way." Adel informs her daughter. It's what Payne would do, even if the woman wasn't pregnant.

Andrea swears softly. "I'll be there at the emergency room in ten minutes." Yes Andrea will drive like a bat out of hell, at least unlike some people in Bayfield she has a strobe light she can throw on her dash to do this.

She texts Chrissie. The girl deserves to know their dinner plans are probably shot to shit to say the least.

Will be at hospital. Dad's been shot. Call when I know more. 'A'

Tragically for Chrissie it's the sort of text she's not even surprised to get. People in her life seem to have an awful penchant for this kind of thing. The only weird part is it's not from Nic. Nic's always getting on the receiving end of a bullet.

She doesn't like Andrea's father, not at all, but that doesn't really mean he deserves to get shot. Well. Maybe he does. But Chrissie's not about to make that kind of call. Anyway, it's Andrea's father. Andrea cares about him. Therefore shooting him is not cool.

Chrissie sighs. She is doing accounts, there's a giant nasty pile of bills on the counter in front of her. They almost make as-it-were psychopath father-in-laws getting shot seem exciting. Almost but not quite. All of Chrissie's uncharitable thoughts get squished under her need for Andrea not to get hurt.

She texts back after a minute, Kay. Lemme know if you need me. <3

Then she goes back to her bills.

Dunno. Mom's with him. Thanks.

There's a lot of sitting around and waiting when Andrea gets to the hospital. She reads fast and there are plenty of magazines though. Her dad is rushed into the O.R. and Adel is the one back there in the little observation area. Andrea should've been there. She could probably heal it. Too bad she can't go back and interupt to do so in the middle of unnish central.

He's in surgery for four hours. At least Andrea isn't sitting in a waiting room with her mother, yet.

Chrissie could just smack Andrea sometimes, really she could. 'Dunno' is really not a helpful answer in this kind of situation. You need people or you don't and if you're pretending you don't know, well, you're doing just that. Pretending.

She calls her sister, though, and finishes her accounts. Penelope shows up around four. She's definitely rocking the whole 'pregnant glow' crap. Chrissie's jealous as hell.

"Thanks for coming baby," she presses a kiss to Penny's cheek. "You can close as six. I don't imagine anything interesting'll happen in the meanwhile."

She drives her awful mauve car to the hospital.

Andrea's fine, well she's terrified of Adel really. But it's hard to say if there'll be a confrontation or not.

So far not. Andrea has read nine issues of Time, four National Geographic, and two Cosmos. Some of that is just ridiculous. She's reading a reader's digest when Chrissie shows up. They have jokes in those.

She's trying to remain calm. The doctor's aren't saying shit though. And supposedly when this all started out it was going to be easy to get the bullet out.

Chrissie looks presentably worried. It's impressive, actually. It's a perfect balance between calm and in control and upset about Payne getting shot.

Of course she's wearing something totally nuts and inappropriate for anything besides sex and clubbing, but it's Chrissie, of course she is. Her heels tap out a beat on the waiting room floor. Even if Andrea wasn't magically entwined with the girl she'd know she was approaching just from the sound of her shoes.

"I came," Chrissie's standing in front of Andrea now, looking down at her and her Reader's Digest. "That okay?"

Andrea looks up cheeks red from the choice of words here. Andrea has a filthy mind. "Uh, yeah. I don't know anything yet. They said it should take a couple hours and that was four hours ago. My mother's back there. I'm avoiding her. She's the one that called me."

Chrissie can't help but smirking at that, just briefly, she really didn't mean it that way. Andrea needs to haul herself out of that gutter. Chrissie sits down beside her.

"Fair enough."

Mothers are a very avoidable group if you ask Chrissie, and since Andrea seems to think her mother is worse than her father Chrissie's not really interested in meeting the woman. That's a whole fucking lot of crazy.

She rests her hand on top of Andrea's, just for a fleeting second. It's a PDA after all.

Andrea must be more shook up than she's letting on because she moves to catch Chrissie's hand anyway. "They have a good description of the shooter. My mom was there. I think I know the guys." She sounds really unhappy. Still your dad doesn't go off the heads of two gangs and have a charmed life afterwards.

Chrissie gives it a reassuring squeeze, although she's aware there's only so useful she can be under the circumstances. She keeps holding on, though. It's the least she can do.

"Well, that's something anyway."

Something as in they can always make sure those guys wish they'd never been born. Or... arrest them or whatever it is cops are supposed to do. Chrissie doesn't really keep up with legal methods of justice.

Andrea nods. She'll get them, one way or another. That's just how Andy is. It's her dad. She holds onto Chrissie's hand. "Thanks." She says.

Chrissie strokes at the side of Andrea's hand with her thumb. Poor girl. It's a miserable situation to be in, really it is. She remembers it. She can empathise. Andrea can probably feel that.

"No problem."

They sit like that for about a half an hour and an orderlie comes to tell them they're moving Mr. Shaker up to the fourth floor but don't know a room number yet.

Chrissie comes over her absolute slinkiest, sweetest and most exposed. The strap of her dress slides down her arm and the amount of visible cleavage increases. The orderly assures the girls he'll let them know just as soon as he finds out the room number.

Which is about ten minutes later and he also lets Andrea know her mother is already up there. Andrea looks sort of green at that.

Chrissie squeezes her hand a little tighter.

Andrea squeezes back. "Can you meet me up there, by the elevators. I ate way too many swedish fish out of the vending machine." Andrea never eats candy. It was out of nervousness, she's about to pay for it. She's sure Chrissie would walk with her to the lavatory, but she'd rather not puke in front of her girlfriend.

Andrea's a nervous puker, poor girl. Chrissie just doesn't. Puke. Ever. Not even when she's got the flu. It wouldn't be pristine. Chris is always pristine.

"Yeah, of course."

She gives Andrea a quick hug. It's friendly. Not really PDA. It's chill.

Sometimes her magic makes her sick too, but only when she kills people. That hasn't happened in months. Andrea makes a dash for it.

Chrissie goes on ahead up the elevator.

Payne's room is across the hall from the elevator.

There's a loudish conversation going on in there.

"Payne seriously, how the fuck did you let her wind up in a gang anyway?" Adel is asking.

"You left Del. She lost it."

"Don't you think you should have reigned her in?" Adel blurts.

"What did you think would happen?"

"I thought you'd get a handle on it and make sure she kept so engrossed in dance school that she wouldn't notice I was gone until she was in Julliard you asshole. The kid wanted to be a ballerina when I left. Now she's a cop?" Adel's voice sounds a lot like Andy's.

"Shit happens.....?"

"Fuck you. I did not sell enough pot to buy Cuba paying for dance schools for you to do this." She says.

The elevator dings then and then there's a hush. They heard it with Chrissie too but when they didn't hear anyone head towards the room they resumed talking. Now there are a few seconds of silence, which is good because Andrea just stepped off the elevator.

Chrissie does her usual thing of pretending she didn't hear whatever it was. Which is good because really she's having a hard time processing that. It'll settle in after a few minutes, no doubt, but it's a bit incongruous.

"You okay?" she murmurs when Andrea gets off the elevator.

Andrea nods. "You got any gum?" She asks. She missed it. She reaches for Chrissie's hand.

Chrissie takes her hand.

"Lover," she says, gently, "no, I don't have any gum." It's Chrissie. Of course she has no gum. "I can go get you some if you want, though. I've got mints?"

"Just something that doesn't taste like regurgitated swedish fish. What the hell was I thinking....." she doesn't expect an answer.

Chrissie digs out a tin of organic mints and offers her one silently. She's got an answer but she figures Andrea already knows it and doesn't need it.

Andrea gives Chrissie's hand another squeeze. "I've got to go in there."

Chrissie nods.

"Shall I wait here?"

"I won't make you come in there. I know you aren't fond of him." Andrea says.

Chrissie just gives Andrea a look. Her eyes are bright turquoise, a few shades lighter than pool blue.

"I'll come in," she tells Andy.

So Andrea holds onto her hand and then heads to the door.

Payne is propped up in the bed with Adel holding his hand. She hardly looks like a psychopath. Trashy, but not crazy. She only nods at the girls. Payne greets them, tells his daughter he'll be fine.

Andrea cries anyway, but without any sort of noise. There's just tears.

He's been shot, Chrissie's temporarily less scared of him. He doesn't look like he's about to jump up and slaughter anyone. The mother just looks, well, like she could outslut Chrissie. Chrissie would get paid more, mind.

Chrissie gets her arms around Andrea and holds her tight to her chest. It's fair game she figures, if Andrea's already crying.

Andrea doesn't stop her. Payne frowns and looks pained. Adel doesn't do much of anything. There are things she doesn't agree with, but gay apparently doesn't even register on the Adel offendometer.

Which is probably good because right now Chrissie's not in the mood to take any crap from anyone, least of all Andrea's parents. And no one wants to see Chrissie try and strangle Adel with the IV tubing. She wouldn't really, of course. The woman's pregnant.

Since Adel doesn't look like she's about to start anything Chrissie just holds Andrea, hands stroking carefully at her back.

Adel gets up and tells Payne she'll be back in a bit then excuses herself. The man won't be alone, and Adel gets Andrea's been avoiding her with good reasons.

"Come sit," Chrissie murmurs, once Adel's gone. Chrissie's not sure her own mother would stay in the same room with her at this point, no matter who it was as got shot. She gently guides Andrea to the chair beside the bed.

Andrea's pretty docile and goes with this. Payne nods at Chrissie.

"Does it hurt much?" Andrea asks her father.

"It's fine. They've got me on stuff for the pain. It was only muscle tissue. They were afraid they might bang into my lung getting it out though. So it took longer." He explains taking one of Andrea's hands.

Chrissie pulls up another chair and sits down in it, taking Andrea's other hand. She's personally not necessarily enjoying being in such close vicinity to Payne, but she's handling with reasonable amounts of grace.

No one's going to get pushy about it with her. Payne thinks she's good for Andy. Adel likely does too since she's not making a scene.

Well Adel is making a scene but it's got nothing to do with her family and everything to do with the rocks the cafeteria two floors down is trying to pass off as brownies.

Chrissie doesn't really have much to say to Payne, mind. She just gives Andrea's hand another squeeze.

Andrea assures herself her father is going to live even if she doesn't heal him and then Adel is back. Payne's nodded off to sleep.

Andrea offers her mother the chair back. Adel shakes her head and softly points out, she doesn't have a ride home after riding here in the ambulance.

Andrea does not feel like riding anywhere in a car with her mother, and no way in hell is she going to make Chrissie give the woman a lift. "You can take my car, but one scratch on it, and I will skin you alive." Andrea tells the woman.

Adel nods. There's no fire in the threat, but Adel won't fuck up the car. She's not mad at Andrea these days. Just Payne really.

This of coarse means that Andrea is going to be leaving in a certain Mauve car in all likelyhood.

"She can borrow mine," Chrissie points out. She knows that her girlfriend is not at all fond of her car. Which is sad really, Chrissie loves her car. She just wishes she hadn't jinxed it that one time. She's wretchedly bad at jinxes and she can't work out how the fuck to undo it. And even Chrissie gets tired of perpetually having to listen to the top 100 list, loudly. It might be funny to make Adel though.