OOM: In the hospital, part II

The next time she appears to Aaron, Lilly’s a bit gentler about how she shows up. She’s shocked the hell out of him, now she needs to talk to him. At first, she’s just a shimmer in the air a few feet from the bed and then gradually, she becomes more or less visible.

“Hi, Mr. Echolls.”

Aaron’s staring at her, his eyes wild, but the machines aren’t going off. Good.

“Remember me? I know it’s been a couple years, but I thought this face-“ she gestures towards the blood dripping down her cheek “-might still ring a bell.”

“I must be hallucinating,” Aaron says, mostly to himself. “That’s all. It has to be the drugs or something.”

Lilly rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, or you ate something funny, got hit on the head, whatever. Sorry. This is real. As real as the beating and the broken wrist my friend Pete gave you. You remember him? British guy, likes tea? Of course, you probably remember the sword and the ass-kicking more than the inexplicable fondness for Earl Grey.”

Aaron’s looking a little pale now, and shooting nervous glances at the door.

“Oh, no worries,” Lilly says cheerfully. “He’s not here. Not right now, at least. This is quality you-and-me time.”

Aaron swallows hard.

“Are you…” he trails off, his voice raspy and not entirely steady, “why are you here?”

“Duh!” Lilly laughs, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You killed me, asshole. I’m here for vengeance.”

Aaron’s even whiter now, and the EKG is showing some interestingly spiky patterns.

“What are you going to do to me?”

Lilly tilts her head, looks thoughtful.

“You know, I haven’t really decided yet? It’s just that there are like, so many options, and I’ve always been terrible at making up my mind. I’ll probably just see if I can pull off my top five.”

She moves closer to the bed, concentrating all her energy on making her right hand as solid as possible.

“Also, if you’re wondering what exactly a ghost can do to you, there’s something you should know.”

Lilly reaches out, touches Aaron’s hand with one icy finger, and gives him a smile that’s even colder.

“I can do anything I want to you, and there’s not a single fucking thing you can do to stop me.”

The EKG spikes, the machines erupt in beeping noises again, but Lilly doesn’t move, her eyes still fixed on Aaron’s.

“I’m going to be watching you, Aaron. Every second. You don’t mind, right? You’re a movie star. You love being watched. Word of advice, though. Don’t piss off this audience any more than you already have. Your career’s not the only thing that could suddenly commit suicide.”

Lilly slides her finger up Aaron’s hand towards his IV, still smiling, and then slowly lets herself fade as a nurse enters the room. The nurse is young and pretty, but Aaron never takes his eyes off the spot where Lilly had been.

OOM: Leaving Neptune

The next time Aaron wakes up, Lilly’s leaning over him again, smiling. She only gets as far as “What up-” before the EKG machine practically explodes.

After the nurses leave, Sheriff Lamb comes in to formally discuss the charges, and Lilly pops into view just behind his shoulder, blows on his neck, and watches Aaron’s eyes widen as Lamb complains about the cold draft in the room.

She lets a day or so go by with no appearances, until Aaron’s lawyer comes in to discuss the case. He asks Aaron for information to use against the Kanes, to discredit them and take away sympathy for the victim. Aaron snorts.

“That should be easy enough,” he replies. “Lilly Kane was a bitch and a wild child, and everyone knew-”

“Um, excuse me?” Lilly says in Aaron’s ear, and takes immense satisfaction in the way he starts and falls back into bed, his face going white. The lawyer’s staring at him.

“Tell him you think it’s wrong to speak ill of the dead,” Lilly says brightly. “Otherwise you might find out just how much of a bitch I can be.”

Aaron doesn’t say exactly that, but he stutters something along the lines of not wanting to go that way, and the lawyer leaves disgusted.

The day after that, Aaron’s well enough to walk to the bathroom. He unzips his fly, and glances up to see Lilly’s bloody reflection in the mirror.

“Oh, look at that mess,” Lilly clucks from behind him. “Terrible aim there, Aaron. You really need to be more precise when you’re working with such a small instrument.”

The cops come, talk to him, and when one of them asks him for his version of events Lilly can see the wheels turning in his head. She concentrates on her hand again, and draws an icy finger across his throat. The wheels lock up, and Aaron has nothing to tell them.

It’s exhausting, fading and materializing all the time. Lilly’s head is killing her… which, not surprising as it killed her once already, but still painful. She’s sick to death of hospital rooms and cops and spending all her time with the guy who killed her.

And then a day or so later, she hears the cops talking. Aaron’s been indicted, and from their conversation, it’s clear they believe completely in his guilt. Even Sheriff Lamb has to admit that Keith Mars was right, and when she hears him back down… Lilly realizes it’s over. Duncan’s safe.

There are a few stops on her way, but it’s almost no time at all before Lilly’s standing in front of Veronica’s bedroom door again, more than ready to return to Milliways. She’s done in Neptune.

It’s time to go home.