it shouldn't have been a dreaded day

[Devyn Solway]

It did feel wonderful, for a moment. Those small moments where Devyn's skin was not numb or had not been touched. However that was not fully the case anymore, as she started to feel less and less of her body. Hand in her hair, keeping her from going anywhere really; not that she would want to. Feeling great for a moment as Zoe's tongue explored her mouth, but soon was seeing it as a problem. She really could not feel it anymore and therefore could not move it back to kiss Zoe back as she would have liked to. In fact because of the numbness feeling Devyn didn’t feel in control at all, which was very odd to her. She was always in control, especially in this area involving someone else. Yet Zoe was calling the shots, making the moves, and Devyn was being turned on by it all yes, but at the same time she felt like she could not give her best even if she tried.

I can’t be in control. The realization along with the combined fact that she was losing feeling did not help. There was nibbling, but Devyn didn’t feel it, no way could she even nibbles Zoe's lip back. She could feel the fingers on her stomach, but not for long and soon was picking up that they really should stop. Yeah Devyn didn’t want to, but at the touch to her back and the hand remaining there, she was starting to not feel her legs, let along her back the longer Zoe kept her hand there and it spread. Devyn went to say something, but her tongue was still very much paralyzed, she could not speak. Oh shit. This was bad, this was very bad right? Devyn didn’t really feel fear, but now she might have been. There was definitely a lot of concern as the numbness seemed to just get worse over her body.

Hips rolled, Zoe's stomach touched hers and Zoe was letting out a gasp, and then arching into Devyn. How she wished she could actually feel all of that, but she couldn’t feel her legs starting to give out on her. Zoe moved around and pulled her against her again. Devyn's arms already having dropped from where they had been. Devyn wanted to at least convey it with her eyes but Zoe seemed to be lost in the lust and already moving to kiss her again, Devyn could not kiss back. Soon as their lips would touch Devyn's legs would just crumple beneath her. If Zoe was not able to grab and keep a hold of her she was going to hit the ground hard. Not that it mattered since she could not feel anything. She could not do anything, no moving, no talking, and she even felt like it was starting to become harder to breath as her eyes just fell shut. Am I going to die?

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The bliss continued for several moments, and for a while, Zoe thought that that was all that was going to happen: bliss. She'd gotten to kiss and touch her girlfriend as she'd imagined and only good had come of it. Zoe did not feel Devyn slackening, didn't really notice the other girl locking up. She could still feel the warmth, still feel that passion, even if it was quickly becoming more of a reflection of her own than anything that Devyn could muster on her own. Her hands moved about, still spreading that paralysis without really thinking about it all that much.

Arms dropped, lips stopped moving, then legs. Zoe gasped as she felt Devyn collapse, falling down with her, hitting the table hard. She barely noticed it however, instead recognizing what was happening to Devyn. Panic struck Zoe and she sprang forward, grabbing hold of her girlfriend, shaking her. She saw the breathing go shallow and lowered her lips, trying to breath air, only just remembering that her touching wasn't helping. Panicked, Zoe skittered away from Devyn's body, hearing the rasping as the other girl struggled for breath. She flung her arms about, seeking something. The table fell, scattering clothing about them as Zoe frantically surged. Eventually she dove for Devyn's body, yanking at the other girl's pants pocket. The phone slid out of Zoe's numbed fingers, as if her own paralysis had struck her. Zoe actually had to stop for a moment, remembering the American emergency number. her mind kept saying 999 or 112, but that wasn't it; it was some combination of the two... 911! Zoe frantically punched the numbers into Devyn's phone.

and she frantically began shouting into the phone, her panic choking her voice. The accent through the operator off too: British accents not exactly being common in Montana. However, as soon as the operator figured out the location, Bellefonte Academy, things started falling into place. There were special channels for the students of that school; all local operators knew this. Zoe kept exclaiming that she couldn't touch Devyn, couldn't check, and the operator didn't understand. they did understand a few things well enough: they needed to get those trained in dealing with these sort of situations there.

So they called for a Dr. Jason Campbell and a Dr. Ceanna Riggs. They were needed; they would be contacted through emergency contacts. There was even a hint that Dr. Campbell might be the only one that could really help, and that Dr. Riggs was the only one close enough to do what was needed.

Zoe knew that people were coming, and she knew that she had to stay there. She'd opened the door, and there were a few students already gathered, looking at the panicked, sobbing girl, wondering what the hell was going on, but ready to make way at the first sign of an authority figure.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna had been taking a much needed break, tired from having exploded the night before, and all she wanted to do was sleep. As her cell phone buzzed, she reluctantly rolled over, her bleary eyes focusing on the screen of her iPhone. KalispelleCACC it read, and her heart sunk. The only time they would be paging her was if there was an emergency and it was within school grounds. They knew she was the doctor on call, and she also knew that they needed to sort out a better response system on the campus.

"Hello...?" She mumbled, already swinging her legs over the side of her bed and pulling her pants up.

"Dr Riggs, we have report of a woman in distress in the Bellefonte Academy. The in formation from the caller is that they are located in the student laundry room. We are currently contacting Dr. Jason Campbell and Paramedics to scene." The woman on the other end obviously didn't know how this all worked here, probably new.

"No paramedics, as you can see I have medical guardianship over most of the students here. We are well equipped on site, and will handle it."

Her movements were faster, pulling the shirt over her head, and dragging her response bag from beneath her bed, glad that it was well stocked and ready to go at a moments notice. Turning off her phone, she started her response clock, strapping the phone into the front pocket on a strap, and opening her door to the school. She was nearby, that was thankful. But in a school where students could kill each other so easily, it was certainly where every second counted. Between the time of ordering the students to get out of the way and go somewhere else, and pushing her way into the Laundry room, Ceanna had her gloves on and was already dropped to her knees, not knowing her t-shirt was on inside out and backwards, and she was wearing a pair of shorts that were obviously not ready for the weather yet.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe stared as a pretty woman in mismatched clothing arrived. Zoe dimly recognized the woman as one of the medical staff. Zoe still clutched the phone, though she felt it sliding from her increasingly numb fingers. Voices came out from it, but Zoe couldn't quite make them out. Tears ran down her face, and she couldn't quite stop herself from sobbing. Zoe needed to speak; she knew that. The doctor had to know what had happened in order to fix it, and this needed fixing.

"Sh-sh-she---I-I-I," stammered Zoe. She fumbled. They'd given her an ID card and stuff with information. It was in her room. "I--" she swallowed; she needed to get out the words, even if her own throat felt as though it had been paralyzed. "I did that!' she pointed at Devyn, then moaned, running her hand over her head. "I--my touch; I paralyze, and---we," she fidgeted, "there was touching and--"

And she'd made it so that Devyn could hardly breathe. Zoe could hear the ragged breaths coming from her girlfriend now. Just hearing them made her sob again, her body retching. she wrapped her arms about her legs, curling up into a ball and rocking a little. "She can't breathe," she tried, her voice choked by tears and nearly covered by her knees, "I think I paralyzed her throat..." and Zoe shook with more sobs.

[Ceanna Riggs]

"Zoe, right?" Ceanna asked, having prided herself on learning what each student's powers were and the side effects. She was working, her hands opening her pack and pulling out a small black case. "Zoe, listen sweetheart. I need you to calm down, and I need your help. I need a second set of hands if I am going to help your friend here. What is her name?" Her voice was calm, measured, in the moment. But inside, she was panicking. If the paralisise made it much further, the girl's system could shut down, which wasn't fun. Unlike most doctor's, Ceanna had made sure that she had field training, able to work with limited supplies and in limited space. With a quick measure of her finger, she determined which oral pharyngeal airway she needed, and selected the green tipped one. 

"Zoe, in my bag is a clear thing that looks like a deflated football, I need you to get it out and put it together. The instructions are really easy. But I need you to do that while I open up your friend's airway here." Crouching by the brunette's head, Ceanna pushed her jaw up as high as she could, opening it so she could slip the opa in, turning it to go down the girl's throat. If it wasn't for the fact that she was numb, Ceanna was sure that she would have activated the girl's gag reflex, and that just wouldn't have been pretty. Pushing it in gently, she was thankful she didn't come to any resistance, and looked up at Zoe, holding out her hand for the bag valve mask that she had asked her to assemble. 

"Come one sweetheart, you need to work with me here. How long were you in contact with her? How far will this spread? I need to know so I know how much time we have to get her downstairs."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded; she was Zoe; that was an easy task to complete. Helping though, helping was definitely not so easy. The moment Dr. Riggs mentioned needing a second pair of hands, Zoe's head started shaking back and forth, "no's" already tumbling from her lips. "D-D-Devyn Sol-solway," she stammered, nodding to her friend. Another tremble hit her and she curled up again, her body shaking with the force of her tears. A command punctured into Zoe's haze and she moved, searching the bag. Nerves and frustration made her hands sloppy. Zoe dropped the bag a time or two, the numbness feeling as though it had spread further still. Somehow she managed to get the thing out, but she kept messing up its assembly. A groan of frustration left Zoe and she struggled with the thing again, jamming it against itself.

Work with her, questions. Zoe swallowed, looking up from her pathetic attempts at assembling the thing. Her lips moved, sounds leaving but not quite forming words. She swallowed, tasting her own tears and snot as both had started to flow down her face. She grabbed one of her random articles of clothing, a shirt, and wiped at her face, trying to get it cleared, trying to help.

"I-I--I don't know,' she stammered again, hiccuping, "a while? We were---" Zoe flushed, biting her lip and averting her eyes. This was medical: Dr. Riggs needed to know. "We were getting intimate and---and I was touching a lot... it might..." Zoe swallowed, feeling more tears. "I don't know how fast it spreads; I haven't---" she hadn't done a lot of training; she wasn't sure how her power worked. It certainly didn't work on command, else they wouldn't be in this situation. Zoe held up the whatever Dr. Riggs had asked for. "I can't get this," she said, nearly whimpering in frustration.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason hated the whole idea of being ‘on call’. It was expected of doctors as you never know what might happen but still, no one likes to be disturbed at all hours of the day and night. Especially when you’ve worked for hours already and could use some sleep. But if there were other doctors for an emergency, there were not a lot of healers. And so Jason managed to escape the normal emergencies but was the one to call whenever it involved a mutant. And let’s be honest, there could be a lot of those. Thankfully, Ceanna could usually deal with it on her own, as she was the school doctor and it was where most of the accidents happened. But every now and then, they needed more care. And it was when Jason was called.

Like today. He didn’t expect it and as he noticed who was paging him, he was half tempted not to reply. But with a sigh, he did. After all, they don’t call unless it was important. Jason couldn’t get much of what the woman said. But he did get the location and was asked to confirm no paramedics. No indeed. Clearly that girl had not been here for long. Even Jason who came back only last year knew better than to send them to the academy!

Jason drove as quickly as he could. He vaguely recalled where the laundry was but he knew he would need directions. Not that it was that hard to find though as a crowd formed. As he arrived, he noticed Ceanna was already there. Good, they could definitely sue both of them. Jason knew he currently had a small adrenaline rush because of the whole situation but he was weakened from his hours of work and so would crash pretty hard after healing someone.

He arrived seeing both Ceanna and Zoe trying to make a girl breathe. Alright, this was a real emergency. He crouched next to them. “What happened exactly?” he asked on a calm tone, not wanting to alarm any more people than there already was.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna barely glanced up, hearing Jason arrive, and shifting slightly to give him room. Confident that the airway would hold and not be rejected by the girl... Devyn, Zoe had said, Ceanna took the bag valve mask from the clearly distraught girl and snapped it together, pulling on the bag to make it inflate to appear like a small football. Securing the mask over Devyn's face, she gently squeezed the bag, helping the girl's lungs work, trying to keep in time to the steady beat of what was her natural breathing pattern. 

"Intimacy at it's worse... It's a paralysis affect, and it is spreading down Devyn's body. We don't know how far it reaches yet, as Zoe hasn't been fully tested." Looking up at Zoe, she smiled kindly, clearly good at switching between caring individual and analytical doctor. "Don't worry... I need you to breathe, okay Zoe? Can you do that for me sweetie? If you hyperventilate and pass out, one of us is going to have to take care of you, which means, we both aren't working on your girlfriend here. Can you do that for me dear?" Ceanna looked down, feeling along Devyn's shoulders, trying to remember what she had on file for the girl. 

Glancing across at Jason, she calmly spoke in a tone she hoped Zoe wouldn't hear. "You don't have the strength to heal her right now." she hissed, having seen what happened last time he healed someone at the school. "If this is spreading fast, we need to get her down to my office. I can't bag her forever, and.. " She paused, shifting uncomfortably. "I recently obtained a donation for some equipment that would help."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Another person had showed up: a man that Zoe didn't recognize. He looked sort of strung out, but Zoe could tell that he knew what he was doing. There was something about the way he carried himself and the way that Dr. Riggs instantly reacted to him. not that Zoe could really do much to help right now. She handed over the device to Dr. Riggs, hearing it get put together incredibly quickly. Zoe's eyes were locked on Devyn, watching as her girlfriend struggled to breath.

Dr. Riggs said something and Zoe snapped her head up, looking at the pretty doctor through a haze of tears. Breathe; Zoe nodded, taking a sucking breath in, her whole body trembling with the effort. Hyperventilate bad, especially with the current situation. Devyn needed help, needed aid... wait, Zoe needed to explain: "It should've stopped," she blurted, not wanting to interrupt the doctors but knowing it needed to say, "my power stops spreading but--- last time," she took another deep breath, forcing it back. The two were talking about something, something that sounded important to Zoe. She didn't really understand. Something hissed? Zoe couldn't even hear it, not through her own panicked, wretched sobs.

"Fix her," she mumbled, staring at Devyn, unable to stop. Zoe felt the tears sliding down, sniffling and rubbing at her eyes. This was all some sort of horrible nightmare. She could almost feel the other people staring too, hear the whispers already forming...

[Jason Campbell]

Oh my, if the girl needed help to breathe, it couldn’t be good. Ceanna was doing everything necessary to help of course but they could not keep her like this forever. Jason would have to step in eventually as he wasn’t certain they had all the necessary equipment to plug her on. He helped Ceanna in Zoe’s stead as his colleague explained what happened. He stared for a moment to the young girl by their side. You needed not to be an observant person to understand she was the one who accidentally caused it as she was still in shock. They might have to deal with her too. But not yet.

Ceanna being closer to the girl, he let her do the talking. Besides, she must have her chart and know her a little better, or so he assumed. And she was not his patient right now, her girlfriend was. He was ready to touch Devyn to heal her although not quite sure what would happen. He should have rested more. But he barely had the time to come home when he got the call. He startled as Ceanna found out and pointed it out at him that he was not in any state to heal her. He stared for a few seconds at her, then looked down at the girl between them, still unable to breathe on her own. Luckily, Zoe did not hear what she just said. “What other choice do we have?” he pointed out. Even with some equipment, the girl needed care and needed it now. Just to prove him right, Zoe pleaded them to do something.

“As soon as she can breathe on her own, just make sure the link between us stops,” Jason said to Ceanna his tone clearly showing he would not take no for an answer. And to make sure she would not try to stop him, he removed, he removed the bag and touched her throat, trying to send all of the energy he had left to at least make her able to breathe on her won. The rest of the paralysis could wait but he had to do this, and right now.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna was listening to Zoe, trying to understand the information that she was giving them. The red haired doctor remembered the intake file, the one she had to fill out for every student, that she had in hard copy and in digital on her computer, the 'just in case something happens' files that were turning out to be more needed then she could have ever imagined. She was focusing on Zoe, that she didn't have time to stop Jason from pulling out the OPA and the BVM away from Devyn's throat, her face flaring red to show her anger at him. To avoid blowing up at him verbally, she bit the inside of her cheeks firmly, willing to pull him into the back room and give him a piece of her mind later. "Fine. As soon as she is breathing. Then we get her downstairs. " She pointed out, her hand hovering over Jason's ready to break the contact as soon as she saw signs of breathing on her own. Her eyes were on Devyn's chest, willing to see that first intake or exhale, counting in her mind, knowing if it took to long she would push him out of the way, just to make sure that there wasn't any brain damage happening to the student.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

What was this about choices? Zoe wasn't sure that she heard that right, but she was having trouble making sense of really anything about now. She kept running her hands over her body, shaking and trembling, her eyes locked on her girlfriend, seeing that device thing sticking out of Devyn, operated by the two experts who seemed to know exactly what they were doing.

Zoe did hear the next bit though, as the new doctor instructed Dr. Riggs. He was apparently the more official doctor, Zoe guessed. She didn't really understand how doctor hierarchy worked. Dr. Riggs kept looking at him with respect and stuff, and she seemed to be doing what he suggested. Zoe almost wished that there was something she could do to help, besides stammer out information that didn't seem all that helpful. Something about links and stopping and it all just made Zoe whimper and cry all the more.

"You're going to get her breathing again?" repeated Zoe, sounding as frantic as ever. She pulled herself out of her curled position, moving a little closer. "Wha---what's going on? Do you have some---" Zoe paused, biting her lip, realizing that the last things the doctors needed was for her prattling to distract them from their job. She sat back, now kneeling, her butt resting on her heels, waiting, watching, wishing that there was something she could do besides tremble and shake.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason really hoped this would work. He never really healed anyone who was paralyzed before so he couldn’t tell exactly if this would work or not. He hoped so, really. It should, as he was able to concentrate his energy at one particular spot but still, he hoped he would not allow her to walk yet not breathe. He felt sorry for the young girl. She clearly didn’t mean for anything of the like to happen. “Watch her,” he told Ceanna. He didn't want Zoe to freak out and do something else unfortunate because of what was going on. He had to be confident about this.

He focused on her throat and her airway. He had to give her lungs the required energy to start working again on their own. Not knowing just how much energy it would require, he sent all he had, knowing it might actually go through her entire body and leave him totally drained and the one gasping for air and for his heart to keep beating. But right now he was not thinking about it. He was simply focusing on getting her to breathe again. He kept watching at her chest, hoping to see it lift up on its own, a sign she was doing fine. But his vision was getting blurry. No, not yet. But he was slowly losing his hold as he grew weaker.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna turned, catching sight of Zoe and giving her a reassuring smile. "It's alright sweetheart. I promise." She knew it was better then being ignored, and much better then not knowing what was going on. "This is Dr. Campbell... his power is healing." She kept an eye on him out of the corner of her eye, watching as he struggled slightly, and had to stop herself from pulling his hand away until Devyn was breathing. 

"Zoe... how are you feeling? I need you to tell me if you are dizzy or feel faint, okay dear?" She knew it was not normal to call the students dear and sweetheart, but in Ceanna's experience, it was often much more relaxing to most of them when the endearments were being used, having them trust her more then just some random whirlwind they saw once in a while. 

Turning back to Jason, her hand hovered over his, close enough that she could feel the heat rising from it, and her pinkie twitched, waiting for that split second.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe thought she heard the male doctor say something about her to the female doctor. Her panic rose yet again, not that it could really get much higher by this point. He was leaning over at Devyn, but Zoe couldn't see any medical equipment or anything. She opened her mouth to say something, but a hiccup stopped her instead, and the hiccup soon turned into a sob. This was her fault, her fault and she was sitting there, making it worse for the only two people who could possibly save Devyn's life. How worthless was that? Zoe should just crawl into a corner and wither away; save everyone the trouble.

Dr. Riggs looked to Zoe, and at first the poor girl didn't realize the doctor was speaking to her. The words offered an explanation though, and Zoe's eyes widened. Healing! He could heal! It sounded as though he had exactly the opposite power of Zoe. She leaned forward, wanting to catch hold of the man and try to encourage him. Her hands even extended, before she realized that touching was not a good plan. Instead she curled her hands up, fighting against another panicked sob. Dr. Riggs kept talking, and Zoe looked over at her.

"Wh-what? I'm f-fine," lied Zoe. She felt as though she were about to throw up or collapse or possibly just die in a corner like she so deserved. "Devyn needs help; save her! she wasn't breathing and I--" she sobbed again, curling over, making sure to sway so she wasn't near Dr. Campbell or the patient in question.