it shouldn't have been a dreaded day

[Jason Campbell]

Jason was now dizzy. It resembled a lot the feeling he had when he stayed awake for days and just collapsed on his bed out of exhaustion. He knew he was reaching his limit. Ceanna was at Zoe’s side, trying to calm the girl. He didn't want to alarm her but he clearly didn’t need her around at the right moment. He felt terribly sorry for her. But at the same time, he knew he was not the one who could ‘heal’ her.

He could barely hear what was going on around him. Was she breathing already? Unable to take it anymore, he let go. He was simply too tired to do more. He really hoped it did something good. He assumed he could heal a paralysis when it naturally happened on someone. But what of one induced by a power? Jason saw a flash of light before his eyes. Inside, he knew it was just a natural reaction and that there was no real blinding light in front of him. He moved away from Devyn. From people’s point of view, it might look like he was grovelling away. “Is she... is she breathing?” he asked as he was now sharing her affliction, gasping for some air himself. He closed his eyes to chase the light hoping it would also chase away the buzzing feeling in his ears. He had to regulate his heartbeat. They didn’t need another person in need of medical care. It would be ironic though no? The medic needing care? It was not exactly the right time to joke about this though.

He opened his eyes. He was seeing fine again if he still was weak. Please, someone say that she was breathing.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna felt the breath she was holding without realizing it, escape, as she watched the girl's chest rise. "Yes!... Yes she is." She composed herself on the second one, moving in a way that her side could support her colleague and make it look like she was needed on that side. Looking up over her shoulder, she easily spotted one of the telekinetic students, a senior who was close to graduating. "You. Here. Now." She instructed, knowing they didn't have enough time, nor would Jason be able to help her carry the girl downstairs. As the student approached, a shy individual who kept to the background, she explained her request. 

"Keep her flat like this, I need you to lift her, and bring her downstairs to my office, do you understand?" The student nodded, swallowing nervously. Turning to Zoe, Ceanna was back in charge, trying to think. " Hey.. hey.. HEY. Listen Zoe, I need you to work with me again okay? We need to get Devyn downstairs, and I need you to come with me. When she wakes up, she will be disorientated, and scared. I need you to come with me to help keep her calm when she wakes."  And so I can keep an eye on you at the same time. But she didn't finish the second thought out loud. "Jason...?" She asked, resting a hand on his knee, in a silent question if he needed a hand. His breathing was bothering her, and she knew she couldn't leave him up here, and make sure the students got downstairs at the same time.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Dr. Campbell did... something; Zoe wasn't sure what. She guessed it had to do with his power or something. She held perfectly still, her body just rocking from the stress and all. She still felt sick, and she just knew that as soon as the tension left she'd wind up passing out or vomiting or vomiting and then passing out or some other combination of the two. She heard what Dr. Campbell said after, asking, Zoe leaned forward, as desperate as anyone, if not more so, to find out. Dr. Riggs beat her to it though, already commanding people and taking command of the situation.

Commands, office, downstairs, "Hospital!" spat Zoe, feeling the panic again, "Doesn't she need a hospital? Last time---last time I---she---the person I--she needed a hospital," Zoe flushed, feeling embarrassed for trying to tell two medical professionals what to do. They knew what to do; Dr. Riggs was again addressing Zoe, shaking her out of her sort of daze, the girl blinking her big, wet, brown eyes at the female doctor. She mumbled and tried to rise up, swaying on her feet. Her head swam and she realized that she couldn't hold it any more.

She lunged, grabbing a nearby waste can. Then Zoe leaned over, feeling the contents of her stomach leaving, entering the can, the stress of it simply too much for her to handle. She shook, but forced herself back to her feet, still clutching the waste bin and looking ghost white. "I can move," she said through thick words, her tongue feeling thick, her body still trembling as though standing took all the effort she had.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason let Ceanna take things in hands. He was in no state to do it. He let a sigh of relief as Ceanna confirmed she was indeed breathing. Thank God! Of course, he doubted he managed to heal her entirely but as long as she was breathing, it was fine. He could still come back later, once he’d be in better shape, should she need more care. He heard Ceanna giving orders to some students around. He let her. He wanted to sleep right now. He also heard Zoe talking about the hospital. He wanted to argue, assure her that her friend would be fine here. The school was equipped to deal with mutants and whatever was caused by them.

He stared at Ceanna as she crouched in front of him. He was tempted to tell her to just go to the infirmary and focus on Devyn but he already knew what her reaction would be, as they lived something similar before. He forced himself to stand up, holding to anything he could, objects, people. He saw Zoe throwing up. “You friend will be fine. You better follow her,” he said, trying to look reassuring when he actually looked like a wreck. He then turned his gaze towards Ceanna. “Go ahead. I’ll find someone to get me there. She needs you more than I do,” he told her. He didn’t need her to worry for him right now, not when they had a job to do. Most people left the place now that Devyn was taken away. Nothing else to see. Jason managed to stop one of them and after judging he’d be able to help him, he slowly walked to Ceanna’s office, not wanting to rush as he was still dizzy.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Nodding to Jason, she knew that there was no way in hell she was going to let him drive home after this. He looked like a zombie, and would only get in an accident with their luck. As Zoe hugged the garbage can, she gently rubbed the girl's back, still wearing a pair of gloves. "No hospital. Downstairs. Come on.. I got everything that it is needed there, and a hospital is full of norms that don't know about us. One blood test and they would know she was different. Come on dear..." She guided, making the way downstairs, accompanying Devyn.

Once they arrived, Ceanna got to work, rolling out machines that were normally kept in one of the storage rooms, and starting to connect Devyn to leads, to see exactly how far the damage had gone. Glancing at Zoe, she talked to her since Jason still wasn't down. It often eased people to hear what a doctor was doing, something she had picked up from her mother. "This is an ECG machine... this will measure her heart and make sure everything is fine." She explained, applying the leads onto Devyn's chest and legs. "I need you to do me another favour... in that filing cabinet over there is Devyn's file. Everything is alphabetical in there, here's the key. Can you bring it and a clipboard to me?"

She hoped eventually the kid would be useful, but continued to talk to her as though she were. Glancing up, she saw Jason making his way into the office, looking pointedly at her desk as if to say 'Chocolate is in there'.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe thought she heard Dr. Campbell saying something, promising that Devyn would be alright. She thought she heard "friend," and part of her wanted to correct him, but who was to say what they would be after this? Zoe hardly doubted that Devyn was going to want to spend any time around her now that she'd nearly killed her. Sure, they'd talked about it, but that was different. This was a reality, a harsh, cold one that left Zoe feeling quite chilled all over, practically trembling.

But they were moving. Both doctors, both "patients," everybody was moving. Someone had rubbed Zoe's back, probably Dr. Riggs, who seemed in the best shape out of their merry little band. No hospital, no worry, just walk. Zoe could do that, even managed something about as fast as a normal walk. She felt about like a zombie, and she did have to pause a time or two, leaning against a wall and hugging the bin to her chest. She wanted this all to be over; she wanted to wake up or whatever.

Instead Zoe found herself in the infirmary. She plopped down on a chair, staring blankly ahead. Dr. Riggs was explaining something, but it wasn't quite penetrating with Zoe. She looked up, realizing that the doctor was asking for something. A chart and a clipboard; Zoe could do that. She wouldn't have to touch anyone. She hobbled upright, then shuffled, finding the clipboard soon enough. Not too long after that, she had Devyn's file. Zoe knew Devyn's name about as well as she knew her own, so there was certainly no delay in pulling that out.

"I have them, Dr. Riggs," she said, waving them and shuffling back to where Devyn lay. She wanted to reach over and touch her girlfriend, to take her hand or something, but she didn't have any gloves. For that matter, all her clothes had been left in the room, scattered everywhere. That was going to suck. Not that Zoe was really able to think about it now, what with Devyn being hooked up to the machine. She kept clutching the chart, not remembering or recognizing that she needed to hand it over until she got at least a little encouragement in that, possibly even needing Dr. Riggs to take it from her, not that Zoe would resist.

[Jason Campbell]

Alright, the proper term was probably girlfriend. But he knew people nowadays liked to say they were in ‘open’ relationships. What was that supposed to mean anyway? They had a girlfriend, and a boyfriend, and another booty call on the side if they wanted to. So he ended up not really knowing what the proper term to use was for all those relationships. Friends seemed the safe answer. Anyway, who was he to comment people’s relationships?

He knew the girls were in good hands with Ceanna so he was in no hurry. He wouldn’t be able to help much anyway, he looked almost as if helped came for him. By the time he joined them at the infirmary, they were both busy, Ceanna over by Devyn and Zoe looking into files. Ceanna noticed him. He walked to her desk, letting the guy leave now that he was sitting. They didn’t need more people gathering around and watching their every move. He noticed she pointed at her desk and guessed why she did so. Opening a drawer proved him right: there was chocolate in there. He grabbed a bar and then another. Why go easy, he could really use it right now. “How are her vitals?” he asked. He felt less light-headed.

Jason could tell Zoe was torn between her desire to be by her girlfriend and, well he supposed a mix of not wanting to be in the doctors’ way and not wanting to aggravate her case with more paralysis. Jason moved from the chair to get the box of gloves to hand it over to Zoe. He said nothing, just handed it to her. He assumed it had to be tactile or something. You can’t just paralyze with the mind and even if that was the case, or through saliva, she would be able to touch her girlfriend. So it had to be tactile. He also looked over at Ceanna and Devyn, trying to see how he could further help both of them even though he probably did enough already.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna gently took the chart and clipboard from Zoe, smiling gratefully at Jason who offered the girl gloves. "Stable. She's not in any immediate danger right now. Heart looks strong and unhindered. Lungs functioning. Blood pressure a little low, because some of the areas around her arteries are having difficulty moving with different muscles. Need to keep an eye on that. " It was almost as though the fact that the immediate danger was out of the way, that Ceanna realized Zoe wasn't wearing a whole lot. Putting the clipboard down, she headed towards a heavy metal door, unlocking it and pushing it open. The inside was dark and scorched, with nothing in it other then a metal bench and a metal box. Opening the lid, she pulled out a sweater and what else the student would need, before handing them to her. "These should fit you.. they are my size." She instructed before closing everything back up, making sure it was locked again behind her. The red head didn't look at Jason while the door was open, knowing they had never discussed her powers, and she didn't like to talk to the students about it either. It made her uncomfortable, and she understood why so many of the students were scared of their powers. 

"Jason... get a glass of water or something from Zoe..." She sat in front of the short haired girl, smiling kindly, while she leaned over and began adjusting a blanket around Devyn. "You probably wanna wash that taste out eh? I know I can't stand puking."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe heard Dr. Campbell ask, heard Dr. Riggs respond. She then realized that Dr. Riggs had taken the clipboard and file, not to mention responded an affirmative. Zoe worked her hands a few times, staring at Devyn, still lost in her own little world. A box came near her. Zoe looked down, saw the box, and couldn't help crying again. She still reached at trembling hand out, taking a glove and managing a choked "thank you" to Dr. Campbell. she fumbled with getting them on, glad that her nails were short and her hands small and delicate. The gloves fit her easily.

Clothing appeared just as Zoe had started to move. She hadn't even realized that Dr. Riggs had moved. When the clothes were handed, Zoe again broke down, sobbing. She reached her gloved hands out, taking them and mumbling a stuttered thanks. She managed to get them on, though they were slightly large on her. Dr. Riggs wasn't that much bigger than Zoe, thankfully, but Zoe was definitely thankful to be mostly covered thanks to the efforts of the two doctors.

Then she moved over to Devyn, pausing for a moment while Dr. Riggs adjusted things. Finally, Zoe reached a hand out, grabbing Devyn's feeling it through the gloves. She sobbed then, practically collapsing next to the bed. She gripped at the hand, but placed her head against the bed, sobbing wretchedly yet again, her body heaving. She tried to duck down into the clothing while still maintaining contact with her girlfriend, desperate for something, anything, though at this point, she didn't know what else to do.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason nodded briefly as Ceanna summed up for him Devyn’s state. It would be bad if her muscles atrophied but it sure wouldn’t be as bad as if she could not breathe. The fact she was stable was already a good sign. And that her heart seemed well too. Who knows how long she had been in that state or the damages that might result in this. But they would not be able to know exactly right now. All he hoped was that she did not go without air long enough to be brain damaged. But surely Ceanna had the same doubt and with the current state Zoe was in, he didn’t want to aggravate it by speaking out things that might not even happen. It was time to be reassuring for the girl.

Jason didn’t think of covering Zoe a little better than what she currently had on. Then again, taking his shirt off to hand it to her was not exactly the most brilliant idea. Still quite tired, he didn’t realize at first Ceanna was talking to him but then he processed the word. Water, right. He turned around for a second as if not sure where to go but then got that glass for Zoe. As he did so, he realized standing up and walking already might not have been the best of idea. He still needed much rest.

Placing a hand on Zoe’s back so she’d realize he was here, he handed her the glass. “She can breathe on her own and her heart is fine. This is a good thing. Don’t lose hope,” he said softly to her. He had never been the best to reassure people but he hoped he did now. He stood up very slowly, not wanting to make any quick movement, not sure his legs would carry him then. He came closer to Ceanna. “Anywhere I could rest?” he whispered at her ear, not wanting to alarm Zoe about his state. She already had enough to deal with.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Blinking as she worked at a small cart, when she had to hold herself still as she felt his hot breath across her ear, nodding. "There's another bed on the other side of the room. It might be loud though.. you can use my room." She offered, knowing that it would be a bit of a ways away though up in the staff dorms. Ceanna would prefer if he stayed where she could keep an eye on him, and the only place that was truly quiet, was in her metal room, but she refused to have anyone in there. Ceanna smiled at Zoe, trying to reassure her. She herself had never had a connection such as thus to another individual, distraught and broken over the fact they were in a hospital bed, even if she caused it herself. A pang of jealousy raced through her, but she quickly distracted herself with the vials before her. 

They were a series of muscle relaxers and beta stimulaters. To Ceanna, it made sense that the way Zoe's powers worked were by beta blockers, and she had a strong feeling that if she got the right mixture, she should be able to reverse the side effect of the paralysis. 

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

[just as a note: but you totally can fix/prevent Zoe's powers through medication and stuff; I mentioned that in her power thing, which I'm assuming has already been read, but a quick little confirmation can't hurt either]

Zoe's shoulders still shook a little with crying, her hand clinging to Devyn's in near desperation. She could feel the pulse, which she knew to be something. Still this, this had been all her fault. She'd dreaded it, half-predicted it, and then it had happened. If only Zoe had more control or had been more insistent. She knew Devyn, knew how the other girl thought and what she wanted; that's why she'd set up their relationship to be what it was. Yet still, Zoe had caused this; she'd put her girlfriend into an infirmary bed.

A hand touched Zoe's back and she nearly panicked, jerking a little and almost running into the bed before she realized it was Dr. Campbell with the glass of water. Zoe mumbled a "thank you" before taking it, sipping at the water, glad to have something to try and eliminate the leftover taste of her own sick in her mouth. She thought the two doctors were talking about something; she couldn't quite make out what, not as distracted as she was.

Zoe gave Devyn's hand another squeeze, hiccuping and shaking yet again. She tried to rise up a little, moving to sort of sit on the bed. She wanted to curl up next to Devyn and sort of cuddle against her, but she knew that doing more touching than she was, even with the sweatshirt and pants, was just too much. She hiccuped and wiped at her eyes, looking around to find Dr. Riggs. "I'm not leaving her," she said, her voice wavering, "I'm not," she hiccuped again, raising a hand to wipe at her face.

[Jason Campbell]

Just because he wasn’t good at finding the right words didn’t mean Jason was heartless. It pained him terribly to see Zoe like this. He had flashbacks of his parents, as they were on a hospital bed, dying. The worst was this feeling of helplessness one gets when there is nothing else to do but to wait. Jason did the maximum he could right now. The rest was in Ceanna’s capable hands. He wished he could be of more help to Zoe, as he already did all he could for Devyn. But he doubted telling her he knew what she was feeling, or assuring her it was not her fault would do the trick. Sad truth was that it was her fault. And that she might never be able to prevent that. Of course, Zoe didn’t need to hear that right now but good news instead. And that, Jason wasn’t sure he could give. Besides, he looked as if he would collapse anytime soon. That would not help her trust anything he would say.

He felt even sorrier when, while talking to Ceanna, she said she would not leave. Poor girl, this was a lot to handle at such a young age. “No one is asking you to,” he assured her. He looked for the chair he previously crashed on. Since Ceanna would have to take care of her girlfriend, it might be best she sat down and waited patiently. He brought it to her. She would not sit on the bed but still remain close to her girlfriend.

Jason then turned back towards Ceanna. He wasn’t sure he could go very far and in his state, all he really wanted was to rest a little and the noise would not bother him much. He didn't want a good night of sleep after all. “Just warn me if you need any help,” he told Dr. Riggs before walking towards this other bed she mentioned. He hoped Zoe would not take it too badly, the sight of a doctor sleeping during an emergency. But he seriously needed to recuperate if he wanted to be of any help still.

[Ceanna Riggs]

Ceanna watched, not sure why she was so worried about Jason. He was a grown man and he could take care of himself, but she still worried. It was in her nature. Smiling reassuringly at Zoe, she turned around with the needle. "Zoe... I'm going to try something, alright dear? This is a mixture that will work together and contradict the effects of your power on Devyn. With luck, she'll regain the movement of her body. The worse thing that can happen though, is nothing, okay?"

Placing the needle on the tray Ceanna first went to work in getting an IV line in, knowing it would help to spread the medicine through Devyn's system faster. She was confident that this would work, but scared shitless if it didn't. The saline line was set, dripping into Devyn's veins and helping her stay hydrated, as Ceanna took the cap off of the needle and inserted it into the port, pushing the drug over a steady count of ten Mississippi's, before dropping the needle into the sharps container, swallowing and sitting back. Okay, she had lied. If it didn't work, then Devyn's system could become even more compromised, fighting the muscle relaxers and the neuron stimlators. To much, and she could watch the student seize right in front of her, and she would have been the cause. 

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Good, they weren't going to make her leave Devyn. Zoe nearly collapsed on hearing that, and she again found her attention focused on her girlfriend. The sobs still shook her on a regular basis, her body feeling truly wretched, but she wasn't paying attention to the doctors as they spoke. She thought she heard something about Dr. Campbell wanting to rest. It wouldn't have bothered her if that were true: she would have guessed it had something to do with his power. Zoe understood that there were side effects, even if hers seemed a little more... extreme.

However, as Dr. Riggs came close and Zoe looked up at her, realization and reality crept back in. Try something, a mixture, and Zoe found herself nodding in agreement with that. She wasn't sure it would work; Zoe didn't understand how her power really functioned, but Dr. Riggs sounded optimistic about it, and Zoe was willing to cling to any possible hope flung to her.

In truth, it should work just fine. Zoe's power did function on the chemical level, and while Devyn had gotten quite a large dosage of it, drugs could fight off the sensations just fine. The various cocktail might need a little alteration until the exact mixture was discovered, but that didn't mean it wouldn't work. It just might not work the second time... if there ever was a second time...