the hospital wasn't as terrifying

[Jason Campbell]

Maybe Jason didn’t know what it was like to be taken away from your roots and everything, but he didn’t need to sympathize with her. In a way, he knew how she felt. Despite what his brother may think, it had not been an easy choice to let his mother die, nor had it been easy to leave Kalispell afterwards to pursue a medical career. He often thought about his father and brother, if they were doing fine and all. But he wasn’t certain his father might still want to talk to him after what happened. So he kept his distance, until he got that fateful call that brought him back home. Yes, perhaps his power didn’t force him to abandon his family, but he still knew what it was like.

Without getting it all the time as she said it, she certainly was not the first to cry on him. You don’t always have good news to tell your patients. But honestly, crying was not the worse people did on him, by far. “You don’t need to apologize. I’ve seen worse, trust me,” he said. He knew he put her through some bad memories. It was not easy for the girl but she did it. The tears were normal and Jason gave her a moment to collect herself.

He was by her side again with all the material when she asked if he did that often. “Not really. Research did interest me but they’re not as easy when you’re working in New York,” he told her. Ever since he came back however, he started to conduct some experiments such as this one. He might not have as much information as Ceanna did thanks to the school but he could always read some of her files. He had a skeptical look when she said it was admirable. “Depends from where you’re standing. Some could argue we have enough of ‘real’ humans doing tests on us not for us to start as well,” he replied. But he knew his research was nowhere near what human scientists could do to them. He didn't want to create a real Spiderman and was not treating people like lab rats you can exhaust to death. Mutants were human beings, only another mutant can fully understand that.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

No need to apologize; Zoe was tempted to tell Dr. Campbell that he was the second authority figure to tell her as much in a relatively short span of time. that felt a little rude to say though, especially when he was already being so kind, so Zoe kept that bit of information to herself. Instead she contented herself with watching Dr. Campbell busy himself with various "medical" things, her brown eyes tracing nearly all of his movements.

He'd apparently come back here, which struck Zoe as odd... until she actually stopped to think about it. if you were interested in studying mutants and mutant physiology, then it only made sense to do so where mutants actually lived. There was also the fact that this was a supportive community for their types, a place where they could be safe and among others like them. It sounded like Dr. Campbell had given all this some thought before making that move, so it wasn't like Zoe needed to say much about that either.

She did, however, have something to say about the tail end of his response: "I bet most of those people haven't paralyzed their girlfriend by accident,' she said, attempting to sound light even with the relatively dark comment. She watched, again as curious about everything as she could be. "I appreciate what you're doing," she said. She blinked. "I mean, besides what you're doing for me," Zoe blushed, nibbling a bit at her lip. "What you're doing in general,' and now saying it just made Zoe feel silly, so she looked down for a bit, hoping that the squirming wouldn't throw off her tests or anything.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason was kind of used to get that kind of look. Zoe probably couldn’t wait for the day she’d get out of here, just as about anyone else. And New York, there was something about it. L.A. and New York, those were the places most people ran to whenever they wanted to make a name for themselves, especially in the theatre, as if everywhere else was not worthy of mention. Well, Broadway and Hollywood, he supposed it did attract a lot of people. Therefore, it seemed strange you’d want to come back to such a small, relatively boring town. But the answer was easy: Bellefonte. There were mutants everywhere, of course, but you would rarely see such a large concentration of them than around the different schools hosting the kids. Kalispell therefore sounded like a logical choice. It was not the main reason why he stayed but that he would keep to himself.

He paused a moment but had nothing really much to reply to what she said. Those people probably never paralyzed or nearly killed their loved one indeed. Or they mistook tests on powers and tests on mutants. He was trying to help, nothing more. If what he did could actually make things worse, he’d stop. His goal was not to push people’s limits, it was to understand their condition. “Your girlfriend is doing fine now. That’s what you should focus on, and being careful,” he said but he knew it was easier said than done. How long can one accept to be careful or in a relationship if touching was out of the question?

He had a little smile showing at the corner of his lips as she talked. “I couldn’t touch someone without healing them at first. I know how annoying wearing gloves all the time may be,” he told her. Sure, now he could touch people without any problem, even a wounded one. He could not say the same would ever happen to Zoe but he was ready to help. He opened a small sampling bottle. “I’ll ask you to spit in it a few times. Two or three should be good,” he asked her. Then he’ll draw some blood.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Doing well now... "Devyn is, because of you and Dr. Riggs," said Zoe. But what about Ava? Would her step-sister, her closest friend besides Devyn, even forgive Zoe for what she'd done? Her thoughts dwelt in that gloomy place for a while, before her own inner voice reminded her that Dr. Campbell was, in fact, going to check on them, and that she'd soon find out the truth. Knowing would be better than this torturous waiting. Even if it turned out that she'd---

No, Zoe didn't want to think about that.

Instead she focused on the fact that she did, in fact, have a girlfriend here, and friends, and now at least one doctor who cared about her health and well-being, even if just only as part of his job. She could be careful. It even sounded like Dr. Campbell had been in a very similar circumstance to her some time ago, and now he seemed to be doing just fine. True, his ability had more to do with healing people as opposed to paralyzing them, but the principle behind it all seemed to be more or less the same.

Spit into a cup. Zoe nearly giggled, but raised it to her lips, trying to work as much saliva into her spit as possible. It felt ridiculous, and she was sure she looked as much. She also tried to get into a good position for Dr. Campbell to draw blood, which probably meant rolling up a sleeve or tugging down her shirt, unless he planned on going the vampire route and taking it from her neck. "Am I going to get some cookies after this?" she asked, trying to make a joke. she attempted a smile too, before averting her eyes. "Sorry; I'm not very funny. I'm more into poetry and photography..." she paused, biting her lip. He probably didn't want to hear all that. That would just complicate things, and this whole mess was already complicated enough.

[Jason Campbell]

Well, Jason couldn’t exactly argue with Zoe’s logic here. Devyn was indeed fine now because the two doctors saved her life. Of course, they still had to be careful and make sure such a thing was not to happen again. But he knew trying to make teenagers understand they had to be careful with touching was probably the biggest waste of time and saliva ever. They were too young to control their hormones. Hell, even at his age he could not always control them! It must be torture, to have someone you wished to touch, to kiss and not being able to. Maybe Jason had once been unable to touch people without his power to show up but it was no longer a problem. Sadly, he doubted just a bit of training would do the trick with Zoe. She was most likely to never be able to touch someone. But he’d rather have the school staff deliver the bad news. They would know better.

He knew the idea of spitting into a cup might sound weird. People were used to pee in those cups, men to donate sperm he supposed. But it had other purposes. And the paralytic did seem to be secreted from the natural hydration of her skin. So saliva was a good thing to get samples of her paralytic from. He looked at her, slightly surprised when she mentioned cookies. They did offer those whenever you donated blood, it was true. But it was not exactly the case here.

He gave Zoe a sympathetic smile as she apologized for the joke. “Hobbies are important. Can you roll up your sleeve for me?” he asked, preparing everything to draw some blood. Was she afraid of syringes, or blood? “You’ll have to get your glove off too. Don’t have to worry, I’m wearing some,” he said, showing her the latex gloves he had put on. “I was in the science club. But I suppose it’s not really surprising, right?” he said, trying to get her to talk or put her attention elsewhere than the needle he would pierce in her flesh and the vials of blood he’ll get then.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe giggled a little at Dr. Campbell's hobby question. It wasn't just his attempt at shifting the subject matter at hand, but her own nerves bubbling up a little. Though part of her was actually happy to be this kind of nervous, the bubbly, squiggly kind. That she could deal with quite well. She still followed his instructions though, moving to roll up her sleeve. She paused partway as he mentioned removing a glove. He had gloves. They were in a hospital. Plus, it wasn't like one touch of her skin would leave him gasping for air or anything. While she might like Dr. Campbell, she certainly wasn't going to be wrapping her legs around him and attempting to lash his tongue with hers.

"Well, you could've had other interests," said Zoe, trying to be fair as Dr. Campbell mentioned science club. "You could have liked horse riding or something," she shifted to get comfortable, leaving her pale, thin arm bared to him. everyone always said that Zoe needed to eat more; she certainly did seem on the thinner side. Hopefully that wouldn't make drawing blood overly difficult. Zoe looked away, ready for the needle.

"I'm not afraid of needles," she said, turning to look at him. "I just don't like staring at blood," she smiled. She didn't get queasy or anything; she just didn't like it. She turned back away, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to remain as still as possible, wanting to make this easy for Dr. Campbell. Thanks to her pale skin, her veins were easy to see, and she was certainly hydrated enough.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason looked for a second at Zoe as she giggled. He didn’t say anything particularly funny but perhaps it was just her nerve acting up, knowing what was coming. His made him yawn so why could it not make her laugh? He could see she was hesitating when he asked for her to get her glove off as well. They both knew what she was capable of and she clearly didn’t want to use her power on him. But he had gloves on now and last time it had been enough. After all, if her gloves allowed her to touch without her power to act up, his could do just the same. He made sure she could see his hands and that seem to do the trick. Besides, they were in a hospital. If anything happened, all she had to do was open the door and cry for help, they would run to get here.

Jason looked at the arm she showed to him. Zoe was on the thinner side of the scale but she didn’t appear too sick. And he knew some people had a natural pale complexion. Besides, he could understand that she might not want to expose too much skin. You never know when an accident might happen. Still, she might want to eat a bit. “Well, I did track a bit but I’ve always been more the cerebral type,” he admitted as he place the garrotte. Her veins were easy to find at least, he didn’t have to keep looking all over her arm for one. “It’s fine, you don’t have to,” he assured her when she said she would rather not look at the blood.

He made sure her head was turned away before getting the needle inside of her arm. He then removed the garrotte and let the blow fill in two of those little bottles. “I had a patient once. Big biker guy, tough face, tattoos and everything. He nearly fainted on me when I draw some blood’” he shared with her. It was partially true. The man looked tough but was a real teddy bear on the inside. Not like he would tell her that however, since he wanted to calm her about what was going on. That done, he pressed a cotton near the needle and removed it before sticking the cotton there. “There you go. I shall have enough with this. If there is anything, I’ll get in contact with you,” he said, taking the samples away. He had enough to work with for now.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"That's good to hear," replied Zoe. "I wouldn't want a doctor who was all sporty and the like." She smiled at the thought. She seemed to recall hearing something about that on a television show once. She definitely preferred hearing that her doctor was a brainy, quiet sort, and not just because that was a closer match to herself. It meant that he knew what he was doing.

He certainly seemed to know how to draw blood, though Zoe supposed that the procedure was a fairly standard one. She looked away as soon as she felt it leaving, and pretended like it didn't make her feel a little faint. It had to be all in her head: he couldn't possibly be drawing enough blood to actually affect her. She heard his story while he drew and she smiled, knowing that he probably had quite a few of those on hand in order to sooth nervous patients like her.

"I suppose we all have our weaknesses," she said, fighting the urge to shrug. She didn't want to mess anything up. "Did you want a, well," she flushed, "um, did you want me to pee in a cup? I don't suppose that would actually give you anything, would it? Nevermind," she moved to get off the table. The moment she shifted, Zoe felt a spat of dizziness wash over her, causing her to sit back down, blinking. "Sorry, I just... I guess I got dizzy there for a moment," she smiled again, feeling embarrassed. "I don't suppose that happened to your burly biker man?" she asked, half teasing, half hoping it was true. She let out another weak laugh, which turned into a sigh before finally petering out.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason supposed certain jobs called for certain types of personalities. He didn’t want to imply sportsmen cannot find an interest in medicine as well. Or that you had to be brainy to be a doctor. There were ambitious, funny or eccentric ones too. But you needed to be studious and hardworking at some point to go through all the years of school and internship. And Zoe seemed to think the same. Not to add that she would certainly prefer Jason to be that type, otherwise how can one expect for him to work hard enough on her case. Now, Jason still knew how to have fun. But he knew he was the quiet type. He could hang out with louder people that would not change the type of person he was. “I’m afraid most doctors you’ll meet are more into golf, or watching the sport instead of playing it,” he said. He hated golf, to be honest. He never saw the point of wasting so much time in something like this. He preferred to be working. Another thing Zoe would like if she was to ever know.

He smiled at her when she said they all had their weaknesses. It was quite true and he frankly saw people acting worse than she was right now. Some people just really couldn’t handle have a needle near them. He shook his head as she asked if he needed a urine sample. “I don’t think it would be necessary. I will be frank with you, the way you describe it, it is either triggered by your skin or by its hydration. If it’s the latter, I shall find enough traces with your saliva and blood. If it’s the first one...” he began to say. He took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how she might like that option. “I might have to get some sample of your skin. But let’s test those before. If we can find a way to slow down your effect, than perhaps I will take some of your skin and be able to heal you back immediately,” he told her. It was his plan at least. Not to add that with her skin he could recreate some and if it held her power, that might as well mean that he found a way of creating a strong paralytic with a tiny bit of dermis. He’d rather wait before reaching that eventuality.

Jason also wanted to be honest with her. Those samples might be useless. He had no idea how long the paralytic would remain in her saliva and blood. Maybe it even needed some process using her skin too. After all, it would otherwise mean that you just needed to take a fork she licked and use it on people to stun them and so far he heard nothing of the kind happened. Of course, he would preserve those samples better than it would be on said fork but still.

He placed a hand on her shoulder when he saw her sitting right after trying to stand up. “Take it easy. There is no hurry,” he said as he took everything away from her, especially the blood. “You want to hear crazy stories, befriend a doctor,” he said as only replied when she mentioned the biker dude he told her about. It was true, doctors had some of the craziest stories. He turned to look at her. “Was there anything else you wished to speak to me about?” he asked. After all, since she was already here.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe giggled as Dr. Campbell admitted that most doctors were into precisely what you'd think doctors were doing. He then segued into an explanation of the tests and the plans, for which Zoe sat and listened, wanting to take this as seriously as she possibly could. This could be the thing that changed her life. She still couldn't be certain where her power was located or how exactly it worked; wasn't that how it was with everyone? Who actually studied their own bodies and figured out how precisely this whole thing worked? Then again, maybe that was precisely what Dr. Campbell was doing. Didn't need urine, may need skin, the though of which made Zoe flinch. That sounded like a decidedly more painful process than most of the other tests they'd managed so far.

Zoe was about to suggest that they just go ahead, though Dr. Campbell said he wanted to wait for the other tests to come through first. She shut her mouth, nodding, definitely wanting to agree with the doctor who had plenty of academic training and medical experience under his belt. Slow down, take some skin, and try again. "I'm willing to do what it takes,' she reiterated, wishing that her voice didn't warble as much as it did. Which included resting when the doctor said, nodding and mumbling another soft sorry.

Crazy stories from a doctor, well, that made sense. Zoe shifted in her seat though as she tried to think of something else to ask about. She did think about, well, what she was hoping to do if she actually got said antidote, which she supposed was something you might want to talk to a doctor about. Did you really have to do anything medical if you were engaging in sexual contact with someone who couldn't get you pregnant? Well, Zoe supposed that the person to ask was literally standing in front of her.

Shame that she couldn't actually work out the words, just blushed and sort of fidgeted without actually saying anything. Said blushing wasn't helping the whole lightheaded thing either.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason always assumed the Academy had some files and researches about mutants and their powers but in the same time, they might only have observations from the trainers. They didn’t want to use the students as guinea pigs. Besides, every one of them had its unique form of mutation, making it difficult at times. What work for one might not work for the other. Jason was only trying to contribute to his community here. He was more than ready to give all of his research to Bellefonte if anything happened that forced him to stop looking into it. Until then, he would keep working on understanding how it happened to them and how to make it easier to live with. He didn't want to make it sound like he was trying to turn them human. But some needed help, like Zoe. She might never be able to touch anyone and unless you’ve experienced it before in your life, you simply couldn’t understand how painful it was.

He could understand how the skin sample might make her flinch. He wouldn’t just prick her finger with a needle and it would be enough. They were talking about cutting skin. Sure, like he said, he could heal it back later on so it would never show. But he wasn’t certain how long it would take and if her power would not work faster than his. Some tests that might include touching her until he goes numb were required first. In fact, it might be a good idea to try that now. “Well then if you want to, I would like to do another quick test. I would like to see the effect of your power, on a smaller scale,” he said. He could see how she would object to it so he had to explain the usefulness of it. “I want to see how fast it works and spreads. Don’t worry, I just want you to touch my hand, or just a finger and when I start feeling numb, you pull away,” he added. He knew it was mostly his curiosity finding an excuse to try firsthand her power. But maybe it could help too. He should perhaps draw some of his blood after she touched him, to see if her paralytic went into it. And he would see how it wears off. Besides, she did look like she wanted to ask him something, so perhaps this would give her enough time to sum up enough guts to say it out loud.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Another test? Zoe looked quizzically at Dr. Campbell, wondering what else they could possibly take samples of. Perhaps he wanted to pluck some of her hair? Or maybe put her through some kind of endurance test? But he almost immediately continued, informing Zoe that they'd be testing her power. She couldn't help but giggle a little at that. "My first trainer asked me to do that. He had me touch his face, and he ended up so paralyzed that we had to end early," that had actually been funny though, since he could still breathe but couldn't talk, which Zoe had seen as nothing but a blessing. She'd been switched off him as a trainer after that, though she hadn't been focusing on that nearly as well as she should have been.

"Right, I suppose this is a good place to do it," agreed Zoe. She took a deep breath, shaking her hand out. She tentatively reached out, moving to grasp Dr. Campbell about the wrist, figuring that would be the easiest for both of them. Enough surface area for her to grasp well, not all that intimate, and still in a safe place. Her touch alone would cause a tingling in the area, spreading fairly quickly throughout Jason's skin, stretching down his arm and leaving the whole area feeling almost as if he'd lain upon it and fallen asleep. It would take a while before he would be unable to move though; it moved at a steady pace, but not instantly, not totally either...

[Jason Campbell]

Jason actually expected Zoe to panic or something at what he asked of her. He only wanted to know how it worked. Medically speaking, it was not really useful, but he was curious and he doubted it would be very dangerous around here. Besides, he did tell her to hold his hand or something. Not like he would die if he could not use his hand for a few minutes. But she actually giggled and didn’t seem to mind at all. Either she understood there was very little risk or she started to trust him more than he thought.

He let her take his wrist. He watched their hands the whole time, as if he’d be able to see her power acting up on him as it would. Of course, he could not. And since he could not heal himself, he knew the paralytic would affect him like any other person. It started with a tingling. He wiggled a bit as the feeling was uncomfortable. The feeling spread to his fingers and went down all the way to his elbow. He tried to hold still, not telling her to stop just yet. It proved harder to move his fingers. “You can let go,” he said when he was no longer able to move them. He stared at his arm. He really couldn’t move it anymore though it seemed to have stopped before it went above the elbow. The shoulder moved just fine and, as expected, he had no trouble breathing or anything of the like. “You said it slowly dies down after you stop touching people, right?” he asked though it was mostly rhetorical. Now he needed to see how long before he could move again. She, of course, was free to go if she wanted to.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe couldn't help but stare at their hands either, her body tense. She didn't want to end up hurting Dr. Campbell, not if she could help it. The moment Dr. Campbell said she could, Zoe released his hand, jerking her own back. She was soon fumbling a glove back over it, wiggling her fingers and getting everything nice and snug. She kept alternating her attention between Dr. Campbell's arm and his face as he spoke, worry showing on her face.

Zoe met the question with a nod. "Right, I think that it gives their bodies a chance to fight against whatever it is I do? It usually goes away pretty quickly after I release someone, especially if I haven't been holding that long...' she trailed off, looking down at Dr. Campbell's hand, chewing her lip and worrying about what happened there. She scooted forward a bit, mostly to let the anxious energies come out somehow.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked, unable to keep her emotions quite in check. "I didn't, um, hurt you or anything... did I?"

[Jason Campbell]

Jason didn’t want to go through being paralyzed entirely. He counted just how long it took for his arm to be paralyzed. With that he could easily calculate how long it might take for it to reach his heart or lung for example, or his brain, and could severe damages. It gave him a good estimation of how strong her power was. He pulled back too as she let go of his hand, letting her put her glove back so she would not risk causing this to anyone on her way out.

He remained silent as he thought about what she said. So he should shortly feel a tingling again and be able to move his fingers. “That’s good. It means the body can naturally defeat a small dose of it on its own,” he said. He mentioned small dose because obviously Devyn had too much last time for her body to fight it back before it would have killed her. Had he been in a lab with many other people working with him, he’d try the test and see how his body could fight a stronger dose of her paralytic. But they weren’t and he was not certain the school would allow such research. Drawing some of his blood with only one hand was difficult but he still took some while his hand was still paralyzed. “If whatever you give people is a chemical, it should be in my blood also right now,” he said.

Jason already started to feel his arm again when she asked if he was fine. He smiled to her. “Don’t worry. I can already move it a bit, see,” he told her, wiggling his fingers. The movement was still pretty stiff but it was obvious he could and would be able to move his arm normally in a short while. “I wanted to see how fast it spread and wear off, this will be useful,” he explained. Since he was doing it for her, he might as well tell her his process. Jason stood up. He wouldn’t see a patient immediately after being done with Zoe, he’d wait for it to wear off entirely, but he couldn’t see what else there was to do. “I’ll run some tests and I’ll keep you informed if there is any development,” he promised her. “Was there anything else you wanted to ask me about?” he then told her. While she was here, if she had any health problem she wished to talk about, he supposed now was the time.