Lady Healer in the Emergency

[butterfly_kiss]

WHO: Tae Takemi, Anyone
WHERE: Hospital, Whale Comb Sent Her
WHAT: Siege on the Hospital, Emergency care
WHEN: October 11th, Rest of the event.
WARNINGS: mouth related body horror creatures, blood

I. A Hospital Under Siege CW: potential for mouth related body horror creatures, blood

Storms here were continuing to be, at best, annoying. There's no heart monitors, there's no lights, and there sure as hell are little fake images of her guinea pig or other people she knew from home. There had been enough forewarning to know not to trust people when the power went out, especially if they wouldn't come close enough to be touched.

So she focused on something else entirely, which was the whole weird noises in the distance. A threat, probably. And threats meant people could get hurt. Tae absolutely starts packing. The hospital was not centralized enough for this sort of bad effect.

Really, it was a mistake to be here. The screaming noises in the distance. And then the noise of something scratching against a distant door.

"That can't be good."

II. Here To Heal You CW: Potential for blood and injuries

Getting to the Center had been a whole process. Now here she was, moving around quickly as she went through the steps that would make this place better. Using some replicated chafing dish fuels she's got a kettle on to keep water warm for tea, another one to keep a pot of miso soup warm for people who need fluids, and she's already setting up blankets and other supplies to stretch people out.

And when she hears the door open she straightens and looks to it.

"Come in, please."

III. Wildcard
[OOC: Once comms are back up, Tae's happy to travel to help with emergency care. So if you want someone to deal with injuries and you can't get to the Whale Comb Sent Her, wildcard it!]

Comments

[butterfly_kiss]

"I'm sorry," she says softly as she continues her work. The poor kid was living on a timer of no real length, and it's probably maddening. How do you move on?

[playingtough]

Billy's starting to lose against the panic. His foot is starting to slow bounce again with his breathing picking up. The whale comb center in his perspective is dimming into that mall, flashes of light and the creature before him. Hands flex and the stick in his mouth snaps in half entirely before he has to spit it out. Choking is not the way he wants to go.

"Fuck, no—" The Californian starts shifting, trying to get up so he can run because it's out there. The free hand grabs the handle of his axe because he has to go out there, get back to the diner so he can get safe—

[butterfly_kiss]

Alright then. With her hands full of needle and surgical clamp for the stitches process, she can't touch him to center him. The next best thing she can do is talk.

"Hey, kid. You and I? We need to have a serious conversation about your smoking habit," she says, putting annoyance into her voice. Not because she's particularly annoyed or wanting to have this conversation now. No, this kid just seems to be one who will immediately latch on to a criticizing female voice without hesitation.

"Have you even considered what you're doing to your teeth? There's a yellowing effect. How are you going to get the girls if your teeth are yellowed?"

[playingtough]

The panic starts gnawing at him like one of those damn rats, vines tugging at his thoughts like that night where everything changed.

Then Tae's voice breaks through it, criticizing and sharp. It cuts through like a knife, slicing the metaphorical rats and vines. He's still bouncing his foot and breathing hard, but congratulations, Tae. You have his attention.

"What? Why?!" He frowns and focuses on this, the conversation. "I get girls all the time and my teeth are not fucking yellow. You wanna bring that shit up now? Right fucking now?!" That foot starts to slow in its bouncing, too.

[butterfly_kiss]

There you are she thinks to herself when he frowns.

"Nicotine, whether inhaled or chewed, leads to a yellowing of the teeth. You can't avoid it," she says as she resumes the stitches. "I'm not a dentist but I am your physician so I do have to worry. And if the only way to get you to care about your lungs is to argue for white teeth and the importance of lungs in stamina in the bedroom, I'll use it."

Stick with her here, kid. She moves to speed up the stitches. It won't be as pretty or as perfect, but she needs him patched up before she loses him again.

[playingtough]

"Who the fuck chews nicotine? People should just smoke it, don't be freaks and chew it," though that last part is muttered under his breath. "What else am I supposed to fucking do? I get fucking irritated unless I have one, or I chew at my fingers." Or if he gets anxious and wants a smoke, he'll scratch at his skin like it's burning to ash.

Her method is working.

"My teeth are fucking fine and they're white! Don't be a bitch and try to take this one thing from me!" There might've been a c-word muttered just as he presses his lips closed, too. Billy had backed off of how many he smoked because of the rations from the replicator. He used one to make a new tape, though that was all the way in the beach cabin right now. Useless.

"OW! What the hell where you're stabbing! I'm not even being a fucking dick, knock it off!"

[butterfly_kiss]

"Chewing tobacco is less common but it's not uncommon," she rolls her eyes. But there he is. He's really focusing on her now.

"I'm giving you stitches," she says, her voice softer now. "You were panicking, and if you'd run like you looked like you were going to, we could have done more harm to you. So I am sorry. It was the quickest way to get you paying attention to me."

[playingtough]

"I don't use chewing tobacco, stupid." He'd feel bad about this later because Billy came in intending to be civil at least. Doesn't know why Tae went out of her way to poke his buttons until she explains it.

That foot has stopped bouncing and Billy - with some difficulty - gets another lollipop unwrapped to pop in his mouth. Cherry flavored. The best. He relaxes back in the chair and tries to keep still.

"I was trying to say 'watch where you're stabbing'. I think. I was... I was gonna run. I did earlier. The moment I saw that thing in the gate. I didn't come here intending to be mean this time." Billy turns his head to look at her. He's still there, less panicked now as she works at the injury. "Trying to be better."

[butterfly_kiss]

"I know you didn't," she says. "And I try not to be a bitch when I'm in the middle of tending to wounds. But you need a bitch to keep you in the moment, so I'm really talented in this moment. Multitasking. Bitch and stitch."

See, she can be almost amusing.

"You came in here with a weapon and bloody. I can tell you're doing your best to help."

[playingtough]

Bitch and stitch. That gets a laugh from him. The laugh causes little smile crinkles at the corners of his eyes and he laughs at the absurdity of it all. The situation, being nice, it's all funny and stupid in the moment.

"I wasn't going to help at first. I was having a rough time in the alley next to the diner." Billy doesn't elaborate on that, and Tae can probably piece together how rough it was with how he almost fell back into panic sitting here. "Gladio's been training me - ah Christ this hurts - and helped me out. Gave me the axe. Pulled my shit together and went out to go fucking help."

[butterfly_kiss]

At least he's laughing. She appreciates that. It's helping.

"You've clearly got trauma related to this. PTSD. There's nothing wrong with not acting in it. ONce we're done with the stitches, I'm giving you sedatives so you can sleep. You need it. I'm going to see about some anxiety medication soon as well."

[playingtough]

It's one of those situations where everything feels so high-strung and ridiculous that it's the only response he can give. And it gives him something else to focus on that isn't the needle working in and out as she moves it.

"The fuck is PTSD? I'm fine," though he's clearly not, "I don't stupid medication for this shit. Just give me a cigarette and a beer, I'll be fine." That free hand goes to the lollipop, working at the stick between his teeth while his tongue works over the sweet part. "Shepherd mentioned something about exposure therapy. I'm not going to do therapy either."

Well, at least he's not panicking now since he's decided to be stubborn instead.

[butterfly_kiss]

"Post-traumatic stress disorder," she answers. "And the state you were in when you arrived says you've been through serious trauma. Along with everything you've told me. You've encountered what a psychologist would call a 'trigger', which was why you were panicking and flipping out at me. So medication can help diminish some of the effects. Better than alcohol."

So yes, he needs the medicine. BUt she can't force him to take care of his mental health.

"STill giving you medicine. Your prescription."

[playingtough]

Okay, acronym checks out. Billy still thinks he's fine. But her explanation - he's not fine. He's lived through a special kind of hell. Possession, murder, attempted murder, and nearly dying when he was dropped here. Now all these monsters were here, stirring up the memories that Billy wants nothing to do with at the moment.

He's not fine.

"You can give that shit to me, but I'm not taking it." Would it even help? It sounded fake. The sedatives to sleep sound the most intriguing because he's had problems with that since he figured out the gates were open. He looks down at her working. "You almost done here?"

[butterfly_kiss]

"Alright then. But it would help with any issues you might have with sleep or anxiety," she says with a shrug.

"I need to do one last scratch. Sorry. I'm going as fast as I can."

Without hurting him more.

[playingtough]

Billy falls quiet, thinking. He had some trouble sleeping when he got here, too. Expected after almost dying, so he had put up with the rough nights before Calibrations and volcanos and the other bullshit.

Stupid, stupid bullshit.

He shifts down, trying to make it just a little easier for her. The sooner she finishes, the better so he can get back to fighting the monsters or holing up in the diner again. The stitches hurt, but they don’t hurt as bad as the monsters claws running through his shoulder.

"…I guess you’re gonna tell me to go easy on lifting and shit now, too."

[butterfly_kiss]

"I am. Because if you rip out your stitches, you're not getting another lollipop while I replace them. I'll forbid Steve and Zelda from it too. I can't stop the puppy of course."

There was no telling Billy Kaplan what to do, and he'd just magic it.

[playingtough]

For a moment, Billy thinks she's talking about Harrington. But maybe she's talking about Rogers. Honestly seems more likely anyways, with how he sat and talked about saving Billy from his fated death at home.

Stupid talk, all of it.

And yes, that's a scowl at the threat of not getting another lollipop if he hurts himself. "So what am I allowed to do then? I'm guessing my usual workout routine isn't going to make the list."

[butterfly_kiss]

"Oh it most definitely won't until this heals. But you could always go for leg day."

She finishes with the stitches and snips the thread.

"Something that will accentuate your tight rear, kid. Enjoy that."

[playingtough]

"Every day is leg day." Especially when you live outside of the city on the beach. The walks are nice. Help Billy clear his head before he lashes out at people. At least he's being better with Tae this time around. Maybe it's a conscious effort, maybe it's the lingering effects of Everything Happening outside.

Her remarks gets a grin. "Checkin' out my ass are you? Knew you couldn't fucking resist."

[butterfly_kiss]

"I can tell," she answers simply as she then reaches for clean bandages, apparently enchanted in ways to promote healing, to wrap the stitches in. Mostly to keep them clean.

"I could care less about your ass, kid. You're far too young to have an ass in my books."

[playingtough]

"You’re the one that called it a tight rear. Which means you’ve looked and you’ve noticed. That’s enough to tell me you care."

Billy’s still grinning like he’s won something, even as he shifts his arm to give her room to wrap.

"Also doesn’t stop some ladies back home. Lots of women want a piece of me."

[butterfly_kiss]

"You're just always annoying aren't you?" she asks with a sigh. But she did set herself up for this one, and the look on her face says she knows it.

Once the injury is wrapped and carefully anchored she looks him right in the eyes.

"At your age, any woman that is more than, say, seven years older than you that wants a piece of you? She's a predator and scum. Break hearts that aren't going to use you to make themselves feel younger and relevant. They aren't worth it."

[playingtough]

"I can be worse," and they both know the truth in that. Billy could be so much worse on the scale of aggravation and annoyance, with his arrogance ramping both up higher. He likes to think he was doing quite well this time around compared to the other two times he's needed medical attention.

When she holds him with her gaze, the grin melts from his face to something more serious. He could tell she was being very cold sober about this. "Well if it makes you feel any better, the only one who did say she'd meet up with me, didn't. She didn't show up and that was for the better. That night I told you about? With the rats and being dragged into the building by vines? I was supposed to be meeting one of those women out there."

[butterfly_kiss]

Yes, he is definitely behaving more than she was expecting, which was something. And she had more cause to be taking care of him right now. So she was going to do her damnedest to make this work out.

"Well, I wish she was the one hit by the rat and dragged into a building by vines," the doctor says with a bit of acid in her voice.

Maybe she just had opinions that weren't common back in her home. It came down to a lot of how she saw young women being objectified. And if she saw it one say, it was illogical not to apply it the other.

"It's one thing to work at something like a host cafe and get money off of this little delusions. But actually getting a kid alone? I hope she gets a yeast infection."