Self Afflictions

Players:

mary_icon.jpg

NPCs Facilitated by Hyena

Summary: Mary goes to the hospital to treat some wounds, but it turns out she caused them herself and ends up unintentionally harming those that would help her.

Date: June 24, 2009

Self Afflictions

Rating: PG


Swedish Medical Center - Emergency Room

The ER is always busy, doctors and nurses brushing past to quickly reach their destinations, often carrying vital objects such as packages of blood, or carrying a patient in hopes of reaching there all the more faster. A set of doors bar the way to the outside, but does little to keep anything out as they swing freely when pushed against as doctors and emergency crew carry stretchers and patients through to the desk to be checked in by the nurses.

Once the patient is give a quick vital check and the nurse assigns a place for the patient, they are led to the main area of the ER where Doctors move from one curtained area to the next, diagnosing and helping the sick and injured. More serious cases are lead to one of 3 emergency rooms which minor surgeries and operations can be done to save peoples lives. In here doctors play god and can almost bring people back from death.


The city hasn't recovered yet, and things certainly haven't improved as of yet in the city. Of course, there has been many organization who came out to help the people of Seattle, but the things one can see going on in this time of chaos and anarchy… It's frightening. To keep herself out of boredom, as well as give a hand where she can, Mary has been wandering about. She has seen more than her share due to the various encounters she had, but she tried not to let it get to her. Still, one thing has been roaming in her mind for some time subconsciously. This one encounter she had with a police woman who claimed a mutant wouldn't get treatment at the hospital. It shocked her, but it stayed at that point… Mary probably forgot all about it, but her mind, hasn't.

A week has passed since this encounter. Give or take. Mary's sleep is haunted by a terrible nightmare. One she has no memory of, but the kind of nightmare that makes you wake up in terror, covered in sweat and panting. After waking up from this dreadful dream, she takes a few seconds to calm down and she heads to her bathroom. Without any electricity, she has to guide herself with the moonlight that passes through the windows. She has accumulated water in her sink and she uses it to wash her face. She takes off her top, since she feels it sticky to her body, probably due to the sweat, to change up. However…

When Mary takes it off, she notices the stain on her white tank top, leaving an obvious mark over it. All over her back. Bringing it closer to her face, she can also smell the stench of blood, still warm. Her head spins a little but she manages to regain her composure. It's only now that she realizes, the moisture she felt on her back wasn't sweat, but blood. And unfortunately, she can't really see the extend of the damage without any light and mirror to help herself.

After a good fifteen minute to try and make the bleeding stop, she realizes her injuries seem to be large gash. While the bleeding isn't constant, it's obvious she won't be able to deal with it on her own. Binding clothes around her abdomen and thorax, Mary takes some old clothes to try and make the bleeding as minimal as possible to head off to the hospital to get some treatment, hoping they'll be able to help her despite the lack of electricity.

And so… This leads Mary to the hospital, to the lobby, to the processing center of the various cases they have to deal with. Mary spares a few glance around and tries to find someone who could help her out. Not wanting to ruin her jacket, she came with a pair of old worn out jeans, and just a tank-top, which is blood-stained on her back, due to the walk she had to take to come here.

The hospital is not as busy as it had been, but there are still many here who need help. The arrival of military forces has calmed down much of the violence in the city, and the doctors no longer have to fight off people trying to steal medical supplies. There are a few in the line who have some cuts and gashes, one has a bullet hole and one has a crystal stabbed into his shoulder, he looks unhappy.

A nurse near the man with the crystal wound shakes her head and stops poking at it, unhappy about the man's general impatience. "Well it's not going to heal unless we can get that out. You'll have to go into the operating room." The nurse turns to the new arrival and walks over to Mary. "And…Oh Lydia, you made it. Thank you for coming dear, they need you in the operating room on the third floor." The nurse directs a blue haired girl up the stairs before turning again back to Mary. "I'm sorry dear, how may I help you?"

Sparing a glance at the various occupants, Mary heaves a faint sigh. It's not as bad as she thought this would be. Or at least, there isn't as much of a crowd as she expected. When the nurse approaches her, she arches a brow at the question. Perhaps it was not obvious because of her clothes or she did not spot the stain on her back, but Mary gestures with one hand to her back, "Well, I'm bleeding… I can't see what happened, and I can't really make it stop either," She says. She does look a little pale, a little due to the blood loss. "So, hum… where do I go…?" She asks.

The nurse is an elderly woman, probably about seventy. She looks as though she may have come out of retirement just to help with the current crisis. The woman approaches and readjusts her glasses, walking around behind Mary to better look at her back. "Oh my. Did you go under a fence? Or maybe you fell or backed into something…Either way we need to treat that before it goes septic." She points Mary toward a short line to a treatment room. "Nurse Valentine should be able to see you shortly."

"Good question," Mary mutters to herself. Though she has an idea on what happened. She groans a bit and heaves a faint sigh, before she nods to the old nurse, "Thank you, ma'am," She says. Mary makes her way in the direction she was pointed, taking a seat in the line for the treatment room. She settles down and stares at the other who are in line to see if she's better off than they are.

The line progresses slowly, but luckily it is short. It is about twenty minutes before Mary is able to be seen. A woman with pink eyes and a white nurses uniform comes to the door, beckoning the woman in. Bits of raven hair can be seen coming down from the sides of her hat. She motions for Mary to walk near the exam table and pulls a curtain shut over the door. The room is lit by candles, mirrors, and glow sticks, but it is still dim. "Ok, you have a laceration? Was the implement that cut you metal or rusty?" She changes her gloves and jots down some information on a sheet of paper.

Once she's inside the examination room, Mary sits down on the exam table and she takes off her top. She also slowly takes off the jury-rigged bandage she put around her thorax to make the bleeding minimal. "Yeah, I think it's that, but nothing metal or rusty," She says with a slow nod.

The injury looks like a slash of a claw. However, it seems abnormal. The cut are perfect, no torn flesh, it seems to have been done almost chirugically or by a rather keen edge, but then again, there's four cuts like this going diagonally across her back. Thankfully, the bleeding seems to have stopped, but it'll obviously need some stitches.

"What does it look like?" Mary asks, trying to glance over her shoulder at the nurse.

The nurse narrows her eyes as she leans in close to the wounds, touching them gingerly with her fingertips. "It looks almost like an animal attack." She reaches out to Mary's hands, "May I?" She peers at them. No defensive marks. She feels the wound again. No fur, no saliva…Not an attack. "The cuts are very fine. Almost like those of a laser or scalpel. I think you'll need stitching, and I'd like to get you a tetanus shot as a precaution."

Mary nods at the demand and she sighs. She lifts her gaze up as the nurse tries to figure out what caused it, and then, something crosses her mind, something she had forgotten for a while, an old discussion she had, "Actually…" She bites her lips and then glances over her shoulder at the nurse, "I… Think I might have done this to myself unwillingly… I'm a mutant, you see, and sometimes, well, things like that can happen, but it never did to this scale before…" She admits. "But better safe than sorry for the tetanus…"

The nurse raises her eyebrows at the admission. "Well, that could explain why the cuts are so clean." She then asks an odd question, "Have you suffered from poltergeist activities recently? Sometimes wounds can be self inflicted during times of stress or during nightmares." Nurse Valentine sticks an arm outside of the curtain and beckons the old woman into the room. "Rose, I'll need a tetanus prepped. Also bring me my stitching kit. Has Lydia arrived yet?" The old woman nods. "See if she is available for a few minutes. I can stitch in here but I'd like better light." Seems like they have no issues with mutants at this hospital.

Mary arches a brow, "Poltergeist?" She asks. She shakes her head and adds, "I woke up from a nightmare, I think… I don't remember what it was though." Closing her eyes, Mary relaxes a little. She squirms a bit on the table and she says, "I… Have to admit, I had some doubt… I think I heard someone saying mutants weren't getting treated. I'm glad to see that person was mistaken," Mary says idly, to fill in the silence while the nurse's waiting to get a hand to help her out.

"Yes, Poltergeist." The nurse jots a few things down on a paper. "It's not actually a ghost, we've found that young women can sometimes effect the environments with their minds and moods. I wouldn't be surprised if it manifested as the trait of a mutation. These wounds are similar to poltergeist wounds. If they are caused by your subconscious psyche, then I can only treat the wounds and not the cause." The woman sighs. "And yes, unfortunately the head nurse was turning away known mutants. But General Raikov reassigned her to work at the prison until things get better." Valentine smiles at Mary, "Now we're free to help whoever needs it, and some of the mutants have been happy to help us in return. Lydia has been particularly helpful…You'll meet her if she's free."

"I see…" Mary says, letting those words sink in. Some of the information the nurse is giving away is pretty interesting. Mary would love to give a hand but unfortunately, her powers would hardly be of any use in an hospital. Or at least, what she knows of it. She frowns and asks, "You seem to know an awful lot about mutants and mutations… Like this poltergeist thing, where did you learn all of this?"

The nurse laughs and blushes slightly. "Oh I'm just a big geek, really. I watch…Er watched Ghost Hunters all the time when the power was working. And I read up on all that paranormal stuff. But now they're suspecting that some ghost activity is mutant causes. Well, that was the new theory a month or so ago when this all started." She motions to the darkness but turns as it gets a bit brighter. "Oh, Lydia, thank you for coming."

Lydia smiles, she's the blue haired mutant from Dax's bar, the one who glows. "Of course. I have to repay you somehow for fixing me up." The woman still has a bandage over her shoulder, easilly visible over her blue sundress. "Here are the materials you requested." She holds out a box to the nurse before taking a seat on a chair near Mary. "I am here to help, and I won't hurt you. So if you have anything against mutants, please save it until after you're patched up." Though the words are a little harsh, the face is quite friendly. Lydia holds up a hand and a sphere of bright light is emitted, lighting up the room instantly.

Mary frowns a bit, before she turns her eyes away, "Oh, I see…" She says, lowering her gaze, "You sure seem to know a lot though, for someone who just watches television and read stuff," Mary says. She waits for the famous Lydia to come in and light the room. Mary glances over to Lydia at the cold comment, but she decides to stay silent. "Seems like you guys are holding on pretty well despite the problem of electricity," Mary offers. There's not much for her to do aside from wait, and let her mind wander casually about the things the other nurse told her.

Valentine smiles softly. "Yes, well I had a lot of free time before all of this started." She leans in close and begins disinfecting the wound with alcohol pads. "We have unfortunately run out of pain killers, I'm sorry. This is going to hurt like hell I'm afraid." She places a hand on Mary's back and begins stitching the first wound.

Lydia just sits there and emits light. "Yes, many doctors and nurses from outside of the deadzone have come here to help. And as she said, there are mutants here with abilities that can be used to help people, and we do what we can." She shakes her head, "But unfortunately it's not enough. The General mentioned something about an evacuation. Er…Well…I overheard something like that. Not sure when or if it's certain yet."

Mary arches a brow, glancing over to Valentine, "Are you serious?" She asks her. It wasn't the first time Mary had stitches, and she knows this definitely won't feel overtly good. At least, she hopes she doesn't have too much nerves on her back. With a low grunt, she just grits her teeth and holds on to the examination table, "Alright…"

With one hand on her back, Mary leans down a little, and then she can feel the needle piercing through her flesh. She hears what Lydia says, but the pain keeps her occupied else where. Thankfully, she has a lot of control over herself, so she manages to make some of the pain fade away, but there's just a limit on how much she can take.

The nurse continues to stitch, now done with the first laceration and moving on to the second. She gives Lydia a quick look and a nod, as if telling her to continue speaking. Valentine doesn't have painkillers, but maybe Lydia can distract her from the pain with some conversation.

Lydia nods and looks a little lost, what can she say to this woman? "Wait, I think I've seen you before. At Dax's? The club downtown." She ponders for a moment. "No, that was someone else, forget I said that at all…Erm…So what do you do here? In…the city?" She realizes that's a pretty dumb question. What does one do when there's no power? Nothing. She glances at the wound for the first time and her eyes widen, causing the girl's light to flicker slightly. "Were you…Are those claw marks? Who attacked you? It wasn't…“ Lydia can only think of one person with claws like that…Toothers. But he hadn't mentioned being attacked or having to fight anyone recently. Lydia had also heard that a few animals were loose from the zoo, but she has to be sure it wasn't her friend.

It might look like a claw mark, though this beast must have razor sharp claws to have done this. Mary grunts and she bites her lips, "You don't have to worry about it, I took care of the problem, everything's fine," Mary simply answers. She doesn't feel like justifying how she did this to herself. This was enough of a shame already.

Mary bites her lips, fingers clenching on the side of the table, "So, how it's looking? Done soon?" She asks, her body trembling a little.

Valentine cleans up the completed stitching and begins the last one. "Almost done…Only one more and you'll be all set…" She stitches along the last scratch, which isn't very long. She is done quickly enough and is able to clean up this one as well. "Ok, this is going to hurt…Allot." The woman gets a bottle of peroxide and pours it over the stitches. "I don't usually do this but I need to be sure it's clean."

Lydia cringes slightly as she sees the wounds bubble. That seems mighty unpleasant. Lydia walks to the other side of the room and begins collecting bandages for the nurse. She had heard Mary's comment and is no longer worried. If this woman 'handled the situation' then it wasn't Toothers. He was asleep when she left the club a few hours back.

That was rather unpleasant. All of those stitches, without any painkiller. The last one probably was the least painful one, but still. Mary closes her eyes and she heaves a faint sigh. She has a few seconds of rest, the seconds between the last stitch being done and the peroxide being applied on her wounds to clean it up. Mary stiffens and she arches her back, letting a muffled groan escape her throat at the keen pain.

Mary manages to calm down, though she still feels the sharp pain on her back. At least, the shock has passed. However, her body doesn't react the same way to all of those aggressions. Unconsciously, it defends itself, even if Mary was 'in control' before. In a matter of seconds, things start to degrade around of Mary, the clothes on the table, her own clothes, spreading to the organic and carbonic matter around of her.

Valentine reaches behind her to grab the bandages from Lydia. She turns back to the girl and prepares to apply them, noticing that the table is suddenly in very bad shape. And now her glove is degrading, and her hand is becoming covered in small cuts. "Oh dear." She backs up slightly from Mary. "I'm done, dear. I need you to calm down. If you injure yourself again we'll just have to repeat the whole process. The nurse removes her destroyed gloves and back slowly away.

"Lucretia…"Lydia is looking at Valentine's hand and now at the room as objects begin to decay. She looks at the nurse nervously, but Valentine seems calm enough.

This particular zone seems to be spreading. Like some sort of infection, and unfortunately, the epicenter of this plague happens to be Mary. Of course, she's not totally clueless, when she feels the examination table degenerating underneath her and her clothes getting the same kind of treatment, Mary quickly rises up to her feet, moving to the closest corner.

She turns around on her heels, thankfully, no one seems too injured. At least, the stitches are made of metal, that's one thing, "Don't approach," Mary says, lifting one hand up. "Or else you'll get killed, just stay away!" Mary says. She bites her lips and glances around, as if trying to find some way to get out.
Valentine frowns and rolls up her sleeves, "Lydia, stand outside the door and let no one enter this room until I tell you it is safe." She watches as Lydia gives her a nervous glance and heads out the door, leaving the room dim once more. Valentine edges forward slightly, stopping as she feels her skin begin to burn. "I'm going to help you, you just have to trust me." The woman's hands give off a faint violet glow. It appears as though she is a mutant herself, perhaps that is why she knows so much about them. LuLu rushes forward, pressing her hands against Mary's skin. The woman falls to her knees as she is struck with Mary's power, but she keeps contact all the same. The nurses power is quite interesting. She is able to effect the moods of individuals by making direct skin contact. Right now she is trying to use her power to calm Mary to the point that she is no longer a danger.

Approaching the aura of this emanation causes Valentine's clothes to deteriorate. Some wounds appear on her flesh, and approaching close to Mary just seems to make the process goes faster. "Stay back!" Mary shouts. Is she insane? Still, the purple glow is enough to prevent Mary from shoving Valentine away when she tries to touch her. It would have been for her own good, but still…

The soothing touch does calm Mary. She didn't feel frightened overtly or anything, but her body had this stress pent up, a part of herself defending herself against an invisible aggressor. While Mary doesn't feel full extend of her power, it does manage to stop the manifestation of her power.

Unfortunately though, the clothes on her arm that touched Mary has been totally reduced to shred. While the rest is badly damaged here and there, leaving more rags than anything else. Along with many injuries over her body, many wounds spreading across of her body. The pain might have made her loss consciousness, but she'd still be alive… However, the many tissue damage that injured her so makes her bleed badly.

Mary holds on to Valentine, to prevent her from falling, "Help! Somebody! Quickly!" Mary shouts. She realizes that this woman managed to 'stop' her and from hurting others, but, to what cost? Hopefully they'll be able to treat her… And she's at the good spot to get treated. Though if only they had electricity it would help..

In an instant Lydia is in the room, holding back the curtain and piercing through the gloom with her radiance. She looks over at the two and, after a moment's hesitation, darts forward to help Mary. She takes hold of the nurse and calls out, "Rose! I need a doctor, now!" She turns back to Mary and nods toward the bandages on the counter. "Take those. Go to Club Seal, it's near the university. There is a doctor there who can bandage you properly. Keep the wounds clean but cover them if you shower." She motions toward a cabinet in the corner. "There should be lab coats in there. Take one of those if you need it." Lydia begins pressing against one of the deeper wounds on the nurse, who has seemingly lost consciousness.

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