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 Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:41 pm
Well, he was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen.
Sitting in the waiting room while he slowly bled through the impromptu bandage, an old shirt, really, wrapped around his upper arm; Mason winced as he shifted. What had gone wrong? Maybe one of the teeth on the gears hadn't caught properly... no, no. That wouldn't account for so much gas loss. What could it be?
Musing over schematics as the pager overhead called something or another, he hissed through his teeth and sucked in air to keep from shouting in pain as he bumped his arm accidentally. Damn.
He really didn't have time for this. There was still so much work to do, so much he had planned for today. Covering the wound gingerly with his hand, he tensed as his angry nerves told him off. How much would this slow him down?
Sighing as he slouched back in his chair, he waited to be seen, not minding the lull while he went over ideas yet again in his head.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:10 am
Tora finished her last appointment of the day and let her patient out the back door, which lead though a little scenic garden that she found very relaxing. "Have a nice day," she waved kindly and locked the door behind her as she came in. It had been a slow day, but she preferred it that way. She cleaned up her supplies and wiped everything down with an alcohol wipe.
"Alright, ladies," She called to her stuffed animals that looked out over the waiting room on a shelf behind the front desk. "Time to-" Tora stopped half way through her sentence when she entered the room and saw a young man obviously bleeding and in pain. "Oh my goodness!" She rushed over to him, "How long have you been sitting here?" She tried to stay calm, but was very cross with herself.
Why hadn’t she heard the door chime when he’d entered? "I’m so sorry for the wait, please come over here." She carefully took him under his good arm and did her best to help him into the patience table. She was much smaller than him, but was determined to do her best after leaving him waiting…even if his arm was hurt and not his legs.
She carefully pulled the dirty old t-shirt he’d used for a bandage away from the wound. "What happened?" Tora had learned that talking about something usually took the patience’s focus away from the pain long enough for her to start cleaning the wound with less struggling.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:55 am
He'd been far too distracted to pay attention to the bustle, only raising his head when a female voice rang out in surprise. Lifting his gaze curiously, he blinked as she hurried towards him. Did he look that bad?
"I honestly couldn't tell you..."
Frankly he was having a hard time switching gears from solving a problem in his head to being social. Blinking a few times again as he tried to get his thoughts in order, Mason slowly rose to his feet and let her guide him away. Moving made him grit his teeth as his ears folded against the hurt. He did his best not to make a sound, both suddenly embarrassed at the self-injury and not wanting to further damage his masculine pride.
"Er, no need to apologize. It could've been just a few minutes, I really am not the best at keeping track of time."
He snorted softly in self abasement, feeling a little awkward as she helped him get up on the table. Running his good hand up the back of his neck to fluff his hair as he smiled apologetically, Mason watched as she unraveled the mess, watching her face for a reaction.
When she asked, he rolled his shoulder forward so he could look at the wound again himself as if he needed the visual reminder. The gash looked deep and angry, and it wasn't a clean cut. The jagged metal had bit into his flesh, tearing it rather than slicing neatly.
"I'm still trying to figure that out... Maybe I had a poor mixture of the gases, too much helium? It's plausible, definitely highly combustible... And I was so close too!"
He sighed in frustration, leaning back despite having to wince again as his arm reminded him it wasn't happy. He looked at her again and realized that she wasn't asking why so much as how. He grinned boyishly and looked down, abashed.
"Er... that's not what you meant though, I bet. Uh, something I was working on sort of... exploded, and... I didn't duck in time? Metal shrapnel, basically, launched by a combustive-"
He coughed as he stopped himself, realizing he was about to ramble on again. He scratched his cheek and tilted his head as he chuckled nervously at himself.
"Uh... oops?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:15 am
Tora blinked in surprise as his answer, but when she looked away from his wound and at his actual appearance, it became more obvious.
"So, you're an inventor then?" He obviously liked to talk and she liked to listen, so she prodded him for more information. She turned away from him to get some supplies and felt herself smile. Oops? Most people would have been crying in pain or asking if they were going to lose their arm, but he was so calm about it.
Tora pulled over a tray with different tools and set it on the table next to her patient.
"I'm going to need to check your wound to make sure there isn't any shrapnel before I close it up." She glanced at him as she pulled out some rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs. He seemed so cute and flirty...Tora gave shook her head, sending her one hanging lock of hair bouncing around. It was probably just his way of coping with the...explosion? She returned to his side after washing her hands and started cleaning his wound.
"This is going to sting a bit," she warned him as she applied the alcohol.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:46 am
He nodded happily at her assessment, a bit of pride in his profession for sure. He resisted the childish urge to kick out his legs as he fidgeted, answering her question to her back, since she was rummaging through drawers and cabinets it looked like.
"Yeah, runs in the family. So does the, uh, penchant for mishaps. Heh."
He looked up at the ceiling tiles and shook his head, unable to count how many times he'd ended up at a clinic for a burn or stitches or something. Either for himself or for one of his siblings... or even his parents.
The clink of metal brought his attention back down and he focused on the instruments of her trade, feeling his stomach twist a little as it always did. There was the curiosity too, though. He recognized most everything, of course, but it was always interesting comparing his work with a physician's. The job wasn't too different after all, at least in his mind; he fixed broken machines and they fixed broken bodies.
Something his mom had pointed out during one of his first visits for an injury to make it less scary. It still stuck with him and seemed to work, in any case. He still swallowed hard and nodded assent as she warned him about having to check the wound. He knew she would, but even bracing for the sting didn't necessarily make it easier.
He stared at some nondescript spot on the wall over her shoulder, trying to keep his muscles relaxed so he wouldn't tense and make it hurt worse. Searching for something to talk about so he wouldn't be paying attention to her work, he tried the awkward art of chit chat. Something he was never great at, but she was cute and happy and talkative... which probably just made it harder to untie his tongue. Ah, well... He sighed mentally and dredged up topics to attempt.
"So... is this your clinic? The one I typically go to switched hands so I haven't gone back..."
He did his best to keep his voice level, though he had to look up at the ceiling again so she wouldn't see him wince.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:11 am
Tora carefully rested one hand on his shoulder so, if he did flinch, it would not send her tools jabbing into him. The wound looked less intimidating once she'd removed most of the blood, but it did expose the uneven cut which would prove more difficult to stitch. She swabbing the area while shining a bright flashlight to check for any leftover pieces of metal. Lucky for him, the wound seemed to have been caused by one solid chunk of metal and not torn up by lots of little ones.
"Hm? Oh, yes, this is my personal practice. I've never felt the need to hire extra hand because I've never needed them. I chose this place because it's a quiet town and most of the people who come in are elderly or just have minor injures. It's never busy so I usually just clean or talk to Allie and Sally." She pulled away and shrugged, looking over the wound again. Pulling over her small stool on wheels, she raised it up as high as it could go and locked it in place.
She threaded the special needle and thread she'd brought out and took a moment to examine the area.
"Would you like me to numb the area? Or, if you're not fond of needles, I can give you something that will keep you calm while I sew it up. Which would you prefer?" She waited to get up on her stool incase he wanted one or both of the medicines.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 11:35 am
Allie and Sally?
Didn't she just say this was her personal clinic and she ran it by herself? Perhaps, then, they weren't staff. Regular patients? That seemed unlikely, given the sentence structure... Hm, a puzzle. His ears pressed back against his skull as he winced again, unable to keep himself from reacting to her ministrations.
"S-sorry to break the quiet then. Doesn't sound like you'd see too many people with-" He paused and gritted his teeth for a moment, continuing only when he was sure he wouldn't make a sound; "-with, uh... a bad habit of horribly wounding themselves. Would you mind if I came calling again, next time? I promise not to bleed as much. Or, well, try at least."
He tilted his head forward again to give her an apologetic look once her hands withdrew to raise her stool and measure out thread for a needle. Stitches it would be, eh? Damn. Well, at least it wasn't worse. He watched her work until she asked him his preference, and he blinked.
"I get a choice in the matter? That's new."
Did choosing to get a shot make it suck less? Probably not, he mused, but deadening his arm would let him focus again, though the appendage would probably be useless until it wore off. Though perhaps he should put off working until his shoulder was on the mend, but that would take time he...
he was mentally rambling again. He coughed sheepishly at the realization.
"If I agree to the local anesthetic, do I get a sticker for being good if I promise not to squirm?"
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly.
"I'm alright either way, doc. Though... I don't think I could deal with sutures without some sort of pain medicine, as much as it wounds my pride to admit it."
He flashed her a smile to show he was playing more than anything, hopefully he wasn't doing a poor job of it.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:49 pm
Tora smiled and tried to brush her one stray lock of hair from her face.
"I don't mind a little excitement once an a while. Don't be afraid to come in if you ever need me!" She headed over to a small fridge and cabinet where she kept all her bottles and syringes, respectively.
"How about this. I'll give a little local anesthetic and if you need more, let me know. Don't try and man you're way through this 'cause it is going to hurt. Anyway, you be good and I'll give you a sticker, a lollipop, and you can snuggle Allie and Sally with your good arm while you wait for the anesthetic to wear off."
She giggled softly as she measured out a dosage and tried to picture her patience cuddling her stuffed animals. She flicked the syringe a couple times to get rid of any bubbles and set it on the table before climbing up onto the stool.
"Ready?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:49 pm
He nodded with a grin appreciatively, though he never intended to get hurt (who does?), it was known to happen. His smile faltered as she pulled out a syringe though. As always, he was torn between watching and looking away in concession to the slight unease in his stomach.
"Bribery accepted. As long as the two lovely ladies do not mind my rambling company, of course. Alright, I'm ready Dr... ... er."
Shoot, he was doing so well too. Had she introduced herself already? Mason couldn't for the life of him remember... he didn't think so though. Honestly he couldn't even remember the name of the -clinic-, let alone if there was any other etchings on the door with names or numbers or something.
He smirked sheepishly and then turned away, deciding not to watch either the injection or her reaction to his fumble, finding a particular cabinet to stare at instead.
"I, uh, can't say I recall your name. Some patient, eh?"
It wasn't the best introduction ever, or even one at all really, but knowing you're about to get prodded with a needle sort of takes the smooth out of your thoughts. And to be fair Mason wasn't much of a smooth talker to begin with, more candid than anything.
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Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 9:49 am
She smiled brightly and carried the syringe around like it was no big deal. She giggled at the thought of her two stuffed animals minding. They listened to her ramble all the time. Tora bit her lip, she'd forgotten to tell him her name! She felt bad that the poor guy now thought he was the one who forgot it, but he was adorable. She blinked and shook her head, he was a patient. Those thoughts weren't allowed in her clinic.
"You can just call me Tora," she smiled kindly as she sat next to him and tried to stay professional. "What's yours?" While he was busy talking, she quickly stuck him with the needle and set it aside.
"There, that wasn't so bad now was it." Getting to work, she cleaned the wound again and held it carefully as she started to sew it up. Tora glanced up after the first stitch.
"How's that? Can you feel anything? Or do you need more?"
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