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Giulia Montgomery

Giulia was blood type O-. That was one of the first things that she had learned when they moved back to Destiny City. With the amount of accidents that they had in the city, just in case anything went wrong, she and Aidan had both been required to get little medical bracelets that they had to carry around with them as they went to school, or over to a friend's house, or anywhere else. In case they were out with nanny, or out with a friend, they needed to know what allergies they had, and their blood types, and any other unusual facts that a medical professional might find relevant.

Blood type O- she had learned, was an important blood type. Anyone in the world could use her blood, when she was old enough to donate it. That was because her blood had some Anti-Jenns in it, and there was some other little thingy in it too. She wasn't exactly a hundred percent sure what the other thingy in the blood was, but she didn't have them, which made her super special in that she couldn't have them (meaning she couldn't be given any blood that did have them or she would get sick) but the fact she had O Anti-Jenns meant.... she couldn't have A Jenn or a B Jenn or an AB Jenn either? Or maybe the O had been 0 Anti-Jenns, or....

Either way, she knew she had to stay away from some sort of Jenns. Otherwise she would get really sick and it would be really gross and.... something bad would happen. She had to only have blood with O Anti-Jenns and no special thingies in it. And that was all there was to say about that.

Unfortunately, in this moment, while Giulia wanted very much to donate her blood since it could be used by anyone, she was very little. Apparently when you donated blood they took an awful lot from you, and Giulia being both only 6 still and kind of on the skinny side, she didn't have enough blood in her body to do any donating. And she probably couldn't help anyone on the inside either. She couldn't hold a needle, and she didn't know what anything was called. She would probably just get in the way. But there had to be something that she would be able to do to help out? Anything! Maybe she could pass out some pam... f... lets? Some of the little books. On why it was good to donate blood?

And there were cookies! That would surely get people to come let them stick a needle in? She would let someone stick a needle in her for a cookie. It was just like getting a shot, except that they were taking the blood away? As she sat there, quietly watching Jada (who was also an O-) donate some of her blood, Giulia very carefully considered how she might be able to make a big impact on the need for blood since she couldn't donate herself.

She wanted to save lives, and be the very best princess she could be!

Though, blood donation was kind of gross to watch, but it was a really good thing to do it if you could. Still, she couldn't watch it all. One day she'd do it, though. Maybe... when she was older. A lot older. Like soooo old, like... 17 or something. Sitting here and watching the blood giving was important for like... educating herself and stuff for when she was old enough to do grown-up stuff like this. She twisted her hands in her skirt, watching the needle pull and- and nope. Giulia went pale, and closed her eyes. It wasn't something she really was feeling like she wanted to watch, actually. Was it okay to donate blood with your eyes closed? Probably.

She knew that giving blood was really super important. She'd gotten a whole lesson on it in class. One of the kids in her school had gotten hurt, and when he got hurt, he got really bad scraped up. And because they were little, they didn't have much blood to give away. (It was why they couldn't donate blood.) So when he had gotten scraped, it had been somebody in one of the buses just like this one who had put their blood in one of the little plastic baggies. And then, the little plastic bag got tested a lot, which was why they needed to take so much. Because wven though there were rules, sometimes big people wanted to help a lot and so they told lies in order to help, but if they were sick and didn't know it, then their lie could have gotten him hurt. But anyway, they had taken a little bit of blood and used the little pouch to help try and replace the stuff he had lost in his accident, since he was little and needed to have the blood replaced.

His story got a little weird from there, and so Giulia opened her eyes to consider the blood ex tract shun that was happening in front of her. He said they put a needle in him and then there had been a thingy that squished the blood donation from the package and into him to replace the stuff that he was missing, but he hadn't gotten into very much detail because a lot of the kids got really grossed out and the teacher turned really pale and made him stop telling his tale. She couldn't blame the teacher, seeing how it went the other way.

At last, though, it looked like everything was coming to an end, and Giulia swallowed, and gathered her doll close to her chest. As they went to take the needle out, she turned her dolly's head away and buried her own face in the dolly's hair. That was really gross. Taking the cookie that they offered her for staying with Jada, she split it with her dolly as they left the bus.

Word Count: 1008; Roll: 4 (no effect)

Cassie Finlay

Usually, she avoided blood drives. She knew her blood type, AB Positive, after the quick test to determine her type. And from some of the pamphlets she got after signing up on the appropriate sheet, she quickly noted a few fact she'd no idea about. Namely, that AB plasma was used for treating everyone, regardless of their blood type, for injuries like clotting disorders, burn, and shock victims. Cassie winced. Considering a lot of the injuries people around here sustained? She could only imagine how often such treatments would be necessary.

It made her queasy to think about. She wasn't fond of needles, and the idea of willingly letting someone draw blood made her stomach roll, but...

But with everything going on around there?

She'd be donating blood, sure--and from the chart, only other AB Positive people could receive her blood type, a bummer, since apparently only around like... what? Three-point-four percent of the population had her type? So not super useful. But after speaking to the nurse at the sign-in desk, she confirmed that she'd be willing to also donate plasma. The part that'd actually be way more useful, and able to help a lot more people. Universal plasma.

She sat wringing out her skirt in the makeshift waiting room area, re-reading the pamphlets about blood donations, and then reading over the pamphlets time and time again about plasma donations. The description made her blanch, though it must not have been a really alarming amount for by the time the nurse came to retrieve her and lead her to the area they'd be working in, the woman was all smiles and gratitude that she was willing to do this.

However, it would only be a plasma draw, not blood and plasma.

"Oh no, that would be much too much on your body," the woman explained as she lead Cassie back. "If you want to go to another blood drive after a month of recuperating, you certainly can, but for now, we're just going to focus on the plasma."

Which didn't bother Cassie too much. Minus, of course, her general unease over needles and pain and…. Ick.

Once at the designated area, Cassie took a seat in one of the comfy chairs, leaning back and trying not to look at the needles as the nurse got everything prepped. A table next to her held all the tools and the instruments involved, but she tried to not even glance their way. Instead, she noticed how a TV had been rolled into the area. An animal show was on, showing cute baby animals playing and running amuck. The nurse caught her bemused expression and smiled. "You'll be here a little bit longer than for the blood donation period, but this will help that time fly by quickly."

Cassie at least had to agree about that. Cute animals were a good distraction, though if they had like, a therapy cat or dog that'd be even more effective… of course, it was even harder to focus on just the cute animals when she could feel the tourniquet being applied around her arm, and the nurse began to tap at her right hand, looking for the veins between the knuckles. This was always the worst part. Well ok. One of them.

She fidgeted where she sat, answering the simple questions as the nurse asked them. "So what school are you going to?"

"DCU."

"Oh yeah? What are you studying?"

"Anthropology."

"Really? That's very neat!"

And so on.

"Ouch!" She winced and would have jerked her hand away, if not for the woman holding onto her wrist. Cassie had to fight to keep herself from looking at the source of the offence, aware of the thick needle piercing her skin.

She couldn't move her fingers, couldn't fidget her right hand like she wanted to.

"Sorry, but it's all set now. Just sit back, relax, and let me know if you want anything to eat or drink."

She eyed the nurse warily. "Um…. Some juice? Or water? Please?" Hey, she offered… The nurse just smiled and walked off, pace brisk and Cassie sighed, trying to focus on the scene of the kittens rolling around playfully in the grass on the TV, rather than the needle and IV sticking out of her.

The more painful option. But what was this pain against those who dealt with the burns, the trauma, survived the casualties of their war? How many people were hurt daily by misfired magic, or youma, or Negaverse agents? And here she was complaining about needles? She stiffened her spine, scolding herself for focusing on her own situation rather than the good her small moment of pain could lead to. Yes, she was in pain, and yes, this was uncomfortable. But it would help someone. It was really the lease any of the senshi and knights should do… and Dark Mirror Senshi, and Negaverse agents…. Everyone really. They all owed it to the people of this city to spend their time and give back. Her mental rants got her through a few minutes at least. The nurse returned with a bottle of orange juice which she opened up for her and offered to Cassie's left hand, checking the IV and whatever other bits were over there before heading off to help out other donators.

She sipped the juice slowly, trying to still focus on its too sweet flavor and the TV. Now puppies and baby goats playing. Weren't they called kids or something? She snickered as a baby goat jumped and scampered along, bleating and trying to bump the puppies in the head. How long had even passed? She fidgeted, trying to pull out her cell phone without jostling her other hand with the freaking needle and stuff sticking out of it. Peeking at the screen, she sighed. Only ten minutes. Really? With a grumble, she settled back, sending out a few texts and even snapping a few shots of the area—without getting other donators in the photo, or her own setup—to confirm she was totally doing her part to support the new hospital.

By the time the entire forty-five minutes had passed, Cassie was a fidgeting mess. The nurse quickly pulled out the needle and she yelped again, before getting bandaged up and helped to the table of snacks. A Band-Aid was taped through her first knuckle on her right hand, a second and third one on her palm and the back of her hand to hold it in place. She nibbled a few cookies and drank a few more of the small bottles of orange juice before she began to feel steady enough to walk on her own out of the area. She felt… horrible really. Maybe she'd just given too much? Or too soon? Shaking her head—and regretting the movement with a small groan—she sought a… hopefully ok place to sit and chill for a while. Yikes this wasn't the best move on her part…

{ WC: 1166 }

Solo spot for Gwen

Deme

After wandering around for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a couple minutes. Deme actually found something of interest. A blood drive. Now he wasn't the type that did this often, but he did hear from some people on his team that they had participated in one. Of course the one they participated in, was when he was out of town for a sports conference. So he never even knew about it until he returned. Maybe if he did this one, it might make up for that. Plus he knew he was super healthy so maybe his blood could help someone who needed it.

With that thought he walked in the blood drive, and patiently waited until it was his turn to sign in. He signed his signature quick and next to it wrote his blood type. It was O+, which he wasn't exactly sure what that meant or if they needed it. But it couldn't hurt to write it down right? After he finished he just stood to the side waiting for a nurse to come and show him where to go. To his surprise it really was just as quick as they had mentioned. Which was surprising to him, since it seemed like there were a ton of people here.

Without question though he followed her to a comfy chair and sat down. He did everything she said without question. Actually he wasn't even really watching what she was doing. Which was unusual for him, but he felt like they were pretty competent in what they were doing. After all this set up was pretty through and though out. I mean the CPR class he went to was actually really knowledgeable so he figured why not trust him. As they grabbed his arm and inserted the iv.

He felt a tiny pinch, but it didn't really bug him. After all he had fell on running trails that hurt more than that. "hmm... this isn't so bad. I don't know why people complain about this," he said to himself as he learned back in his chair. He had heard so many horror stories, not from his teammates but from like family members, and school people. Thankfully though, they were all wrong. To him it really didn't feel bad, even though he knew blood was closely losing blood in his body. He continued to just relax until he had filled up two bags. Which he assumed was the limited, since the nurse came back after the second one and took the iv out slowly, and wrapped up that part of his arm. She thanked him and pointed him towards the drink tables as soon as he finished.

He nodded towards her and headed towards the drink and snack table. Though the second he arrived and was about to pick up a cup. He felt mysteriously a bit extra exhausted after giving blood. "Maybe this is normal," he whispered to himself under his breath. as he fought with himself to pick up the cup and fill it with a drink and grabbed a snack. Before having a quick seat in the chairs he had found near the entrance.

[[Word Count: 531 words]]

Rhona Lee -- Word Count: 1672

To say that Rhona was anxious would have been an understatement. Micah Elizabeth Anne had been terribly afraid of needles, so much so that the sight of one made her feel sick to her stomach. But how did Rhona Lee feel about them? It wasn’t so much the needles themselves that were making Rhona feel anxious as it was the fact that she didn’t know what was going to happen to her when she saw one. This was a new brain. It had new ticks. Would this be one of them?

Rhona stepped up to the table to sign in, looping her name in that unfamiliar script that she was still getting used to. How long had she been Rhona Lee? A year? Two? How much was there about her that she was still uncovering? So many things to discover about her new self – she suddenly enjoyed radishes, for instance. Before she couldn’t stand the texture. Now Rhona wouldn’t eat a salad without them. And salads were a new venture for her as well. Her voice was better – at least she fancied that it was – when she sang in her apartment. She was more patient now. Smoother of tongue and action. No longer did people grate on her like steel wool. She was able to be out and about without worrying about needing to socialize.

Maybe these weren’t even new attributes. Maybe Rhona was just… more herself.

“Rhona Lee?”

Her name dragged Rhona from her considerations.

The nurse held out her hand and Rhona shook it, much it seemed to the nurse's annoyance. Rhona watched dumbfoundedly as the nurse battled Rhona’s hand away and waved her hand in a way that must have been meaningful to her, but left Rhona without answers.

“Your hand, give me your hand,” the nurse finally snapped. Rhona sneered instinctually and snapped back, “There’s this new thing called language. You should try it out next time before you get pissy with people who can’t read your mind.” The nurse got red in the face and Rhona refused to give her her hand. No way was she letting someone this irate near her with a needle or whatever it was that she was going to be working with.

“Miss, I need your hand to tell your blood type.”

“I need someone who’s not irate to be sticking me with things.”

The nurse huffed and sat back, positively fuming by this point. Rhona would not give any ground to her. If she was going to be this way – that was to say, a b***h, then Rhona refused to give her any satisfaction. She stood there, arms crossed and eyes narrowed, marveling in the fact that Micah had always been stubborn, but this would have sent her careening into a temper tantrum. Rhona was still stubborn, but she knew how to compose herself with dignity whens he dug her heels into the dirt.

“Look, Miss,” the nurse hissed, “if you don’t want to donate, then fine, but don’t hold up the line.” By now heads were beginning to turn and stare at them. Rhona had no way of knowing what they though, nor did she really care. She stuck her chin out and squared her jaw as she spat right back, “I’d like to speak to whoever is in charge, please.”

The nurse huffed, shoved her chair back, and stalked away. Rhona knew that she had won.

She came back moments later with a middle-aged gentleman who smiled at her and held out his hand. When Rhona shook it, he responded in kind.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“I think your nurse might be tired. When I came over her held out her hand, but when I shook it she glared at me and spoke to me like I was stupid because I couldn’t read her mind instead of saying that she actually needed my hand to test my blood type.”

The charge nurse looked sideways at the other nurse, who withered at the glance.

“Then when I stated that she needed to speak to me instead of expecting me to just know what to do, she continued to yell at me and treat me like an idiot. I stated that I would like to have a nurse who was not angry sticking me with needles, a reasonable request, don’t you think?”

“I do.”

“Well, when I requested this she pouted and refused to allow another nurse to help me.”

“Is that so…?”

“I think perhaps she needs a break? Meanwhile, may I have a nurse who is in a better state of mind to test me?”

“Of course,” the charge nurse agreed, pushing the rotund nurse away as he did so. “Monica, can you come over here and test this young lady? Janet needs a break. I’m very sorry for the trouble ma’am. We hope the rest of your donation goes smoothly.” Rhona smiled back, finally, and took her seat before the new nurse who held out her hand and said, “I’m going to need your hand, miss. Just a little p***k to draw a drop of blood.” Rhona gladly complied.

Soon, she was whisked away to something that looked like a dentist's chair where she was hooked up to a blood pressure sleeve, a heart monitor, and had her arm tied up with a tourniquet.

“Have you given blood before,” the nurse asked, tapping the inside of her elbow in search of a good vein.”

“Not since high school.”

“Why the long wait?”

“Honestly? Donating blood got me out of class. So I donated whenever I could.” The nurse laughed at her, throwing his head back in mirth. It made Rhona smile. When he calmed down he continued his questioning.

“You wouldn’t happen to remember what arm was easiest to draw from, do you?”

“No sorry.”

“Well, this one looks good enough, but let’s check the other.”

The same procedure was applied to her other arm; tourniquet and tapping. It was decided that the first arm was better since the veins were larger and closer to the surface.

“Wow, you did donate a lot, look at these puncture scars? You almost have a port here. Are you sure it was just blood donations?” Rhona faked a nervous laugh in response and whispered, “promise not to tell anyone?”

“Your secret is safe with me,” he assured her.

He prepped her arm in comfortable silence, restraining her so that she wouldn’t twitch and move the vein that he had found. The alcohol wipe felt too cold and the sudden sensation made her twitch.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“Happens all the time. People react more to the wipe than the actual needle. Stacy, can you come over here? Stacy is just going to do some explaining to you while I continue to prep your arm.”

A young brunette slid over to the other side of the chair, drawing Rhona’s attention to her. In her hands were a sample needle, several vials, and a little ball.

“I need you to squeeze this, honey,” she cooed, placing the ball in Rhona’s donating hand. She complied, and the nurse continued, “the way your hand pumps is going to keep blood flowing through your arm and into the needle. It’ll make the time that you’re in the chair shorter. Now, this is the needle we’ll be using. See how small it is? You won’t even feel it. The blood is going into these vials. One goes to our lab for testing, just in case you forgot about or didn’t know you had a blood condition. This one goes to the donation center for their testing, and this one goes to an independent lab. This way there are three results, which makes for a more accurate reading.”

“Done.”

Rhona looked over to the nurse on the other side just as he was taping some gauze over the needle now stuck firmly in her arm. Rhona gaped at him, unsure of when, exactly, the needle had been inserted.

“It’s an old trick,” he said with a wink. “If we can keep you engaged somewhere else, you never feel a thing. Most of the pain is all up here.” He tapped his skull. “Keep squeezing there honey. I’ll check back in about five minutes.”

So Rhona wasn’t afraid of needles. Or at least she wasn’t if she was properly distracted. Interesting…

As Rhona pumped the little ball in her hand, she felt her eyelids begin to droop. Odd. But maybe she was just comfortable. A nurse saw her dozing and woke her, reminding her to stay awake so that she didn’t go into shock, and she tried her best to comply but… it was just so warm and so nice. Five minutes went my quickly and the nurse came back, prodding her awake a second time.

“Don’t want you to go into shock,” he chided as he poked the bag. “You’re about done I’d say. By the time I get everything labeled and packed up you should be ready to disconnect.”

“Will that hurt?”

“Not if I can help it.”

The last few minutes Rhona drifted in and out of consciousness, tapping her foot to try and stay awake. It seemed like just a few seconds before the nurse lifted her arm and wrapped bright green KOBAN around a wad of gauze.

“When did you take the needle out,” Rhona marveled.

“Just now. Like I said, it wouldn’t hurt if I could help it. Now you stay laying down, I’ll go grab you some juice and cookies. I’m going to sit you up, try not to doze off while I’m away, alright?”

“No promises.”

She had managed to stay awake, however slightly, and when the nurse came back with the snacks and juice, Rhona thanked him and leaned back to snack and gather her energy. If her pallor was anything to judge by, she thought as she looked at herself in her phone’s camera, then she shouldn’t get up for fear of fainting right at that moment.

Rayna Farrell

Rayna Farrell was now seventeen years old. Perhaps it was still an act of teenage rebellion when she decided to go and do something that was a worthy endeavour, at least in her eyes, and that her parents had expressively and vehemently remained opposed to. It was perhaps that after seeing the multiple and unexplained bruises that Rayna often had trouble in covering up at times that she decided that enough was enough. Surely being seventeen meant that she could make her own choices on whether or not to donate blood. There was the initial clamouring fear in the back of her mind that she'd still react poorly to the whole experience as she approached the sign in table.

After signing in and getting her blood type determined, B+ it seemed, Rayna had been taken to an open chair in which she was situated comfortably before having her arm swabbed with an alcohol swab in order to disinfect the area in which the needle would be inserted. The strong antiseptic scent overwhelmed Rayna for a brief moment before dissipating a minute later. Almost hypnotically did the teenager watch the nurse preparing the IV ling and collection bag before she turned away from the sight of the needle. Rayna had never really liked needles and always tried to distract herself when needing to be around them or on the receiving end of one, like the various times she'd received immunizations. Taking extreme care to keep her head turned away from the nurse as the needle was inserted to sit just under her skin Rayna concentrated on keeping her breathing steady.

Once the needle had been taped in place Rayna squirmed a little in the chair before finding a comfortable position in which she could endure the time requested to remain quiet. Watching the blood flow from her arm, down an IV line, and into a waiting collection bag that never ceased its gentle shaking motion, Rayna knew that she was doing the right thing. Just how many times had she gone out in the daily battle that she was a part of only to receive injuries that could have been life-threatening? Luckily the injuries had not been that severe but there was always danger lurking around the corner. It was better to be safe than sorry and adding to the donated blood supply would speak to the fact that Rayna was willing to roll up a sleeve and help in a crisis.

Reflections were always a good way to waste time and Rayna was surprised that her mental musings had indeed made the time go by rather quickly. In no time a nurse was coming around to check on her. Satisfied with the results the nurse quickly began to "free" her patient. Rayna forgot to turn her head and watched the needle be removed from her arm with a small groan of disgust. The point of contact on her skin where the needle had sat bled sluggishly and Rayna sighed before taking the cottonball the nurse gave to her and pressed it tightly against the spot. Almost methodically did the nurse return with a bandaid that Rayna managed to apply to hold the cottonball in place. It would stay there until she was ready to leave. As the nurse cleaned up and took the bag of donated blood away Rayna pushed herself out of the chair and began to walk towards the area where a promised sugar rush was awaiting her.

As Rayna perused the selection of drinks and cookies though she began to feel just a little more enervated than she had expected to feel after donating. Was it because that it was her first time that she was experiencing this overwhelming desire to return to one of those comfy chairs and just let sleep wash over her? Attempting to shake off the fatigue that was now readily apparent Rayna picked up a few cookies and an apple juice. Hopefully the snacks would boost her alertness to an acceptable level otherwise she would have to perhaps seek some medical treatment while at the hospital. What a story that would make. Closing her eyes with a sigh Rayna willed herself to stay awake. Her chosen snacks almost lay forgotten in her lap as she tried to analyze those also enjoying the refreshments. Some individuals seemed relatively normal, if not a little pale and others seemed to be experiencing what she was feeling. Rayna had to wonder about that before shaking her head slowly. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for giving blood.

Life was full of perhaps-es and it was with a startling realization that perhaps her parents had been right and donating blood was no easy picnic. After downing the juice that she had taken from the table and nibbling slowly, but steadily, her cookies had also disappeared. Rayna had hoped that the sugar intake would boost her energy but so far it seemed as if there was no effect. Moving back to the table Rayna grabbed a sure-fix solution with a can of pop. Hopefully this would help perk her back up. If it didn't do the trick then, and only then, would she think about grabbing the attention of one of the nurses that were bustling around. Letting her eyes close again Rayna focused on willing herself to feel more energetic after a brief respite. The pop can was opened only seconds later and the teen sighed and stared into the opening of the can before sipping at the acidic beverage. It had to do the trick as she did not really want to disturb the nurses that were hard at work. Pushing herself out of the chair she had been sitting in Rayna did perhaps the most foolish thing that she could have done; she left. Moving toward the exit under her own free will Rayna was surprised as the room spun a bit as she walked. She clutched her drink tightly to her chest with one hand while the other allowed her to keep herself upright.

Making it to the exit and stepping out under her own power was quite an achievement in her condition and Rayna thought longingly about finding one of those "oh so convenient cots" that she'd seen nurses and doctors utilize in TV shows before sighing. She'd have to do without one it seemed.

(( word count 1062 words ))

Gale Post coming