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 Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 10:26 am
In his time in the Infirmary, there weren't many people he was personally interested in doing better above the general concern of just hunters getting better overall. He didn't know people personally all that much, and the few he took care of where just the standard duties of anyone volunteering in the Infirmary.
But there was one person.
While he could call their relationship a thin friendship at best, he didn't forget that both Gale and Jordan had kept him from destroying everyone inside the belly of the worm. It was still embarrassing to think how he clung to the man's sleeve, but it had been that lifeline that had helped him through it. Sadly, Jordan had fared worse in the end than he had.
Concerned, he decided he'd be the one to bring Jordan's lunch to him and see if everything was okay - as far as being burned alive to get rid of a bug infestation could go.
With a knock, he opened the door, holding the tray in one hand and looking about before spotting the patient in his bed. He wasn't sure to what extent Jordan had been bandaged, but now, he felt his stomach drop. "Hey...Jordan?" He tested, seeing as the burns and bandages did distort features. Prolixity Didn't know to what extent Jordan is burned/bandaged so let if open.
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 4:39 am
Shortly after they'd entered the quarantine area, Ferros had gone silent, drawing his mind a little away from Jordan's; this, Jordan knew, meant that there was a thought that Ferros didn't want Jordan to hear. They were close, had been close for some time, thoughts no longer entirely distinguishable as separate, and so Ferros pulling back could mean only that he had found something, something that Jordan would not want to hear. He'd turned his mind very carefully away from that line of reasoning and begun to visualize a maze in his mind, occupying himself with meticulously detailed layout, planning a winding route through a non-symmetrical labyrinth with strange angles, setting a task for himself that would take up enough of his focus and attention that he couldn't think about what Ferros might be keeping carefully out of the top of their mind. The firebomb had been a relief, the searing waves of pain secondary to the sight of the bugs being burned out, burned up. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for some time when Melvin arrived, his thoughts still slow from the latest dose of painkiller. It hurt, yes; this was one of the most painful episodes of healing he'd undergone. But the bugs were burned out, and if he paid attention to the rumble and hiss of Ferros's presence and the texture of his weapon's mind, he could sense the dragon at work, encouraging his body to repair itself, knit together new skin. He was heavily bandaged, most of his body still covered, but when Melvin's question registered he opened his eyes and turned his head a little, ignoring the fresh rush of pain the motion induced. "Yeah?" he answered drowsily. "S'me. Time for a dose 'r something?"
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 9:15 am
Maybe now wasn’t the best time to talk to Jordan, and from the sound of his voice, he probably was too tired and drugged to even remember if anyone had visited him. In the end, Melvin guessed this served more for making him feel better than Jordan, and so far it wasn’t serving its purpose.
“No, not unless you want me to call a nurse for another dosage. They have been pretty good at keeping tabs on that, but I can get someone for you.” He might have worked in the Infirmary, but he wasn’t a doctor. He wasn’t allowed to give medication to patients unless they handed it to him. Sometimes he could hold things for the nurses and doctors, but that was the extent to what they allowed him to do most days. Sometimes he felt a bit worthless that he didn’t go into medicine, but he didn’t expect to have this type of life.
Shutting the door, he walked over, moving so that he could pick a place that would allow Jordan to hear him easily and not turn his head so much. The bedside was the best place, and he set the tray down, wondering if Jordan had already eaten. Some of the patients couldn’t even move their arms, and most were taking just a standard protein shake just to keep their energy up as using a fork and knife was out of the question right now unless they had someone they were comfortable enough to feed them.
He didn’t feel Jordan was that comfortable enough with him, and so brought a long straw and a shake.
“I brought you something to eat and – was wondering how you were holding up.”
From the looks of it, not well.
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:16 pm
"No. S'okay. Didn't think it was time." Jordan blinked slowly at Melvin. "Hurts, but that's okay. No bugs. They're gone. M'safe. Ferros is healing me. S'good." "Ohhh," he answered, and "thanks. Hungry," as though it surprised him. "s**t, m'way tired. Takes it out of us ..." He trailed off, eyes going unfocused briefly. He remembered, or Ferros remembered, that Melvin had been panicky in the pit, and that he'd pulled it together, and that that had helped them too. "You ... okay?"
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:24 pm
"Okay. Um. I don't think you look ready to hold anything yet." Jordan didn't even look as if he was awake, but if he was hungry, it was good to give his body (and in turn the weapon helping him) the fuel it needed.
Rising up, Melvin moved a wheeled tray table that went over the side of the bed to stand over Jordan's chest. "I'm going to rise up your bed just a bit to help you drink." He informed him, and then turned the up arrow to angle the bed so that Jordan was sitting up a bit more at a slant and wouldn't have a difficult time swallowing. He then took the extra-long stray and positioned it near Jordan's mouth. It was strange considering how he felt Jordan and all the other Suns were stronger than he was to be in such a weak position.
Sitting back down, he regarded Jordan, or the bandage shell that Jordan was inside. "I'm..I'm fine. I mean, I'm not as bad as all of you. I got really lucky. Last time I was in the Sahara, I was used as a bug puppet." He rubbed one arm as he looked around the room and then back at Jordan. "Still freaks me out."
"But...I wanted to say I'm sorry for shooting my weapon like I did back there. I - lost my head a bit. And you helped."
"I could have hurt someone."
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:35 pm
"Been sleeping," Jordan said, as if that wasn't obvious. He closed his eyes as the bed moved, enduring the shift without complaint, and took a few deep breaths before he opened them again. He barely had to move to get the straw, which was good. It took him longer than usual to process what Melvin was saying, but he was clearly listening; once he had, he let go of the straw to say, "S'fine. M'glad they didn't get you. Bugs ... r'the worst ******** thing." He enunciated carefully and clearly on the last three words. "Don't blame you. Didn't freeze up, this time." He paused to breathe again and take another drink of the protein shake. "You helped. 'f I didn't ... have to think 'bout me, easier to not freak out."
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:56 pm
"Yeah." He said with a small smile and being out in relief, glad that someone was on the same page on that point. "They are. I didn't even like them before I got on the island." But off the island, a guy being afraid of a moth or having a near panic attack at seeing a roach was laughed at for being a 'p***y' or overreacting over a little bug. They didn't know what he had seen, how there were bugs that other people couldn't see. Yet, if you said you saw invisible bugs, people then thought you were some of those deranged germaphobes.
"I don't know how I helped. I just stuck around you like a toddler. More like dead weight." He cringed at his poor wording. There had been so many dead hunters in that worm stomach. There were always so many dead hunters in the Sahara. Just bugs and dead hunters.
"I didn't know you had a problem with them to. Did...you have a bad time with them growing up?" He asked, curious and oddly hopeful to hear that he might not have been the only one.
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 2:16 pm
"'f I just have me, no distractions," Jordan explained. "Keep ... thinking about thinking about panicking. Doesn't help not." He took another drink, then rested his head back against the bed, eyelids drooping briefly. "You needed help, so. Could think 'bout that. Not 'bout bugs getting in me. Keep it together so you could." "Just after," he answered. "Didn't have problems. Then. Sahara. Horsemen. Nightmares." He shuddered, then slumped back with a small frown as the motion induced a fresh wave of pain. "Never liked them," he added, and turned a little to get the straw again.
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 8:11 pm
He frowned, not too familiar with the subject. “I haven’t dealt with the horsemen once. My first mission, right after I got my own weapon, was to get into their lair. After that, I haven’t encountered them much and honestly don’t know much about them aside from what I can read in the library. I’ve only know that the Sahara has bugs and is pretty much one of the most dangerous places around from just the few times I’ve been there.”
He frowned a bit. “For a Lifer, I don’t think I know as much as I should.” But this wasn’t about him. Jordan was distressed and mentioned nightmares.
“Uh, but that’s over with - whatever happened with you. You’re here now. You’re probably stronger now too. I’m sure that all these missions to the Sahara have to mean something. Maybe they are making progress? Trying to figure out how to keep a base there that doesn’t…….well……..not keep.” He remembered the broken camps, the debris, and the dead bodies n the sand. Were they just adding more fuel for the bugs to use by bringing more bodies to them?
He should change the subject.
“How have your …” What did he even refer to Harrison and Rep as in relation to Jordan? “…husbands?..been? Have they visited you?”
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2014 7:30 am
"Don't know enough 'bout them," Jordan admitted. "Need ... to know. Weaknesses. Have to have weaknesses. Everything does." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Was it that mission?" he asked. "Not stronger," he said. "Alive. Close enough." He wasn't optimist enough to think that the encounters had made him stronger; he considered himself weaker, damaged. "Yeah. They came," he answered, and managed a small smile. "Always do. Rep's still mad at me, but he came anyway ... " He sipped at the protein shake, his eyes drooping sadly. Distantly, he thought that he should control his expression, but he didn't have the energy or the self-control at the moment.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 12:36 am
"That mission? Um..I don't know?" He was very confused, but considering the way Jordan was speaking, he guessed he shouldn't be surprised. It probably wasn't good to let Jordan talk about heavy things, so he decided focusing on Horsemen was not in the best interest of the recovering Sun.
"I'm sure they have a weakness. There are plenty of members in Death and Life focusing on the horsemen. They are a big enemy on our list after all." And the biggest threat.
He was confused by the mention of Rep though. "Why would Rep be mad at you?" If anything, Rep was always the one trying to keep in Jordan's good graces, not the other way around. He couldn't see how the polite hunter, who tended to try to soothe people's feelings, would upset Rep.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 5:43 am
"We'll ... find out," Jordan growled, then, apparently tired by the effort and emotion, subsided briefly, eyes closed. "Haven't ... been paying enough 'ttention," he replied without opening his eyes. "Keep ******** up ... 'm trying. I am. Don't know ... wish he believed me." He trailed off, going quiet, and after a minute his breathing leveled off into the even rhythm of sleep, leaving about a quarter of the shake unfinished.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 8:23 am
He waited a moment to see if Jordan would start talking again, but when his breathing softly continued, he rose up. "Jordan?" He whispered, but the man did not stir.
Guessing he did his part in not only letting the man get something in his stomach but also tuckering him out again, he reached over and moved the tray and the shake to the side of the bed, then gently lowered the bed back down so it was returned to a more comfortable resting position. He was wondering how Jordan could even ******** up with Rep. As far as he knew, Jordan could get away with murder and Rep would love him, but it seemed his red-headed friend was a bit more strict than he originally thought. He did feel a strange need to talk to Rep about it, not because he wanted to find out more, but because it sounded like Rep was being demanding for more attention when Jordan was in the realm of overly polite. He'd have to check into it later.
As he moved the blanket back in place, he paused, looking over at the Sun. Silent and sleeping, he doubted he had ever been this close to the Sun before and, well, no one was around.
Hesitant, he leaned down and took a breath. The smell of burn ointment was heavy, almost overpowering all odors, and he couldn't make out much from the smell of antiseptic and the generic soap used for patients. He sighed, disappointed. Maybe another time.
He took the tray and shake, and went back out the door, turning off the light to let Jordan get some needed rest. "Goodnight." He said, and shut the door behind him.
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