Just What the Dr. Ordered (Open)

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

((In order to accommodate for other threads, this takes place four days before starting date.))


Nakia Kenjutsushi was not a woman for flights of fancy.

There had been the usual childish dreams when she was young, of course, but growing up too fast tended to chase those dreams away. After leaving, it was all about school, then her degree, then her husband, her children, and her job. Rarely was any time left for fanciful imaginings, and those opportunities usually passed by without a second thought. However, there was one thing that always made her spirit flutter whenever she heard it coming on the news.

"...and our weather report continues tonight with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid- to upper-seventies with highs in the mid-eighties later in the evening. Our reports also show a chance of thunderstorms tonight, so be sure to keep flashlights and candles about just in case of a blackout..."

The news broadcast drifted in through the radio-clock on the desk as the doctor finished filing another report for the day. A few minor bumps and bruises mostly, and only one injury from a chemistry class that needed her healing powers at all. The spot on her arm was still sore, but she hadn't taken the full brunt of the injury this time, so the sunburn-like tenderness would fade in a day or two. Nothing too serious today, and in fact everything seemed quiet.

Smiling to herself at the thought of a warm thunderstorm, the albino woman took out a medical text and began to study, researching more into pediatrics and the differences in treating children versus adults. She knew much of this already from clinic work, but it didn't hurt to be more familiar with childhood illnesses and the like.

As she read, the woman tapped a pen against her lower lip, blue eyes reading the text voraciously. Her hair was up again today, though the shoulder-length locks had partially escaped the hasty ponytail she'd wrapped it into, framing her pale features like cloud wisps. She seemed totally absorbed in her book, though she faced half-way towards the door, lest some poor soul came rushing in with an injury needing tending.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani groaned, cradling her left arm in her right arm, as if it were a child. She slowly headed towards the Infirmary and muttered to herself about how she shouldn't have made such a dumb mistake. This was bad. Really bad. The teen bit her lower lip and pouted in pain and frustration. She knew she shouldn’t have snuck into the auditorium. It had been locked, and locked meant ‘Don’t Go In Here’, but did Dani listen? Noooo. Of course not. She just had to go and dance. So she had snuck in, traveling through an outlet to get inside the theatre.

Dani loved dancing – she had been taking classes since she could practically walk – but she didn’t enjoy dancing in front of others, so she always made an effort to get into the auditorium when it was empty and just dance to her heart’s content without an audience to watch her. By herself, she could express herself the best way she knew how: with dance. She was working on a lyrical hip-hop piece, and fell awkwardly while practicing, landing right on her left elbow. She had heard a crack, and that was never good a good sign.

… So there she was, whimpering like a little puppy as she entered the Infirmary. “Hi…” Dani muttered pathetically, “I… uh… fell.” As stated before, Dani didn’t like dancing in front of people, but she also didn’t like people even knowing she danced; she wasn’t exactly sure why. It was just her personal thing that she enjoyed keeping to herself or between dance partners. She looked up to give the doctor a small smile, “I think this will need more than a Band-Aid.” Even when hurt, Dani still tried her best to smile and make jokes, even silly ones.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

As the door opened, the doctor placed a bookmark into the text and closed it, looking up just as a young girl opened the door. Almost immediately, Nik's brain switched over to analysis mode; Approximately sixteen to eighteen years of age, Japanese-American descent, between 100-115 lbs. Cradling left arm - possible sprain or break, due to swelling and bruising. Further examination required.

All of these thoughts took place between the girl's excuse and her joke.

Standing swiftly, the doctor walked over to the young lady and led her to the nearest bed without touching her. "Have a seat," she stated firmly. "I'll need to examine you before I can treat your injuries. May I see your arm?"

As the girl removed her other arm from the injured one, Nik pulled on a pair of latex-free gloves from a box nearby, looking over the rapidly swelling appendage. Bruising on left elbow indicates high-force impact. Swelling is occurring near central humerus, indicating a greater chance of broken bone. Taking the girl's arm gently in her hands, she looked up into her eyes from where she was kneeling.

"I'm going to be applying some pressure along your arm," she stated slowly, making sure the young girl understood. "If it hurts, tell me so. I need to be sure of any additional damage to your arm." She paused for a moment, then smiled warmly. "It will be all right. You'll be fine."

Returning her focus to the injured arm, she started pressing lightly on the forearm just below the elbow along the bone. She worked her way up slowly and carefully, never applying enough force to worsen the damage but enough that it could be felt (unless the limb was numb from severing a nerve). She decreased pressure as she came to the swelling, barely touching the heated bump before looking back to the girl.

"How are you doing?"

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani walked willingly over to the bed and plopped down on it, causing the bed’s metal frame to squeak slightly. When asked to show the doctor her arm, Dani moved her right arm out of the way and lifted her left up slightly so it could be examined. She gave a nod to show that she was listening when the older woman explained that she was going to be putting pressure on her arm. As the doctor poked at her arm, Dani watched and wondered how bad the damage was. It was a pretty bad fall, for Dani had jumped up into the air, and didn’t twist her body quickly enough to land properly. But it wasn’t so bad, it didn’t hurt too--

“Itai!” Dani retracted her arm as soon as the doctor put pressure just above her elbow, “You’re gonna have to cut it off, aren’t you?” Dani pouted, not being completely serious, but she could be a bit dramatic at times (her mother was a musical theatre actress, after all…). The teen could handle certain kinds of pains, such as burns or even big cuts, but this? No way. It wasn’t her first dance wound, but before it was only a sprained ankle, she could have lived with that, but she NEEDED her arm! How would she be able to dance, play videogames or eat corn on the cob?

“This is the worst…” Dani whined.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

"Shh, it'll be all right." Making note of the pain and intensity, Nik nodded slightly and continued her examination. "Can you flex your fingers for me?" she asked.

Satisfied with her diagnosis of a broken humerus (since she had no x-ray machine here to order scans for), the doctor stood and walked over to the small refrigerator in the room, removing an ice pack from its chill interior before wrapping it in a towel in the cabinet above. As she walked back, she smiled at the girl. "Here," she said, placing the ice on the swollen arm with care. "Hold this here for a few minutes. It'll help with the swelling."

After a moment, she frowned, realizing that she hadn't checked for records or even asked the young girl's name. You're too used to having a nurse around, Nik, she scolded herself. She looked back up at the girl and smiled. "I'm so sorry, miss; I forgot to ask for your name."

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani did as she was told and flexed her fingers, seeming to have no problem doing so. Thank goodness, she would still be able to play videogames! She watched as the doctor walked over to the freezer and pulled out the ice pack. “Yes ma’am,” Dani replied, putting the ice pack to her arm as carefully as possible, wincing from the pain and the cold. “How bad is it?” Dani was a somewhat impatient girl, and wanted to know exactly what happened to her arm.

“Oh, my name is Danielle. Danielle Cooper.” Dani replied, also forgetting that she never gave her name, which she probably should have done earlier, but hey, nobody had asked.

Dani looked down at her arm, trying to inspect it herself in a way. As if looking at it long enough would give her the answer to all her problems. “Am I going to have to wear a cast?” She didn’t like the idea of wearing a cast at all. Maybe the doctor or someone could heal it; she knew that there were metas with healing powers, but she had never knew to what extent it would work, for she had never broken a bone or needed serious medial attention before, except once. When she was eight, she had sliced her big toe on a rock while swimming and needed stitches, but that was before she even knew anything about the meta world.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Seeing the young lady flex her fingers proved that there was no severe nerve damage or extensive damage to the ligatures. Thank goodness for that, Nik thought, releasing the ice pack into the girl's care. I would have my work cut out for me if thus was any more major than a simple break.

"Though I can't tell for certain without an x-ray," she answered, standing to go search for the girl's medical file, "it appears the bone is fractured. Nothing too severe, since there's no deformity in your limb, nor has the break punctured the skin. It will hurt for a while, and you'll need a cast for a week or two, but you'll be just fine."

Finally recovering the file from the drawer, she scanned over the contents, noting the medical history to be mostly bereft of serious injury or illness. "Miss Cooper, are you allergic to any non-prescription medication?" She thought a moment to remember the names of the brands rather than the active ingredients. "Tylenol? Advil? Motrin? Things like that?"

She wanted to give Danielle a mild pain-suppressant to help her through the rest of the day, however the file had no indication of medical allergies. Even with her healing abilities, she didn't want to risk making the problem worse than it already was.

Her powers made mending broken bones go smoother, as well as fixing cuts and bruises without much difficulty. Even burns and the occasional gunshot wound tended to heal with few undue side effects, thanks to her training. Despite that, she couldn't take over all of the body's healing for it - bone could only be set and affixed with ease, she could make bleeding stop or infection less likely. But to heal something completely drained her, forced her to have those injuries herself. While she was more than willing to subject herself to such things, forcing her children and husband to care for her was another matter entirely.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani’s eyes grew wide as she was told that it was a fracture. “Fracture? A cast? Two whole weeks?” The teen groaned. Considering the circumstances, Dani had it pretty easy. God forbid she had to wear a cast for a normal amount of time without help from the doctor. Dani would probably go insane. She typically running around working on a self project or something of the like, and she didn’t like having to slow herself down for any reason. It just wasn’t fun.

“Not that I know of,” Dani replied, “but I don’t use them very often. Is that okay?” She never liked taking medicine. Even after she had her wisdom teeth removed, she was given medication for the pain, but had never taken it. Just something about putting weird chemicals into her body was something she didn’t like – which was also why she didn’t eat much junk food; if she couldn’t recognize half the ingredients, she figured it wasn’t exactly the best thing to ingest.

Dani looked down at her arm again, this time giving it a pathetic glare. “Why’d you have to go and break?” She mumbled to the limp arm in her lap. It was a weird habit of Dani’s – speaking to objects (or in this case, limbs) as if they could talk back to her. She knew they couldn’t, but it was still a way to get the frustration out. She wiggled her arm a bit, only to cause a sharp pain to return, making Dani wince and stop immediately.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

The doctor smiled at the girl shaking her head. She obviously knew that without a healer she'd likely have to wear a cast for six to eight weeks. More, if she strained it enough. So, she said nothing, only replaced the medical file and opened the cabinet marked with various medications. She took out a bottle that was fairly nondescript, opened it, and placed two little white pills into the cap.

"That is fine, however I recommend at least a light dosage before I begin sealing the fracture," she stated firmly, bringing the pills and a small glass of water to the girl. "Swallow them whole and don't let them touch your tongue; they're awfully bitter." Seeing hesitation, her features softened a little. "If it will help you any, I can tell you what's in them and how they'll work."

She almost laughed when Dani talked to her own arm, but refrained. Instead, she made a joke of her own, one that her daughters had heard many times as children. "This is why you can't have nice things," she chided, humor lurking in her voice and eyes. While the humor was likely in bad taste, she felt the girl might appreciate something of the sort to lighten the mood.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani raised her eyebrows when the doctor asked her if she’d like her to list off the ingredients and what they did. How did she possibly know that? Dani didn’t say anything about it and she was pretty sure the doctor wasn’t psychic, otherwise she wouldn’t have had to ask for Dani’s name or if she was allergic to anything… right?

“It’s okay.” Dani replied quickly, unsure how to react. She took the pills and tossed them in her mouth before she drank the water provided for her. She tried her best to make sure her tongue didn’t touch them, but because she didn’t take pills to often, she wasn’t used to it, and she ended up tasting the bitterness of them. It wasn’t too bad; she had worse tasting things before in her life. Her grandfather used to make her drink aojiru, which she absolutely hated. Although she disliked it, she would still occasionally drink it from time to time willingly, just because she knew it was good for her.

When Dani heard the older woman’s joke, she couldn’t help but to let out a chuckle. Her father said that to Dani all the time whenever she dropped something or made a mistake, all in good fun, of course, so there were no hard feelings. “Do I get to choose the color of my cast?”

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Nakia nodded, standing back up. "Yes, though you'll have to wear a sling for the day until I can cast it properly." She moved over to the cabinets and retrieved a splint, some bandages, and a deep blue arm sling. "I only have blue for the slings right now, though I'm sure I can find a color to match your cast as well."

She returned with the items and set them on the bed before she sat next to Dani. She looked at the girl before reaching towards her arm with her right hand. The pale appendage hovered there for a moment as she spoke. "This will hurt a little, but you'll feel a bit better after. Are you ready?" After she healed Dani to the point of the bones having the start of a fusion, she'd apply the splint to stabilize the bones, then set the sling. It wouldn't take long, but it would require all of her concentration.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani nodded, listening carefully to what the doctor had to say. “That’s fine.” Dani wasn’t really picky about colors. She figured it’d be fun if she had the option, but it wouldn’t kill her if she couldn’t have a choice. More than anything, she already wanted the cast off, and she didn’t even have it on yet. The sooner it was off, the sooner she could get back to doing normal things.

Dani wasn’t sure what to expect. “Yeah, I’m ready.” She was a little scared, but who wasn’t when they were expecting pain? It was a normal reaction, Dani figured. Even though the doctor said it would only hurt a little, Dani expected it to hurt more. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the doctor, but she just assumed she’d be better off if she prepared for more pain and then feel less than expect less pain and feel more.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Hearing consent from the young lady, Nakia nodded solemnly and looked back to the injured appendage. She took a deep breath - just one - and closed her eyes as she placed her cool hand on the girl's arm.

As her fingers brushed the soft skin of Dani's shoulder, she allowed her empathy to activate unhindered, keeping her healing ability in a separate portion on her concentration. Pain blossomed in the center of her arm slowly, and she felt it all the way down to the core as the muscles ached with sympathy. Her shoulder and elbow ached as well, though from fatigue rather than injury. The muscles feel sore, though not torn. The only major damage is to the bone, then. I understand.

Slowly, the doctor released her firm control on her powers. The pain rushed forward as it always did, though it did not break her concentration. She focused, drew herself in on the pain, felt for that broken piece and grasped it in her mind. Nakia shifted the bones with a thought, sharing her patient's pain to lessen it as it settled into place once more. Then, the bone began its repair - a simple calcification along the fracture. Her own arm itched through the muscles; a sign of healing, albeit a slightly unpleasant one.

The whole process only took a few minutes, but as the albino woman removed her consciousness from the injury she felt as if hours had passed. Her body was tired; her arm tender and fragile. All heat had left her right hand, leaving the digits as cold and white as snow. When she finally detached herself completely, she removed her hand and the empathetic connection severed itself, leaving only the minor aches she'd wrought upon herself to heal the girl. Her deep blue eyes opened, tired but serene, and she smiled at the young woman.

"There... how does that feel?"

[Danielle Cooper]

As the doctor touched Dani’s arm, the girl felt the chill of her hand against her bare skin. It gave Dani the shivers. She felt the pain in her arm drain slightly, and she wasn’t sure if it was the healing process already making its work or not. She had no idea the doctor could take away the pain and put it into her own body. Had Dani known that, she probably would have stuck with wearing a cast for a longer period. She didn’t like pain, but she hated other people being in pain just as much.

Just as Dani was starting to think it wasn’t so bad, a sharp pain formed along the fracture as her bones shifted. She gritted her teeth, trying to tolerate it as best as she could without making so much as a sound. Although the doctor was sharing Dani’s pain, it still hurt quite a bit. As a reaction, and without meaning to, Dani let out a bit of electrical energy around her, causing some lights to flicker.

Once the process was over, Dani sucked in a deep breath, unaware until that moment that she had been holding in her breath for a while. She was covered in a cold sweat and where the doctor had her hand on Dani felt as if it was frozen. But her arm had felt immensely better.

“… Better…” Was all she could get out for the moment. It was her first time going through any sort of process like that, and it was a weird experience for her.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Nik gave the girl a soft smile and turned about, picking up the splint as she spoke. "I'm sorry for the cold - it happens sometimes. You'll start to warm up again once you head back to class, I promise." Her hand would take a couple hours, but it was nothing to worry about - classic symptom of poor circulation, one that fixed itself easily.

Bending the splint to wrap around the elbow, she gently fixed Dani's arm into a position across her stomach and taped the splint before adding the second stabilizer (this one shorter and meant for the inside of the arm). With both set, she wrapped the arm with self-sticking bandages and coaxed the arm into a sling. Once it was tied into place around the teen's shoulder, Nakia removed her hands and rested for a moment.

"Please come back at the end of the school day," she asked, though her tone was more telling than a request. "I'll have what I need to cast your arm into a more stable position then. Try not to do anything too reckless." She gave a small smile and stood, using her right arm to push herself up. "If it starts hurting more, or your fingers go numb, come back immediately, all right?"