I'm (Not) Okay (Lex)

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse hated the cooling weather. Being from California, the twenty one year old hadn't appreciated the cold since he'd first come to Vermont at fifteen. But ever since his surgery to his knee last year, the cold seemed to invoke a special kind of hell. On the bright side, he could tell when a cold snap was coming. On the downside... his knee hurt like a bitch, and a cold snap was coming.

Today had been made worse by the fact that he'd overdone it in gym class. Despite knowing he should have been taking it easy, he couldn't drop his competitive nature when it came to running track. Before coming to Hammel he'd been something of a track star at his old school, pushed both by his love of the sport, and his father repeatedly telling him that bronze and silver medals weren't good enough. It was gold or nothing, and that was what he'd worked for. It was a hard habit to break, even though no one was going to tell him here that anything less than first wasn't good enough.

But today that had done him in. His knee had been aching that morning from the cold, and straining it in gym had made it that much worse. While his limp was almost 100% gone most days, right now it was obvious. Gym had been his last class of the day, and he was planning on going back to his dorm and icing his knee before going down for dinner. Hopefully the ice would help and he wouldn't need to grab one of his crutches for the next few days.

Biting his lip and feeling his teeth click against his lip ring, he hobbled his way down by the offices, his mental shields tight as he went by Dr. Neville's office. He didn't like going to this way - too close to places like the infirmary for comfort - but it was the fastest and shortest way back to the dorms. In just a few minutes he'd be home free, and he was okay with that.

[Deleted]

When Lex had first arrived to Hammel, he had requested the medical files for the current students and staff employed at the institute, and was instead given a laptop. Apparently, most records have gone digital the last couple of years, and their papered files were dated and incomplete. Unfortunately for Lex, technology was his greatest foe, the two of them never being able to see eye-to-eye. The track-pad was uncontrollable, he didn’t know which slot to insert a memory stick or external mouse, the keyboard made no sense (why put an “a” next to a “s”?), and he was pretty sure the thing caught a virus just to spite him.

Therefore, despite being a couple of months into the job, Lex has yet to fully read up on all his patients’ information, only managing to access files from those he frequently sees. He felt terrible to procrastinate, but his deep seed aversion to the hulking piece of cheap plastic and metal felt like reasonable justification for his avoidance.

Unbeknownst to Lex, today was the day he would regret not doing so. It was late into the afternoon, and the doctor was about to leave for the day; available to return if there was an emergency, but he fulfilled his duties for the day. He planned on spending the rest of his evening in solitude, either exploring the labyrinth of trails and woods that dotted the outskirts of the town or staying at home with a good book and a warm meal.

Grabbing his coat and keys, he opened the door and walked into the hallway, closing the thick, heavy door behind him; but, before he managed to lock it, he spied a limping boy from his peripheral vision. It looked like quite the painful injury, and with the possibility torn ligaments, stretched tendons, dislocations, fractures, or strains, Lex knew he had to examine it as soon as possible. Forfeiting his plans, he turned the handle and pushed the door open with one hand while the other gestured the boy to come closer.

“You,” Lex said loudly, he voice echoing in the hallway, “You’re injured.”

“I need to see to that immediately. Please, come in," He invited the student into the office with more of a demand than a request, as he held the door open with his body, waiting for the boy to enter.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse's poor reputation had preceded him since even before his successful attempt at running away. Prior to that he had been adept at abusing his powers on his classmates and acting out. Part of it had been acting out once he was out from his father's thumb. The other had been him lashing out at the world.

His reputation had only been made worse after his stint with the meta supremacy group and his eventual return to Hammel. Students were scared of him, teachers were wary and mistrusting. All with good reason, and he lived with it. Eventually he'd graduate and leave this part of his life behind.

But first, his knee. And an ice pack.

He was almost past the infirmary when a voice startled him. The firm tone made him jump, and he nearly lost his footing. Steadying himself, he looked over his shoulder.

Oh, hell.

"Yeah, no shit," he ground out, mostly under his breath. His heart started hammering in his chest.

He was fine with the idea of keeping going down the hall, but the next thing yelled down the hall made his heart race faster. No, he didn't need help. He knew what was wrong with it. It was just cold and strained and he needed to get out of here right now.

"N... no. It's fine." He knew better than to sass the staff, no matter how threatened he felt. This guy was scary on two fronts - one, he was the right age and gender to be threatening, and two, he was a doctor. That was enough for him to need to flee. Despite the pain, he started moving faster down the hall, his teeth gritted tightly. Hopefully the guy would give up and go home.

[Deleted]

“Obviously you’re not fine if you can’t even run away properly.” Lex retorted with a raised brow and a suppressed smirk that was fighting to appear. He couldn’t help but to find the situation comical, a student limping down the hallway, swearing he was “fine”. Probably hurt like hell to move that fast in such a state. That thought made Lex feel less than amused, and the smile wiped clean from his face.

The boy was going to end up severely injured, if he wasn’t already. It was an irresponsible and blatant disregard for his own well-being, which didn’t sit well with the doctor. Other students showed similar patterns of reckless behaviors, a symptom of a shared generational mindset of invincibility, which was even more apparent among meta-humans. These children thought they could survive anything just because they were young and had powers. And he would be the one that had to pick of the pieces when this proved to be false.

The doctor left his position as a doorstop, letting the door slam loudly behind him as he followed after the boy. Fortunately, he was able to catch up; although this result was mostly likely caused by the student’s injuries. Now walking in the shadow of the boy, he said sternly, “Please don’t make this more difficult than it has to be.” An empty threat, of course. Technically he couldn’t put a finger on a student without their consent unless either their or another person’s well-being were on the line, and although he could argue that this was the case now, he’d rather not have to deal with all the possible paperwork.

[Jesse Adams]

Okay, no, obviously he wasn't fine in medical or even adult terminology. Grinding his teeth harder, Jesse didn't dignify that with a response. The desire to chop off his leg at the knee was slowly rising, and being yelled at wasn't helping.

The twenty one year old student wasn't exactly known for taking good care of himself. Sure, he exercised and all that jazz, but when he was sick? The infirmary and the medical staff were less for help and more a source of terror. The last two times he'd been in had been from brute force alone. Granted, when he'd torn his knee ligaments he hadn't been in a state to go anywhere without help, but that was beside the point entirely. When it came to illness or injury, he'd trained himself to grin and bear it, because to show weakness was to fail. And in the Adams household, failure was not an option. It didn't hurt that the further he was away from the infirmary, the happier he was, either.

And he was sure as hell going to do his best to stay away from it now.

The slam caught him off-guard enough to startle him again, his step faltering. The steps behind him didn't help either. Though he tried to keep up the pace, the older man's words stopped him in his tracks. A cold shiver shot down his back and his fingers curled into fists. That was so like something his father would say to him right before he lashed out. A slap, a fist to the ribs. Something. It was his cue to stand down and cooperate. Fighting back got you nowhere. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried not to let the tremors he was feeling show. "It's fine," he murmured no louder than just above a whisper. "It's an old injury." Maybe that would be enough to satisfy him.

[Deleted]

Lex sighed; the boy’s obstinacy was beginning to irritate him. He couldn’t understand the student’s reluctance to undergo a simple medical examination. In an attempt to reason with him, he tried to argue, “Even old injuries need to be checked out from time to time. Re-injury is a real possibility if denied the proper follow-up, especially when regarding your age. A simple check-up could prevent future surgeries or immobilization later in life. Do you want to be using a cane to get around when you’re my age?”

He crossed his arms and hoped the boy realized that he could be just as stubborn as him. The only way to get out of this situation would be to do what the good doctor says. But, then Lex realized that unlike the student, he didn’t live here, so quite literally, he didn’t have all day. So in an attempt to bargain with the boy he said, “Listen, if I don’t find that you need further treatment or observation, this will be the last time I bother you on this issue.”

Lex hadn’t meant to be a hardass. Well, that’s not exactly true, but he hoped he didn’t seem like an unjustified hardass. He felt the importance of the matter warranted it. Kids tend to be stupid with their health, and many of them have an unreasonable avoidance to seek treatment for the ails and aches which makes his job that much harder. If he had to be a jerk to get someone into his office, so be it. At least he would be sure that they were healthy.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse had heard this lecture before. Just before he'd been discharged from Maddock not only was he supposed to have follow ups with Dr. Nik at the time, but also with his surgeon. Select faculty members had made those visits non-negotiable, and when he was sent to the hospital it had also been with a teacher with mind control to keep him from acting out or running off. He had tolerated the visits only due to the fact that they were supposed to be fleeting and short term. He'd since enjoyed his time away from both Dr. Nik and Dr. Terrell.

Okay, so the guy had a point. But Jesse's desire to go anywhere with him was still at rock bottom. ".... No." It killed him to admit it, but that was his answer. He wanted to be able to run for as long as his body would let him. Which... wouldn't be that long if what he was saying was true. ... Or he was trying to scare him. Adults did that.

The stern look and the crossed arms did little for Jesse feeling any less threatened. It was a little like when his trainer had dragged him down for what turned out to be strep throat. He had made Dr. Nik promise that all she was going to do was what she said - the quickest exam possible. But it had still been awful, anxiety creeping through his body every second she touched him. And Dr. Nik had been a woman. This new guy? Definitely not.

Feeling like he was backing off, Jesse stepped backwards, trying incredibly hard not to let any pain flicker on his face. "... And if you do? What... what happens then?" If the answer was anything along the lines of going back to Maddock, he didn't care. He would be bolting down the hallway and damn the consequences.

[Deleted]

It was a reasonable question, and proof that the boy had some intelligence. Lex gladly submitted to that request as he explained, “It depends on the severity of the injury. I might suggest you to perform some exercises daily and return periodically to see if there is an improvement in mobility or a reduction in pain. However, I am not an orthopedic; if needed you might need to see a specialist. Or it might be as simple as ice and aspirin. The only way to be certain is for me to examine it.”

Lex had a sneaky suspicion that the student who stood before him had very few encounters with the medical staff here at Hammel. Most likely he had to be dragged here to get the necessary treatment. The doctor would have to make sure to get the boy’s name and pull up his file when he managed to coax him into the infirmary. Lex was curious of what stories it told.

However, that meant using that damned contraption, the laptop that sat on his desk, and he internally groaned at that thought. Why couldn’t the world return to a time of typewriters and ball-point pens? It would be so much simpler to understand.

Regardless, Lex first had to get the student into his office, and the doctor had no clue if his tactics would bear fruit. Already a man who was terrible at reading people, Lex was met with a whole new level of emotional incomprehensibility with this boy. He had no way to predict his responses, and, quite honestly, wasn’t paying enough attention to the boy’s expressions or reactions to notice the effect of his words. Of course, Lex wasn’t aware of this flaw. So, even the most predictable response is seen as a surprise to Dr. Mullur when emotion comes into the mix.

[Jesse Adams]

The blonde boy simply knew how to cover his bases. He had once been taught all about the art of negotiation, and knowing what he might face helped with determining his options. At the moment he was still on alert, waiting for a signal that the situation was as safe as could be expected (which wasn’t very), or dangerous enough for him to move further away. None of the options, save for the ice and aspirin seemed all that appealing. With the risk of being sent back to Maddock on the line, he wasn’t sure it was worth it to cooperate.

… Of course, that could also land him in the rough and tumble arms of a security staff member as he was dragged back to the infirmary against his will.

Decisions.

“… And that’s all you’ll touch?” Jesse hadn’t been a fan of being touched for years, beyond those he actually trusted. Clement was allowed, and… that was more or less it for people at Hammel. Touching made him anxious in a way that his skin felt like it was crawling, and it took a lot for him not to yank away. But if he knew what was going to happen… he could tolerate it. For a few moments, anyway.

His knee was starting to give way, and he shifted his weight so that most of it was on his left leg. With all the moving he’d done he didn’t actually know if he could make it back to the dorms now. His choices were getting more limited by the minute.

[Deleted]

Lex's face squinted in confusion towards the boy's question. Why would he need to touch anything else? With an exception of recording vitals, which was standard practice for every doctor’s visit, the man had no reason to muck around with any other part of the student. Unless there was something else wrong that the boy wasn’t tell him.

“Well, I suppose not. I have to report your temperature and blood pressure, but if you wish to you can do it yourself. Other than that, the only thing I’m concerned with is that leg of yours.” He said gesturing down to the reason they were having this discussion. Lex hoped that the boy would submit sooner rather than later; the way he shifted his weight suggested he needed take the weight off of it urgently. Already rest would be a given for the boy’s treatment plan. What else was included would very much depend on the findings of the examination.

You didn’t exactly need a medical degree to stick a thermometer in your mouth or Velcro cuff around your arm. Lex had no problem with relinquishing those tasks to his patient, although it bewildered him why there was a problem in the first place.

[Jesse Adams]

Oh, good. Not just his knee. Jesse scowled in response, his inclination to trust the doctor dipping lower and lower. "What's that have to do with anything?" It was like Dr. Neville wanting to test his blood before putting him on those dream-altering meds. He didn't see the point. But if he was willing to let him do it himself... That was a little better. Dr. Nik had let him do the same thing when he'd had strep throat.

His knee really was trying hard to make the choice for him. He debated how hard it would be to try to run away if things went beyond his knee. He'd tried it at Maddock when his surgeon had met with him, and that had ended.... poorly. Very poorly. Nothing said fun like feeling your knee was on fire and being sedated like a wild animal in the hallway.

Nope, he didn't feel like repeating that. Despite his suspicion of the doctor, he had to wonder if simple cooperation would be the key to getting in and out faster. "... Fine. But just that stuff." His heart was still racing, and the idea of being alone in a room with him only made it worse. But if it would get him out faster... fine. He'd cooperate. Sort of.