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» stay the night and i promise i won't die

Who: Barbara, Kate, and Steph
What: The side effects of not too clean monsters
Where: Barbara's Safehouse in Brock Marsh
When: Late Coardi morning

She's not well.

It's not something Kate likes to admit, but laid up in this bed, waiting for her fever to finally break is as painful as her arm. At least the feeling's returning to it, but she's unsure whether the fact that the numbness that used to be there was better compared to the shooting pains all up and down her arm. From shoulder to fingertip, muscles burn and Kate can feel the every movement pull at the barely healed edges of the claw wound. Even when Kate barely shifts between the clean sheets, the injury reminds her that it's there, ruining her life. Being out there on the streets would be a lot more satisfying than staring at the ceiling all day and she would kill a monster in exchange for a hot shower.

She's also curious.

As soon as she's alone from whatever person has been sent to check on her, Kate sits up against the headboard and picks at the tape holding the gauze secure, wanting to see how bad things look under there. She should be afraid that it'll leave a nasty scar, but a scar is the least of her worries. Mostly, Kate's worried that it'll ruin her flexibility. Another scar is just that--another scar. It comes with the business.

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Barbara gives Adam a nod of thanks as he slips out of Kate's room; he's just a teacher, caught up in this monstrous mess, but his wounds were minor and he wanted to help. And, as much as she hates to admit, she can use all the help she can get.

They don't have to go in - Barbara trusts that Adam would tell her if anything was wrong - but she knows Steph wants to see her. She was perfectly happy to lead her to one of the guest bedrooms. (To think, she thought this place had too many rooms.)

He left the door open, as she always asked, so Barbara simply turns into the room, Steph close behind.

"You shouldn't pick at that, you know." There's a hint of lecturing in her tone, but her smile is sympathetic.

She's supposed to be resting, which is why Babs called her back in -- it had been ten hours since Steph had last touched base because she's been avoiding the place. She knows if she's around, she'll only spend her time bothering Kate, although so far she's to stop herself from doing justhat, mostly by showering and getting dressed into civvies.

It's okay though, when Babs is going in first; it means she's allowed in and allowed to spend time with Kate that she personally thinks Kate should spend resting (the irony is not lost on her). Unlike Babs, Steph goes straight to Kate's bedside when she sees her touching the dressing and bats her hand away.

"Don't make me sedate you," She'll do it, if it means making sure Kate gets better soon.

"It itches." This is not quite a lie. It does itch, but not as much as her curiosity. Kate narrows her eyes at Steph for stopping her from pulling the bandage off. She has a pretty good feeling that if the tables were turned, Steph would have long gotten rid of the thing. Plus that threat is so empty. It doesn't even faze her. Steph wouldn't dare.

"I haven't gotten up," she says, a little defensive in her tone, but at least her hand drops back into her lap. Adam had just left; he checked her fever, made sure she took some medicine, and asked her all sorts of questions to make sure she wasn't slipping into another fever dream. There was no need to have the two of them double and triple check her, especially Steph who seems to be hogging all the fun of fighting in the streets these last few days.

Apparently, Kate was wrong about this. Goodness knows a few more seconds and that that wound would have come out to say hello.

"She'll do it," Barbara says gravely, wheeling a bit further in. She can't blame Kate, really; she used to check her own injuries all the time, from simple scratches to the deepest gouges. It was a grim sort of fascinating, seeing what she'd survived, seeing her body strain to cope with it.

In a lighter voice, "You'll see it when the bandage needs to be changed, anyway." After it's healed a bit, she can only hope. She wishes she knew exactly what was on those damn claws.

Steph doesn't even think about it before climbing onto Kate's bed, sitting about half way down so that Babs has more room to move. She's a good patient, and totally leaves her bandages alone when she gets hurt; it's one of the side effects of having a nurse for a mom.

"Itching is a good thing," because it usually means a wound is healing and it's such a relief that Kate's is actually doing that. And she nods for Babs' comment, making a note to be there when it does happen - she wants to see as well, to know if it's getting better.

"For who? For me or for you who won't let me take this thing off to scratch it?" Kate grumbles, but oddly enough there's a slight smile on her face as she does it. Even though she's cranky about everything, Kate automatically scoots over to give Steph room. She doesn't even think about; it just happens. She did warn that she was a terrible patient. Indecisive actions are part of that.

Turning to Babs, Kate suddenly feels a little guilty for hogging up her guest room just because she was stupid enough to get injured. "Sorry for taking up space. I could go to my own apartment, if you need more room for the kids..." Where she can pick in peace.

Barbara watches them with a slight, soft smile on her face. It's nice to see Steph so comfortable with someone.

She immediately shakes her head at the offer. "There's enough room for everybody." Well, that's not strictly true, but they're making do. She's definitely not turning Kate out, anyway, not with a wound like this and not when she got it protecting people.

Another smile, wryly playful. "Even the bad patients."

"For you, dumbass," Steph scolds, but her voice is gentle and she looks amused as well. It's also good for her as well, because it means she's worrying a hell of a lot less if the wound is healing.

She lets Babs tell Kate that there's plenty of room; Steph knows Babs would never leave someone injured on their own, even if they weren't a friend. But she gives Kate's leg a reassuring pat to confirm that there's no way in hell they're kicking her out.

"Especially the bad patients," she decides that needs adding. Good patients get privileges, like being left alone. Bad patients have to be watched to make sure they don't pick at their bandages.

One day, Kate's face is going to get stuck in a narrowed eyed expression and it'll be all Steph's face. Anyway, she didn't expect Babs to toss her out on the street; it was just an offer to get out of their hair if they really needed it. Something put on the table so they wouldn't have to say it and make things awkward.

"How are you even my friend?" Kate asks as she reaches up to flick Steph between the eyes. "You are seriously the worst nurse ever." It's clearly good-natured teasing because if it wasn't for Steph, Kate would have been in a worse off position than she is now. Kate sure didn't bandage a fresh wound and give herself a shot of antibiotics. She's grateful, but Steph makes it hard to take anything seriously.

"We'll definitely have to work on her bedside manner," Barbara says gravely. When she stares at Steph, her lips quirk slightly. "No cursing at the patients, Nurse Brown."

It feels nice to joke around a little. She hasn't had much time for it, amidst all the chaos.

"Hey!" She bats gently at Kate's hand, then pouts at both of them, faking indignation over their insults.

"If you think I'm such a terrible nurse, you can look after yourself from now on," The pout gets exchanged for a holier-than-thou expression, as if Steph would even be capable of ignoring Kate when she needed help.

She just sticks her tongue out at Babs, deciding that she won't dignifiy anything Babs said with a response.

"Yeah, Nurse Brown. No cursing at the patients. We deserve all your patience and care." Kate sticks her tongue out too, this time at Steph. Her hand, this time instinctively, runs up the length of her left arm and stops to rub at the bandage. She's halfway scratching the itch and halfway making sure her arm still has feeling in it. The action alone seems to take the mood in the room into a serious turn.

"Anybody figure out what I have? Other than an infection, I mean." She's been poked and prodded by a couple of doctors who have passed through the safehouse, but none of them have told Kate much of anything, probably because she was deep in a fever then and whatever came out of her mouth was utter nonsense.

Barbara's smile fades as she shakes her head. "Afraid not. No one can pinpoint exactly what those claws were carrying." There's more than a hint of frustration in her voice; back home, she's more than likely have her own samples to check against.

"The best we can do is wait and watch, at this point. Hopefully it's just a basic infection, so that's how we're treating it for now." She does so hate to rely on hope, as much as she admires the concept.

Very firmly, "You'll be sure to tell us about any new or worsening symptoms, I'm sure."

She'd opened her mouth to reply with a witty retort, but stops at Kate's question, her brow furrowing with worry, and with slight scolding at Kate touching the bandage.

"Kate," is all she says at first, her voice soft as she reaches out to take Kate's right hand, holding it between both her own, her fingers running lightly over Kate's knuckles and all Steph's attention focused there, because she doesn't want to look right now and let Kate see her expression. She's not even sure what her expression is, but it feels too vulnerable, so she just lets Babs talk and tries to remind herself that the wound seems to be healing, and the fever has gotten less intense. Those are all good signs.

"You'll be fine," Steph adds once Babs is finished talking, not quite firmly like Babs had been, but she's trying to believe it.

It's not a good enough answer for her. 'Just a basic infection' can mean a lot of things in this monster-filled world. She's much less worried about the fever and more concerned about her arm, her flexibility, her reminder again that she isn't invincible like some of her friends. She was never jealous of mutants; they have it hard in the world and she is on the side of massive privilege in so many ways. Kate recognizes that; it's not an inherent crime to have it as long as one does recognize it and uses it to further those who have less or none.

But still. Who wouldn't want fast healing and super strength in a line of work where one gets injured or killed just as easily as anything? It would help. It would lessen the worry that one day, a simple injury--a bruise, a scratch, a cut--can mean a big difference between sitting on the sidelines and finding something else to do with your life. If you still have it.

"I need to get out of here," Kate mutters, hand instinctively squeezing Steph's. No offense to Babs and her hospitality, but Kate needs some sunshine and exercise as much as she needs a bath. She's never been very good at sitting still.

The sympathy she feels for Kate aches, a little; she knows what it's like to wonder if you'll ever have full use of your abilities again.

She knows what it's like for those hopes to finally be dashed.

If Barbara can stop that from happening, she will.

"I'd suggest a walk out back if we didn't have that small infestation problem."

Her hold on Kate's hand tightens in response to the squeeze, as if she can somehow transfer some strength to Kate through the contact.

Her gaze goes to Babs for a moment, silently asking permission for what she's going to say next. "There are safe places other than here, some are a lot of bigger." That's said to Kate, hoping maybe this will make a good compromise.

There are large areas that have been warded, and while they're still not huge, they'd at least offer more space than this; room to move and maybe even a chance to get outside a little, if the wards extend slightly beyond buildings.

Edited 2012-03-22 12:21 (UTC)

It's not the best compromise, but it is a compromise. Kate doubts that they would let her go off alone because honestly, her first trip out would end in her going off to check on the boys and the rest of her friends, monsters be damned.

"Fine," she agrees, a clear sound of defeat in her tone. "Doesn't matter where. I'm just tired of staring at these walls." Her eyes wonder off into the corner where her battle equipment has been placed carefully. As much as she wants to, Kate knows she can't just pick them up and strap them on, Babs and Steph's protests be damned. Not by herself, anyway. And that's the worst part of it all: having to depend on other people for daily activities, things she never gave a second thought to before. It makes being stubborn hard.

Barbara follows Kate's gaze, and her chest tightens a bit.

"You know - if you're careful - you could still practice a bit. Focus on things that won't strain your arm." Archery is out, obviously, but there are other skills to be honed. "Take it slow, rest if you need it. It might actually do your body some good."

Steph nods for what Babs says. She knows how it feels too, long months of physical therapy and Leslie's gentle reminders that they just didn't know how better Steph would get.

"I'll help, if you need a sparring partner and I have some spare time," It's the spare time that's a real problem, but Steph will try to make some time for Kate. Babs is right, it might do some good.

She's lucky in a way, luckier than most. Even if the bow is her favorite skill to use, Kate does have other things to work on. Martial arts, fencing, other sword skills. She can at least do those without the use of her left arm. Not perfectly, but decently able.

"You better," Kate mockingly threatens. "You've been out there all this time hogging all the action. I'm jealous."

"Girl's a certified action-hog, let me tell you," Barbara says, stern tone belied by her grin.

"Gotham girls, I swear." That covers a lot, really. Kindly ignore the fact that most of it applies to this Gotham girl too.

"Quit ganging up on me," Steph steals one of the pillows Kate isn't currently using and throws it at Babs.

Steph is not going to ignore the fact it includes Babs, thank you very much, "And if you're gonna blame it on me being a Gothamite, that makes you an action hog too."

With Steph and Babs horsing around, Kate slips out of the bed to find some decent clothing to wear other than her sweat-dampened shorts and tank top. In the back of her head, she's a little jealous that Babs and Steph have that hometown connection. Granted, there are a handful of people from Kate's world, but it's not the same.

Anyway, she's getting to go outside. She shouldn't be depressing herself when it's such an exciting event. "You New Jersey kids all think you're cool," Kate cracks as she attempts to pull on a sock with one hand, hoping Babs and Steph don't notice she could use help.

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