|
  |
It's a quiet day, and winter is finally here, in the form of steadily falling snow. It's brought sprains, bruises and breaks from falls, but it's relatively quiet. Blonde hair is in a neat french twist, with the little white cap pinned on, her white outfit starched and pristine. She's behind the desk currently, letting the secretary have a break.
*
Through the doors of the clinic bursts a Madrox. Jamie walks in, quite obviously favouring one leg over the other, a pretty nasty looking bruise on his face, and a long gash on his side through his leather jacket, which he holds a wadded up shirt against, presumably to stem whatever bleeding might be occurring there. The man steps up, carefully, to the desk, and gives the girl sitting behind it a little bit of a smile, so much as the bruise on his face will allow him. "Hey there," he says, trying to sound nonchalant. "What kind of a wait are we looking at to see a nurse? Kinda.. you know, fell," he says. Must been some fall.
*
Thea looks up from her book, and before he's even checking in, he'll feel an odd warmth, a hint of tingling… relaxing really, along his side. That bleeding will start to slow to a stop even as Thea is on her feet. "Your lucky day. We're slow right now. Why don't you come on back with me?" She'll snag a clip board and lead the way to an exam room. "Fell, huh? What's his first name?" She'll have a hint of teasing in that voice, shutting the flimsy exam room door behind him. "Let's work you out of that jacket."
She'll move to help him, even as her eyes look at the bruise on his face. There's more of that tingling, the warmth, but it's more intense with such sensitive flesh as the face. "Tell me, what's your name?"
*
Jamie smirks at that, and gives Thea a wink, glad to see that she understands well enough without judging the situation. He follows her to the back, and shrugs the jacket off, moving his hand from his side enough to let it free without issue. Good thing the bleeding has slowed down, or there'd be quite a mess, given the rather nasty cut on his side. The tingling doesn't go unnoticed, but up until it starts on his face, he just assumed it was all part of the bruising and blood loss, and didn't think much of it. "My name's Jamie," he says, taking a quick glance to where a name tag might be worn, though his eyes searching her body could just as easily be taken otherwise. "Am I imagining things, or are you giving me the warm fuzzies?" He asks, meaning the source of the tingling sensation, but from his tone of voice he could just as easily be flirting, in the event that Thea in fact doesn't know what he's talking about.
*
Thea blinks, looking up at him with those big brown eyes. "Thea." she informs him, tapping that name tag. "Pleasure to meet you, Jamie. Tell me, knife? Just want to know if I need to make sure there's nothing in it before I clean it out and stitch you up." She's working on getting him out of that shirt. "Me? Warm and fuzzies? I've never been accused of being warm and fuzzy before. " But the warmth and tingling continue, though it will fade to a lesser degree on his face. Maybe it was just tingly from coming out of the cold.
*
"Can't vouch for it having been clean and sterilized before he tried to gut me with it, but yes, knife," Jamie says, trying to manage a bit of a joke about the situation. He doesn't seem all that traumatized by what from all appearances looks to have been either a mugging, or some other kind of street-violence. Could be this is not an uncommon occurrence for the man. He lifts his arms to let Thea remove his shirt, and beneath it she'd immediately notice a bunch of other bruises, most of them quite recent, but also not so severe that they'd require medical intervention. Still, ouch. Only way to get that many bruises all over your upper body would be to play the part of the punching bag. "Must be all in my head, then," replies to her denial about the tinglying, giving aanother sly smile and wink, perhaps to accentuate the 'hey I was just flirting' angle. "I guess you see this kind of thing a lot around here," he comments, trying not to move too much so Thea can get to work on him without unnecessary interference.
*
"Here and in Hell's Kitchen." Thea murmurs, even as she's moving to get alcohol and cotton balls, setting him up for being stitched. She's cleaning him up, focused almost to the point it looks like she's not even looking /at/ him but through him. "You took a hell of a beating." She mentions, even as that tingling resumes, along the chain of recently exposed bruises.
*
"Not going to argue with your assessment," Jamie says with a bit of a nod. "Wrong place, wrong time, wrong species," he continues, bearing through the remaining pain so as not to lose face in front of a member of the fairer sex, keeping at least a hint of a smile. "Turns out if you stand up to gang harassing a girl just for being different, they don't so much like it." They also don't like it when you suddenly turn into a dozen more people and beat the ever-loving snot out of them. The bruises weren't actually all given to the same Madrox, which is probably why he's handling them so well; absorbing the other duplicates, who had a couple of bruises each, some a little more serious than others, is what resulted in his current state. The knife wound though, that was to the original. "But hey, the ladies like a guy with some scars, right?"
*
Brown eyes flick up. "So, you a mutant then?" There's a mild curiousity, and a complete lack of judge-y face, with that question as she startes to numb the area she'll be stitching…without any actual chemical to do it with. "Girls do like the heroes… and I've heard scars are a road map to the soul." There's a grin. "Sadly, the only scar I have is one on my knee from when I was a kid."
*
Jamie doesn't beat around the bush about the matter; he's proud of what he is, and though he doesn't necessarily go around advertising it, which is made a lot easier by the fact that he looks like an normal guy, if asked he'll offer up the truth without hesitation. "Might not look it, but yeah," he says. "Hope that's not a problem?" Doesn't sound like it's going to be, but it wouldn't be the first time he's been asked to leave an establishment after outing himself as a mutant. This is a clinic though, not a department store, and he's not looking to make trouble here. "Girls aren't supposed to have scars," he says, changing the subject a bit. "Guys like me are supposed to get them so you don't have to."
*
"What do you mean might not look it? Mutants I've seen look just as normal as non-mutants." There's furrowed brow, a look of confusion. "But good for you, being so comfortable in admitting it and all." There's a blink. "Why would that be a problem? I'm a nurse, is all. If you had some odd power about super fast healing or something, I'd want a heads up, but.. you're my patient. I don't care if you're human, mutant, or the man from the moon." There's another smile there. "Funny enough, the scar is because of a boy. Pushed me on the playground." There's a mock pout, even as she finishes up the stitches with a knot and a clip.
She's cleaning up that stuff before she tapes on a gauze pad. There's a deep breath before she looks up at him, eye to eye. "Truth is, between you and me, if you promise not to tell? I am one, too. But I can't be telling everyone. They might not let me be a nurse, then."
*
Jamie gives a nod of understanding when Thea admits that she's a mutant too. "Most people seem to assume that mutants are gonna have green skin, four arms and a horn growing out of their head," Jamie says, making a bit of face. People are stupid. "I got lucky, looking like everyone else. Not everyone got dealt the same hand though," he says. Jamie's hand was certainly not an easy one, but it had less to do with his appearance. "I don't think anyone should have to hide what they are. I freely admit it, but I can handle the consequences. You've gotta make your own choice about standing up as one of us, not my place to tell your secrets. You do good work here, I can't hold it against you for not wanting to put that at risk," he says with another nod, and then a smile to the woman. "No super-healing from me, though. My mutation is a bit more complicated. But physically, what you see if what you get." He smiles a bit wider now, and then levels his eyes at her. "So.. the warm tingly feeling. Was that you? Or am I still imagining things?"
*
"No, not everyone does. And I.. my father's work - if people found out about me, there could be trouble." She shrugs, moving to check his pupils, make sure his pupils are even and reactive. There's a bite to her bottom lip, cheeks flushing as her lashes lowered. "I can help a lot of people here, more than just being a normal nurse, you know?" It's almost a whisper. "Yes, that was me."
*
He stares forward, letting Thea inspect his pupils, but when she admits to it, he smirks. "Thought so," he says. "I won't do anything to cause you trouble, Miss. Like I said, you do good work here. Even more since you're not discriminating against mutants. We could use more friendly spaces, outside of Mutant Town. Hard enough to find a willing doctor, or a nurse sometimes." All patched up, at least enough to walk around without bleeding on people, Jamie stretches just a little bit to test the range of motion. "Mind me asking what your mutation is? Besides the warm tingly feeling?" He smiles again. "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours," he jokes.
*
Thea laughs. "Exactly that." She's smiling, a hint of flush. "The tingly? Was making the bleeding stop, and starting the healing. You'll see the next you look in a mirror? The bruise on you face is gone. No one will be able to tell you didn't just slip and fall on ice, if you keep your shirt on." Though there's more of that tingly through his chest, working on the other bruises. "It's not a very showy power."
*
"Sometimes the most useful ones aren't so showy," Madrox says with a smirk. "Explains why you're drawn to this kind of work, though. It's like you were built for it," he comments. "Thought it was feeling less.. you know, painful. Thought maybe it was just the effect of being shirtless in front of a pretty nurse," he says with a wink. "The truth is definitely more interesting. As for me.." Jamie hops up, wincing slightly; he's still not 100% healed, after all. Once he's standing, he gives the floor a stomp with his foot, and channels the energy from the impact through his body, resulting in a second Jamie which steps 'out' of the original. A perfect copy, bruises and all. They both smirk, and in perfect unison, "Tada".
*
"Well, give me a little longer, and thr bruises will mostly be history. The stab wound would take longer than I would feel comfortable being in here without another nurse. They worry, you know. Man, young nurse. "There's roll of her eyes. Then he's duplicating, and she steps back, mouth slightly open as she stairs. "Holy hell!"
*
"Yes, I suppose things could appear a bit inappropriate," The original Jamie says with nod. "But don't worry, I'm a perfect gentleman." To which the second Jamie coughs, and stifles a laugh, earning a sharp look from the first. "And enough out of you," he says, reaching out to touch the duplicate on his shoulder, absorbing him back into his body. Having been around for only a few moments, the mental effort to adjust to the influx of memory is minimal. "I'm sure you've got other patients to tend to, and I wouldn't want to take up more of your time for just a few bruises," he says with a smile, moving to reclaim his shirt.
*
"I would be just as long, other wise. If I were.. normal?" There is a touch of a question there. "Well, if you did try to be inappropriate, I could stop it cold, so no worries there." There's a smile. "You should come around sometime when you're not bleeding.. Jamie..?" Clearly looking for a last name.
*
"Good to know. But I'm not in the habit of forcing myself on women behind closed doors, unless expressly invited," Jamie says with another wink. "I have a feeling I wouldn't like the find out how you'd put a stop to it, anyway. Imagine there's an unpleasant application of your abilities that I don't want to be on the receiving end of," he muses with a smirk on his lips. "I'll definitely pop back in another time. Hopefully under less bloody circumstances," he says, bobbing his head a little bit in a series of nods. "Oh, Madrox. Jamie Madrox," he finally says, offering a hand for the woman to shake.
*
Thea can feel the heated blood building in her cheeks, and just lets it. Men seem to find it amusing when she blushes. She'll shake his hand. "I think I'd like that, Mister Madrox. Thea Harman."
*
"Well, Miss Harman, thank you very much for patching me up. I'll try to keep from undoing your work," he says, and then smirks. "Although that would give me a good reason to come back sooner." Jamie reaches for his jacket, and starts to put it back, taking care not to move in such a fashion as to tear stitches or displace gauze. "What do I owe you?" This is America after all. Healthcare isn't free.
*
Thea shakes her head. "Just take it easy with the stitches for a few days." There's a smile, her head tilting. "This is a free clinic, Mister Madrox. You can ask me to lunch some day, if you're keen on paying debts." There's a wink there, before she'll turn to open the door.
*
"Awesome," Madrox says simply, getting his jacket back on. "I'm in the area often, I'd be happy to stop in and treat you to lunch some time. You like barbecue? There's a great barbecue place not far from here. And they've got pie," he says with a grin, seeming even more excited about the pie than the meal. Who doesn't like pie?
*
"I do like barbeque. I haven't had it in a while." The smile lingers. "And who doesn't like pie?" Brown eyes are warm and just a little flirty. "You take care now, Mister Madrox. I'll see you soon."
*
Jamie gives Thea a final smile, and bow of his head, before he makes his way out of the examination room. Back out to the street, to find his car, parked a few blocks away. The thought suddenly crosses his mind that the thugs he had tangled with earlier might have discovered her, bringing a mildly panicked look to his expression for a moment. His pace quickens as he steps out of the clinic and onto the sidewalk. Please baby, don't be hurt!
*