xp_logs | Monday afternoon. Terry, Bobby, Jean with Tommy cameo

Terry takes a tumble and Bobby takes her to the medlab. Jean gives her a clean bill of health but not before Terry makes an unpleasant discovery.

The tree was old and majestic. And nearly picked clean from other students after an afternoon snack or just a diversion. The fruit tree had put up with a lot of kids in its branches over the years and the wind through the leaves sounded long-suffering. Terry grinned and stretched after another apple. "Almost got it," she called down to Bobby who was waiting on the ground.

"Be careful," Bobby chided, and then rolled his eyes at himself. He sounded like a parent. He squinted up through the leaves, taking a step back.

Terry wrinkled her nose at him and stepped a bit further out onto the branch. Her fingertips had just brushed the apple when a gust of wind bent the tree and cause her to lose her precarious balance. Her short scream ended when she hit the ground, air knocked out of her. Her head cracked against a root and for a moment she saw stars.

Bobby was at her side in a flash, kneeling next to her, brushing her hair from her face carefully. "Terry? Terry, are you okay?"

Terry tried to draw in a breath but couldn't. She tried to nod instead but winced and reached behind her head. Her fingers came away wet with blood. Oh fantastic.

Movement was promising. Blood was not. "Shit. Does anything feel broken?" he asked, trying to remain calm. "Can you sit up?"

With his help, she did, though it hurt. She was able to finally draw in a gasp of air and shake her head at his question. The world was spinning. That wasn't good. Stupid tree.

Bobby slid an arm under her legs, and one around her back. "All right. Let's get you down to the medlab." He stood with her cradled against his chest, taking a second to shift his balance before heading back toward the school.

-------

The boy's vitals were still distressingly low. But, while there was no change for the better, there also hadn't been a change for the worse and, given the state he was in, Jean was willing to accept that as a sort of progress. Picking up his file, she moved through it, adding in her notes from this, his latest check up.

By the time they got down to the medlab, Terry was able to protest that she was fine and he could put her down. Not that he seemed to be listening and the world was still tilting in strange ways so maybe that was good.

Jean looked up from the paperwork as she sensed Bobby and Terry enter the medlab. They both knew not to come down unless there was a problem, and given the woozy feeling to Terry's thoughts, there was definitely a problem. Setting down the boy's file, she opened the door, heading into the main room. "Hi guys, what's happened?"

"She fell out of a tree," Bobby answered, cradling Terry against him and crossing toward Jean. "Hit her head, but I don't think anything's broken."

"Fell." Terry agreed dazedly, looking past Jean into the mystery boy's room. Her eyes didn't want to focus right. He looked familiar. "Who's that?" She squinted, trying to figure out what she was looking at.

"Here, put her on the table," Jean said, gesturing to one of the examination tables nearby Distracted by worry of Terry, it didn't even occur to her that she hadn't shut their mystery patient's door until after Terry was asking. "That's the young man Hank posted to the journals about," she answered, pulling out her tools.

Bobby reluctantly put Terry on the table, stepping back and, well, pretty much hovering.

Terry thought back to the journal post, her thoughts clearing slightly. "Dr. Hank said he was a civilian." She'd assumed that meant X-business had put him there. She leaned forward again, trying to get another look at him, imagining his face without the bandages and bruises.

The vague, disconnected sense of familiarity in Terry's mind suddenly clicked, both in hers and in Jean's, and the discussion with Madelyn about whether or not it would be appropriate to ask one of the students if they could identify the boy flashed through Jean's mind. The door to the private room swung shut with a thought, but she was too late.

She still couldn't have anticipated the violence of Terry's reaction. "Tommy!" She half-jumped, half-fell off the examination table. She didn't even register Bobby catching her, too caught up in her sudden shock.

Terry's memories of the boy flashed to the front of her mind with such sharpness that it would have been impossible to stop them all, even if Jean had been expecting such a severe reaction. Well, at least now they had a name, Tommy Jones, and a lot more. And also proof that they'd been right, letting the one of the kids ID the boy would be the easiest way, and also a bad idea. Too late. "Lie back down, Terry," Jean said, aiming for soothing doctor mode and making it, barely. "I need to see if you're all right."

Bobby looked confused, glancing from Terry to the now-closed door. "Tommy? Who--?" At Jean's words, however, he concentrated on Terry again, helping her back onto the exam table.

"What's he doing here? He shouldn't be here!" Terry shrieked, still looking at the closed door. "He can't. You can't have him here!" She jerked away from Jean at least twice before Bobby held her still with an apologetic look.

"Terry, please, you've got to calm down." Jean argued with herself about whether or not telling Terry what little she could say without breaking confidentiality on Terry's case would really help. Somehow, she thought not. "Terry, I need you to calm down. I can't tell you much about his case at all. We don't even know that much about it ourselves."

Bobby's eyes widened suddenly as he realized who Tommy was--finally recalling the name Terry had told him a little over a week before. He tightened his hold on Terry, shooting a look at Jean as he tried to shield his emotions from her.

"He's Friends of Humanity! He burned CoffeeQuake!" He nearly killed Jay. "What is he doing here?"

Hell, Jean thought as Terry's thoughts edged towards the hysterical, the crush of them against her shields making it impossible for Jean to pick out any one thought. "Terry, listen to me now." Her voice took on that 'I am your teacher and your doctor and you will listen' edge to it that was so effective simply because she didn't use it that often. "He was left nearly dead outside the gates, Cain found him and brought him to us. I can't tell you more than that, and I need you not to ask. I also need you to promise you will not tell anyone else. Both of you." She added, turning her gaze on Bobby.

Terry responded to the tone of voice without thinking about it, biting her lip and looking at Jean, wild-eyed. Her hold on calm was tenuous at best. Tommy... Hurt. Like Jay. God, they can't tell Jay.

"We're not telling anyone," Jean said. "You shouldn't have seen him, either, but that's my fault, not yours." She sighed softly. "Are you ok, love? We still need to check your head." Maybe the normality of that would help center Terry.

Bobby nodded mutely, slipping his arms around Terry and hugging her gently. "Calm down, sweetie. We still need to make sure you're okay," he murmured. I don't even want to think about him, much less tell anyone else.

Terry nodded slightly, "I'm okay." She clung to Bobby anyway, refusing to let him go. She hurt all over and her head was throbbing but her vision was clear again and she no longer felt dizzy.

Well, that was one thing shock was good for, Jean reflected wryly. "All right, then. Can you follow the light? Need to make sure you haven't got a concussion."