Jean & Callie- Saturday Afternoon

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While helping people to evacuate, Callie runs into Jean at the medical station



Callie glanced down at the little boy by her side. She had been given the task of looking after him during the evacuation by the boy's pregnant mother. It had been agreed upon that the less stress this woman had to handle the better, so Callie was put in charge of making sure the boy didn't run off and get himself injured. The boy couldn't have been more than three years old, but he was a small three, so Callie had been able to alternate carrying him and holding his hand as the two of them had made their way toward the med station.

"Come on," she urged him, squeezing his hand in an attempt to comfort the boy. "Let's get you looked at and then find your mommy." She looked around the area for one of the medical staff. Although the boy seemed only to sport a few bumps and bruises, Callie wanted to make certain that he wasn't injured, and she needed someone to administer the tetanus shot.

It wasn't long before she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. She guided her small charge toward the woman. "Dr. Grey," she said as they approached. "If you're not too busy I have a patient here for you."

This was definitely Jean's preferred form of disaster relief; not that she wanted people to need a doctor, but being in here was so much better than being out by the river. Looking up in surprise at hearing her name called she blinked. "Callie? Something wrong?" she asked, misunderstanding at first who her patient was meant to be. She didn't know the young woman well, but Jean tended to get protective about all the Xavier's residents.

"Everything's fine," Callie assured her. "I have an evacuee who needs to be looked over." She motioned toward the boy beside her. "Make sure everything is fine with him. And needs a tetanus shot?"

"Ah, yes," Jean said, finally turning to look at the young boy and taking in his damp clothes. "Hello," she said kindly, kneeling down to smile at him. "I'm Dr. Grey. What's your name?"

"I'm Matt," the boy proclaimed shyly. He stared at Jean for a minute, then back at Callie, a frightened look on his face. "Can I see my mommy now?"

Callie crouched down beside him. "Doctor Grey needs to make sure that you're okay first, and then we can find her okay," she explained gently before turning to Jean. "I don't think he has any injuries. There aren't any scrapes or cuts, I don't think, but I don't know. He might have internal injury? But he hasn't complained of hurting or anything. Is there somewhere you want me to set him so you can examine him?"

"Nice to meet you, Matt," Jean said, smiling still. Turning her attention back to Callie, Jean nodded. "Can you get him settled up on the exam table? If he's not been complaining there's unlikely to be anything serious, but I'm going to need to get a listen to his lungs. And the inevitable shot."

Callie nodded in understanding and lifted Matt up from the ground, resting him on her hip, as she stood up. Her arms were sore from carrying him, to be honest, but it was nothing that could be helped. Looking around, she spied the closest exam table and headed toward it. After setting Matt down on it, she turned to ask Jean "Is there anything you need me to do? Anything you need me to get for you? Or anything?"

"Well, he'll need an escort out of this zoo when we're done," Jean said, eying the remarkable number of people milling about, most of them busy. "If you don't mind sticking around? Bet Matt here wouldn't mind the company, either." Popping the earpieces of her stethoscope in Jean warmed the other end against her wrist before sliding it under the little boy's shirt. "Can you breath in real deep for me, Matt?"

With a slight nod, Callie stood back and watched as Matt complied with a deep breath. She didn't like being of no use, it made her feel awkward and in the way. Hopefully the examination would be brief, and she would be able to help Matt find his parents again. She looked around the area in an attempt to find them, but it was so crowded with people that it was no use. "How does he look Dr. Grey?"

With so many patients, they didn't have time to be terribly in depth. Jean ran through a quick check of his vitals after making sure his lungs were clear; if he'd breathed in too much of the mold that was already growing all over the sodden parts of the city it would already be audible in his lungs. "You're doing just fine, aren't you, kiddo. No big cuts, but we're gonna have to do a tetanus shot just in case."

"Okay, I can get that for you!" Callie looked around for a moment before spying a nearby tray. She rushed over and carefully navigated her way back toward Jean and Matt, making sure not to trip and fall. "Here you go!"

At the sight of the needle, Matt's eyes grew wide. While he had been completely fine with the mention of said shot, seeing it was a completely different matter. He squirmed on the table, his face screwing up in discomfort. Without warning, the small child let out a mighty scream. "I WANT MY MOMMY!"

Jean winced at the sudden volume, and at the number of people who glanced over at them, although most of the volunteers quickly went back to work - he was hardly the first distraught child to go through. The sudden onset of sniffles and whimpers starting up about the room was a good sign that they needed to get him quiet quickly, though, if they didn't want every other child to pick up on his distress. "Matt, sweetie, it's ok, shhh. We just have to do this quickly so you don't get sick and then you and Callie will go find your mom."

Deciding to try her hand at comforting the wailing tot, Callie sat down on the exam table next to him, making sure to put down the tray first. He had been doing so well before this. The entire time they had been walking together he hadn't complained except that he was tired. "Matt, I promise it won't hurt. Then we can tell your mommy what a big brave boy you are! I bet she'll be proud of you."

That proved to be the wrong thing to say as the small boy continued to wail. Callie decided to try a different approach and wrap her arms around Matt. "I know you're scared bud, but I'm here. And Dr. Grey is a nice woman; she wouldn't want to hurt you. And you can hold my hand if you want."

Keeping her hands out where he could see she wasn't doing anything sneaky, Jean leaned down to put her eyes on his level. "Really, I promise, Matt. It's a little sting, and then your arm will be sore for a short while, but we've got a whole bunch of neat band-aids and if you want you can have a lolly-pop."

Although Matt had ceased the loud crying at this point, he was still sniffling and warily eying the doctor and Callie. At both of their suggestions he shook his head vigorously, and crossed his arms over his chest. He was not about to budge it seemed. Then an idea struck Callie. "Hey Matt," she said to him. "What if I got the shot first?" Hopefully this would show him there was nothing to be afraid of. "Can we do that Dr. Grey? I mean I probably need it anyways?"

Jean's eyebrows went up at that. "Didn't you get yours already?" she asked, surprised. "Your volunteer coordinator needs to be kicked if they were letting you anywhere near the flood waters before you'd had it. Yes, we can definitely do that. What do you think, Matt? If Callie gets hers you can see it's not so bad."

"Nooo," Callie replied slowly as she pondered the question. "No. It was really hectic and I think they missed me?" She shrugged and looked down at Matt. The boy reluctantly nodded his head. Callie smiled and took his hand, giving it a slight squeeze. She rolled up the sleeve of her shirt in anticipation of the shot.

Jean sighed. "Well, it's understandable, but remind me to check on the others, make sure they've all been inoculated?" she said as she prepped the first injection. The shot was quick and, true to what she said, only stung for a moment before Jean set the syringe down and started getting a second ready. "See, Matt? You ready for yours?"

As Matt nodded, Callie breathed a sigh of relief. she had tried not to wince when the needle had punctured her skin. It wasn't so much that the nedle hurt per se, but it did sting as Jean had said it would. She pushed her sleeve down to cover the band aid. "Ready? Squeeze my hand if you need to, okay?" Matt sniffed and nodded once more.

"If it helps, just keep your eyes on Callie. This will be quick." And, indeed, the sting and pressure were done in moments and Jean was setting down the needle and swiping a cotton ball across the little puncture. "Now, the important bit. Which band-aid did you want? We have a whole selection," she said, pulling out a handful of brightly colored band-aids with cartoon characters on them.

"That wasn't so bad now was it," Callie asked. "Oooh look there's Elmo, and Spiderman, and Spongebob."

Matt blinked. "That's it," he asked. "All done?" He eyed the selection of band aids for a minute before smiling and pointing at one. "Spiderman!"

"You want Spiderman?" Matt nodded.

Jean obligingly set the chosen band-aid in place and grinned. "Yep, that's it, we're all done."

Callie jumped down off the table. "Come on Superman, let's go find your mommy," she said turning back to Matt and lifting him back onto her hip. "Say thank you to Dr. Grey."

"Thank you Dr. Grey."

"You're very welcome," Jean said, smiling at the boy before turning her attention back to Callie. "Take care of yourself, too," she said. "Don't forget to hydrate and get some rest when you can."