Jean and Fred (Backlogged to Wen.)

[x-nothungry.livejournal.com]

Fred goes to Doctor Grey-Summers, and testing ensues.






Jean was working on some filing out in the main portion of the medlab as she waited for Fred; it would, she thought, give her some indication of how he was feeling, whether he was late or early and by how much. Certainly Amelia had seemed to think he wasn't fond of being in the medlab in general, but the fact that he'd come to find her and then gone ahead and made an appointment to see Jean herself suggested that either he was in an awful lot of pain or he was very worried about it, and either way it would be helpful to see how that played out against any teenager, any person's normal desire to not see a doctor.

Fred moved into the medlab, about to light a smoke, then walked back out quickly. Best not to walk into the medlab while smoking a cigarette. Fred sighed as he put the cigarette back into his coat pocket. His mind...it was somewhere else. He walked into the medlab a second time, and exhaled. It was nothing against telepaths, but the thought of having someone else in his head, coupled with his dislike of hospitals in general...

But he wouldn't be late. He was going to see Doctor Grey. He was going to figure this out.

He walked up to the doctor with an odd resolution, but his voice was as confused and lost as it had been with Voght, "Uh, hello, ma'am. I'm Fred Dukes."

"Hello, Fred," Jean said, looking up from her work. "Come on in. I'm Dr. Jean Grey-Summers, and you really don't have to call me ma'am..." That he was nervous was obvious and she leaned back in her seat, smiling her most non-threatening smile.

Fred swallowed, and sighed. He returned Jean's smile, albeit weakly, "I...uh, you're a Doctor, ma'am, and uh...you're...sorry ma'am-er-Doctor." He winced. He still had to work on getting better at interaction with authority figures...

Jean would not laugh, that would be bad. Bad and wrong. And she wouldn't. The smile didn't even twitch as she said, "It's all right, if that's what you're most comfortable, we'll go with that, and I'll pretend like it doesn't make me feel I'm as old as I actually am. So, I'm given to understand you're in some pain..."

Fred sighed and looked down. When he looked back up at Jean, he was doing a terrible job of keeping the hiding the age on his face, "Uh, yes ma-Doc. It's, uh, all over pain, right beneath my skin. I'd say it's a six or seven most of the time..." The words came out like Fred was programmed to say them, like he'd mulled them over for hours or days and was just glad to be rid of them. He spoke again, "Doctor Voght thinks it's my mutation...."

"Yes, she mentioned," Jean confirmed, and there was definitely no impulse to laugh now... "We spent some time going over your test results, particularly your x-rays; essentially, there's something unusual going on with how your muscles, your skin, everything really, are layering over each other. It's almost certainly the source of the pain, but we haven't been able to pinpoint the cause of that variation. Now, you say the pain's fairly consistent, and also constant? Are there any times when it's less, or when it spikes sharply? I'm sure it makes it hard to sleep at night, but once you fall asleep do you usually sleep through the night or does the pain wake you?"

"Once I get to sleep I usually stay asleep. The, uh, pain spikes whenever I, uh..." Fred's eyebrows furrowed, "I guess...when I use my power? If I lift something heavy, or take a hit you know? I when I think down...erm...stand still I mean." Fred, as if on instinct, reached for his cigarettes, but stopped short. He chuckled a little, "I have a..." what was the word? "gravity power, kinda. I don't move when I don't want to...but, it really hurts when I do that and it, feels...like...weird? In my head when I..." Fred sighed and trailed off. Why was it hard to talk about this kind of stuff?

Jean nodded. "Well, if there was any question it was related to your mutation, that would put it to rest." She considered her next words carefully, watching Fred closely as she spoke. "So. One of the reasons that Amelia recommended we talk is that one of my skills is to be able to trace mental impulses to their physical source. You know I'm a telepath, yes?"

Fred nodded, "Uh, yes ma'am. I'd heard. I, uh, I'm okay with it, if you need to knock around in my head..." Fred knew he'd have to get comfortable with the idea of telepathy. He'd not heard a single bad thing about Mrs. Grey-Summers, and he felt he could trust her with his mind...

He was definitely not entirely keen on the idea, but willing enough if it was something that could help, and Jean thought it would. "Essentially what I'm thinking is to do a trace along your pain nerves, when you're at rest, when you're being active, and when you're actively using your powers. Would you be up for running a few more tests?"

Fred looked around the Medlab. The few times he'd entered this particular area, he'd been playing a game where he would try to figure out what each device was for. So far, he'd figured out the stethoscope and the tongue depressors. He sighed as his discomfort grew, and looked back to Doctor Grey. His unease beside, this woman, really all the medical staff so far, seemed solely interested in figuring out how to help Fred. If that didn't garner for them Fred's trust, he couldn't think of what would.

Fred managed a stronger smile, and nodded to Doctor Grey-Summers, "Test away, Doc."

---

"All right," Jean said, "I think that ought to do it. I'm going to talk to Moira about these results, but we definitely have somewhere to start."

Fred had been sitting as patiently as he could, and when Jean spoke he quickly stood up and threw on his sweater and coat, visibly relieved that he was 'free' for the moment. He hadn't said more than two or three words since Doctor Grey had started in on the tests, as he hadn't wanted to distract her, and at this point he was a little anxious to get out of the medlab. "Okay. Should I just, uh, wait to hear from you, or...?"

"I'll get back to you quickly, I promise," she said, stepping back to give Fred some space, knowing how much the telepathic contact had unsettled him. It was definitely some serious pain the boy was in, no question, and ending the contact with his mind was actually a relief for Jean, too. "In the meantime, do try to not go over the limits Amelia gave you on painkiller dosage. If what you've got isn't strong enough let us know and we can give you something stronger, but taking too much at once is still not going to be a good idea."

Fred had gone over the normal dosage a few times, especially when he tried to sleep, but he wasn't about to tell Jean that, "I, uh...I won't." He knew it wasn't smart to lie to a telepath, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to try. "Thanks for helping out, Doctor Grey. I really appreciate what all y'all are doing..."

Jean managed not to arch an eyebrow at the obvious lie, simply nodded. "You're welcome, Fred."


Fred looked around and, after giving another awkward nod to Jean, moved out of the medlab, almost certainly on his way to have a cigarette.