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xp_logs Jean and Sooraya run into a problem while volunteering at a homeless shelter in District-X.
"Uhm, Jean?" Sooraya knocked on the door urgently, despite not wanting to interrupt the doctor and her patient. "We kinda need you here outside right now!"
Jean was in the middle of trying to help Mrs. Meeks calm down enough to shrink down her hand after trying to fit it through an air duct vent grating to grab her lost wedding ring and being startled. When she couldn't, Mr. Meeks had to unscrew the entire vent cover. There weren't that many doctors in the city who were used to people who could resize their appendages as will so they came to Jean.
It was a service Jean had volunteered to help out at in the homeless shelter in District-X. Once a week she'd answer questions people might have about specific things like menstrual cycles, foot fungus, etc. As she wasn't their primary care physician, the most she could do was encourage them to see one officially. This was more of a special case, of course.
Glancing over, Jean paused. "Excuse me. Just keep taking deep breaths, okay Myra?" she said, stepping out into the hall with Sooraya.
"What's going on?"
"I've got someone here and I am really not liking the look of him. I'm no doctor, but he is hardly able to stand, shivering like it's freezing and he seems kinda confused." Sooraya summarized succinctly. "My first feeling is to call an ambulance, but we both know the issues with that..."
Nodding thoughtfully, Jean grabbed her medical bag. "Show me where he is. When did you first see him? Do you know how long he's been like that?"
"Paulie helped him to get to one of the back offices so you'd have space to work and some privacy." Sooraya explained as she pushed open a door into a small hallway. "One of the other volunteers called me over as soon as they saw him come in, so he couldn't have been here for longer than ten, fifteen minutes. And as for how long, I've no idea. Like I said, he was pretty confused. And here we are."
"I'll see what I can do but if he's too bad we may have to find a way to get him to Claremont. I still have some friends there," Jean said. Coming into the room, Jean frowned deeply as she caught sight of the man.
"Roger, what happened?" she said. He was a homeless man she often gave food and supplies to when she was in the area. He didn't want to join the Morlocks and he wasn't human enough to exist in society without his powers making it hard to find a job.
"Hey Doctor J," Roger said with a cough. His slightly green cast skin looked pale and clammy. "Got into a fight with some norms panhandling...they got me pretty good."
Jean's eyebrows furrowed. "How long ago was that?"
"Two...three weeks," Roger admitted, lifting up his shirt. The smell of infected flesh filled the room. His skin was angry and dark red around the pus filled wound.
"What? Why didn't you go to Claremont?" Jean said, then nodded to Sooraya. "Can you please get me some fresh, hot water and towels?"
Sooraya opened up a cupboard and quickly pulled out some clean towels before setting them down next to Jean. "I already asked someone to bring some hot water. It should be here in a few moments." Gently she squeezed Roger's hand. "That looks like it hurts, Roger. But let's see what we can do about this?"
The man's eyes shifted towards her face as Paulie came back in and set a steaming bowl of water next to them. Roger's hand tightened around Sooraya's when Jean examined the wound.
Jean's jaw set as she got her supplies out. "Roger, why didn't you go to Claremont?" she repeated.
Roger's eyes started to roll back in his head. His hand loosened its slack.
"Roger?" Jean repeated, checking his breathing and his pulse. Her attention snapped to Paulie. "Call an ambulance," she said, before threading her fingers through her other fingers and starting CPR.
"I think he may have sepsis from the wound. We need to get him to a hospital now. I don't have all the equipment here to treat him."
As soon as the order to call an ambulance came, Sooraya had moved to the bag of supplies and quickly pulled out a bag-mask device and knelt next to Roger's head. After counting thirty compressions she fitted the mask and bent forward.
XXXX
Red and white lights painted the street and walls outside of the shelter as the ambulance driver closed the doors and climbed inside. Jean sat on the steps outside, a faraway look in her eyes.
"Here." Sooraya sat down next to her with two cups of hot tea and held out one of them. "I figured both of us could use this. Paulie and the others are sending away the others, telling them they can come back in a day or two. I figured we had enough for today."
Taking the cup, Jean gave a wordless nod of thanks and agreement. Her breath and the steam from the cup rose into the air as she watched the ambulance drive away. "If he had just seen a doctor a week ago, he might still be alive," she said finally, her voice quiet and sad. It never got any easier.
"It's hard if you've no place to go." Sooraya sipped from her tea, relaxing a little at the warmth that spread through her. "I'm guessing the Claremont is just too big a barrier for them. Too intimidating maybe or too many bad experiences with other hospitals. Who knows..."
"It wasn't always like that," Jean said, her brows curled low. "But it kept getting worse, even before the Purifiers attacked. I tried...I tried to help as much as I could but after awhile it wasn't enough."
Sooraya rested a hand on Jean's shoulder, trying to offer a little comfort. "If it was getting worse even before the Purifiers attacked, what was it then that made it more and more difficult to come? I know there were some issues with protesters at some point and that wouldn't have helped, but any other things?"
Jean shook her head. "We started getting some less tolerant doctors and nurses on staff. The good ones wouldn't stay so the hospital hired more on talent than bedside manner,"
"And probably alienating a bunch of people, staff and patients in the process." Sooraya snorted. "For claiming to be a mutant friendly hospital, they aren't doing too well at the moment." She paused, thinking. "Have you ever thought about it?"
"About what?" Jean said.
"I don't know..." A bitter laugh stole over Sooraya's face. "How things could be done better maybe?"
Folding her arms, Jean looked away. "If I knew that I'd still be working there."
"Wasn't just thinking of the hospital though..." She gently squeezed Jean's shoulder again. "Maybe I shouldn't even be talking about this right now, but sometimes I dream... about having a kind of.... center maybe, right out in the open, where mutants could just come for help without having to hide. Offer easily accessible training classes maybe... I don't know what else... just a safe place for help, I guess..." She paused for a moment. "It sounds so stupid, but I guess I'm asking if you ever dream of something like that."
"And put a target on their backs like Roger? Have protestors waiting outside every day like they do at Claremont?" Jean said, lifting her head to look at her. The hint of tears glistened in her eyes. "No, I don't."
She stood, shoving her hands in her coat. "I'm sorry. I need to go. I'll catch a ride home."
"Uhm, Jean?" Sooraya knocked on the door urgently, despite not wanting to interrupt the doctor and her patient. "We kinda need you here outside right now!"
Jean was in the middle of trying to help Mrs. Meeks calm down enough to shrink down her hand after trying to fit it through an air duct vent grating to grab her lost wedding ring and being startled. When she couldn't, Mr. Meeks had to unscrew the entire vent cover. There weren't that many doctors in the city who were used to people who could resize their appendages as will so they came to Jean.
It was a service Jean had volunteered to help out at in the homeless shelter in District-X. Once a week she'd answer questions people might have about specific things like menstrual cycles, foot fungus, etc. As she wasn't their primary care physician, the most she could do was encourage them to see one officially. This was more of a special case, of course.
Glancing over, Jean paused. "Excuse me. Just keep taking deep breaths, okay Myra?" she said, stepping out into the hall with Sooraya.
"What's going on?"
"I've got someone here and I am really not liking the look of him. I'm no doctor, but he is hardly able to stand, shivering like it's freezing and he seems kinda confused." Sooraya summarized succinctly. "My first feeling is to call an ambulance, but we both know the issues with that..."
Nodding thoughtfully, Jean grabbed her medical bag. "Show me where he is. When did you first see him? Do you know how long he's been like that?"
"Paulie helped him to get to one of the back offices so you'd have space to work and some privacy." Sooraya explained as she pushed open a door into a small hallway. "One of the other volunteers called me over as soon as they saw him come in, so he couldn't have been here for longer than ten, fifteen minutes. And as for how long, I've no idea. Like I said, he was pretty confused. And here we are."
"I'll see what I can do but if he's too bad we may have to find a way to get him to Claremont. I still have some friends there," Jean said. Coming into the room, Jean frowned deeply as she caught sight of the man.
"Roger, what happened?" she said. He was a homeless man she often gave food and supplies to when she was in the area. He didn't want to join the Morlocks and he wasn't human enough to exist in society without his powers making it hard to find a job.
"Hey Doctor J," Roger said with a cough. His slightly green cast skin looked pale and clammy. "Got into a fight with some norms panhandling...they got me pretty good."
Jean's eyebrows furrowed. "How long ago was that?"
"Two...three weeks," Roger admitted, lifting up his shirt. The smell of infected flesh filled the room. His skin was angry and dark red around the pus filled wound.
"What? Why didn't you go to Claremont?" Jean said, then nodded to Sooraya. "Can you please get me some fresh, hot water and towels?"
Sooraya opened up a cupboard and quickly pulled out some clean towels before setting them down next to Jean. "I already asked someone to bring some hot water. It should be here in a few moments." Gently she squeezed Roger's hand. "That looks like it hurts, Roger. But let's see what we can do about this?"
The man's eyes shifted towards her face as Paulie came back in and set a steaming bowl of water next to them. Roger's hand tightened around Sooraya's when Jean examined the wound.
Jean's jaw set as she got her supplies out. "Roger, why didn't you go to Claremont?" she repeated.
Roger's eyes started to roll back in his head. His hand loosened its slack.
"Roger?" Jean repeated, checking his breathing and his pulse. Her attention snapped to Paulie. "Call an ambulance," she said, before threading her fingers through her other fingers and starting CPR.
"I think he may have sepsis from the wound. We need to get him to a hospital now. I don't have all the equipment here to treat him."
As soon as the order to call an ambulance came, Sooraya had moved to the bag of supplies and quickly pulled out a bag-mask device and knelt next to Roger's head. After counting thirty compressions she fitted the mask and bent forward.
XXXX
Red and white lights painted the street and walls outside of the shelter as the ambulance driver closed the doors and climbed inside. Jean sat on the steps outside, a faraway look in her eyes.
"Here." Sooraya sat down next to her with two cups of hot tea and held out one of them. "I figured both of us could use this. Paulie and the others are sending away the others, telling them they can come back in a day or two. I figured we had enough for today."
Taking the cup, Jean gave a wordless nod of thanks and agreement. Her breath and the steam from the cup rose into the air as she watched the ambulance drive away. "If he had just seen a doctor a week ago, he might still be alive," she said finally, her voice quiet and sad. It never got any easier.
"It's hard if you've no place to go." Sooraya sipped from her tea, relaxing a little at the warmth that spread through her. "I'm guessing the Claremont is just too big a barrier for them. Too intimidating maybe or too many bad experiences with other hospitals. Who knows..."
"It wasn't always like that," Jean said, her brows curled low. "But it kept getting worse, even before the Purifiers attacked. I tried...I tried to help as much as I could but after awhile it wasn't enough."
Sooraya rested a hand on Jean's shoulder, trying to offer a little comfort. "If it was getting worse even before the Purifiers attacked, what was it then that made it more and more difficult to come? I know there were some issues with protesters at some point and that wouldn't have helped, but any other things?"
Jean shook her head. "We started getting some less tolerant doctors and nurses on staff. The good ones wouldn't stay so the hospital hired more on talent than bedside manner,"
"And probably alienating a bunch of people, staff and patients in the process." Sooraya snorted. "For claiming to be a mutant friendly hospital, they aren't doing too well at the moment." She paused, thinking. "Have you ever thought about it?"
"About what?" Jean said.
"I don't know..." A bitter laugh stole over Sooraya's face. "How things could be done better maybe?"
Folding her arms, Jean looked away. "If I knew that I'd still be working there."
"Wasn't just thinking of the hospital though..." She gently squeezed Jean's shoulder again. "Maybe I shouldn't even be talking about this right now, but sometimes I dream... about having a kind of.... center maybe, right out in the open, where mutants could just come for help without having to hide. Offer easily accessible training classes maybe... I don't know what else... just a safe place for help, I guess..." She paused for a moment. "It sounds so stupid, but I guess I'm asking if you ever dream of something like that."
"And put a target on their backs like Roger? Have protestors waiting outside every day like they do at Claremont?" Jean said, lifting her head to look at her. The hint of tears glistened in her eyes. "No, I don't."
She stood, shoving her hands in her coat. "I'm sorry. I need to go. I'll catch a ride home."
