Log: Jean, Meggan and Amanda

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Meggan gets her first physical



Jean smiled down at the very brief little file that lay open in front of her. So far all it held was the notes from the little girl's quick first check up, but chances were good that she'd be a resident here for a while and the file would grow. Hopefully only in the course of regular check-ups and powers training, though. Her supplies were already set out for Meggan's first physical, and all that remained was to wait for the little girl herself.

"~Come on, love, this won't take long. The doctor-lady just wants to make sure you're not sick,~" Amanda encouraged, leading Meggan along the hallway to the exam room. She had a certain amount of trepidation about this - medlab was about as alien as you could get to what was familiar to Meggan - but she'd done well enough with Moira... Too bad the Scot was tied up elsewhere for the follow-up exam.

"~Not sick,~" Meggan said, clinging to Amanda's hand and looking around. She remembered this place... it smelled kind of bad, but it was clean and there was lots of light. She liked light. And the last time there'd been a kind Person who'd held her gently and given her a treat. She was fully prepared to like this place if there were going to be more sweets.

Jean smiled to herself - the girl's thoughts weren't in English, mostly weren't in any language at all except the language of pure thought, but they were easy enough to follow and
treats for good little girls were standard operating procedure. "Come in," she called as the door to the medlab slid open. She focused her attention on the pair, aware that there was going to be a language barrier but wanting to make sure her little patient was as comfortable as she could be.

"Hey, Doc," Amanda said, mustering a smile for Jean. The mess with Manuel was getting in the way of sleep, and Meggan was definitely a lot of work - not that she'd admit to that to anyone. Lack of sleep was getting to her. "This is Meggan. Meggan, this is Doctor Grey. ~She's going to be making sure you're okay.~"

Meggan held on tightly to Manda's hand, staying close to her, and eyeing the new Person a little suspiciously. This wasn't the nice lady with the pretty voice, and it wasn't someone Manda was happy to be close to. Best to be careful. "Hi," she said, remembering the greeting that seemed common around here. At least she wasn't sensing anything bad from this one, who had red hair too... she felt a little strange, but there wasn't any anger or fear.

"Afternoon, Amanda," Jean said, reassuring doctor mode firmly on and being aimed at both girls, "and hello, Meggan. ~It's nice to meet you.~" Her German was not really functional on any useful level, but she remembered several set phrases and some random vocabulary. Unfortunately, Amanda was going to have to try to translate everything past that. "How are you feeling?"

Amanda translated the question, raising an eyebrow at the table. "You want her up there? I can sit next to her, make sure she doesn't get scared."

"Let's do weight and height first," Jean said, nodding to the scale, "and then, yes, if you don't mind. Thank you."

Meggan followed Manda obediently to the scale, squeaking a little as the cool metal touched her bare toes. "~I good,~" she told the doctor, in answer to her question. "~Hungry,~" she added hopefully. It'd been a while since the last meal, and if there were any more treats around...

"Bottomless pit," Amanda murmured with an affectionate grin, although she frowned a little at the reading on the scale. Still way too light for her height. "She says she's hungry," she added aloud to Jean. "~We'll get food when we're done here, okay?~"

"I'm glad to hear that," Jean said to Meggan, smiling as she marked down the numbers onto the girl's chart. "I have treats, of course, for after," Jean said to Amanda, before adding, "if you're good," to Meggan with a wink. "And I could get some fruit juice, too, if you think she'd like it, while you get her to change into the gown." She gestured to the children's medical gown that lay on the examination table.

"Juice'd be great. She likes that," Amanda said, before turning her attention to the gown and Meggan. "~Dr Grey's getting you some juice, and she'll have something nice to eat for you when we're done. But first we need to get you into the funny looking gown here, yes?~"

"~Yes,~" Meggan agreed, brightening a little. Juice was good, treats were good, and she quite liked the gown. It was looser than her smock, and she got more air on her fur. She helped Manda get it put on and done up- giggling a little when Manda tickled her, as she always did when they were doing Getting Dressed - and then scrambled up onto the big flat thing that was a cross between a bed and a table. "~High!~" she said, looking around with a pleased expression.

Jean smiled at the mental giggles she heard as she returned with the cup of juice and a straw, on the theory that all children liked straws. "Yes, you're very high up, Meggan. You'd be almost as tall as I am if you stood up there. Maybe in a couple of years you will be as tall as me." Although it was a strange thought, given how small the girl was now. She handed Meggan the juice and picked up the blood pressure cuff. "I'm going to put this on your arm, sweetie, and it will press, but it won't hurt, I promise."

Obviously Jean was picking up Meggan's thoughts, Amanda thought with relief as she translated what Jean was saying. It halved the translation - her Rom was certainly getting a workout. It would definitely be a good idea to teach Meggan English at the same time as everything else. "~The bandage will squeeze,~" she told Meggan. "~You tell me if it hurts, all right?~" She was standing on Meggan's other side, giving Jean space to work but without grabbing distance for Meggan.

"~Yes,~" Meggan said, a little uncertainly, reaching out to take hold of Manda's shirt. She made a few uncertain little noises as the thing squeezed her arm, but was distracted by the fun of watching the Person make it go with the little puffy squeezy thing. That looked like fun to play with. And, happily, the squeezy part only lasted for a minute.

Hmmm, Jean thought, but did not say. One avoided making considering or worried noises around scared little patients. But that was an awfully low number, even for a girl her size. She let the air out of the cuff and slipped it off. "Ok, sweetie, we're going to listen to your lungs." She breathed on the head of her stethescope to warm it up. "I'm going to put this on you, and listen while you breathe. Can you breathe, for me?" She emphasized the new word, and breathed in very deeply as an example.

"~Good girl,~" Amanda murmured encouragingly, finding herself breathing in time with Meggan. "~The doctor is listening to your insides,~" she explained. "~The metal thing means she can hear you breathe.~" She glanced up at Jean. "Got time for her t' hear her own heart? Kids usually get a kick out of that, don't they?"

"Absolutely there's time," Jean said, sliding the earpieces out. "Her lungs sound fine. Want to listen, Meggan?" She offered the little girl the end of the stethescope.

Meggan made a surprised little noise, as the ends of the thing slid into her ears, and she heard a thumping sound. It took her a moment to realize that it was her own heart she was hearing, and then she beamed. "~Magic!~" she said delightedly. "~Manda, hear!~"

Amanda took the offered stethoscope and listened, smiling a little at the excited pitter-pat. "~Not magic,~" she explained. "~Science, which is like magic only it has different rules.~" Okay, probably not the best time for a lesson on the differences between the scientific and the supernatural, but Amanda never could help herself.

"Definitely a conversation for another time," Jean agreed with Amanda's unspoken thought. "Here, I need to get a look at your ears, nose, and throat, Meggan. I'm going to shine this little light and can you stick out your tongue and go 'ahhh'?"

"If ever," Amanda said wryly. The less Meggan had to do with magic the better, in her opinion - it was too bloody dangerous, and she wasn't going to see her little girl harmed by that particular part of her life. Relaying the instructions, she chuckled at Meggan's wide-eyed look. She was allowed to make faces?

Beaming when Amanda's chuckle let her know that yes, making faces was just fine, Meggan obligingly opened her mouth as wide as she could... which was very wide indeed... and put out her tongue. An obedient 'ahhh' issued from the tooth-fringed cavern, which would easily have engulfed Jean's entire hand, including the little light.

Okay, that was a little disconcerting. Amanda blinked at the gaping maw that had appeared in Meggan's face. 'Shapeshifter,' she reminded herself. "~Good girl,~" she murmured, hand holding Meggan's tightly.

Well, that certainly made it easy to see down her throat, Jean thought. "Shapshifter, indeed. Ok, Meggan, that's enough." Once she had closed her mouth again, Jean gently lifted Meggan's chin so she could peer into her nostrils, and then turned her to get a good look in both ears. "That looks fine, sweetie."

Meggan wiggled as soft fingers tickled her sensitive ears, then smiled up at the Person. She seemed nice... she touched gently and her voice sounded smiley. Sipping her juice - as she'd been doing every time Manda and the Person distracted each other - she looked around. This wasn't too bad, so far. Solemnly, she offered Amanda her cup. She always shared her food with Manda. "Jooce, Manda?"

Just as solemnly, Amanda took a sip from the proferred cup. "~You're doing very well,~" she told Meggan, glancing over at Jean. "Isn't that right, Doc?"

"Very well indeed," Jean agreed with a smile, glad to feel the safe-and-comfortable thoughts flowing through Meggan's mind. "We're going to have to draw a little blood, though. This will sting a bit, but I promise not to hurt you any more than that." She picked up the little needle, but carefully kept it away from Meggan until Amanda had explained and the little girl was ready.

Meggan took one look at the needle, and sidled up against Manda, holding on tightly. "~No,~" she said as firmly as she could, eyeing the needle nervously. She wasn't sure what it was for, but it was metal and it was sharp and she knew things like that could HURT. She didn't mind fun things like having her ears played with, or the squeezy thing, but she did NOT like sharp metal things being poked into her. They hurt.

Slipping her arm around Meggan, Amanda tried to comfort her, although she wasn't exactly keen on needles herself. Especially blood drawing ones. "~It'll be all right, love,~" she soothed. "~She needs to take a little bit of blood, that's all.~"

"~No!~" Meggan hid her face against Manda's shoulder. "~No blood! No!~" Manda wouldn't let anyone hurt her.... would she?

Jean concentrated on the mental knowledge that it wouldn't hurt very much, and that she and Amanda would take care of the girl, feeling her own frustratioon at her inability to project and boxing it up underneath the doctor part of her mind. "~Please, Meggan~," she tried, still keeping the needle back. "~Trust us. It's important.~"

"It's gotta be done?" Amanda asked, still holding Meggan close, trying to reassure her. As Jean nodded, she sighed. "All right, then. Do me first, yeah? 'Least that way she'll see it's not a bad thing."

For Amanda to offer that was a significant thing. Moira was generally the only one she allowed to take blood, and only then when there was no other alternative. It was more than hating needles, although that was enough in itself - in magic, blood was one of the most powerful substances you could get, and she didn't like it to be taken lightly.

Murmuring to Meggan in Rmany, she explained: "~The doctor needs to take some blood to make sure there no sickness there, all right, love? It only hurts a little bit - I'll go first and show you, so you can see, yes? I won't let anyone do anything bad to you, not ever. I promise."

"Thank you, Amanda," Jean said, feeling from her how very much she disliked having blood drawn, and getting a sense of the reasons why. "~It's safe,~" she told Meggan, before taking Amanda's arm. The needle was placed as quickly and carefully as possible, and the small capsule was filled with blood. She set it down and picked up a cotton swab, holding it against Amanda's arm. "~See~?"

Meggan held onto Manda's free arm tightly, screwing up her face as she watched. That looked like it hurt.... but Manda was doing it, and although she was frightened, she didn't feel like it hurt TOO much. So maybe Meggan should do it too. "~Yes,~" she said, a little reluctantly. Then she tugged on Manda's arm. "~Lap?~"

"~Of course, love.~" Once Jean had taped over the puncture, she scooped the girl up and into her lap, wrapping her arms around her. "~It'll just take a second,~" she reassured as Jean prepared another syringe. "And it only stings a little bit. But it's important, to make sure you're okay.~"

Jean collected a clean syringe while the girls settled themselves and, still moving slowly so as not to frighten Meggan any more, she took the little girl's arm. "It only hurts for a second, I promise." Her grip was firm, but not tight - Meggan would not be able to fidget herself into a scrape but Jean did her best to project that she meant no harm. The needle was inserted swiftly and Jean gave thanks for the years of practice finding a vein through fur she had had with Hank as she filled the syringe.

Meggan whimpered, hiding her face in Manda's neck, but she didn't pull away. It didn't hurt too much, and if Manda really did think it was important, then it must be. "Owww..." she whispered. And then the needle came out, and it was over, and she relaxed a little. She hoped there was a GOOD treat, though, after something like this...

"~That's my good, brave girl,~" Amanda told her, holding her close as Jean taped a cotton ball over the wound. "~It's all over now, and we'll have to find you something extra-special for such a brave girl, won't we?~" She'd been resisting introducing her to chocolate, since a hyperactive kid was something that gave her cold sweats, but Meggan had earned it, she thought.

"Definitely earned a treat," Jean agreed with Amanda, seccuring a cotton ball with their special, fur-safe medical tape. "We've got some c-o-o-k-i-e-s in the drawer... She's going to need vacines, you know, Amanda. We can put it off a little while, until she's more comfortable and we can explain it better, but it needs to happen in the next couple of months." Manuel's complaining over the bite and his insistance that he might need a rabies shot notwithstanding, there was almost no chance she'd had any of the normal vaccines when she was younger. "And it's not going to win me any points with the little one, but we should do a throat culture and reflex tests, too. Think we can explain my tapping her with the hammer as a game?"

"Definitely put off the shots for a little while - I know she needs 'em, but I'd rather she was more settled before we start sticking multiple sharp pointy things into her." Amanda kissed the top of Meggan's head, considering how to introduce 'hit my knee with a hammer' as a game. "I think if you do me first an' then her, it'll help. She trusts me, an' she doesn't not like you, just isn't sure yet. Tho' you might want to break out that treat after the throat culture - she's been pretty patient so far, but I think that'll be the limit."

Meggan cuddled up to Amanda, resting her head on her shoulder. It felt kind of funny, seeing her blood and Manda's in little tube-things, but it wasn't too bad. And Manda had just said 'treat' again. Treats were good. "~Tired,~" she said softly. "~End soon?~"

"~Soon,~" Amanda reassured her. "~Two more things, and we're done. You've been a very good girl for me. I'm very proud of you for being so brave.~"

"~Almost done,~" Jean agreed in German, hearing the meaning behind the girl's thoughts. "I think you're right, Amanda. We'll just do the culture, make sure she isn't going to give anything to the other kids and hasn't picked anything up, and save the reflex check for later. Meggan, can you open your mouth one last time? This will feel funny, but it shouldn't hurt, and then you can have some cookies."

Meggan nodded, opening her mouth again, as wide as she could. Seeing how wide open she could get it was actually kind of fun. She'd bet she could fit a whole apul in there at once, when it was open this wide..

The unfortunate thing with a throat culture was that you had to be thourough and you had to be careful, which meant you had to be slow. Jean was as efficient as she could be, though, and was soon putting the swab aside. "There we go, sweetie, I'm sorry about that. You're all done, though, and you were a very good girl so you can some cookies. Do you like Oreos?"

Amanda translated that, since there was a lot there. "We've been avoidin' the chocolate for now, but I think she's earned a bit of hyper-ness," she added to Jean, ruefully. "Break out the Oreos."

"Or-e-oh?" Meggan nodded, swallowing hard and making a little face. That hadn't felt very nice... but it was over, now. "~What or-e-oh, Manda? Treat?~"

"~Yes, love, it's a treat. A new sort of cookie for you, one you haven't had yet.~" Amanda hoped the build up would be worth the actuality.

"On the scale of sweets, Oreos aren't so bad, I think," Jean said, "and just about all the children like them." She pulled out one of the individual size packets of cookies and gave them to Meggan. "Here you are, sweetie."

Meggan took the package, gazing at it a little doubtfully. It was kind of like the wrappings on the bar things that Manda had given her a couple of times, though, and after a minute she worked out how to get it open. And there were cookies inside! She beamed, pulling one out
and nibbling it. Then her yellow eyes went all wide. This was the BEST cookie ever! "Good!" she squeaked, stuffing the rest of the cookie into her mouth.

"Woah, Meg, slow now, or you'll choke," Amanda repeated the admonishment in Rom, and Meggan made muffled noises of assent. "I think we've created a mon... another chocolate addict," she said to Jean, avoiding the M-word since that was never one she wanted Meggan to connect to herself again. Woe betide anyone who attempted it in her hearing, too.

Jean couldn't help but laugh at the pure delight in Meggan's thoughts. "Indeed, Amanda, I suspect you are right. But then, it was only a matter of time in this household. And if nothing else, it's a good way to get her to drink milk. I suspect her blood tests are going to show a number of vitamin deficiancies, and it would be better if she could make them up naturally, rather than through supplements."

"Think it'll take more than Oreos," Amanda said with a wry grin. "She hates the stuff - makes faces whenever she has t' drink it. Got any alternatives? Like that soy stuff? Does that have the same vitamins an' stuff in it?"

"We can get either soy or rice milk for her, I'll make sure they get on the next shopping list, but neither of them has enough calcium. Has she tried yogurt yet?"

"'S on the list - we're workin' our way through the healthy section of the 'fridge, aren't we, squirt?" Amanda gave the girl in her lap an affectionate squeeze, and giggled a little at the mess she was making with the Oreos. "~Lots of new food to try, yes?~" she repeated in Rom. "~And look at you, all over chocolate. You're going to need a clean up.~"

Meggan giggled, and offered Amanda a cookie. There were crumbs in her fur, she noticed. And they were sticky. "~Bath,~" she agreed. She did need to get clean. "~New food!~" Baths were okay, but food was definitely better.

She wasn't really keen on the chocolate, but Amanda accepted the cookie obediently - sharing food was important to Meggan, it was a sign of how much she trusted or liked someone. "Definitely a bath," she said in English, stressing the last word for Meggan to pick up. "We done here, Doc?"

"Yes, all done," Jean said. "I'll let you know if anything untoward comes up in her blood tests. Enjoy your bath, Meggan."