20406/Paging Doctor Caroll

Paging Doctor Caroll
Date of Scene:	10 April 2025
Location:	Science and Medical Lab
Synopsis:	Some bandaging just won't cut it (get it?), and Aisling Caroll hits the scene to administer some platonic healing! Drake can't help but pick at her, but she rolls with the punches and progress is made.
Cast of Characters:	Drake Riley, Aisling Caroll

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Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley is not an X-Man. He's just a college student at the Institute who has expressed an interest in joining them. But last night, he was involved in an X-Men operation to save someone he felt responsible towards. It turns out, live combat against superpowered adversaries runs rather different from the training exercises held in the Danger Room.

Fortunately, his injury isn't nearly as bad as it could've been. Deathstrike meant to take off his head. But that's to a combination of forward sprinting momentum, an oversized hoodie, and sheer roguish luck, the worst he got was a hard laceration spanning the back of his neck in a lateral cut. It came dangerously close to spinal damage, bled profusely, and pretty much ensured that hoodie was being retired.

At present, Drake is awake and patiently inhabiting the medical bay upon orders to stay put and not exacerbate anything. Wearing a pair of sweats, no shoes, and shirtless to avoid irritating or smothering the sizable bandaging currently covering the wound, Drake simply occupies himself with his thoughts, sitting on the edge of the squishy medical bed and idly swinging his legs.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    <<You're not supposed to take the phrase, head on a swivel, so literally.>>

    The joke might be in poor taste, but damn the torpedos and all that.

    Leaning against the near by entry to the Medical Bay is one Aisling Caroll, the school nurse, or one of them rather. Arms folded under her bust, she's dressed in a full black bodysuit with a dark orange mid sleeve jacket, and knee high black boots that push her well over six feet. She cuts quite the figure around the school with her red hair and eyes, one blue, one green.

    "So, Drake is it? Learn anything?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley lifts his head at the telepathic message. The fortunate aspect of living about four years in the Institute is you get used to some bizarre things, and wordless communication is definitely one of them.

"Hey," he protests, lifting an index finger, "Not my fault the jerk tried to turn me into a reverse pez-dispenser."

A wry, relaxed smile soon follows, unbothered by the pain and discomfort. Or perhaps more likely, he's on some major pain killers right now. "Well, she either teleported in behind me or something, to try to go for an ambush. So I learned.. uh.."

He pauses, leaning back on the bed to cast his gaze upwards.

"...claws hurt? No. Zap often? That might be the better lesson here."

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    If her eyes could roll any more they'd roll out of her head. There's something mumbled under her breath about /Men/, but she lets it go as she enters in to the facility and walks up to stand next to him.

    "Alright hotshot, let me get a look at you" she adds signaling with a finger for him to bend forward so she can get a look at how bad this whole, nearly loosing ones head wound, is.

Drake Riley has posed:
The eyeroll pleases him. Drake's not above self-depricating humor, and sometimes it's easier to make fun of himself than it is to wallow in edgy self-pity. After all, what right does he have to complain? He was the odd man out in the run, aside from Superboy. And she might've tagged him, but he /fried/ her. Scorecard!

The bidding to lean forward earns a small grimace, however. Bending and tilting agitates the wound, even enough to make the pain push through medication-induced blinders. But he does so, because doctor's orders. ...He's pretty sure she's a medic, anyway. He hasn't spent much time in medical outside of this incident.

Leaning forward, he braces his elbows on his knees and tilts his head down with a wince. The bandage is covering it, but once lifted, it'll reveal a pretty hard slash just above the shoulders, running lateral along the base of the neck. Indeed, any deeper and Professor Xavier would've had a racing buddy.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    Once she gets a good look, she leans him back upright. She looks at Drake and smiles warmly, "Alright, I can help with this but it's going to hurt. Hopefully not as much as when it happened, but, it is going to hurt."

    "I am going to do the best I can to numb the pain, but I need you to lay down flat on your stomach for me, okay?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley leans back again once she seems satisfied, bringing his hands to prop on the bed behind him. "Eh, to be fair, I was probably so high on endorphins, I barely felt it. Just, y'know. The blood. Or maybe the blood loss was makin' me delirious."

He's already begun rotating.

"Either way, how bad can it be? Also, did we ever officially meet? I'm Drake, as ya know, but... I mean, I know I've seen you in the wellness office before.."

Amidst the chatter, Drake settles flat onto the squishy cushioning of the bed, easily assuming she needs him actually facedown. How else is she going to get at it, right?

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    Aisling can't help but let out a light giggle at that, "I bet boyo, I bet" her Irish twang present and full as she watches him get situated.

    "Oh, Aisling, Aisling Caroll, School Nurse" she replies rather plainly, "As you say, I've been out and about, kinda hard to miss me to all the people that get sick or need patched up." To the point of her Accent, it is, quite thick at times.

    "Alrighty boyo, time to rock and roll" she holds a single hand out for him to grab if he wants, "You can squeeze as hard as you want."

    With that, her second hand goes over the wound, flat out, inches above the area. Then, as she closes her eyes, the light in the room begins to dim ever so slightly and Drake will feel a constant warmth on his wound beging to heat up to a steady burning sensation as the internal muscle, the skin, the blood vessels, et all, slowly stich themselves back together.

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley can't see her face at this angle, but he can hear the giggle. And that, to him, is his preferred medicine, even at his own expense. There's just something so gratifying about making someone laugh, even in such a small amount.

As her hand is offered to him with invitation to squeeze, he can't help but grin. "Between this and that accent, I'll try not to develop heart palpitations, doc," he replies, his tone coyly playful. Naturally, he takes the hand. Not only would the joke-flirt not work if he didn't, but come on. A lady offers you her hand, you take it. Dude 1-0-1.

Granted, he has no idea what she's about to do. He can only wait in expectation, eyes shifting one way, then the other. And then, finally, there it is. It starts out warm and confusing, but as the heat ramps up, he gives a very reserved, tamped down, "Oh. Okay. Ow. Okay." There is a twinge in his grip on hers, but he's clearly attempting to refrain.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    <<I can bench press nearly two tons, you squeeze if you need to squeez.>> With closed eyes, sweat on her brow, and a laser beam focused level of concentration, mind to mind is no doubt easier.

    Then, it comes, it's like putting one of those heat pads on full blast, and just letting it sit there. It is a level of pain that can push even the hardiest to tears and if he could see it? It would be like watching his body slowly just, knit itself back together.

    This whole ordeal, takes some time, and no doubt it feels like forever, but after a few minutes, who knows how long exactly, Aisling lets out a deep breath, and the pain stops almost instantly. Everything in the room returns to normal, and once Drake gets a chance to look at AIsling, she looks utterly exhausted. Despite that, she smiles warmly, "There, all done... want a lolipop?"

Drake Riley has posed:
"Ow. Okay. Ow. /Ow/. Holy Crap, /ow/. What- /OW/."

It carries on like that, and not at all because Drake is trying to be ironic. Vocalizing is helping focus his mind away from the burning sensation, eyes wide and staring deadlocked at the cushion beneath his face. His heart rate has ramped up, but unlikely due to holding her hand. The pain can probably take most of the credit there. And that hand? It gets a-squeezin'. He is, perhaps fortunately, not endowed with superhuman strength, so it's certainly not something she can't handle. But eventually, the pain reaches a point in which Drake is shuddering to keep himself together, the vocalizations ending in favor of tense breathing through clenched teeth.

And then it's over. The pain vanishes, and he lets out a hard breath. It takes several more seconds to realize he still has a deathgrip on her, and he quickly releases.

"Uh. After /that/? Hell yeah."

He is still, in fact, facedown.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    Aisling just smiles, it's one of those smiles that brigthens up whatever room she's in. Then, without skipping a beat, she reaches in to her jacket pocket and straight up pulls out a lolipop with a big ol shit eating grin on her face. To which, she hands it to Drake, it's sour apple.

    "You did good, how are you feeling?" she asks. "Oh, and I should warn, that what I just did is not the end. Your body is still going to have to finish healing the rest of the way, but I accelerated the process. What might have taken you several months, should only take a few weeks before you're back on your feet fully. Just, try not to get in to anymore fights for a bit okay?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley blinks when she produces a lolipop. And she's crazy if she thinks he isn't gonna take it. He damn well earned it, thank you!

Sitting up, he takes the loli and sets it aside for now. "So, wait, am I still cut? Or..?," he asks, starting to instinctively reach a hand behind his neck where the injury had been. "And I guess I feel... stiff?" Beat. "Don't say it!," he pre-admonishes. "I mean stiff like, y'know, not loosened up in the neck. Which I guess probably makes sense?"

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    "I'll leave it to you to take your bandage off and check for yourself" and if he does, he is, in fact, not cut anymore. Not only that, but the previous wound location is smooth as, but no doubt still tender and not fully finished. There might be some small bit of blood, but from a deep gash to more like a skinned knee. "We'll get a new bandage on and get you all situated okay?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley hops down from the bed and makes his way to the closest mirror. He removes the bandage currently covering it and twists and turns, attempting to catch the reflection. Rather difficult to see the back of one's own neck, but for as much as he can see, he's impressed. He does, however, keep his hands away from it.

"Damn, girl. You're some kind'a amazing, aren't'cha?," he marvels before finally turning to Aisling again. "I'll try to keep outt'a trouble." Try.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    Once that's all settled, she goes to grab up what she needs to get another bandage all situated and motions for him to sit back down. "Careful there boyo, I like women" just, gonna put that out there. Though, his comment does have her blushing bright red and smiling from ear to ear. "Anyway, pop a squat" she adds tapping on the medical bed.

    "Also, you better do more than keep outta trouble Drake, I can't bring people back from the dead." Grin.

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley turns around to her, grinning widely at her admission. He doesn't seem put-off by the deflection at all. "Hey, we got that in common!," he chirps, adding a quick fingerbob towards her.

He makes his way back to the squishy bed and hops onto it to sit again. "Don't gotta worry about that one. Promise." He leans forward, bracing an elbow over his knee. "I can't put that look on your face if I'm dead, now can I?"

He is, of course, referring to that smile and blush. She may not be into guys, but her reactions are just too fun to not continue. He doesn't expect anything out of it. That's not the point.

No, the point is the smile she's wearing.

And with that, he dips his head to give her easier access.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    Snerk, or well, giggle snort more likely. "Hush you, on the bed you go" she adds trying to hold back another laugh.

    "Uh uh, you're just a little charmer aren't you? Gods help who ever catches your eye."

    Now, onwards and upwards, and a new bandage goes on lickity split. Then the bed gets tapped again, "Alright boyo, up you get. Now, I am going to tell Faculty, visa vi.. Rogue..." pause, glare, "That you are on light duty restrictions for two weeks. That means, NO MISSIONS. You follow me?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley snickers while he waits. Yep - she's fun. He should pester her more often. And once done, he hops down from the bed and pockets the lolipop. He's not leaving that behind. That's his.

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem," he muses. "I'm not an X-Man. I'm just one of the college students. Circumstances were what they were, so..." His hands lift in a loose shrug, not seeming particularly fussed by the restriction. "But hey. If they beg me, bang on my door, and give me the saddest puppy eyes, I'll just tell'em!" He smiles wryly at her. "Doc said no. My hands are tied."

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    <<I heard that>> Grin.

    "Yeah, me either" Aisling adds as she moves to head out towards the main entrance. "But, I've been in a lot more fights than I can recall." She stops at the exit and turns around, "You joke, but I mean it" and for the first time during this meeting, the look on her face is ice cold. The stare of someone whose seen, a lot. "I want you, here, on the compound, resting and healing. If I find out you've run off, well, let's just say, I wont be very pleased with you. Now, off to your dorm, you're released."

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley squints at her, smiling.

"Hey, hey, relax," he assures, hands raising in casual surrender. "While I'm not even gonna pretend I'm not curious to see how the nurse gets when she's stern," eyebrow-perk, "I got no intention of makin' things worse. Promise."

He starts towards her and the exit, suddenly very aware that the top he was wearing was shredded by the attack. It's going to be an awkward walk back to the college building.

"Oh, uh. Hey." His tone has, for once, taken on a somewhat sheepish level. "Which way leads back to the, y'know, surface?" Because this would be the first time he's really been down here.

Aisling Caroll has posed:
    "Good, I will hold you to that."

    With that, she stands thre with folded arms again and grins, "Follow me, I'll lead you back up." She turns on heel and starts walking out, "Oh" she adds with her back still to him, "You keep everything down here to yourself, crystal?" With a hand, she waves over her shoulder to follow.

Drake Riley has posed:
The warning actually gets a laugh from Drake as he follows. With a shake of his head, he lifts the loli from his pocket and unwraps the paper, which is then stuffed right back into the pocket.

"Gimme a little more credit than /that/. I've been here for years now, Aisling," he says, bobbing the candy at her. "I only pretend to be a goof."

The loli is popped into his mouth.