"Another spike," Nurse Jensen said nonchalantly, as she pushed back those few things that had been moved.
"Can't we do something about that?" Riley was only a nurse's aide, but wondered aloud as she helped.
In seconds the room was righted. All delicate instrumentation had already been bolted to the floor, and all glass had been replaced with plastic, so that it was merely a matter of replacing an overtoppled tray, pushing the IV stand back into place, and relocking its wheels.
"They say they are working on it."
"Maybe they will come up with something soon...?" Riley said hopefully as she hung up a fresh bag.
"Don't count on it," Jensen said. "I assure you that the Powers that Be have greater concerns than one comatose paranormal with a tendency to telekinetically break things at random intervals. Trust me, if she had any value to them, she would have been gone long from here."
"It seems sort of sad," Riley said.
Jensen professionally started marking the chart that hung at the foot of the bed. "What does?"
"She hasn't had any visitors in a while."
Jensen replaced the chart. "You don't know the half of it, kiddo," she said, and ushered the trainee out of the room. "You done any paranormal life studies yet?"
"Yes," said Riley proudly. "We've studied powers, physiology, chemist-"
Jensen held up a hand. " Life studies, kiddo, done any of those?"
"Um... I am not sure what you mean?"
"OK, that's a 'no,'" Jensen gestured at the closed door as they walked down the hall. "Here's a lesson. That girl back there is a mutant. Powers manifested just over a year ago. Some sort of psychic, from what they say."
"She went into a coma a year ago - did the manifestation of mutant powers cause it?"
"Not directly," Jensen walked into the nurse's station, checking the charts. "She was taken, the same day, by some group of nutsos. Injected with some drug, or so they say. No one knows what, we have never been able to get an accurate work-up."
"Sounds wild... the sort of story you would invent to cover a habit."
"Yes, but in this case the young lady has medical reports to back her up, along with fifty eyewitnesses and some TV coverage to boot."
Riley looked thoughtful. "And that caused the coma?"
"Not exactly. The effects weren't apparant for maybe forty-eight hours. When they surfaced, and she went to ICU, it became apparant she needed, among other things, a blood transfusion. Certain medical necessities at the time dictated that a transfusion from a direct family member would stand far greater chance of success at saving her life, so they called up her folks." She shook her head as she picked up a different chart.
"And...?"
"Not only did they refuse to give the transfusion, they refused medical aid. Of any kind. That led to some emergency court orders, we won some emergency AMA's... not soon enough, though, and there she is, and there she'll likely be for thirty years or more."
"You're kidding." Riley's eyes were shocked.
"'Fraid not, kiddo, welcome to the world. Now, follow me, we're going to go and see the patient in Room 17..."
As they walked away from the nurse's station, their voices faded. Everything was quiet in the room where the young woman lay unconscious.
Her name had been Crystal, in better times. Most recently she had been "The patient in room 14," a sleeping form in a bed, strapped down for a tendency to float from time to time. Everything looked the way it had looked for a year or longer.
Now, however, one of the monitoring devices next to her gave a sudden beep. The wavy line running across its screen, which had not changed for some time, suddenly began spiking wildly, tracing lines violently from one side of the screen to the other, as if recording an earthquake. This had happened before: even unconscious, Crystal possessed considerable psychic resources. Today, though, the spikes continued to gain momentum until something wonderous happened.
Crystal opened her eyes.
For a time she did not move, simply looking at the ceiling. But when she sat up, the straps holding her down simply undid themselves of their own accord. The IV needles slid out of her arms as the holders scooted aside. Barefoot and hospital-gowned, she approached the door, which flew open before her.
"Hey hey hey! Look who is up - whoof!" Riley had tried to approach her but ran into something invisible - something like a brick wall. A cart that was in her way rolled abruptly aside. She gave no sign that she had heard the nursing aide, looking neither to the left nor to the right. Her expression was rather blank.
"Miss-"
"Riley," Jensen's voice was sharp. "Get back here and get under the desk."
"But - "
"NOW!" Jensen's voice brooked no contradiction and Riley scurried to obey.
Nothing happened to them during Crystal's walk down the hallway. Furniture slid aside to get out of Crystal's way, but nothing else unusual occured... at least, not until she got to the other end of the hallway.
It was a dead end, a glass window showing a drop of fifty feet or more to the alley below. In front of the newcomer, it blew outwards as if explosives had been placed there, showering the street below with tinkling bits of safety glass.
Riley cried out as Crystal stepped right off the edge.
She did not hesitate... but she did not fall. She continued to walk, exactly as if she had stepped onto a solid surface. Luckily there was open space beyond as she strolled out into the clear blue sky.
Riley looked back at her senior. "Ma'am-?"
"I'm already on it," said Jensen, holding the phone to her ear.
"Another spike," Nurse Jensen said nonchalantly, as she pushed back those few things that had been moved.
"Can't we do something about that?" Riley was only a nurse's aide, but wondered aloud as she helped.
In seconds the room was righted. All delicate instrumentation had already been bolted to the floor, and all glass had been replaced with plastic, so that it was merely a matter of replacing an overtoppled tray, pushing the IV stand back into place, and relocking its wheels.
"They say they are working on it."
"Maybe they will come up with something soon...?" Riley said hopefully as she hung up a fresh bag.
"Don't count on it," Jensen said. "I assure you that the Powers that Be have greater concerns than one comatose paranormal with a tendency to telekinetically break things at random intervals. Trust me, if she had any value to them, she would have been gone long from here."
"It seems sort of sad," Riley said.
Jensen professionally started marking the chart that hung at the foot of the bed. "What does?"
"She hasn't had any visitors in a while."
Jensen replaced the chart. "You don't know the half of it, kiddo," she said, and ushered the trainee out of the room. "You done any paranormal life studies yet?"
"Yes," said Riley proudly. "We've studied powers, physiology, chemist-"
Jensen held up a hand. " Life studies, kiddo, done any of those?"
"Um... I am not sure what you mean?"
"OK, that's a 'no,'" Jensen gestured at the closed door as they walked down the hall. "Here's a lesson. That girl back there is a mutant. Powers manifested just over a year ago. Some sort of psychic, from what they say."
"She went into a coma a year ago - did the manifestation of mutant powers cause it?"
"Not directly," Jensen walked into the nurse's station, checking the charts. "She was taken, the same day, by some group of nutsos. Injected with some drug, or so they say. No one knows what, we have never been able to get an accurate work-up."
"Sounds wild... the sort of story you would invent to cover a habit."
"Yes, but in this case the young lady has medical reports to back her up, along with fifty eyewitnesses and some TV coverage to boot."
Riley looked thoughtful. "And that caused the coma?"
"Not exactly. The effects weren't apparant for maybe forty-eight hours. When they surfaced, and she went to ICU, it became apparant she needed, among other things, a blood transfusion. Certain medical necessities at the time dictated that a transfusion from a direct family member would stand far greater chance of success at saving her life, so they called up her folks." She shook her head as she picked up a different chart.
"And...?"
"Not only did they refuse to give the transfusion, they refused medical aid. Of any kind. That led to some emergency court orders, we won some emergency AMA's... not soon enough, though, and there she is, and there she'll likely be for thirty years or more."
"You're kidding." Riley's eyes were shocked.
"'Fraid not, kiddo, welcome to the world. Now, follow me, we're going to go and see the patient in Room 17..."
As they walked away from the nurse's station, their voices faded. Everything was quiet in the room where the young woman lay unconscious.
Her name had been Crystal, in better times. Most recently she had been "The patient in room 14," a sleeping form in a bed, strapped down for a tendency to float from time to time. Everything looked the way it had looked for a year or longer.
Now, however, one of the monitoring devices next to her gave a sudden beep. The wavy line running across its screen, which had not changed for some time, suddenly began spiking wildly, tracing lines violently from one side of the screen to the other, as if recording an earthquake. This had happened before: even unconscious, Crystal possessed considerable psychic resources. Today, though, the spikes continued to gain momentum until something wonderous happened.
Crystal opened her eyes.
For a time she did not move, simply looking at the ceiling. But when she sat up, the straps holding her down simply undid themselves of their own accord. The IV needles slid out of her arms as the holders scooted aside. Barefoot and hospital-gowned, she approached the door, which flew open before her.
"Hey hey hey! Look who is up - whoof!" Riley had tried to approach her but ran into something invisible - something like a brick wall. A cart that was in her way rolled abruptly aside. She gave no sign that she had heard the nursing aide, looking neither to the left nor to the right. Her expression was rather blank.
"Miss-"
"Riley," Jensen's voice was sharp. "Get back here and get under the desk."
"But - "
"NOW!" Jensen's voice brooked no contradiction and Riley scurried to obey.
Nothing happened to them during Crystal's walk down the hallway. Furniture slid aside to get out of Crystal's way, but nothing else unusual occured... at least, not until she got to the other end of the hallway.
It was a dead end, a glass window showing a drop of fifty feet or more to the alley below. In front of the newcomer, it blew outwards as if explosives had been placed there, showering the street below with tinkling bits of safety glass.
Riley cried out as Crystal stepped right off the edge.
She did not hesitate... but she did not fall. She continued to walk, exactly as if she had stepped onto a solid surface. Luckily there was open space beyond as she strolled out into the clear blue sky.
Riley looked back at her senior. "Ma'am-?"
"I'm already on it," said Jensen, holding the phone to her ear.
(tags!)