ways_infirmary | (no subject)

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She'd planned on a quick stop in today and nothing more, but that had been earlier.

Much earlier, at that.

Kim hasn't gone back to Glastonbury yet. Right now, she's sitting at a small work table she's cleared of medical supplies, with a medical text or two spread out in front of her, alternately scrawling on a notepad and keeping an eye on the room.

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X re-enters the infirmary with another woman, one who is shorter, blonde, and stained heavily with blood.

She's halfway through escorting Elle toward a bed when her gaze hits the only doctor present.

"Kim."

Beat.

"Elle is hurt."

She spares a moment to wish Elixir could come here. It would be easier, then.

"So I see--"

Deliberately light, but not flippant; not even close. Kim leaves the table and reaches for fresh gloves and a treatment tray.

"-- can either of you tell me what happened?"

As she asks, she's already looking over the young blonde woman, assessing her condition.

Elle isn't quick to move away from X's shoulder. But after glancing to X, and then Kim, she slips off X, and moves to sit upright on the bed.

When she looks to Kim again, her gaze isn't wary, but she doesn't speak.

Instead, she only holds out her hands.

X holds her position for a few moments, then slips sideways -- not away from Elle, really, but attempting to give Kim room to work.

"I do not know," X says. Carefully.

"I was not there."

If she is bothered by this it is difficult to tell.

"Okay," Kim says, gently now. "Okay."

A cursory look at the gashes across Elle's hands indicates that they're probably not dangerously deep, but they'll need stitching. The same goes for the slice on her forehead.

What worries her more is that Elle's skin is far too pale, her breathing is rapid and shallow, and she's not responding well. Kim sets the gloves aside with the tray and reaches for Elle's hands, taking them in her own.

Her skin's cool to the touch, cooler than it should be, almost clammy. Kim's lips tighten slightly, and a vertical line creases her forehead. She lets go of her hands and reaches for a blanket, moving to drape it around the girl's shoulders.

As she does, she spots the bloodstains on the back of her shirt.

"Elle, can you tell me if you have any other cuts or wounds, maybe bleeding worse than these on your hands?"

Elle's eyes follow Kim's gaze. She doesn't look surprised or startled at Kim's question, but still shakes her head.

And maybe she wants to explain it.

It's not mine.

I know what this is.

But she looks back to X. And whether because of this, or that she doesn't have the energy to say more, it's only one word.

"Sylar's."

X does not stiffen, but her focus on Elle strengthens, sharpens.

"He is dead?"

That, at least, is relevant.

And if he is not --

Well.

Maybe he will show up injured.

That would be useful.

Elle's not the only one who's pale, now.

"Sylar?"

Her voice rises in shock of her own, and clear gray eyes are wide.

Now I know where the cut on her forehead came from-- deal with it later, Kim!

She shakes her head once, and then says,

"Elle, I'm going to need to start an IV for you."

And while she's getting it, she can lock the door. For now. Just in case. For all their sakes.

"I couldn't."

Elle shows no reaction to Kim's shock, or her words. Her eyes are still on X, and her voice is still breathless, but she takes the strength to explain now.

"He'll come back. He - took Claire's."

"That will be problematic," is what X says first, mind flicking through the various options available at this point.

She knows how she can be killed, at least. And Logan.

So that is somewhere to start.

"But not impossible. It is okay."

There's weight on that last word.

And X does not look away from Elle. Not even to blink.

She slides the lock on the infirmary door shut and turns back, picking up the IV apparatus as she crosses the room once more.

"Fill me in here, please. Why is that problematic in particular?" Kim reaches the bedside and hangs the IV from the stand, hesitating for the barest instant before adding, "What was Claire's gift?"

"Is."

Elle still doesn't look away from X. But this could be enough of an answer.

"She didn't die."

Oh.

That is good news. Or at least interesting news.

"She heals," X says. "Like me."

Beat.

"And now he does, too."

She shifts a step or two closer to Elle -- you could call it unconsciously if you did not know X.

"But he did not get yours. It is okay."

Not least because Elle would be dead. X is not fond of that option. At all.

"... healing. I see."

Well, at least he's not going to need to kidnap any more doctors or steal medical supplies, some corner of her brain snarks.

Kim pushes that and everything else aside, letting out a slow breath.

"All right." she says. "It's going to be all right. And you will be, too. Let me get this IV started, and then I'll see to your head and hands."

She pulls on her gloves, then reaches for Elle's arm.

Elle finally looks away from X, to Kim, and then to the IV.

She makes no movement away, and even holds out her arm toward Kim, as though she were expecting this.

But this time, with her eyes on the IV -

"What's - in it?"

"Normal saline," Kim replies. "Nothing more. It's to hydrate you and help with your blood pressure to cushion you against the effects of shock."

She looks to X again, but nods without hesitation.

Her arms stays held out toward Kim. It won't spark at her touch.

(This might be why Elle is looking to X.)

She inserts the needle with a deftness that speaks of experience, fastens it with tape and starts the solution drip.

"It'll help," she assures Elle (and perhaps Laura, as well). "Soon. While it's working, I'll take care of the cut on your forehead first."

Antiseptic, gauze, and her suture kit are near at hand.

As with the IV, Elle is still as Kim approaches to treat her, not moving away or shifting uncomfortably as Kim moves from the wound on her forehead to her hands.

Her eyes stay on X for the entirety of it, flickering only once as Kim moves toward her forehead, but then back again.

She's also silent for all of it, even when her mouth twists slightly out of pain.

X leans a little more toward Elle every so often, but she splits her attention between Kim and her friend.

It is not that she thinks Kim is a danger, but --

Doctors are occasionally problematic.

And Elle is still not okay.

X worries.

She finishes suturing and bandaging Elle's hands, then sets her things aside on the tray.

"All done. The numbness from the anesthetic will fade in about an hour or so; I can give you something else for pain, if you want."

Kim checks the IV, then nods.

"Looking good here, too--"

She hesitates.

Visibly.

"-- but there's just one thing."

Kim glances back and forth between them, her gray-eyed gaze clear and worried.

"I'd like for you to stay here for a bit, just to keep an eye on you, but ... it may not be safe."

She doesn't flinch as she says, steadily,

"Sylar knows about this place. The infirmary. He's been here before."

Elle blinks down to the IV line in her arm. And then up to Kim.

"He won't get up."

Looking to X, "For a while."

It may have come at great cost, some might argue higher than what taking Sylar down was worth.

But she hadn't done before. So it's apparent from her expression that now is when she'll be taking her satisfaction at keeping her word to him.

"Good."

There is a moment where X looks vicious -- as much as she is capable of, anyway.

The utter blankness that follows may be even more unnerving.

Then she spares a glance for Kim.

"I will not let him hurt anyone here."

The rest of Security won't, either, she is sure.

Edited 2009-10-18 05:09 (UTC)

"... okay."

Kim looks back and forth between them again, then sighs.

"Okay. If you're sure. Look here --"

She points out the call button on the wall, then shows them her remote on-call version.

"-- I'll come back and check on you in about an hour or so, change out the IV and everything, but if you need me at any point, just hit that and I'll come straight away."

Kim's not planning on going back to Glastonbury tonight. Not anymore.

Elle's expression fades back to something blank, though calm enough to at least not be as unsettling as X's.

She looks to Kim, and echoes, softly, "Okay."

And then, maybe to her own surprise, " - thank you."

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