moving day in NYC (aftermath)

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko was lying curled in the fetal position just inside the door when Remy came home. No matter how much whatever she had broken hurt--and it hurt--staying outside when she couldn't run if need be was just stupid. So despite the searing pain in her ribs, several of which were likely cracked, and the stomach-turning echo in her right leg she'd wormed her way through the door to the apartment and cried for her phone to voice-dial her boyfriend.

She was going to need a hospital no matter how much she hated them. Bruises they could deal with, cuts could be glued together or bandaged, but broken bones needed a doctor. It still didn't really process in her head that all of the injuries she'd now sustained were just because she'd been open about being a mutant, because she thought things had quieted down enough to not hide in plain sight. Apparently she'd been wrong.

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[callmegambit]

Remy slipped in and winced as he saw her, kneeling as he settled down next to her. "Noriko, chere'. Dear one? Can you talk?" He gently touched her head, stroking her hair and nodding. He'd seen enough injuries to know she needed medical care and he could get here there, for sure.

"Are you still awake, love?" Worry for her, and anger at what had happened filled him.

[electro_kinetic]

"My leg is broken. Or my knee, I don't know, but it hurts," she hissed through gritted teeth. Her head was still racing: it had only been ten minutes, maybe less. "I might have cracked ribs." No injury in particular hurt quite as bad as when she'd been shot, but then few things would. Still, between that and the few punches she'd taken to the face everything stung and ached like a rotten tooth.

[callmegambit]

Remy nodded, his nostrils flaring. "We'll get you too a clinic, chere', one where I know you'll be taken care of."

He looked down at her and nodded. "S'gonna hurt when I pick you up. But I'll get you too help."

And then he'd find out who did this and become a nightmare to them.

[electro_kinetic]

"I can try walking if you support me," she said, swallowing back the feeling of wanting to retch when she turned to try sitting up so he could help get her on her feet. Her face paled as she touched her foot to the ground and shifted the break in the bones.

"Maybe."

[callmegambit]

"Stop that." He batted her hands and waved a finger at her. "This is going to hurt as it is. Stop being so independent. I love you dear, and I will take care of you." And he slid his arms carefully around and under her, and slowly lifted her up. he knew she would be hurting, but there was no way this would not have her hurting somehow, and he was careful, supportive, and gentle.

"Alright. I'm going to move slowly to the door, and through it. Just... try to breathe." And he started forward with a slow smooth gait, removing as much of the impact from his steps as possible.

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko held her breath, limbs shaking as Remy picked her up: the movement caused a new wave of pain and she gripped his shoulder hard enough to lave a bruise from her fingertips.

"Fuck, that hurts," she hissed, biting down on her cheek to keep from cursing too loudly or screaming. It didn't stop the tears that welled up and spilled over down her cheeks, but crying was the least of her concern. She wanted to get to a hospital or a medic who could fix her leg, and look at everything else that hadn't made itself known.

[callmegambit]

"Sorry, love." He took a breath as he walked. he hated inflicting pain on her and he hated how this hurt her and not being able to stop it. Yep. He was definitely going to find whoever did this.

He moved slow and easy to the door and carefully reached out, opened the door around her body, angled to move through and stepped through with her in his arms...

[electro_kinetic]

It was slow and painful going to get to the car, much less the hospital emergency room, accompanied quite a few times by Noriko's cursing or gasping for breath that had suddenly deserted her.

"I just wanted to have something done when you came home."

[callmegambit]

"You didn't do anything wrong." he smiled softly at her and gently set her on a bed that someone had abandoned in the hallways, requisitioning it without hesitation as he then slowly pushed her to the check-in window.

"I've got multiple broken bones, possible internal injuries, and I need to see a doctor, now." And Remy slapped down something he rarely used, his XSE security badge. At the sight of a badge, the woman behind the window quickly got an intern to get them back to a room to wait for a doctor.

Remy smirked once they were in the room. "About time I got some use out of the thing."

[electro_kinetic]

"You don't have to use that," Nori said, knowing what he'd pulled out to get her out of a waiting room where people were already beginning to stare and whisper.

"I thought they were just going to shout or throw a bottle or something, like they always do," she murmured. "But one had a retractable bat."

[callmegambit]

"I know. But I want you in a room where you can relax and where we might actually get you seen tonight, instead of next week." He smirked, then his face fell as she kept on and he winced.

"Dose are no fun. Been on the receiving end of one of those, once."

he gently kissed her, watching for a doctor. He would pull one in bodily if he had to. "There's always one bastard who has to be special."

[electro_kinetic]

"Didn't hurt as bad as when I got shot," she said quietly, laying her head down. Now that she didn't have to move, and wasn't, it wasn't as sharp, but it still hurt. "But I didn't expect it, I didn't...react. I didn't want to kill them, jut make them stop."

She'd shocked them, she's fairly sure, and maybe caused permanent nerve damage by the amount of current she'd used, but she was wary of using enough amperage to kill someone, because it was frighteningly easy to do. "There were five of them, maybe six. I think five, and one had the bat. But the others weren't small and I couldn't turn around quick enough. I know I caught the bat and burned his hands after he hit my knee and I went down, but he was aiming for my head," she said, beginning to shiver as her words picked up speed. It wasn't a good sign when she started to talk too fast to be intelligible, because it often meant she was losing control of her tightly-held abilities.

[callmegambit]

He stroked her hair and listened, finding one of her hands, and as she mumbled and shivered, he called for the doctors, this time frantically.

Soon the doctors were there, scrambling in to work on her and shoving Remy aside. Any other day, any place else, he would have fought, here, he instead prayed forgotten childhood prayers.

And waited.

[electro_kinetic]

It took several hours, and Noriko was obviously not having fun during that time: thankfully the bone hadn't broken the skin and the break was more or less clean, so wouldn't require surgery, but there were several more problems found.

She had three cracked ribs and a sprained wrist, along with numerous abrasions and bruises, but refused pain medication as much as possible, as much as they'd let her. Soon enough she was in a cast from mid-thigh to her toes, jeans cut away on one side, and with medication and orders to keep an eye on any headaches she had if they got worse, or started making her nauseous.

"Remy, I just want to go home," she said, tired and pained and upset. "I'm sorry about all this."

[callmegambit]

"You didn't do anything wrong. I've got your paperwork and we can get out of here." Remy smiled softly as he pulled a wheelchair up to her bed. He had winced, sworn, and paced as they worked on her, and he hated every minute of it.

He wanted to get her home as well.

[electro_kinetic]

"I told you I was trouble," she said softly, hauling her leg over the edge of the bed. "You know I can't stay in one of those."

[callmegambit]

"Then I will carry you. And you are not trouble. You are my love and I will take care of you." He slid his arms under her body again and lifted her.

"I've got you, Noriko."

[electro_kinetic]

She wound her arms around Remy's neck as he picked her up, laying her head on his shoulder and avoiding pressure on the back of her skull where there was already beginning swelling and a persistent ache. She picked up the bag with her jeans leg and the removed shoe and sock she had been wearing, laying them in her lap.

"Thank you," Noriko murmured. "I love you too. But let's go."

[callmegambit]

"Going." The cab he had called was there outside waiting, the extra tip he had promised keeping the man from taking the several other offers he was getting. Remy raised Noriko higher and moved through the crowd like a knife cutting butter.

At the cab, he gently slid her in and slid in himself, passing a tip to the man and nodding. "Let's go."

As the cab moved, Remy played seat belt, making sure Noriko didn't jar around too much.

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko did her best to make it easier, aware she was being a burden in the quite literal sense, and would be for quite a while longer than she wanted to be. She stayed quiet in the cab, running her fingers through her hair and pushing it out of her face. It was better outside of the hospital, though: the atmosphere was less cloying, less hurried and with the medication she no longer felt like she was on the verge of unwillingly discharging an awful lot of current.

"I never broke anything before. Not that required all this. I mean Julian broke my rib once, but I've never had anything like this happen." She wasn't entirely sure how or if she should even begin to sort through processing it.

[callmegambit]

"When I was twelve, I fell off a wall, didn't land right, shattered my leg all over the place. Almost never walked again. Father had a healer heal me, but slowly, as a lesson not to be that stupid again. It was... a long summer."

he shivered and gently tapped her nose.

"You will recover, faster than you know. It will seem a long time, until then." Remy was no good at sugared lies.

[electro_kinetic]

"Ouch," she says, wincing: she knows what that feels like now.

"It's not that I'm that impatient--I mean I don't want to have a cast on--but...I don't know. Everything since I called you feels unreal. I didn't expect this to happen, things have been quiet."

[callmegambit]

Remy nods. "No fun, that is." he smiles a little.

"Acta of hate and terror happen randomly. Just some asshole, some yahoo suddenly decides to get angry, or has a bad day, or is afraid, and takes it out on others. It's not fair, and it happens all the time. Lady down the street, old Romani woman? She had her window broken last week. Some damn fool painted a swastika on the brick they threw."

he sighs. "A lot of damn fools out there, love. I'm just sorry you got caught by one." He kisses her gently, eyes worried still.

[electro_kinetic]

"We should fix her windows. Put in lexan or something," Noriko says, readjusting her leg so she can sit more comfortably across Remy's lap as the cab wound through the city streets to where their apartment was.

"I'll be okay. It hurts, but I've been hurt before. I'm sorry, though. I should have been...I don't know, more willing to fight them off."

[callmegambit]

"Not a bad idea. The boys down the way need some work to tide them over. I could pay them to do the heavy lifting, and she'll pepper them with food and cookies." He paid attention to those neighbors.

"Noriko... you were victimized. Surprised. You survived. That is what is important." he gently gripped one of her hands.

[electro_kinetic]

Nori sucked in a breath. "I'm not...I'm not supposed to be a victim. I'm an X-man, we're not the ones who get...victimized." She shook her head, laying it back against the seat.

[callmegambit]

"We can all be victims. I've been one. And the X-Men have been beaten and dropped before. No one wins always and there is always a bigger, badder bad guy." He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Noriko."

[electro_kinetic]

"Don't be sorry," she said, shaking her head. "You didn't do it."

She didn't want him to feel sorry for her, mostly. "It just...hasn't happened since I got to the school. Not like this. I mean, when Stryker came to the school, I ended up with three bullets in me, but with that and the Legacy Virus I expected it. We were all the targets."

[callmegambit]

"I know chere'. I can give sympathy. Ain't pity. I've been in similar straights." he nodded.

"It's not a fair thing, but it happens. Gonna help you get better, Noriko, and you will." He nodded.

[electro_kinetic]

"At least they didn't have to put in a pin, or cut muscle," she says, sighing and being careful of how she rearranges herself. "So I don't think I'll have to have physical therapy." She doesn't think.

"Did they say whether the knock on the head was just that, or are they saying it's a concussion?" Noriko is tired, and doesn't really want to think about it much, but she wants to at least know. "I guess I get a crash course in being an invalid."

[callmegambit]

"I'm glad of that." he nodded. "It depends on how long you have to do bed rest for it to heal."

He shook his head."They didn't think so, but we're supposed to keep an eye on any headaches you get, and especially if they cause nausea."

He nodded. "And how to rest. Resting is hard, and we'll have to find ways to get your energy out that don't require a lot of movement or jostling."

[electro_kinetic]

"It's already too long," she muttered.

"Does it help if I already feel nauseous and sore? I just got the shit kicked out of me." She twined her fingers with his, at least the uninjured hand. "So what, sex is off the table?"

[callmegambit]

He shook his head, but smiled softly. "No. But if it gets worse, let me know." He nodded.

"And no, but we will have to be creative. Very creative." he smirked at her.

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko huffs out a little laugh. "Why am I thinking that's...par the course for you?"

[callmegambit]

"Yes, true, but more creative, love. Don't like hurting you. " he leaned in to kiss her forehead and snuggled her close.

"We're almost home."

[electro_kinetic]

"I'm going to lay on the couch for like...six hours," she said as the cab pulled onto their street, and slowly up to the building. "So work around that."

[callmegambit]

"Well, we could let you rest for tonight." He chuckles as he helps her toward the door and inside, carrying her mostly, taking her weight so none of it went on her leg or side.

"Or I'll just go down on you until you can't take it anymore." he smiles softly.

[electro_kinetic]

"You really gonna try that with a cast in your way?" she asks, hopping along beside him, though it's awkward given their height difference. "I mean, far be it from me to tell you no to, but..."

[callmegambit]

"Me, stopped by a mere cast? Surely you jest."

Remy chuckles, then nods as they reached the door, and carefully unlocks it, then lifts her fully to his arms to stride through.