Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Three

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"You have a tablet at least, right?" Asher asked Dawn.

(Yeah, I think we decided there was a, like, huge shiny luxury med bay somewhere, haha)

"Or that," Asher agreed. He smiled sheepishly, "I defended the honor of medics everywhere today, I hope you're proud."

James sighed. "You're gonna be fine, man, you just overexerted yourself like crazy. Maybe try and take it easy for a month or so before asking for a rematch?"

Kay nodded, patting Asher's shoulder. [You did, i'm very proud.] The smirk on his face suggested he was possibly being slightly patronizing.

"Eugh, taking it easy? Man, you know that's lame." Matt protested.

Kay rolled his eyes. [Don't make me put you into an induced coma.] He threatened.

"You're so mean!" Matt poked his tongue out. "And I thought you weren't working? So get out, go on, shoo." Matt gestured weakly with his arms. "James, chase em out will you. They're trying to work!"

Asher looked amused. "I feel somehow like your declaration of pride may be lacking sincerity."

James patted Matt's shoulder. "Don't worry, you can do crossword puzzles and bingo while you heal." He looked at Asher and Kay, "Yeah, what are you doing in here, anyway? Out, out, out!"

Kay smirked to Asher. [Now why would you say that?]
He waved a hand at James and backed out of the room. [Be good.] He told the lot of them in general.

Matt made a face. "Bingo!? What am I, seventy? Wait... bingo's the thing with the balls and the numbers right?"

"Just a hunch." Asher followed Kay out. "Of course, there's no reason why you wouldn't be proud of my incredible wheelchair skills, so I must have imagined it."

~~
"Yeah, I think that's bingo. The one where you cross off numbers on a card? It's nice and low stress." James looked pleased, watching the medics leave.

once they were out in the hall Kay brightened up a bit. [You may very well have saved us all having to go through all that again. So for that at least, thank you.] He looked sincere this time.

---

Matt made a whining noise. "Just give me probably perverse puzzles, don't punish me with bingo and crosswords!"

Asher smiled a bit. "It could have ended a lot worse than it did. I'm glad Matt's okay."

~~
Ellie nodded. "Don't be mean, James."

"I like the idea of giving him old people activities though," James said. He relented, "Oh all right, you can have your puzzles, man."

"He's totally mean, I don't think i'm gonna let him give me that sponge bath now." Matt teased.

---

Kay nodded. [As am I. ] He looked grim, thinking of his other brother.

"Aww, but I was looking forward to that!" James protested, laughing.

"Ha!" Ellie said. "Guess I get to do it now. Be jealous, James!"

James pretended to pout.

~~
Asher guessed what Kay was thinking. "We'll be able to visit Esk later, and Vestia and Dawn are keeping a close eye on him." He tried to smile, "This has been incredibly hard on you, but you really did an excellent job planning this surgery."

Matt snickered. "I know right? Everyone wants a bit of this." Yeah right, but it was funny to joke about his imaginary sex appeal.

---

Kay lowered his head. [I just hope it was the right call. That our plan now will even work. ]

"Heck yeah. Hottest guy on Vestia," James agreed. Yeah, he was asexual. That just made it more fun to joke about this stuff.

~~
Asher nodded. "It's too early to know how well this treatment will work, but he survived this long with catastrophic liver damage, because of his powers. I think it's very likely this will at the very least improve his quality of life."

"Go me!" Matt laughed.

---

Kay nodded slowly. [I hope so. He's so damn tough, but I worry that it's only a matter of time before he's hurt too badly to bounce back.]

Asher nodded. "That has to be terrifying. He's been through a lot already, and it's not hard to imagine him getting into more trouble down the road. For now though, I think we can be tentatively optimistic." He wasn't sure that helped at all. There were so few certainties here on Vestia these days.

Kay shook his head. [I'll feel a lot better once we know he's awake and alert.]

Asher nodded. "Hopefully that won't be too long. For now, want to find some distractions? The holodeck is full of things to do."

(You guys wanna skip to when Esk is awake again?)

(Dawn will be back there after she eats, so sure)

(sure thing!)

Kay nodded, distractions were good.

(and time skippy skipingness?)

---like... mid afternoonish?---

Esk woke up again, not much because he wanted to but because the drugs had started to wear off and the pain woke him.
He groaned, trying to haul himself into a sitting position and hissing in pain at the movement. Damnit.
Stitches.

He'd never really had stitches like this, or surgery, it was a novelty if nothing else. He carefully pulled up his hospital gown to get a look at the wound. Ow.
He covered himself up again, pulling the sheets up carefully and rested his head against the pillow, taking a few deep breaths before checking his IV. Painkillers, he needed painkillers.

Where was Dawn? Dawn had drugs, or could get them. "V... vestia... " Esk called out. "Dawn, get.. get Dawn.."

"Sure thing, I'll get her," Vestia told Esk, keeping her voice quietish and reassuring. "Just hold still for now, okay?" Not that Esk probably needed to be reminded.

~~
She contacted Dawn. "Esk's awake now, just so you know. He looks like he's in a fair bit of pain at the moment."

Dawn had already been heading that way. "It is time for more painkillers now" She said.

"Yeah, looks like that to me," Vestia said. "Poor guy."

Dawn nodded and went into the room, going over to wash her hands and get gloves to add the medicine to his IV for the slow release that was needed, likely changing out the bag at the same time. She had to check his stitches too, making sure he was healing alright. "Hey Esk" She said, turning to get him some more water and ice when that was done then making a note in his chart. "I know you feel bad, but we have to ask how are you feeling?" She said, trying to lighten the mood while he was awake a little.

Esk made a face. "If you already know, why ask?" He snipped, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the painkillers to kick in.

He tensed when she tried to touch him, gloves or not, he'd spent so much of his life avoiding contact, it was instinctive to shy away from it. He especially didn't like how vulnerable all this made him feel.

"How long.. till I can just heal?" He asked, looking distinctly uncomfortable when she tried to get a look at the incision.
He put a hand out to stop her.

Dawn paused and looked to him, tilting her head "You feel strong enough to use your magic on a creature?" She asked curiously. She didn't have a problem giving him a bit of a quicker heal if he was up for it. She quirked a smile at him "You have got to start trusting me, I know to have barriers up when I am close to you."

Esk hesitated. "I know..." He shook his head. He couldn't explain why he felt so uncomfortable having her get so close, it didn't make logical or reasonable sense and frankly it irritated him that he couldn't rationalize it. Part of him desperately wanted her close, but another part of him panicked at the thought, it was damn annoying. He let his hand drop back onto the bed. "Magic yeah... you're the medic... but you sure you don't have to get permission first?" He managed a weak smirk.

"I still have to get certified to be a real medic" Dawn said with a smile then looked up to the cameras "What do you think Vestia, should we ask permission?"

"Sure," Vestia said. "I'll tell Kay, he's the expert on this."

~~
Vestia located Kay. "Your brother's awake, and somewhat coherent. I think Dawn wants some medical advice."

Asher had been staying near Kay because he was loyal that way. He smiled a little, well Esk talking was probably a good sign.

Kay nodded, looking visibly relieved. [Tell her i'm on my way.] He nodded to Asher and headed to the recovery ward.

--

Esk sighed. "Soon you'll outrank him. Take the damn test already, the most senior medic only being a nurse is embarrassing."