4/23 Instance: The Cure

[Starfish]

Timeline - A couple of days after the game 'Mixed Fruits and Nuts'

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira closed the file with a resounding click and passed it to Sammy, "Alright there lad, ye can go on yer break now," she told the thin boy with a smile.

Dr_MacTaggert: She nodded to Hank and poped the rest of her twinkie into her mouth as she approached the paticent, Sammy vacating the room, "Well then, Jay, how're ye feeling today, nervous?"

Jay: Jay was sat on the bed, slouched comfortably and swinging his legs idly. He looked up and smiled as Moira came in. "Yeah, Ah guess, ma'am. Ah mean...if Ah don't think of d' consequences..."

McCoy: "Try to focus only on all the positive consequences, Jay," McCoy reminded him. "You'll finally be able to get back to full health if everything works out as planned. Isn't that exciting?" He paused as he reached for another twinkie. That family box had turned out to be crucial for their mutual research project, so far. "Not that we expect anything to not go according to plan."

Jay: "Course not, Doc. Ah'm in d' best hands, right?" Jay grinned, feeling a lot less confident then he probably sounded. He was in the hands of people whos good mood depended on the amount of sugary goodness was in their system. Which was why there was another Twinkie box sitting beside him. He really did want to get better.

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira had indeed noticed the second family box, and was eyeing it up surupticiously, "Aye well, over the past couple of days we've been pouring over all the data and we truely think that we've made the breakthrough ..."

Dr_MacTaggert: Hellfire and damnation, need more coffee, should have got Sammy-lad to make a pot before he went on his break ... surely as the visiting expert, protocol dictated that Hank should be making her coffee in the absense of a junior staff member.

Dr_MacTaggert: She willed the man to develop telepathy as she continued, "oh aye, and we believe we have the cure, it takes the form of a injection into the muscle, after which we'll run some tests to determin the state of the virus in yer system, and then monitor it."

McCoy: "It's actually much less frightening than it sounds," Hank interjected, while most of his attention seemed to be held captive by his dirty glasses. He brushed away some imaginary specks and held it against the light. "We combed through all the data available to us very thoroughly and ran the simulations again and again. Everything worked flawlessly each time."

McCoy: "But working with blood samples and simulations will only get us so far," he continues, his smile wandering from Jay to his colleague and back. "But if they've shown us anything, it's that we're apparently this close to a functional cure, and that the risk will be minimal." He looked around the lab. "Say, there isn't any coffee left, by any chance?"

Jay: Jay grinned and held up his hands, wings shifting a little as he sat up a bit straighter. "Docs, all Ah'm interested in is stayin' alive an' gettin' cured. So long as y'all don't turn me blue or put me in a coma, Ah couldn't care if it was in suppository form and made me cluck for a week." Okay...so maybe he was a little nervous...

Dr_MacTaggert: "Ye drank the last of the coffee Hank," Moira said smoothly, "and there should be nae side effects like that, lad, now, this injections going to have to be done on either a buttock or ye thigh, we'll do it behind a screen obviously, would ye prefer myself or Doctor McCoy to perform the proccedure?"

Jay: Jay looked first from McCoy to Moira. "Uuuuh..." Ass or thigh? Oh hell.. Either way, he was going to have to drop trousers. He knew McCoy more, and he was a guy, but kinda absent-minded (much as he adored the Doc) but...Moira was...scary... "Ah dunno, flip a coin."

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira chuckled, "A coin toss for the honours, eh?" She pulled a fifty pence piece from her pocket and handed it to Jay, "ye toss it then lad, an' since it's my coin I'll call, heads."

McCoy: "I could have sworn I put on a new pot," McCoy commented, pacing through the room. He turned when Jay mentioned flipping a coin. "Hm? What for?" Hank frowned for a brief moment. "Oh, yes, the injection. Of course." He flashed a smile. "Well, it would only be appropriate if I offered our dear guest the honours of performing the final step."

Jay: Jay looked down at the odd coin - he'd never seen English money. "Cool!" He flipped it over, looking at it. Weird shape. "Uh...yeah, sure, if McCoy wants y'all to do d' pokin', ma'am, Ah'm fine with it."

Dr_MacTaggert: "Well that's fine then, if ye'd just step behind this blind," she gestured, "where would ye prefer it?"

Jay: Jay slid off the bed, flipping the coin through his fingers, biting his lip. "Sure thing, ma'am..." He checked his hair was still tight in its ponytail. "Ah'm guessin' it'd just be easier to go for d' biggest muscle, eh?" He gave her a slightly worried smile - what if they were wrong and this-

Jay: No, don't think like that. He stepped behind the blind like he was told, taking a deep breath. He was going to be healthy again. That's all that mattered.

McCoy: Hank shifted his weight back and forth, his impatience obvious while he waited on the other side of the blinder. He rubbed his hands together. Oh, this was all so very exciting. Were they really out of coffee?

Dr_MacTaggert: "Ah, in that case ye'll just need to pull yer trousers and pants down a wee bit," Moira said as she preped the injection, the liquid inside was a disconcertingly pale pink colour.

Jay: Jay eyed it up. "If Ah wasn't already gay, Miss MacTaggert..." He chuckled nervously, doing as he was told and going the same colour as his wings, curling them around himself slightly to be out of the way - and protect what was left of his dignity.

Dr_MacTaggert: "This should only hurt a wee bit," Moira said, kneeling behind Jay, "Don't be so bashful lad, seen my fair share o' bare male buttocks in my time, I'm a mother as well as a doctor," she swabbed the area with a wipe and administered the injection, dabbing at it with a piece of cotton till it stopped bleeding, "there we go, want a lollipop?"

McCoy: "And undoubtedly an authority on either field," Hank remarked, standing on his toes to briefly peek over the blinder. "Oh, I'm afraid we're out of those. But I could offer you a twinkie."

Jay: Jay managed to not twitch, hurridly pulling up his pants when he was done, still blushing. "Blame it on my upbringin', ma'am, and Ah'd kill for a twinkie - and a coffee, docs." He grinned cheekily - after all, he was keeping them supplied.

McCoy: McCoy put on a grin as he gave Jay the promised twinkie. "It wasn't that bad, was it? And I guess that's my sign to see where that pot of coffee hid itself."

Jay: Jay took the twinkie and unwrapped it, biting into the creamy, sugary goodness. "Nah, Ah guess not." He sat carefully on the bed again, but it wasn't that bad. More uncomfortable, the site slightly numb if anything. "So...what, we jus' sit here an' wait now?"

Dr_MacTaggert: "Well, we wait a few moments and then run a few tests, our research has indicated that we should see results almost immediatly," she nodded at Hank and seated herself in the comfy chair before he got any ideas, "I believe we could all do with a mug."

Jay: Jay settled himself a little nervously on the bed, finishing his Twinkie and licking his fingers clean. "Heh. Dis is d' worst part, Ah'm guessin'. Hey, is dis where Ah find out Ah ain't bein' paid for dis?" Yeah, babble, small talk. All good. He had something that could possibly kill him going into his system. He shifted again.

McCoy: "Of course it would be best if you remained under surveillance for at least twenty-four hours, so we can be sure there won't be any unforeseen side effects," Hank remarked from his office next door, where he had begun fidgeting with the small coffee machine. "At least you shouldn't be entirely on your own for a while, so that someone will be around to alert one of us in case there's any change."

Jay: "Right..." Jay shifted uncomfortably again, the numbness shifting to an odd sort of...spreading itch? And... "Uh...m-my stomach hurts...Ah don't feel so good, doc..." He paled a little.

Dr_MacTaggert: "Ah, aye well this is a common side effect of injections," Moira quickly grabbed a paper bag for Jay and passed it over, "and another twinkie for Jay if he's up fer it when he's done, poor lamb."

Jay: Jay took it, swallowing heavily, going oddly white as he started to sweat. "...Heads up woulda bin nice..." He managed weakly before suddenly retching, losing the twinkie...and his breakfast, luckily not missing the bag.

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira patted Jay compainionably on the back, "Sorry lad," she said ... then raised her eyebrow ... he was looking pale all over.

McCoy: "How's our hero holding up," Hank asked, poking his head back into the lab after the machine starting running with nice gurgling and sputtering sounds. "Looks like your blood pressure isn't holding up that well, hm? Well, needles often have that affect even on the toughest of us."

Jay: Jay finally finished when there was nothing left to bring back up, swallowing hard and wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "Yeah..." He smiled weakly, shakily holding the bag out, almost completely white. Even his wings drooped. "F-feel a li'l better..." He sniffed, then sneezed. "Ugh...can Ah have some water?"

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira took the bag off him and went to dispose of it, "I'll get ye some water, Hank? Could ye be a dear and start the tests?"

Jay: There was another sneeze from Jay. And then another.

McCoy: "For you, anything," Hank replied, showing Moira a quick smile before he moved to sit next to Jay. "I'm afraid we'll have to poke you again in a bit, because we'll have to run some blood tests to see if the virus is affected." He took Jay's arm and put an inflatable cuff around it. "But first, let's see what that blood pressure is doing."

Jay: Jay sniffed, then sneezed again. "Ow. Yeah, dat's f-f-" There was another sneeze. "What d' fuck?! Sorry. But dat's fine, d-" And another. "Ow..." His skin started to darken again, though it wasn't really going back to normal...accompanied by more sneezing however, and a tight chest, Jay wasn't paying much attention.

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira returned to the room, a glass of water in hand, a sneezing fit hmm? How inter- she stopped whne she caught sight of Jay and let out a loud exclamation of "Merciful heavens!"

McCoy: The boy's blood pressure was lower than Hank had expected. He glanced at his watch and counted the heartbeats, his expression darkening. Jay's pulse was racing. "Maybe you should lie down..." Hank witnessed how Jay's skin stained within seconds. "Stars and garters..."

Jay: Jay sneezed again, but even he couldn't miss the colour change. "..." He swore colourfully in creole as he watched his skin darken rapidly to a rich blue, not far off what he could remember Jill's skin-colour being, but a darker shade. "...H-Hank?" He half-squeaked.

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira darted over, "Goodness gracious!" she also began to check Jay over, "Lad, I need ye to stay calm and tell me how yer feeling, any pain, vertigo?"

Jay: Jay took the glass, hurridly knocking it back, before staring at his now-blue hand. "N-no, n-nothin', A-Ah feel f-fine...why'm Ah b-blue?! J-Jill was blue! Ah shouldn't be blue!" He sneezed again.

McCoy: Hank immediately got to his feet to give Jay more room. "You should lie down, boy," he said, while pulling over the trolley with medical supplies. "None of the blood samples have shown such a volatile reaction," he told Moira.

Dr_MacTaggert: "No, they ain't, this is completly unexpected," Moira said, trying to encourage Jay to lay down, "the pigmentation of his hair and wings seems uneffected," she told Hank, indeed, the brillient red remained untouched.

McCoy: "Maybe it's allergic reaction to the serum," Hank suggested while preparing a butterfly-needle so they could access one of Jay's veins. It was the best idea he could come up with at the moment. "Although I've never seen one with such effects..."

Dr_MacTaggert: "Nae ... then again, it's hard to judge how individual mutants will react to these things," Moira said, "we'll need to run some more tests."

Jay: Jay bit his lip, the doctors words flying over his head. "Ah'm blue - Ah ain't meant - Ah mean, d' hell am Ah meant to do?" He let himself be manhandled into the bed.

McCoy: "You just focus on trying to lie still and breath steadily," Hank told Jay, trying to catch the boy's eye so he could give him an encouraging smile. "We'll take care of anything else." While he disinfected Jay's palm, he turned to Moira. "We should take some blood to run a test, then I'll give him some prednisone to suppress the reactions of his immune system."

Dr_MacTaggert: "I agree," Moira said, preping the instruments, "also, we need to check on the status of the virus."

Jay: Jay forced himself to take deep breaths, closing his eyes. Out of all the possible outcomes, throwing up and turning blue wasn't so bad. But Jill was blue. Not quite this blue...but still... "Ah-Ah'm okay...Ah'm okay..." Fuck...what was Darren gonna say?!

McCoy: "It's probably just a bit too much for your system to handle the cure," McCoy said, mostly for Jay to have a voice to focus on. "It seems to work very fast." He managed to put fix the butterfly tube to a vein on the back of Jay's hand and quickly took a blood sample. "Here." He handed the vial to Moira.

Dr_MacTaggert: Moira took the vial, "I'll get on this right away, don't worry Jay, we'll get to the bottom of this," she told him reasuringly.

Jay: Jay drew in a sharp breath and nodded, opening his eyes and swallowing heavily. What if Ah'm stuck like dis? He managed a weak smile. "C-can Ah have dat twinkie an' coffee again?" He sneezed again, still keeping a death grip on the fifty pence coin.

McCoy: "In a moment, Jay," Hank said reassuringly and smiled at the boy. "If it's an allergic reaction to the cure, you should feel better in a few minutes." He prepared a syringe with corticosteroid and injected it through the tube. "Then we'll leave you alone with that family box of twinkies."

Dr_MacTaggert: A few moments later Moira reappeared, her expression unreadable, "Hank, Jay? I've run a few wee preliminary tests and it's mixed news," she looked the boy over, every bare inch of his skin was now a deep, dark blue.

Dr_MacTaggert: "I can't find any trace of the virus in ye system, ye appear to be completly cured ... on the other hand, the change in skin pigmentation seems to be an unaviodable side effect of the cure in it's current form ... we're going to need to run some more tests ..."

McCoy: Hank looked up at those news. At first he only ran a hand through his hair. "That's the mean thing about side-effects," he then said, rather quietly. "You never know of them until actually trying out a medication." He gave his colleague a faint smile. "His pulse and blood pressure are back to normal, however."

Jay: Jay stared at Moira. "...Ah'm stuck like dis...?" He whimpered. He looked down at his blue hands. "But...Ah'm cured?"

Dr_MacTaggert: "Aye lad, completly, but we'll see what we can do to reverse the effects, and prevent this from happening to anyone else," she gave Jay a smile, "and all in all, it could have been worse, at least you didn't melt."

Jay: Jay shuddered. "Yeah. D' guy Ah caught dis off did dat." He flicked the fifty pence between his fingers and took a deep breath. "So uh...about dem twinkies...?"

[Scumfish]

WORK IN PROGRESS, NOT DONE YET.

[Raven Hare]

Blue? Hmmm... Wonder what will happen to the others who need the vaccine!

But this is just more proof to Hepz that you can't trust anything or anyone who smells like a medlab

[Slarti]

....blue? Soooo, he's a MystAngel now.

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[Ult_Sm86]

He could be a NightAngel.