Unarmed (Open)

[James Everwood]

(OOC: Takes place shortly after Orange Quest thread. Thread is open but I encourage Sam and Tash to join.)

Bastard.... bastard took my eye.... bastard killed my mother, no... no worse than that Bastard hit her until she killed herself.... I'll never forgive what he did....

James getting taken care of for quite some time. An operation being done to close up that gaping hole of his, he would not have an arm after this. No magical cure, no science fiction metal arm for the boy who barely had an HMO. At least he could suit the schools if he really wanted to since the injury took place on school grounds. Only problem was that he couldn't afford a good lawyer, and the schools probably could. They'd probably say that the students madly fought back, and that the new law protected the school from situations like this.

In any case, now James was sleeping lightly on a hospital bed, his torso wrapped in bandages. His legs had been messed up from the shock wave, and his face had bruises because of the way Orange grabbed him by it, but nothing compared to the arm injury. Still after hours of operating on his missing arm it would all be over. In the sense that he was out of the woods. They got some blood going back in his system.

Pain killers flooded his system, still he was starting to regain consciousness, he wasn't sure who had been there, or if anyone had been there in the first place. Last thing he could recall was pain, there was pain and her face... through all of it all he could remember besides the pain was seeing her face.

"Is.... Is someone there?" He asked, his eye beginning to open. Because he was shirtless anyone would be able to see his torso riddled with large scars and burn marks, a tattoo of the Rebel Insignia on the left side of his chest.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam was very tired. And not altogether happy about her current situation. Tash had driven James and herself to the hospital, but as soon as they got there Sam had been whisked off into another room to be checked out for her own injuries, ignoring her insistent cries that she was fine and wanted to stay with James.

Once she got into the room, however, the shock of everything that had happened that day finally hit her, and she broke down crying. The poor doctor on call thought she was going off the deep end and began calling for a straitjacket and a psychiatrist, but a helpful nurse batted him off, handing Sam a tissue and putting her arms around her gently.

In the end, she had probably fared better than most. She had severe bruising on her back, arms and legs, multiple cuts and scrapes that only required simple band-aids, a mild concussion, and a broken wrist which was quickly put into a cast. The most serious injury was the cut on her thigh, a rather troublesome one because she couldn't tell the doctors how she'd gotten it. Whatever it was that had cut her had gone deep, almost to the bone, and the doctor wanted her to use a crutch for a few weeks to keep the weight off of it.

So between that and her broken wrist, it was a little hard to get around, much less dance. Hence why Sam was not too happy. However, she was about ready to be sent home. And this she was not ok with. Not yet. She told the doctors she was refusing to leave until they let her see James, and after she yelled at them in both English and Italian, she was told that he most likely wouldn't be awake, but that she would be allowed to see him once her paperwork was filled out.

So now Sam hobbled through the door to his room, still trying to figure out how to use one crutch and still keep the weight off her leg; two would have been better, but that was impossible with her wrist. As the doctors has told her, he was still out. His torso was heavily bandaged, and his lack of an arm was rather disconcerting at first, but some of the scars, and his tattoo, were still visible. She smiled, remembering the day in the clothing store, the two of them giving each other strange and silly clothing to try on.

She sat herself down awkwardly in a chair next to his bed, just watching him. He didn't seem to be in a lot of pain, but then, he was asleep, so Sam supposed that was reasonable. After a few minutes, though, he started to stir.

"Is.... Is someone there?"

"It's just me, James," she said gently, but she realized that in the state he was in he might not fully recognize her voice. "It's Sam."

[James Everwood]

"It's just me, James, It's Sam."

"You.... you saved me.... you and that other girl...." James said as his brain started to wake up a little. It was that moment when you woke up and remembered what happened to you. He didn't freak about the arm, though it felt weird and uncomfortable, it was as if it was there just, not moving. Especially since he was right handed, and used his left hand for very little. But at least he was starting to remember everything, "You got me out of there.... God I haven't been in a hospital since I lost my eye....."

He then took a good look at her and became very shocked and afraid, "You were hurt?!?!? What happened are you okay? You're going to be alright, right? Please tell me it doesn't hurt that bad....." He reached out with his left hand instinctively, he wanted to hold her hand for some strange reason. He wanted to just touch her to know for sure he wasn't dreaming. And if he did touch her, he would notice something strange with his body, a certain vibe, almost like a rush of energy.

He was feeling Qi. Though his Qi wouldn't work yet, some conditions had to be met, the main one being physical contact. Though he didn't exactly know this either.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam nodded solemnly as he began to remember what happened. "Her name's Tash," she said. Now that he mentioned it, she didn't know where Tash had gone. Maybe to have her own injuries seen to, or maybe she'd gone home to get some rest. They'd been there a while; James in surgery and Sam doing x-rays and getting bandaged.

Then James finally looked her over, getting a good glimpse of her crutch and cast, and began checking to make sure she was doing ok. Sam smiled, her heart warmed by his concern for her. She ignored the screaming of her sore muscles as she leaned over and put a finger on his lips, taking his hand with her casted right one as he reached for her.

"It doesn't hurt that bad, I promise," she said. Actually, it did hurt if she moved too much, but she didn't plan on doing a lot of that for a while. "I got a deep cut on my thigh and they want me to keep weight off of it for a while until the muscle heals. Don't worry about me," she said with a smile, reaching out with her uncasted left hand to take his. "I'm a tough girl."

[James Everwood]

"It doesn't hurt that bad, I promise. I got a deep cut on my thigh and they want me to keep weight off of it for a while until the muscle heals. Don't worry about me, I'm a tough girl." She said, her hand taking his. He smiled over at her as he felt the energy coursing through him. He didn't know how to explain it, but some part of him felt like he was doing something to her, something to help her. His Qi would go through her body and begin mending her wounds, the light cuts, the bruising, though she didn't have any dislocations if she had them he would have began to heal those too.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," He said, "I know we haven't seen much of each other lately... well, more like... any of each other. With seven days a week at school and all this homework... and I still support myse---" He looked at his arm, thinking of how crappy it would be that he may never be able to get a job to support himself in this state. Hopefully he wouldn't be fired, maybe there was room for a one armed man somewhere....

"Anyway... I missed you...."

(OOC: Qi info
Healing Post: 1/2
If process is not resisted or interrupted your wounds will heal during your next post, James will gain the wounds during my next post.)

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam's eyes widened, as she felt what could only be described as a warm force of energy flowing through her fingers where James touched her. The warmth flowed through her body, and she gasped, her grip tightening on James' hand as she felt the soreness in her muscles dissipate, and saw the scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs fading away. "James..." She said softly. "What's...?"

She heard him speak, and looked up, distracted. They hadn't seen each other since their last date... which, admittedly, had been a while ago. Granted, it hadn't been completely his fault, but she'd been busy, too. And somewhat distracted by a suit-wearing Jester for part of that time...

But she grinned, a little half-smile. She had missed him, much more than she'd realized until she saw him again. His sweet smile, the way his hand felt in hers... "I missed you, too," she said.

She saw him glance at his arm, and wondered how he was going to find work with one missing. She didn't say anything about it, not wanting to be insensitive, but she worried about him.

[James Everwood]

James back became bruised, his arms and legs and wherever else Sam had been bruised and scraped transferred over. Luckily, James could heal stuff on her right arm without consequence since he did not have one himself to injure. Meaning the injuries were healed from her, and he didn't receive those specific ones. But the rest, the bruising, cuts and scrapes he did. He felt sore from doing it, and his back hurt but he was laying down so it wasn't all that bad. In the end it was something normal for him, feeling cuts like this. He was thankful for them, because for some reason these small cuts released endorphins and gave him a nice little buzz.

"I missed you, too," She said and he smiled. He didn't know what he just did, but he was glad he did it.

"Did I just...." He said with a sad smile, "I think I just healed you... did you have bruises along your back?" He asked, and then he immediately tried to feel his leg, moving it slightly he didn't notice a cut, "But.... you still have your cut... I'm sorry... I guess I couldn't heal that..... I don't know what just happened."

Did I just take her... her injuries?

"Do you... do you feel better?"

(OOC: Qi info
Healing Post: 2/2
Healing Completed.)

[Sam Ballerino]

"You did heal me..." Sam said, wonderingly. She ran her hand up and down her back, feeling for the bruises, but finding none. "How did you know I..." Realization dawned on her as she saw cuts and scrapes on James that she was pretty sure weren't there a minute ago... and that she remembered seeing on her own body. Both of her hands flew to her mouth.

"James! Merda, did I give my bruises to you!? Essendo un po' di fuori!" She glared, shaking a finger at him. It didn't fully register that she wasn't speaking English and he probably wouldn't understand that she was telling him he was out of his mind."You have quite enough injuries to be dealing with without adding mine to the pile." She leaned forward again, taking his hand in both of hers. "I can deal with some cuts and bruises. I get plenty of them anyway in dance."

She sighed, giving in, and a little smile formed on her lips once more. "I do feel better, though... thanks."

[James Everwood]

"You don't have to worry Sam, you didn't give me any injuries... I took them from you I think...." He said. He grinned up at her, "Besides, due to my injury I'll be laying around for a bit anyway. I probably have to learn to write left handed and a stuff like that, so I'll be here anyway. Not to mention the nurses will probably be in for a scare when I have some random injuries on me. And is it me or have I been hearing Italian a bit more often. You and... Tash. I mean, I'm not going crazy right you guys are speaking Italian? Because otherwise I'm going to have them do a CT scan and check for a tumor."

Knowing his health luck, that was the reason he was able to pick up injuries from someone. Of course, he'd have to be careful about that. Still, he wasn't quite sure how he did it. Part of him just wanted to ease her pain, to see her feel better as quickly as possible and a few moments later that's somewhat the situation, "I'm glad you feel better. I'm sorry I couldn't heal your leg and arm though. In any case... I'm kinda looking forward to the missing an arm thing... I was getting kind of sick of the one-eyed jokes to tell you the truth......"

He wanted to smile, but he couldn't bring himself to laugh at the situation. Not yet, he could fake the joke but it was completely half hearted. He turned to Sam, "Did you.... did you want to know... how I lost my eye? Because I think I can tell you now if you want to know..."

Might as well get that out of the way, I don't see much laughing going on today, and smiling is probably going to be minimal.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam blushed a bit, giggling. "No, you're not going crazy. Tash and I are both fluent. It's actually... how we met." She thought for a moment, an idea slowly forming in her head. "You know, I could help teach you to write if you want. I mean, I'm left-handed; who better to learn from?" Plus, it was an excuse to spend time with him...

He made the first one-armed joke, and she smiled a little bit, but she could tell his heart wasn't really into it. And then he asked... of course she wanted to know. She hadn't asked him before, not wanting to push it if it was a touchy subject; because even with all the jokes he himself made about it, she got the sense that he made them to cover up how much it really hurt for him. Maybe not physically anymore, but pain was pain, in any form.

She left her hands where they were, on his. "If you're ready to tell me, I'm ready to listen," she said.

[James Everwood]

"If you're ready to tell me, I'm ready to listen," She said and his face resembled his hesitance. He didn't want to tell her all this shit, he didn't want to burden anyone with that pain. But right now? He wanted somebody, anybody to understand what he was going through. Even if he could joke about it, that was all he could do. His unwillingness to accept what happened was why he joked so much.

"My father lost his job when I was a lot younger," He started to say, his throat went dry and he had to pause for a second before continuing, "He.... he drank a lot. And he got a little rough. Most kids would rough house with their father, but he got a little carried away with it if you catch my drift. And it wasn't just me, it was my mo-" He turned away from her, he couldn't look at Sam, "It was my mother too. And one time she fought back. I tried to stop them, and when I saw my father grab a knife... I tried to push him away from her, and the knife ended up in the eye pretty badly... and it was stabbed out."

He laughed, he laughed because he refused to cry, "And so.... a few years later my mom misses one too many days of work because of hospital visits for her and me. And Dad who has yet to even get an interview goes apeshit since he just lost his only bit of income. He goes..... she just couldn't stand it. She couldn't bring herself to leave... but she did in the end. She left me alone with him. She got my dads gun and..... " He trailed off a bit, he couldn't bring himself to admit it out loud.

"I couldn't be alone with him, so I testified against him in court for all the things he had been doing to me and her... he was sent to Jail and I was legally emancipated. I'm supposed to get checks from him but he doesn't have money. And even if he did have money... I would take it. Not his money.... so I live alone, I work construction for a living... or did. I don't know what I'm going to do now. With school work piling up I just lost it and went after that guy....."

He looked at her, his hand holding hers, his grip tightened a little, "Sorry I totally just went day time soap opera on you there," He said and tried to force a laugh. What his body wanted to do was something else but he had put enough on Sam. He had put too much on her already, and he wondered if she would just flee from him now because of how he was getting completely open with her. "I've never.... I've never told anyone that. I mean, aside from testifying in court...."

[Sam Ballerino]

He paused, and Sam was about to tell him that he didn't have to talk about it if he didn't want to, if he wasn't ready... But he started speaking, she shut her mouth and just let him talk. Her eyes remained intently on his face, even as he turned away from her, and her hands remained on his.

When he brought up how his eye was stabbed out by his own father, he began to laugh, and it made Sam want to cry. She wanted to stop him, to tell him he didn't need to hide it, that it was much better than keeping it bottled inside for so long... but she kept quiet, letting him talk, and slowly she felt a plethora of emotions welling up inside of her. Pity for his mother, anger at his father, and for him... she felt very protective. No one should have to go through what he went through. No one. He obviously had to grow up very fast, and Sam just wanted to rage at the world at the unfairness of it all.

She bit her lip, her brow furrowing in worry as she realized the gravity of his situation. Being disabled as he now legally was, there wasn't much opportunity for construction work anymore. Surely there were some kind of government benefits...

She smiled at him, and removed her hands so that she could move her chair closer to his bed, putting them right back where they were. "I'm... glad you told me," she said. There wasn't much more she could say about it. What did you say to a story like that? "And you know, if you ever need anything, a place to stay or, or whatever you need... you can always ask me."

She didn't know what he'd think about that. A lot of guys weren't easily able to accept help from people, much less a girl, but she felt she had to make the offer. If there was anything she could do to make life easier for him, then she would do it. He deserved it.

[James Everwood]

"And you know, if you ever need anything, a place to stay or, or whatever you need... you can always ask me."

"I..." He started to say he didn't need it, that it was all good and he could take care of it and roll with the punches. He wanted to say that he had a plan and that he could find a job with no arms and that having an arm was too great an advantage. He also wanted to make a joke about having a single arm, but the truth of the matter was.... "I may... I may need some help.."

He looked into her eyes with his one, going back and forth, "It took me quite a bit of time getting used to one eye, and I'm still disoriented from it half the time. It's how I bumped into you, and with one arm... I'm guessing I'm gonna have some issues with things. I should be able to do it all myself just fine don't get me wrong I don't need somebody watching over me or helping me do stuff... but it couldn't hurt to have somebody close by if I need it. It beats living alone...."

James was also tempted to ask her out again, or kiss her, but a part of him knew that if he asked her to climb into that bed with him and just stay by his side she would say yes out of pity alone. He also knew that her offer was probably out of pity. Maybe if he wasn't pathetic she'd still offer him help but he drew the line at romance. He wouldn't use this as an excuse to ask her out....

Well maybe I could at least ask this....

"You know... theres room on this bed for two if I scooch over a bit," James said. And if she agreed he'd scooch towards the right and make room on his left so that he could put his remaining arm around her and hold her closer to him. Otherwise he'd probably laugh and play the suggestion off as a bad joke. He wondered where the other girl went and how the others were holding up. He also wondered if there were any other injuries he should take from someone...

[Tash]

The past few hours had been something of a whirlwind for Tash. She had wanted to stay at Moral Crest and help dig people out of the rubble but the guy named James and Sam had needed her help more immediately. On the drive to the hospital the adrenaline had started to seep out of her body and her ribs had started to ache horribly. Every time she breathed a little stab of pain shot up her side. So it was probably a good thing in the long run that they were going some place where she could get medical attention. They parked and rushed James to the ER, then each of the girls was taken aside by separate doctors and looked over for other injuries. Tash had fractured one knuckle as well as bruising and scraping her left hand. The cut on her right arm was going to leave a scar but once it was cleaned with some stringent and stinging antiseptic and properly bandaged it would heal fine: whatever had cut her had not gotten close enough to her shoulder to elbow to damage any tendons or ligaments. Her right side had taken the worst beating: after getting kicked by the sophomore, Tash had guessed her rib had been fractured. She had probably been right but being caught at the edge of Orange's second shock wave blast and slammed into a locker hadn't helped her out; the doctor on hand took an x ray and pronounced the rib broken.

Sam had gone off to find where they were keeping James and Tash took the opportunity to call her parents and let them know what had happened. Her mother had gone into a typical Italian-mama frenzy and her father had at first wanted to make calls to a few of his 'friends' and find out where Orange lived, but they had calmed down when Natasha assured them she would be okay and hadn't fared too badly. Now to find her two companions....

She wandered into the hall, stopping one of the nurses and asking her for directions, then moving on. Room 150B.....this should be it. From inside the room she heard James' voice - a quiet murmur, a bitter laugh - and sensed that this probably wasn't a good time to interrupt. From Sam's reaction to James' injuries, Tash guessed that the two of them were close...she wasn't sure how but she was sure they were. And she didn't want to interrupt anything, so she sat down, back against the wall and waited till Sam spoke before standing slowly, her lips twitching at the pain in her ribs. The doctor probably wouldn't have advised her slumping around on the floor but what the hell. She'd sit if she damn well wanted to. Tash rapped softly on the door frame with her unwounded hand, leaning slightly into the room.

James was awake, an IV in his arm.

"You know... theres room on this bed for two if I scooch over a bit,"

"I'm not interrupting anything lovely am I? How are you two doing?" She says with a small smile.

[Sam Ballerino]

It sounded like Sam was getting a new roommate. She didn't say much; she could tell it was hard for him to admit he might not be able to do it all by himself. She nodded. "Of course it beats living alone." She said with a grin. She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking for a moment. "I don't live in a mansion or anything, but we can convert the living room or something... there'll be room. If you're sure, that is," she added quickly. "I won't push you or anything." She was glad he'd accepted her offer, though.

"You know... theres room on this bed for two if I scooch over a bit."

Sam blushed lightly. "All right," she said with a grin, even though Damien flashed momentarily through her mind. He moved over as best he could, and Sam transferred her weight from the chair onto the bed. Her leg took a little working, but she managed to lift it up with her, leaving the crutch leaning against the chair. She curled up in his arm, feeling much more comfortable, but before she could say anything, Tash walked in. Sam pulled her head up.

"Sorella! Dove siete stato? Siete giusto?"