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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 30, 2017 5:07:45 GMT
Shadow's face had been set into its usual scowl, but at her words it slowly changed into an altogether different look that she couldn't easily recognize. It was clearly a negative emotion, yes, but it was far stronger then any other she had ever seen on his face before. If someone mixed together pain, shock and confusion and managed to concentrate it, Anna felt that this is what it would look like.
"Shadow? What's wrong?"
The homunculus was curled forward, rubbing nonstop at his temples and mumbling out words that didn't fully make sense to the medical examiner. She knelt down by his side, desperately wanting to touch him and help him through....well, whatever he was going through. However, some instinct told her that he needed space and to not touch him. So instead she remained kneeling by him, her face a perfect look in concern.
"Do I need to call an ambulance? Do I need to get help?"
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Post by Zuyuri on May 30, 2017 5:18:20 GMT
Shadow lowered his hands as the pain died down. The memory recall was like a brain freeze or an incredbly intense migraine. Somehow it came as both. He was shaking now as he focused on the tiled floor of the forensic's lab. The tiny heart-shaped smudge of blood, a smudge Anna had pointed out on day one, was coming into his peripheral vision as he came back to.
Anna. Anna was there.
Panting, he looked at her. The pain was gone, and instead was gratitude. He didn't often like showing that he needed help, but here? Well, like he said. Anna was the only person he genuinely trusted right now.
"I'm sorry about that," he panted, wiping sweat off his brow, "I...I don't know where that came from."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 30, 2017 5:29:45 GMT
Anna gave a somewhat nervous laugh at that, the sound strained and higher in pitch then normal. However, she didn't move away from Shadow as he seemed to regain some composure.
"It's fine, no need to apologize! But.....are you alright? You seemed to be in a great deal of pain suddenly and you were mentioning things....Follo and Mardi Gras.... I thought for a moment you were suffering from some kind of seizure or something."
She tried to smile, but the concern was apparent even through the large grin she forced her mouth into. Part of her wished that Shadow would just let her call the doctor for him and get him the help he needed. As much as she knew about the human body, she wasn't a doctor. She dealt with the dead and not the living and didn't have to worry about someone's life being in her hands.
However, another voice reminded her that if she did call an ambulance for Shadow, she would lose her chance to further her own experiment. She didn't really like that little voice. It was dark and cunning and very selfish, but it didn't go away as she looked at him and offered a hand to try and help him back into a more comfortable position.
"Your head....how does it feel now?"
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Post by Zuyuri on May 31, 2017 5:48:03 GMT
"...You know the saying 'word vomit'?" Shadow asked as he shakily stood. He massaged his temple to relieve the last lingering sensations of pain bursting through his scalp. They vanished quickly. "that was like a memory vomit. I dn't know if it's a side effect form Disparion returning my memories, but it happens whenever..."
Whenever bad memories had to be brought up. That was the only explanation he had. The second time he had felt the pain was now when he remembered Maria's death or Sunshine's haircut by Sapien-laced scissors. It was the only explanation he had.
"I'm better now. I guess you...got the answers you wanted from the ramble"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 31, 2017 6:17:48 GMT
Anna opened her mouth to speak but suddenly closed it before merely nodding her head. It was all she could think to do in that moment as she watched Shadow pull himself up into a standing position, his movements still somewhat jerky. While she wanted to help him, she knew this was way out of her experience or knowledge. Heck, the only reason she even knew about Disparion at all was because of the unpleasant run-in with his floating eyeball she and several others had had while searching for Shadow.
She fidgeted with one of her pigtails, watching Shadow in silence for a time before clearing her throat.
"Well....I do know now that you have subluxation of your shoulder. Er, that means its partially dislocated. I can't help very much with the....the memory vomit but I can try to fix your arm for you."
It sounded rather lame even to the young medical examiner but she also knew it was better to focus on the things that could be done instead of those that couldn't be. And right now she could relocate his shoulder if Shadow wanted it.
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Post by Zuyuri on May 31, 2017 19:50:19 GMT
Well, there was the Anna he knew. She was twirling one of her red pigtails, spitting out a medical diagnosis. Shadow avoided moving any part of his arm to avoid causing any further damage. A dislocated shoulder from being stabbed intensely. The good news was his arm wasn't broken, and more importantly, neither was th shoulder bone or any of the connecting sockets. Frollo must have just bruised the bone which was why it hurt to move.
"You don;t have to worry about the memories. It's the arm I need to worry about."
He offered the arm over again, much like a man escorting a woman to a social event. If Anna knew to pop a misplaced bone back, they might as well take advantage of it.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jun 1, 2017 7:18:41 GMT
Despite what Shadow said, Anna felt like the reserve was closer to the truth. However, she kept the thought to herself and instead took his arm gently into her hand.
"I'll need for you to lie down so I can get the best angle on your arm. Don't wanna make a partial dislocation into a full one. Honestly, I don't even know how you've been walking around with your arm partway out of its socket to begin with. It must have been pretty painful."
Anna's expression was one of mixed concentration but also worry. She knew Shadow was the kind to keep his thoughts to himself and never really let people know what was going on in his life, but this was just ridiculous. If he had just said something to begin with, he wouldn't have been in so much pain now and having to see someone like her, a medical examiner who had no right to be treating him.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 2, 2017 3:01:06 GMT
Shadow nodded without any protests. If this was going to be fixed, he had to swallow his pride. Anna was in charge, not him. He may have seemed like that at times, but in the situations, he had nothing to say. He obediently lay where she offered, looking up at the blue-white of the fluorescents. Painful was a very good way to put how the situation felt. It had been just a slight irritation at first. But as time went on and more things piled up, it became tight and uncomfortable; even sleeping was hard.
"You could say that again," he half-heartedly said.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jun 2, 2017 8:37:15 GMT
Once Shadow had laid himself flat, she took the arm of his injured shoulder and stretched it out straight beside him as she spoke.
"Ok, just remember to keep your muscles as relaxed as possible. You're going to feel a moment of pain when the joint pops back into place but please try not to punch me. You ready?"
She waited just a moment to give Shadow a moment to prepare himself before slowly bringing his arm upward and towards his head, making sure to bend the limb at the elbow. She worked with steady movements, never once jarring or jerking him but gently guiding his arm. She kept an eye on his face to make sure she wasn't hurting him.
After a moment, she finally brought his hand behind his head. Immediately a loud pop resounded from the homunculus' shoulder as the bone returned to its correct place in the joint socket. Despite her worries, a smile once again appeared on Anna's face as she released his arm.
"And voila!"
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 3, 2017 1:00:47 GMT
Shadow made a quiet "tsk" noise just to reply to that. Punch Anna? Why would he punch her? She had done absolutely nothing to piss him off. Even proding him to find out it was just a located shoulder and not some weird holy water allergy or something was making him feel like shit.
It wasn't until she moved his arm that he got why she was concerned. He clenched his fists, and mentally kept telling himself not to tighten or to lash out. The bone was making a noise not unlike crumpling a piece of paper. It was the irritating "nails of a chalkboard" sound, but the good news was...it didn't hurt. Annoying sounding, but not painful.
The crumple turned into a pop. A sensation like a strain shot through him, and he had to slam his hand down. It rattled on the floor, which was preferable to the other option. As she sat himself up, no pain shot through him. None at all.
"Good as new," he reported, moving his shoulder slightly.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jun 3, 2017 8:49:56 GMT
At Shadow's words, Anna shot him a somewhat annoyed look before wagging a somewhat reproachful finger at him as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and tested out his shoulder.
"Oh no, mister! We aren't done just yet! For one thing, you still haven't gotten your doctor's orders yet. The dislocated shoulder might be taken care of, but you still need to look after the bone bruises. You'll need to take an anti-inflammatory medication to help with the swelling and pain AND you need to rest your arm. That means no chasing after criminals and beating them to a pulp. Stick to the office work if you can for a few days. Also..."
Here, Anna paused for the briefest of moments as something seemed to flicker in the depths of her normally carefree blue eyes. However, in a moment it was gone and she continued as if there had been no pause at all in her speech.
"I'm going to need to get a blood sample from you. While it doesn't seem likely, I wouldn't put it past Frollo to have laced that knife with something. I wanna run some tests to make sure you're really REALLY ok and you won't need to pay me another visit suffering from poisoning."
Outwardly Anna appeared to be her usual peppy, friendly and easy to read self. However, inside she couldn't help but cringe slightly at the lie. The truth was she just wanted a sample of his blood, pure and simple, and here was the perfect opportunity to get it. Shadow was the very being that had been created from the notes she was now using to further her own work. If she had a sample of his blood, it might be the final stepping stone she needed to finishing her experiment.
And while she hated that she was lying to get it, the drive to see her serum finished was stronger then her honestly.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 3, 2017 18:10:36 GMT
Anti-flammatory, bone bruises...the list was going on and on. Shadow bit back a retort, and he was sure it was one Anna had heard before. But, then again, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He hated office work. He and Sunshine had agreed to take the night shift, and she needed him.
The re was some hesitation for a while, and Shadow just looked at her expectedly. What was she going to say? That he needed to stay in bed sipping dollar store ramen while the bone bruises cleared up? That some place on Magnolia Road was secretly plating some miracle work medicine that would make it go faster so he could get back on the streets? What could..
Then she asked for a sample of his blood. She listed her logic as to why, but that still had him asking
"What?"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jun 4, 2017 1:24:34 GMT
"A blood sample. To make sure that Follo didn't poison you."
Anna spoke some what slowly and blinked at Shadow, as if confused as to why he didn't seem to grasp what she was saying. Normally she would have been extremely nervous and jittery in the wake of telling a lie. She wasn't the type of person to lie and it always made her feel uncomfortable, leaving a queasy sensation in the bottom of her stomach. However, as she had thought over what she said to Shadow she had reasoned that what she said wasn't a lie. Not really.
She WAS going to run tests on his blood to make sure he hadn't been poisoned. She was just going to use whatever was left for....other purposes.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 4, 2017 6:15:46 GMT
"What would he have poisoned me with? Holy water? Considering what I am..."
Bitterness hung in that statement. Anna was checking Shadow's well-being, but she couldn't heal the one thing that was getting to him. That was him coming to grips that he was an artificial creation. He couldn't exactly say a monster, because, well, he had no intentions on becoming one. Society made monsters, and by far the only thing society did to him was...well, throw work at him.
He rubbed his shoulder one time, looking at Anna with a huff. "Fine."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jun 4, 2017 6:58:04 GMT
Anna waited in silence as Shadow mumbled to himself, her fingers secretly crossed in the hope that he would say yes. And after a few tense moments, he did. Forcing herself to keep her giddiness in check, she went over to a nearby station and pulled out a clean syringe still in its plastic casing, gauze, alcohol wipes and a ball of medical tape.
However, as she gathered these supplies she didn't ignore the implications of Shadows words. She felt that Shadow's view of himself was completely wrong. He was so much better and so much more then he thought he was, but she wasn't certain how to tell him so in a way that would make him really believe it. Slowly, she carried the tools over to where the homunculus was seated and pulled up a chair next to it. She sat down and started to prepare the syringe.
After a few moments of uncharacteristic silence from her, Anna moved her gaze away from the needle she was prepping to look directly into Shadow's face. When she spoke, her voice was firm yet kind. It was the voice of someone who feels and cares deeply about the person they spoke of. It was the voice of a true friend.
"Look Shadow. Just because your origins are a little....untraditional, that doesn't decide who you are. The only one who gets to decide that is you and you alone."
And after a moment's pause, Anna reached out and put a hand gently over Shadow's arm with a truly compassionate smile on her face.
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