ArchivedLogs:Hypertrophic stimulation

Hypertrophic stimulation
Dramatis Personae Kate, Corey, Cage
In Absentia	2014-04-18 Kate and Corey pay Luke a visit.
Location <NYC> The Mendel Clinic - Lower East Side
With its sharp crystalline edges and sleek lines knifing up into the sky, this building is one of the most /distinctive/ new additions to the neighborhood. An angular structure in glass and steel, the tall tower has a deceptively slender look to it that is belied by the heavy security as soon as you enter the doors. The front doors are frosted with the Clinic's logo -- a rising sun over a rod of Asclepius -- a motif echoed in many places throughout the building. Visitors to the clinic must first pass through a small mantrap, guarded by some of the Clinic's security guards; once they make it through the metal detector and airlock's double doors they emerge into the much more hospitable lobby. With dark wood floors underneath and comfortable black and red couches at its edges, the high windows give the room an airy feel. A bank of elevators to one side carry visitors to the many destination floors, while the wide welcome desk at the other side is manned by a security guard ready to help point visitors in the right direction. Cage is propped up in his hospital bed this afternoon. It's been all around the clinic: Luke Cage is being sent home in the afternoon. He has a home care nurse all lined up, and he can finish his convalescence on his own. He seems in relatively good spirits, all things considered. Sure, he can't hardly move his arms or legs, but he gets regular morphine, and the Mets are on TV! Who could ask for anything more? Making his way towards the next patient on their list, Corey is dressed comfortably, but less like he's about to have gallons of blood and goo dumped on him. He wears a comfortable long sleeve grey teeshirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of jeans tucked into hiking boots. Glancing down to the shorter woman beside him, he glances at the paper he had been given. "Lets see, the next one on our list has some healing powers on his own, so it shouldn't take too much right? Doesn't say anything about missing organs or limbs at least, so maybe you'll still be awake after this one. Can maybe stop somewhere for a bite to eat then I guess." He offers her a smile at that, and when he reaches the door to Cage's room, he knocks at the door frame. "Hello there Mr. Cage. We know you're scheduled to be out soon, but we had some time in the rotation to stop by and see if we can help." "I really hope I'm awake by the end of this, I'm on shift tonight," Kate answers as she makes her way in to Cage's room beside Corey, though she smiles up at the considerably taller man, "Sure. Grabbing a bite to eat sounds great. Especailly if there's some coffee to go with the food." Obviously, the little caffeine hound has her priorities. She is dressed casually, but in attire that still hints at her profession as a nurse, a pale blue wrap top with a swirl of embroidery at the neckline and hem in bright green and yellow, worn over a pair of skinny jeans and a pair of knee-high black boots. "Hi, Mr. Cage," Kate says, turning her attention to her patient, a cheery smile on her youthful features, "Hear you're getting outta here today. I know we've been sort of bouncing around here and havn't had much of a chance to stop in, but wanted to take a few to try and offer what assistance we can, okay?" She glances over at Corey's notes, managing to hide her wince pretty well when she reads the description of what has happened to Cage. Cage smiles and looks over at the two when they come in. His hand shifts slightly on the bed. It seems someone left the remote in his hand so he woudn't have to reach for it. He mutes the game and nods. "Thanks for coming by. That's ok, I know there were people hurt a lot worse than me. I heard they stole a liver out of some guy though... damn. That's fucked up." He blinks and refocuses, a true effort of will considering the morphine pills. "And honestly, if you're like a lot of us, it takes a lot of out of to do this stuff. If you need to work with someone else first, it's fine if you don't make it back to me. I'll be ok eventually." He tries to shrug, a habit he's been trying to train out of himself this week, but failing. "You're heading out though, and if we can make that slightly easier on you then all for the best. Kinda hard to take care of yourself in the condition you're in, and unless the caregiver coming to help you has super strength..." Corey gestures at Cage with the obvious implication of his big hugeness. "There are a lot of cases, and all of them are odd. But some cases can be handled in between others. Kate here does require rest in between her healing, but I'm an odd case, I just leak health. Makes it easier for her to work, and for your own body to recover better." "No problem," Kate chirps, bouncing towards Cage's bedside like a chipper little ball of health. "There's been a lot of generally not good going around lately," the nurse agrees quietly, nodding, "Liver. Kidney. Eyes. They took a /leg/ off one kid." She shakes her head, grabbing one of the little rolling stools she has become so fond of, scooting it over to Cage's bedside, "I should probably mention. Neither of us /actually/ work here, so this is sort of, ah, non-standard treatment. I can heal via touch, but it may take a bit, depending on the severity. But it's the least I can do, after you helped to save so many people." Kate smiles back at Corey, briefly, before taking a deep breath and looking back to Cage, "Alright. My name is Kate. I can diagnose and heal via touch - it may make you a bit woozy and sleepy while I work, I might be just a little bit quiet. Do I have your consent to use my mutation to assist you in healing?" She sets her hand on the bed near enough for Cage to touch. Luke's eyebrows climb up at the mention of Corey 'leaking' health, but apparently he doesn't really know what to say. "Huh, ok... I guess, that's helpful. I mean, it /is/. Sorry," he says in Spanish. "I uh, I'm just a little out of it. These meds they give me, you know?" He clears his throat and nods at Kate's explanation, brow furrowing at her formal explanation. At the end, he blinks, and then realizes he needs to say something. "Oh right. Uh, yeah. Thank you. Just um, please don't touch my arm. My hands are fine. And my chest. Head and neck are safe too." Corey shrugs somewhat bemusedly at Luke's dismissal of his powers. "It's alright. Its why she's here, and I'm just helping." He settles in against the wall to let Kate get to work, used to the leaning by now. "She's made legs regrow, flesh grow back. Best I've done on my own was help my friend Hanna's broken arm get better faster. Well, and a tree. But I think the tree thing is kinda a special case. Still more impressive than marigolds." Kate gives Corey a look that reads as gratitude for his assistance, though she blushes heartily as he lists off her recent work, head bowing in an attempt to hide it. "I... yeah," she says quietly, taking a deep breath, "I do what I can to help, I try." She nods when Cage agrees, gently reaching out to take his hand - her own dwarfed against his considerably larger palm. "Ok - you may feel a little disoriented, a little bit of nausea, and I can all but gaurentee that you'll be hungry by the end of this," she explains, squeezing his hand carefully. The touch comes with a feeling of coolness, a bit of a chill, that soothes and calms, likely a bit dulled by the morphine. "Good lord," Kate says in a hushed voice, eyes closing as she focuses, though she does not fully explain what is going on. Luke blinks rapidly a few times and turns his head to looks at Kate, and then down at her tiny hand in his. "When does it- oh." Luke furrows his brow, and then makes a face like he ate something unpleasant. "Oh damn... that's weird," he says, grimacing and swallowing hard. He looks away again when he sees the arm she's touching, and the rippling going on under his skin. It's like his muscles are alive underneath, writhing and wriggling their way back together. "Muscle at least will probably repair faster than the other things. I mean, it's why we build up muscle, tear it and rebuild it," Corey says watching Kate curiously, and Cage's reaction. "Its possible that your own healing will finish things up fairly well if Kate can just get things started enough for you to move around on your own." He says it partly for Kate's benefit so she doesn't burn herself off too quickly on one limb. Kate nods slowly, offering a gentle smile, "Pretty quickly. Sorry about this, but it'll feel better when we're done. I promise." Her eyes are closed, so she, thankfully, does not see the writhing of healing muscles. "Your own healing has helped out quite a bit, Mr. Cage. If you feel uncomfortable with this, at any time, let me know, and I can stop," Kate explains softly. "You have some very severe muscle damage, that has started to heal itself back into place, which is excellent to see," the diminuitive nurse says, eyes still closed. The cooling sensation has actually transitioned into a sense of warmth that spreads through the muscle fiber, radiating out from Kate's touch and seeping through the damaged muscles, encouraging, and working with Cage's own healing factor. "No no," Luke says through gritted teeth. He closes his eyes as well and drops his head back on the pillow so he doesn't have to watch. "It's ok. Keep going. Corey's right. It's like a hard work out. Hurts now. Worth it in the end." He takes a deep breath and peeks one eye open to look at his arm again, but closes it when he sees it still squirming under the skin. "Though if you end up stronger after this, I don't recommend this as an exercise routine you want to try again." Corey offered a grin at that, then poured cups of water, setting one in range for Kate and one in range for Cage. "And to get it out of the way now, you're going to be hungry as a horse after this. All her other patients have been." Thinking a moment, he shrugs. "If you know a good brazilian steak house I would recommend going and eating them out of business. Some of our other patients have been vegan, kinda hard to recommend that option." "Sshhh," Kate soothes, gently patting Cage's hand with her other, her hands warm and soft, "It'll be okay. Probably a bit more pain and little gain, really. I would highly, highly suggest against using this as a muscle building routine. Not good for any of us." Her nose crinkles slightly at the idea of the Brazillian steak house, shaking her head, "I highly recomend getting as much protein as you can after this though. We are rebuilding muscles on a pretty big scale." There's a faint smirk at this, though she keeps her eyes closed, apparently amused with her comment. She does reach out to take the cup of water, drinking it in small sips, "Thanks, Corey. Likely going to need to stop soon. Not sure how much more we wanna do." Luke nods his thanks to Corey for the water and takes a deep breath while Kate continues. "Oh wow... wait..." Luke says. His expression has gone from pained to surprised. "Hang on... I can't feel that whole arm. Or... I mean, I can, but it doesn't /hurt/." He closes his hand gently around Kate's, and the smile on his face threatens to split wide open. His arm seems much firmer now too, and the bicep of his left arm flutters in a much more natural way. "Miracle of miracles," Corey smiles at Cage's reaction. "Hopefully this will make your discharge a little more comfortable at least. You may want to try moving your other limbs as well." Moving, he offers Kate a pat on the shoulder and looks down on him. "People notice the point of contact before they realize what else she's done." Kate blinks up in surprise at the 'wait' comment, her eyes focusing and unfocusing briefly as she adjusts, looking a little bit wobbly in her seat. The explanation, however, earns a tired looking smile from the young nurse, and she nods, "Don't push it too much - you've probably got a bit of morphine in you that'll dull it a little. But you should have some use of that arm back by the end of the week, and I'd say you've still got another few weeks of recovery for the rest." She leans back against Corey when he pats her shoulder, slumping with the action, though she keeps her hand in Cage's, smiling at him. "Should still follow up with a doctor as you normally would, though. Just to be safe," Kate says, though her words trail off into a yawn. Luke nods as Kate comes out of her trance, and at Corey's advice. His big feet wiggle under the sheet, and he pulls his left arm up to flex and stretch. "Good god... yeah, half of this is the drugs, but this arm pretty much works." He shifts his body and it's clearly painful to do so, very painful in fact, but he's able to /move/ at least. "Thank you both. Really. You just cut my recovery in half, at least. The doctor was saying 6 weeks at best before. So 'a few' weeks is a big step up. Thank you." He smiles earnest and nods his thanks.