ArchivedLogs:Some Encouragement

Some Encouragement
Dramatis Personae Iolaus, Lucien, Matt
In Absentia	2013-03-17 '
Location Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Sloan-Kettering is /chock-full/ of cancer. That is what it is good at, being full of cancer. Matt has gotten /pretty good/ at that, too, and so here he is! He fits right in, really. He has his own bed in his own room and /probably/ given that he's supposed to be under observation he should be in them! But he's not. He's a floor down, surrounded by a group of children (who are /also/ pretty good at Having Cancer), tucked under blankets in a wheelchair with a copy of /Fantastic Mr. Fox/ in his hands and a bottle of water at his side. He drinks from the water frequently as he reads. Iolaus does not belong at Sloan-Kettering, though you would not notice it looking directly at him. Dressed in a white lab coat like so many of the doctors who walk its halls, it is only the VISITOR badge taped over the name on his coat that marks him as an outsider. (Shun, outsider!) After vising Matt's room, he is directed by the nurse one floor down to the pediatric wing - a somewhat confusing statement that is immediately understood once he stands in the doorway. He watches with a small smile on his face for several moments before he steps into the room and heads over towards Matt. Lucien is /there/, that becomes clearer upon entering the room. He's off in a corner, tucked into a chair; he might be listening, perhaps, but his eyes are focused downward on a phone in his hands. His lips are curled into a slight smile, perhaps at the phone or perhaps at Matt's story. Matt is comfortable-casual, in black pajama pants and a plain white undershirt; Lucien rather more dressed in grey slacks and a pale pink dress shirt. The animals are getting ready to FEAST on their stolen goods. One boy looks utterly enraptured. One looks kind of sleepy. Most look sort of smiley. Matt glances up at Iolaus as he reads, his lips curling into a smile and his head tipping to an empty chair. Iolaus' eyes track across the room to Lucien and his cheeks color slightly. Still, he walks over and sits down - not in the empty chair, but on the floor, next to the children. He smiles warmly at the one sitting next to him, introducing himself quietly as 'Doctor Io' and then hushing to listen to Matt's story. Matt smiles. Lucien glances up, and there's a faint smile on his lips, too, but then his attention drifts back to his phone. The story continues. And continues! It's nearish the end, though. Iolaus can get treated to another half-hour of storytime before Matt is all out of Roald Dahl. There are many /hugs/ to be given out, though. Many promises of more storytime tomorrow. And then he's starting to wheel back, although he doesn't get very /far/ before Lucien is out of his seat to take over because, well, let's face it, Matt's scrawny arms aren't great at propelling himself. It was kind of a sad ineffectual attempt. "Hi, Doctor," he is finally greeting Io, warmly. Warm and smiley enough to fool the kids, at least. Prooobably a doctor would be able to see more clearly the exhaustion and pain written beneath his features. "Matt. Lucien." Iolaus says, standing up with a bit of a stumble after he gets up fully. It's been a while since he was young enough to sit in a reading room and listen. "Oof." He flexes out one leg and then the other and smiles. "I hear from the nurses that you're a hit down here." he says, softly, as he follows alongside Matt. "Imagine my surprise when I was told you had been sent down to Pediatrics." he teases, lightly. "I'm not /that/ old!" Matt answers Iolaus with an exaggerated /huff/. "My pediatrician would still see me till I was twenty-one!" "That was two whole years ago," Lucien murmurs, leaning down to say this by Matt's ear. "You're an old man, now." "I guess you're right," Matt decides, with a crooked smile, "with /expected/-life adjustment I'm /definitely/ a senior citizen." This doesn't quite dim Lucien's smile. But it does make him tilt his head to one side, where he leans, cheek pressing for a moment against the top of Matt's head. "How are you feeling?" Iolaus asks, as they wind their way back towards the elevators. "It is not often that I get to try experimental drugs out on people, so don't hold out on me. The good and the bad. It's all important information, even the little things. Dry mouth, I'm guessing?" "Terribly," Matt admits, with an indicative lift of his water bottle. "Um -- kinda queasy. Kinda a lot queasy? And always headachey but." He shrugs a shoulder. "Tired. I'm always tired," he says, softer, like he is /embarrassed/ about this fact. "It's not so bad, though. Not half as bad as -- some that I've had." Iolaus nods, pulling out a notepad to scribble down notes. "More tired than you were before you started taking this medication?" he asks, hitting the 'up' button with an elbow. "How about chills, or muscle pain?" "Chills -- I don't know how to tell," Matt admits, sheepishly. "I -- I'm not -- I'm usually cold. I do ache, though," he can affirm. "Sort of everywhere." Lucien pushes him into the elevator, when the elevator comes, holding it with one hand until Iolaus has stepped in and then hitting the button one floor up. "Is that good, or bad?" "Well... it could be either." Iolaus admits, turning in the elevator to face Matt. "It's one of two things. It's either a side-effect of the medication for reasons which I don't understand, or it's something called the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction. That would be good news. It's an indication that your immune system is killing off cancer cells so quickly that the processes which clean up the leftover garbage are being overwhelmed." "I can understand why they'd be overwhelmed. I mean, you've seen my tests. That's like. A /lot/ of garbage they'd need removing. I'm /basically/ pretty much made of cancer these days. Hey!" Matt tips his head up to look at Iolaus. "If you're not sure about what the side effects are doing, is there a possibility they /might/ be giving me superpowers?" Lucien does not groan. And with his hands on the wheelchair he does not facepalm. But he dooooes kind of wince as the doors open and he pushes Matt back out. Matt just looks at Iolaus. With /big eyes/. So hopeful. Iolaus glances at Lucien, one eyebrow raising. The wince, at least, he sees, and he relaxes slightly. "I can't say that they could give them to you." He pauses, then leans in to whisper conspiratorially as the other man passes, "But I can't say that they couldn't." Chuckling, he follows Lucien and Matt back towards their room. "We'll know more in a couple hours. Some of the blood from your last draw was couriered over to my office, and one of my co-workers is analyzing it now. That should tell us if we see the Herxheimer reaction. If we are, we can give you something to reduce the symptoms. We're just being cautious while we're not sure what it is." Matt /beams/. "You heard the man," he looks up to inform his brother. "When I get out of here, I'm going to be a superhero." "Why do you encourage him," Lucien says. /Pained/. "A -- couple hours." Matt looks a little more surprised as he processes this. His smile fades, for a moment, but then he pushes it back onto his face. "Woah. OK. A couple hours. That's barely any time at all. I could kick Luci's ass in like, /seven thousand/ chess matches between now and then. You play, right, Doctor?" Because, as they wheel back into Matt's room, there is a chess set /right there/ on the table by his bed. Sitting. Waiting. Iolaus gives Lucien a mischievous grin as he steps alongside the chair. "Just for you, Lucien." he says, brightly. Then he turns back to Matt, saying, "I'm sorry to tempt you and then not have the information right away. I needed to make sure that we knew what was happening with you in case we needed to run any different tests." he explains. "Yes, I do. I'm not the best player, but I'm sure I can at least make a weak attempt before you crush me." "Do you have to run any different tests?" Matt is getting out of his chair -- it's clearly a difficult process for him. Lucien helps, half supporting and half carrying Matt into the bed, but even so Matt winces, teeth gritted, relaxing when he is eventually settled. Lucien pulls the table away from the wall, setting it up beside Matt's bed. Quietly, he lays the pieces out. "It will be a slaughter," he informs Iolaus, as he does. "You should give him more drugs. If his mind is sluggish, you might not lose so badly." "No, I don't think so. The tests that we were already going to run should be sufficient." Iolaus laughs at Lucien's suggestion and gives the man a bright, beaming smile as his eyes flicker over Lucien's face. "Perhaps I will simply sedate him halfway through the game and let the clock run down.' he suggests. "It would not be a noble victory, but, i suspect, beggars cannot be choosers." And with that, CHESS.