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sirenspull_logs2012-08-22 12:49 am
beenwaitinglong) wrote in sirenspull_logs2012-08-22 12:49 am
Entry tags:
My body is a cage
Who: Diego Armando and Bruce Banner
When: August 22nd, Wednesday evening
Where: The subway
Summary: Diego suffers an episode in public, but luckily the IncredibleHulDr. Banner is on the scene.
Warnings: None!
He didn't sleep well the night before. Granted, Diego never slept well enough to stop making his doctor nervous, usually around 4 hours a night-- 5 if he was feeling sassy. But that night, he couldn't chase away the lump in his chest that got tighter every time he looked over at Mia beside him.
Guilt. Worry. Regret. Fear. He'd lied to her for this long. He'd done exactly what he wanted to do, given her the impression that everything was just fine. He was a fighter, a man who'd suffered a few little setbacks in life but was strong enough to overcome them. He was still the same man she fell in love with, minus the color of his hair and his eyesight. That's who Diego Armando was, according to Mia.
He certainly was not a medical anomaly. A walking wreck kept alive by a steady diet of pills and treatments, more chemical than his own flesh and blood. A man so twisted and broken he'd thrown his entire life away for the sake of revenge, only recently to reclaim what was left of it, now trying desperately to act like it had never happened and-
"Next stop, Turner. The next stop is Turner."
Diego looked up abruptly, heart throbbing in his chest. For a moment he'd completely forgotten where he was. He'd spent most of the afternoon in a fog that only his harshest blends of coffee could cut through, but even those weren't doing so well anymore. He wearily took a sip from the travel thermos in his hand. There was so little left he had to tilt his head nearly all the way back.
He let it fall forward again and the dizziness got worse. God, he wished this damned visor could be turned off without taking it off his face. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and hope it went away. He returned to leaning against the glass divider beside his seat, resting his head against the cool surface in the hopes it would help. The train was far too hot, right up until he felt his hand go numb and his blood immediately went colder than ice water.
Not here. Not here, now, in front of all these people.
The train slowed down and the doors opened. People pushed their way onto the train while others stood up to leave. Diego stood up as well-- they were nowhere near his stop, but he couldn't sit here. He would head for a bathroom and lock himself in a stall until it was over.
"Watch it!" someone snapped from behind him, and shoved him in the shoulder. The attorney stumbled forward and to his waning conscious horror, felt his knees give out. He kept on falling.
Damn. That was about the last thought he had before he blacked out and the seizure took over.
When: August 22nd, Wednesday evening
Where: The subway
Summary: Diego suffers an episode in public, but luckily the Incredible
Warnings: None!
He didn't sleep well the night before. Granted, Diego never slept well enough to stop making his doctor nervous, usually around 4 hours a night-- 5 if he was feeling sassy. But that night, he couldn't chase away the lump in his chest that got tighter every time he looked over at Mia beside him.
Guilt. Worry. Regret. Fear. He'd lied to her for this long. He'd done exactly what he wanted to do, given her the impression that everything was just fine. He was a fighter, a man who'd suffered a few little setbacks in life but was strong enough to overcome them. He was still the same man she fell in love with, minus the color of his hair and his eyesight. That's who Diego Armando was, according to Mia.
He certainly was not a medical anomaly. A walking wreck kept alive by a steady diet of pills and treatments, more chemical than his own flesh and blood. A man so twisted and broken he'd thrown his entire life away for the sake of revenge, only recently to reclaim what was left of it, now trying desperately to act like it had never happened and-
"Next stop, Turner. The next stop is Turner."
Diego looked up abruptly, heart throbbing in his chest. For a moment he'd completely forgotten where he was. He'd spent most of the afternoon in a fog that only his harshest blends of coffee could cut through, but even those weren't doing so well anymore. He wearily took a sip from the travel thermos in his hand. There was so little left he had to tilt his head nearly all the way back.
He let it fall forward again and the dizziness got worse. God, he wished this damned visor could be turned off without taking it off his face. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and hope it went away. He returned to leaning against the glass divider beside his seat, resting his head against the cool surface in the hopes it would help. The train was far too hot, right up until he felt his hand go numb and his blood immediately went colder than ice water.
Not here. Not here, now, in front of all these people.
The train slowed down and the doors opened. People pushed their way onto the train while others stood up to leave. Diego stood up as well-- they were nowhere near his stop, but he couldn't sit here. He would head for a bathroom and lock himself in a stall until it was over.
"Watch it!" someone snapped from behind him, and shoved him in the shoulder. The attorney stumbled forward and to his waning conscious horror, felt his knees give out. He kept on falling.
Damn. That was about the last thought he had before he blacked out and the seizure took over.
no subject
He was reaching into his briefcase, digging out a small metal thermos and unscrewing the lid to pour himself a cup of coffee. "Coffee?" he offered. "It's the least I can do for you."
no subject
"Are you sure it's good for you along with your meds?"
no subject
With his other hand, he took a sip of the first cup. "Mmh. It's not a problem anymore."
no subject
"I guess I can't say no in that case," he said. "What do you mean it's not a problem? Caffeine can be a seizure trigger."
no subject
He unscrewed the cap of the second thermos, poured a cup and handed it over. "Blend #39, Tranquility. Decaf, soothing lavender and mint in the nose," he recited, then took another sip of his own.
"And as far as the caffeine goes... Let's just say I've adapted to it by now."
no subject
"Diego, you just had a seizure on the train. I don't know what qualifies as adaptation where you're from, but it seems to me that switching to decaf would be the better part of valor here."
no subject
"It's fine," he said. "I'm immune to it. Some people can lift cars off of babies and some can fly. I metabolize things."
no subject
"If you metabolize things, how does that affect your medications?" He was willing to accept the metabolizing thing as a power, but it had ramifications that couldn't help but pique his scientific interest.
no subject
"The dosage has to be exact. A little too much and it's like I never took any at all."
no subject
He kept finding these opportunities to use his skills and training that made the tight constraints of a single islands less chafing. He wasn't even surprised to find himself offering his skills so readily.
no subject
Another sip of coffee had him finishing the cup, and he immediately went back to the thermos for more.
"Coffee calms me down. I'll be fine in a few minutes."
no subject
"Let me give you my contact information." He flicked through his NV to a virtual business card he could send to Diego's NV. "If you decide that you want to supplement Dr. Yumeno's therapies, you can give me a call. I'm teaching up at SPU and I spend some nights working with Dr. McCoy on his research, but I can find some time for you."
He shrugged a little uncomfortably and took another sip of his own coffee. "I like to stay busy."
no subject
"I can understand that," he replied. "I can't say I like seeking more treatment than I already have to, but you never know."
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his NV out and touched a few buttons to send one back.
"I'm a prosecutor for the city, so I can't say I'm the kind of lawyer you want to have on your side. But if you ever need legal advice, I've been there, done that."
no subject
He kept his eyes down on his NV while he put that in context and then pushed it aside to focus on the moment at hand.
"I try to stay out of trouble, but it's good to have someone to call if I need to ask for a friend."
no subject
He sipped his second cup of coffee (of the moment) and let silence fall between them for a few minutes. Once he had drained the second cup, he replaced it on top of the thermos and took a few deep breaths.
"Thank you again," he said. "I don't handle this as gracefully as I ought to, so I appreciate the benchside manner. I owe you lunch at the very least."
no subject
He drained his cup and held it out to Diego. "I'll also try to ask you fewer nosy questions then. It's kind of an occupational," lifestyle "hazard."
no subject
"And don't worry about the nosy questions. It's sort of your right when you scrape me up off the subway floor. And you haven't even asked me about the visor yet. That's usually the first thing people say to me. I was expecting that to come before 'are you okay?'"
no subject
"But. Now that you've brought it up, what can you tell me about your visor?"
no subject
He reached up and smoothed his fingers over the metal. "I'm sure you figured out I'm blind. This was originally a trial prototype that I signed up for. It doesn't fix my eyes... it replaces them. Collects signals and sends them to a chip they implanted in the back of my head. I can see in pitch blackness, I've got great peripheral vision... only complaint is I'm colorblind."
"Well, that, and the unwanted fashion statement," he added after a moment of thought.
no subject
He looked down at his hands. "My CV's kind of diverse."
no subject
"But you know, I'd be really impressed if you managed to reverse-engineer it, somehow. I'm down a repairman for this damn thing anyway."
no subject
"I know someone who has the tech to virtually disassemble your visor without having to get inside it. We can talk about it over lunch."
As far as he was concerned, Eli could say yes and earn himself some brownie points. "If I get the schematics that way I should be able to tinker with a model without ever laying a finger on the real deal, but we can talk about that later."
no subject
With another deep breath, he reached out for a handshake. "It's a plan, then. I'll call you sometime next week when I get my caseload scheduled out and know when I'm free. Thank you again. I really can't say it enough."
no subject
He offered a half-smile again. "Besides, you did all the work, I just ordered people around."
no subject
Bracing himself ont he back of the bench, he stood up on legs that were still a little shaky. "My stop's a few away from here. I'll catch the next train."