Becky ignores Hips' comment for now--she had no idea what she meant by that--and picks up a nearby metal tray and a pair of rubber-tipped tweezers. She places the tray on the table and brings the light a little closer, reaching aside for a pad of absorbent gauze. She peers close, swabbing the wound free of blood, removing a chunk of shattered kneecap or two and dropping them into the tray, then pats again and repeats until it's free of cartilage; two separate ends of bone, muscle and ligaments.
"It's ready," she says after a while, looking down at the tray and rattling the pieces of kneecap around in the pan. Looked like it was all there.
She dumps the instruments and disinfects her hands again.
Eiko returns with a tray. She looks. "Nice work, Becky." She then moves in, and the next part would result in agony for Ramon and horror for Hips.
"Look away, Hips. Really."
She tugs the leg a little, opening the space more, and eases a jelly-like substance between bones. The next part is realigning it all. She takes tremendous care with this. The next part is laboriously relocating damaged flesh where it belongs. Placing the kneecap is next, and just as much care is taken. More muscle put where it's belong and stitched with dissolving stitches.
The whole time, Eiko runs commentary quietly for Becky as to what she's doing and why.
Finally, there is stitching and bandaging. And Eiko takes a deep breath. "Okay. Done."
She looks at Becky. "Thank you for letting me assist, Dr. Chambers."
Hips, meanwhile, still has not come out of the bathroom. Whether this means she's still ralphing or if she's waiting for the 'all-clear' in terms of the surgery being over is anybody's guess.
Becky is watching, rapt with concentration, committing all of this to memory; she's got a hand against her mouth and is trying to pick out small details in the surgery she may have missed at first glance but may be important, listening to Eiko's commentary.
When Eiko turns and regards her, she blinks out of her reverie and looks at her, a surprised expression of "?" raising her eyebrows above where they normally lay. Doctor...
"Oh... no, no." She waves a hand in a dismissive gesture; not dismissing Eiko but rather the "compliment". "I just held down the fort... you worked the real magic."
She snaps her gloves off and tosses them into the trash bin--she pauses. There was a distinct lack of ralphing noises coming from the bathroom.
"I'll be right back," she says, turning and jogging towards the lavatory. An unconcious Hips was the last thing they needed...
Not unconscious. Just sitting on the floor by the john with her head in her hands. She does look up when Becky comes in, though. Hips is pale and sweaty, and she's obviously been crying.
Becky all at once realizes she's um, kind of wearing some of his blood. She unzips her sweatshirt and throws it in the trashcan, and sets to washing her arms in the nearby sink. None of it soaked through onto her tank top by some small miracle, so she was good.
"Yeah," she says, watching the faucet. "He should be fine. He might need some physio, though."
"Physio...? oh. Oh. Right." Wonderful. Like she didn't have enough to deal with without having to teach Ramon to walk again.
...God DAMN you, Wade.
The blood on Becky wasn't noticed, actually, since Hips was so focused on her face, asking if Ramon was all right. Once the faucet shuts off, Hips pushes herself shakily to her feet. "It's all done though, right? I, uh, don't do blood well. You might have noticed."
Here it comes. The berating. The yelling. The exposure.
Not for the first time does Hips wonder if she really should follow through with her idea of snagging a Starbug off the Dwarf and going on the run with Ramon. But then, how would he eat?
She makes a vague gesture of "one minute" and goes to fetch two drinks from Eiko's fridge-o-refreshments; she snags a bottle of water for Hips and some kind of chocolate milkish thing for herself.
She sits on the floor after setting the bottle down near Hips and leans her head against the wall.
Well, that wasn't how she expected the conversation to start. And, she hates to admit it, but she forces herself to squash the little tendril of hope she feels. Becky can't not tell Claire and Leon...
Right...?
"Yeah, us two. It... it started about a month after he came to stay with me. We spent so much time digging into so much heavy, emotional stuff... It just sorta happened." She fiddles with the cap of her water bottle for a moment, and takes a big swig.
"He's... he's doing so well... and everybody keeps telling him he's not. He's been keeping himself to himself, so I guess that's sorta understandable... and I guess everybody taking him or me at our words isn't gonna work because... well, you know. I just wish that people would leave him alone while he gets to where he wants to be. Instead, he gets fucking SHOT by Deadpool."
Oh, Wade, you asshole...
"But... but as ridiculous as this sounds, he really does make me happy, and vice versa."
"Honestly, no. It doesn't. I hid the flat after Wesker showed back up. Wesker popped into the Nexus... beginning of March? Something like that. And I realized that, if he saw Ramon coming back to the flat through the Nexus portal, he and I were both dead people walking.
"Then Claire and I fought and it sorta became me hiding it from her, too. I hate that. I really do like Claire, but she's being so damn inflexible.
"But... But I let Wade in on the secret... I never thought... never thought he'd..."
Hips can't help it, she breaks down a bit again. That Wade would do that has seriously shaken quite a few of her deeply held beliefs, here.
Becky looks up, retrieves a few tissues from a fixture over the sink and waddles over on her knees, sitting down beside her and offering them up. This wasn't an interrogation after all; Hips was her friend, and she'd be here if she needed her.
She nods for a moment, getting herself back under control.
"You didn't know? God, that's refreshing. I thought that was common knowledge by now. Hell, I think all Nexus noobs even hear about it within the first five minutes of their arrivals.
"Wade and I used to..." Date? No. Fuck? Certainly, but that wasn't what she was gonna say to Becky. "...Wade and I were together for a while, last year."
And then she's running toward the nearest bathroom, one hand pressed to her mouth.
Poor Hips.
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"It's ready," she says after a while, looking down at the tray and rattling the pieces of kneecap around in the pan. Looked like it was all there.
She dumps the instruments and disinfects her hands again.
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"Look away, Hips. Really."
She tugs the leg a little, opening the space more, and eases a jelly-like substance between bones. The next part is realigning it all. She takes tremendous care with this. The next part is laboriously relocating damaged flesh where it belongs. Placing the kneecap is next, and just as much care is taken. More muscle put where it's belong and stitched with dissolving stitches.
The whole time, Eiko runs commentary quietly for Becky as to what she's doing and why.
Finally, there is stitching and bandaging. And Eiko takes a deep breath. "Okay. Done."
She looks at Becky. "Thank you for letting me assist, Dr. Chambers."
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When Eiko turns and regards her, she blinks out of her reverie and looks at her, a surprised expression of "?" raising her eyebrows above where they normally lay. Doctor...
"Oh... no, no." She waves a hand in a dismissive gesture; not dismissing Eiko but rather the "compliment".
"I just held down the fort... you worked the real magic."
She snaps her gloves off and tosses them into the trash bin--she pauses. There was a distinct lack of ralphing noises coming from the bathroom.
"I'll be right back," she says, turning and jogging towards the lavatory. An unconcious Hips was the last thing they needed...
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"Is he okay?"
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"Yeah," she says, watching the faucet.
"He should be fine. He might need some physio, though."
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...God DAMN you, Wade.
The blood on Becky wasn't noticed, actually, since Hips was so focused on her face, asking if Ramon was all right. Once the faucet shuts off, Hips pushes herself shakily to her feet. "It's all done though, right? I, uh, don't do blood well. You might have noticed."
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"He's under, sleeping. He'll be fine."
She waits for Hips to move past her or get close, then she finally looks at her for the first time since she's been in here.
"Could I talk with you for a minute?"
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Here it comes. The berating. The yelling. The exposure.
Not for the first time does Hips wonder if she really should follow through with her idea of snagging a Starbug off the Dwarf and going on the run with Ramon. But then, how would he eat?
Sigh.
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She makes a vague gesture of "one minute" and goes to fetch two drinks from Eiko's fridge-o-refreshments; she snags a bottle of water for Hips and some kind of chocolate milkish thing for herself.
She sits on the floor after setting the bottle down near Hips and leans her head against the wall.
"So... you two, huh?"
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Right...?
"Yeah, us two. It... it started about a month after he came to stay with me. We spent so much time digging into so much heavy, emotional stuff... It just sorta happened." She fiddles with the cap of her water bottle for a moment, and takes a big swig.
"He's... he's doing so well... and everybody keeps telling him he's not. He's been keeping himself to himself, so I guess that's sorta understandable... and I guess everybody taking him or me at our words isn't gonna work because... well, you know. I just wish that people would leave him alone while he gets to where he wants to be. Instead, he gets fucking SHOT by Deadpool."
Oh, Wade, you asshole...
"But... but as ridiculous as this sounds, he really does make me happy, and vice versa."
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"Does this have anything to do with this whole... hiding the Mayfair thing Claire was talking about?"
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"Then Claire and I fought and it sorta became me hiding it from her, too. I hate that. I really do like Claire, but she's being so damn inflexible.
"But... But I let Wade in on the secret... I never thought... never thought he'd..."
Hips can't help it, she breaks down a bit again. That Wade would do that has seriously shaken quite a few of her deeply held beliefs, here.
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"Is he another friend of yours?"
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"You didn't know? God, that's refreshing. I thought that was common knowledge by now. Hell, I think all Nexus noobs even hear about it within the first five minutes of their arrivals.
"Wade and I used to..." Date? No. Fuck? Certainly, but that wasn't what she was gonna say to Becky. "...Wade and I were together for a while, last year."
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