Colorblind (OTA)

[hunteroffreaks]

Jack stumbled out into the snow. In his hardened mindset of black and white, a new color had been introduced. Red. His hands were covered in it. Red from blood, with a little bit of gray tossed in from the brain matter which had splattered all over his hands and clothing. El's hypnotism was still wearing off, and his head felt like it was full of

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[a_soul_awake]

Blood caught Hope's attention first. Her doctor's training made her notice the shiny red color against the pale snow and react immediately. Whatever she had been doing before completely left her mind and she followed the bloody trail to a tree. She was shocked by what she saw.

"Jack!" She rushed quickly to his side, spotting brain matter among the blood. She looked him over and didn't see any injuries. She realized the blood spatter was wrong for him to be the injured party. He had shot and most likely killed someone judging from the brain matter.

She was a little more cautious as she tried to catch his eyes, "Jack?"

[hunteroffreaks]

He listened as Hope called out his name. It never ceased to amaze him that she to be concerned about his health, when he so clearly did not share the same sentiment.

His mind still in a jumble, he didn't realize the doctor might be reacting the way she was because of the blood all over his hands. Looking down, he absentmindedly wiped them off on his coat, which only served to further smear it.

"Yes, doctor?"

[a_soul_awake]

Responsive was a good sign. She checked his eyes, trying to get a hint of his mental status. Maybe there had been a fight. He might be injured where she couldn't see. Maybe he had a concussion. She just couldn't tell out here.

"Come on, let's go back inside, get you to the Med Lab." Though she was a little worried about the blood, she put her hand on his shoulder. She wanted to check him over, just to be sure.

[hunteroffreaks]

Conversation was helping to stimulate his mind, get him centered again. He brushed her hand off, a gesture more automatic then his usual desire not to be touched by a mutant.

His voice held its usual gruff tones. "Don't bother. I'm not injured."

[a_soul_awake]

"Oh." She wasn't deterred by his brush off or his gruff tone. She had tolerate worse treatment from others. Jack was being almost polite.

"Still, you should get out of those clothes. Let's go in and get cleaned up."

[hunteroffreaks]

Jack shrugged, suddenly feeling very, very tired. He looked about ten years older than he actually was. His mind had switched over to automatic, not thinking or feeling much of anything.

"Yeah. Know of any good cleaners for getting bloodstains out of clothing?" He swore he went through more clean shirts in a month than most people did in a year.

[a_soul_awake]

"Yes, actually. Come inside and I'll show you."

She didn't like this. He seemed exhausted, almost sickly. She wanted to get him inside and out of the cold. Whatever he'd done to end up like this didn't matter right now, helping him was more important.

[hunteroffreaks]

He needed a cigarette. His hand was unsteady, and shook as he searched his pockets for a pack. Jack had forgotten he had left them in his room, attempting to cut back after Dr. Milbury had told him he had high blood pressure.

"Guess you would, patching people up all the time."

[a_soul_awake]

"The work can get a little messy sometimes, yes." She glanced over her shoulder at the main building and then moved a bit closer to Jack, her voice gentle, coaxing.

"Come on, Jack, time to go inside."