Race against time...
ICly open to friends only.
Time is running out. I feel like I'm trapped in an hourglass of sand, and the passing of time is making me collapse in defeat.
My mother is dying.
Words cannot express my extreme frustration at this. It is ultimately my fault that she is dying, not hers. Because she never took the time to question the manifestation of my X-ray vision when I was younger, my powers have gone unchecked and so ironically cursed her. She cared for me, offered me the chance to be myself regardless of any mutant powers I might have had, and I uncontrollably bit back at the hand that has fed me.
I tried to visit her at Lennox a few days ago. When I asked to see my mother, the nurse on duty gave me a sad look of pity and simply replied, "I'm afraid she's not physically capable to be seeing visitors today."
That simple response devastated me. Most people claim that broken hearts can only occur from breaking up with your true love, but I beg to differ: watching someone you love suffer and begin to die does it just as easily.
That all being said, I had a chat with Jean Grey last night. While she's currently overtaken by a severe strain of influenza, she was quite willing to discuss possbilities of healing for my mother. Time is running out, but there is still hope left. Jean believes that, if she can convince a doctor at the hospital to accept the use of third party mutant healing factors, my mother can be completely healed of leukemia. She says it will require three long and difficult steps. One: Use healing mutant powers to stabilize her current health and give her strength, as well as buy time. Two: Massive chemotherapy treatment to eradicate the infected white blood cells. Three: find a bone marrow donor, transplant the healthy bone marrow into her, and then use the healers to keep her alive while she recovers.
If Jean's right, my mother could come out of this better than ever. If she's wrong...well, I don't really want to think about if she's wrong. Anyway, I need to ask a favor...If any of you reading this have healing powers or know someone who does, please post a comment--but only if you're willing to help. I need to seriously look for anyone willing to help, and Jean's hoping some students at the school might be able to chip in. We need all the help we can get...Jean Remillard and Sabella Miller can't handle this themselves. If they're both willing to help, even. I'm pretty sure Blue will, but I don't even know this Miller person...Just please, leave a comment if you're helping. My mother's life may depend on it.
<> The Attic
Unlike some attics which are merely used for storage and collecting dust and cobwebs, this one seems to be well-maintained. There are cardboard boxes neatly stacked in one corner of it nearly to the ceiling, but at least the junk's not just lying all over the place. Sunlight is generous, here, and streams through large and numerous windows onto the wooden, creaking floorboards and the dozens of plants that occupy the area. They seem to thrive in this sunny environment through all seasons, and someone evidently takes good care of them judging by the full leaves and cheerful blossoms on some that render the air pleasant with the scent of musty attic and fresh flowers. A strange combination, but comforting nonetheless. Near an old, beat-up couch resting against one wall, near the corner, a set of stairs lead further up into the ceiling, possibly onto the roof.
[Exits : [T]he [R]oof, and [D]own the [S]tairs ]
[Players : Jean ]
When one's contagious, and there's no known cure but time, the only solution is isolation. And that's exactly what Dr. Grey has done, eschewing the noise and compromised immune systems of the medical bay, and the recently-invaded living room to take over the one corner of the house where she won't be disturbed. Consequently, there's a quilt with cheerful yellow duckies on it wrapped around a redhaired woman who has eyes and a nose to match her hair colour. Occasional coughing fits rack the dry air.
Quark quietly enters the attic with two hot mugs of herbal tea, the sound of his feet on the stairs audible in the silence of the empty room. Almost empty, that is...the closer he gets, the more obvious it is that Jean is here trying to cough up a storm. Any other person would know better to bother her when she's not feeling well, but he was actually looking for her. A sympathetic smile on his face, he slowly walks over to Jean and stands next to her. Checking to make sure she's awake, he kindly offers her a cup of tea and asks softly, "How're you feeling?"
Jean sneezes in reply, pulling the quilt closer about her shoulders, and hunching in against a cold that only she can feel in the comfortable attic. Fever going up! "How do I loogk?" she wonders wryly, although the cup of tea is taken with a grateful look and promptly nursed with trembling hands holding the china. << You may want to keep back. This is the flu strain that the vaccine didn't cover... and I haven't had a bout with it in three years. It's a nasty one. >> Projective telepathy is always handy when one's own voice sounds like a frog with a slit throat.
Quark almost laughs, even though this isn't really funny for anyone. "People always seem to warm me about that...I guess I just don't really care," he shrugs. "If a vaccine won't cover it, and I may have already caught it by just standing next to you, then what's the point of trying to stay away from it?" Grabbing a chair and dragging it over towards the bed, he sits down and takes a sip of tea himself. Mmm...excellent, if he might say so himself. "Besides, if you recall in the olden days when the Black Plague was around, some people would spend all day close to deathly ill family members for days on end and still not develop it themselves. And, worse come to worse, as my mother always used to tell me, 'This too shall pass.'" He smiles, but it fades considerably as he mentions his mother. He pauses for moment and takes a sip of tea in silence; he may not be saying much, but the telepath should easily be able to pick up thoughts of distress around that subject.
Jean manages half of a smile at that, taking a long sip of the tea before the heat of it causes her to sit forward quickly and pinch the bridge of her nose in an agony of sinuses. The teacup, dropped, hovers of it's own accord, along with a few other random articles in the attic, before she gets control of that reflexive flare of her powers, sighs, and clutches the tea again, looking closely at Quark. << How is your mother doing? >> she asks, getting right to the point.
Quark arches an eyebrow at Jean's display of illness bothers, but otherwise doesn't really perk up. After a few more awkward moments of looking down at the floor and sipping his tea, he finally replies, "Not very good. She's gotten worse in the last two weeks, often to the point that I haven't been allowed to visit her because she's not physically up to it." He bites his lip and pauses again, anger and pain in his eyes. "I appreciate the help you've done with letting me visit her, but now I can't visit her because she's dying." That last word is said with bitterness and obvious anger. Finally, he looks up to Jean and manages quietly, "Do you think mutant powers can help her be healed? You talked about that before, but now...She needs help fast, or she might...die...soon."
Jean is suddenly all seriousness, sitting up and letting the duckie quilt fall back from her shoulders as she tries to pull herself together and be the Dr. Grey that Quark obviously needs her to be. She even sticks to telepathic projection, the better to lend her words gravity. << I think so. Cancer is more complicated than other illnesses, because it's a genetic disease. Simple healing alone would probably just buy her time before she relapsed again. >> is her medical opinion. << I think this is a situation where we need to combine mutant abilities with modern medicine. Now, has a bone marrow transplant been discussed? >> she wonders, sitting forward and looking Quark in the eye, before another coughing fit doubles her over for a few moments. << I have a few ideas... >>
Quark nods sincerely, but can't help but grimace at her flu. He's right, he really -doesn't- care if he gets the illness or not...but for now, she -does- have it, and maybe now isn't the time for this discussion. He leans over and places a careful arm on her shoulder, forgetting about the germs, and replies, "You know, I'm extremely grateful for the help, but maybe I shouldn't be trying to talk to you when you're in such a condition. I don't want you to stress yourself too much..." The rest of that sentence, "...even though I don't have that much time to wait", is slightly noticable. And then Quark mentally curses to himself, because he just remembered that time Jean told him those unspoken yet obvious ends to sentences were easy for telepaths to pick up. Trying to apologize, he adds, "I don't want you to feel temporarily handicapped from this flu, but I don't want you to stress yourself, either."
"Anodder reason you might nod wand doo ged da 'flu is dat your modder shouldn'd be exposed doo id," Jean points out stuffily, forgetting for a moment just how horrible her voice sounds with a stuffed nose and a sore throat combined. She takes a soothing sip of the tea and settles back, wrapping herself in the blanket again as she feels a renewed chill, despite the fact that she's sweating. << Chris, I'm sick, not crippled. There's nothing wrong with my mind, and that's what I'll need to use to organize this. Now, your mother. Bone marrow transplants. Has anything been discussed? >>
Quark nods and manages a weak smile. It's funny, really, how Jean can always seem to get him back on the right track and offer that emotional support even when she's feeling so ill. He offers a "Thanks" and then leans back in his chair, sipping his tea. Pondering her questions, he adds, "Bone marrow transplants? They may have been discussed, but my mother and I are both interested in chemistry. I don't know how much she knows about medicine, but I'm sure they must have discussed it with her anyway. However, I don't know if she's decided to get one or not. I, on the other hand, no very little about medicine at all, so I have -no- clue about the process."
Jean wouldn't be Jean if she weren't giving of herself to others, after all, even with the 'flu. She smiles back at Quark from amongst her nest of blanket and couch cushions, supported solely by the solid bulk of the furniture at her back as she lets her head loll back. << Well, as I was saying, we'll have to combine medicine with mutation in this situation. Healers can't cure leukemia without being able to resequence the DNA of the offending stem cells that are churning out cancer cells. >> she explains, pausing to allow Quark to mull that over, since stopping for breath isn't a concern with telepathic speech. << So, what I'm thinking is use the healers to stabilize and strengthen your mother. Buy her some time. Then, find a bone marrow donor, proceed with the aggressive chemo needed to kill off all her own white blood cells and the stem cells, transplant the donor marrow, and use the healers again to keep her alive while the transplant takes. It'll require having a doctor at Lennox who's open to mutant medicine. I may know a couple... >>
Quark nods and "listens" to Jean's ideas, which make good sense. Especially the part about DNA resequencing, which, at least in his mind, is not common in all mutant healers. "That should do it, but it will be very tiring for my mother and the healers alike. And I figured we'd have to find a doctor willing to help us out, but at least we won't have to deal with Bradford. I hope." He pauses and sips some more tea, adding after a moment of thought, "Who did you have in mind for healing? You make it sound like we'd be using a few, but I only know of Blue specifically. I suppose you have a few quality healers in mind, seeing you're one of the school's best informants?" A small smile despite the seriousness of the conversation.
Jean smiles back, the expression turning weak again as she tries to steal herself against a sudden creeping exhaustion slipping up on her from devoting so much attention to focusing and holding herself still when her body wants merely to rest and float. << Thank you. And well, there's Bella Miller, obviously. Extremely powerful, if... capricious. But also, some of the students could manage it, if they work in a group. I'll check and see if they're willing. >>
Quark nods but frowns slightly, as he's never heard of that person before. At least, he's never met her; it's possible Jean's mentioned the woman before and he just hasn't met her. Shrugging, he manages another weak smile and replies, "Well, I should probably get going...Maybe I'll ask a few friends on their thoughts in the matter while you rest." That last part is made as a strong suggestion, almost an order--and then he grins when he realizes he's trying to play doctor, and that's Jean's job. Patting Jean comfortingly on the shoulder again, he stands up and starts to walk away. He hesitates on the way out and turns back to Jean, adding, "Just to warn you...I asked Jenny once before if she'd be willing to help heal my mother, and it was quite a shock to her. She has good potential, I think, but she's extremely nervous at the thought. If you feel like asking her, I would definitely suggest trying to prepare her for the question instead of just casually bringing it up. Just take my advice on that." He smiles slightly again and waves, saying a quiet "Hope you feel better!" as he walks down the stairs out of the attic and back towards the main floor.
OOC: Fun log with Jean. :) Anyway, we're trying to begin to arrange this whole TP idea. If your character has healing powers and might know Quark ICly and be willing to help out, feel free to contact him ICly or OOCly.
Time is running out. I feel like I'm trapped in an hourglass of sand, and the passing of time is making me collapse in defeat.
My mother is dying.
Words cannot express my extreme frustration at this. It is ultimately my fault that she is dying, not hers. Because she never took the time to question the manifestation of my X-ray vision when I was younger, my powers have gone unchecked and so ironically cursed her. She cared for me, offered me the chance to be myself regardless of any mutant powers I might have had, and I uncontrollably bit back at the hand that has fed me.
I tried to visit her at Lennox a few days ago. When I asked to see my mother, the nurse on duty gave me a sad look of pity and simply replied, "I'm afraid she's not physically capable to be seeing visitors today."
That simple response devastated me. Most people claim that broken hearts can only occur from breaking up with your true love, but I beg to differ: watching someone you love suffer and begin to die does it just as easily.
That all being said, I had a chat with Jean Grey last night. While she's currently overtaken by a severe strain of influenza, she was quite willing to discuss possbilities of healing for my mother. Time is running out, but there is still hope left. Jean believes that, if she can convince a doctor at the hospital to accept the use of third party mutant healing factors, my mother can be completely healed of leukemia. She says it will require three long and difficult steps. One: Use healing mutant powers to stabilize her current health and give her strength, as well as buy time. Two: Massive chemotherapy treatment to eradicate the infected white blood cells. Three: find a bone marrow donor, transplant the healthy bone marrow into her, and then use the healers to keep her alive while she recovers.
If Jean's right, my mother could come out of this better than ever. If she's wrong...well, I don't really want to think about if she's wrong. Anyway, I need to ask a favor...If any of you reading this have healing powers or know someone who does, please post a comment--but only if you're willing to help. I need to seriously look for anyone willing to help, and Jean's hoping some students at the school might be able to chip in. We need all the help we can get...Jean Remillard and Sabella Miller can't handle this themselves. If they're both willing to help, even. I'm pretty sure Blue will, but I don't even know this Miller person...Just please, leave a comment if you're helping. My mother's life may depend on it.
<> The Attic
Unlike some attics which are merely used for storage and collecting dust and cobwebs, this one seems to be well-maintained. There are cardboard boxes neatly stacked in one corner of it nearly to the ceiling, but at least the junk's not just lying all over the place. Sunlight is generous, here, and streams through large and numerous windows onto the wooden, creaking floorboards and the dozens of plants that occupy the area. They seem to thrive in this sunny environment through all seasons, and someone evidently takes good care of them judging by the full leaves and cheerful blossoms on some that render the air pleasant with the scent of musty attic and fresh flowers. A strange combination, but comforting nonetheless. Near an old, beat-up couch resting against one wall, near the corner, a set of stairs lead further up into the ceiling, possibly onto the roof.
[Exits : [T]he [R]oof, and [D]own the [S]tairs ]
[Players : Jean ]
When one's contagious, and there's no known cure but time, the only solution is isolation. And that's exactly what Dr. Grey has done, eschewing the noise and compromised immune systems of the medical bay, and the recently-invaded living room to take over the one corner of the house where she won't be disturbed. Consequently, there's a quilt with cheerful yellow duckies on it wrapped around a redhaired woman who has eyes and a nose to match her hair colour. Occasional coughing fits rack the dry air.
Quark quietly enters the attic with two hot mugs of herbal tea, the sound of his feet on the stairs audible in the silence of the empty room. Almost empty, that is...the closer he gets, the more obvious it is that Jean is here trying to cough up a storm. Any other person would know better to bother her when she's not feeling well, but he was actually looking for her. A sympathetic smile on his face, he slowly walks over to Jean and stands next to her. Checking to make sure she's awake, he kindly offers her a cup of tea and asks softly, "How're you feeling?"
Jean sneezes in reply, pulling the quilt closer about her shoulders, and hunching in against a cold that only she can feel in the comfortable attic. Fever going up! "How do I loogk?" she wonders wryly, although the cup of tea is taken with a grateful look and promptly nursed with trembling hands holding the china. << You may want to keep back. This is the flu strain that the vaccine didn't cover... and I haven't had a bout with it in three years. It's a nasty one. >> Projective telepathy is always handy when one's own voice sounds like a frog with a slit throat.
Quark almost laughs, even though this isn't really funny for anyone. "People always seem to warm me about that...I guess I just don't really care," he shrugs. "If a vaccine won't cover it, and I may have already caught it by just standing next to you, then what's the point of trying to stay away from it?" Grabbing a chair and dragging it over towards the bed, he sits down and takes a sip of tea himself. Mmm...excellent, if he might say so himself. "Besides, if you recall in the olden days when the Black Plague was around, some people would spend all day close to deathly ill family members for days on end and still not develop it themselves. And, worse come to worse, as my mother always used to tell me, 'This too shall pass.'" He smiles, but it fades considerably as he mentions his mother. He pauses for moment and takes a sip of tea in silence; he may not be saying much, but the telepath should easily be able to pick up thoughts of distress around that subject.
Jean manages half of a smile at that, taking a long sip of the tea before the heat of it causes her to sit forward quickly and pinch the bridge of her nose in an agony of sinuses. The teacup, dropped, hovers of it's own accord, along with a few other random articles in the attic, before she gets control of that reflexive flare of her powers, sighs, and clutches the tea again, looking closely at Quark. << How is your mother doing? >> she asks, getting right to the point.
Quark arches an eyebrow at Jean's display of illness bothers, but otherwise doesn't really perk up. After a few more awkward moments of looking down at the floor and sipping his tea, he finally replies, "Not very good. She's gotten worse in the last two weeks, often to the point that I haven't been allowed to visit her because she's not physically up to it." He bites his lip and pauses again, anger and pain in his eyes. "I appreciate the help you've done with letting me visit her, but now I can't visit her because she's dying." That last word is said with bitterness and obvious anger. Finally, he looks up to Jean and manages quietly, "Do you think mutant powers can help her be healed? You talked about that before, but now...She needs help fast, or she might...die...soon."
Jean is suddenly all seriousness, sitting up and letting the duckie quilt fall back from her shoulders as she tries to pull herself together and be the Dr. Grey that Quark obviously needs her to be. She even sticks to telepathic projection, the better to lend her words gravity. << I think so. Cancer is more complicated than other illnesses, because it's a genetic disease. Simple healing alone would probably just buy her time before she relapsed again. >> is her medical opinion. << I think this is a situation where we need to combine mutant abilities with modern medicine. Now, has a bone marrow transplant been discussed? >> she wonders, sitting forward and looking Quark in the eye, before another coughing fit doubles her over for a few moments. << I have a few ideas... >>
Quark nods sincerely, but can't help but grimace at her flu. He's right, he really -doesn't- care if he gets the illness or not...but for now, she -does- have it, and maybe now isn't the time for this discussion. He leans over and places a careful arm on her shoulder, forgetting about the germs, and replies, "You know, I'm extremely grateful for the help, but maybe I shouldn't be trying to talk to you when you're in such a condition. I don't want you to stress yourself too much..." The rest of that sentence, "...even though I don't have that much time to wait", is slightly noticable. And then Quark mentally curses to himself, because he just remembered that time Jean told him those unspoken yet obvious ends to sentences were easy for telepaths to pick up. Trying to apologize, he adds, "I don't want you to feel temporarily handicapped from this flu, but I don't want you to stress yourself, either."
"Anodder reason you might nod wand doo ged da 'flu is dat your modder shouldn'd be exposed doo id," Jean points out stuffily, forgetting for a moment just how horrible her voice sounds with a stuffed nose and a sore throat combined. She takes a soothing sip of the tea and settles back, wrapping herself in the blanket again as she feels a renewed chill, despite the fact that she's sweating. << Chris, I'm sick, not crippled. There's nothing wrong with my mind, and that's what I'll need to use to organize this. Now, your mother. Bone marrow transplants. Has anything been discussed? >>
Quark nods and manages a weak smile. It's funny, really, how Jean can always seem to get him back on the right track and offer that emotional support even when she's feeling so ill. He offers a "Thanks" and then leans back in his chair, sipping his tea. Pondering her questions, he adds, "Bone marrow transplants? They may have been discussed, but my mother and I are both interested in chemistry. I don't know how much she knows about medicine, but I'm sure they must have discussed it with her anyway. However, I don't know if she's decided to get one or not. I, on the other hand, no very little about medicine at all, so I have -no- clue about the process."
Jean wouldn't be Jean if she weren't giving of herself to others, after all, even with the 'flu. She smiles back at Quark from amongst her nest of blanket and couch cushions, supported solely by the solid bulk of the furniture at her back as she lets her head loll back. << Well, as I was saying, we'll have to combine medicine with mutation in this situation. Healers can't cure leukemia without being able to resequence the DNA of the offending stem cells that are churning out cancer cells. >> she explains, pausing to allow Quark to mull that over, since stopping for breath isn't a concern with telepathic speech. << So, what I'm thinking is use the healers to stabilize and strengthen your mother. Buy her some time. Then, find a bone marrow donor, proceed with the aggressive chemo needed to kill off all her own white blood cells and the stem cells, transplant the donor marrow, and use the healers again to keep her alive while the transplant takes. It'll require having a doctor at Lennox who's open to mutant medicine. I may know a couple... >>
Quark nods and "listens" to Jean's ideas, which make good sense. Especially the part about DNA resequencing, which, at least in his mind, is not common in all mutant healers. "That should do it, but it will be very tiring for my mother and the healers alike. And I figured we'd have to find a doctor willing to help us out, but at least we won't have to deal with Bradford. I hope." He pauses and sips some more tea, adding after a moment of thought, "Who did you have in mind for healing? You make it sound like we'd be using a few, but I only know of Blue specifically. I suppose you have a few quality healers in mind, seeing you're one of the school's best informants?" A small smile despite the seriousness of the conversation.
Jean smiles back, the expression turning weak again as she tries to steal herself against a sudden creeping exhaustion slipping up on her from devoting so much attention to focusing and holding herself still when her body wants merely to rest and float. << Thank you. And well, there's Bella Miller, obviously. Extremely powerful, if... capricious. But also, some of the students could manage it, if they work in a group. I'll check and see if they're willing. >>
Quark nods but frowns slightly, as he's never heard of that person before. At least, he's never met her; it's possible Jean's mentioned the woman before and he just hasn't met her. Shrugging, he manages another weak smile and replies, "Well, I should probably get going...Maybe I'll ask a few friends on their thoughts in the matter while you rest." That last part is made as a strong suggestion, almost an order--and then he grins when he realizes he's trying to play doctor, and that's Jean's job. Patting Jean comfortingly on the shoulder again, he stands up and starts to walk away. He hesitates on the way out and turns back to Jean, adding, "Just to warn you...I asked Jenny once before if she'd be willing to help heal my mother, and it was quite a shock to her. She has good potential, I think, but she's extremely nervous at the thought. If you feel like asking her, I would definitely suggest trying to prepare her for the question instead of just casually bringing it up. Just take my advice on that." He smiles slightly again and waves, saying a quiet "Hope you feel better!" as he walks down the stairs out of the attic and back towards the main floor.
OOC: Fun log with Jean. :) Anyway, we're trying to begin to arrange this whole TP idea. If your character has healing powers and might know Quark ICly and be willing to help out, feel free to contact him ICly or OOCly.