Laid Up [Open to visitors]

[notlewis]

Despite how he argued that he was fine, despite how he displayed a range of motion with his wounded shoulder (complete with pained facial expressions and one yell of agony), Medical insisted on tossing Luis in for treatment as soon as they were all back on the ship. His wound was infected and there was a process Stacy needed to go through to clean

Comments

[we_deliver]

"How is it you can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble?"

Trudy leaned on the railing of Luis's bed, free hand on her hip, shaking her head at him. The sleeves of her bomber jacket were rolled up to the elbow, jacket hung open. She'd been putting in some extra running hours.

She wasn't exactly discreet about looking him over to see how his color was, either. He wasn't supposed to make her worried.

[notlewis]

"Sorry, baby," he said. "I'm as surprised as you are that I picked such a dangerous career. If I knew scientists ended up in the middle of the action so often, I would have picked something nice and safe, like laying dynamite for mines or possibly joining the army."

He smirked at her, shifting in an attempt to get comfortable. "But then again, I do need to work on my bad habit of running my mouth at people who are in the process of kidnapping me."

[we_deliver]

"Ay- stop wiggling, you'll bust your stitches open." Despite the fact that he wasn't moving nearly enough to do anything to his stitches. "I thought we talked about this. My job is to get shot, your job is to study things in jars."

She reached down and pulled the covers straight, tugging on the pillow to try and settle it more comfortably so that he wouldn't have to move.

[notlewis]

"I know, I know. I just so happen to be a very popular target for being held against my will," he sighed. "That's twice now, for the love of god."

He made a face at her. "I always thought it was the beautiful woman who was supposed to be kidnapped. When did you trade me?"

[we_deliver]

"Are you kidding? People take one look at me and decide it's not worth the trouble." For good reason. Even not on duty she carried her sidearm on her hip, because who knew what was going to pop up on this ship? "Maybe you should start carrying one of these. You do know how to use one, right?" She tapped the pistol.

[notlewis]

"You know what's really sad?" Luis muttered, "I do. I've known how to shoot since I was a kid and I have my gun in my possessions. I just never usually get the chance to do it before the trouble hits."

[we_deliver]

"What kind of good you think it's going to do lying around somewhere? Keep it on you." She tilted her head at him. "I never knew you could shoot."

She looked around and found a stool, pulling it up to sit beside the bed. He wasn't allowed to leave, and her being here would keep him from working while he was supposed to be recovering.

[notlewis]

"I usually have it on me! I even brought it planetside with me, but when the mission involves a bunch of helpless villagers... you know."

He shrugged his non-wounded shoulder. "Believe me when I say that my hometown was the most boring, backwater dump you can possibly imagine. There was only so much for a little boy to do to pass the time. Mi abuelo taught me when I was 9."

[we_deliver]

Trudy made a mental note to talk to someone about a more clandestine holster for Luis to keep his pistol in. She had one, she just didn't wear it around the ship. It chafed.

"I had so many people around me growing up," she said. "I had four brothers, all younger. Mama always said thank God she had me first."

[notlewis]

"Lucky," Luis muttered. "I'm an only child. Just me and my grandfather. There weren't even all that many kids my age around. It's honestly no wonder I spent so much time reading."

[we_deliver]

"If you call getting away from there as soon as humanly possible 'lucky,'" she said. "People wonder why I don't want kids, it's because I raised some hellions when I was still a kid myself."

She didn't suppose she'd ever see her brothers again. They wouldn't be very useful to the war effort, and she hadn't seen much of them after she entered the service anyway. Sometimes she missed them. Mostly it was an old wound she didn't pick at.

[notlewis]

"I don't have such a convenient excuse," he chuckled. "But I remember some days I would have given just about anything for another boy my age. He even could have been a bully and beat me up for all I cared. At least it was something to do."

[we_deliver]

"Kids my age - hell." Trudy grinned. "Kids my age were stupid. I mean, kids who had everything going for them and threw it all out because their heads were too thick to understand that." She shook her head. "Anyway, you should stop running your mouth off at people who are trying to kill you. Not unless you have a really good plan."