He snorted derisively and nodded. "Yeah. Guess living here on Liberty can do that to you." Laziness tended to go in hand with apathy, as well. Thankfully, Elliot was neither of these things.
'Spacing out' was never a good thing, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. Elliot accepted this explanation with a nod. "It happens. Next time maybe you should ask someone to help you ahead of time, in case you get distracted and forget to ask when the time comes. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't end up in the water." Swimmers, no doubt, would've been on her.
Elliot sensed his words didn't have much effect on her, which meant that he'd have to try a different approach. It came to him, then. Hadn't Rae mentioned one of her friends would be visiting on this trip? He squinted as he tried to recall the girl's name. Was it Kori? "My friend Rae told me she was expecting one of her friends to visit today. You wouldn't happen to be her, would you?"
Kori's reaction was expected. Either a patient was comfortable with undressing, or they weren't. He offered a smile, even though she wasn't looking at him. "I know it's completely awkward, and for that reason, when I'm all done? If you want to slap me, please feel free."
Kneeling down, Elliot poured some alcohol on a gauze pad and began dabbing at the gash. The pipe had left a hell of a mark. Fortunately for Kori, he'd seen worse. "It's not bad, no," he answered truthfully, "but you're going to need a couple stitches. Can I get you to hop up on the table?" Straightening up, Elliot cleared a space on the makeshift examine table for Kori to sit.