Neena Thurman pours drinks, kicks ass. (fallsinplace) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-06-25 13:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, magius, neena thurman (domino), yuna |
Who: Magius, Neena, and Yuna
Where: Magius's clinic
What: confirming supsicions
When: a few days ago
Warnings/Rating: none
Status complete
Neena was almost embarrassed to be excited about being pregnant. It didn’t fit with the image she tried hard to maintain for others. No doubt the guys at the bar would give her a lot of crap for it, but she couldn’t bring herself to care that much. She knew without a doubt that this child would have a close to normal life (or at least that it wouldn’t get its life messed up until it was old enough to deal with it), and that was enough to put a smile on her face, even when she was waiting in the doctor’s examination room to be poked and prodded.
She hoped Magius would remember to warm his hands up, there was nothing worse than an unexpectedly cold stethoscope in an already uncomfortable situation.
Of course the nurse would be the first one to see her. She tried not to be uneasy about it.
It was pretty routine for Yuna to check in with the patients first, while Magius was finishing things up with another one. Though she worked as much as she could directly at his side, they'd gotten into some kind of working pattern to maintain efficiency, too.
She was kind of excited about this, though, because it was one of her first times talking one-on-one with a 'dreamer'. Not that she was going to act unprofessional about it. She hugged her clipboard to her chest and took a deep breath before walking into the room and smiling at the woman.
"Hello, I'm Nurse Lee. And you're... Do you want me to call you Neena? Miss Thurman seems a little extra formal."
“Neena’s fine.” She said, smiling at Yuna. “I’m only Miss Thurman to people I owe money.” She winked playfully at the nurse. “So you’re gonna take blood pressure and that kind of stuff, right?” She liked to know what was going on, it made her less nervous.
Yuna smiled at her and nodded her head, "It's just the usual. I need to check your vitals and ask you boring questions that you probably memorized the answers to already. You can call me Yuna, if you like, too."
She put her clipboard down and got out a thermometer, "We'll start with taking your temp. I always hate that part, myself. The sanitizer we use on the plastic bits burns my mouth. I might be alone in that, but I've always dreaded it."
“I don’t like having stuff in my mouth that I didn’t clean myself.” Neena resigned herself to getting her temperature taken. “You’re new, right?”
Yuna tilted her head to the side and flipped the thermometer in her hand so that the other end was facing Neena. Instead of putting it in the woman's mouth, she put it in her hand, and motioned towards the counter that contained latex gloves, sanitizer, and associated doctor's office things.
"You're welcome to clean it yourself, then. I won't mind. Yes, I'm new. I was only hired on a week or so ago. It's already been a very busy time here. I don't regret it at all," the woman replied, with a grin.
Neena warmed the thermometer up as she poked through the cleaning supplies until she found the one for oral use and the plastic covers. “Magius is a good guy. He was a regular at my bar.” Satisfied she’d cleaned to the best of her ability Neena sat down again and put the thermometer in her mouth.
There was a pause as Yuna hooked it up to the digital reader and waited for it to beep. It seemed rude to keep talking when the other person couldn't respond, so she hummed a bit to herself and warmed her stethoscope end up in her hands while she waited, instead.
After a beep and a quick jotting down of the reading, she let Neena take the thermometer out, "He has been extremely generous with this position. I get to learn to do things most doctors wouldn't trust a nurse to, even one with my level of training. With supervision, of course. Did he stop drinking, or do you not have a bar anymore?"
“My bar’s gone.” Neena made a face like there was a bad smell in the room. “It got blown up. Kind of been like that all year, really. I’m in for the only real stroke of luck I’ve managed.” Despite her powers. She was still convinced that the better her powers got the more her life would actually suck.
"I'm sorry to hear it..." Yuna frowned, and warmed her stethoscope up again as she got out the blood pressure cuff. She held it up so Neena could inspect it, "I can wipe this down with a swab if you want. It's sterilized after every use, but still. Or you can, I just want you to feel comfortable. These visits can be stressful enough."
"I haven't had any of these dreams yet, or the powers that go with them. It's... I don't know if I should say that it's a relief or not. I find the whole thing fascinating from one stand point but frightening from another."
Neena shook her head. “Nah, it’s not going in my mouth.” She held out her arm obediently. “The dreams are a real bitch. What did Magius tell you about ‘em?” She assumed she’d heard about it from him or the network.
"He thinks it's connected to the network somehow. When you sign up there, it's like sending a signal to something... unknown, I suppose... that tells it that you're ready to dream about this other life. People with stronger wills than others seem to react differently or change less," Yuna spoke softly as she took Neena's blood pressure, jotting down the numbers quietly. It seemed a bit high, but not outside normal parameters.
She clipped another monitor onto Neena's index finger and took a seat, "So, what are your concerns today?"
Neena laughed a little. “I think I’m pregnant.” It wasn’t a concern. She’d be more concerned if she wasn’t, really.
"Oh! Was that expected, I mean... were you trying? What have your symptoms been like, and when was the date of your last period?" Yuna didn't want to sound too excited just yet. Pregnancy wasn't always a wanted thing and it was better to be sensitive about these kinds of things.
“Oh yeah, we were trying really hard.” Neena said with a laugh. “I haven’t had many symptoms yet, but I took one of those early warning pregnancy tests and it said I was, so. . . yeah.” She hoped she wouldn’t spend the next three months feeling pukey and emotional.
Yuna grinned and jotted down a few more notes, "Those tests have come a long way as far as accuracy goes, so it's very likely that if it did come up positive then you are. We'll still want to do our own tests, of course. Since you're probably here to confirm it, I think you were likely prepared for that."
"You can probably expect a few of the symptoms to start cropping up fairly soon. You may also notice some spotting, but I wouldn't panic about that. There is sometimes a bit of bleeding when the egg attaches to your uterus. I'm sure the Doctor will have more to say on all of that, of course." She chuckled a bit and hopped off of her chair, then pointed towards a scale, "One last thing I need is your weight."
Neena nodded and went to the scale. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath to prevent herself from gushing about how excited she was, how much she hoped she truly was pregnant. “What made you want to be a nurse, Yuna?”
It would have been adorable if she did, but it wasn't at all hard to pick up on how excited the other woman was. Yuna really hoped for her sake that she was, too, and that everyone was healthy. She hit a button on the scale, "Oh... Lots of reasons, I suppose. My father was a doctor, so you could say that it runs in the family. I've always wanted to take care of people. I was in... a state, when my mother died, because I couldn't do anything. I think I've wanted to do as much as I could ever since."
“I really respect people who go into the medical field, or any kind of public service type thing.” Neena stepped off the scale and hopped back onto the table, trying her best not to wrinkle the paper. “I’m sorry to hear you lost your mom.” Neena was quite happy she’d been able to get away from her, but most people didn’t feel that way.
"It was years ago, but thank you. I've made my peace with it, and mostly now I just try my best to do what I can for other people. Which means helping you out, today."
Yuna smiled apologetically after she stepped away fromthe scale and hugged her clipboard to her chest, "I hope you drank a lot of water before you came in today. I'll need a sample in order to confirm things."
Neena snorted. “Yeah, I planned ahead.” She laughed a little. It was weird talking about peeing with a stranger. There just wasn’t a way to make it not weird.
No, there really wasn't. Yuna held up a finger and left the room, returning with a sample cup for her to use, "So we'll just get that over with before you talk to the Doctor. I mean... I know I'd want it that way, at least. There's a box for you to put it in when you're done, so just take your time and I'll be at the nurse's station across from the door."
Neena nodded and took the cup. There was an attached bathroom, and she went inside to take care of the sample.
Peeing in a cup was something no one really found fun or dignifying. Yuna left her to do it and got some paperwork on file, then eventually went ahead and administered the test on the sample. This part was something she could do without getting Magius involved.
To her delight, it also came up positive, and she tried not to bounce up and down as she headed back into the room where Neena was waiting.
"Alright, well, I think the Doctor should be able to see you any second now. I'll need him to confirm but I think you'll like today's discussion."
Neena nodded, taking a deep breath to still her nerves. “Thanks. If it’s good news I’ll buy you a beer sometime.”
Yuna grinned, "Maybe in nine months."
Neena laughed. “Who said I’d be drinking too?” Her heart was pounding in her chest. It was a good thing she was already sitting down. “Holy fuck.”
The nurse put a finger to her lips, "I wasn't supposed to say anything but oh, I just couldn't help it. Let him confirm for you anyway, alright?"
With that, she picked her clipboard up and nearly bounced out of the room, "I'll go and get him right now."
“Thanks.” Neena said, with a genuine grin. Maguis would know she’d said something, but Neena didn’t care. She couldn’t stop smiling.
Magius was outside waiting for the Yuna to come out. When he saw her coming out, he smiled and approached her. “How is it going?”
Yuna darted her eyes to the side, "Oh, well, her vitals are a little off but there's a perfectly good explanation for it that has to do with the test I set up for you over in the lab area."
She handed the doctor her clipboard so he could see her notes, "I'll just get the results for you."
Without waiting for his response she ducked into the lab area so she could hide.
Magius opened his mouth, then closed his mouth, then blinked. “Oh Yuna...” He murmured it to himself. It almost seemed like she was... hiding from him. Huhn.
He looked at the notes, then headed into the room.
One look at Neena and it all fell together in his mind. He sighed, but smiled. “Hello, Miss Thurman.”
Neena couldn’t help the big grin on her face, and she didn’t want to try. “Hey, doc.”
“How are you doing? I take it things went the way you hoped?” He glanced toward the door. “One moment.” He stepped to the wall, dialed the lab room intercom speaker and spoke softly. “Nurse Lee to Exam Room M, please, when you have those results.”
He turned back to Neena. “Will you be wanting to take prenatal care here, or elsewhere?”
“Here. If anyone’s going to putting their cold hands on my stomach I’d rather have it be someone I know.” She laughed again. “I can’t believe this actually happened.”
Oh no, there was the intercom. She was in for it now, Yuna was sure. She picked the results up in her hand and took them to the exam room. Even though she was scared he'd yell at her, she still headed in as quickly as she could. It was just bad form to dawdle in situations like this.
She quickly knocked on the door and stepped in, holding the paper out for Magius to take.
Magius smiled as he turned to her, lips turned up in humor, and eyes crinkled a bit. “Thank you, Nurse Lee. We should talk after Miss Thurman’s visit, set up some protocols for her, and start a log of her situation to monitor.”
He turned back to Neena, reading the results quickly, then smiling, warm. “Congratulations, Miss Thurman. It looks like good news is indeed, here.” He was glad of it. He had seen hopes crushed before. “We can get you started on Pre-Natal vitamins, and schedule checkups for the coming months.” He nodded to Neena.
Neena snickered a little. “I hope she’s not in trouble, she was very accommodating of my needs as a patient.” She figured it wouldn’t hurt to put in a good word with the boss. “Guess I’ll be doing more than bartending sober for a little while.”
Magius glanced aside as Yuna left, and then smiled to Neena, not commenting on the first part. “I would think you’ll have to, yes.” He smiled warmly. “We’ll make sure things go smoothly. All you have to do is take it a little easier for awhile.”
“I’ve been doing nothing but taking it easy, doc.” Neena grumbled a little.
“Maybe so. But you’ll need to, for this. You can exercise, and maintain a full life, as long as you respect certain boundaries for your health and that of your baby.” He didn’t talk down to her, but met her eyes and kept his voice steady. “Do so, and your life can be fairly normal all the way until your child is born.” Unless there were complications.
Neena wanted to argue, but instead she nodded. “Okay. Whatever I need to do.”
Magius gently took one of her hands. “I know it can be frustrating, but you really can accommodate a lot into the time when you are pregnant.”
Then he nodded. “We’ll start you on those pre-natal vitamins, Do you have a current exercise regimen?” He consulted the notes, then spoke. “Do you have a current steady sex partner?”
“Yeah, I work out once a week with a trainer and I run with Dante twice a day, as well as training with the Summerses at least once a week.” His second question made her giggle. It felt ridiculous. “Yes, just one.”
“Good. Keep that up, unless it starts, specifically, making you nauseous. Exercise has been known to help with morning sickness, and with easing other aches and pains during pregnancy.” Magius smiled at her answer, a light in his eyes. “And good, again.”
He pursed his lips. “One more awkward question. Is he the father?”
Neena snorted. “Unless something has gone seriously wrong, yes.”
“Good. I’d like to see him as well, then. If I can do blood work ups for both of you, I can run some extrapolations on genetics with an expert of mine and maybe get a jump on stopping any complications before they arise.” He nodded. Some things couldn’t be stopped, but some could be treated in pregnancy by higher doses of the right vitamins.
She nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to come in. He’s as committed to the baby as I am.” She ducked her head down, smiling in a way she hadn’t in months, and never in this point in time. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing. Things have been so shitty, I can’t believe this is actually happening.”
Magius gently took one of her hands, and squeezed it. “You’re welcome. This is what I do. With your help, and Nurse Lee’s help, and his help, we will bring your child kicking, screaming, and healthy, into this world.” His voice was humorous, but his eyes held absolute certainty. He would not let this woman down, not if he could help it.
Then he blinked. “Thomas... Raith? He is the father?” His lips stretched in a true and warm smile.
Neena wondered how he knew that, then remembered he was at the beach party, and that she’d been unable to shut up about him when she was still running the bar. “Yeah. So it’s going to be a pretty baby.” She laughed, sniffling a little afterward.
Magius smiled. “I know him... and yes, it will be, likely. And strong. You both are good and strong people.” He paused, then nodded. “I’ll start boning up on my magic as well.”
“That what you dream about?” She wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath to keep her composure. She’d sob messily all over Thomas later, right now she had to contain her joy for just a little bit longer.
“Yes. I’m a wizard there, and sometimes an idiot, royally, and now dead, but that last bit didn’t follow me in, thankfully.” He grinned at her. “I have several kinds of magic that could be useful in this, and I will assure you I will apply everything I know, from this world and the next, to help you and yours.”
“That must be a pain in the ass.” Neena noted with a light laugh. “I tend to attract people with awesome powers, maybe to make up for the fact mine are so crappy.”
“A little bit, yes. And oh?” He chuckled. “What are your powers?” He finished writing some notes down on the clipboard for her file, then put it aside. This sounded intriguing.
“I can manipulate probability a little to make things come out in my favor.” She motioned toward her face, “And I’m pale as hell. It’s not as useful as it sounds, I don’t have a lot of control over the powers.”
“Hmmm. Sounds intriguing, though.” He nodded. “A little luck at the right time could change the course of entire events.”
“Yeah, I’m not knocking it.” She said with a laugh. “I’m just not as useful as most of my peers in a super power throw down. I trust a gun in my hand more than my mutant powers.”
Magius nodded. “And I a sword, before magic.” He chuckled as he nodded to her. “We can start a schedule for appointments for check ups. Please tell Thomas I said hello and to get his ass in here for an appointment as well. That just became a doctor’s orders.”
He smiled at her, eyes dancing with amusement and warmth. He handed her a card with two numbers and an address on it. “Those are my personal lines for my cell and my house and my house address. Should an emergency come up, call me.”
Neena nodded and slid off the table. She hugged Magius. He probably didn’t get that very often, but she figured it was appropriate. “Thanks, Doc. This is going to be one hell of a ride.”