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Dani Moonstar's a survivor (ms_moonstar) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-19 15:53:00

Who: Faiza, Dani, with special guest star Moira MacTaggart!
What: A routine checkup turns into bad news
When: 8/17
Where: Urdnot Ranch
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13 for medical stuff, Triggers for the same.
Status: Complete


“Welcome, duck. Come in and have a seat.” Faiza gestured, giving the mutant a smile and a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, it’s just a check up.”

"Don't be nervous, she says." Dani grumbled a bit, mostly teasingly. She entered the room and took a seat, getting herself as comfortable as possible. Considering she was here for a check up, with the woman her ex-boyfriend who would never forgive her and blamed his current relationship instability was dating.

Faiza was a professional, though. Everything was probably going to be fine.

“Okay, be nervous while I pull you apart at the sub-atomic level,” Faiza quipped, before she started a normal check up without any mutant powers. Yet.

"I'm already nervous, so I think by then I'll just be terrified," Dani admitted. She held out her arm and opened her mouth and said 'aah' and everything that she was supposed to do, like this was completely routine and she was used to having her vitals checked.

Which she was.

"This is really just routine. I'm probably fine, I haven't felt sick at all, but I just wanted to cover my bases. Some things don't come up on tests immediately."

“I know. You seem healthy as your horses, and your reflexes are rather frightening.” She winked at Dani. “Are you ready for the show?”

"No? Do I have a choice?" Dani grinned a bit and steeled herself for... whatever the hell this was going to look like. There was no real way to prepare yourself for something like this. When Faiza'd fixed her up last time it hadn't been quite as comprehensive.

"Alright. Do it."

Faiza’s hands started to glow blue and she nodded her head. She took Dani apart so she could get a good look at her. “Your liver is doing nice. And you’ve been taking care of yourself, you should see your colon.”

"I can see it," Dani mumbled. This was the weirdest thing she'd ever experienced, and she'd experienced a hell of a lot in her life up to this point. It was crazy. And kind of fascinating, really.

"I'm glad that things are looking so good, though. I've really been trying. I've been working so hard that my muscles are permanently in ache-mode. My wrist has been killing me. I think Shepard's boxing pads are made out of lead or something."

“Shepard is good at that,” Faiza remarked, as she poked and prodded around Dani’s body. She saw a few minor things of concern that she noted for later. But there was something else she saw that brought immediate alarms. “You said you had pain in your wrist??”

"Yeah... It's really been hurting. I've been kind of doing some extra work on the side to keep in shape, too, and it's very active."

That was the best way to describe clandestine operations you enacted with your hacker friend, right? Right, it totally was.

Dani couldn't move her eyes or arms to indicate the wrist in question - she was lucky that Faiza'd left her mouth intact, really - so instead she said, "Right one, so it makes sense that it'd be grouchy with me."

Faiza brought that wrist closer, and poked at it. “Bugger...” She brought Dani back together and folded her arms. “I’ll need to run some real tests, but there’s an anomaly in your wrist.” She’d taken growths out before, but this one would be a lot tougher, and she had to make sure before she did anything.

"An a-what now? Anomaly?" Dani looked down at her wrist, frowning deeply. If the past year of her life had taught her anything, it was that the sheer act of living was constantly trying to kill you.

She wasn't sure why she should be any more phased by this than she was when she'd been told that drinking much more would kill her, or that she'd have to be tested for HIV, or that she'd been one minute from bleeding to death and dying.

But her stomach was still sinking into the floor. She could almost see the blackened burn that had been on it when the bracelet had been there, "I have to tell you something. Have you heard of an inhibitor bracelet?"

Faiza looked at her, a little in shock. “I have. I met with a Dr. MacTaggert while I was on holiday in London. She mentioned something about that!”

"Did she mention the time I used it for over two months straight?" Dani replied, darting her eyes to the side. This was no coincidence, the bracelet and the 'anomaly' must be linked.

“Well that was bloody stupid,” Faiza said, picking up the phone and dialing. “I hope she’s not about to go to bed.” She hummed a bit as she waited.

“Doctor MacTaggert? This is Doctor Hussain. We met in London and had a lively discussion about mutants and powers? Yes! Oh that soup was delicious. I’m afraid I’m calling on business. What do you remember about inhibo-- yes. Dani Moonstar.” She shot Dani a look, then held the phone out. “She wants to speak to you.”

Well this wasn't at all like Dani's worst nightmare, but it was pretty high up there. She tried not to tug on her braids, or pace, or chew on her lip, or any number of very nervous habits she was capable of.

"Uhm... I really don't want to-- Alright, fine," Dani let out a long sigh and steeled herself as she took the phone. Moira was already yelling, she didn't even need to have it against her ear to hear it.

Moira’s voice came through loud and clear. “OCH! WHAT DID I TELL YE ABOUT THAT BRACELET YE BAMPOT! Do I have tae fly all the way out there just tae keep an eye on ye, Dani Moonstar?”

Faiza winced, rubbing her ear with a finger.

It was definitely a good idea to keep the phone at a distance from her ear. Dani wasn't sure if it was time for her to do any talking yet, or if Moira was going to be doing more yelling.

She put the speaker closer to her mouth for a second, "You really don't have to fly all the way out here, I'm sure Faiza can handle this?"

“I’ll need tae send her some files, and I’ll want some x-rays.,” Moira replied, clucking her tongue. In a gentler tone, she said, “How are ye lass?”

Dani decided that it was safe enough to put the phone against her ear now, "Yeah. I'm fine, really. It's probably nothing, anyway, and it's not like I haven't already been through hell this year. Thanks for asking, though."

“Probably nothin’? Dinnae say such things. We’ll get a good look when Faiza sends me the X-rays.” Moira already had her suspicions, Faiza wouldn’t have called her if it wasn’t serious.

The other doctor had the same suspicions, but without confirming it... “Bugger.” She raised her voice. “Lets not sugar-coat it, Moira.”

“Aye...”

"No sugar coating? Is it really that serious?" Dani knew it was that serious. But this was Faiza, so she also figured the doctor could just fix it right up. She waggled her fingers in the air, immitating Faiza using her powers, "Can't you just... do your thing?"

“Nae if it’s what we think it is,” Moira said. She fell silent.

“I think it’s cancer, duck. In your bone marrow. That’s not as easy to get out.”

"Oh come on!" Dani exclaimed. It was the first words her brain could handle, and she wasn't even yelling at Moira or Faiza. Mainly, she was yelling at fate in general. This was just fucking ridiculous.

She flung her arms up and got up from where she'd been sitting, "No. This isn't happening. It just isn't. I've been stabbed, raped, and nearly died of alcohol poisoning and that's it, that's all I can handle. The last year and a half can go fuck itself."

“It’s happenin’, but it isnae the end of the world,” Moira cautioned her, voice tinny over the phone.

“I can’t remove it it as easily as some other things. But we can confirm it, and then we can get it to a point where I can heal you.” Faiza hoped.

Dani closed her eyes, and counted to ten in her head. Raging at life in general wasn't going to help anything, Moira and Faiza were just trying to help, and this was her fault anyway. She sat back down and took a few deep, steadying breaths, then pressed her hands against her face for a few seconds.

Finally, she said, "Okay. What's next. What do we do next. Tests?"

“Tests,” Moira declared, a little too gleefully for comfort.

“I’ll send the information you need right along,” Faiza said, taking the phone and hanging it up before Moira could say any more. “My word, that woman is....interesting, isn’t she?” She placed a gentle hand on Dani’s shoulder. “Once we have a better idea of what’s what, we can go forward with treatment.”

Dropping her hands away from her face, Dani nodded her head a bit. She was relieved that Moira was off the phone. That woman’s enthusiasm for testing was a little disconcerting, "Alright. We can't do the tests here, so I guess we'll have to schedule those? Just tell me what I need to do. This has now become my top priority."

“Understandably. I’ll give you something for the pain, and a little card so you don’t get arrested,” she said, fidgeting with her scarf. “We’ll do the tests on Monday.”

"... medical marijuana? Wow. You really must be okay with me after all," Dani replied, trying to make a joke out of all of this. Making a joke might help cut the tension somehow. Maybe. She hoped.

She hopped back up out of her chair and nodded, "Alright, Monday. Just uhm... tell me where I need to go."

“Of course, duck! I’ll text you the details, let me just write up the prescription. It’s always rather exciting that I can do that here.” She grinned at Dani. “You just need the card, I’m sure you already know someone who can, what’s the phrase? Hook you up?”

"Uhm... yes, I do." Dani nodded. She might as well be honest. Faiza was about to guide her through the gates of hell or something, anyway.

She held her hand out for the card, suddenly glad that she'd told Shepard she'd be at the stables today. After news like this, she really needed to do something to get her mind off of things.

Faiza held the card out for Dani. “Just use it when you need it. I’ll see you on Monday.”