Vixere

The Long Road Home

Her small hands were busily unwrapping supplies when Jason realized she had spoken about shaving his face, which only earned a relaxed smile before she laughed. The sound was warm and welcoming, even as she popped open the aloe-based cleanser she had been carrying in her pocket.

"You might be the only military man I've met that's willing to let his beard grow while in my clutches." Putting that soap down, she soon leaned forward and her hands slid behind his neck to untie the hospital gown carefully, but quickly. "Do me a favor?" When his attention was on her and she was unsnapping the grommets, a smile overtook her again. "Take a deep breath. If you can shower naked with other men, you can handle this just as well, yeah?"

Pulling the gown down to his waist, it was left there as she quietly examined the bruising on his body before retrieving a washcloth and soaping it up. Soon enough, she was washing him without fanfare. Each pass was gentle and warm, replacing the sterile scents of surgery with something more normalized.

"Did you decide what sounds good for food yet? I was debating on a burger, myself. Medium rare, maybe a fried egg on top. They make bomb fries too." Eyeing his shoulder, Celeste deftly avoided particularly tender flesh.

"And I saw a tattoo, when I was doing your assessments. What's the story behind that?" Rinsing his skin next, it was dried as she went. "I have a couple, myself." Drying one of her gloves, the edge of her neckline was pulled down as she bent low, showing the edge of a tree. "I'd have to show you a picture, I think. I have the World Tree over most of my back, but I still need to get my color finished."

I return! [ F looking for casual-advanced partners. ]

Bump.

The Long Road Home

From where Celeste sat on his bed, he would find that she smiled a bit. It was a warm expression, even if he would be able to see the darkness beneath her pale orbs and a bit of a slouch in her posture. The nurse rarely slept well and didn't take the best care of herself, as most of them didn't. There just wasn't enough hours in the day to do her work, sleep and eat, and perform adequate self care.

"Well, my shifts max out at eighteen hours, and my contract means I'm off the floor at least two days a week. When I'm here and it's quiet and not chaos, I'll do my best to be here. As it stands, you're my most critical patient right now, so you're allotted most of my time as it is." Rising, Jason would be exposed to the fact that Celeste was pretty shrimpy - barely five feet, and generously curved. Despite her small stature, her presence made up for it.

"I'm going to grab some supplies to get you cleaned up, and I'll need to change some of your bandages. Find something good to listen to, yeah?" Those same legs carried her from the room, cracking the door behind her. Though it would likely feel like a lifetime to Jason, the nurse soon knocked and entered again with an armload of supplies along with a basin.

The hot water was run in the bathroom before the basin was filled and her supplies brought to be rested on his table. Gloves were pulled from her pocket as she seemed to settle in for the task. "Do you want to be shaved or are you going for the mountain man look while you're stuck here with me, handsome?"

The Long Road Home

It was his bitter tone that caused a pause, as if she were thinking of coming back later, but his voice came again. It was only because of his attempt at conversation that she seemed to relax a bit, coming within after the door was shut behind her. Given it was getting late, she was surprised to see no aide or dinner tray within the room, but he surely had eaten, right? Coming to his bed side, one hip sank to sit on a hollow near his hip as the blood pressure cuff was extracted from her pocket. His question came when her attention was focused on finding a spot where it would not cause him undue pain to get her vitals.

Slowly, her eyes lifted a bit before she smirked a bit. "Well, given I heard that you're a bit stubborn, not long. It all depends on when they feel safe taking you home, honestly. Once you heal from this initial stay, you could request to head home if you're wanting to get back quickly. A lot of guys do." Finally, his muscular upper arm was chosen as she wrapped it with her device, taking her stethoscope to put it in her ears. "Little cold, okay?"

Once his pulse was found, the pressure came as quick as it went, the hissing of air deflating soon enough followed by the velcro being extracted from his flesh. The opposite hand soon enough got a finger taken for oxygen saturation and pulse, even as the thermometer was put beneath his tongue - all while writing down values.

"You're welcome," was finally said in response to his thanking her. "You know, it's not weakness to ask for help. The girls will do whatever it is you need, we don't mind." Once she had her readings, the probe cover was ejected into the trash and both tools were put into her pockets.

"Now, you're going to get used to me being a mother hen one way or another. That means two things - either myself or one of the aides needs to wash you up because I'm refusing to fight with a UTI, and I'm going to harp on you to eat. I know you're a tough guy and don't like to be fed, but I can go down to the caf and get you something better than the junk they're getting you as long as it's calories and a buffer between your stomach and a bleed from your medicine. Deal?"

Those pale eyes went to the television, then she leaned over him a bit to bring the remote closer to his casted arm so he could change the channel himself. It was both good for his independence and, she hoped, a distraction from her maternal drive to see her patients well cared for.

The Long Road Home

Celeste had stayed still, speaking quietly of who and what she was, until heavy and rhythmic breathing told her that he was soon asleep. Rising carefully, her fingers unwound from his own to pull away from his own. The blankets were pulled around him and she ran her hand over his hair, smoothing it. There was some comfort, at least for her, knowing he would be able to rest while on the morphine. Turning from the bed, she soundlessly left the room and took her coffee on the way.

The nurse had charted it all, feeling sad that he had not remembered prior conversations with previous medical staff. His tag of danger was stared at and then removed, a progress note entered, before she had finished up her work. The rest of her shift had been fairly routine, allowing her to take a shower once there was an ability to report off and take up her backpack. There was a glance down the unit before she looked to the older nurse, speaking quietly.

"If Chambers has any changes in condition, get me. I'll be sleeping on the couch."
"Don't you ever go home?"
"Not when I'm on a stretch."

Swinging the bag onto her shoulder, long strides took her to the locker room to clean away the stresses from the day.

---

Through the day, Jason would find that the nurse and aides were kind and patient, but they seemed more curt than Celeste. Of course, he was likely to quickly find out he was going to need a lot of help. The ladies helped him eat and drink, saw to all the minor things he could need - they all seemed to power through, as most staff did, though they often seemed to use his rank more than she had. Then again, Celeste was a civilian that had escaped away from stateside to come somewhere else.

It was late when Celeste came on shift, having overslept, with a large mug of coffee scented with cinnamon and vanilla, to get report before hitting the floor. Stethoscope around her neck and a blood pressure cuff in her pocket, there was a quiet knock on Jason's door before the nurse had entered. Dressed in navy today, a warm white fleece was unzipped and open.

"May I come in? I have to torture you with a set of vitals."

I return! [ F looking for casual-advanced partners. ]

Bump.

The Long Road Home

As he seemed to calm a bit, the beeping of the monitors seemed to slow enough that she didn't seem overly alarmed herself. Instead, he would be able to see the glint of auburn hair and a flash of pale eyes that bore no cosmetics in which to enhance them. Given the darkness of the room, and only the fluorescent lighting of the hall, it wouldn't be hard to tell that it was night time.

It was his questions that seemed to soften her expression more, which earned a moment of trepidation before her voice came again. "Well, we can begin with you being in the hospital, Mister Chambers - Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, to be specific." Slowly, her sore form lowered down and sat in the chair beside his bed, a welcome reprieve for throbbing feet. "You've been through the ringer, and though I could throw a lot of medical mumbo jumbo at you, I think you'd probably prefer some bluntness while you're a little hazy."

Leaning forward, she seemed to close a bit of distance in hopes to help comfort him, calm him just a bit. "Last time you were in the field, your spine took some damage, which is why you might be feeling pretty far off-kilter, and there were also a few bullets to contend with. You've got a journey ahead of you, but there's no reason to feel hopeless."

Slowly, one small hand was held out in offer if he wanted to wrap his fingers around her own - but she didn't grab, merely offered. In their state of shock, many lashed out and most rejected such a notion, but it was there regardless. "I'll be through it with you, at least through the worst of the medical part of it. I can't tell you everything, but I'm sure the doctor will want to talk to you in more depth than I will."

The Long Road Home

The night had been quiet, something that Celeste had been incredibly thankful for. There had been precious little sleep on the thin mattress in her hostel, but the couch in the break room was comfortable and working doubles meant that she could choose to sleep on premises. Rubbing her sore back, a sip was given of her coffee from where she stood in the sterile hall. Charting on her tasks for the day, rather than behind the desk that meant that she couldn't hear any movement, she found the serenity almost calming.

Swift fingers soon pressed to the next screen - Chambers. Using her pointer finger on the touch screen, she was soon enough re-reading over the man's Kardex. The notes and injuries were extensive, prognosis was poor, and they had yet to properly address his mental state.

POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS.

Those two words were common, but they felt like a slap in the face when she began to hear the shuffling inside of the darkened room. Though she had stepped in to check his vitals and adjust his IVs, he had been peaceful. He certainly wasn't now. Pausing briefly at the door, her coffee was left atop the glove rack as she hurried within. Monitors weren't screaming, but the rates were increased. Soon enough, he would find the ceil blue of her scrubs at his side.

With his extensive injuries, the hand that touched him was on his chest, barely there. "Easy, soldier." Voice quiet with the monitors, she knew it sometimes helped in focusing attention from being scared and panicking.

"I'm right here, it's all right." Reaching to his bed side table, the hand from his chest wrapped warmly around the back of his neck. A Styrofoam glass with ice water was brought to him, the straw pressed between his lips to let him drink. Putting it aside once he was done, his pillows were resettled behind his head.

Leaning as close as she was, he could have scented both her perfume, warm and sweet, and the disinfectant on her scrubs. Her badge had a glaring red RN at the bottom, a picture identifying her and her name, but in his panic and the darkness, it might have been impossible to identify.

"Looks like they should have gotten you a touch pad," was murmured more to herself than him. Straightening from where she had been bent over, trained eyes assessed him and adjusted the pillow under his knee. "I'll have to check if you can get more morphine."

The Long Road Home

Celeste McAlan, 26, Registered Nurse

Everything happened for a reason.

That was what Celeste had been telling herself since she was a child, but few things had prepared her for her life in Germany. Nothing could have prepared her for the shock of seeing horrific wounds and broken men, but it had hardened her resolve to heal as best she possibly could. It was a good reprieve from her mind threatening to bring on it's own horrors.

The nurse had excelled in her studies, choosing to throw herself into something positive among all the negative in the world. She had graduated with honors by 22 and found a man she loved. Though her wedding had been the best day of her life, but there had been nothing honorable when the alcohol had made him violent.

The divorce had been horrendous, terrifying, and heartbreaking. When her job had given the option to transfer, she certainly hadn't expected that the offer would be for Germany.

It was a new start, a new place, but would it truly bring the healing the nurse needed?

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