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The Nightengale: Chapter 8
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The recreation room of the hospital was pretty empty, besides a pair of soldiers with crutches playing checkers in the corner, and Logan, who sat in his wheelchair infront of the window. It was a terrible day, pouring rain outside, and humid inside.
As Logan stared at the rain as it drizzled down the glass, he thought he heard something. Instead of no sound at all or something like white noise, he thought he'd actually heard a sound. It was very muffled, almost staticy, but Logan could almost be positive that he'd heard something.
Suddenly being able to hear somewhat, even if it wasn't clear at all, was a strange feeling. Although the sounds weren't loud to anyone else, they seemed loud and gave him a headache. The noise came again, and this time Logan turned around, a hand on his head.
Jean stood there, slightly surprised that Logan had turned around as she approached him. He looked in pain with his hand pressed against his ear. She locked gaze with him as he turned. "Logan, are you okay?"
The sound of Jean's voice boomed in his head like someone had just shot off a thousand rounds from an automatic rifle in his ear. Logan clenched his teeth, but was unable to respond.
Jean fished in her skirt pocket for Logan's pain medication. She quickly opened the bottle, reaching forward and prying a hand from his ear, she put two pills in his palm.
Logan took the pills, tossing them in his mouth and swallowing them without any water. He grunted, looking at Jean with his steely eyes.
Jean's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and curiosity. "Can...can you hear me?"
Logan closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then watched Jean's lips carefully as she spoke. He shook his head. "No, not really." He could hear the thumping of his own voice as he spoke, the noise becoming familiar to him somewhat.
Jean waited until he looked back at her. "Do you hear anything?"
He cleared his throat, hoping that the pounding in his head would stop and the medication would kick in soon. "It's like..uh..like radio static almost. I can hear sound, not words. More like thumping, or beats."
Jean nodded, actually understanding what Logan was telling her. She put her hand on his in a comforting manner. She smiled, noting this as good news. "I'm going to set up an appointment with Dr. Xavier. He'll check out your ears to see if your hearing is coming back."
Logan grunted, looking off to the side and back out the window and the pouring rain. He grumbled something that sounded like a 'yeah, fine', still looking out the window. It's not like he didn't want his hearing back, he really and truly did. The only thing that was worrying Logan was loosing Jean, which scared him more than anything. If his hearing came back he'd possibly be leaving the hospital and never seeing her again. This meant he actually admitted to his feelings for Jean...almost.
Jean took hold of the wheelchair handles and started pushing Logan away from the window.
He turned to look at Jean, the pounding in his head finally subsiding somewhat. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, somewhat more angry sounding than he intended.
"I think you've done enough brooding for today, I'm taking you for some walking therapy." She answered him happily, pushing Logan towards the door.
He rolled his eyes. "There ain't even any therapy today."
"I know." Jean answered brightly, as he stared at her from the chair. "I'll be taking care of your session today."
"Hmph." Logan sighed, grumbling something incoherent under his breath and crossing his arms.
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Of course, the therapy door was locked, but Jean was gladly unlocking the door with a key she had in her pocket. She must've planned this.
Logan sighed, proping his elbow against the arm of the wheelchair as Jean pushed him in the empty room, turning on the lights as she did so. "Why'd ya take me here Jean."
She kneeled infront of him, watching as he winced slightly at the sound of his own voice. Apparently the medication wasn't all that helpful. "Since your hearing seems to be returning, your inner ear should have repaired some, meaning that your balance shouldn't be totally off still." Jean smiled. "This altogether means you might be able to walk some." She gestured toward Logan's leg. "You should be somewhat healed from the surgery so it'll be okay to put a little pressure on the leg."
Logan sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long afternoon.
Jean brought Logan's chair over to the walking poles to get him started. She then got infront of him again, standing inbetween the bars in order to guide him through. "Okay, now I'm going to help you, but I want you to try and stand up."
Without arguing, because he knew it wouldn't do any good, Logan pushed off against the wheelchair's arms to help him up. He felt somewhat dizzy, but was determined to atleast stand on his own. Jean offered to help, but he grunted and pushed her hand away with a determined, "No."
Logan unsteadily got to his feet, standing in an almost completely upright position. He was somewhat hunched over to keep his balance.
Jean smiled when he looked up at her. "Good." She then took his hands and made him grip onto the walking bars. "Here, hold on to this."
Logan nodded, watching Jean although he wanted to look at his feet and make sure they were moving. He carefully moved his hands along the bars, forcing his legs to keep up. There was less pain altogether than dizziness.
Jean saw him start to pitch forward and forcefully grabbed his arm, pulling it over her shoulder to steady him. "Easy, take it slow Logan."
"I got it." He grumbled, pulling his arm from around Jean's shoulder and gripping onto the bars again.
Jean backed off a bit, just enough to give him space to be able to move forward. She could tell Logan was determined, so was she. She wanted him to be healthy, to get his strength back. Maybe this would lighten his mood some.
Logan limped forward across the bars, trying not to put too much weight on his bad leg, but still trying to walk on his own. It was a struggle, and he could feel the sweat dripping from his brow, but he kept going despite himself.
Jean bit her lower lip as she watched him slowly make his way toward her, inch by agonizong inch. She could tell Logan was in pain now and was hoping he'd make the decision to stop on his own so she wouldn't have to force him.
Logan continued on, just about reaching the halfway length of the bars. He groaned, feeling his legs giving out on him and dizziness taking over.
Jean watched Logan start to slip and grabbed his arm. "Easy Logan."
He shook his head. "I wanna keep goin'." As Logan tried to shake off Jean's grip he nearly fell over.
Jean held fast, wrapping her arm around his waist to keep him up. "You've done enough, it's okay. Halfway's good for now." She led him back to the wheelchair unsteadily and sat him down. Jean grabbed a glass of water on a work bench close by and handed it to Logan, watching as he downed it in one gulp.
"I shoulda...made it all the way." He grumbled, slightly out of breath. It was obvious that he was frustrated with himself.
Jean patted Logan's shoulder, kneeling down infront of him. "That was good enough for today. How 'bout I bring you to the rec room to watch some TV, and I'll go make that appointment with Dr. Xavier."
Logan groaned audibly. "Jus' take me to my room then Jean. The TV's gonna jus' kill my ears from the sound I'll get from it."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that. Okay, I'll get you back to your room then."
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The Nightengale: Chapter 8
---------------
The recreation room of the hospital was pretty empty, besides a pair of soldiers with crutches playing checkers in the corner, and Logan, who sat in his wheelchair infront of the window. It was a terrible day, pouring rain outside, and humid inside.
As Logan stared at the rain as it drizzled down the glass, he thought he heard something. Instead of no sound at all or something like white noise, he thought he'd actually heard a sound. It was very muffled, almost staticy, but Logan could almost be positive that he'd heard something.
Suddenly being able to hear somewhat, even if it wasn't clear at all, was a strange feeling. Although the sounds weren't loud to anyone else, they seemed loud and gave him a headache. The noise came again, and this time Logan turned around, a hand on his head.
Jean stood there, slightly surprised that Logan had turned around as she approached him. He looked in pain with his hand pressed against his ear. She locked gaze with him as he turned. "Logan, are you okay?"
The sound of Jean's voice boomed in his head like someone had just shot off a thousand rounds from an automatic rifle in his ear. Logan clenched his teeth, but was unable to respond.
Jean fished in her skirt pocket for Logan's pain medication. She quickly opened the bottle, reaching forward and prying a hand from his ear, she put two pills in his palm.
Logan took the pills, tossing them in his mouth and swallowing them without any water. He grunted, looking at Jean with his steely eyes.
Jean's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and curiosity. "Can...can you hear me?"
Logan closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then watched Jean's lips carefully as she spoke. He shook his head. "No, not really." He could hear the thumping of his own voice as he spoke, the noise becoming familiar to him somewhat.
Jean waited until he looked back at her. "Do you hear anything?"
He cleared his throat, hoping that the pounding in his head would stop and the medication would kick in soon. "It's like..uh..like radio static almost. I can hear sound, not words. More like thumping, or beats."
Jean nodded, actually understanding what Logan was telling her. She put her hand on his in a comforting manner. She smiled, noting this as good news. "I'm going to set up an appointment with Dr. Xavier. He'll check out your ears to see if your hearing is coming back."
Logan grunted, looking off to the side and back out the window and the pouring rain. He grumbled something that sounded like a 'yeah, fine', still looking out the window. It's not like he didn't want his hearing back, he really and truly did. The only thing that was worrying Logan was loosing Jean, which scared him more than anything. If his hearing came back he'd possibly be leaving the hospital and never seeing her again. This meant he actually admitted to his feelings for Jean...almost.
Jean took hold of the wheelchair handles and started pushing Logan away from the window.
He turned to look at Jean, the pounding in his head finally subsiding somewhat. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, somewhat more angry sounding than he intended.
"I think you've done enough brooding for today, I'm taking you for some walking therapy." She answered him happily, pushing Logan towards the door.
He rolled his eyes. "There ain't even any therapy today."
"I know." Jean answered brightly, as he stared at her from the chair. "I'll be taking care of your session today."
"Hmph." Logan sighed, grumbling something incoherent under his breath and crossing his arms.
---------------
Of course, the therapy door was locked, but Jean was gladly unlocking the door with a key she had in her pocket. She must've planned this.
Logan sighed, proping his elbow against the arm of the wheelchair as Jean pushed him in the empty room, turning on the lights as she did so. "Why'd ya take me here Jean."
She kneeled infront of him, watching as he winced slightly at the sound of his own voice. Apparently the medication wasn't all that helpful. "Since your hearing seems to be returning, your inner ear should have repaired some, meaning that your balance shouldn't be totally off still." Jean smiled. "This altogether means you might be able to walk some." She gestured toward Logan's leg. "You should be somewhat healed from the surgery so it'll be okay to put a little pressure on the leg."
Logan sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long afternoon.
Jean brought Logan's chair over to the walking poles to get him started. She then got infront of him again, standing inbetween the bars in order to guide him through. "Okay, now I'm going to help you, but I want you to try and stand up."
Without arguing, because he knew it wouldn't do any good, Logan pushed off against the wheelchair's arms to help him up. He felt somewhat dizzy, but was determined to atleast stand on his own. Jean offered to help, but he grunted and pushed her hand away with a determined, "No."
Logan unsteadily got to his feet, standing in an almost completely upright position. He was somewhat hunched over to keep his balance.
Jean smiled when he looked up at her. "Good." She then took his hands and made him grip onto the walking bars. "Here, hold on to this."
Logan nodded, watching Jean although he wanted to look at his feet and make sure they were moving. He carefully moved his hands along the bars, forcing his legs to keep up. There was less pain altogether than dizziness.
Jean saw him start to pitch forward and forcefully grabbed his arm, pulling it over her shoulder to steady him. "Easy, take it slow Logan."
"I got it." He grumbled, pulling his arm from around Jean's shoulder and gripping onto the bars again.
Jean backed off a bit, just enough to give him space to be able to move forward. She could tell Logan was determined, so was she. She wanted him to be healthy, to get his strength back. Maybe this would lighten his mood some.
Logan limped forward across the bars, trying not to put too much weight on his bad leg, but still trying to walk on his own. It was a struggle, and he could feel the sweat dripping from his brow, but he kept going despite himself.
Jean bit her lower lip as she watched him slowly make his way toward her, inch by agonizong inch. She could tell Logan was in pain now and was hoping he'd make the decision to stop on his own so she wouldn't have to force him.
Logan continued on, just about reaching the halfway length of the bars. He groaned, feeling his legs giving out on him and dizziness taking over.
Jean watched Logan start to slip and grabbed his arm. "Easy Logan."
He shook his head. "I wanna keep goin'." As Logan tried to shake off Jean's grip he nearly fell over.
Jean held fast, wrapping her arm around his waist to keep him up. "You've done enough, it's okay. Halfway's good for now." She led him back to the wheelchair unsteadily and sat him down. Jean grabbed a glass of water on a work bench close by and handed it to Logan, watching as he downed it in one gulp.
"I shoulda...made it all the way." He grumbled, slightly out of breath. It was obvious that he was frustrated with himself.
Jean patted Logan's shoulder, kneeling down infront of him. "That was good enough for today. How 'bout I bring you to the rec room to watch some TV, and I'll go make that appointment with Dr. Xavier."
Logan groaned audibly. "Jus' take me to my room then Jean. The TV's gonna jus' kill my ears from the sound I'll get from it."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that. Okay, I'll get you back to your room then."
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