Chapter 4:

The girl lay in the medical bed as life support systems flickered and a regenerative field glowed green over her prone body. The staff had managed to pry the metal off her bones and had kept it for observation purposes but she was stitched up properly and her body was a mass of stiches and bruises as her white skin was bathed in a pale green light and her body became stronger internally. But her mind, that was something nobody could fix or even start to explore. She had been stabilised to avoid shock but she hadn't opened her eyes or come out of the coma since she had been rescued three weeks ago. Xavier had come in every day and Wolverine had only been coerced to leave her bedside for food, water and a cigar briefly. Most of his time had been spent staring at her naked body and stroking her arms and brow gently to try and wake her. He suspected he wasn't doing a good job of waking her at all and he was worried. For some strange reason, he felt drawn to the girl and her injuries worried him.

As his gaze travelled down her body for the millionth time that day, the lights on the console began to flicker as her heartbeat got stronger and she began to stir as one hand moved slightly and began to squeeze itself hard. Grabbing it, Logan covered her hand in his own rougher one and squeezed. Then, her eyes opened slowly and stared at him with terror. Shivering, she began to shake and tried to move away from him as the shivering got worse. Tearing her hand away from his grasp, she moved it behind her and tried to rise. The effort was too much however and she collapsed back onto the bed. Curling up in a small ball, her green eyes darted around quickly as she took it all in. Then, she hid her head and whimpered softly as Logan stared in shock at her. The eyes had been filled with terror the moment she looked at him and that worried him.

Finally, he spoke in a very gentle voice to coax her out. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt ya. You can come out of your ball; I won't hurt you like those others did."

She shook her head and stared at him with haunted eyes and he was about to say something when he heard the quiet squeak of Xavier's wheelchair in the room. Rolling over to sit by the bed, the Professor smiled at her and she shrank away hurriedly. Taking his left hand, Xavier touched her head carefully and she flinched as it connected with her hair. Looking up at him, she whimpered in fear and the Professor frowned inwardly. Why was this girl so terrified of being touched? Stroking gently, the Professor closed his eyes and entered her mind as she relaxed slightly and Logan looked on. Charles walked through her mind and saw everything that had happened to her and struggled to stop from gasping as he watched the experiments, the torture. The girl had gone through so much in her life and he pulled away from her psyche as he exited and opened his eyes.

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Sighing, Xavier smiled gently at the girl and patted her head. Blinking slightly, the girl began to relax as she slipped back into sleep and Charles motioned Logan out as her body lapsed back into its unconscious state and she slowly uncurled. Closing the door, he dimmed the lights and turned to face the bristly and quite confused mutant. Logan sighed and rubbed his head briskly as he stared at the Professor quizzically.

"The girl needs her rest. She has been through a lot in her life, too much for any soul to bear and she is traumatised greatly. She fears for her life, Logan and she is terrified of any human contact and in fact, any human."

Logan frowned and rubbed his chin. "Why's that, Chuck? What did those monsters do to her?"

Xavier shook his head. "Give me time, Logan. Her mind is too unstable for me to search anymore. "

Logan frowned and nodded as Xavier turned away. Frowning, the man sighed and then headed off towards his office to research a few things.