Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still haven't bought any stock in Marvel so I don't own the X-Men.
V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V
Etienne came to, finding Jean sitting in the seat next to him. "How are you feeling?"
He licked his lips. "Honestly? Like dat Juggernaut guy sat on me. What happened?"
She got up and poured him a glass of water out a near-by pitcher. "The stimulator in your arm gave you a small heart attack."
"Dat why I feel so woozy?"
"Yes, that and the painkillers to keep the stress on your heart down."
He groaned and closed his eyes. "Bobby's watchin his girly videos again."
Jean blushed and sent a mental request to Bobby to stop his current activity. "Sorry, he's promised to stop watching them for the time being. Can I get you anything else?"
"How long ha' I been asleep?"
Jean turned around in the doorway to answer the last question. "About a day. Everyone should be starting to come down for breakfast soon so I'll grab you some. Any requests?"
"Yeah, some bacon an' eggs."
About that time Dr. McCoy walked past Jean into the room. "No bacon I'm afraid, the salt content it too high. You can have some toast though."
Etienne shook his head in disbelief. "Y' got ta be kiddin me. Fo' how long?"
Beast was watching the readout on the EKG machine. "Oh, about three weeks just as a precaution. If you'd like we can do some basic tests now so that after your breakfast you can go back to your room."
"Yay. Let m' guess, de prescription is bed rest?"
McCoy brightened, not catching the hint of sarcasm. "Exactly. Lots of bed rest with a low-sodium intake. We don't want to place any strain on your heart until it recovers."
V.V.V.V.V.V
Etienne sighed with frustration. He'd spent the majority of the past three weeks in his room being waited on hand and foot by the other students at the Institute. Normally, he wouldn't have minded, but at this point he thought he'd scream if one more person popped their head in and asked if he needed anything. Of course, it didn't help that because of the medications his powers were out of control. Just yesterday Scott and Remy had gotten into a shouting match in the Danger Room 2 stories down. Even that far away his powers had reacted and he had almost bitten Jubilee's head off when she came to bring him lunch. Thankfully tomorrow McCoy was going to reevaluate his condition and see if he could get off the medications.
A knock sounded on his door and Rogue popped her head in. He could see she was in uniform "We're leavin' on a mission. If ya need anything Brooke is next door." He waved her off. "Go break a leg an' try t' keep m' cousin from killin' his self." She grinned at him glad he was looking better.
About three hours later, he decided to go and get something to eat from the kitchen. He was shutting the door to his room when he turned around and literally ran into somebody coming up behind him. He turned around to apologize only to stare at the girl in front of him. :Dis must be de elusive Brooke, de new student everyone keeps talking 'bout.:
Brooke looked at the guy who had just bumped into her. From the patch over his eye she knew this must be that guy Etienne who had been in the Med Bay the day she arrived. She agreed with the description Kitty had given her. He definitely looked cute, kinda like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. "Hi, you must be Etienne."
He nodded. "Oui. I was jus' on m' way t' get lunch. Would y' like t' join me?"
Since she had been heading to the kitchen anyway she nodded. "Sure. In fact I know where Kitty stashed a bag of Doritos that we can snag."
He covered his heart with his hand and sighed. "Fo Doritos, I'll make de sandwiches. Deal?"
She grinned at him, feeling comfortable being alone with a guy for the first time in who knew how long. "Deal."
He returned her smile. Maybe today wouldn't be a complete waste after all.
The two of them plopped down at the kitchen table with their ham sandwiches and the bag of Doritos, talking about anything and everything. They found out there was a lot in common between them. Both enjoyed computer games, science fiction movies, fantasy novels, and a varied taste in music. They were both from the South, and both loved fresh seafood.
"Your kidding me! He didn't really do that just to impress a girl did he?" Brooke had been listening to a story Etienne was telling about growing up in New Orleans with his cousins.
"Sure did. His Daddy skinned his hide soon as he found out too." He looked at her, wondering why they hadn't met sooner since their rooms were next door to each other. "So what's y' mutant power?" He was looking down at his plate or he would have seen her face blanche.
"I don't know." She knew he would eventually ask. Everyone had asked her at one time or another only to receive the same answer. Most of them looked at her like they thought she was lying, but she didn't care. Well, not really. Even with all the work she and the Professor had been doing, she still couldn't remember too many details of her assault.
He looked up in surprise, just now noticing the look on her face. "Y' kay chere? Y' look pale."
She nodded. "I'm fine. It's just hard to explain when people ask me that." In reality she was not feeling fine. It was extremely hard even two months later to discuss the event that had led to her coming to the Xavier Institute.
He studied her. "Y' don't have t' talk about it if y' don't want ta. Dere are some t'ings I don't like talkin' bout too."
She looked down at her hands and swallowed, feeling nervous. "No, it's okay. Professor Xavier says it will help if I talk about it." She looked back up at him. "I was assaulted one night by a group of guys, or at least that's what the police report says."
He raised his eyes in surprise. "What de report say?"
She nodded. "I was unconscious when they found me." She could feel her fear starting to pull at her insides, and tried hard not to show it.
"Did they catch de guys who did it?" With both the Professor and Jean gone on the mission, his empathy was starting to pick up her nervousness and fear.
She looked down and a tear escaped to slide down her cheek. "You could say that. When the police got to the scene, all my attackers were dead." She broke down at that point.
He reached out and grabbed her hand only to drop it and clutch the table with a grunt. The contact had sent his powers into overdrive and he could feel everything she was. He swallowed hard and looked into her face. "It wasn't y' fault chere, y' not responsible fo' killin' dose men."
"I've got to go." She looked at him horror as he spoke aloud exactly what she had been thinking a moment before. She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs back to her room.
He watched her go, wanting to help but knowing with his abilities out of hand things could get worse instead of better. He picked up the plates and put them in the dishwasher before walking to the Rec room to stare at the television, with a slight headache behind his eyes.
V.V.V.V.V.V
When the others returned in high spirits because of the success of their mission his mood improved. With everyone working together dinner was ready in no time. Etienne was beginning to sit between his cousin and Kurt when Jubilee, who was across the table, looked around and asked where Brooke was. Etienne looked around and sighed, running a hand across his eyes. He hadn't seen her since she had run upstairs earlier in the day. "I'll get her, she's in her room."
Remy exchanged a look with Kurt, both of them wondering what had happened while the others had been gone.
Etienne knocked on the door to Brook's room. She cracked it open and looked at him. "De others are downstairs waitin' on y' ta eat dinner."
"I'm not hungry."
He put his foot in the door and pushed it farther open. "So what, when did y' start hidin' in y' room?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not hiding, I'm just not hungry. Now if you don't mind, get out!"
He grinned at her, which infuriated her more. "Non. Y' avoiding me den. 'Sides, y' forget with m' abilities I can tell y' starving."
"You forgot starving and very annoyed at you. Fine, I'll come down to dinner if you'll leave me alone. Happy?" She started to push past him.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her around to look at him. "Only if y' are chere."
She looked up at his face, sensing the seriousness of his tone. Without saying a word she pulled her arm from his hand and walked down the hallway without looking back.
He stared after her, wondering what the hell was wrong with him to do something like that. He knew she had been surprised and frightened when he grabbed her. Can't wait till I get off de meds an' get control of m' powers back.