Aidan faces her fears to win a bet with Tony, but the suit might get the last laugh. Rated T for language and situations. Warning: Depicts blood donation process from start to finish. Thanks to Claye, Jo and Lauren for beta'ing.
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"You're doing what?" said Tony as he and Aidan headed back to California after a Sunday afternoon of suit scenario training. While she still had problems with the power of invisibility, she was still learning that the suit had plenty of surprises.
Tony was also learning that Aidan was full of surprises herself, suit or no. This however, was not one he was expecting.
"You heard me Tony, I'm going to the blood drive tomorrow and donate," said the young woman as she tugged on the collar of the jammies.
Tony scoffed at the intention. "C'mon Ade, ya've got to be kiddin', given your fear of needles. Ya had problems when I mentioned it at the dentist's when ya had your wisdom teeth taken out."
"True, but that was also because of the fact I was going to be put under anesthesia," said Aidan. "Besides, there's more to this than just getting over my fears. One of the students was in a car wreck recently, and we're trying to raise money to help with the hospital costs. This is one of those drives."
"It's a great idea, but this isn't just a shot either ya know."
Aidan rolled her eyes. "Tony, I admit I still have my phobia of needles, but how am I going to get over it if I don't at least try to donate?"
The agent thought about it. "OK, but I still think you're crazy."
"Why's that Tony?"
"Ade, ya hadta have Mr. H hold your hand when they gave ya that shot ta put ya out. You know as well as I do that he ain't gonna be able to come by the drive and hold your hand all the time."
"Doesn't matter. I've already talked to him, and he agreed to stay away from the drive until about noon so I could try this on my own. I'm going to donate before then and if he pops by after that, it's because he's being a principal, not my godfather," she said. Seeing Tony start to open his mouth, she continued. "And, since I know you're going to ask, the suit won't be helping either. I can't exactly wear it to the drive if you know what I mean."
Tony still had his doubts, but had an idea come out of it. "All right, since you're so gung-ho on this, how 'bout a wager?"
"I don't bet Tony," she said, only to see the agent shake his head as though mocking her. "All right fine, since I know you'll pester me about making one. OK, shoot... but not literally."
"Cute Aidan, but here goes. Ya go to the drive and make it through no help or probs, and I'll buy ya dinner. You ask someone to hold your hand or ya pass out, ya buy."
Aidan frowned slightly. "Tony, it's one thing to say not holding someone's hand, but another to say not passing out. I don't think it's fair to say if I do that I lose too. There are many reasons that could happen ..."
"Sounds more like you can't handle the challenge," he said with a smirk, hedging his bets.
"No, but it's not entirely fair," she said, then shrugged. "Fine, I'll agree to your terms on one condition - you have to donate too."
"Uh..."
"Don't tell me you're going to back out of this," she said, now smiling.
Tony sighed, realizing she called his bluff. "All right, we'll both participate. Tomorrow morning then, deal?"
"Deal."
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The next day was pretty busy at Whitney High School. Following Ralph's and Pam's advice as far as getting ready to donate, Aidan had eaten a breakfast full of protein and iron and drank plenty of water as well. Her class had heard about her trying this, and thought it was a great idea. Several of them decided that they'd go donate at the drive too so they could help the student.
At about 11 a.m., Aidan headed over toward the library where they were having the drive. Tony was already waiting at the door, impatiently checking his watch. "Took ya long enough to get here. Thought ya were gonna try ta back out," he said.
Aidan glared at him. "For your info, Tony, I couldn't head over here until after my first block of classes. Besides, you could've started without me," she said.
"Maybe, but then there'd be no witnesses to ya trying to cheat," he said.
"I do not cheat, Tony. Dealing with what I do now, I know stuff happens anyway," she said as the two entered the library to the registration table. "You first Ade," said Tony.
"All right, I'll go first, but after I donate, you've got to go too," she said. "Or you renege."
The agent only chuckled as Aidan sat down and began filling out her paperwork. She chuckled at some of the questions she was given, but filled them out anyway. "Well, better safe than sorry," she said as she checked one particular one.
Once she was finished, a nurse motioned her to come over to the next table. "Welcome. Is this your first time to donate?" said the woman.
Aidan nodded. "Yes... but how did you know?"
"Well, I've been doing this for a while and I can usually tell just because people start laughing at some of the questions they have to answer. Usually, it's the woman having to answer 'are you male and have you had unprotected sex with another male recently,' and that sort. An odd question yes, but given today's society, one that has to be asked, even to women."
"True, but I totally understand," said Aidan. She then answered the remaining questions that the nurse had to ask her personally.
"Now, I'm going to take your blood pressure and your temperature, and as long as your BP's normal and the temp's not above 99.1, we'll proceed to the next step," said the nurse as she stuck a thermometer strip in Aidan's mouth.
As Aidan went through this, Tony kept looking around, trying to see if Ralph or Pam would be stopping by and interfering with the wager. While he trusted Aidan with his life in suit scenarios, he didn't trust her enough to not cheat on a bet where dinner was the prize.
Aidan took a glance at him and shook her head as the nurse removed the thermometer. "OK, 98.6, and your BP's fine," said the nurse as Aidan took another glance at the agent. "Who's the guy you're looking at?"
"A good friend of mine. He's making sure I don't cheat."
"Cheat? That's ridiculous, you can't cheat the system of donating blood. We make sure of that so that no one can get infected by some disease the potential donator may have."
Aidan, realizing her error, blushed. "No, I'm sorry, nor would I even attempt that. Tony and I have a friendly wager on this. He thought I'd chicken out because I have a slight phobia of needles...
"I understand, and don't worry, we make sure the stick's fast so you don't feel much. Just a piece of friendly advice, don't look when the phlebotomist sticks you. It's not that bad, but I've known some tough guys turn sissy doing that."
Aidan smiled, realizing she was helping out. "All right, thanks for the warning. Personally didn't want to have this wager, but he wouldn't stop, so I agreed... but he has to donate too in order to win."
The nurse chuckled. "Well, personally I'm like you and don't like people making them for stuff like this, but if you got it to where he has to donate too, it helps us out," she said, chuckling. "Now, I need to check your iron with a finger stick. It's like a mosquito bite, and uses very little blood. All I need is you to stick your middle finger out so I can take the sample."
Aidan chuckled and held out her hand. "Sorry I'm flipping you the bird," she said, and the nurse too chuckled as she made the stick. True to her word, Aidan didn't feel any pain save a slight squeeze so the woman could get a drop of blood for the analyzer. After a couple of minutes, the result came out. "You have more than enough iron in your blood to donate," said the nurse with a smile. "Now, head over to one of the chairs and sit down. Someone will help you with the next part."
Aidan smiled and walked over, giving a sideways glance at Tony. "So far, so good," she said with a slight smirk.
"Hey, Ade, you still have to donate the pint," said Tony. While this was a friendly wager, Tony did start to worry that Aidan would win out after all. He realized that he'd have to do good on his part so the bet was a draw.
Aidan sat in the chair and crossed her feet at the ankles. She glanced at the other people donating and saw Lance in one of the chairs. "Hey Lance, how's it going?" she said, her voice slightly shaky now from nerves.
"Doing good, Miss Aidan. I'm about halfway done with my donation," he said. "You?"
"Minor case of nerves here, but better than I normally am," she said, feigning toughness. "So... how about them Dodgers?"
The student chuckled, realizing that while she did like baseball, Aidan had more than a minor case of the nerves. "They're fine, and you'll be too," he said. "I know you're scared, given what you said to the class about your attempt, but trust me, the guy sets the donation stuff up quick. Then all ya have to do is squeeze the little bar they put in your hand every few seconds until the bag's full. Won't take too long if you've been drinking lots of water."
Aidan chuckled. "Yeah, Ralph... sorry, Mr. H and Mrs. H said that too, so I did quite a bit before I came over. Have you ever had any problems donating?"
"Nah, and that's because I made sure I ate and drank before donating. That's where first timers have most of the problems," he said, then chuckled as he realized what he was doing. "I can't believe I'm actually teaching you Miss Aidan. The class isn't going to believe this."
"Well, sometimes the best teachers are the students themselves, especially with stuff like this," said Aidan as a man in a set of scrubs and long white doctor's coat walked over to her chair. He glanced at the paperwork. "Hi... uh Aidan. My name's Sam Draston. I'm going to help you with the donation today. Now, Bethany said it was your first time, so do you have any questions?"
"Not really, as Lance here gave me some answers I had for the most part," she said. "So I guess the only question is, can you get started?"
Draston smiled. "Sure, but you can't rush donating either. How fast you donate depends on your blood," he said chuckling. "Now, do you want to use your left or right arm?"
"I'm not sure," she said. "Any advice?"
"Usually, people will go with the opposite hand they write with, or whichever one has the better veins. Have you ever had an IV before?" he asked and she nodded and held up her left hand. "Well, that arm might be the best to try then."
"All right," she said as the man put a tourniquet on her left arm. He then rubbed the area over the crook of her elbow with iodine, then putting cotton over it to absorb the substance.
Noticing Aidan shake a little, Draston frowned. "You sure you want to go through with this? If you'd like, I can get one of the nurses to hold your other hand when I stick you."
"No, but thank you. If I do, I won't get over my phobia, not to mention losing a wager with a colleague."
The phlebotomist looked up and saw Tony, watching the scene like a hawk. "I see," he said frowning. "Reminds me of a buzzard I saw along the road the other day that was eating a deer." Tony, realizing the doctor was referring to him, shook his head and walked around.
"Miss Aidan, your friend over there has to be one of the most insensitive guys here," said Lance frowning. "Shouldn't bet on someone donating blood, 'specially if it's your first time."
"Yeah, but that's him Lance. Besides, I countered it with he has to donate to in order for him to win," she said with a chuckle. "So, I'm as ready as I'll ever be, sir."
Draston nodded and inserted the needle. Not hearing a yelp or other noise, he checked on Aidan to be on the safe side. He smiled softly to see she was awake. "You feeling all right Aidan?" asked Draston as he taped down the tubing attached to the needle and handed her a stress bar to squeeze.
"Yeah, didn't hurt too much," said Aidan, and Lance chuckled too.
"All right. Now, you need to uncross your ankles so the circulation can keep flowing to all of you. Now, squeeze the bar every few seconds to help with the donation process. I'll check on you from time to time to make sure you're still all right," said the doctor as he heard a buzzer go off.
Lance blushed slightly when he realized it was his chair. "Huh, guess that means my bag's filled up," he said. The phlebotomist nodded and took out the needle, pressing a gauze pad over the site. "Now, Lance, I need you to hold your hand over your head for a couple of minutes to help the bleeding, and then we'll bandage it and let you go have some cookies and a Sprite."
"Cookies and a Sprite," said Aidan, her eyes lighting up slightly.
Tony had to chuckle at the sight. "Leave it to you to think of food," he said in mock sarcasm.
"Hey, to me it's something cool, in addition to the shirt I'm going to get too. Besides, I don't see you filling out your paperwork yet, Tony," she said. "You know, I've already got an idea where I want to go eat."
The agent rolled his eyes, but noticing Draston's disapproving look, decided to keep mum. The man then turned to Aidan. "Yes, but Aidan the cookies and Sprite are also to help bring your fluid levels up some so you don't faint afterward. Since I'm guessing you'll have lunch shortly after this too, I'd advise you eat a solid meal and not stand on your feet all the time the rest of the day."
"No problems there. My class already knows we weren't going to be casting projects today, just because of this," said Aidan as she saw Lance get his arm taped up with a funny-looking red gauze bandage and go over to sit down on a couch. She chuckled when she saw him sit near where her chair was. "Don't tell me you're on watch too?" she joked, thought she knew that wasn't the case.
"Nah, figured you needed support, and I wanted to ask you a question about a project I'm doing while I thought about it," he said. "I thought about making a hammered bracelet with a stone set in the middle, but I don't know which one to use."
"What stones do you have?" said Aidan, and the teen told her. "Hmmm... I think with silver any will work, but since you're making it for your girlfriend, I'd say malachite because she likes green. Bloodstone, while pretty, isn't the best way to say: 'I love you.'"
"Malachite, huh? That's the green one with the black stripes in it right?"
"Yeah. Because of the copper in the stone though, just be sure not to pickle the project..."
"Pickle? Like put it in brine?"
"No, it's that stuff ... wait, never mind. I haven't taught that yet or made any of the mix in the classroom."
Hearing Aidan joking around and not complaining, Tony scoffed. He decided to go look at the magazines just to get away from this talk.
After a few more minutes, Aidan heard a buzz come from her chair. "Does this mean I'm done? Hopefully I'm not half-cooked," she said wryly.
Seeing Draston's look of concern, Lance chuckled. "Don't worry, sir, that's her form of a joke. She does it all the time in class to us students. I'd worry more if she was too serious."
The phlebotomist chuckled as he took out the needle from her arm. "I see you have very keen students, Aidan. Now put pressure on the gauze and hold your arm over your head," he said.
Aidan did what she was told, and smiled when she saw Tony's eyes dart away from staring at her to read the magazine. "Tony, I know you're trying to act casual, but you're reading 'Glorious Gardens' magazine," she said, chuckling.
"I like gardens," he said as he saw Aidan get her arm bandaged with the red gauze tape as well. "Besides, I've got to think of what Rhonda wants in her garden this year. There's a great story in here about peppers."
"Oh, that one about habaneros? Yeah, but unless you like them, I'd advise you go with chipotles. They're tamer as far as the heat," she said, kidding him. The agent rolled his eyes and buried his nose in the magazine.
Draston smiled at the two's banter. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" he said softly and checked her pulse.
"Uh huh, because of the wager and since I just proved to myself there's nothing to be worried about as far as needles. Now, may I go get a cookie and Sprite?"
"Yes, just be careful getting off the chair, and don't go too fast. This is your first time to donate, so your body's not used to being a pint low," he said. Aidan nodded and, holding his hand got off the chair without a wobble.
The young teacher sat down next to Lance, and was handed a couple of cookies and a Sprite. "Way to go Miss Aidan," he said. "I can't believe you just beat that guy at his own bet."
"Well, not quite. He's got to donate a pint himself to make it a draw," she said, taking a bite of her cookie. "Cool, oatmeal raisin, my favorite. Haven't had many of them lately."
"I don't like them myself, but I don't want to be blacking out in class," said Lance. "Guys don't pass out."
"Well, they can Lance, but I understand. Now, you said you had another question about one of the lessons and..." said Aidan, and the two continued to talk.
Tony looked up from the magazine again and frowned, realizing he was going to have to do his part of the bet in order for it now to be a draw. "OK, so I guess it's my turn," he said simply.
"Yep, unless you want to buy me a steak dinner," she said.
The agent rolled his eyes and headed over to the registration table. As he did that, Aidan continued chatting with Lance and other students who had come to donate as it would be a few more minutes before the two could return to class and lunch.
A few minutes later as Aidan and the others chatted, Ralph entered the library. He had kept his word and waited until after noon to stop by the drive. While he was going to appear anyway being principal, he wanted to see how his goddaughter handled donating. Aidan had warned him about the bet, and knowing she didn't want to lose that way, kept his word he'd stay away until that time.
The man smiled when he saw Aidan sitting on a couch drinking a Sprite and had the bandage around her elbow. She turned when she saw movement on her right. "So, I see you made it through donating," he said chuckling.
Aidan, looking up and seeing Ralph, jumped up from the couch to tell him how well she did ... and it was the last thing she did before the world went black.