Well. That had been unexpected.
She hadn't truly meant to touch the water pipe, but she'd stumbled and had instinctively reached out to steady herself. She'd felt the metal brush her fingertips and she'd hung on, wrapping her hand around it fully to regain her balance. The blinding, searing pain that had soon invaded her senses had not been part of the plan. She'd screamed before she had truly realized what she was doing, jerking her hand away and cradling it close to her body as everyone came running from various parts of the site.
Doctor Marbles reached her first, heart pounding at the thought of Hacker intruding or something equally as dangerous. He almost sighed in relief at seeing the empty hallway before noticing the tears streaming down his friend's face and the way she was cradling her right hand against her chest.
"What happened?" he asked as he approached her.
"I tripped and reached out to catch my balance and grabbed one of the pipes. Then it just hurt."
About that time Digit and Maddie slid around the corner, eyes wide and panting.
"Mommy! Mommy, are you okay?" Maddie asked, racing over.
"I'm alright, sweetheart. I only tripped."
Doctor Marbles gently took her injured hand, wincing at the angry red blotch across the palm and the blisters already beginning to form on her fingers.
"And burnt yourself very badly," he said, allowing her to pull away from his grip.
Maddie clung to her mother's leg, wrapping herself around it. Meanwhile, Marbles turned to the wall, scrutinizing the pipes that lined it.
"Are you gonna be okay, Mommy? Is it bad?"
"I'll be just fine, it just needs to heal, and your Daddy is very good at that sort of thing."
"You must have grabbed the water pipe. It's the only one hot enough to cause that much damage from merely grabbing it. Come with me, I'm going to have to take a closer look and make sure you didn't melt any sensors or circuitry."
"Do you need any help, Doc?" Digit asked, just as worried as Maddie.
"Just stay with Maddie. I should be able to handle this quickly."
"Okay, Doc."
…
"How's it feel?" Doctor Marbles asked after they were settled in his lab.
"Incredibly painful. And here I thought a burnt out board hurt, this is astronomically worse."
She tried to flex her fingers, hissing in pain as her nerve endings burned.
"Yes, pain is quite unpleasant at the best of times and downright unbearable at the worst. I'm sorry you had to find that out this way."
"As long as you can fix it I'm not too worried," she answered.
"This is going to sting a lot," he warned as he poked at the blisters with a small scalpel. She hissed as they popped open, cryoxide running onto the table in a sickly green stream. "That definitely isn't promising," he muttered as he took in the coolant.
He began examining the inner wires and sensors in her hand, occasionally tapping or poking one he thought was damaged. Motherboard to her credit didn't scream or thrash out, merely clenched her eyes shut as wave after wave of agony rolled over her. Finally Marbles stood up and left her alone, though her hand continued to burn duly. He returned with some type of cream which he spread liberally over her hand before wrapping it in thick gauze.
"That should help it heal. Just try to keep it dry and avoid infection and within a few weeks it should be completely healed."
"When will it stop hurting?" she asked, the pain only dulled by the ointment he had applied.
"I can't say. It was a fairly bad burn, you're lucky nothing was damaged other than your skin. It might stop later on tonight, or it might continue to throb through the week. Everyone is different. Just don't bump it against anything and you should be fine."
She stared at the white bandage, already foreseeing an interesting week.
"And what about Maddie? How am I supposed to explain that I won't be able to play with her or tuck her in?"
He gave her an unimpressed stare.
"You do remember that she is by all rights a genius? She'll understand perfectly well. I'd be more concerned about her trying to unwrap it and tinker with it to make it heal faster," he deadpanned.
She laughed.
"I suppose you're right, it's just so easy to forget sometimes."
"I know, but I'm serious about the unwrapping," he replied with a grin.
"Don't worry, she isn't going to touch it. If nothing else she'll be afraid to hurt me."
She stepped out the doors, deciding that pain by far was a sensation she could completely and utterly do without.