When Imogene came round from after the operation she was back in the children's ward and the other kids in the ward were either talking with visitors or each other or playing with toys. The youngest kid was a little boy of only three or four who was building blocks with his leg in a cast and the only one near Imogene's age was the boy in the bed next to her who was Chinese and looked about thirteen. Imogene turned her gaze to her arm and looked at the stump where her lower left arm used to be. It wasn't hurting but that was probably due to the painkillers being yet to wear off. Imogene turned to the boy next to her who was looking at her.
"Hey I'm Lee, who are you?" the boy asked.
"Imogene, what are you here for?" Imogene asked.
"I got my appendix out last week. I was in the middle of assembly getting a lecture on staying awake in school of all things when I passed out. " Lee laughed and rubbed his side.
"I was in a car crash last night. You should have seen my arm. Burgh it was all blood and nerves. I can never be a doctor." Imogene replied.
"How old are you?" Lee asked.
"I'm fifteen, what about you?" Imogene asked.
"Thirteen. I'm at St Christopher's High School, what school do you go to?" Lee asked.
"Oakwood, it's alright. Hang on; you're at St Chris's? Isn't the snobby all-boys place run by priests?" Imogene asked.
"It's not that snobby and there are no priests. People just think that because it's a Catholic school it must be filled with nuns and priests. Anyway will you be here for a while?" Lee asked.
"I guess so. One of the doctors was telling me that I'd have to get physiotherapy and a fake arm. Still it beats coursework, homework, practice papers and teachers breathing down my neck. Though knowing them I'll still have to do the work while I'm here." Imogene replied.
Lee looked down the ward and turned to Imogene. "The kids are generally alright but can be a bit annoying at times."
"They don't seem that bad." Imogene remarked.
"That's because it's nearly lunchtime. It's after they get fed that they go mad." Lee said seriously as his parents came into the ward and he smiled at Imogene and began talking to his parents. One of the nurses noticed Imogene was awake and checked her stats and began telling her about when she'd begin physiotherapy later that day. Imogene smiled slightly but frowned as she felt a spasm of pain in the area where her wrist used to be. She turned to the nurse and asked what it meant.
"It's common to feel a sort of ghost-pain for a while after the operation. Your body has to adjust to the fact that the arms no longer there." The nurse explained.
"I'm not the only one who has to adjust." Imogene replied as Ianto and Jack came over.
"How are you Gen?" Ianto asked sitting next to her.
"Alright, it's taking a bit of getting used to but hey at least I'm right handed." Imogene replied.
"Listen we have been up half the night talking about our relationship and as usual you're right. We have been arguing too much and we're hopefully going to both watch our tempers a bit closer from now on and the others all send their love." Jack replied.
"That's cool. How's the baby doing?" Imogene looked around and dropped her voice slightly.
"They're pretty quiet today. Tosh is fiddling with Owen's systems to try and get an ultrasound going with what we've got." Jack replied in a low voice.
"Is it a boy or a girl? Do you think?" Imogene asked.
"I think it's a boy." Jack said.
"I think it'll be a girl." Ianto replied.
"If I know my biology and I don't it's more likely to be a boy right?" Imogene pressed.
"Obviously when you consider the parents," Ianto said thoughtfully. "Then again twins do run in our side of the family."
"I think one baby will be enough." Jack grinned.
"When do you have physio?" Ianto asked.
"After lunch I think." Imogene replied.
When Imogene had her lunch she and Ianto because Jack had to return to the hub were led to the physiotherapy department of the hospital. The physiotherapist was a man in his early forties who sat them down to explain about the artificial limb Imogene would have to get.
"Right because you lost your arm below the elbow we are going to fit you with what's known as Transradical Prosthesis. So we aren't going to do any proper physio today but instead get you hooked up with our experts so they can get your measurements and get a limb designed and fitted for you Imogene. This may take about a week or so and we'll most likely keep you in hospital until we get it ready and arrange for physiotherapy sessions a few times a week until you're confident with the limb." The physiotherapist explained to them.
Imogene and Ianto were taken to see the specialists who looked at the stump and took measurements and suggested they give her an artificial limb which would use electrical sensors to detect muscle movement and allow the arm to move in the way it was ordered so that she could use both arms for tasks. When they finally finished Ianto and Imogene returned to the ward to see that some of the kids were indeed livelier than they had been when they'd left. Lee's parents had left and he smiled when the siblings returned to the ward. As Ianto helped Imogene back into bed he checked his phone. There was a message from Jack. He smiled at it and turned to Imogene.
"It's all quiet at the office so Jack's taking me out for dinner. Tosh, Owen and Gwen might be coming to visit you and I'll see you tomorrow OK?" Ianto said.
Imogene took that to mean the rift was quiet and Jack wanted to 'make it up' to Ianto for the fights and nodded. "No problem. Have a good time alright?" she said as she gave Ianto an awkward one-armed hug and he left the ward.
"That your brother?" Lee asked.
"Yeah, he's cool." Imogene replied.
"How was the physio?" Lee asked.
"Didn't do any, we were just talking about the fake arm and getting measured up for it and all. I'm here for another week and knowing my bloody teachers they'll be piling the work onto me while I'm here." Imogene moaned smacking her head off her bent knees.
"My teachers are the same. Speaking of which, I have art work to do." Lee said bending over and picking up a carrier bag and slipping from his bed to swipe a box of crayons ignored by the children colouring in. As he worked, Lee and Imogene discussed movies and music. They both were fans of Girls Aloud and loved Johnny Depp's movies. As they chatted some of Lee's friends entered the ward and they broke off their conversation so that Lee could speak to his friends in peace.
Imogene turned her attention to her arm. She still wasn't used to this. She'd have to have a fake arm for the rest of her life. What did that mean for her plans to work for Torchwood? Would she still be able to go onto the field or would she be kept at the hub to either direct them or babysit the baby? There was also the idea of school. Not only would there be problems in Imogene being able to do PE but she didn't look forward to being treated either as a freak show or a fragile china doll as well as having fake sympathisers trying to fuss over her or trying not to offend her. Either way it wasn't going to be easy for her life in both school and Torchwood. The past couldn't be changed but that didn't mean it had to really affect her future did it? She would still be a sister and an auntie and a friend. She mightn't be a Torchwood field operative but she could be trained as a medic or Tosh could take her under her wing.
"Hello Imogene."
Imogene looked up and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Hey Gwen," she replied dully.
"How are you?" Gwen asked.
"Fine, good considering half my bleeding arm's been lopped off." Imogene snapped.
"Ianto asked me to get you some clothes and your school stuff so you don't fall behind in your lessons." Gwen said gesturing to the carrier and school bags in her hands.
"Typical Ianto," Imogene said. "No offense but why did you come here instead of Tosh or Owen. We're not exactly best friends are we?"
"I guess not but I was thinking long and hard yesterday and I know we never got off to a good start and it only just got worse afterwards with the boys but I want us to get along." Gwen explained.
"It won't be as easy as saying 'sorry' for the times we've crossed each other." Imogene said.
"I know that. This is why I brought a load of chocolate with me for you to have." Gwen said with a half-hopeful smile.
"What sort of chocolate?" Imogene asked.
"Huge bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk." Gwen said pulling it from the carrier bag filled with clothes.
Imogene looked from the bar to Gwen and smiled. "Sit down."
The next few days passed quietly in the hospital as January turned to February. Ianto visited every day as Jack's bump was beginning to be a bit more noticeable as his pregnancy progressed slightly faster than female pregnancies. It was only about eight weeks since it was conceived but was as developed as a three month old. Lee had returned home and Imogene's form teacher visited with a large card signed by her whole class and the details of the work she had and would miss. Imogene nodded and asked her teacher if she could get the principal to speak to the school and ask that they wouldn't treat her differently when she did go back to school. The next day Imogene was fitted with her fake arm. It felt heavy and clunky when it first came on and the doctors showed her how it worked. Tosh and Owen dropped in to visit her that evening and helped Imogene adapt to her arm. Eventually the day came when she could finally go home. Ianto came to the hospital at midday to see Imogene sitting cross-legged on her bed fully dressed and her stuff packed up waiting to leave. They went to the hub where Imogene was greeted with hugs and a large cheesy pizza. Hospital food left much to be desired and she'd been longing for a pizza for days.
On Monday morning Imogene got out of bed and had a quick shower before putting on the prosthetic arm and getting dressed. The three of them sat at the table eating breakfast and Imogene gave them a smile before they got into the car. As they stopped outside the school Jack and Ianto wished her luck as Imogene got out of the car and entered the grounds. The front yard was filled with buses, students and a few teachers on duty. As Imogene entered the yard it felt like almost everyone was staring at her. Imogene walked into school and managed to get to the French department unnoticed and slipped into her form room as the 8:55 bell went. The opposite happened in here. All the conversations died away as Imogene took her seat beside one of the girls who she hung around with at break and lunchtimes. Her form teacher Ms Patterson read the register and at the end of registration called Imogene to her desk.
"It's good to see you again Imogene. How is the arm?" Ms Patterson asked.
"Alright I suppose. It's getting used to it that's the trouble but I'm getting there." Imogene replied.
"You'll adapt in time." Ms Patterson said and Imogene resisted the urge to roll her eyes. If she heard that phrase one more bloody time… she knew people were trying to be supportive but hearing that phrase over and over again wears away at your temper.
"My brother was a soldier. He served in Afghanistan and he lost both his arms in a mortar attack." Ms Patterson said looking at the expression on Imogene's face. "He's like you, too independent to listen to people telling you it'd get better or you'd adapt because it isn't the same for them. I just want you to know I understand how hard it is for both you and your brother. Anyway you're late for your first class." Ms Patterson said and Imogene smiled at her form teacher and thanked her before walking out of the room and moving slowly to her Physics lesson. Mr Leonard was rambling about something or another and didn't even notice when Imogene walked into the room and took her seat. Due to the almost hypnotic tone of the voice of the physics teacher and the fact it was twenty past nine on Monday morning the rest of the class was either daydreaming, chatting in whispers or sleeping to pay attention to anything including her. However that wasn't the case at break when almost everyone in the classroom bombarded her with questions about her arm. Imogene removed her jumper and showed how the prosthetic attached onto her real arm and gave the basics on how it worked.
"What does the stump look like?" Laura asked.
"I bet it's all blood and gore." Oscar answered.
"Don't be thick; she'd have bled to death if they left it like that." Gavin replied.
"If you all shut up I'll show you." Imogene snapped.
"Don't be rude Imogene." Sarah-Louise said.
Imogene resisted the urge to roll her eyes for the second time that morning and fiddled with the straps until it was loose enough to slip off before removing the arm and showing her class the stump. The majority of the boys looked closer and some of the girls looked away and Imogene put her arm back on just as the bell went. One of her friends Meagan helped her tighten the straps.
"Does it hurt?" Meagan asked.
"Not anymore. Where are we next?" Imogene asked.
"Careers," Meagan replied and they moved into the corridor and staggered up two floors to the ICT and careers department by the seniors study and the library. To Imogene this class was a total waste of time. She was either going to leave next June and join Torchwood or stay on to do ICT. Either way she was joining Torchwood. It was what she wanted to do. Their teacher told them to log onto the computers to research the careers they were interested in. Imogene just did a Google search on having a prosthetic limb but had a tab open on a careers website. It was everyone in the class did. Careers was just an excuse to doss off on the computers, it was only useful in Sixth and Seventh year when the focus was on getting into university. After a period of RE and lunch Imogene and her form class were in a free English class as their teacher was out sick. Once again the class asked for a demo of the prosthetic limb and questions were asked. All in all the class weren't too bad towards her injury and there was no false over-bearing sympathy. Imogene's class was one of those rare classes where although they weren't all the best of friends, they got along reasonably well and although there was an idiot or two or the occasional division between the girls, they all got on better than some other classes did. The return to school wasn't as bad as what she had thought it'd be.
When school was over Imogene hopped onto the bus going to the bus depot and walked down in the direction of the bay. The only bad thing about today was the fact her teachers weren't going to let a small thing like having no lower left arm stop them from giving her a pile of homework. Well she was sure that was the only bad thing about today until she walked into the hub. There she walked into what could definitely be seen as something that made the day a little bit worse.