Learning to Breathe
Disclaimer: The worst part of injury isn't the pain; it's the waiting to become a fully-functioning person again.
Chapter Forty-Seven: Rehabilitation
"I can walk just fine on my own." Andi glared at the attendant. He pushed a wheelchair to her bed, expecting her to jump in and let him roll her out of the medical wing. She wanted nothing to do with this plan.
"No, you cannot." Zartan argued. "We have already discussed this! You had two bullets pulled out of your body, and since movement might, at this time, pull out those new stitches of yours, you must be discharged in a wheelchair."
"The home base always let me walk out before!" The blue-eyed girl retorted.
"This isn't like before." Zartan replied.
"Makes no difference, I will walk out of this room!"
"No you won't! You get in that wheelchair or..."
"Or you'll what? Make me?" She asked. "I would love to see you try it."
"Whatever you say." He said. She had no time to react before he picked her up and set her down in the chair. He grinned, either ignoring or not acknowledging the death glare she sent his way.
"This is so humiliating." She grumbled.
"It will teach you to think before you speak, though, won't it?" He smiled down at her, walking next to her as the medical assistant pushed her down the out the door and down the hallway.
From the medbay, the attendant and Zartan took her to the hanger, where an aircraft waited to bring her back to the main base. She brooded the entire eight-hour flight home.
Delgado houseboat
"I hate kids." Beach Head grumbled. Currently, he found himself tied to a table with an electric prod pointing at him. Behind his capture were Hector "Shipwreck" Delgado's triplet daughters Daria, Quinn, and Brittany. The girls were psychotic geniuses who loved to perform "experiments" on their houseguests. Beach Head was no exception.
"I still think we should have used the titanium bonds instead of those flimsy handcuffs." Daria said, writing something down on a clipboard.
"No time to second guess." Brittany said. "Prepare the instrument!"
"It's already on." Quinn said. "Man, he's tense. He needed this shock therapy worse than we thought."
"Time to start!" Daria chirped as her sisters jabbed the Army Ranger with the prod. His screams were heard for three miles.
Dreadnok's base
"There's the car!" Bryan shouted. The rest of the team waited by the front window for Andi to return.
"Hey!" Zarana shouted. All six teens turned to face her. "Don't try to tackle her or anything, okay? We don't want her to rip any of her stitches."
"Does that mean she can't play catch with us?" Mitch asked.
"Of course it does, you tub of lard!" Virus shouted.
"Take that back!" Bryan growled.
"Make me! You two Neanderthals don't have the combined brain cells required to drink from a cup let alone reason!" The English mutant scoffed.
"Let's get 'im!" Bryan shouted, lounging at the boy. Regan's psychic blast knocked both the brothers and Vincent back into line.
"Do you think she'll appreciate you two beating each other senseless? You know how much she hates infighting." The green- eyed girl glared.
"Glad to see someone's paying attention." The four turned to see Andi being wheeled in through the front door. "I just can't leave you nuts alone, can I?"
"He started it!" Bryan pointed at the British electronic-manipulator.
"I did not!" Vincent spat.
"I don't care!" Andi shouted, trying to stand up. Unfortunately, her injured leg failed to support her weight. She fell back into the chair with a thud. "Dammit." She swore.
"Didn't I tell you not to stand up?" Zartan groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"I hate being on the bench." The Canadian- born girl grumbled.
"You must get used to it, at least for now." Zartan sighed. "You'll be off of your feet, literally, until those injuries heal up."
"It won't be that long." She shrugged. "I heal fast."
"Not that fast." Kristen commented. "At least not compared to me, or your dad, or even your brothers."
"But I'm faster than most mutants." The blue-skinned girl glared at her friend. "I'll be back on my feet in two weeks."
"We'll see." Zarana interrupted. "Why don't you kids watch a movie or something?"
"Sounds like fun." Neal shrugged. Being closest to the injured girl, he grabbed the handles of her wheelchair and pushed her into the living room.
Once the kids decided on a movie and settled down, the adult Dreadnoks sequestered themselves in the kitchen.
"You know she won't do what those doctors told her to." Zarana said. "First chance that girl gets, she'll try to get up and sneak into the training area. And she'll hurt herself in the process."
"She's not stupid." Zandar said.
"No, but she is determined." Zartan said. "She wants out of that chair so bad she can taste it."
"Why didn't they just give her crutches?" Zandar said.
"Because of the shoulder wound." His brother replied. "If she moves her arm too much, she'll tear out the stitches there."
"Resulting in more bills for us and a longer wait period for her. Why can't she see that she's only hurting herself by trying to force her way around?"
"One word: pride." Their sister said. "She rivals Virus in that respect. If the people who ran that lab they keep talking about couldn't keep her in an iron cell, do you really think a flimsy roller chair will stop her?"
"Well, when you put it that way..."
"Exactly!" Zartan said. "That's what we've been trying to tell you about that girl for nearly a year now! If she wants something bad enough, she will get it one way or another, no matter what the risk to herself. The only thing we can do at this point is keep an eye on her."
"Do we bring the Dreadnoks in on this?" Zarana asked.
"Might not be a bad idea." Her oldest brother stated. "Speaking of supervision, I'd better get back in the living room before they kill each other."
"Good luck!" Zandar grinned. "You'll need it."
Whoo boy. Will Andi make for a break out and hurt herself in the process? Will Virus win over his new teammates? Will the X-Men make another cameo? You'll have to wait for a bit. While you wait, slip me a review. It encourages me to write faster.