He made it stop hurting, but the numbness was slightly jarring. Detached and numb was a thousand times better than burning, but it seemed to add to her general feeling of disorientation. Her head was still swimming. He scooped her up easily and laid her, dripping clothes and all, on her pristine bed. At least it was finally getting some use. She didn't want him to see her face for some reason, she felt miserable for being so stupid and even more miserable for being useless in her own crisis. She flung her good arm over her face leaving her mouth free to suck in air, much as she had buried her face in Garrett's neck.

Garrett fussed with this or that, getting her a pillow and drying her legs and covering the area she knew her hand to be in. She lay like a log, trying to get a handle on herself. She'd stopped crying by the time he finished fussing. Maya felt him press the towel he'd been using into her good hand and she pulled the towel over her face, drying her eyes before tossing it aside.

With her face finally exposed, Garrett leaned over her and caressed her cheek. He spoke in a whisper like anything more would break her. He explained about the doctor and she agreed, though she didn't have to enjoy the part where he left. She couldn't help but look a bit wounded when he insisted that he had to leave her. He leaned in kissed her softly before finally promising one more time that he'd return and marching out of the room.

She put her hand over her hammering heart, as if it hadn't been working in overtime already! Now it was only her and her soft gasps for air. When she'd first manifested the ability to turn incorporeal it was like this. Like being in a constant state of asthma except the problem wasn't that her airway was closing, her problem was that whatever her body needed wasn't in every gasp of air. She tried to focus on her out-of-whack equilibrium, tried to focus on what gas or mineral or particle or whatever she might need and call those to her so she could at least ease the tension in her ragged throat.

She lay very still, using the focus to calm herself. Thinking about something specific and not related to her injury helped her slow her heart and calm herself. By the time he returned she would probably be breathing more normally at least. Though as teh seconds ticked by, she tried not to question how long it had been.

Garrett moved like greased, or in this case, wet lightning. The sweat pants he had chosen were heavy with water, threatening to slide free at any moment. All he could think of was Maya, lying there all alone. He had hated to leave her, but he knew the DocProf could heal her completely. Everything else was secondary.

His mind racing, he almost ran past the door to the Infirmary. He quickly turned to change directions but found himself on tile with wet feet. He fell straight down catching his face on the wall as he went down. Pain flashed in his face as he said some choice words. The light came on in the Infirmary and he looked up, seeing the DocProf looking down on him, his wrinkled coat showing that he had fallen asleep working.

" Garrett, what are you doing, are you alright?" The Doc knelt down, his hand reaching towards Garrett's face. He quickly swiped the doctor's hand away, saying " Forget me! Maya is burnt badly!" His eye was closing up on him a bit as he got up. He grabbed the DocProf by the coat pocket and started pulling him. They both hurried down the hallway until they reached the door of her room.

As they entered, Maya was lying there with the towel over her face, but breathing normally. A few doors had opened and girls were peeking out. The Doc sternly told them to go back to bed, but then softened his tone reassuring them. Garrett closed the door behind them. " I told you I would come back. I brought the DocProf."

As the doctor approached her, the adrenaline had worn off and Garrett had to sit down. His eye was already swollen shut. He squinted out of the good eye and smiled as best he could. The DocProf would make her better. That was all that mattered.

Ghost had fallen into a sort of half-daze and she wasn't fast enough to shake it and take the towel from her face when she heard Garrett and what must be the DocProf's footsteps outside of her door. She shook her head slightly and tried to be more aware.

"I told you I would come back. I brought the DocProf."

Maya slid the towel slowly down so that her eyes were exposed when she heard DocProf approach and coughed out a small, "Hi." She wished they could meet under better circumstances, but DocProf seemed to be used to meeting people under duress. She moved slightly, uncomfortable to lay when it was only her hand and wrist that were injured, but DocProf steadied her. His hand folded firmly around her small shoulder to keep her from sitting up or anything else. "Lie still. We can talk afterward." He looked in her eyes to affirm her cooperativeness and his eyes crinkled slightly as he set about his work.

"This arm?" He guessed as he lifted the towel to inspect the damage. He made no sound, though Maya made a small hiss as a wave of nausea rolled over her. She hadn't seen it yet, and she hadn't actually wanted to see it. Now that the image of burned flesh was there, it burned a permanent place in her mind. She lay back against the pillow looking at the ceiling.

"No pain?" He seemed a bit confused in his question, a burn like that should leave the patient writhing.

"Garrett." Maya replied toward the ceiling. She was glad to hear a soft 'ah' from the DocProf because her capacity for speech seemed rather limited with her brain as addled as it was. Maya tensely ran her free hand over her forehead and through her hair. She wasn't quite sure of what to expect. She pulled at the soaking locks of hair, squeezing drips of moisture from them until DocProf's face appeared above hers.

He seemed to sense her tension and so explained what was going on. "I'm a healer, but I've got to touch you. When my power triggers it will feel warm, is that okay?" She must've still looked panicked for all the care he was taking not to scare her. Again he waited for her nod of consent before he placed his fingers on Maya's temples. The Doc closed his eyes and concentrated. Mentally he relived the fire without the pain. He searched for any signs of injury, minor or major that he sensed as a result of the incident and as he sensed them, the wounds began to feel warm.

Despite all the warming, fresh panic roiled through Maya's stomach when she began to not only feel her hand, but feel it warming. She tried to defend herself, instinctively throwing her arm as far out from her body as possible again as she writhed. Luckily, she caught nothing but air in her short struggle. DocProf's hands kept her face still but she still managed to squeeze out a few fresh tears before the warmth faded and she was left feeling very wet and actually a bit cold.

DocProf stepped back a bit, wiping his forehead as he did so. He saw Maya begin to sit and again pushed her to lay. "All finished, but you should still take it easy for a bit."

"Garrett?" She asked, realizing he'd been strangely absent and silent through the whole ordeal.

"Ah." This seemed to remind the Doc of something and he left Maya's field of view. "Let me see that eye."

Maya sat up then and immediately regretted it. She put her hands on her forehead, glad to have use of both. Once she established which direction was up and which was down again she saw DocProf kneeling in front of Garrett.

Garrett watched as the DocProf worked on Maya. It never ceased to amaze him to watch the man do his work. What an amazing gift, he though to himself. He thought of his own ability to relieve pain in others and its uses. He would never be able to heal like the DocProf, though. He would have to actually go to college and medical school. That was on the other side of the universe from a guy without a GED. But it wasn't impossible. It was surely something to mull over.

He heard Maya call his name or at least mention it, speaking to the doctor. He started to get up , but the pain and disorientation originating in his eye made him sit back down. He was feeling a bit queasy from using his ability so often. He thought he could just sit and wait for the pain to end when the Doc was done with Maya. The episode had really scared him. Had that been any larger fire..He closed that scenario off before it began.

He could hear Maya rolling around and crying a bit. It made him hurt worse than his eye could. He really tried to right himself and get up, but he couldn't. He wondered if he had busted a blood vessel or something near his temple, as he could feel a warm sensation moving around his eye. Moving caused nausea and disorientation. Though the DocProf had calmed his nervous system and made him less prone to seizures, it was still delicate and couldn't take too many jolts.

"All finished, but you should still take it easy for a bit."

Garrett was pleasantly surprised at the Doc's speed and efficiency. It hadn't seemed to take very long.
He heard Maya call out for him and he wanted to get up. He was getting shooting pains through his head, accompanied by some type of internal red flashes.He felt very strange, almost like he was retreating from himself. The noise in the room died down and seemed to trail off in the distance. His vision and awareness was yanked back to its original location as the telltale warm golden light moved through his face. His left eye fluttered open with his right and the DocProf was in front of him looking into his eyes with a clearly troubled look on his face.

"Garrett, that could have been much worse than it seemed." Was he chiding him for not coming fast enough? Though his face was healed, his mind still seemed drowsy." Wh..wha? I came as quickly as I could" The doctor smiled a bit and shook his head." No, no. I mean you, Garrett. You had a concussion. I healed the initial damage, but I can't reverse time. I need you to get up. Wake up."

Concussion? That wasn't so bad was it? He nodded and put his hands against the wall, hand walking himself up until he was standing. Maya was sitting there looking in their direction, also with a disoriented look on her face. He smiled at her as his eyes opened and closed slowly. The DocProf had his arm around Garrett, stabilizing him. He moved him to the second bed and sat him down. Garrett tried to get up, but the doctor put his hand on his shoulder and sat him back down. He was surprisingly strong for someone so old.

" You both need to rest and take it easy. You will both recover, though. Please don't hesitate to come wake me if there is another problem." He then looked at them both and left the room, closing the door behind him. Garrett still felt somewhat woozy and stayed where he was. He looked at Maya.

" Hey you. Feeling better?" Though he wanted sit by her and touch her, his body and strange feeling demanded he stay seated.

Concussion? Maya watched with interest even though it seemed she was watching things that were all very far away. Had Garrett been gone long enough to get a concussion? Is that was he was doing when he left? He was moving slowly as if he were swimming through Jell-O, every momvement deliberate but seemingly against much resistance. He smiled at her and blinked slowly. Was he tired? She couldn't exactly remember what concussions did to people. Did he need ice or something?

The DocProf repeated his plea for them to both rest. It made Maya smile, the movement felt strange as if the blood had not been flowing properly until the muscles were actually asked to do something. She was also glad to hear that they would both recover. Nothing like lighting yourself on fire to give you a new perspective on life. Actually she was beginning to feel a bit giddy. It was all kind of funny when you thought about it.

Maya inspected her hand as if it were a wholly new creature instead of the same one she'd been used to for the last 19 years of life. The swift change from whole to burned and then whole again all had happened so fast. She began to tell herself it'd all been imagined until Garrett spoke up asking if she was feeling better. She'd almost forgotten he was there.

Garrett was straining to look at her and just the thought of him laying in the other bed in her room was somehow funny. She put her hand over her mouth and tried not to laugh, each chuckle made her head throb. It seemed he'd caught something in the face, though the Doc had healed his concussion Garrett's eye was red with loose blood. Again, it was all too funny. She still felt light-headed, but the part that bothered her the most was the wet. It had to be the reason for the coldness that she felt.

"What'd you do?" She tried not to sound so very amused, but she couldn't help it. Maya seemed stable enough sitting as she was, but what she really wanted to do demanded that she move. For now, she sat perched on her bed with her goosebumps. Once she felt up to it, she would attempt a go at her dresser or at least attempt to make short distance between the two of them non-existent.

Garrett had lied down on the bed, following DocProf's orders. He turned his head to look at Maya who was looking back, smiling and giggling. It was contagious. With a growing smile, he said" What was it you said in the library?Yay for the most coordinated people around." He giggled a bit himself. "Yeah, in my haste to get you medical attention, my wet feet and the tile floor introduced my face to the nearest wall and then its friend, the floor." He laughed some more.

He turned his head and looked at the ceiling. "I am going to have to try to remember that I am not invincible. I'm just a mutant. " He breathed a deep breath, his damp sweats chilling him in the cool room. " I'm glad you are okay now. Listening to you suffer really hurt me." It really had. All the times of joy and wonder he had shared with her only magnified the sounds of pain and suffering she had released.

Changing the subject sounded like a great idea. "So, maybe after we recuperate we can actually finish the ritual for your mother. I'll make sure to go outside to light the cones, though." He laughed a bit, the sound waking him up a bit. " Or maybe outside and down the street even.", he added, chuckling and turning his head back to her.

Garrett seemed more ready to comply with order, but now that the boss had fled Ghost wasn't about to sit around. She did chuckle at Garrett's mishap. It was a shame, but it just added to the sheer ridiculousness of the moment. She tested her legs as he spoke of his own durability. They were still a bit gelatin-like, but she seemed to have some bones left in there after all.

Ghost wondered at his silly statement about remembering he was only a mutant. Like only being able to render an enemy useless by messing with his nervous system wasn't enough. Of course they weren't invincible, but Garrett did seem fragile some how. Maybe it was all the time in the hospital. He breathed a deep breath, seeming content to rest as the doctor had ordered.

"I'm glad you are okay now. Listening to you suffer really hurt me." A simple statement like that seemed to suck most of the cheer from the room. "I would like to avoid doing that again, yes." She said in such a small voice that she wasn't sure he'd heard. Words seemed to be coming easier now. She felt her face with her hands and demanded that it stop swimming.

He tried to bring back the levity of the situation, but Ghost just didn't feel it anymore. She was too focused on getting to her feet.

"It wouldn't have been a problem if I'd remembered about the matches." She protested. She'd almost been hoping they could try again later, but with both of them loopy it seemed a bit of a stretch. Maya slid slowly onto her feet, feeling a bit guilty when she noticed Garrett was watching.

"I'll only be a second." She protested and made her way slowly and deliberately to her drawers. She leaned the top of her head against the wood as she pulled open a drawer and rustled through her things. It helped her feel anchored. She lamented inside about what she was wearing. It'd been the most comfortable and the most appropriate. She fished out the next most appropriate thing and one of the over-sized tees that Neena had provided. Garrett didn't seem too much larger than herself so she tossed it in his general direction.

"You're going to catch a cold." She insisted as she slid the drawer closed. She'd mustered most of her strength getting to the chest of drawers. She hadn't really planned for a return trip. Maya sagged slightly with her own change of clothes in hand. While she'd been giddy, she'd felt effervescent and light. Now that the conversation had slowed she began to drag. She was tried. Too much all at once, but that just happened to be the pace of a mutant it seemed. Everything all at once.

Maya sat stubbornly at the end of the beg where Garrett lay so that he could not see her. "Don't look." She chided, though she wasn't even giving him the chance as she peeled the wet things from her body and replaced them with something dry. She felt better almost immediately. It was as if the clothes themselves were warm, though anything must've felt warm compared to her skin.

Garrett screwed up his face a bit after making the comment about Maya's pain. all he had done was ruin any chance of forgetting it. As she slipped out of her bed and got to her feet, she seemed uneasy about his eyes on her. He turned his head away toward the wall, assuming she was going to change clothes. Between his unruly neurons and his social ineptitude, he was sort of amazed he hadn't repelled Maya completely yet.

He pondered how to refine his ways as his vision was covered. She had thrown a shirt at him and it had floated over his head. He inhaled the scent of her as the shirt had mingled with her clothing. He heard her shuffling around the room and assumed she was changing. The urge to look was hard to resist, but he seemed to manage well. He unbuttoned his own damp shirt and pulled it free, happy to be rid of it. He felt her sit at the edge of the bed, so he sat up and removed the shirt from his face just as she said not to look.

He watched the clothes slide free, her back facing him. The pose of her body made him think of a model for an art class. Her back was smooth and beautiful. He realized though that he was doing what she had told him not to. He quickly did the only thing he could think of before she happened to glance back. He put the shirt back over his head. So there he sat, shirtless with the shirt hanging over his head. A smooth operator.

She'd been as quick as her mind would allow and she'd survived high school gym so she knew how to change without too much exposure. So when Maya turned and found Garrett stuck in his own shirt she was a bit confused. She'd told him not to look and therefore assumed her wishes had been upheld. She'd never dream he was hiding - or had been caught trying to hide.

"Do you need a little help there?" She tugged at the hem of the shirt she'd offered him, sliding it past his face so she could at least see his eyes. He didn't seem to have the arm holes quite right so she let him readjust as needed. The corners of Maya's lips twitched up in a smile. It was funny again, but the laughter just brought on a wave of nausea that left Maya doubling over. Part of it was laughter, but part of it was wanting not to vomit all over the fresh shirt she'd provided Garrett with.

"I'm sorry." She held her stomach, curled at the foot of the bed as she giggled. "Your eye is seriously freaking me out!" Though the laughs were genuine she felt more and more tired after every chuckle.

"Do you need a little help there?[/i]"

The shirt slid down over his head as he could feel Maya manipulating it. His first sight was her smiling face close to his. He smiled and rolled his eyes at himself. "Apparently so. Thanks." He slid the shirt on properly as she seemed to curl up at the end of the bed.He buttoned the shirt, shaking his head at her and smiling. His mind was clearing slowly, the fog receding back into rational thought.

She seemed to really be set off by his eye. He hadn't seen it. It was impossible to do so without a mirror. " Is my eye really that bad?Thanks for the shirt by the way." He wondered if he should go have a look at his eye. "Still have one more problem, though. My pants are the wettest and I don't think you have my size. Suggestions?" It was the most masterful effort of keeping a straight face he had ever attempted.

Maya began to roll with a fresh smattering of laugher. "I'd bet you'd fit into a skirt!" She couldn't help it, but oh she surely regretted it. She cradled her head in one hand and her stomach with the other. She ended up gasping for air, not desperately as she had before, but entirely necessary after so much laughing.

"I... I don't think I have anything for you." Maya gripped the sheets around her face and shielded herself in them. What was she supposed to do about his lack of pants? "Sorry. If you think you'd fit - I'd offer you mine." Maya was wearing the only other non-embarrassing pajamas she had: Long athletic shorts and a loose fitting tee. Well, Maya'd already given him a shirt and she could wear some other shorts... if that was what he ended up insisting.

Maya rebounded with the resiliency and buoyancy she had always had. "A skirt? Well, I'm not scared, but I'll pass this time." He slid his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. He had gone on long enough with his ruses and she was looking exhausted from the night's events. She was gasping a bit again as she tried to actually come up with something she might have for him. He smiled and shook his head.

He stood up from the bed and had to grab the nearby nightstand to keep from falling over. He tried shaking off the haze in his head. " You are too sweet, Maya. I think I'll stagger off to my room and change into something else." He moved in uneven steps to the door and put his hand on the doorknob. He looked back over at her. "Should I come back after changing?"

"Should you be leaving at all?" Maya curled up on her side and turned away from the door. She pulled the dampened sheets with her. Was she pouting or just really tired? Even she didn't know. Maya folded her legs and curled into a full fetal position and found a nice resting place for her head cradled atop the crook in her arm.

"Don't come back with a concussion." She mumbled tiredly. She probably wouldn't last in a wakeful state for much longer especially with no one left to make her laugh.

"Should you be leaving at all?"

Garrett saw her turn away from him and curl up. Was it his brain? He must have really taken a knock to miss out on two important things. One, he had no reason to be woozy at all. He closed his eyes, the doorknob now being used as support. He started from his feet in his mind and moved up his body until he reached his head, returning his neural activity to its rightful paths and his mind to its rightful place. His vision seemed to clear up completely and his body felt fine. He was fine.

Two. She did not want him to leave. He felt his pants and though they were still damp in spots, were really not that bad. He walked over to the bed and sat on it, swinging his legs up next to hers in one motion. He propped himself up one one arm and looked down on her." I'm sorry, Maya. I cleared that concussion right up. I can't very well claim that Death would be the only thing to separate us and then run off because my pants are damp." He chuckled a bit, lying his free arm on his side and waiting for her response to his decision of action.

Maya felt the bed dip as Garrett came back and took his place on the bed next to her back. So he didn't leave after all. She couldn't quite process how he'd cleared up a concussion, but it didn't really matter. He didn't leave after all. She scooted so her back was against his warmth. Her skin was cool to the touch, much as it always was. She pulled the blankets up to her face, tucking them just under her nose. They were tangled and didn't cover her wholly but she didn't mind. Body heat was ten times better.

"Stay this time?"