(OOC: Continued From 'Curiosity')

IC:

Luke sat silently beside the bed as he watched the feline slowly breathing in and out. Doc Prof. had gotten to her just in time so that he could remove the bullet before her body had completely sealed the piece of metal within her skull. He hadn't even had to cut through any newly healed tissue though if it had taken much longer he very well might have. For some reason the Doc had been strangely quiet about exactly how Sara had been injured. His power allowed him to see what had happened yet he refused to talk about it to anyone until Sara was fully awake.

So that meant that all Luke could do was sit and wait as he waited for his friend to recover. Why did it seem he kept getting stuck in this position?

As always Sara’s eyes fluttered as she slipped back into the land of the living. Her ears flicked back and forth first, listening to the different sound of the infirmary. There was the tang of blood and rubber, and plastic, and then the stench of meddison. It took Sara laying there a moment, to place the other smell in the room. Luke? Since when was Luke there when Sara was sleeping?.. Creepy…

And why was Sara sleeping on a bed in the same room as Luke?.. Creepier…

Sara tried to open her eyes but who ever had placed her on the bed must have covered them with some sort of light weight cloth. Or maybe the lights were off in the room and they had no windows. Sara’s hand slowly reached up to her face and she rubbed her eyes. The same eyes that had nothing but thread thin slits against the rest of her amber eyes. No cloth of blind fold. Sara decided the lights must have been out.

“Hey.” Sara said to with a dry voice. The movement of her arm made the tubs of an IV slip across the side of the bed and Sara started sliding her other arm down the tub to where it connected with her. Intending to try and pull it out.

"Hey." Sara's voice was a touch hoarse and dry sounding but it still meant she was alive.

"Hey." Luke said, the relief in his voice obvious. Moving quickly Luke reached out and grabbed hold of the hand that was reaching for the IVs, "You're still weak Sara. Maybe those should stay in." The blind man wasn't thinking about the possibility that the needles could end up embedded in the skin due to the cat's healing factor. All he was thinking about was the fact that anyone else in her condition would still need the IV.

"You're in the mansion infirmary, in case you were wondering." Luke said quietly as he swept Sara's body with his sonar, checking on her before realing it back in tightly so that it wouldn't be giving her the annoying buzz anymore, "Do you remember anything about what happened?"

Sara felt Luke’s sonar sweep over here. That thing always gave her the heeby jeebies. Then frowned when she felt his hand on hers to stop her from pulling out the IV, witch had already healed into her.

"You're still weak Sara. Maybe those should stay in."

“I really don’t want to be hooked up to anything.” Nonetheless, Sara let the tubs be. She’d just remove things when Luke wasn’t watching… not that you could call what he did watch. “I shouldn’t need this.” Sara settled back against the bed. her head shifted, then flinched. Normally she never woke up in pain. Things had finished healing and what ever pain there was, had passed.

"You're in the mansion infirmary, in case you were wondering."

Yeah… ok… Sara had woken up here once before. She mentally swore at the Doc Prof for the IV. He’d seen her trouble with them before. He said he wouldn’t put another one in her. “Can you turn the lights on?” What a funny question. Sara didn’t exactly understand how her eyes weren’t seeing, but she needed light. It was just so another one of her senses could confirm that the rest of her senses were. That Luke was telling her the truth. And maybe looking around would help too.

"Do you remember anything about what happened?"

Now there was an odd question. Sara sighed as she thought that over. The night before she met up with that old i-pod man. They pushed a few of each others buttons, and… Sara’s legs shifted under the sheet Doc Prof had put over her, and she pulled her legs up, as she shifted to her side.

“I was shot.” By a human of all things. Not just any human. One who could barely breath or walk. There was a mix of feeling there. One of being insulted. Another that she’d let herself get so weak. “Please, the lights.”

"Doc Prof!" Luke called out before turning his attention back to Sara. Obviously he had no clue whether lights were on and since he had been focusing on Sara it was quite possible that the good doctor had flipped off the light as he left the room.

"Once you're feeling better how about we do a joint hunting trip." Luke said quietly, his voice deadly serious, "I'd love to get a chance to... meet the person that shot you."

"You called Mr. Jacobs?" Doc Prof asked as he stepped into the main infirmary room, "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, Sara's awake. Would you turn on the lights for her?"

For several moments there was only silence and then the doctor approached as he pulled an otoscope out of his lab coat pocket. His words were almost like a physical blow against Luke's face. "The lights are on."

"Once you're feeling better how about we do a joint hunting trip. I'd love to get a chance to... meet the person that shot you."

Sara let a couple of stiff laughs out. “Yeah… you bet.” Was she really going to tell Luke who shot her? Sara hadn’t really decided on that yet. One thing was for sure, She wasn’t taking the chance of Luke going after someone, Sara had misjudged. Ok that sealed it. No telling Luke.

Sara finished shifting in the bed, trying to make herself comfortable when Doc Prof came in. Sara kept expecting the lights to come on, and in stead there was just silence as she new doc was standing there. knew he wasn’t reaching for a light switch and then knew he was approaching Sara’s infirmary bed and reaching in his pocket with the ruffle of his sleeve.

"The lights are on."

She could sense doc Prof’s close proximity to her, and when his hand went towards her face an inch from her fur her head jerked back. She didn’t completely retreat, but she didn’t like hearing things and being in a medical place, then having any sort of medical tool around her. “No the lights can’t be on.” Every nerve in Sara’s body stiffened and she hated this even more as Doc Prof shined the little do-hicky in her eye, moved it off to the side, then back, looking through the back. Then to the other eye. Twice Sara pulled her face back when he tried to steady her by touching her chin. Sara’s eyes didn’t change. The pupils staid as slits that were so narrow they might as well of been drawn by a sharp pencil.

Mean while her head still hurt. And fighting Doc Prof wasn’t helping. Because there was now a dull ach in the back, and in the front around her eyes.

Luke was completely silent for several moments, the shock evident on his face as he tried to face the facts. He had been to late to help Sara and now she was blind. How in the world would she deal with something like that? It wasn't like she had the option of a sonar to help her see so what would she do now?

"What do you see Doc?" The blind man asked quietly a few moments later.

"There doesn't seem to be any damage to the eye but your pupils are dilated down to thin slits that are almost nonexistant." The Doc Prof spoke to Sara, answering Luke's question even though the statement was directed towards the feline, "This could be something caused by remaining brain damage your body hasn't completely taken care of yet or it could be something more permanent. I can run a few more tests and scans to see if there's anything else going on in your brain but quite honestly the best bet is to just leave it alone and give it time to heal."

"So it might not be permanent then?" Luke's voice was obviously relieved at the idea Sara wouldn't be permanently blind, "That's something."

"Rest, rest, and more rest is your prescription." The Doc continued to address Sara as he took a step back from the bed and replaced his otoscope in the apropriate pocket, "After that kind of trauma I would expect you to have some sort of head pain as well. Do you need an asprin or anything?"

Sara was hearing this information, but her head was processing it so much slower than it felt like it should take. Sara’s eyes had no damage. That was a good thing. That meant she should see, but her brain had damage. She had brain damage… That was sort of hard to process.

She’d never thought of things being able to take this course with her body. It had always just healed perfectly fine. No matter what happened, and how was this brain damage? Weren’t people with brain damages supposed to have trouble thinking? Talking? Moving? Sara’s toes wiggled under the sheet and she was positive that she felt the fabric of the sheet slide across the fur on her feet normally. But she couldn’t look to see the normal movement. Or was this the way things worked? Did someone with brain damage think they were doing things normally when they actually weren’t?

” I can run a few more tests and scans to see if there's anything else going on in your brain but quite honestly the best bet is to just leave it alone and give it time to heal."

Sara pulled herself up into a seated position. She didn’t like just laying down with this information. Sara’s body had just fought for her life, and it occurred to Sara that she felt like she had been slugging it out with someone for hour. Like she should still be slugging it out. “So that’s all right now?

"Rest, rest, and more rest is your prescription. After that kind of trauma I would expect you to have some sort of head pain as well. Do you need an asprin or anything?"

She shook her head as her face was set dead a head at the foot of her bed. “No. Pain killers don’t work on me.” Sara said softly. Her throat was tight, and she was trying to hide the different in her voice.

Luke's friend was starting to break down. He could hear it in her voice and knowing the feline like he did he also knew that for such a thing to happen in front of other people would be unforgivable. If she was going to have a break down it needed to be private not just in front of everyone.

"I think that'll be it for now Doc. I'll call if she needs something." Luke said quietly as he reached over and grabbed Sara's paw, giving it a quick squeeze.

"Of course." The doctor said graciously before turning and exiting the room.

"Well, at least this means I don't have to worry about you cracking any blind jokes for a little while." The blind man said, doing his best to make his voice cheerful, "Of course, once you get your vision back it'll be right back to normal so I better enjoy it while it lasts."

Luke's mind was racing as he tried to figure out what he should say. What could he do? He'd been blind his whole life so it wasn't as if he knew the feeling of having one of his senses stolen from him. Words of comfort would be laughed or scorned due to the raw emotion so maybe there was something else he could do.

"Hungry? If I remember correctly this healing stuff takes a lot out of you." Luke changed the subject as smoothly as he could, trying to make things a little lighter and easier to face, "As I remember it, the mansion has a pretty well stocked kitchen. I can whip up something I'm sure."

Sara was a little relieved that at least Luke was understanding. She wanted to be alone even though she squeezed Luke’s hand back, when he took hers. She wanted to look strong, even if on the inside she was falling apart. She had to hold it together long enough to be alone. She knew Luke was still there, but she still curled her legs up to her chest. Hugging them so she could rest her chin over her knees. She thought things would be quiet between her and Luke, but when Doc Prof left, but Luke kept talking.

"Well, at least this means I don't have to worry about you cracking any blind jokes for a little while."

“yeah…” And if any one else ever insulted Luke’s blindness again, Sara was likely to take it personally.

"Of course, once you get your vision back it'll be right back to normal so I better enjoy it while it lasts."

Did she really make fun of Luke that much? Gah! She’d been stupid. Sort of like the night before.

"Hungry? If I remember correctly this healing stuff takes a lot out of you. As I remember it, the mansion has a pretty well stocked kitchen. I can whip up something I'm sure."

The truth was Sara wasn’t hungery. Even though she could actually feel her own ribs under the paper gown she’d been dressed in, and under her fur, she decidedly wasn’t hungry. But food wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe it would take Luke a while to fix something. Maybe he’d have trouble navigating the x-men’s kitchen. You know, because he couldn’t see, and… Oh lord…

Sara sucked in a ragged breath, and she mentally smacked herself. Was she really that terrible?

“I’d love a mac and cheese, or something.” Sara sighed.

"I'll be back in a little while then." Luke replied immediately. As he stood to his feet he gave the feline's paw one last squeeze before releasing it and heading for the door. Could he heal someone? No. Could he help them deal with their pain? Maybe. Could he cook up a meal to help them think about something else? Oh yeah.

***

The kitchen was silent as Luke got there and he immediately got to work. One nice thing was that there was no need to turn on any lights so it made it a lot less likely that he would wake anyone. Moving slowly through the kitchen the blind man opened cabinet after cabinet, checking stock on various items as he mentally ran through his checklist. There was some boxed mac 'n cheese in the one cupboard but in Sara's time of need there was no way he could serve her something that would taste like flavored cardboard. Nope, she was going to get from mac 'n cheese from scratch!

***

Thirty minutes later found Luke quietly humming to himself as he stirred the thick cheese sauce while on the back burner the pot of maccaroni continued to boil for the last few minutes. Luke took great pride in his cheese sauce having used a basic roux (butter & flour) as his base to keep the sauce thick. After that he had added heavy cream, just a touch of milk, salt, pepper, yellow cheddar, white cheddar, colby-jack, provolone, and parmesan. For a touch of extra flavoring he had thrown in some fresh basil. A cheese sauce could really be as basic as you wanted to make it but he always took great pleasure in created a combination of flavors that would just amaze the pallet. Sure, this was deffinately a high callorie dish but man would it taste good!

***

Opening the oven Luke smiled as the scent drifted through his nose. It had taken a few minutes to combine the pasta and cheese sauce in a baking dish before sprinkling it with a heavy layer of parmesan and throwing it into the oven but now, twenty minutes later, Luke knew that it had been worth it. Carefully setting the pan on an pot holder on the counter, Luke took off his oven mits and set about grabbing two bowls, two spoons, and a large serving spoon. Reaching into the fridge he pulled out two bottles of water and then turned back around to appraise what he would need to be carrying. How was he going to handle all of this?

***

Aproximately an hour after leaving the infirmary, Luke walked back in. The hot baking dish was carefully balanced on one that that was covered by two thick dish towels just to make sure he would get burned. His other arm was taken up by the dishes annd drinks. "Sorry it took so long. They had some boxed mac 'n cheese but I thought home made sounded much better. After all, if we're gonna have a midnight snack then let's do it right!"

Quickly placing the baking pan on a table a few feet from Sara's bed, Luke set about dishing out the mac 'n cheese into the two bowls. Grabbing one of the bowls and abottle of water he walked over to Sara and slowly reached out to touch her paw and guide it to the bowl. "I always like bottled water since I don't have to worry about knocking it over just as long as I put the top back on after I drink." Luke carried on the conversation as though he were talking only about himself and not passing along any tips to his friend, "You would be amazed how many times that's saved me from a spill."

"I'll be back in a little while then."

Sara gave Luke’s hand a squeeze back when he squeezed her hand. Why? She didn’t really know. She was always so terrible to the man. Even right now, she still had the usual thoughts in the back of her mind, but they were being over powered by the thought of her eyes. Her eyes were the closest reason she could come up with to squeeze Luke’s hand back. Even if the squeeze wasn’t hard, it felt like it proved Sara was still going to fight this. That she could heal her own sight, if she could do something as simple as squeeze Luke’s hand.

The muscles in her jaw tightened, and her teeth clenched. Seen easily even from under her fur. Lets face it. She really didn’t have a lot of hope. ”Take your time.” Sara mumbled at Luke’s disappearing foot steps. She didn’t care if he heard her or not.

Slowly Sara gave into what she’d been holding in since Doc Prof first said, the lights were on. One breath after another was sucked in becoming ragged, and when she tried to hold herself still, the breath wouldn’t move till it burst out of her lungs. Making her shake and the inside of her throat tighten.

Being left alone, was a relief, because she hated people seeing this state she was in. Tears had started running down the fur of her face. Following the darker markings that curved from the corner of her eye, down to the corner of her mouth, till either dropped off of her face, onto her knees, or they slipped into Sara’s mouth. With the dry taste of salt. So that not only was she mocked by the sound of her breathing (Sara was too stubborn to call the sounds she made sob) the drip of the IV, The feel of her eyes burn and the fur on her face becoming matted with wet salt. The smell of the Meds Doc Prof used, mixed with snot. The lack of the sense she cherished the most, but also taste. The taste of the tears hit home hard. The one sense Sara thought she was safe from having hurt.

Sara wiped her eyes with the fur on the back of her hands. Then shifted so that her feet were dangling off of the side of the bed. Doc Prof said she needed rest, but resting was the last thing she could let her body do. Because the blind thing wasn’t how her body worked. If it was going to heal, it would have by now. Doc Prof was just an idiot after all. Sara thought to herself as she went to move her arm, and found the weight of the IV tube dangling from where it had healed into her arm.

See. Right there was her proof that Doc prof was an idiot. Her fist clenched and she remembered the first time she’d been here in the infirmary. He gave her an IV and the same thing happened. Sara healed to it. The fact that Doc Prof didn’t have a choice in trying to get fluid back in Sara didn’t occur to her. Just the fact that he repeated the mistake did, with something that intensely bothered her. She made a fist, and yanked at the IV The tubing went taunt and the stand on wheals just moved a few feet, while Sara’s face twisted. Ok that was stupid but so was Doc Prof. she’d had a stupid healer messing around in her head. Maybe this blindness was his fault. Sure Sara had been shot in the head, but he was there with tools soon after wards. He could… he could… hehehe…

“Gharrrr.” Sara’s head ached not just from the back, but her entire face. Sinus cavity, everything as the muscles in her cheeks burned.

She was just a mess.

At least she could right one thing that had been done to her that night. The dip of her right index claw extended, and like she had done the time before, she cut the IV free from her other arm. The tip of her claw following so close to the rubber tubing she might as well of been able to see, even if everything was being done by feel. That done, Sara flung the IV hose back at the IV stand. Then kicked the stand hard enough to send it careening into the wall, where it bounced then was knocked to the floor.

Sara then slipped off of the bed, and onto her feet. This was going to be interesting. She just wanted to wash the salt off of her face but she wasn’t going to call for help. This was just a matter of finding a sink and Sara found sinks hundreds of times in her life before now. There was a sink in the room… right? Because all these medical rooms need sinks. It’s like a medical room code. Or Law… something.

Her hand slid down the railing of the bed towards the area where her head had been reasting till she found the wall. Then she started following that. Her head tilted. And her breathing shook a little less now that she was giving her mind something to do other than mope. Something she could do. Side step, wall slide, side step, wall slide. A counter that protruded out from the wall knocked Sara in the side when her latest step came too fast, and she winced. Her hnds moved down, and she made a mental note. Counter 3 feet from bed. She thought as her hands slid across the smooth surface and over went a glass jar of cotton balls. Sara tracked the Jar across the counter by sound, and reflexively grabbed it before it shatters. Replacing it quickly on the counter. Another step sideways and Sara found the end of the room. The process was repeated on this wall till she discovered a lower counter, with a cabnet above it she knocked her head into, and the rooms sink.

Not sure what nozzle was hot and what was cold, Sara turned them both on and washed her face. This not seeing thing had to pass.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

By the time, Sara heard Luke’s foot steps down the infirmary hall, she’d been around the room twice. Because moving felt better than sitting still and realizing exactly what her tears tasted like. Because of this, Verious things had been knocked down. The IV stand still lay on the floor and had been kicked no more than 5 times, a box of rubber gloves had been knocked off of a counter, by Sara’s tail, as had the cotton balls on the counter, and Sara had revisited the sink. Discovering the hard way that the left dial made some really hot water when you only spun that one.

"Sorry it took so long. They had some boxed mac 'n cheese but I thought home made sounded much better. After all, if we're gonna have a midnight snack then let's do it right!"

“And here I asked for something I thought would be easy because it came in a box.” Sara was seated back in the bed as if she hadn’t gotten up at all. Though the mess she made would say other wise.

Sara sat still on the bed, as Luke went on and on about the wonders of bottled water, and put things into Sara’s hands for her. Did he really have to do this? Talk and teach Sara as if this blind thing wasn’t going to pass. Ok it may not. Doc Prof hadn’t given her any statistics beyond saying it was possible. But wasn’t it Luke’s job here to think positively? He wanted to help right? So teaching Sara about being blind, he shouldn’t need to do right? Because he was just all that full of that wonderful hope that was most definitely going to solve everything.

“Thank you.” Sara said taking the bowl, and then the bottled water. “It smells lovely.” After all. Sara couldn’t tell him the food looked good now, Could she.

Luke's sonar immediately picked up the fact that there were a meriod of items that had been knocked to the floor from off of different flat surfaces. It reminded him so much of his having to learn how to get around as a young man. The gentleness of touch that would allow you to keep from knocking things over even if you were moving quickly. The sounds that full room or empty room made. Different things that had become second nature to him as a child and were still relatively common to him as an adult were the same things that would now be completely new and different for Sara. Life had kicked her in the teeth before and she had fought onward but would she keep fighting through this latest attack?

"I'm glad you think so." Luke replied with a slight smile, all at once noticing but pointedly ignoring her comments about the scent of the food instead of the sight of the food, "I wish I could say it was my own concotion but I'm afraid I have to give credit to one of the many cookbooks I've collected over the years. I may have tweaked it slightly but overall it is someone else's recipe."

Digging his spoon into the bowl the blind man gently blew on the still steaming pasta before placing it in his mouth. It was hot enough that it felt a touch uncomfortable in his mouth but it wasn't quite hot enough to actually burn. "Good... cheesy."

"I've been training with a new mutation that manifested itself." Luke offered after several minutes of silent eating, "Apparently I can do focused sonar blasts that actually do damage. I haven't been able to control it yet but I'm working."

That was either going to be the right things to say or the wrong thing. It might be the right way to go so that way they would be talking about him instead of talking about Sara's blindness. Then again it might be the wrong thing if Sara began to think that he didn't care about her blindness and was selfish and conceited. There was really no way to predict her reaction.

Sara really wasn’t hungry. She knew by all means that she should be. Because when her arms went down by her sides she could feel her ribs against her elbows. The fact that her body was still loosing nutrients as fast as it was meant that it was still healing. Still trying to fix what had gone so wrong. It had been since the camps, that Sara had gotten this thin, because of her mutation.

"I wish I could say it was my own concotion but I'm afraid I have to give credit to one of the many cookbooks I've collected over the years. I may have tweaked it slightly but overall it is someone else's recipe."

Sara stirred her spoon around the bowl, mixing the cheese around even more as she sat there and thought. Even though Sara was still healing, would that be enough to get her sight back? Or was she going to have to learn brail? Because she remembered back in Luke’s apartment when she picked up a brail dictionary Raina had bought, that her digits had trouble discerning the different raised dots.

Sara’s breath shook as she sucked in a sigh with that last thought and she chose to distract herself with the cheese in the food. Stirring her spoon, she remembered how she used watch hot cheese stretch on pizza, and she imagined the cheese in the mac’n cheese doing the same thing. Her spoon moved in a figure eight, and she knew the cheese was making the same sort of shape as she forced the different blobs to distort, to stretch around the bits of macaroni, and stretch into the next blob that then repeated to pattern until, Sara finally lifted a spoon full up. Where the cheese would stretch as well, reaching toward the ceiling, before snapping and cracking like a whip back down. Sara took her first bite.

"Good... cheesy."

“Yeah.. .. ..” Sara agreed as they fell back into silence, and she went back to slowly drawing shapes in the cheese and macaroni, with her spoon until Luke broke the silence again.

"I've been training with a new mutation that manifested itself."

Sara took a bite of her food just as Luke was saying this. A good thing too because the first thing that came to her mind, probably would have been blurted out. Oh that’s lovely, I loose something and you gain something.

"Apparently I can do focused sonar blasts that actually do damage. I haven't been able to control it yet but I'm working."

Luke was being nice and they were getting along, and Sara needed to hold her tongue. To bottle up her thoughts that wanted to just jump out because she was trying to be nice. Even in this time when she lost something she relied on so much. Sara had no idea how she was going to work, now, nor what was going to become of her.

“That’s great.” The words probably came out more dry than they sounded like they should be in Sara’s head. “I hope this means you won’t be mopy anymore. If you get mopy, I’ll probably punch you.” That is, if Sara could get her aim right.

The cheesiness combined perfectly with the fresh herbs for a range of flavors that was pure delight in Luke's mouth. There were few things that were as tasty as something made with cheese although it still wasn't as good as chocolate. A slight smile appeared on Luke's face as he remembered back to the chocolate fondue he had done with Raina back on their first date. Sure they might have been interupted by Sara later on in the evening but things had deffinately started off on a high note. Really it was kind of amazing how much Sara was connected to his and Raina's relationship. Sara and Raina had been together the first time he met them. Sara had interupted the two of them the night they had almost gotten physical for the first time. Sara had traveled to the great white north along with CS, Luke, and Raina in order to try and help Raina regain her singing voice. So many moments that were special in Luke & Raina's relationship were also connected to Sara meaning that she was a special part of their lives. If there was anything Luke could do to help her get her sight back he would most deffinately do it.

“That’s great. I hope this means you won’t be mopy anymore. If you get mopy, I’ll probably punch you.”

"Mopy? I assure you Sara, I have never had a mopy moment in my life!" Luke replied in mock offense as he tried to keep things light and hopefully cheer up his friend, "I've had moments of sadness... self-reflection... perhaps even a divine melancholy but I have never been mopy!"