Somewhere in New York
11:56 p.m.
I sat up as slowly as I could just as a sharp pain tore through my body. My breath hitched in my throat forcing me to turn on my side in a fetal position to stop the emending panic attack from shattering all my façade and my crumbling defenses.
Slowly I look around the dark, unfamiliar room as my sight adjusted after blinking a couple of times. My head was throbbing, my back was still, and my lips were cracked and dry. I unclenched my bare fingers noticing the thin gloves are gone. Quickly I patted my pockets searching frantically for my cell phone.
This wasn’t exactly the first time this had happened to me, but last time it happened at night. The first time, I had gone off to bed and woken up sipping iced coffee and reading the New York Times a week before I returned to the mansion. Now, I have no idea when I lost sense of time…or of how long I’ve been gone. Not to mention no fucking idea of how I got here.
Slowly I turn on my back again and sit up. It’s dark outside; I can hear the crickets chirping and the sound of passing cars. I stand up from the floor, highly dazed and confused. This was worse than last time. Now I know there’s something wrong with me, people don’t just lose sense of time like I do, not even sleepwalkers.
After fumbling blind for the touch-screen cell phone, I clench it in my hand and punch a few numbers, slowly bring it to my ear as I wait for the other person on the other side of the line to answer. After a few rings they answer.
“Where the hell are you, kid,” Logan roars into my ear. I flinch and pull the phone away before he shatters my eardrums.
“Uh…,” I feel around the darkness, searching for a place to sit as I answer. “Have Kitty or Jubilee trace the call, then come find meh,” I tell him just as I take a seat.
“What the fu—where are you, Marie,” he stops himself and presses the subject like he has any fucking right. In the background I can hear him stomping down the hall and banging murderously on a door.
“If Ah had a fuckin’ idea Ah’d tell ya but Ah don’t so go find one of ‘em and come get meh,” I grit my teeth as I lean back on the chair. With my free hand I raise my blouse up a few inches and notice the large bruise darkening on my stomach. Now that I didn’t have last time.
“Jesus Marie,” he breathes. “Stay on the fucking line,” he cusses as he shoves the phone onto someone. “Here, get me the location,” he says to someone. I can hear someone typing furiously onto the keyboard, clicking here and there a few times. I’m more than sure he went to Kitty. She wouldn’t ask any questions to where as Jubilee would try to come. A few seconds of complete silence and then he’s stomping out of the room and downstairs.
“Do Ah still have to stay on the line,” I gently ask.
“Damn it,” he cusses again as he closes the door of his pick-up. That brings me a sudden peace of mind I gladly welcome. At least one thing out of this whole mess is predictable.
“Oh thank Gawd,” I sigh in relief. “Ah thought ya were brinin’ the bike,” I run my hand over my forehead as if cleaning invisible sweat. The last thing I need to puke my brains out in front of Logan.
He sighs, “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he says. Then he growls, “Don’t fucking move.” Then he ends the call by snapping his phone shut.
“Dick,” I murmur under my breath as I force myself to walk to the door. The old floorboards creak under my weight, not like I weigh much but still. It gives me a very good idea of how old the place is even if I can’t clearly see it. It must be the throbbing in my head that’s affecting my sight.
I open the door and sit on the steps, leaning the side of my head against the wooden rail with closed eyes. I don’t bother looking around or worry as to where I am or how I got here. I need to get back as much as my composure as I can before Logan get’s back. Later, when I get back to the mansion and the comforts of my room I can trace my location and check the place out with a flash light.
But first things were first.
I needed to have a long chat with my kid. My kid. That brought on a whole different set of feelings. Like when I’d seen him playing with the other kids back at the mansion. Alright, so I hadn’t spent much time with him but I was the best option for that kid. As soon as I got back I was gonna take as much aspirin as I needed, take a quick shower and find the kid. Didn’t matter if I had to wake him up. We had to talk about him, about his real parents, about his mutation, my mutation, and how comfortable he was with me becoming his mother.
It was something different from what I felt I had with Logan. It was a whole new connection. What Logan and I have is comradeship. We connect mostly because I’ve got him in my head and because we know each other so well, better than most people can say. We’re like two fucking peas of the same pod because were older than those around us, because we’ve been through things most people would never recover from. And I have to admit, the whole deal about him being my protector of sorts strengthens what we have, whether he really cares or not.
But the kid and I? Well, our bond most probably stems from the similarities in our mutations. I’ll do whatever I can I to keep him from going through what I went. He’s so young and he’s already a mutant. He’s already a freak among freaks…but he’s too young. He should be out playing sports, having fun, and living a normal life. Maybe now I’ll finally understand what Logan sees in me. Maybe that’s why I didn’t stop to consider my actions. Logan not once stopped to consider what it would mean for him to protect me…and God help me I’d lay my life for either of them—
I open my eyes just as my ears pick up the sound of tires rolling against a dirt road. A few seconds later there’s a set of headlight approaching me at a stead speed. This is what cautious-driving-Logan looks like. If I weren’t for the headache I’d be grinning like an idiot and with something stupid itching on the tip of my tongue. Probably, ‘Hiya suga’. Ya ferget yer glasses?’
He brings the truck to an abrupt halt just as he spot me. He turns off the headlights and climbs out of the truck just as I bring myself to my feet with the aid of the wooden rail. His eyes are narrowed and his lips are pressed into a thin line. He’s wearing a fresh set of clothes. Clean jeans, a freshly pressed white shirt, and the unmistakable flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
“Is this were you been all day,” he says as quietly as he can. He’s trying to keep as much composure as the Wolverine can but we both know it’s front. Logan nor the Wolverine really care what I think about his composure or the tone of his voice. But I do.
“Ah have no idea,” I say as honestly as I can deciding to ignore what he’s implying. I’ll runaway whenever the hell I can, because I can. Kid or no kid. He ain’t the boss of me.
“Is that yer fucking answer,” he explodes. I’m still standing on the bottom step, my hands clenching the railing afraid that I’ll lose my step and fall flat on my face. “I have been looking for you the whole damned day and the best you can do is say you have no idea,” he pinches the bridge of his nose. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Logan has never been this upset with me. Ever. Not when I began dating Bobby, not when I runaway, not when I cussed him out after I can back. Why the hell was he upset now?
“Damn it, Marie,” he sighs. “Where is—your nose is bleeding, kid,” he quickly says before he continues to where did I leave the car. I opened my eyes and ran the sleeve of my flannel under my nose just to make sure. I stared at the blood as Logan handed me his handkerchief.
“Let’s go,” he places on hand at the small of my back as he leads me to the truck. I unceremoniously hold his handkerchief to my nose as I tilt my head back to stop the bleeding. Logan doesn’t say a word after that. He simply helps me into the passenger’s seat and helps me buckle up as I rest my head back on the seat as he closes the door. I hear him climb into the driver’s seat and sink his foot into the gas pedal.
“Ya… should… slow down,” I suggest. “’Member what happened last time,” I raise my brows. “Ya flew out through the ‘shield,” I said quickly as I continued to press the handkerchief to my nose. I could taste the blood in the back of my throat, the bile quickly rising up my mouth. I swallowed again and felt around for the radio. He steals a quick glance at me, growling.
“It’s either that ‘er yer gonna have to pull over,” I lower the volume on the radio.
“We’re almost there,” he says quickly as he places both hands on the steering wheel. “What the hell happened to you? Thought you and I were taking the kid to the city?”
I sighed and sat up straight, turning off the radio as I turned to face him. “Why don’t we talk ‘bout this later,” I plead. “Ah can taste the blood in the back of mah throat and yer driving ain’t helpin’. Last thing we need is fer me to puke mah guts all over yer truck…not to mention Hank is gonna ask the same thing and Ah don’t wann repeat mahself,” I said quickly.
Lower levels of the mansion
12:40 a.m.
“Damn it, Logan. Put meh down. Ah can walk,” I protest as Hank appears down the hall with a pain of medical gloves in his hand. I take them without a word and quickly put them on. In the perfect light I can now see that my hands had been covered in blood as well as my flannel and tank top.
“Sonofabitch,” I cussed under my breath as Logan set me on the medical table. I was just laying down when Hank’s furry blue hand stopped me.
“Sit up, Rogue. I don’t want you choking on your own blood,” he says gravely. “Why don’t you tell me what happened,” he casts Logan a serious look.
“What,” I turn from Logan back to Hank. “We were arguin’ down the hall an’ things got heated,” I shrug. Hank growls before he turns to look at Logan.
“Get out,” he says as he takes a step forward towards an open-mouthed Logan.
“Kidding,” I snicker before either of them has the chance to speak again. When both men turn to look me I pull the handkerchief away from my nose, as wiggle my feet unable to touch the white marble floor.
“Oh alright,” I sigh. “Ah have no idea, okay,” I look at them both. “Ah woke up ‘bout an hour ago a few miles away from here with no car and no idea how Ah got there…and before ya say it, no ah haven’t had a beer since Ah decided to adopt Adam. Now give me a few tampons, a couple of aspirin and let me go,” I suggest as I hop of the slab, cringing.
“Not a chance, Rogue,” Hank says as she sets me back on the table. “I’m doing the blood works, the skin sample, and the CAT scan now. Has the loss of time happened before,” he raises his brows as he rips one of the fingers off my glove. In its place he places the heart monitor.
“Once, while Ah was away. About a week ago was the first time. Except then Ah woke up well rested, enjoyin’ iced coffee and reading the Times.” After a few moments I look down at my hand, frowning. “What the hell is that for? We’re just runnin’ some quick test right,” I quickly panic, ready to hop off the table again. This time Logan is expecting it so he places a warm hand on my thigh.
“You ain’t going anywhere kid.”
“Ah gotta go talk to Adam—“No ya don’t. He’s staying with Jubilee,” Logan cuts me off.
“What the hell is he doin’ with her,” I hear myself shriek.
“She got to him to sleep, kid was too shaken when he saw me carrying you in,” he looked to Hank.
“Oh Gawd,” I struggle to get off the table again. “Ah gotta find him. Tell him Ah’m alright.”
“Not with that nose bleed you ain’t going anywhere,” Logan says. “And it’s final kid. Don’t want you scarring the kid. You’ll see him in the morning.”
“Change into these,” Hank places a set of clean clothes beside me. “I’ll be prepping the CAT scan and readying an IV in case there is need for it. I’ll be back in a few minutes with a few syringes and test tubes,” he says to us before he’s out the doors again.
“Ya mind steppin’ out,” I raise my brows at Logan. He moves away and drags a chair from Hank’s desk and turns it around. The chair creaks with his massive weight as he sits with his back to me.
“Ain’t going anywhere, darling. So don’t make a fuss and just change,” he says. I sigh again looking down at my boots before realizing removing my boots won’t be an easy task, especially not the bruise on my side.
“Eh, Logan?” I call tentively to him. He doesn’t turn around but I know he’s listening. “We have a problem…Ah have no way of taking off my boots for two reasons. If Ah lean forward we’re gonna have a puddle of blood on this beautiful and pristine marble and even if Ah weren’t bleedin’ Ah can’t even touch mah knees without the bruise on my side throbbing.”
Logan rose from the chair he’d positioned to face away from me and walked back towards the medical table. He took one of my legs, his hand place under my calf in his hand while he used the other to pull the boot off my foot. He then switched over to the other foot and pulled off the other boot.
“Anything else,” he mocked me.
“Yeah,” I unfastened my belt and hopped off the medical bed. “Turn around suga’.”
He gave a small chuckle and walked back to his chair. I dropped my pants and threw at the back of Logan’s head just for kicks. I slipped off of my flannel and tossed it at Logan’s ready hand. I remained in the blood stained tank top and hopped back onto the table with a grunt.’
“Ya can look now,” I said to him. “An’ Ah need a tissue ‘er somethin’,” I breathed through my mouth as blood tricked down my lips. Logan got up from the chair and handed her a box of klenex.
“Are you decent,” Hank stuck his head through the doors looking to Logan for confirmation.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get this over. An’ where are those tampons,” I asked him. “They’re gonna be useful for when ya stick me in the scan.”
Hank chuckled and Logan simply shook his head. “Let’s conduct that blood work now,” he brought back a silver tray with syringes and test tubes. Marie cringed and turned away from the needles.
“So how many scans did you take from Adam,” she asked as she took a deep breath just as the needle broke her skin. “An’ how many tubes are ya fillin’?”
“Two tubes, you’ve lost enough blood already. I’ll be taking about four to six scans of your brain. The excessive bleeding could be caused by swelling as well as headaches,” Hank calmly responded. “There,” he placed a cotton ball and a band aid on the small puncture wound. She looked down at the band aid and hoped of the table. She grabbed a tissue from the box and ran it over her nose.
“Alright, we’re good ‘ta go. Ah ain’t bleedin’ no more.” Hank took her bare elbow with in his gloved hand and led her to the adjoining room where the CAT scan was set. She sat down and then lay down on her back as the conveyer belt rolled her in. She looked at the bright orange lights above her head, they met at the center of her head; one running vertically the other horizontally.
“Ok,” she sighed wiggling her socked feet. “What’s takin’ so long? Ah got see mah kid,” she said impatiently.
“A few scans of your brain from four angles,” Hank called over the speaker. “Oh and Logan mentioned an injury on your side. That’ll be a quick x-ray, dear.”
“Damn it, Logan! Ah’m hopping off this damned slab if ya don’t put a sock in it,” I called from inside the scan. A few seconds later I can hear his gruff voice saying, “Save it, kid.”
“Alright, Rogue. I’m rolling you out. We’ll wait for the scans to show up on the screen so I can take a close look at them. All the results should be ready tomorrow morning. Logan will be stepping out so I can get an x-ray of our chest cavity.”
Marie sat up and waited for Hank to come and get her. She was slightly dazed and her head had started throbbing again. A few minutes later Hank walked through the door, shaking his head.
“What,” I questioned. “Somethin’ wrong?” I asked as he helped me off the scan, once more taking me by the elbow.
“I was having trouble getting Logan to wait outside Medbay, but he’ll be alright. As will you dear,” he smiled as he led me back. I took a deep breath preparing myself for the pain for when he helped me up onto the table.
“Is there any other way ya can tell if Ah have a lesion,” I asked as I looked at the door. Logan was outside on the other side pacing back and forth mumbling something to himself. “Maybe feel around with yer fingers ‘er something…ah don’t really need the Logan in mah head or Erik to stir up unnecessary trouble. Ah’ve had enough scares to last me the whole week.
He sighed. “Alright. Lay back down,” he ordered.
“Ya can come back in suga’,” I called to Logan. A few seconds later and he was walking through the door running a hand through his unruly hair. “Ah’m avoidin’ the x-rays,” I said as I carefully laid back down. I could feel Hank lift the tank top all the way to where my bra started; his large gloved fingers feeling gently over the bruise.
“So,” Logan growled. “Anything broke? Fractured? Punctured lung ‘er something,” he asked impatiently as he looked around Hank’s large frame.
“Hmm,” Hank pressed down on the spot just under the last rib. I bit my bottom lip to keep from flinching or grimacing unsuccessfully. “Fractured,” he added. “The last two ribs appear to have been pushed outward,” Hank turned his back to us to get a large bandage from one of the metal drawers. “Why don’t you take a shower and come find me once you’ve finished. I’m sure you’ll want to clean up before you go find Adam and get a few hours of sleep before you meet with the Professor tomorrow.” I nodded my head as I used my elbows to gently push myself up to a sitting position.
Logan took the large bandage from Hank and tucked it under his back pocket before one of his arms went around my back and the other under my legs. He easily lifted me off and turned to Hank. “I assume meanwhile she’s gotta take it easy,” he lifted his brows. Hank chuckled whole-heartedly and grabbed my clothed from his chair where Logan had set them and gently placed them on my lap.
“What he said,” he walked us to the doors. “If you have any more nosebleeds tonight, dear, you know where to find me. I’ll be taking a look at those scans and we should know tomorrow morning after you meet with the Professor. We’ll see about limiting your activities based on your health.”
“Damn it, Logan,” I turned to look at him. “Thought Ah told ya to put a sock in it,” I whined as he carried me down the hall towards the elevator.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Oh it's been so long!! This Portuguese deal is taking more of my time than I expected. So...sem mais demora, aproveite e boa noite!!!