4172/A Not So Gentle Touch

A Not So Gentle Touch
Date of Scene:	31 May 2016
Location:	The Citadel - Ward 17 <CW>
Synopsis:	It's time for Yari to get a new arm to replace what was lost, and Medusa is only happy to help in her own way.
Cast of Characters:	22, 691

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Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    True to her word, Medusa Gorgon had kept herself and her child Crona busy the last evening. And she had been quick to join poor Yari to check up on her. And something else.

    The nurse had been smiling as she had walked into Yari's room, carrying a small case with her that she had opened. And as she had talked and asked Yari questions about her current condition, like her pain, difficulties regarding getting various tasks done, Medusa had been also busy doing something else.

    Small strips had been taken from the suitcase and held up against Yari's face for a few seconds each. After a few seconds it might just occur to Yari that it's small pieces of human skin. And for each sample that's compared to her skin colour, there's one more item on Medusa's clipboard that gets a comment. It's only after about 15 such samples that the blonde woman smiles, her eyes narrowing slightly in satisfaction. With that, she had risen to her feet again, then told Yari she would be transferred to Ward 17 within the hour.

    That itself was easily done, and after that the nurses working under Medusa's supervision had worked on preparing Yari for surgery, scrubbing her body clean. It's there that she finally meets Medusa again, clad in a clean white dress with white cloth covering her hair, as well as a mask covering her mouth. At the sight of Yari she looks rather pleased. "There we are. I hope you're ready, dear. It took some time to get the samples ready, but it's done. So... which arm did you want me to replace with a natural one...?" she inquires before turning slightly to one of the other nurses. "A CVC, then connect to the first blood transfusion and 1000 ml of Ringer Acetate." "Yes, lady Medusa."

    With that Yari will have to very much lie still on the bed she's been wheeled in on as the nurses begin disinfecting her neck and preparing to insert an IV line there.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
It's a slightly curious initial condition for Yari. Not /unusual/, perhaps. She's come in looking like someone worked her face over with either a hammer, or some very strong fists.

Yari's excuse? Training, and a self-depricating comment about not getting overconfident with trainees.

Still, she stays nice and still the entire time, watching the process with curiousity. She's no medical person, even if she knows a bit of basic field medicine. Many soldiers tend to pick that stuff up out in the field.

There's been phantom pains for the ninja: on both arms. She also freely admits to the nightmares, night sweats, and how she's been having old flashbacks and cringing around axes despite herself.

An hour later, Yari puts on a brave face, smiles, and tries to hide her nervousness.

"I hate surgery. But I trust you." She admits.

Then she motions to the right arm. "Right arm, please." Otherwise, she lets Medusa and her nurse minions get to work, shoving down the desire to ask after Sanary. That'd be too suspicious before the report goes up, after all.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Satisfied with Yari's response, Medusa nods and then turns to another nurse. "Retrieve arm 48e and inject it with lot 12c, 50 mg im." There's going to be some technical jargon through all of this, which isn't surprising. But fear not, Medusa will keep on talking to Yari. "For the sake of making sure we get the nerve connections just right, I'm afraid you will have to be kept fully awake throughout the surgery. But don't worry, you won't feel much. Most of the time. I do wish for you to gain the full function of your new arm, and tactile senses can be quite... delicate. Not to mention useful in your line of work." With that said Medusa wheels over one of the trays with the tools on it, then sits down on a tall stool next to Yari's bed, on her right side. "Crona was quite a dear and able to find an arm that was just the right build for you, and it's even the correct hue. And in case Taro will need it, I have also collected enough skin for him if he needs it. It would be a shame to have the Union realise just what's going on. At least with this..."

    The nurses have in the meanwhile managed to insert an IV line into the left side of Yari's neck, and she should get a cold sensation as they flush it and then connect several IV fluids to it. How many bags of blood are hanging up on that IV stand? Just how many syringes are prepared and marked lying on the nearby table? It doesn't seem like they are taking this surgery lightly. "Give her 20 mg of lot 4b," Medusa says, even as she eyes Yari's right shoulder. As she seems to think she reaches out to her tray and then picks up a somewhat large syringe, then she uncaps the needle and injects it into the tissue there. Shortly after there's a clear numbing sensation in the musle and skin there, which might be a good thing considering Medusa is reaching for a scalpel next. "It's interesting, phantom pain. Though if I do this right, then that will no longer be a problem for your right arm. And perhaps some of the medications I have will help if it becomes a problem for your left arm. How does it feel, by the way?"

    Something cold presses against Yari's right shoulder, and some blood drips down on the floor as Medusa works. Behind her one of the nurses puts an arm onto a table with wheels on it. A feminine right arm, clearly freshly preserved, clean and ready for the transplant.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The technical jargon flies mile high over Yari's head, but even that is easing some of her worries. Even more so when Medusa actually talks to her. Medical professional and known mother are two very comforting things to the ninja right now, still stewing in a sea of her own problems.

"Do whatever you need to, Ma'am. I need my senses working as optimally as possible. I can endure a little pain." Famous last words.

She does manage a smile though. "I'd prefer that. And the shock on their faces when they see two working arms...I'll be looking forward to it." One bordering on sadistic. She's still a little bit upset after all.

In the IV goes, a tingle in the neck, and a strangled hiss as she tries to keep up appearances. Numbness follows a pinch that makes a girly little 'eek' followed by a blush.

"It won't?" Comes her hopeful response, before she forces herself to not look like a child waiting for a christmas present.

"Nnn. Right now it's just a basic prosthesis, it fits, but the feeling is dull. Mister Taro said he's going to need to do some implants for the nerves to work properly, and then I shouldn't have that problem once the combat model comes in."

She glances over to that arm. "Tell Chrona that he has my thanks for his work. I'll make him something. ...Does he like cake?"

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    While Medusa begins her work, the other nurses are clearly preparing other things and working on the IV infusions, ready to change the flow from the different bags should Medusa give an order. The arm itself is given an IV line and a drip, and... are the fingers there twitching slighty?

    It might be better if Yari doesn't look directly at what Medusa is doing at her shoulder right now. It involves a lot of blood, and there's no blocking out the sound of flesh and tissue being sliced open.

    "Oh, I know you can endure a little pain." Will she be able to endure this however? "When I connect the nerves it will be particularly rough, I must say. It won't last for long, but it will let me know whether I managed to connect all of the nerves," Medusa says, her focus still on the work at hand. "So your current arm is only temporary... then I will make sure that Mister Daisho gets the correct skin samples I gathered to ensure that your arms are the correct hue. It can be such a bother to pick the correct one, and we don't want your arms to not match the rest of you, now do we...?" she chuckles softly, her eyes squinting slightly at Yari with amusement.

    The process of removing the tissue is a quick process, luckily. Though still a bit messy as there's blood running from the surgical wound. Luckily there's more than enough blood bags that get tranfused, ensuring that Yari should not feel anything. Yet the numbing agent is still working, there are some sensations there as Medusa cuts deep to the bone. Then the bloodied scalpel is put aside as Medusa injects some more medicine there into the muscle. Which is followed by a tingling sensation. "Please lie still," Medusa urges, all while she pulls off her left glove... and black magic crackles about her fingertips.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's eye squints. Did that arm just...move? Then her brain works again. This is Medusa, a magic nurse. Surely it's nothing to worry about!

Yari looks. For all of one second. Her eye goes unfocused, she looks away, and then she's retreating into her mind. For a good two minutes, Medusa doesn't get a response other than a tear down the ninja's cheek, a heart starting to race, and a glassy eyed look that stares through Medusa and the nurses. In her minds eye, the shadows over her all have axes in their hands...

Another minute passes. There's odd hissing sounds of pure terror. Slowly, slowly she's blinking, and returns to reality. "Nnn. Then I'll consider it training." Offers Yari with confidence...or false bravado. The tucked tail might be a sign.

She lays a little straighter. "Even /I/ have some amount of pride in my appearance." Medusa gets it. Surely none of this will hurt at all...

Things cut, her eye squints, and she has to force herself to /lay still/. That lizard-hiss of distress is back, until she's done, and then that tingling. Off comes the glove. Gulp.

"O...okay." Bye bye bravery. She's eyeing that crackling black magic.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Vitals increasing to 150 over 95, pulse at 120, oxygen saturation at 96 percent..." One of the nurses by the IV lines state, and Medusa glances up at Yari's face. "It will all be better once I'm done, dear," she almost coos, her voice soft. Even if her handling and preparing her shoulder is firm and non-relenting.

    After all, what good would Yari be without arms?

    The crackling magic seems to keep itself contained to Medusa's fingertips, at least until the witch moves her fingers towards Yari's shoulder and the exposed flesh there. Then there's a stinging sensation as something /wiggles/ and digs its way into her flesh, causing her shoulder to burn slightly. It's nothing much, and not something that will be unbearable.

    "Bring me the arm."

    The nurses obey the order and wheel the arm over for Medusa to take. All in all she doesn't seem bothered by the faint twitching of the fingers there, and as the arm is brought closer to Yari, she might notice that there's faint magic crackling at the shoulder of that arm too.

    "This /will/ be uncomfortable," Medusa warns her patient, though her tone is warm. Putting something into a socket will always be unpleasant. The other nurses assist Medusa by holding onto the hand and the wrist of the arm, all while the serpentine witch aligns the bones of the arm with Yari's shoulder.

    There's a pop and a push as the bone is put into the socket, pushing Yari further down into the bed, all while the other nurses around are ready to assist in restraining her should it be necessary. Though one stands ready by the IV line, which might be for the better as Medusa gives another other. "Lot 82, 120 mg," Medusa says, her voice less warm now as she watches Yari intently.

    And that's when the pain suddenly sets in.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari can't help it. After all that's happened, on an operating table wide awake, she's willing to believe Medusa's everything she's lead herself to belief.

A sucked in breath. A slow nod. She feels entirely helpless, and at the mercy of those crowded around her.

Nnngh! Her tail squeezes her own ankle, then lets go. She's briefly reminded of her insect-filled 'Boss' in HR. She shoves the thought away forcefully.

More crackling? It's all coming together in her mind for a second, before the warning, and then bone meets shoulder. A pop, a push, and she's being forced down. Already, she can't help but struggle, breathing going up, heartrate, and panic forcing its way into her chest. The cry is strangled, then pride resurfaces.

White hot pain lances through her, and again, she's screaming and sobbing, thrashing against the nurses that hold her down, and quite possibly restraints too. Pride and shame cut away, she's the young woman she is, hurting and scared and vulnerable and in horrible pain.

Later, she'll be utterly shamed at such weakness. Another mental scarr atop all the others she's accrued.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Even with all of the medicine flooding her system right now, there's no dulling that intense pain that's there. The poor nurses use all their might to hold onto Yari and keep her still, wincing and grunting. Medusa herself sits there calmly watching, slit pupils staring down at Yari as she waits.

    10 seconds later, and the pain suddenly dies down, leaving only a dull ache in Yari's right shoulder, as well as something else as she should be able to feel the right arm tingling. And responding to her movements should she try to do that. Sure, it might feel a bit alien at first, as well as weak and clumsy. But there's an arm there that obeys her, even as there's the feeling of crackling inside the flesh around her shoulder. But even that slowly seems to die down.

    Once Yari has calmed down one way or another, the nurses will let go of her, and Medusa leans in closer again.

    "The worst is over now. How do you feel...?" she asks calmly, all while she reaches over for a suturing needle and some thread.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
For ten seconds it's a struggle as if she's being tortured. At 11 seconds, the ninja goes limp, gasping and and shivering from exhertion. There's that cold sweat again, and fear slowly draining from her eye. Her arm twitches again, and then she tries moving a finger. Then another. Then a solid fist, and she's flexing the arm.

The crackling is weird, but as it dies down, she finally relaxes. Slowly, she looks to Medusa. A deep, deep, exhausted sigh.

"Let that be a lesson to be more careful with my limbs. You were right. That hurt." One, childish huff, before she puts on her soldier face.

"It itches, but I can move it. No more pains. A little bit sore, but that's already going away. Nnn. Should I be wary of anything? Will there be a healing period?"

Pause. "...And what was that spell you used? Or do I not want to know?"

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    For now it's probably best to let Yari try to move her arm. It might hurt even as the muscles slowly starts to knit together, but it's a good test if nothing else. "Pain is indeed the greatest teacher for us. It ensures that we seldom repeat our mistakes," Medusa agrees with an amused chuckle. "And of course I'm right. this is my job."

    "It will itch for a day or two while the tissue there connects with your own. And you should be wary, as the muscles are sensitive. No heavy liftng for a week, no fighting until then either. You may start to use your arm for regular tasks tomorrow. No showering until tomorrow. I will add some sutures just in case, and you will keep your arm in a sling when you're sleeping. If you notice anything, then contact me." It might be reassuring to know that Medusa takes pride in her work at least.

    When she's asked about which spell she used, the serpentine witch turns her gaze to Yari, even as she's about to start suturing the younger woman's shoulder. "It was no spell, dear. Those were my darlings that helped connect your nerves all at once." Why depend on magic spells when you can do it so much simpler?

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
"True enough. Now if only I'd stop making statements that would invite lessons like that." Oh wisdom, you are elusive for the young. Sigh.

Yari's already hefting a nearby (clean) scalpel. She puts it down soon enough, so as not to get in the way. Knowing her, she'll probably be practicing knife throwing by tonight.

"Understood!" No fighting. That probably won't happen, given how her life ends up, but at least she's not likely to go /looking/ for fights. That's better than most times.

Then, she lets Medusa suture up. The thought is a little unnerving, but not entirely unexpected. "..I shouldn't have asked." Whether because it was obvious, or frightening, she'll not tell.

"Just try not to encourage them to wiggle in and eat me alive, please."

"I appreciate your work, Medusa. Ask me anything, and I'll do it." And once more, she invites trouble into her life.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    There's even more amusement from the witch when Yari laments her recent events that could have gone far better.

    "I will know if you have truly understood me or not, dear," she says, looking pointedly at Yari with those golden eyes of hers. It's not quite a stare, but a silent warning. Don't push your luck just yet when Medusa has spent time and resources in getting you this new arm. "As for my little snakes, they aren't going to eat you. They will disappear on their own through the night as they work on connecting the tissue and increase bloodflow. They would only injure you if I told them to, and now I gave them another order.

    The Confederate head nurse goes quiet when Yari expresses her appreciation and offers repayment. Even as Medusa works on suturing, she speaks up to the other nurses.

    "Leave us."

    They understand well enough, nodding and leaving things in their current state, and within seconds it's only Medusa and Yari left in the operating room. And several more seconds pass before the witch reaches up to pull down her face mask, and she speaks up in a calm tone. "I am concerned for Sanary," she abruptly says, worry on her face as her brows furrow.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
A pointed look. A silent warning. And once again, she's fifteen years old, fresh off of three broken ribs after a training accident.

"Y...yes ma'am! I won't do anything stupid. Again! Ma'am!"

RIP Yari Takane's dignity!

She goes silent, however, watching and waiting until the nurses are gone. The change in atmosphereis more than enough for her to shut her mouth.

Her eye closes, and she lets her arms fall to her lap.

"Of course you noticed. The change in her, I mean. It was just after that.../thing/ called Ophelia messed with her. I don't care what the report says. I know she had a hand in it. She hasn't exactly been subtle about hiding it." Here, alone, she lets her venom and hatred come out for the woman.

Then, she pauses, looking Medusa over. Her gaze is searching, and in the end, she believes in that worry. It's enough for her to stick her neck out.

"...That look in your eyes is concern for someone you care about. I'll be honest with you, Miss Medusa. I've already tried to get her back. I'm going to be there when she wakes up to see if it worked, but...I'm worried too."

A ghost of a smile. "And don't worry. Sanary's too thick headed to realize what I did. No proof of anything. Unless you decide to hang me for it, but this was all for Sanary's sake."

"Either way, we can't let that monster go unchecked. I don't care if she wants to snuff out entire worlds. Fine. I don't like it, but fine. But when you start doing things like that to your allies? You're a traitor. If I had my way, I'd kill her as many times as it took to put her down for good."

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    One of the most important skills one should know in life is to observe. And Medusa was the one Ophelia called upon to help keep Sanary alive during... the drowning. It had been a curious thing. And of course the change in Sanary was easy to notice. And it's easy to notice the hurt in the other Confederates as well.

    A heavy sigh leaves Medusa as she continues working on Sanary's shoulder. "No, she... was not subtle about it all." It was sloppy. If one seeks to manipulate people one should abstain from dramatic speeches lacking in real substance. True manipulation... is to do it without drawing attention to it. And make it seem as if the person in question was the one who thought of it in the first place. "Lute is worried as well," Medusa confides, looking into Yari's eyes. Her voice is slightly hushed, as if worried that people might overhear. The other nurses are long gone, and in this place... she is the eyes and ears. There is no worry about this conversation being anything but private.

    "We will get her back. Yet we must also ensure that it doesn't happen again." Which works so well considering Yari offers to go to great lengths for this cause. How sweet of her. How... conventient.

    "I will not report you for this. Because we are of a common mind in this, dear. You, me and Lute. And indeed, we need to deal with traitors... in a manner befitting them." Here Medusa leans closer to Yari, narrowing her eyes. There's nothing threatening about her expression however. It's as if she's speaking intimate secrets, words meant for just Yari. "I want you to spy on her for me and give any information you can. In particular her weaknesses."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's gaze softens for a moment. "If he wasn't, I'd smack him." Oh yes. Lute is getting one hell of a hug later.

But she thankfully lowers her voice, too. She's not about to get Medusa, an ally and a respected one at that, in any danger. Her eye closes. Indeed, the ninja seems ready to paint herself a convenient tool and perhaps target.

The things one does for love.

"We will." She agrees, voice full of steel again. "No matter what."

Leeeean. Those eyes send a shiver of fear down her spine. And nostalgia hits her like a hard brick. She seems all the more intent on listening due to both. "I'll do so. Nnn. In fact, I'll do everything I can to help her little horde of undead. Misplaced trust is dangerous, after all." Smirk.

No, the irony does /not/ strike her right now.

"I'll be putting myself in your hands, then, so we three can see this effort done. So that we can succeed, no matter what it costs."

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    A small smile crosses Medusa's lips, and she nods her head once before she finishes up the stitching. That leaves only the bandages to be set in place, all along with a sling for Yari to rest her arm in. "Thank you. With your help this little mess will be cleared up sooner or later."

    And perhaps Ophelia will learn one valuable lesson when dealing with the Confederate nurse, even indirectly through the very people that the witch considers her pawns.