Scars [Purple Heart event Celeste/Cody]

Dear Celeste,

Man, you got in a fire? Geez woman what were you doing? Well anyways, atleast you passed emdical school and didn't get yourself killed. I would rather die in a fire than get beaten by our father. Anyways I heard from Violet and Kimberly that they're fine. Oh! They finally arrested our father! It's about time, right? Turns out Violet just had to tell her school and cops surrounded our house....Anyways they're fine. Violet has become a fine young lady, age of sixteen. She's grown fast! You won't believe how beautiful she looks with her long black hair and sapphire eyes~ Argh! She's prettier than me!

Anyways, I found some pictures and I sent them to you. I figured that you lost our family album in the fire... But I managed to find better ones. Good luck with your career!

Love,
Marissa

P.S. You're twenty one, find yourself a man. I better be the bridesmaid when you get married!
P.S.S Jonathan says hi~
--


Celeste, stood blank on the last part of the letter. Find herself a guy? She barely knew anybody here! Realizing that she was still at work she put the letter back on her desk. She opened the door and loojked at her clipboard. Cody was her next patient to deal with. Probably checking if he had any burns or any other external injuries. Possibly internal.

[argh, wimpy ;n;]

The paramedics had put a temporary bandage on Cody's back before they had moved onto someone else. There were a lot of victims, so he couldn't blame them for not being as attentive. It was something that happened in the army. Put many people out of deaths door as possible. Then they could go out and get hurt again. That was a joke that one of his commrades told him on their first mission together, then he was sent to a different segment in the army.

Cody checked into the clinic and was told to go to the third room on the left. Bringing his hand up to the door he knocked before opening the door to see if he was in the right room. "Hey," he said trying not to startle the woman in the chair. "I was told to come her for my burns to be--"

He cut himself off for a moment, "Celeste?" Out of all the rooms he was sent to it was hers. Was this a twist of fate or something? Since he was a guy he did expect to be sent to a room with a guy to treat him, not that he minded it at all. It was just weird. Being part of the miliatary everyone was a guy who he saw, that is they wanted to prevent distractions from happening. This wasn't miliatary life though, so Cody should be expecting things like this to happen.

"Mind if I come in?"

Cody opened the door all the way and slowly sat down on the cot. His back screamed in pain as he sat, the extent of the pain causing him to wince in pain. Even if Celeste made his back wound a million times better right now, he knew it'd be a long time before he would be able to sit down and stand up normally. There was also a burn that traveled the length of his arm. That burn was only minor though and didn't bother him as much as the huge one on his back.

"Yeah," he said sore. Cody was tempted to rub his sore back, for it felt like he had a backache as well. It was probably from lifting so many people during the fire. Before he had so much adrenilin pumping that he could ignore the pain. Right now he was suffering from it and that is what was most important.

Reaching to the region above his left shoulder, Cody undid the start of the bandage that the paramendics wrapped him in. As he reached to undo the back he had to stop because the pain was just to much. The movement of his shoulder blades was even bothing his back. How in the world was he supposed to sleep tonight in his bed, which is a sleeping bag on the floor, of all things if his back was already like this.

As she thought, he was here because of the fire. He probably did have burns and they probably hurt a lot. He started to try to take off the bandages the paramedics made. Of course first response treatment didn't cure the patient fully. Cody would have to be sent in for a skin graft if the burns were third degree. It seemed like a simple operation. Well to take off the bandages and to see the burns, she would need to Cody to take his shirt off. Okay, well her brothers did get beaten a lot and she would have to treat the wounds with the supplies she had back in her childhood. It wasn't that weird.

"Cody, for you to let me see your burns, I need you take your shirt off," She said calmly.

[DANG THAT GIRL IS SCANDOLOUS] /shot

"I'm sorry I can't do it myself," disapointedly Cody sighed already depressed over the limitations his injury was going to bring him. His back was too sore for him to really move around alot and he feared that he would get out of shape if he couldn't jog in the morning or lift weights. Keeping fit was something that was very important to the man, for always in the military he was challeged with difficult tasks that used all of his muscles. The more muscles a person had the better they could be, so now he was in a horrible possition.

[He doesn't have his shirt... Robert does or it was stolen by a non-existant character thrown away in a weird turn of events.]

[Too bad he has his shirt >:C]

Well, this was a problem. Maybe she could help him but it might hurt him while in the process because of his burns. If they were pretty bad, he might be able to go to a skin graft instead of basic first aid treatment like the paramedics did. Although it was just a quick and simple operation, a lot of people just had the phobia of operations. She herself was once terrified of it but after she got that pacemaker implanted, she realized it wasn't really that bad. Celeste just agreed with her plan. "I can help you take your shirt off, but you just might have to bear with the pain for a few seconds," She suggested.

[And sorry for the wimpy post :'D]

"Thanks," he said somewhat dissapointed with himself. A soldier was what he was, but he wasn't acting like one at the moment though. Maybe it was the pain from his burns getting to him, for he understood that soldiers would act differently when in great pain. If these burns could be qualified as great pain, that is. For all he knew his injuries could just be minor. First his half burnt and ash coated shirt would have to come off if he wanted to feel any better.

Since Cody couldn't really lift up his arms he thought of a simple idea to easily get his shirt off. A pain free way for him, which sounded really nice instead of feeling his burnt skin cracking by putting his arms up. "Why don't we just cut the shirt off?" he suggested. "It's not like it really matters to me in the first place, afterall I can just buy a new one."

"Are you sure?" She asked. He did say it didn't matter to him and he could just go to a tailor shop nearby and just buy one. She didn't seem it would be a problem. She looked into her desk drawers to see if she had maybe fabric scissors which would work best on shirts and other clothing.

Yup, There they were. Huh, this office came in handy sometimes. "Alright, I'll just cut from the back of your shirt to make things a bit easier," She explained, holding the scissors in the correct way so it won't fall and stab her foot. That would hurt. She walked over and slowly started cutting the back of the shirt. It was like cutting a piece of paper. She could already see the burns and they didn't look pleasant. She can't say skin graft right away but there was a high possibility.

"Okay, from your back, they look 3rd degree. I don't see how you would bear this pain," She said, a bit amused.

[I deserve a cookie for this C:]

Cody nodded one last time before Celeste took the siccors and cut off his burt shirt. Part of him wondered he bothered putting it back on after he lent it to Robert, but it would be stupid just to think about it. There was no point on worrying about the past and all he should be doing is looking forward to getting his injuries healed. That would take time and probably cost him valuable work out time.

"I'm a soldier," he replied earnestly about his background. "We were trained to deal with pain." Without a doubt it hurt. A lot. All he really wanted was someone to take away the pain. Right now it was hidden, but if he was left alone he'd probably double over and start crying. As long as someone was around he'd put on the tough soldier act and keep all the pain to himself. Pain was a sign of weakness. How could anyone trust him to save and protect them if he had weakness?

"I take it I won't be able to work out for awhile," he said trying to make a pathetic joke to lighten the mood. Third degree burns were serious and hopefully they weren't deep ones. "Tell me there is at least something I can do to keep in shape."

Celeste thought for a moment. Was was it like in the army? She couldn't stand pain. The word pain pierced her heart every time she heard it. Her childhood was full of hurt and discomfort, Her only caring family was her mother and siblings. What was wrong with her father? He was arrested now and the rest of her family was safe. Was the army filled with pain everyday? What was it like in war? She never understood it.

"Mmm, well," She started, "to get the third degree burns cured, you do need a skin graft," she stated. He wouldn't be able to work out after that for just a few days. To her it was the simplest operation in the book. "B-but don't worry! after that you just need a few days of rest and then you could go on your daily exercises again," She said, trying to make things seem brighter.

Okay, maybe she wasn't really good at cheering people up. I mean, she sometimes made it worse.

She knew Cody had to go under daily exercises everyday to keep up with his training. He would never know when he would be called back.

"A few days, huh?" Cody said somewhat disappointed. Working out was his life and he couldn't imagine not doing it. Mornings just wouldn't be the same without at least fifty push-ups and curl-ups. And his jog. Nothing was better than jogging when the morning air was clear and crisp. What did he have to look forward to for the next few days?

"Okay, so when should I get the skin graft done and what is it exactly?" he asked seeing what need to be done, so it could be over with as soon as possible. The quicker he got better, the quicker he'd get back to his regular work out. But he didn't understand medical jargon, so he had no idea what a skin graft exactly was.

Cody was disappointed. If this was his first operation then it would make sense that he would seem a little sad and nervous. "Well, your burns are getting a little worse so I suggest you get it this week," Celeste suggested. Third degree burns were very painful, she never had them (or maybe she can't remember) but she knew they hurt a lot.

"A skin graft is basically taking off dead skin which is your burn wounds. You will be under anethesia during it," She explained. After the operation he would feel a lot better and go back to his daily exercises. Of course, just not right away.

[Gah! poor post ;A; In a rush]

"Can you arrange it for me or help me arrange it?" asked Cody hoping that if he got this done quickly that he'd heal quickly. Then his life would be able to return to normal and he'd be able to run all he wanted. Of course he had concerns about scarring, but he'd be able to live with a little deformity. Besides it was not like he took his shirt off a lot. Even when running he still had a gray or white shirt on. "I want to get better as fast as possible."

Celeste was silent for a moment. Yes, it was better to get it out of the way. But....
She picked up her clipboard, abandoning the thought that came up in her mind. She clicked her pen and shifted her eyes back to Cody. "How about in three days? That'll give you some time to get ready for it," she suggested. The next day would put too much pressure on him, and two days seemed OK but just adding another day seemed comfortable.

She remembered her pacemaker operation. It scared her and she was worried she was going to die while they were adding the pacemaker to her heart. In several years Celeste would have to get another one, the brand she had can last twenty years which most did.

Three days. It was close enough to make him better faster, but far enough to let tension build up. This would be the first time he'd be going under for something. All that happened to him before was the occasional broken bone that needed a cast--so it was understandable for him to feel a few butterflies in his stomach. "Sure," he agreed hastily to her suggestion.

"Got any medicine for my back before them?" he asked since he didn't know how much longer he could keep the facade that he was fine. One could only last so long with as much pain he was handling, or better said ignoring. His back was killing him and if some of the pain didn't go away soon tears of pain would show up.

Cody was very cooperative and it was easy for Celeste to do this. When he said if there was any medication the only thing that cured his burns was the skin graft. But home rememdies might help for now.

"Well, there really isn't a prescription I can give you but home remedies might help for now," Suggested Celeste, "Such as lotion with vitamin A, or Colloidal Silver if the burns really hurt, or maybe taking Vitamin E. All of them will work for now,"

She hadn't realized she talked so much. She was only naming the things that could help him for now in the three day countdown towards his operation. She could see he was in pain. Poor guy.

"They won't make them dissapear in a three day period but it would make the pain go away," She added.

Celeste didn't have a prescription to give him, but at least she had some home remedies he would be able to try out. The main problem was that he wouldn't be able to rub lotion on his back--it was just the place that most people had trouble reaching. "Does Vitamin E come in pill form?" asked Cody. "I can't reach my back so lotion is out of the question since I live alone."

To be honest Cody was both eager and terrified of his upcoming skin graft. Broken bones were something that he was used to, but not going under. "Is there anything I need to know before the skin graft?" he asked non-nonchalantly. "Like when I can eat up too?"

[WE’RE ENDING THIS, NOW]

‘Then again…..’ She thought once again. Vitamin E can be in pill form, like 15mg since he was of course above the age of fourteen. She wished she could slap her forehead but that would make herself look dumb. Whatever, she pretended that she always knew, or at least tried to.

“I think pill form might be better for you. I’ll just prescribe you that,” She said writing the order on a post it note.

Eat up to? That stumped her a little bit. “Just eat light but no midnight snacks or anything like that before the operation,” Celeste explained handing the post it note to him.