Physical Therapy

Log Title: Physical Therapy

Characters: Lifeline, Lowdown, Ace, Celia Nunez

Location: Medical Center - The Pit

Date: August 03, 2013

TP: Quintesson Invasion TP

Summary: Lifeline sutures up Lowdown as Ace receives physical therapy from Celia Nunez.

As logged by Ace - Saturday, August 03, 2013, 8:06 PM

Medical Center - The Pit

 * The base infirmary is a spacious room, with high ceilings, blue tile floors,

and plenty of room in which to walk around. The place is brightly lit by row upon row of fluorescent lighting. There are about six beds ready for use, with fourteen more that can be readied if necessary. Each bedside is surrounded by state-of-the-art medical equipment, in addition to the more standard medbay fare like trays of supplies and such.
 * Beyond the recovery ward are a pair of double doors leading into the surgical

ward itself, which includes six separate operating tables and the best surgical equipment the US government can provide. A smaller room to the side is set up as a biocontainment ward, including an armored window through which doctors can monitor the patients inside.
 * While not a place to set someone's mind and soul at ease...it's a place to

spend time healing...to watch the large, industrial-grade 12-hour clock on the wall, and consider the virtues of being more careful.


 * Contents:
 * Lifeline
 * Lowdown
 * Ace
 * Plush Microbe - Flesh Eating (Streptococcus pyogenes)
 * Psyche-Out's Office

Lowdown's wound is stitched up rather neatly. The shape of the wound looks like it was done by a rat about the size of a Rottweiler. "The Autobot we were hiding with called it a Turborat. He said the Quintessons don't typically use them, so it probably just stowed away on their ship."

"Yeah, that's one hell of a bite...I figured there was something metal involved with this." Lifeline actually cringes a bit, because he was ready for...a rat bite! "Well, at least whoever cleaned you up did a halfway-decent job," he decides. "But it probably hurts, it COULD have been done better. Let me see what I can do to improve this." He begins getting a few things together, including a stitch remover and some small bottles of some kind of wound cleaner. "Sounds like it got pretty strange near the end. I'm just glad more bystanders weren't seriously hurt, it could have been a lot worse."

Ace is slightly inclined in bed, listening to "Shit Pilots Say" on earphones on his iPad.

Lowdown frowns slightly, "Well, some of the bugs we planted picked up some audio from inside the Bellum. They're experimenting on the people they've captured."

"They might *think* they're above war crimes, but they're certainly *not*," Dr. Steen says as he works on Lowdown's leg, clearly angry at the thought of human experimentation.

Right about this time, a very attractive, dark-haired woman arrives, carrying a couple of handled containers with her. "Hello, Dr. Steen? I'm here to see Col. Armbruster, is he awake?"

"I think he might be! Just go straight back, and take a look," Dr. Steen says.

Lowdown listens to the exchange as he considers Lifeline's words, "Think these guys might be a little tougher to bring to justice than the usual rabble..."

Ace is half-dozing, but opens his eyes when he hears his name float in over the YouTube stream.

"This is the truth," Lifeline mutters, working somewhat carefully at the moment. The Medi-Viper did 'just OK', in his book. At least they prevented the wound from getting too infected. But it isn't the kind of work that would pass muster with *him*. So he's doing it over, and in the meantime he's given Lowdown a shot of local anesthetic so the resuturing won't be quite as miserable. "But being a 'stronger' race doesn't give them a free pass to commit atrocities on our planet...it's definitely going to come back to them." Universal karma, perhaps?"

Back at Ace's bedside stands a very attractive Latina, dressed in workout fatigues. "Col. Armbruster, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir! I'm Cpl. Celia Nunez, licensed physical therapist. My goal is to get you back into shape!" She smiles optimistically. "Now, I'm going to run a series of tests on you, some will be more difficult than others, just try to do your best, okay??"


 *  Lifeline should post that log from when Celia first came in here and

looked at sleeping Ace...she didn't know that was her patient, she thought he was someone ready for hospice care X)

Lowdown grins faintly, "Didn't say they were strong. They just have bigger toys." He chuckles quietly, "Had to loan out my Barrett to a Cobra sniper. For a while, I was afraid I wasn't gonna get it back."

Ace nods slowly, carefully removing his headphones so he can better here. He tries to sit up more, but thinks better of it after wincing in pain.

"...Let me guess, he took off with it?" Lifeline asks with a smirk. "Honestly, I'm really surprised you got as much cooperation from them as you did. General Hawk and I had that degree of cooperation with Bludd on a few occasions, but only when it was swim-together or sink-together."

Back over by Ace's bedside, Cpl. Nunez unpacks her case, and there's an entire implement of physical therapy devices...probably only a very few can be used by Ace at the moment. Nunez has her work cut out for her, indeed. "First, I would like to test your grip strength...first on the right, then the left...just squeeze this metal bar." She practically has to put it in Ace's hand.

Ace nods slightly, wincing behind his bandages.

Lowdown chuckles, shaking his head, "Fortunately, no, I got the Barrett back. He wasn't really in any state to try and keep it, anyway..." He takes a few moments, deliberating on whether or not to mention that it was Raven's brother. For now, though, he decides to remain quiet about it. "We've had to work together before... usually when something big and nasty comes in from another dimension."

Ace grips the bar weakly, but steadily.

"Well, good." Lifeline nods. "Yeah, they may be weasels, but I definitely wouldn't call the majority of them dummies." He starts cleaning up the suture site. "...OK, is anything else bothering you that might need some attention? We forgetting anything?"

Cpl. Nunez smiles at Ace's grip strength. "Not bad!" she says in a positive tone, not wanting to tell him it's set on the difficulty for an elementary school child. The Colonel has to start *somewhere*. He can find out later how bad off he actually was. "Okay! Now, I'm going to check out your legs." She giggles. "For muscle tone. This one's easy, I'll be doing all the bending."

Ace nods. As much as he'd joked about wanting a hot physical therapist, now that he has one he's all business.

Lowdown shakes his head, "Nah, just some scrapes and bruises. The bite was the only major injury..." He considers that for a moment, "Considering that, I'd call it a pretty successful mission."

Ace nods, wincing again beneath his bandages.

Lifeline finishes re-bandaging Lowdown's leg. "Any mission you can survive to tell about is a success, even if it's the worst failure ever, because if you're alive at least you can learn from your failures. Okay...you're ready to go. Light PT and limited duty for a couple of days. Then let's have a look at how things are healing, and we'll go from there."

Back by Ace, Cpl. Nunez is now bending Ace's legs in repetitive, specific motions to help him gain some circulation and strength back into his limbs.

"Some of this is going to hurt, I'm not gonna lie," she admits. "And I'm sorry when it does, but it's got to be done."

Ace nods slowly, trying to cover another wince. He taps at his iPad communicator, which is getting better at translating his taps into understandable words, even if he sounds a little like a robot.

"The... movement in my legs is fine... it's the ... when it presses against my abdomen..."

"Oh? You mean...I'm sorry, by the way, but you mean this way?" Cpl. Nunez folds Ace's legs slightly back toward his abdomen but doesn't push the entire way -- after all, she knows about all the surgery he's had. She just wants some confirmation.

Behind the bandages, Ace's blue eyes widen, and he can't help releasing a a tiny whine of pain. His hand slips off the iPad, and it take a moment for him to focus enough to tap out, "....yes."

"I am so sorry, Col. Armbruster, please forgive me, I just need to know your range of motion is all," Cpl. Nunez says with a pretty pout, and she makes copious notations in her tablet.

Ace taps out on the iPad, "I know."

"OK, now I'm going to see about how much range of motion you have in your neck and shoulders. It will take some pressure off the surgery area, yes?" Cpl. Nunez then sets about seeing just how much control Ace has over his own head and shoulders. "Sorry again if I hurt. Just testing the range of motion. That is all we are going today -- and then from what I learn today, I get to put together a perfect daily routine for you!"

Ace taps out, "Sounds good."

Lowdown slides off the bed, testing the injured leg. It definitely doesn't hurt as much as it did last night when he dropped ten feet from the bottom of a helicopter. But then, how many times can you make that comparison?

Ace braces himself for pain.

"How's that feel, any better? I can give you a script for pain, it's probably going to keep you up the first night or so," Lifeline says, watching Lowdown put weight on the injured leg.

Cpl. Nunez continues to hurt Ace. But this time, he probably finds it a little more bearable, because she's pretty much *right* in his face as she works on his neck and shoulders. If Lifeline didn't plan this one, it was pretty much a random act of God.

Sadly for Ace, Nunez's attractiveness doesn't provide much of a distraction. He closes his eyes, focusing on weathering the pain and not tensing up so much it interferes with Nunez's analysis.

Lowdown shakes his head slowly, controlling his breathing, "I've slept through worse. Meds usually make sleep harder, anyway..."

Ace remains in his bed, getting a therapy analysis from a very attractive woman. He's alive, and life could be worse.