2013.04.02 - Medic in the Park

It's early afternoon, and Jocelyn is making her way out of Central Park, because she'd felt like a walk among the bit of nature that was within the city. Well, that and she preferred to walk there instead of along the city streets when she could, even if you could make the case that it wasn't always the wisest choice. Anyway, the teen is just now thinking about making her way back to Westchester to get a few things done today when she pauses at a street vendor to pick herself up a soda. She was feeling thirsty, and while she had some water in the bag she had slung over her shoulder, the tall girl wanted something with a little bit more taste to it.
It is about that time that a street musician a few feet away starts to play on his guitar, and Jocelyn pauses to watch and listen for a few minutes. Sometimes they were really good, and sometimes they were really bad. Usually they were somewhere inbetween, except for when you got the very talented musicians who masked as street performers to conduct an experiment or just play for fun, which was a rare treat. Regardless, this musician was somewhere in the middle, trending towards good, so Jocelyn decides to hang out for a few minutes to listen.
Central Park was similarly the destination of choice for Emira on most days. It wasn't because she especially disliked the streets... it was just that it felt so STIFLING for someone like her, who was so attached to nature, to be living in a world of concrete and asphault without visiting the one bit of nature that the city had to readily offer her.
She was seated not too far away from the vendor where Jocelyn had recieved her drink, nursing a cup of her own... iced tea, by the color of the liquid. She didn't seem to be paying the musician much mind, though she did glance his way every now and then as someone new passed by, within her field of 'vision', before looking back at the ground in front of her.
Her cane had been placed over her lap... White, with a little roller at the end. It looked like it was probably the sort that was collapsible for easy storage, since it was short enough to fit across her legs without a problem. It was the sort of cane that blind people commonly carried around with them to make sure that they didn't bump into anything... Not the sort that gave a person a third leg to stand on when they got old.
As Jocelyn recieved her drink, the blind girl's eyes moved to look directly at her for a moment... It was a considerably LARGE green blur on her otherwise dark vision, so it was hard to miss. There were no screams, so it couldn't have been some sort of large animal, so she had to assume that it was just a very tall person... and that interested her, at least for the time being.
Jocelyn seemed to know exactly when Emira looked at her. It was a byproduct of being wary for many, many years that the former street rat simply glances briefly in Emira's direction. Blind woman, clearly. She must have made some sort of excess noise, she figures, when she handed the guy the change for the drink. Still, there aren't a lot of places to sit, so the woman heads in the direction of the woman. "Mind if I join you?" she asks in what is very clearly a non-New York accent. Her voice is casual enough, however, and she keeps it low enough to listen to the music.
She takes a sip of her drink as she watches the musician, listening politely to the music. She doesn't speak up again, however, instead waiting to find out if the woman minds if she joins her. If it was a bother, the teen could find somewhere else to sit or stand easily enough.
Emira's eyes followed along with Jocelyn for a moment, then blinked as the woman came to stand in front of her. "Oh! Not at all." Her own voice was clearly accent-free... She wasn't initially from New York apparently. She felt the seat next to her, to make sure that she actually had some extra room, and scooted over a little to allow a little extra space for the larger woman. "It's hardly my bench afterall." She sips at her tea a little more. "...You're quite a tall girl, aren't you...? Sorry if that's rude, it's just... hard not to notice."
Jocelyn glances at the cane, then at the seat. She takes a seat casually. "Thanks for the seat," Jocelyn responds to the woman as she settles in. "And I'm a bit on the tall side of things, yeah," she offers. "I don't think too much about it. Though I have to ask, how can you tell? Unless I've been misunderstanding these canes for years, you're unable to see". Jocelyn could be fairly direct as well, and she was curious how the woman who appeared to be blind could tell she was tall. Also, the fact that the woman's eyes seemed to follow her made the teen curious as well. But, for all Jocelyn knew, the woman was following the sound of her footsteps or something of that nature. She was just curious.
Emira shrugged, "I'm only mostly blind I suppose." The fact that her pupils were more or less nonexistent suggested otherwise. "I can't see... most things. But I can sort of make out the outlines of people and things I guess." She shrugs, "It's hard to explain." She smiles a little, "But no, you didn't misunderstand the cane, I need it to get around properly... That is, if I don't want to run into the street and get hit by a car or something. They don't put up 'Blind People Crossing' signs as far as I know."
Jocelyn doesn't actually know that little detail, so Jocelyn accepts it at face value. "Ahh. Okay, that makes sense," Jocelyn comments with a nod. "And no, they don't put those up usually, except for in residential neighborhoods near houses of blind people," Jocelyn says. Often for blind or deaf children, but that was just about it, as far as she knew. The woman didn't appear to be looking for sympathy though, so Jocelyn drops the subject once it's explained.
"You sound like you're not a native of this place either. You lack that New York accent that everyone else claims is perfectly normal. Mind if I ask where you're from?" the woman questions as she takes a sip of her drink.
"I'm... sort of like a nurse? Not the sort the works in a clinic though... I patch people up when they need it, as quick as possible. Usually my job consists of sealing up stab or gunshot wounds... but occasionally I get asked to cure someone who's sick or something. It's a volunteer job mostly, but people offer to pay me enough that I manage to survive." She nods, "
"I can imagine that being patched up from an injury is something most people would pay for," Jocelyn agrees. "This city is kind of notorious for attacks of both the mundane and the more strange". It wasn't a secret that supervillains seemed to target New York City, unless you lived under the heaviest rock on the planet. "You've got your degree then? Why not work at a hospital?" the woman questions curiously. That seemed like something a hospital would be all for, someone experienced in fixing up injuries.
"Oh, no... I don't have any degrees or anything... I'm... unlicensed. The way I heal is considerably quicker, cleaner, and less able to be taught than what they would teach me in any school." She nods, "And I haven't had a fatality yet, which is more than a lot of licensced doctors can say." She shrugs, "Of course, that also means that a hospital is rather unlikely to recruit me to work for them... No matter how good I am at what I do, without a degree, they're not going to let me work on patients. Not to mention the fact that I'm blind... If you went to a hospital, and the doctor who came in was blind, what would YOU think?"
Jocelyn smiles a little bit at that statement. "Can't say that it would be a comfort, but I've known people who see things a bit differently". The girl takes a sip of her drink. "So, how do you heal, if you don't mind this kid prying a little bit further. That's quite the statement, being able to do that sort of thing if it's cleaner and quicker than the doctor's office. I used to do professional sports, and I can't say I ever liked the idea of being down with injury. Don't do it anymore, but I still don't much like waiting around for weeks at a time, and medical care is ridiculously expensive. Especially for the uninsured like me".
Emira shrugs a little, taking another few sips of her drink before she looks back and responds, "I touch them, and they heal. It does require a bit more concentration than it sounds I suppose... It's not like people can just grab me, and then BAM they're all better... I have to consciously do it. But I do it quickly... I could fix a person who had broken all the bones in their body in five minutes. Give or take thirty seconds or so." She smiles slightly, then goes back to her drink. "Bring a person back to life too... As long as they didn't die too long ago..."
Really, Jocelyn was pretty calm about most of that. Either the woman was sme sort of powered individual, or she was a bit off her rocker. One of the two. The only other blind person Jocelyn knew was actually a member of her team, though her powers were greatly different from Emira's. The young woman does raise her eyebrows at the last bit. "You can bring people back to life?" That's the first actual hint of surprise present in Jocelyn's voice since she started this conversation. The rest? Totally acceptable.
"And here I was going to ask you about this banged up arm that is still a little bit sore, but that seems like a waste of your talents if that's the case," the woman responds easily. She did take a mace to the arm, though the damage wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
Emira blinked, "Well... Yes." She looked up, "I've only done it once... A person was shot in the head... Quite clearly dead... His family was extremelly distressed, but I healed him up nicely. Last I heard he works at the same local convenience store that he was shot at." She smiles a little, "I haven't heard of any problems since then either, and I suspect that if he happens to get into any more trouble, I'll be called." She nods, then looks back at Jocelyn, "Mmn? Nonsense, if your arm is sore then I can probably fix it... Bringing the dead back to life is sort of a rare occurance, even for me."
"Well, have a look then, if it isn't any trouble," Jocelyn says. She offers up her left arm. It has a pretty noticable bruise on the back of the forearm. There may be a very slight crack in the bone, but the amount of bruising indicates that the strike should have done a lot more damage, if all that is present is a minor crack. Jocelyn is curious to see if this works, especially as she can see energy when it's used, so she had a couple of reasons to be interested. "I'm glad he's doing well now," the woman adds easily. "That's a good thing you do".
Emira's cheeks colored slightly and she nodded, "Thank you. I do try..." She releases her iced tea and reaches out towards Jocelyn, hand seeking out the arm in question. "Doesn't have to be the injured arm to work... As long as I'm touching you all of the injuries should repair given enough time." Finally finding purchase, she takes a slight breath.
There's no warm feeling or bright glow, but within a few seconds the arm would very likely begin to feel better... the bruise would rapidly begin to fade, and any damage to the bone would knit as if it had never been damaged to begin with... The same touch would have taken care of any number of other issues within Jocelyn's body. Things that she wasn't even aware were wrong. The cold virus just beginning to spread? Eradicated. That slightly bruised muscle somewhere in the back? Healed. Even old injuries that had never quite healed properly would have at least been touched on by the healing energy.
After a few moments, she releases Jocelyn and places her hand back on her cup. "There~ How does that feel?"
There's a series of blinks from the teenager as she feels her body start to heal up. She had a fair amount of old, minor injuries kicking around. It's par for the course when you train to be a fighter, and as a result she was pretty in-tune with her body. "Wow. That's...that's impressive alright. You got more than my arm there," the woman observes quietly. She just sort of shifts around a bit, just testing out minor movements that weren't completely comfortable before.
"I can definitely see why people would pay you for this. It's way better than anything a hospital can provide". Or even the doctor at the X-Mansion, come to think of it. She could think of a couple people who wouldn't mind talking to her. "Don't suppose I can get your phone number. I don't have a lot of money, I'm afraid". She pauses. "And I never introduced myself. I'm sorry. I'm Jocelyn," the woman adds.
Emira gives a small laugh, "Oh, money is hardly neccessary, I did say this was a volunteer thing right?" She beams, "I do it for the sake of helping people, not to get paid. Of course, that doesn't mean I refuse donations... I DO need money to survive, especially in New York." She nods, then starts to dig around in a bag... probably her purse. Finally, she pulls out a card, feeling the edges, and the bits of braille on the bottom left hand corner before holding it out, "There you go~ My number should be on the card. If you happen to get yourself hurt, and don't feel like laying in bed for a few weeks, give me a call."
She blinks at the introduction, "Ah~ Right... sorry, I forgot. I'm Emira Orenda. It's on the card too. It's nice to meet you Jocelyn."
"Well, hmm. Eating, that is something I can help you with, at least for a meal. It's the least I can do". Jocelyn takes the card and pulls out another card. "It's a gift certificate for a meal over at James' Family Restaurant. Italian place a few blocks from here," the teen says as she hands the card over. A little beep from her phone has her glancing down. "Though it looks like I've got to get going for an appointment. It was good to meet you Emira, and thank you". Her voice was sincere, and she was pretty sure she would be calling the woman again.
Category:Log