Icing the Wound

[Iceman]

Bobby switched the light on in the Med Lab and gently brought Lorelai on the med lab bed, still not saying a word. He was too angry and too disappointed to say a word yet, but he didn't stop from going right to work. He was by no means as good as a medic as Hank or even Kurt, but he knew what he was doing when it came to treating bare knuckle wounds and fight wounds. "Don't try to talk yet, do me a favor and concentrate on the cold to go to your face. We're lucky enough that we're too cold to swell up," Bobby said with a slight smile. He washed his hands and took out the basic stuff that Hank always used to treat the kids.

"When HeartString comes back, I'll ask her to take care of this fully so you won't have a mark," he said getting to work on her face, making his hands nice and cold as he worked on her face, fixing her eye and the other cuts on her face, cleaning them and disinfecting them with anti-bacterial cream. It was a carefully done process, but as the minutes ticked by and his hands were ice cold, he watched the swelling go down on her face as he worked on it. She was scratched up and bruised, but all in all she didn't look horrible. Bobby had seen worse, and he knew that it would heal nicely until HeartString got there. He liked her a lot, and was always careful on asking her for any favors. He knew that Emma and even Cyclops had a tendency to take advantage of her power. Bobby refused to put himself on that list for her, but he'd ask her this as a personal favor, and maybe bargain if need be.

"Don't move yet okay? I'm gonna peak at your medical file before I give you anything else. Hank would skin me alive if I messed up and gave you something I wasn't supposed to." Bobby looked through the stacks, picking hers out and checking her allergies and list of approved medications. "Okay cool, you're allowed the healing stuff Hank and Richards made. You got some of it after the Danger Room yesterday," he said while looking on Hank's shelf for the bottle. He even made a note for Beast what he was doing just cause he was cool like that and knew how detail oriented Hank liked his notes to be. "Alrighty... take two of these for the Danger Room stuff, and you can have one more for this." Bobby read the bottle carefully and the notes Hank had in her chart so he wouldn't mess up. "Here, sit up and pop three of these. Let me get you a drink." He helped her to a seated position and handed her a plastic cup of cold water.

Sitting in a chair next to the Med bed, he studied her for a minute with sadness and disappointment. "Man, what were you thinking Lorelai? Look that thing with Rumble... well what can I say that's none of my business, but what was that there?" Bobby sighed and leaned his elbow on the side of the bed. "I know that people here could be mean, and even cruel, but you can't let them get to you. C'mon you know better than that." He let out another sigh and looked at her seriously. "What's been going on with you?"

[Frostbite]

Lorelai found it hard to meet Bobby's eye though in truth she was thankful that he had gotten her out of there. Until he had stopped Haven from pummeling her face, she didn't know how, but she would've kept fighting, or at least tried until she couldn't anymore. The frenzy her mind had been in would've allowed it, and to be honest it scared her a little. She hadn't been thinking at all about what she was really doing, all she knew is that had enough and people needed to stop. It didn't even occur to her that she had even crossed Rumble on top of everything else, but now it did. When Bobby had made them stop and took her away, things in her head changed just as soon as she snapped. Instantly she had stopped and was disappointed in herself, and could only imagine how disappointed and angry Bobby was at her. It bothered her like nothing else, because she didn't want to turn him against her too.

She let him take care of her face, unable to speak as she didn't want to disturb his work. He wasn't Beast, but she still trusted him to take care of her. When he finally asked her a question, she took a moment to speak. Well, I'll get to have that talk I wanted, she thought before she opened her mouth. "I," she started, her voice quiet as she continued avoiding his eyes, "I don't know," she said, looking at the pills and cup of water in her hands. She took them so that she could think of what to say next to just try to explain what the hell was up with her. "I'm just f@#ked up, Bobby. I have bad judgment, I wasn't really thinking, about any of it. I turned everyone against me and went too much with an impulse. I'm sure you know what happened," she said with a breath of a humorless laugh. "Everyone does. That's one reason why I just sorta lost it. And then he came and tossed his sheets at me telling me to wash them, and then everyone laughed. And...theirs were the loudest laughs I heard, and I just wanted them to shut the hell up. Why do they get to get away with so much shit, when everyone else pays the price for what they've done?" she asked, finally looking at him. Whether it was Haven or the gossip girls she was talking about, it didn't matter. Whoever it was, they got away with it, a slap on the hand or something less, or nothing at all. "I wanted it to stop, and I wanted them to freeze," she said quietly, looking away as it all just seemed to effortlessly come out. "I just lost it...well, I'm sure everyone saw that," she laughed humorlessly again, "But I would've kept fighting if I could. I know I shouldn't want to, but some people here are just so...ridiculous that you just can't stand it anymore and you just wanna lose it on them," she said, gently folding her hands together and resting them in her lap.

"As for Rumble, I don't think I've made a bigger mistake in my life. I know you told me, and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I should've listened, and now everything just sucks," she said, inhaling deeply so that she wouldn't feel the whole wave of shame and filth she felt every time she thought back to it. "It was horrible, and I asked for it. Everyone found out about it, but they don't know what it was like. Maybe they could guess, seeing as they saw evidence, but I don't want to know," she said, finding it getting harder to talk, but she wanted to get it out, and to be straight with Bobby. "Ask what you want, it doesn't matter because everyone knows anyway," she said, her voice getting shakier as she stared harder at the floor. "I'm so sorry," she whispered so that he couldn't hear it get any more shaky. She slowly closed her eyes so that she wouldn't see more disappoint and hurt on his face as she let him take in what she said.

[Iceman]

"Hey," Bobby said with a sigh and stood up, turning to lean on the edge of the bed and put his arms around the very sad and lost girl. "It's okay alright? Everything is gonna be fine," he soothed, hugging her close and mindful of any bruises she might have gotten from that last hit. He didn't know what else to do at this point but give her a hug to let her know that she wasn't totally alone.

"I don't want to get all philosophical on you and give you some words of wisdom that other teachers and stuff would." A long breath left him as he rocked her side to side, rubbing her back gently to comfort her. "You made a choice that didn't work out the way you wanted it to, it happens to all of us. That's life for you, but it's not all bad, there are just bad times. You'll get through it, cause you gotta." Bobby rested his head on top of hers, trying his best to let her know shes not alone. "And you don't gotta apologize, that's not what I want. Everyone else is... well I'll say this, you're not the first person I knew that went against their friends because of an impulse. I'm as guilty of it as anyone else. Everyone goes through it sooner or later, but it works itself out."

He rubbed her back gently, just being there for her. "Look I know your friends are probably a bit pissed and confused, but if you tell them you're sorry, then it will work out. They might be a bit wary of you at first, but that's expected. And hell, they're all good guys, they'll forgive you. It might be one of the hardest things you'll ever do, but it'll be worth it. And hey you got me here, I'll be here for you kiddo. I should have been around more for you, probably forced you to sit your butt down and talk to me. I'll find a way to make it up to you though, I promise."

[Frostbite]

"There's nothing to make up," Lorelai whispered, opening her eyes to look at the floor when he rubbed her back. She could feel herself starting to break down as her eyes watered. "It wasn't your fault, Bobby. You tried, and I just didn't listen. This is on me," she said, trying to raise her voice a little but not let it crack. "I don't know why I wanted to do it in the first place...I don't know, but I'm messed up. I'm not a complete psycho, I swear. There's just," she paused to take a breath and swallow back tears that she could feel was coming on, "There's just more that people don't know about me than what they do know. All I know is that I screwed up really bad. I can't take it back, any of it, and I feel dirty," she said, her voice breaking as she started to cry. "I'm a pariah too. You're the only one who will deal with me," she said, turning her head into him and leaning against him.

Her hands lay limp in her lap as she tried to stop crying; they refused to form fists so she could try to defiantly stop. She thought she was done crying; she thought she didn't have any more left in her to, but there they were, and getting all over Bobby's shirt. She hated crying again, especially in front of him but when he hugged her and told her he'd be there for her, she couldn't help it. Maybe they were relieved tears, but maybe they were shameful tears. Maybe they were a mix of both. "I'm sorry for crying," she said, coughing a little. "Your shirt is gonna be all wet cause of me," she said, wanting to stop so she could stop feeling so weak and everything else she wished she wasn't.

There was a lot that she wanted to say, so that he knew she wasn't a complete idiot, and that she regretted the moves she made, but words wouldn't form sentences in her head and the crying would only chop up her speech. She more than proved herself a sad fool, but despite that it meant a lot that Bobby still wanted to talk to her and deal with her. If he didn't, she didn't know what she would do, and it surprised her that she'd ever rely on a teacher more than she'd rely on someone who was a fellow classmate. Regardless, she was relieved more than anything that she wasn't alone. She knew she'd have to try talking to other people and apologize. He was right that it would probably be extremely hard to do, but she was sure that if they heard her out, it'd be worth it.

[Iceman]

"Eh don't worry about it, I needed to wash this shirt anyways, this just saves time," Bobby said with a slight laugh to get a smile out of her while he rubbed her back. He was trying to think of the right thing to say to make her feel better or at least give her some hope that things would be okay. He knew they would be, because things always worked out in the end no matter how hard things were before. It was something that Bobby himself had gone through before, hell at one point all the friends he had now had gone through a similar phase and were made the social pariah for awhile.

While sitting there and comforting her, he knew that the only thing that he could do was give her a few words of comfort. "Nothing like this is a forever thing, or in this school even a two week thing. Your friends aren't bad people, they just are mad and confused on what's been going on with you and thats understandable. If you go talk to them, they'll forgive you. But you gotta take that first step and go do that."

Bobby didn't say anything else for a while, and just let her cry it out, hugging her close and rubbing up and down her back soothingly. He knew that it was times like that that it was better to just listen and comfort than anything else. Lorelai made a poor decision, and she'd have to live with that, but she didn't need to be reminded now, just consoled.

[Frostbite]

After a while, Lorelai's crying slowed to a stop. She felt better after letting it out, and it helped that Bobby was there comforting her while she just let it go. She still didn't feel resolved, but she knew she wouldn't until she went to people and fixed things. There were a couple people she knew she'd be going to apologize to, but she knew that there would be a few that she wouldn't. The gossip girls wouldn't be hearing from her, she decided, because they didn't deserve it. They talked about so many people and ridiculed them, and nothing was done about it. Had she not been pinned down, she would've made them all into blocks of ice. It was thinking about the gossipers that she remembered Tia blew away all the snow. That left her kind of confused about what to do about it. In that moment, Tia hadn't been a friend, she'd been an enemy in Lorelai's eyes because she didn't let them freeze. It made her wonder how good of friends were they that she'd stand for them and not for her. It made her think, because Tia never even reached out to see if she was okay. Kevin she understood for not speaking to her, but Tia just....didn't. Lorelai wanted to apologize to her because of how she'd been acting, but the fact that Tia sided against her made her question whether or not she should.

She didn't want to think about it; she'd do something when the time came. She would apologize to Kevin and Ian, and maybe even Haven. Haven wasn't bad. Annoying and difficult to deal with often, but nothing in the past mattered now. She found herself wanting to apologize to her. It weirded her out, but she could go for it. Lorelai just wanted to fix things, and if it was like Bobby said, then maybe things would turn out okay. For now, she didn't want to leave the med lab yet, and she didn't want to be alone.

Wiping her eyes gently to mind her face, she moved her head to look up at Bobby and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for all of this...I know I took you away from the cookout. I didn't want to- I didn't plan on it either, and I wasn't expecting this to be the way I got your attention...sorry. I didn't mean to drag you away from having fun, cause I saw that you were," she said, looking away from his face to the floor as her voice lowered. She still leaned against him, because she needed someone to lean on and to hug her so that everything wasn't totally screwed up. She hoped to stay like that for a while longer because it felt good, and things didn't seem so bad that way. It still crossed her mind that all the while he'd been there letting her cry on him that it was all that time he'd been missing out on the cookout. "If you want to go back outside, it's okay. I don't want to keep you longer than I should. You're probably missing out on some good food," she said quietly, letting her eyes look around, hoping she sounded convincing enough that if he really wanted to go back that she'd be fine with it.

She found herself inwardly hoping he'd stay a little longer with her and maybe just talk a little, but she wouldn't stop him if he wanted to go back. She didn't want to be the reason he wasn't having any fun, or dampen his mood anymore than she already had. She knew he'd been really disappointed, angry, and hurt by her, and she didn't want to drag him down any further by keeping him from being with everyone else.

[Iceman]

"Nah I'll stick around a little bit," Bobby said rubbing her arms soothingly. "But I'll say this, that medicine is gonna make make you drowsy as hell in a little bit. Especially cause you just got a big dose of this stuff, it will probably knock you out for a bit." He looked down at her for a moment and then grinned slightly. "No offence kiddo, but you look like you could use it," Bobby said with a slight chuckle and hugged her one more time before moving from the table. He left her alone for a bit just so he could clean up, knowing that Hank had his own system of organization and it would be in Bobby's best interest to just put everything back where he found it.

He took a minute to fill out all the stuff he had to on Lorelai's chart, a practice all the teachers learned from Beast just in case he couldn't do it himself. "Okay, sweet you're all set. Now come on, I'll walk with you to your room and hang out a bit till you fall out. Trust me this stuff is damn powerful." Bobby helped her off the table and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to keep her steady. "It'll be alright okay? You'll get some sleep, I'll check on you later and save you some food from the barbecue. Just relax and chill out okay?" He led her out of the med lab and turned the lights off after them.

"Put on the AC on max, turn down the blinds, and sleep it off. Trust me sleep is probably the best thing after something like this. And then when you wake up and your up for talking, just find me downstairs or something. Sound good?" Bobby grinned down at her as he helped her to the elevator. Truth was, he didn't know if he wanted to go back to barbecue just yet. He was still disappointed and he needed a little more time to remember that these kids were good, just misguided.