285/Outer checkups

Outer checkups
Date of Scene:	23 August 2023
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Hotaru has trouble breathing and so she goes to the school nurse for some help. Setsuna does her best!
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Setsuna Meiou

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe hadn't been feeling... well. She'd been trying to do well all day, really. She'd been trying so hard. But all day she'd jsut been feeling short of breath. No matter how much she tried, it felt like she couldn't get enough air. Like her lungs were being squeezed from the inside. She'd tried to calm down... but... finally, she had no choice.

She had to leave class. She could feel them staring at her, watching her. Staring at her back when she left. Making the long walk back to the nurse's office. Hands around herself, trying to calm herself. Trying to tell herself it was okay. She was just a little sick. That was all. Just a little sick.

Why was it so hard to breathe? Her chest just kept hurting. It was with a slightly fearful, anxious sound she reached the door and, very lightly, knocked on it. Maybe she just needed a moment... and if Setsuna didn't open quickly, she'd likely not knock again. She just... wanted it to go away. To stop. Quickly. So she could go play with everyone else. Not just... be a bother to everyone. Or what she felt was a bother.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou blinks from her usual spot of leaning on the counter, book in one hand and pen spinning through the fingers of the other when she hears the knock. The door to the Infirmary by necessity is always open unless specifically locked for some reason...so to hear someone knock on it is rather strange.

Still, there's only the briefest of beats as she processes that before her pen disappears and is replaced by a black bookmark with a stylized golden capital P on it with which she marks the place in her book (apparently she's still on Proven Guilty), sets it down on the counter, then walks over to the door in a few long, audible strides and opens the door.

She blinks down at Hotaru for half a moment before stepping aside and opening the door more widely, "Miss Tomoe, no need to knock. Please, come in. My door is always open."

After a moment, she goes on, "Are you having another episode, or were you looking for some peace and quiet to see if that prevents one?"

Gently, she will lead the hesitant young woman in to a comfortable seat.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was lightly panting when she walked in, her face slightly flushed. "T-thank you M-Meiou-senpai. I... I don't know. I haven't... had a seizure y-yet. But I feel... my... chest feels tight and... I can't breathe right. It's like... s-something is squeezing my lungs. I-I've been... been having t-trouble with it all day. M-more than normal," she said, slowly walking to a chair. Her eyes lowered, wobbling slightly with each step.

She ran a hand against the wall as she walked, as if to try and stabilize herself. "I tried to... touch it out. It doesn't hurt, though. I'm just... exhausted," she said softly. "I'm just so tired..." she whispered, wiping her brow. "It started... a few days ago and I thought it would get better. B-but today it's just... worse. It's just getting worse..." She practically collapsed in the chair at the end, mouth open, struggling to get air into her lungs.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Knowing that her more advanced equipment won't do much for finding things wrong, Setsuna quickly reaches over and puts a gentle pair of fingers along Hotaru's carotid artery, taking her pulse. Whether or not it gets noted that at no point does she look at a timekeeping device while doing so is up in the air. Still, after she's gotten a read on what the young woman's pulse is doing, she reaches out and puts a hand to Hotaru's forehead to try to get a read on her temperature.

As she does this, she makes sure to speak to Hotaru in a calm, steady voice, "Have you been sleeping poorly? Eating normally?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe does have a rather... slow pulse. She stared up at her, lightly panting. She hoped, desperately, that nothing was wrong. But... admittedly... was afraid there was. When the hand was put on her forehead, though, she could feel that Hotaru *definitely* had a temperature. In fact, she was burning up. It possibly explained why she was so red in the face, at least.

"I've been having nightmares lately and not sleeping well at all," she admitted. "And... I... haven't really been eating much of anything. I mean, I had a small bowl of rice this morning and a half a dumpling for lunch. I-I know it's unhealthy to skip meals too often. But I just... don't... feel very hungry. Can eating too much make it hard to breathe?"

However, no celestial image appeared on her forehead. No sign of what she was. However, feeling the other girl's hand on her forehead made her pause, for a second. Staring up at her. "Is it lonely?" she asked.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Feeling that very out of normal temperature makes Nurse Meiou blink...as does the slow pulse. Without a further word, she scoops Hotaru up and quickly moves her over to the bed.

She frowns slightly, "Eating too much doesn't really sound like your problem right now...but eating too LITTLE can be an issue. As can not sleeping adequately. Both weaken your immune system, which is apparently a bit of an issue for you."

She quickly moves to get some very basic aspirin and offers Hotaru a variety of flavors of juice box to wash them down with, "Let's see if we can't get that fever under control a bit."

Hotaru's question out of the blue, however, causes Setsuna to pause and blink.

Something is telling her this quesion is somehow IMPORTANT...especially so since lonliness has underscored SO VERY MUCH of her existance.

So rather than dismiss it out of hand as the ramblings of a feverish girl, she asks in a very gentle voice, "...is what lonely, Hotaru-chan?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe let out a soft, startled little squeak when she was lifted up and placed into bed. "Should... should I have stayed home today?" she asked gently. "And I'm sorry. I... I do get sick... too often," she whispered gently. She took a grape juice box today, drinking the asperin down, but only drinking about a third of the juice.

"I don't... know... I just... had this thought. You had... lonely eyes, I guess. Or... maybe it was your voice? Maybe I'm just sick," she admitted. "Something just... about you. It seemed... lonely. Like you'd been alone for a long, long time. I'm sorry, Meiou-senpai. I-I don't know why I had that thought. I... I think my mind is just going to a negative... spot... because I don't feel well. I'm sure you're not lonely. You're very pretty, I'm sure you have lots of attention."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou blinks...and her expression becomes a bit less guarded, a bit more honest...and the tiniest bit sad as she replies, "...No, Hotaru-chan...you're right. I have spent a very long amount of my life alone, though the circumstances were not of my choosing. Things are getting better on that front, however..."

She then smiles, "And I thank you for the compliment. I'm certain that you're going to be the center of more than a bit of attention of your own one day before long."

She absently keeps checking Hotaru's pulse and temperature as she does, checking to see how they change...and not least because she's curious to see if Hotaru might perhaps be touch starved due to her prostheses not registering to her psyche the same way. Her other doctors might have been focusing on the purely physical and igoring that the psychological can have an impact.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "O-oh... your... duty, right?" she asked. "Or is it that people think you're weird, like me?" She cringed after she said it. "Sorry. That's rude to say. I didn't mean anything by it. I just... I don't feel well," she said softly.

The comment of her being the center of attention, however, made her smile. "I don't know. Whenever I'm the center of attention, it always seems to be because I did something wrong or got hurt. I.... don't think I'd mind getting the right attention, though."

She closed her eyes, smiling a little bit when she was checked. It was true, she was touch starved. And whenever those limbs were touched, Setsuna would be able to feel that they were cold. But... Hotaru also did react as if she felt what they felt. Strange as that likely seemed.

As she was resting, though, her temperature did seem to be going down. Her pulse didn't change much, however. "Things are getting for me though, too. I have friends now. I have two kohais who look up to me. And senpais who look out for me...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Hotaru closes her eyes, Nurse Meiou frowns a bit. Since she still has no idea truly what is causing this episode, she's at the moment limited to treating the symptoms.

Still, sometimes just properly treating the symptoms gives the body enough room to fix itself.

She sighs inwardly. At the least, she's reducing harm.

Thus, she sits down next to Hotaru's bed and holds her hand, still checking vitals manually every few minutes and keeping track of how they change, "It's good to have friends. I've been able to make some, myself since coming here. What are your friends' names?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was relaxing, and nearly drifting off. But... not quite there yet. "Mmmm... Takashi, Fate, Darien, Yochu, Usagi, Himeko," she said, counting each one on a finger as she went. "I never really had friends before, everyone thought I was weird or creepy," she mumbled, her eyes now fully closed.

"You feel... nice, Meiou-chan. Like... kind. Lonely. You kind of make me think of... I don't know... an old dream I once had..."

"... Like you'd never let someone down. You'd always... do whatever had to be done to make sure everything was alright in the end..." she said in a gentle, soft tone. And she was about out. Her pulse was weak, but... she looked content. She wasn't having a seizure, either. So... it seemed she was doing much better.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou absently notes the various names there...and blinks when she hears Usagi's mentioned, as she's aware that Usagi is a Senshi...but then she smiles a bit more. Usagi is a young woman whom, if nothing else can be said about her, is someone who CARES for those around her. So the nurse finds it unsurprising that she'd be a positive influence in the sickly young girl's life.

As sleep begins to claim Hotaru and her vitals seem to stabilize more, Setsuna keeps talking softly in response, letting her be lulled to sleep, "...overseeing the wellbeing of those in my charge is a duty that I take very very seriously, Hotaru-chan...I will always endeavor to help you whenever you need it."

Even she was surprised at the strength of emotion that welled up with that statement...before just deciding to roll with it.



Because at a very deep level, far below the conscious...some tiny spark of Pluto's soul resonates with recognition of another who had a severely needed yet thankless role to play...and whom had also suffered greatly for having to play it.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small nod, a delicate, weak grin on her lips. "I... am happy we have a caretaker who cares this much," she mumbled gently. So soft, so weak. "And I'm happy you're not alone anymore..." she said softly, slowly beginning to fade into dream. "Nobody should have to spend all their life just watching everyone else live theirs..." she mumbled softly. Why she chose those words, she didn't know. Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe it was how she felt until recently. Only able to watch. Unable to live.

Maybe it was because somehow, this girl reminded her of a dream she could never quite remember. Of a person who seemed... so lonely. As lonely as her dreams felt. Perhaps, even, lonelier...

Or maybe she'd gotten the flu and really just needed to stop over pushing herself. Probably that one.