No Elbow

It has been a whirlwind ride of surgery, dermal patches and pain killers, but eventually the medical systems had patched up her arm and tidied up what was left of the stump. All said and done, the cut was so neat that it was a rather tidy looking injury. It had been a week since it happened and she was feeling up to leaving the medical bay for the first time.

After half an hour of trying to put on a pair of socks, and getting nowhere, she sat down and cried for a further half hour. She looked at the hospital robe, and sighed, noticing the tie around the waist, and disregarded that idea as well. She settled for the barefoot hippie approach and pulled on a summer dress and a shawl that she draped over her shoulders. That was the good thing about the resort, she’d been able to update her 3,000,000 year old wardrobe. She didn’t think too hard about where the clothes, food and other solid items came from, it must just be the staff and resort appearance that was holographic. Then she remembered that she’d been told to keep her arm out of the sun, and as a redhead, this advice probably meant more than suntan lotion. She tossed the shawl one handed into the laundry and went back to the pile of folded clothes that Grovely had delivered. She opted for a slightly different hippie approach, and over the summer dress pulled on a denim jacket. Taking a long time to gingerly pull the sleeve that was too long now over the still sore stump. It hung by her side like an impotent length of empty hose. She sighed again and padded, barefoot, towards the beach in search of some company.

She padded down the hallways of the resort towards the beach front, grabbing a sweet overly indulgent extravagantly named coffee. For some reason today it tasted bitter, and she grimaced as she sipped. Maybe it was the bright sunny happy resort against her inner dark storm clouds. She paused, waiting in the shadows by the beach promenade and watched everyone laughing and enjoying a barbeque on the beach in the distance. There was a new face, she couldn’t quite recall the name, but recognised him as one of the chefs. Eve and Jaxx were closer, having taken themselves away from the group again. Jade sighed, there was no hope for those two, they didn’t try to join in. She thought about going to make an effort again, to try to include Eve, but remembered the times before, for the months that had gone by when she sat waiting in a coffee shop for Eve, or in the cinema for them both only for neither of them to turn up. Her mood darkened slightly at the thought, and she had a brief glimpse into Tara’s reasoning, recalling that no one had come to check on her.

It was at that point, that she was squinting into the sun that Eve looked up and waved at Jade. Jade sighed and walked over, the sun warm enough to sting the newly grown skin already even through the jacket.

“How’s it hanging?” Jaxx asked innocently, emerging from the water like something out of a James bond film. Eve’s face fell and she elbowed him sharply in the ribs. “What? Oh!” Jaxx looked embarrassed. “Like, sorry, and everything. I didn’t mean…” Jade waved her hand.

“It’s alright. How come you aren’t with the others?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, like. None of them like us do they?” Jaxx said, flopping down into the sand. Jade sighed, in her darker mood she just looked at the two.

“Grow up. Seriously. No one hates you.” She said bluntly. “If you are on about the recent events, blame the psychotic thing that cut off my arm, not Jay, Cass and Jamie.... Artie hates anyone who isn’t smart enough to have 12 PHD’s and pretty much everyone else is new enough that they don’t even know you, how can they hate you? Who else is there?” Jade asked standing up. “Get over your own grudges against them. No one hates you. No one wants to kill you. No one is segregating you except from yourself.” She brushed off the sand and gestured to the party. “I’m going to join in. You coming?” She didn’t wait for an answer and walked the distance to the group of Dwarfers.

She huffed into the sand next to Cass.

“You heard the latest? Apparently we all hate Eve and Jaxx…” She said, gesturing with her stump back at the moping pair, the loose sleeve dangled and swayed, causing Cass to look at it.

“If they want to think it let them.” She said dismissively. “I’m on holiday. I don’t need social bullshit.” Cass leaned back on her elbows, face up towards the sun.

“Amen sister.” Jade said, going to mirror Cass and then stopping. “Huh… No elbow…” She muttered and lay flat on her back with an annoyed huff.

<Tag>

OOC – Gets absolutely no plot at all done, but does get us all in (mostly) the same place….

P.S: Tagged those directly spoken to, feel free to be there or not.