Well, the last thing I remember, Doc, I started to swerve [nick-nak]

[radical_cowgirl]

[September 20th, 2011]

It was Circus-Helena's fault. She was the one that suggested the skate board. The fun scooter-like board with the wheels to ride and zoom around on. Edward looked and looked and looked, but she couldn't find one, at least not the way that Helena described it. But what she did find was almost as good, shoes with wheels. Not that Edward ever wore shoes or wheels, but they looked like fun, lots of fun, tons of fun and what could go wrong? The fact that Ein growled when she said that aloud wasn't reassuring, but Edward didn't pay it any mind.

There was adventure to be had!

They were difficult to manage, at least walking, but she managed until she hit the boardwalk and there... well, there she learned to roll, Ein walking beside her as she struggled to stay upright. Step by rolling step, she moved forward until she started to find a rhythm, pushing her feet forward and a little outward, gliding them back again. Zoom, zoom, zoom... It was getting to be fun and she started to gain a little more confidence, making Ein run to keep up and soon, soon Ein couldn't keep up at all and Edward was racing forward faster and faster and faster... It was like she was flying, soaring above the ground and she laughed at the trees, rooted to the ground and not able to keep up. She even managed to look backwards, waving over her shoulder at her best friend who's little legs didn't quite make the grade.

And then the curve came into view and Edward hadn't figured out how to stop which was probably a bad thing, she realized. Panicking and trying to slow, or turn, or something, her foot angled downward and physics took over. The skate's stop caught on a board and she fell forward, tumbling - and not in the happy way she usually did, in a painful, loud, cracking and scary way she couldn't control. Ein was barking and when Ed finally sat up, her vision was blurry and there was so much pain.

She didn't know what to do with all, it kept filling and filling and filling her up until it spilled over and Edward realized she was crying. Edward was crying and she hadn't done that... since the father-person left, the very first time when Edward was still Françoise Appledelhi and too young to realize that people left. She didn't make a sound, she just shook and tried to breathe around the wheezing and she held her arm because that was where most of the pain was coming from. When Ein came to a skidding stop next to her, Edward barely noticed. But there he was, sniffing at her arm, her legs, her head and finally moving away to begin barking louder than the Jet-person could yell.

And that was pretty loud.

Edward didn't hear him, her ears rang and she cried silently, not understanding exactly what happened or why it hurt so much, just knowing she didn't like it. She wanted it to stop. She wanted it to go away and it just wouldn't.

Comments

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

Nick didn't set himself out to get into situations where he found himself helping a person in need.

Sometimes, it just happened.

Which is why he found himself pausing when he heard the frantic barking of a dog while he was out on a run down the boardwalk. Now, he was no expert in dogs, but he'd been around them enough to be able to differentiate between a "pay attention to me, I'm bored" bark, and a "Timmy fell down the well" bark. This one was definitely the latter.

He stopped in his tracks, walking around and following the sound of the barking before he found what was causing the dog to be so loud: a child, sitting on the ground, off to the side of the boardwalk, along with the barking dog.

"Hey," he said, approaching carefully so as to not startle the child or the dog. "My name's Nick. Are you hurt?"

[radical-cowgirl.livejournal.com]

Edward tried to think and stop the silent sobs when the man person approached, but all she could do was flinch a little and nod. There was something she was supposed to do wasn't there? Something she was supposed to say? But she just looked at him, still a little confused as to what was going on.

Ein, on the other hand, knew exactly what had happened and what needed to happen and he whined, giving Edward a reassuring lick on the cheek.

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

Nick stepped off the path, walking down to the tree to crouch down next to the child. He kept an eye on the dog, hoping that it wasn't going to do anything other than bark at him. The last thing he needed was to explain how he got mauled by a little short-legged dog. "Can you show me where it hurts?" he asked. "I'll take you to a doctor, okay, but I don't want to make it hurt any worse."

[radical-cowgirl.livejournal.com]

"Edward couldn't stop, Edward didn't t-turn." She looked at the man with wide eyes, breathing heavily and shaking. Ein whined and Edward winced when she looked at her forearm, bent at a place it shouldn't be bent at. But she tried to hide it, she didn't want anyone to touch it, she just wanted it to stop.

"Ed's arm is all wrong and it hurrrrrts! And Edward's head, but not as much as the arrrrm."

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

"It's alright," Nick said gently. "We all have accidents, it'll be okay, Ed." He looked Ed over and sure enough, the child's arm was bent at an unnatural angle. "I busted my arm up real bad when I was a kid, maybe around your age. It hurt a whole lot, but the doctors were able to fix it right up."

He looked around for something to make a splint out of, to set Ed's arm before he got them both to the clinic. Nick spotted some sturdy-looking sticks off to the side, and while it wasn't ideal, it would do. "Alright, what I'm going to do is put a splint on your arm, okay Ed? It'll make it so your arm stays still while I get you to the doctors, so they can make it stop hurting, okay?"

[radical-cowgirl.livejournal.com]

"No, don't touch!" Edward tried to inch away, not wanting anyone to touch her arm, it hurt too bad. Touching would make it worse, wouldn't it? Edward didn't want it to be touched. She just wanted the pain to go away.

Ein gave a low growl, nudging Edward a little, trying to get her to cooperate. He knew she needed help, but he didn't know how to reassure her.

[formerfratboy.livejournal.com]

He backed off a bit, holding his hands up. "I know, I know it's going to hurt, honey," Nick said. He considered not splinting it and just letting it go, but having to carry Ed to the clinic meant jostling the poor kid about, and that probably wasn't good for what was obviously a broken arm. "You can hit me all you want or something while I'm trying to do it, but if I don't, it's going to hurt even worse while I take you to a doctor."

[radical-cowgirl.livejournal.com]

Ed understood the basic idea. Hurt now or hurt worse and she didn't want either. She wanted a third option, hurt not at all. Couldn't he make it all go away?

Looking down at Ein, she decided to let him make the decision. Ein would know what to do, he was smart. He'd probably been paying attention the times the Spike-person came back to the Bebop all beat up, he would know what to do.

"Ein... what does Edward do?" She whimpered a little and understanding, Ein jumped up to give her a reassuring lick before looking at the handy helper-person with a look that clearly meant get on with it already.

Closing her eyes, hoping that not seeing would make it not hurt, she turned her head and moved her arm a little closer to Nick.