Back in Paris?

[citizendamian]

citizenmoore: That inspector e-mailed me again. I ... don't think I'm up to talking to him today.

Am up for company, if anyone else wants to visit? I have a stack of Lorenan novels that I've read too many times and can happily share and a stack of new ones that I haven't read. Coffee, a loaf of bread and thee?

Sorry, chalk it up to feeling a little bouncy?

Comments

[lesquatreailes]

Joly approached the address in question with the information Combeferre had given him. He was the first out of his shift and it made sense to make his way over now, even if he didn't quite know the man in question. Better to check on him before Combeferre got out in case he needed anything, right?

Anyway, he was knocking happily enough, even given the seriousness of the moment here.

"Ah, hello." He said brightly, when the door opened to let him in. "I'm a friend of Combeferre's...at the medical school. If you don't mind me coming by to visit."

[citizendamian]

Damian's got a mess of dark hair and looks like - well - he's got some darkness under his eyes and a generally sort of tired slowness in how he's moving, but - that is a grin.

"Joly, isn't it? He said you had a better bedside manner than he did, but I never really had any complaints. I mean, talking with him." Damian looks like he's slightly hyperalert as he looks Joly up and down and waves him in. "Are you hungry? How was the walk over here?"

The apartment has two suitcases next to a couch, and some piles of books near a bookcase set up to kind of bookend the couch. Small nest of blankets on the couch like Damian was nested there before he heard a knock at the door.

Judging by the drying dishes and the open cabinets, they may still be moving in and purchasing things.

[lesquatreailes]

"That would be me." Joly grins at the response. "Good, he HAS mentioned me. And not so terrible. It's soon to be allergy season but until then, taking advantage of all the nice days that I can seems like the best idea possible. And using them to meet new people, even better." As for Combeferre's bedside manner, he does have to laugh.

"I think I get the reputation because I've never yelled at Courfeyrac for some of the crazy things he does. So, first off I'm to get a baseline look at how you are. How ARE you doing, so that's established?"

[citizendamian]

Damian laughs a little shakily and heads to get his mug. "I'll heat something up, all right? I'm kind of stuck with mint and lemon and stuff for the next week, the nurse said. Less caffeine." Probably to help have him not have the shakes so bad and possibly for sleeping better. Nerves.

"I guess I'm ... nothing too physically bad? Injury on my arm, but the nurse said at the worst it'd scar." He trails off. "I think it's all stress. Mental stuff. No one ever hit me or anything like that."

Which - he keeps tripping over. Yvette's fine with him not being fine. His parent's - weren't. Mervin just stared at him when he tried to claim that because the body was fine, he should stop being lazy.

The staring worked better. Made it feel less like he was living wrongly.

[lesquatreailes]

"Good rememdies." Joly sounds QUITE approving there, nodding right away. "I'd definitely say avoid those as you can. And don't discount the mental things. Trust me, those can be..." He's pausing, trying to think of a way to put it that makes more sense. "I've had police into the clinic, you know," Because being a policeman in Paris is pretty terrible as far as money and work detail GO most of the time.

"No specific names, but the job does get to them, even if they've not been hurt in anything serious. Or it can come on all at once, years later, from denying smaller things. There's not only no shame in reacting to...acknowledging that what's happened to you is bad, but it can help too, if you know to avoid some things in future. Combeferre and I work well together because we know what sort of patients are likely to be more upsetting, based on the past. If one or the other of us is available, it's easy enough to swap over...and if not, there are some techniques to help relax you too. There's nothing wrong with you, but if you are feeling at all unwell...that can be dealt with, made a bit better,you know?"

[citizendamian]

Damian nods slowly and slides a mug over toward Joly. "There's tea and coffee available. It ... I was drugged most of the time? Kind of - couldn't really stop talking if you pushed me right, sometimes saw stuff, no sense of time, get really numb for a while - I think Yvette's trying to get a list of whatever I was on, but without knowing how much and how I reacted to it -"

He trails off. "Right now, my sleep schedule's a bit - off. I woke up about an hour ago? Not really - I feel hungry, but not sure how much I actually am. Nurse said I should eat more. Weight's down. Jumpy, I guess is the good term for it. Doing stuff keeps feeling like I'm opening boxes of springs."

In the - sometimes it's fine and sometimes it backfires and he's not sure what and how it all - just breaking down shaking and trying to piece together the bits that got him doing that. "Last time was - Yvette said I kind of froze until she touched my arm for a while. I think I saw someone's shadow pass along the wall toward me and just - froze up."

[lesquatreailes]

"That sounds horrific." Joly says, quite honestly, terrified at the idea. "I can only imagine what you've been through...forgive me if that's something you aren't ready to speak of. It CAN help but when people are ready to do that. Otherwise..." He shakes his head. "I'm not sure but I know I don't want to make it worse for you. If they gave you anything with a long enough half life it may still be there. I could check, but that'd require getting some blood so it may be better to wait for the list."

As far as being tired and hungry, Joly's nodding at what the nurse said. "I wouldn't fight hunger OR sleep. I think it's only natural your body needs to regain...just about all of that. When Enjolras got home, and he wasn't there for long, he slept for a good fifteen or sixteen hours the first few days. The stress does that to you. And being jumpy. Is there anything that quiets your mind at all? Some people knit or draw or...things like that."

More physical things too, but Joly is in no way going to suggest anything like that yet. "Shadows? I can imagine that would be a reminder of some kind, especially if you didn't remember right away what you were seeing. But I may be able to help find ways to ground you back in the moment too."

[citizendamian]

Damian's dunking a mint tea bag in his water. "Was he - he sounded like he was groggy and had a headache. Was he all right when he got back? Or was it just - tired?"

He leans on the counter and sips his tea. "Grounding in the moment sounds like a plan. Contact seems to work. Like I know I'm really here and someone else is real. And I know that sounds awful. Blankets worked, actually. Just - something I could touch and the warmth."

He trails off. Yvette thought the cold factor was the fact that the prison was cold and his weight was down. "The room was kind of bright and cold. Lights didn't go down at all. So that might - the shadows. And the blankets, actually, might help for - being warm."

[lesquatreailes]

"Tired, for the most part." Joly doesn't see the need to go into more detail than that, since the other minor problems were mostly caused by Enjolras having been kind of stubborn about the whole thing to begin with. "He had a little bit of a fever the first day or so but nothing that wasn't fixable." Emotionally...Joly isn't sure.

"He's mostly angry. On your behalf, Lorena's in general. Maybe when you feel better, it would help both of you to talk, though I wouldn't rush or anything. And okay, contact and grounding...Hmm...Blankets are a good idea. Heated ones possibly, or weighted down if those are good too. And I think light could be manipulated a bit, to cut down on those."

[citizendamian]

"Weighted?" Damian looks curious. "That's - considered not too odd?" He's slowly getting through his tea. "It sounds like something I could ... I might be okay with. Like that it'd help and I wouldn't feel odd. I could try talking to him too."

He takes a deep breath. "It's sort of - doing this is a little scary, but I'd sooner face slightly unnerving things and find the fears aren't that bad?"

Stepping off the cargo ship was like that. Stepping onto the cargo ship was like that, to be honest. And it was bad, taking off, but - he got out of Lorena. He looks over at the pantry. "I haven't really eaten yet. Do you want to check me over and draw blood, and then I can cook something?"

[lesquatreailes]

"Not especially." Joly assures. "And they're definitely helpful in different circumstances along the way. And yeah, there are a lot of unnerving things that turn out that way in the end. I think having the ability to move through them can help a lot, especially if you work up from them. To borrow one of my own relevant metaphors, they don't start us as doctors by throwing us into the hospital to remove appendixes or anything like that. It's a much more gradual process. Working up to things that bother you does not need to happen all at once... And I think that sounds like a good idea."

And he's about getting started, at least so far as getting his tools out when there's a beep on his phone, which he glances at. "Courfeyrac's on his way. And thankfully, he doesn't have a sword with him today. I hope. Do you mind if he comes to say hello after I finish with this? I know he's been wanting to meet you." And knowing him, he probably stopped along the way for pastry. It seems to be what Courfeyrac DOES when he goes visiting.

[citizendamian]

Damian's hand shakes a little but he leans on the counter a bit and - well - the smile's definitely honest. "I'd love to meet him. Do you think he'd eat, if I cooked enough for all of us? It'd be nothing special."

He heads over, tea in hand, to check out the tools. "The - uh - thing on my arm was that I pulled out an IV. I don't remember it, but it's been kind of twingey and it was a mess." He pauses. "It got bandaged." It's noticeable to his own ears how distant he sounds a bit talking about it. "I don't think it's infected or anything? The nurse we had on the ship looked over it. Apparently she was there when I was born. Kind of awkward to get told you put on weight nicely and for her to whip out your baby photos in your records."

At the time, he honestly found himself giggling a bit too much, but chalk that up to kind of a mess of anti-emetic medicine, whatever drugs they had him on, and her attempts to calm him down.

[lesquatreailes]

"I think he's probably interested." Joly smiles. "And he's likely dragged along something to go with it too. That's a thing Courfeyrac does. It's as if he can't stop himself from bringing things over. Sweet, really." And if he hears about anything like allergies? He'll probably remember those. "It's funny for how much he leaps without looking, he can be probably the most thoughtful one of us."

And Joly's washing his hands again, pulling on some gloves and continuing to get things ready. "That COULD be a bit of nerve damage, I suppose. Worth keeping an eye on, certainly. How bad did it get would you say, and how bad now? I can probably find something to help if it's keeping you awake or jerking or..." He does laugh at that.

"And here I thought it was awkwardly amusing when it was my grandmother pulling those out. I can't imagine an almost stranger."

[citizendamian]

Damian shrugs off his jacket and starts on his shirt buttons. "Here. I can get this out of the way. I think the the twinging pain is more just - movement? Not entirely sure. I'm still half expecting to wake up, you know?"

He's found some crackers, at least, to work on, with his tea, and pulls over a chair. "Enough light?" He's mostly got the windows open and the lights off to - it's more shadows but he's trying to work on just not wanting to hide in his room with the lights off. So - small steps. "He sounded pretty nice when I talked to him before. I think the nurse meant well, but - I was kind of a mess and trying to not get royally sick to my stomach, and she was trying to keep talking and keep me distracted from jumping at everything."

He kind of wants to know what they'll be doing, but - Ferre trusts this guy. And he's friendly? He sounds like he's worked with people who're jumpy too. "How are the policemen you've worked with? Would they . . . feel better talking to someone else who's jumpy?"

[lesquatreailes]

"I can understand that." Joly nods slowly. "Time seeming unreal, that sort of thing?" It's nothing he's personally had to relate to yet, in that degree, at least, but he does know what things are like when he manages to get pulled out of some of his worse moments of panic. Thankfully those are pretty rare these days, and he's learned to manage them a bit better.

"Or like you're sort of moving in a fog?" That one is common too. And people have brought it up. "I think that's only natural. And you know, come to that, our records aren't complete enough for me to be in touch with most people, unless they choose to. But that isn't a bad idea come to that, having other people to talk to about this. It's worth letting people know that someone is willing and understands, I think."

And he's carefully finishing the prep for the bloodwork, using Damien's other arm. "Is this an okay place to draw from?"

[citizendamian]

"Like I'm not even in my body, if that makes sense?" Damian flashes a slightly tense smile as he tries to hold his arm still. "Yeah. Is the plan to look at uh - half-lifes of stuff in my blood or something like that?"

Because seriously, asking stuff helps a bit for not being tense. "I was thinking maybe - another day for trying for getting out of the apartment. Right now it's like - noon or later feels safer because the shadows are behind me or not as bad. Which I know is just paranoia. But getting out and - taking coffee to Ferre's workplace might be ... doable. Welcome too."

He looks out the window and - it's not bad at all. "Yvette suggested I try getting something for making noise in the room. White noise stuff. Since it seems like I sleep best when there's people in the apartment or the neighbors are moving around."