My new X-Perience

Ethine found herself smiling back at him. She liked his face, the sharp angles, how mobile it was. She didn't have time for much more of a reaction though, because he was soon striding from the room, towards the knot of people in the hallway, arms wide.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Dr.Cox has saved the day again! Don't ya just love it?"

Ethine chuckled slightly, though her throat was still raw, painful. She didn't want to have to face the people waiting quietly about the room. Being caught off gaurd was bad enough considering the training she'd had in hand to hand combat, but to be seen in such a state by the X-men? It was almost too much to bear. They were legends at the Institute as well as her teachers and she was ashamed of her weakness, her stupidity. She should have been more careful. To her immense releif Jean offered a reassuring smile.

"You'll be staying here a few days, until you're stable enough to go back to the institute."


"We'll make sure you stay safe until then." Nightcrawler added, leaning casually against the wall. "We'll have someone here at all times and others watching the Hospital from outside."

Ethine blinked in surprise, shifting slightly against her pillows.
"It's an aweful lot of trouble to go through for me." She said. No false modesty prompted her thoughts on the matter, it was simple truth. It wasn't as if she was being groomed to join their ranks, and she certainly wasn't some big political player.

"You're a student at the Institue, and the whole reason the X-Men were founded was to make sure things like this don't happen." Storm pointed out reasonably enough.

"Besides, there's a chance that they may come back for you, or strike against the hospital. If that happens, we need to be ready."

"So they can lead you to the people behind it?" Ethine asked, head tilted to one side.

Jean nodded. "We have a hunch these aren't isolated incidents." She admitted, but didn't elaborate. Ethine didn't ask for more information. It really wasn't any of her busness. She wasn't one of the X-Men after all, to be privy to such knowledge. Still, she smiled gratefully, though the effort hurt her bruised face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Things fell into a tentative routine for Ethine over the next few days. She would wake early to Nurse Espinosa changing her bandages while Dr.Cox ran his tests and made sure she was getting the correct dosage of pain medication. She didn't mind, really. She found she liked watching Dr.Cox, listening to him banter with Carla. She liked his mobile face and the energy in his blue eyes. She liked the calm way he did his job and the soothing quality of his voice. And, though she would never admit it aloud, she liked the attention he lavished on her, even if that meant putting up with getting called 'Fender-Face' when Carla was around.

After Dr.Cox and Carla would leave to see other patients, one of the X-men would arrive to sit with her for a while, though Wolverine would never stay long. He preffered to spend his shifts prowling the hallways of the hospital. That would leave Ethine to her own devices most of the day, and she usually wound up heartily bored,bed-riddden as she was. Someone must have said something, because the second time this happened, J.D, Dr.Cox's apparent protege, stayed behind with a deck of cards and two cups of coffee from the cafeteria. She offered a smile as she accepted the cup and took a sip as he seated himself at her bedside, absently shuffling the cards. He grinned almost sheepishly back at her.

"So..Uh..We were all wondering.." He began, carefully avoiding her eye. "How did you manage to get hit by a car?"

Ethine sucked in a breath and looked away. She'd known eventually it would come up, and everyone here would find out she was a mutant. She just wished she'd had a little more time. She'd grown to like being liked by these people and wasn'tready to forfeit that.

"I..guess there's no real reason you shouldn't know." She began slowly. J.D looked up from shuffling the cards, expression one of dawning concern. Something in her voice made him uneasy. "I was on my way to work at the Double Helix. It's a coffee shop in district X."

"They did it on purpose." He said with quiet certainty, watching her carefully. He didn't like how suddenly withdrawn she was, the way she wouldn't meet his gaze. "Because you're a mutant."

"Don't tell Dr.Cox." She whispered. J.D blinked in surprise. It had never occured to him before how scary it would be for her to admitt something like that. She was probably worried she'd be turned away for the same reason she was hospitalized to begin with.

"Don't worry." He assured her with a small grin. "I wont say anything." He paused a moment and resumed shuffling the cards. "So...what can you do anyway?"

Ethine laughed with relief and ran a hand through her long hair. "I'm an empath with minor telepathic abilities." She said. "I feel what everyone around me feels." She addeed, seeing the uncomprehending expression on his face.

"That is so cool!" He said, much to her surprise. "So you're a psychic?" She nodded, smiling a bit more widely when she realised he was being truthful. He really didn't care that she was a mutant.He held up a card, it's back to her. "What card am I holding up?"

"Ace of spades."She said, shrugging one shoulder negligently.

"Oh my god! That's amazing!" He crowed promptly pulling out another card.

"What's amzing, Mon ami?" Asked a tall auburn haired man in a trench coat as he slipped into the room.

"nothing." J.D replied quietly, quickly wiping all expression from his face and looking at the floor.

"You showin' off, cher?" The man asked with a smirk, leaning indolantly against the doorframe.

"Little bit." Ethine admitted, flashing a slight grin the cajun's way. She'd always liked Gambit, even if she didn't know him that well. He had quite the reputation for trouble making at the institute, giving even Ice-man a run for his money, though he was, surprisingly, a very competent teacher. She had enjoyed learning combat with him. "Where's Wolverine?" The cajun laughed.

"Got hisself kicked out for smokin'." He replied, taking the card from J.D's hand and turning it over in his fingers. "She tell ya what she can do?"

"Yeah." J.D said warily, eying the cajun. "Are you a psychic too?"

"Nah." Gambit said with an airy wave of his hand.

"Gambit's power is a little more flashy than mine." Ethine added helpfully, darting a glance at the door to make sure no one was watching them. Gambit wasn't nearly as cautious, watching with a grin as he made the card explode with a satisfying pop.

"Whoa." J.D breathed. His eyes couldn't have gotten wider without rolling from his head. Gambit's smile was smug as he came fully into the room, placing himself on Ethine's other side.

"They takin' good care of ya, chere?" He asked solicitously, taking her hand in his and winking. She nodded, grinning despite herself at the look on J.D's face. Maybe it would be alright, him knowing about her and the X-Men.