<div align="center"><strong>~* Mae Little aka "MeiMei"- Grounded!  –  The Gamble, infirmary *~</strong></div><br/>Everything hurt! Even her eyelashes ached with every flutter. The throbbing originated at that back of her skull and spread out along her body, licking along each nerve ending. Forcing her eyes closed to take full advantage of a much needed refuge from the overhead lighting; Mae gave in and closed her eyes, feeling each lash as they fanned over her soft cheeks. Slowly she opened them once more and turned her head towards the sound of Vincent's voice, it was a small movement but the flinch that flashed across her pretty face showed anyone observing that all was not well.<br/><br/><br/><strong>"See it? Love, I retaliated by hitting it with a bus. Three busses. And a low-flying transport ship. All full of kittens and puppies. Why kittens and puppies? Because it is impossible to sound tough whenever you get your ass kicked by something so adorable. And no, they did not get the plates of the vehicles that hit them."</strong><br/><br/><br/>Giggling as the warmth of his response filled her soul, Mae's eyes searched for the young man that had been her escort, but all she could see was the image of Dani smiling warmly. The young doctor moved with a quiet grace as she approached the newly conscious pilot wasting no time in examining her patient. Mae pulled back, grumbling as she was poked and prodded, blinking furiously as she adjusted to the bright lights beaming into her eyes. “What happened? Where's Vincent? I can hear him just over there, why won't you let me see him?” Quickly becoming impatient, Mae let a long annoyed sigh escape as she struggled to see around Dani.<br/><br/><br/><strong>"I'm giving you a shot of hydrozapam to help your headache, It won't make you sleepy, I don't want you dozing off again, Mei-Mei. I need to keep a close eye on your vitals, as well as your alertness. We'll be doing those tests every hour or so for a while, just to make sure. It'll take a couple of minutes, but you should be feeling better soon."</strong><br/><br/><br/>As Dani administered the pain reliever Mae flinched, turning her head away to avoid watching the needle as she bit down on her bottom lip, mentally adding a slew of colourful words to her vocabulary that could make any grown man blush. “Ouch!” the young pilot squawked her objection as she looked up at the good doctor. Scowling much like she did in her youth, Mae's expression was reminiscent of that same look Mae used to give her mother during her childhood whenever she found herself in trouble. Mae watched as Dani turned towards her other patient to console him with a cheerful tone.  “Vincent?” Mae called out as she stretched her neck in order to get a visual. A soft gasp caught in her throat as she caught her first glance of his wounds.  “Wo De Tian A! They trampled you to!” Struggling to get up, Mae’s intention to get to Vincent was temporarily stalled by the pushy doctor and her facecloth cure.<br/><br/><br/><strong>"I know it's old fashioned, but it really does help. Now...you two had better get comfortable. You'll both be here overnight at least. Perhaps longer.”</strong><br/><br/><br/>Mae had been hoping to spend the night with Vincent, but this wasn’t exactly what she had had in mind. She watched as Dani moved towards the co-pilot before slowly reaching her hand towards the cloth. The next words spoken however struck a blow that came seemingly out of nowhere.<br/><br/><strong>“And I hate to say it, but no flying for either of you for a bit."</strong><br/><br/>Mae was so shocked she almost choked on her tongue. Her eyes bugged out and her mouth fell open as she gapped at her friend the doctor. Had she heard her correctly? Surely Dani had to be joking! Eventually finding her tongue, Mae readied herself to launch a list of complaints when, with one look, she was expertly shut down by Dani, along with a quick pre-emptive strike said with an underlining hint of amusement.<br/><br/><br/><strong>“No, no arguments. Doctors orders! Neither of you are in any condition to be in the cockpit. No, Mae, I'll inform Griff immediately that he's going to have to play pilot for a little while."</strong><br/><br/><br/>Unable to resist the giggle that bubbled automatically at the word “cockpit” Mae watched Dani exit the infirmary, her mouth left gapping open for a full sixty seconds before turning towards Vincent with a rebellious glint in her eyes. His promise to do whatever it took to keep her still was the deciding element to her plan. She wanted to salvage whatever she could from their date that had been so rudely interrupted, and what better way to do so than kissing Vincent’s boo boo’s.<br/><br/><br/>“Can you believe that?” Mae called over as she whipped off the cold compress from her forehead, letting the cloth fall to its resting place on the floor. “I feel fine. It’s just a silly bump, I’ve had worse! It’s you I’m worried about”  Reaching for his hand, Mae squeezed gently to assure him before breaking the contact. Mae swung her legs around so that they dangled over the examining table, her hands resting on the pillowed surface to steady herself as a wave of dizziness snuck up  to capture her in its grip. Closing her eyes she took in a deep breath and willed the nausea away “whoa, moved to fast….I’m good as new, real shiny.”<br/><br/><br/>One more deep breath and Mae slowly opened her eyes, focusing them onto the man before her that had penetrated her defences and touched her heart with a simple smile. Her eyes softened as she took in the extent of his injuries. “You know, if you had changed your mind about sleeping with me you didn’t have to go to such extreme measures. A simple, Mae… I’m just not that into you would have done the trick.”  Her lips curled at the corners giving him a soft smile and letting him know she was only teasing. It was their way to bring humour into awkward situations. She wanted to know more about what happened, but mostly she wanted to loose herself in his arms, kissing each and every bruise and scrape on his body.<br/><br/><br/>“Where does it hurt?” she asked tenderly as she pushed herself off of the table, landing gently on her feet. Padding the short distance across the infirmary, Mae approached Vincent with a soft smile playing on her lips. “Want me to kiss it better?” she asked as she reached out her hand to stroke gently along his exposed chest. “If they force a grounding on us, at least we can spend it incarcerated together.”<br/><br/><br/><br/><div align="center">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><br/>Dear god in heaven: Wo De Tian A<br/>