As Abel watched the shreds of Bridgett's combat uniform drift to the floor, he caught himself wishing that she had been wearing it. Banishing the thought from his mind, Abel spoke up with his own idea. [b]“I think it's too late to explore the campus. We were given a room in the main dorm building; since we have our first real day of school tomorrow, we probably ought to head there when we're able. Bridge, I'll tell someone about your...uh, clothes.”[/b]

Abel gave a slightly forced wave for the benefit of his team. [b]“I'll get going. See you soon?”[/b] At a loss for how else to contribute to this situation, he left with some haste. He spent several minutes walking around the clinic trying to find the staff. When he finally found someone, it was revealed to be the same nurse that Bridgett had accosted earlier. The woman, busy with her checks and preparations for the coming day, didn't seem to notice him until he placed his sizable form straight in her path. [b]“'Scuse me,”[/b] he said, louder than he expected, slightly surprising the nurse. [b]“My friend Bridgett doesn't have any clothes. I mean, she's not naked, she's got this gown thing, but she'd like someone else. Something else, I mean.”[/b]

The nurse gave him a withering look. [b]“I'll let someone know,”[/b] she replied with steely politeness, and Abel -rather embarrassed at this point- hurried away.

On the way to the dorm room, he wondered if he could have said anything else back in the medical ward. It felt like he wasn't doing enough for them, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out how to be a better team player. [b]“Guess I'll have to leave teamwork to combat,”[/b] he muttered as he walked the dim hallway.