When Jennifer asked Nate if he was okay, he tried to smile but it ended up looking more like a wince than anything else. "Just partied a little too hard with some friends." he informed her, leaving out the part where he almost died in a car crash. Nat wasn't really one for admitting when he was in pain. It was behavior that went all the way back to his childhood. His parents were generally too busy working to really be around which meant that Nate's older sister was usually one taking care of him when he was young. Nate was aware of how much Ellie had to deal with on her own so would usually pretend to be just fine even when he wasn't. Eventually, he developed the attitude of self sufficiency that he had today. He acted like being any less than 100% was the worst thing possible. Like he somehow wasn't doing a good enough job of holding himself together. To Nate, admitting that he needed help was almost as bad as admitting defeat.

But when he shifted in his seat and he felt a jolt of pain shoot through his abdomen, he had to reconsider his tendencies. JJ did have a point after all, though he was loath to admit it. They were likely heading into a shitstorm and neither JJ nor Vin were trained to deal with the kinds of situations they might find there. Nate was, and it made very little sense for him to go in so hurt. Especially when the woman sitting next to him was capable of healing him. He knew what he had to do but he hated that he had to do it.

Swallowing down all of his dislike of JJ and a large chunk of his pride, he said "Alright I'm hurt pretty bad. I definitely have a couple of cracked ribs and some bruising and may or may not have a concussion...Maybe some internal bleeding too." He paused for a long moment with his mouth open as he fought to wrap his lips around the words he was about to say. "I guess...if you could do that thing you do with your hands...The healing thing. Not the other thing...It would be...beneficial...To me..." He paused for another long second like he was going to say something else but then closed his mouth. He just couldn't bring himself to use the words "Help me."

[@Xandrya]
[@Rawk]