Archive Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - [Fiction] A day at the doctor's [Complete]

[Stargaizer]

((OOC: This is an open fiction for anybody who wants to come in))

(Two weeks or so before game start)

It had been a long day at the free clinic in Las Vegas. It was getting close to flu season, and apparently the less fortunates that frequented this clinic were more prone to catch it than others; despite the dry heat of the desert.

Kevin had always found it refreshing how few questions people asked about him or his past when he helped them. He knew what he was doing, always had a ready smile and cheerful attitude, and he had a 'healing touch' that few knew was more than just a 'knack'. He had already stayed in Las Vegas for a week, and he planned on staying at least one more. The clinic had been very gracious thus far, as most of them were. In exchange for being on call 24 hours a day, he got free room and board. Nothing more was offered, except to restock his traveling medical bag with the staples (gause, tape, bandages, ointment, etc.), and nothing more was asked.

Miriam was at the front desk this particular evening, and business had slowed down. Unlike the major hospitals, which could have ambulances brining in more cases, the free clinic generally had few if any patients. That's why Kevin and Miriam were both on call with the local hospitals. The corporate ones didn't like 'stooping' to asking helps from the free clinic people, but sometimes it meant the difference between life and death.

But, tonight was slow, and it didn't look like it would change any time soon. So Kevin passed the time by talking to Miriam, learning her life story, and giving her advice for her relationship with Derick, her current boyfriend. He worked at a casino, but gambled away most of his paycheck there, and seemed to be oblivious to the strain it was putting on their relationship.

Of course, not much was asked about Kevin's past, and he didn't offer much in return, except a shoulder, an ear, and many years of experience.

[Adrian Moss]

They came staggering in out of the night, a young beautiful woman half-dragging a young man in. The man's clothes were torn and rumpled. His arm was over the girl's shoulder, his face was scratched, his legs barely moved and the knees were gone from his jeans.

"Help me," the girl choked out between sobs. "My brother. He was hit by a car."

Adrain Tyler had been hit by a car alright, but you should have seen the car. Unfortunately, Adrian had tapped into his deepest reserves of power, and paid the price. The car was a wreck and the two kids had no intention of hanging around and seeing just what reaction the police and ambulance drivers would have. They had run as best as they were able. They had run here.

"I've got to report this,"Miriam said.

"Don't," the young girl shouted. "Do it and we'll run."

She rummaged around in her backpack while Miriam turned to the doctor for guidance. The young lady pulled out a wad of bills and in a voice filled with desperation said,

"We'll pay. Just fix my brother."

[Stargaizer]

As soon as Kevin saw what it was that was coming through the door, he was off his seat and rushing towards the young couple. He took the weight of the brother like a seasoned veteran, and was already starting to take him back to a room before the sister had even completely finished the story.

Miriam stuttered at the sisters response, and the both of them turned towards Kevin. Kevin pushed the sister's money back towards her, and he turned towards Miriam. "Miriam, my friend here and I are just going to go back into one of those rooms and have a talk. Can't you see he's had a rough night and needs to unload with a trusted advisor? Nothing to report if I'm just having a chat with my old friend here, right?"

Miriam tried to give Kevin 'the look', even though it had no effect. Her tone gave voice to just how flustered she was at the situation. "Kevin, Dr. Bridges, you know that we can't do that. We can't not call the cops when there's been a crime... that's a felony, we could loose our practice. Kevin, this guy was hit by a car... you know what kind of trouble that is?"

Kevin turned towards the sister, motioning her forward, handing her brother back over to her. "Here, take my good friend John back to exam room 2. I'll be back shortly."

Exam room 2 was easily found, and seemed to be a standard exam room. There was a cut-away, labled diagram of the human reproductive system on the wall, and a box of condoms on the counter, as well as the standard sink, tounge depressor, blood pressure cuff, and other medical trappings that would be expected. Through the closed door, they could hear the Doctor and receptionist 'talking'. Well, the Doctor was talking, the receptionist was about as flustered as she could get, and as close to yelling as possible without actually doing so.

[Adrian Moss]

"What's he going to to," Rebacca whispered to her brother.

"I don't know."

Adrian coughed up some more blood. He didn't undertand it. He had never been hurt like this before. Pain, real pain, was something new to him. Now he felt like his lungs were filling with fluids and he was coughing up blood. The rest of his scrapes and bruises were already healing. Still, he felt short of breath and felt like he was drowning.

Rebecca wrapped her arms around him. She looked eighteen, but was really fourteen. While she sometimes found her older brother smothering, she was wasn't feeling that way now. Adrian had shovered her to safety, drawing the charging car down on himself. She had seen the men fly through the windshields, saw her brother fly through the air too, though the car was half wrapped around him.

She had watched as her brother was slow to rise. Almost as slowly she realized what that meant ... what that had to mean. For the first time in her memory, her brother had gotten hurt. She had rushed to his side and helped him back to the sidewalk. From there, they had plotted out were they were going. They kept a catalog of the 'free' places and knew the street address of the clinic. Rebecca had read the map under the streetlamp, dim and gloomy, an air of panic in her motions. Her brother was coughing blood. That couldn't be good.

Now they were in the clinic, Adrian's fight money still clenched in her fist. He had won so much tonight. That was the reason they had wanted to kill him. Now what good were those winnings do them. Rebecca began to cry.

[Stargaizer]

"We can't just treat them and let them go, what about lawsuits and covering our rears?"

"This is a free clinic. They don't pay for anything, and besides, we have legal protection agaisnt lawsuits."

"Yeah, but that legal protection doesn't cover us when we break the law!"

"Well think about it, if these people were to sue us, then they'd still have to explain why they were here. That should be enough protection."

"What if they come up with something else, what if the 'hit by a car' is a cover up for something else? They might get busted for it, but so would we"

"Well, they'd only have grounds to sue us if we did something wrong, and Miriam, have you ever known me to make a mistake?"

"We still have to call the cops. I don't care what you say. Kevin, you're a great friend and one of the best things that has ever happened to us here, but this clinic is my life, it's all I have, and everybody else that works here is the same. I'm not going to gamble with all of our lives like that."

"I would never presume to gamble with your life, or that of everybody here. Each and every one of you know that I would take a bullet for you. But we have to help this guy."

"..."

"Ok, if you have to call the cops, call the cops, but give me five minutes. It'll take them a while to show up, and I can have this kid walking out of here in six. We'll just tell the cops that they bolted before they got here."

"Kevin, I know that you're good, but no one is that good... but for some reason I know that you can." She sighed. "Ok, we'll do it your way; just make sure that they're gone before the cops show up. K?"

"Miriam, you're the best, you know that?" Kevin gave Miriam a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

"You'd better get crackin' Doc, the clock's ticking..."

*********************************************

Kevin and Miriam finally reached a decision. The occupants of exam room 2 didn't know what that decision was, just that the two of them had stopped talking. Shortly after the silence decended on the office, the brother and sister could hear hurried footsteps outside, which slid to a stop, and then a knock on the door.

The Doctor waited the customary moment before he opened the door, and then walked in. He looked between the two of them, assesing the situation, before looking at the sister. His tone was calming and reassuring. "Jane, would you mind going up to the front and talking with Miriam for a little while? Don't worry, I'll patch your brother John up like new and get him out to you in no time flat. Okay?"

Once 'John' and the Doctor were alone, he asked, in the same reassuring, yet knowing voice, "So, John, what brings you in today?" And he took off his stethascope to listen to 'John's back.

[Adrian Moss]

John ...now I'm John ... okay.

'John's' back was remarkably strong and steady, but the stethascope gave a more worrying prognosis. His lungs had a ragged, liquid cough to them. He was probably coughing up blood. A quick check of his ribs though indicated that most were intact and while a few were bruised, they hadn't impacted the chest cavity.

With a practiced eye, Kevin realized that the boys clothes were a mess. They made the few scraps and bruises he had look much worse than was the case. Either the boy was wearing miracle cloth, or he was incredibly resiliant.

No, the injuries here were not of a blunt force trauma kind. His temperature was elevated alright and he had a respitory infection, but if it was a case of a respitory infection, why hadn't the kids brought that up first.

"Son, have you been sick?" he asked.

"No. I haven't been sick in years."

Yep, it could only be one thing, this boy being what Kevin suspected him to be.

[Stargaizer]

Kevin took more time, and concentrated more on listening than any doctor that Adrian had ever been to or heard of. However, the longer the Doctor listened, the better Adrian felt. Kevin felt around the ribs, to see if any were broken, and the more 'does this hurt? how about here?' that the doctor went through, the less anything hurt.

Actually, by the time that the doctor had taken Adrian's temperature, for the second time, his temperature was almost back to normal.

"So, have you always been a quick healer?" Kevin asked as he walked towards his 'satchel', rummaging around in it for a bottle of some kind.

[Adrian Moss]

Quick healer?

"I don't know, Doctor. I normally keep myself out of harms way," which was a serious lie.

He could breath normally now and could thus think more clearly. His fever must be down too. What had happened?

Adrian hopped off the examining table and twisted right and left briefly, checking for any injuries that would keep him from running. Feeling better, surprisingly better, Adrian smiled at Kevin. Reality came crashing back in though as he saw the clock on the wall. It was time to go.

Adrian adjusted his shirt,

"Time for me to go, Doc. I don't want to be here, you know, just in case."

Rebecca came over to him and gave him a sudden, anxiety-relieving hug.

"Oh Addy."

"Time to go," Adrian said, trying to reasure his sister while moving them both to the door. "Time to go."

Kevin said,

"Hold up a moment." He handed a bottle to Adrian. "Take this. It is Serum for what ails you. One tablespoon full every twelve hours if your chest symptoms come back."

Serum ... if his chest problems came back? What did this man know?

Rebecca nodded to Adrian then looked over her should at Kevin. "Thank you," she whispered back to him. She didn't know what kind of miracle he had worked, but she was sure it was miraculous, mabye even like ... one of them.

Miriam was surprised to see Adrian/John coming out of the examining room under his own locamotion. From the state he had been in when he went in, she expected him to come out on a gurney. The boy waved to her while the young lady couldn't meet her gaze.

They all but ran out into the night. It would be a night on the streets and a morning spent in a thrift store as Adrian replaced hsi wardrobe. Rebecca would have good reason to be proud of herself and would take another determined step toward independance from her brother's custody. Maybe one day they would seperate. Maybe one day they would be equals, partners in their parent's legacy, but tonight she was glad that her brother was alive and able to watch over her while she slept.

[Stargaizer]

Miriam watched the pair leave, and waited for Kevin to come back out to the front desk. "I never get over how you do that... how do you do that?"

Kevin smiled easily and leaned agianst the front counter. "Can't tell you that girl, trade secret. If I told you..."

"You'd have to kill me, I know I know..." Miriam smiled back and completely forgot about calling the police as they started recounting funny and interesting cases that they'd seen or heard about in their days.