Re: The First Law

[JanetJulian]

Mel chuckled. "Well, that and the whole Catholic/Mormon thing. Not a lot of birth control in that house." Not like her, she'd been on birth control since she was fifteen. Birth control. She still was on birth control, wasn't she? Would the hospital do that? Oh God, how did she find that out?

She was so distracted she missed most of Mac's reply, though she managed a half-hearted smile about the chocolate. "I just prefer dark chocolate," she said, clearly a bit out of step.

She hesitated, trying to decide who she could talk to when the doctor came out. At first she ignored him, but then something niggled and she replayed what he'd said and her eyes widened.

"Here," she said, moving over towards the doctor. "Can we see him now?" Would Erin know? How could he possibly know, it wasn't like he would be consulted on her treatment. Could they test for that? What if he'd knocked her up? How long did it take for those shots to take effect anyway? It had been so long since she'd needed to worry about it. And what if he had? Would it kill the baby? Could they even tell yet? Did she care if it did? Would her child have pointed ears, if she was pregnant? If she could even get pregnant? Her thoughts spun around even as she tried to ignore them and focus on the doctor.

[Seth]

She shook her head. "Yeah, the vagaries of religion were never really something " she continued talking, as Mel came to her conclusion, then switched over to a discussion of chocolate while Mel's thoughts danced wildly.

She gave a small chuckle at the conclusion. "They make that here, too, it's just not as well known," she promised.

The doctor gave a small nod at the two of them. He seemed the serious type, not one to smile even when there was good news. "In just a little bit more. I had some questions I needed answered, but he's being prepped right now, and you'll be able to speak to him once they're done. We've done the preliminary x-rays, removed the cast, and the prognosis is very good - ninety percent that he won't have any lasting nerve damage or limit to his mobility in the arm.

He paused, tilting his head slightly. "Everything all right, ma'am?"

[JanetJulian]

Mel nodded distractedly about the chocolate, focusing on the doctor once he appeared.

She nodded at the prognosis, somehow she hadn't expected anything else, which was maybe wrong of her. But Erin was young and healthy, and managed to carry off an air of invulnerability that made it difficult to believe it could have been more serious.

"I - uh, well, I would like to speak to someone about another issue once he's settled, but it's not important right now." Or at least not any more important than it was anytime after they'd had enthusiastic sex - how many times? God, she'd lost count. Plenty if she was in that part of her cycle. If she was even fertile. And who knew, maybe they had kept the shots up, though it seemed difficult to believe they would now that she thought about it. Damn, she was an idiot.

But she set it aside and managed a smile for the doctor. "What were your questions?"

[Seth]

Mac forgot all about the chocolate as well as the doctor appeared.

"fair enough," said the doctor. "Just let me know what department you need to consult, and I can arrange something."

The doctor nodded. "My biggest concern is that we have no medical history of any kind. Ailments, previous injuries, allergies. One look at his x-ray of his arm suggests he's either a serious boxer, or suffered fairly extensive physical abuse. Are you familiar with his medical history, or do you have a copy? Has he received regular medical attention? I've seen scars which suggest previous surgeries."

He was even. calm as he asked his questions, and glanced down at her hands. "Do you know anything about the contusions on his back?"

[JanetJulian]

Mel nodded, but she didn't answer right away, her expression growing bemused as the doctor continued.

"I don't have his full medical history, but I think I can explain it. Would you mind if we went somewhere a bit more private?" She glanced around the busy waiting room and back at the doctor.

She was really glad his mother wasn't here yet.

[Seth]

The doctor shook his head. "No, that's fine. We can head to the patient's room, or my office, whichever you prefer."

He gestured to them both, and Mac pulled up with a frown. "Do you want me to wait?" she offered. "In case the clan shows up?"

As they walked, the doctor glanced over. "Dr. Hosato Hikita," he offered. "I'm actually just assisting on the surgery, but this isn't a highly unusual process. I know there was some concern about pins and plates, but the measures we'll be taking are more temporary - he's young enough we expect the bone can fully heal, and the injury's still fresh enough. We'll be surgically installing a few pins on a temporary basis - he'll need to come back in six weeks and got through this ordeal again to have them removed."

[JanetJulian]

She glanced at Mac, glad to be spared at least some embarrassment. "That would be great. You've met them before?" Clearly she'd at least seen pictures of them.

She turned to follow the doctor. "Your office is fine," she said, not wanting to interrupt whatever they were doing to Erin. "M-" she started and then paused, not sure what name he'd know her under since Melvin had booked the original work before knowing her new alias. In the end she decided to hell with it. "Melinda Sherman," she returned. "I'm sure he'll enjoy that." She quirked her lips. "But I'll make sure he gets back."

She waited until they were in his office to continue.

"He's an extreme sport athlete. So yeah, he's had a lot of broken bones. He's also a thrill seeker, likes speed, and just about anything dangerous you can name." She smiled wryly. "And the marks are from rough very consensual sex, which we've engaged in quite recently. I can show you my matching marks if you need confirmation."

She looked amused. "And the other department I'd like to speak with is Gynecology."

[Seth]

"Ja- Clyde had me looking after them," she nodded. "Haven't met them, but I know what they look like."

He nodded, smiling ever so slightly as she decided what her name was. "Ms. Sherman," he said softly. "You don't have to be concerned. The funding from your organization provides ninety five percent of the grant for my own research. And I like to think it's importance eclipses any... political machinations surrounding your friend." He nodded as she mentioned the promise to see him returned.

He sat down behind the desk and nodded. He nodded at the mention of the extreme sports, the consensual sex, though he did raise a smile eyebrow at the offer to show her matching marks. "He claimed to have wiped out in a gravel bed," he remarked. "And that the break in his arm was from a dirt bike. I think I've been doing this long enough to know neither is true," he said. "Even if your friend wasn't a particularly good liar."

He gave a small nod. "There's an excellent department here. Did you... sustain your own injuries, or need a pregnancy test?"

[JanetJulian]

She smiled back at the doctor. "Glad to hear it," she said. "He's really a good guy, just messed up with some very not nice people."

She arched a brow. "Really? He should know better. No, the breaks came from an up close and personal confrontation with a very unhappy FBI agent with black ops training. But I'm sure he's wiped out on dirt bikes before." She smiled and then leaned back, biting her lip.

"The latter," she admitted. "Though I'm not sure how quickly they can detect such a thing. I've been on birth control all of my adult life, but I recently woke up from a 4 year coma and I just realized that it's unlikely they continued my regular shots. Could a blood test tell me whether or not they did?"

[Seth]

Dr. Hikita nodded. "Not my concern, or my business," he nodded. "But he's under full doctor-patient, at this point."

He frowned. "That agent was... incredibly, strong, then. A full clean break is rare enough, the second break occurred at the same time as the first. Either that or incredibly well trained," he added. "Ah, I didn't doubt he had. Just a different range of injury from that kind of accident. The hand - do you know anything about his hand? Right hand, the multiple breaks their? They're healed in the last year or two."

He blinked at the news about the coma - pregnancy was so par for the course as to be routine, but a four year coma was not. "We can run tests," he said. "It's been a while since I had anything to do with that, so I'm not sure how accurate the tests are in any kind of time table. I do know you should have a full physical," he said. He glanced over, tilting his head slightly. "You shouldn't have been kept on any drugs which were key to keeping you alive. Anything else could cause interference in the prospect of a recovery. I'm more curious if you know what kind of therapy was done - you're in excellent shape, and most long term coma patients are weeks or months in recovery before they can walk."

[JanetJulian]

She nodded. "So I hear," she said dryly. "And no, he didn't mention the hand. That I recall." She frowned. "Though he did say something about the same man breaking other bones, so maybe that was it." She frowned and then blinked up as he continued on about her.

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't hurt," she allowed. "I was motivated to leave the hospital quite quickly." She smiled wryly. "And I'm afraid I can't really explain my recovery, except to say I think it's an unusual sort of case."

[Seth]

He frowned, thoughtful.  “An older injury, and one that points to a pattern of abuse and violence,” he said.  “But I should probably not discuss it any further, unless… was your friend held by this agent for any length of time?  Six months or more?”

 

“It would be,” he said.  “Electrical stimulation can stimulate muscular activity – it can keep you ‘in shape,’ and a carefully balanced diet can keep you as a healthy as a vegetative state will allow.  But the ultimate trouble comes in the nerve damage from being inert for years – physical therapy doesn’t focus  on regaining the strength to walk so much as forcing the body to remember how to walk.”

 

He rose and shook his head.  “So, by definition, I would say it was unusual.  The matter of the hand won’t impact the surgery today – but if there are no allergies or recent illnesses you’re aware of, that’s  all I’ll need for us to get working.  Do you have any last questions for me?  One of the nurses can take you to gynecology.” 

[JanetJulian]

Mel frowned. "He was in prison for six months to a year. At least he described it as prison. Someone else described it to me as a military installation. So it's possible." Her expression grew harder as she responded and she was starting to take a severe dislike to this Knight. As in rip out his throat and take no prisoners sort of dislike. Which was foolish because she wasn't actually a dragon and in spite of her martial arts training she had no doubt that Knight could hand her her shapely ass with little effort expended on his part.

She pursed her lips at his information. "Well, I wasn't precisely inert, certainly not neurologically, so perhaps that explains it. In truth I wasn't in a coma at all, but it's the easiest way to explain it, because honestly I don't have another way to explain it."

She considered him for a moment. "Has he lost any permanent function in that hand? As for allergies and recent illnesses, he would know better than me." She considered and then shook her head. "No, that's fine. Though I'd like to speak with him if possible before the surgery. Will that still be possible if I go to Gynecology now?"

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