Who: Drake and Athena What: A precautionary checkup. Where: Athena's office. When: Saturday afternoon. Warnings: None.
Drake wasn’t a huge fan of doctors. It was probably something he’d picked up from his dad that could be traced back to his childhood, a stubborn belief that he could take care of his own problems without outside help. Even back in Musings when the injuries were bad he took care of it himself, digging bullets out of his shoulder or sewing up knife wounds, and on the odd occasion he did seek assistance it was never from licensed medical professionals. A rash was hardly the worst thing he’d had happen to him, but it was the way it was inflicted him that unsettled him. He didn’t know the full range of the Kappa’s ability - what if she’d poisoned him? What if the rash spread and his arm needed to be amputated?
It wasn’t a stretch to say he had one hell of an imagination when he tried, and Drake didn’t want that bitch to have the satisfaction of causing him some kind of lasting damage. There were angry red welts all over the back of his hand like some kind of spiderweb, and by the time he stopped by Athena’s office in late afternoon he didn’t think it had gotten any worse - but what did he know?
He approached the front desk and grinned at the secretary, giving his name and informing her that Dr. Henderson (Athena seemed a little casual) should have been expecting him. After talking with Drake over the forums, Athena informed Jenny that a Mr. Wallace would be coming in sometime later that afternoon. She returned to her paperwork in the lab for an hour or so, before a patient came in. Andrew was a five year old autistic, and he was probably one of Athena’s favorite patients. His mother, Diana, was a single working mother with a heart of gold. Athena immediately took over caring for her and her son, and in exchange, Diana would bring her a piece of homemade apple pie every visit.
Just as she was finishing up with Andrew, Jenny poked her head in saying Drake had arrived. Athena asked for her to just tell him to wait a moment and made her final recommendations to Diana. They walked out together, with Andrew in Athena’s arms, perched on her hip. She offered the man in the waiting area a smile, assuming it was Drake, before quietly saying goodbye to Andrew and Diana, giving both of them tight hugs. Once they were out the door, she turned to the man. “Drake Wallace? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Henderson,” she introduced, holding her hand out to him. Waiting a few minutes didn’t matter much when his entire afternoon was free, which was usual unless he was on a case, so Drake didn’t mind making small talk with Jenny until Athena was finished with whatever patient she was currently with. When she appeared with a young boy in her arms his outward reaction was a simple glance and a vague smile, while in reality he couldn’t help thinking of Spencer. Every kid reminded him of his younger brother, whether the child in question looked like him or not, but it was something he’d learned to accept and keep hidden.
“That’s me. Nice to meet you too, Dr. Henderson.” Drake shook her hand with practiced politeness, and even though he used his right hand the left one was still visible. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.” Athena offered him a warm, comforting smile. He had seemed somewhat concerned on the forums, and she wanted to make him as comfortable as possible. “It’s never a problem,” she replied. “Why don’t we move into one of the exam rooms?” she suggested, already leading him into the first exam room just a few feet away from where they were currently standing. “I’ve also managed to round up some pie for you,” she added, referring to his forum post as they walked into the exam room.
With the door shut behind her, Athena turned to Drake. “Now, what’s this about a rash?” she asked, tone still friendly but with a professional edge to it. She busied herself with washing her hands thoroughly at the sink before turning to look at him. Drake didn’t let himself hesitate before following her into the exam room, admittedly reassured by her demeanour. A lot of doctors had rubbed him the wrong way over the years but this Dr. Henderson definitely didn’t seem like one of them, an observation that was furthered when she mentioned pie. Was she serious? “You really go all out, huh?” He commented with an appreciative chuckle. “Thanks.”
It occurred to him that it had been a while since he’d actually been to a proper doctor. Oh well. “I ran into a bit of… trouble the other night,” he said flippantly, as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. “I ended up with this.” Drake extended his left hand so she could get a clear view of the rash that covered his skin. “It doesn’t hurt much now, but based on how I got it I figured it was a good idea to get it checked out.” “You just happened to pick a good day to come in,” Athena replied. “It’s not a problem. The woman who just left, she brings pie for every visit. I’ll warn you though, once you’ve had one of her pies, you’ll never be satisfied by anything else.” She finished washing her hands and dried them off as he explained the rash. By the time he extended his hand, Athena was facing him again.
“It doesn’t seem like it would be the type of rash to hurt,” she replied, taking his hand in hers and observing the rash. It seemed almost like an allergic reaction, but she wanted to be sure. “Did it start just on your hand? Has it spread anywhere?” It would be more likely to be an allergic reaction if it was spreading at a slow rate, and that would be easy enough to take care of. “It doesn’t feel any different from the way your skin normally feels?” she added, running her fingers over the back of his hand, not able to discern any difference between them. Huh. Patients bringing their doctors pie was a new concept to him, but at least there was a guaranteed upside if the rash turned out to be worse than he thought. “Warning appreciated, but I think I’ll risk it,” he said wryly. Decent pie was actually a lot harder to find than most people thought.
Drake had no idea what type of rash it was, since he’d gotten it from a person rather than some kind of weird plant or food. He was pretty sure most rashes weren’t created by psychotic Creations with water abilities. “Just my hand, yeah. It hasn’t spread anywhere and I don’t think it’s gotten worse in the last few hours either.” It didn’t look much different either, but he figured that was a lot better than the alternative. “Uh... no? I mean, it’s kinda itchy, but other than that it just looks bad.” Athena hummed quietly to herself, mentally running through every rash she knew of. She hadn’t yet come across anything quite like it before, but there were similarities to various types of rashes brought about by a reaction to something. “Well, not spreading is a good sign,” she informed him with a smile, letting go of his hand.
“I can give you something to help with the itch and reduce the redness, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. If it doesn’t go away in the next few days, come back and I’ll prescribe antibiotics. I don’t want to needlessly put you on medication,” she explained, though there was a slight crease in her brow. She was quite curious about the rash, and how he procured it, but it was her policy not to ask questions. She pulled out her prescription pad and quickly scribbled off a script for him. “Here you go,” she said, tearing off the page and handing it to him. “Enough to last the week, and if it doesn’t fade, contact me again.” Drake had never seen a problem with vocalizing his day job or what EIT was all about, but that didn’t mean he was feeling particularly inclined to explain that the Kappa had essentially had him helpless at her mercy while she manipulated something beneath his skin to cause the rash. Still, maybe it would be a good idea to give her a heads-up about this kind of thing, not only for his own sake but for future patients who might come in with a similar ailment. What he did wasn’t illegal, so why hide it? Besides, there was that doctor-patient confidentiality thing he was pretty sure applied in situations like this.
“Thanks.” He took the paper and scanned it briefly before tucking it into his pocket. “I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know.” It wasn’t much of an assumption to think that Athena was curious, since anyone would be, and he rubbed the back of his neck absently while he hesitated. “I got this from a Creation,” he said finally, brow creased into a frown. Obviously the doctor was one too, since she was on the forums. “That’s why it’s... unique, to put it nicely.” Athena tucked the pad back in her coat pocket as he gave her some more information. “A Creation? That makes sense,” she mused, wondering just how much information he was willing to share. “Would you be willing to provide me with more information about the Creation in question? Perhaps there is something about this person that could explain the rash,” she elaborated.
“Though, you’ve no obligation to indulge my curiosity. My policy is to keep the questions to a minimum, treat the injury or ailment and move on,” she added, hoping to not come off as too inquisitive. She was good at her job, and she wanted to help people, especially those who might not be able to trust the other doctors in the area. Athena was never one for gossip, but she always kept up with the gossip circulating the ER and Nurse’s stations. They speculated worse than everyone about who were the men and women behind the vigilante masks. “I don’t know too much,” he admitted, deciding there was no harm in sharing what he knew. The Kappa was already fairly publicized and it might do some good if people were aware of just how powerful she could be. “The papers call her the Siren. She’s already killed two people and put a teenage girl in a coma.” There was an unmistakeable edge to his voice now, one that Drake didn’t bother putting the effort into hiding. The Kappa had made it clear enough that she enjoyed what she did and felt no remorse whatsoever. A murderer was a murderer but some were far more twisted than others.
Drake waved a hand carelessly and shrugged. “No reason to keep it a secret. She’s got some kind of… water-related ability, and somehow she can use it to control the human body. Like a puppet, you know?” He snorted derisively. “’Course, she can do a lot more than that if she feels like it.” Athena noted the edge in his voice and knew she had found someone with similar values to herself. To be fair, this particular creation seemed like quite the bloodthirsty bitch. “She seems like quite a woman,” Athena quipped dryly. She sighed and dug her hands into her coat pocket. “I’ll do some research, see what I can find out. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call,” she added, pulling a business card out of her pants pocket. It was a simple white card with her name and work cell typed on the front. “I’m always on call.” The last part was said with a bit of a smile.
She moved to the door and pulled it open. “Now, how about I get you that pie, hmm?” Not the best transitions, but Athena didn’t particularly mind. She had research to do and the pie would be better appreciated by Drake. “If you take the script to the pharmacy around the corner, they’ll give you a discount,” she added as she led him back toward the waiting room. Diana’s apple pie was sitting in it’s usual white take-out container, and Athena swiped it off the counter top, handing it to Drake. “Enjoy!”