fandom_clinic | FTEC - Tuesday, 06/08

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FTEC - Tuesday, 06/08

Hawkeye was busy working at the front desk. No, he wasn't doing inventory or reviewing patient charts. He had glue and scissors and all kinds of decorative items creating a large poster on STDs. This was to join the other similar posters on a table in one of the exam rooms on similar subjects that he planned to put around town. They weren't aimed only at the kids. Adults needed educational posters too.

There was a sign out front today that said 'No birds, no bees and definitely no bull. Free advice and samples inside!' and a bowl full of condoms inside on the desk.

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"Did it have a name?" she asked, still gritting her teeth to try to ignore the headache as much as possible. "I mean, after three years, it's like a pet or something."

"Strangely enough, it did. Korea. I treated the problem with excessive drinking. I don't recommend it for you. Gritting your teeth like that won't help the headache, but it's telling me we can probably rule out caffeine withdrawal. Have you been drinking enough water? It's probably warmer here than you're used to. Or can we rule out dehydration?"

...okay, that was funny. She could see what Shelley meant. "I was really hoping you'd suggest alcohol," Rose replied, sarcasm fully engaged. "Water's fine. I drank like a gallon after training earlier."

"What kind of training?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and peering at her in what could have been considered an annoying way. He wasn't trying to be annoying. He was trying to be suspicious of whatever was giving her a headache. There was a difference in his head.

"Uh, fighting?" she said, obviously unclear about why that made a difference. "I mean, it was just running and stuff today." She eyed him back, crossing her own arms slightly defensively.

"Have you been overdoing it?" She was a Fandom High student (or so he was guessing). It was a sensible question to ask.

Rose shrugged. "My mentor doesn't think so." Which wasn't totally the case, but she'd use it, sure. "We're only doing one training a day now. No way can that be too much."

Also she was a Fandom High student (or was). No such thing.

Hawkeye's arms dropped and he stood upright, no longer leaning. "Then we should probably do an exam. The kind where I shine a light in your eye, not the kind with a 2B pencil. There might even be a stethoscope involved if I can remember where I put it."

"I'm graduated, no more pencil exams for me," she said quickly. Rose took a breath, rubbing her hands over her face. The spike gouging in through her eyes seemed to have melted away, and she let herself relax a little, wondering if it was just waiting to come back.

...no, still gone. Weird. "Um, actually, it's kinda gone now," she said, sounding confused and intensely relieved. "Maybe it was just being out in the heat or something."

"The headache you've had long enough to go on a second date with and call back for a third gets worse and then suddenly disappears after a few minutes of talking to me? I'm flattered, but I think it's still a good idea to let me take a look."

She took another breath, letting go of all the mental blocks she'd tried to put up to distract herself from the pain. It was still gone. Almost as completely as when she'd been in Caritas. So weird.

"No, really, it's cool," she said quickly, just wanting to take the lack of headache and run. "Besides I'm working today. Can't leave Jessi alone for too long or she'll try to seduce the people in her aerobics class again. I'll come back if it gets worse again."

Hawkeye perked up. "Does this aerobics class run on days other than Tuesday?" He didn't like the idea, but he'd long since given arguing with people who didn't want to be patients unless their life was in danger.

"Just not Fridays or Saturdays," Rose said, pulling a little face. "Hope you like pink spandex if you go." Seriously, he should stick with Shelley. Then he wouldn't hate himself in the morning. "Thanks, Doctor Hawkeye."

"Come back if it starts again," he insisted, wondering off to the side of his mind where he could get a headband and if the class would involve actually doing any physical activity. "Your brain isn't something to be fooled around with."

Rose snorted, relaxed now if still a little worried about the whole thing. "The existence of my brain has totally been under debate."

She gave him a wave, turning to push open the door. As she stepped outside, it was like her world exploded. The headache didn't just come back; her entire skull felt like it was ripping open. Rose staggered back, the pain nearly unbearable.

The pain was just the beginning. As she opened her eyes, all she could see around her were faces. Translucent, ghostly faces and bodies and pale, shining hands reaching for her, mouths opening like they wanted to speak. The more they came towards her, the more Rose recognised - Victor's guardians and the children from the Strigoi massacre.

There was a buzzing in her ears that grew louder as three new figures joined the surging crowd. Lissa's family. They looked uninjured, regal, with sad eyes that wanted to say something. For once, Rose understood the message, and she wished she hadn't. Behind Lissa's brother was a patch of blackness that was growing bigger. Andre pointed at it then at Rose, and she knew without knowing how that it was the entrance to the world of the dead - the world she'd been pulled back from. No one needed to speak for Rose to understand what they were saying. You shouldn't have lived. You need to come back. With us...

Rose started screaming. Sad and solemn, Mason's face appeared in the masses of ghosts, and Rose looked to him for help. "Make them go away!" she yelled desperately. "Make them go away!"

Still screaming for help, Rose waved her hands in front of her, trying to fend the ghosts off. None touched her, but they were all too close, reaching for her with skeletal hands.

Somehow the pain worsened as it started to consume her, as spots of glittery blackness danced through her vision. She was pretty sure she was going to pass out, and she prayed she would, prayed that would make the pain and the ghosts vanish. Finally the spots grew until Rose couldn't see the ghosts anymore, couldn't see them reaching for her and trying to pull her with them into the world of the dead. The pain finally disappeared as she fainted, crumpling to the ground.

Hawkeye had turned back to deal with his posters. The scream left them all but forgotten. "Nurse!" he yelled and they came running. Hawkeye was already out the door, kneeling on the ground beside Rose, checking pulse then breathing and finally pupils. "Get a board," he ordered. One of the nurses grabbed the board from the front of the clinic. "Let's get her inside. Suspected head trauma." They transferred Rose to the board and moved her inside for treatment. "And someone find out who her mentor is. Start with the gym. I need his phone number."

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FTEC - Tuesday, 06/08

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