Shadow: The Origin Of A Legend

Chapter 25

Half an hour later, I'm sitting nervously on a paper-clad cushion in am empty room. My stomach writhes with fear at the prospect of seeing a doctor again, but at least this room looks nothing like the other "doctor's offices" I've been to; this is a small, drab room, with pale peach walls, and some cheap cabinets in one corner. There's a sink, too, and a couple chairs, one of which holds my shoes and gloves--I'm sitting on some sort of raised cushion clearly meant for humans (it was ridiculously tall), covered in 'sanitary paper.' I have no idea what 'sanitary paper' is, but it feels like cheap wax paper. Rouge is waiting in the lobby, which I'm only half grateful for. I don't particularly want to be here alone, but at the same time I don't want her to continue making fun of me, which is, incidentally, what she did the entire way here. I draw my knees up to my chest, putting my bare feet on the crinkling paper, folding my arms around my legs and resting my head on the bandages still wrapped around my biceps; I feel more than a little overexposed without my gloves and shoes, but the nurse guy said I had to take them off. I wouldn't expect Rouge to understand--she wasn't there, after all, so how could she know what I've been through? I sigh. Sometimes I can't even tell what really happened and what was a nightmare.

A knock at the door snaps me out of my thoughts, and I lift my head abruptly. A blonde woman is leaning through the door, and she was knocking on the doorframe. "Mister Shadow?" She says in a cheerful, bright voice. Stepping inside, she closes the door behind her. "My name's Doctor Medusa." She smiles pleasantly. I blink at her, a little surprised. She doesn't look nearly as intimidating as some of the other doctors I've met. She has weird hair, though--it's medium-length, save for two long bits in the front, which she's woven into an odd sort of braid that sits on her chest. The rest is a choppy, youthful style, but not in a sort of punk-teenager look; it's flat at the top, but it flips away from her head at the tips. She wears plain black scrubs, with a doctor's jacket over it. I look up at her face as she approaches me, walking softly, laying her clipboard down on the counter as she passes it. Her left eyebrow is missing in a patch, but it looks to me as if she just happens to not actually have an eyebrow there. A natural occurrence, rather than some sort of peculiar and unfortunate accident. Her eyes are an almost golden brown--an unusual shade for a human. Her nose is small, and she has relatively pale skin. Caucasian, in her mid-twenties, clearly. "How are you?" Doctor Medusa asks in that same sunny tone as she begins to put on a pair of gloves. "I mean, clearly you're not feeling well if you're here," suddenly seeming embarrassed, she face-palms with the one hand not yet gloved. "Silly me."

"Uh, that's no big deal," I stutter quietly. "I, uh, I've had this weird feeling i-in the back of my throat, and I keep coughing..." Despite how cheerful and kind she seems, I can't shake this fear of doctors so easily.

"Oh?" She blinks. "Alright, can you open your mouth for me? I need to look at your throat." She pulls a peculiar, flat stick of sanded wood out of one of her coat pockets as I obediently open my mouth. "Okay, now say, 'aaah'!" She chirps, pressing the stick down on my tongue.

What is all this? "Aaaah," I say, mimicking her peculiar noise.

She hums for a moment, then pulls the stick out of my mouth, which I promptly shut. "Alrighty, Shadow," she says, turning towards the cabinets. Rummaging in one, she pulls out a stethoscope; whipping back around, Doctor Medusa grins at me. "Now I just need to listen to your heart and lungs, okay?" Why does she keep saying "okay" and "alright?" I blink at her as she carefully presses the rather cold metal of the stethoscope to my chest. "Can you take a deep breath for me?" She puts the end pieces in her ears, scooting the disc end of the instrument around as I breathe as deeply as possible without coughing. "Good~!" She sings after a few moments, pulling back. "Okay, I think I've figured out what's wrong."

"Wh-What is it?" I query, crossing my legs.

"You have a cold," she replies, picking up her clipboard again. Doctor Medusa scribbles a few things down on it, continuing, "So, I'm gonna prescribe some medicine for you. If you follow its instructions, this should clear up in a few weeks, although with your accelerated healing abilities it might be gone in under a week."