DIVINE » l. valdez

xxxv

❝no light above and there's no hope below, and i don't know which way's home ❞

At the end of the hallway stood an oak door almost completely covered with a bronze plaque:

ASCLEPIUS

MD, DMD, DME, DC, DVS, FAAN, so on and so forth.

The list went on forever, and Hina had to look away before her brain gave out.

Piper knocked. "Dr Asclepius?"

The door flew open. An older man smiled warmly at the demigods, with crinkles lining his eyes. He had neatly trimmed salt and pepper hair paired with a short beard. He wore a white lab coat over a business suit and a stethoscope around his neck – your stereotypical doctor outfit, minus the polished black staff he held in his hands, lined with a live green python.

Hina was not excited to see another snake, especially when it was staring her down with the intensity of laser beam. 

"Hello!" Asclepius greeted.

"Doctor." Piper smiled so sweetly, it would have given a small kid a cavity. "We'd be so grateful for your help. We need the physician's cure."

Asclepius put his hand over his heart. "Oh, my dear, I would be delighted to help."

Piper's smile wavered. "You would? I mean, of course you would."

"Come in! Come in!" Asclepius ushered them into his office.

Hina wasn't sure what to expect, maybe some kind of torture chamber, but to her dismay it was worse: a regular doctor's office- a big maple desk, bookshelves stuffed with medical books, a small plastic model of the body's organs. 

Immediately, she was nervous. Hina's fingers fiddled with the hem of her shirt, her eyes bouncing around the room to avoid looking at any one area for too long.

Beside her, Leo adjusted his grip on Hina's hand, "Are you scared of the doctor's?" he whispered, the ghost of a smile dancing across his face.

"Don't laugh. I just don't like doctors, they always poked and prodded me as a kid when they didn't know what was wrong with me."

"Won't let him poke or prod you, Ina," Leo promised.

Asclepius took the big comfy doctor's chair and laid his staff and serpent across his desk. "Please, sit!"

Jason and Piper took the two chairs in front of the desk, leaving Leo and Hina standing. She was okay with that if it meant being farther away from the doctor.

"So." Asclepius leaned back. "I can't tell you how nice it is to actually talk with patients. The last few thousand years, the paperwork has got out of control. Rush, rush, rush. Fill in forms. Deal with red tape. Not to mention the giant alabaster guardian who kills everyone in the waiting room. It takes all the fun out of medicine!"

"Yeah," Leo said. "Hygeia is kind of a downer."

Asclepius grinned. "My real daughter Hygeia isn't like that, I assure you. She's quite nice. At any rate, you did well reprogramming the statue. You have a surgeon's hands."

Hina shook her head. The last thing she wanted was Dr. Valdez chasing her down with a scalpel.

Jason shuddered. "Leo with a scalpel? Don't encourage him."

"Plan C, if demigod and bank robber don't work."

The doctor god chuckled. "Now, what seems to be the trouble?" He sat forward and peered at Jason. "Hmm ... Imperial gold sword wound, but that's healed nicely. No cancer, no heart problems. Watch that mole on your left foot, but I'm sure it's benign."

Jason blanched. "How did you –"

"Oh, of course!" Asclepius said. "You're a bit short-sighted! Simple fix."