Short Story Follow-Up: Doctor's Visit (Draft, Still in Progress)

"Ahh...! Gods, you couldn't give me a warning before you stabbed me in the ribs with that needle!?"

Doctor Rivers withdrew the needle full of fluid and gave it an experimental flick before adjusting his glasses and finally addressing me for the first time since he'd walked back in. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Madrigal, but this is just a routine test. One of many... so far, our results have been quite unfruitful--we expected some kind of irregularity... a unique, telling feature, but there has been nothing. Even your hands, albeit heavily scarred and rough in some places, proved to be normal... the skin chemistry was normal, your fingerprints were normal patterns, magic flowed from them in a regular way. We're baffled. You seem to have the body of a normal, and rather fit and healthy, young woman."

"I could have told you that, Doc."

"Even despite giving birth to... was it three kids? A boy and then twin girls...?"

"...Yes, three."

"...Even despite that, you seem to be in impeccable shape, with everything in its place. There isn't a sign of aging since your last regular physical at age twenty-nine... not a single wrinkle or even a gray hair. It's quite puzzling..."

His eyes lingered on me, questioning, pleading with me to give him some sort of lead or answer.

All I said was, "Huh... fancy that. Can I go home now?"

"Oh no, Mrs. Madrigal," he replied a little apologetically, but still managing to sound as if this was the silliest request in the world, "I'm afraid we have far more tests to perfom. You'll have to stay overnight. You will be permitted a phone call to notify your family."

"...Thanks," I muttered.

The young doctor murmured for a while over some color change in the vial of stuff he'd just gotten out of me, and then left me to my own devices. Which, sitting there in just a sports bra and shorts without even a purse with me, were considerably limited. I shifted a little on the examining table and waited impatiently for one of the orderlies to bring me my phone. I was getting more irritable by the second thanks to the antiseptic they'd put all over my arms and anywhere they'd stuck a needle. Someone had better get their ass here soon.

About ten minutes and several cursings and peeks into the hall later, some pasty-faced Rochesterian orderly came in and forked over my phone, offering only a half-sincere sounding "sorry" before rushing back out of the room. But that was well enough, because I didn't need them to be listening in on my calls, too. They'd already invaded my privacy enough with the physical. Then again, there always was the possibility they had cameras in the room...

Best not to think of that and start my only phone call home off angry, I told myself. I started to dial, waited through the rings. After the third one, Kate picked up, Bandit chittering and the TV going on in the background. Even ordinary, everyday sounds like that... ones I usually took for granted made me feel homesick. I wanted to be there just goofing off and relaxing with them...

"Hi Mommy! Are you doin' okay? Did they hit your knee with those triangle thingies? I hope you're not sick..."

I chuckled at her rush of questions and felt the pang of homesickness hit even harder. She had to be the sweetest little girl in the world... she worried even more than I did sometimes. "No, sweetie, Mommy's not sick... it's just a check-up, but there's a lot of things to test, so... I won't be home until tomorrow..."

"B-but why aren't you...? Who's gonna tuck me in? How long have you gotta stay?" her voice got sadder and sadder with each new concern and my heart was sinking.