Day 48: Lunch

[zack_fair]

Even with the nasty weather, Zack still felt refreshed after going outside. Humidity would have reminded him of Gongaga, but he wasn't sure he needed that. Not now, not when he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to get back home and see his parents again. Not that he should have the chance at all, but it was hard to think about nonetheless. Seeing

Comments

[hes_deadjim]

McCoy had never been so relieved to leave another doctor's office. That hour or two had felt like a lifetime stuck with Venkman, and for a moment, McCoy had to admit he was starting to see what Mr. Dent had meant about avoiding his sessions. Therapy was meant to help, but that was when there was something wrong with you and when the attending doctor actually cared about the patient

[unheroed]

That was a miracle if he'd ever seen one. Harvey had actually gotten the chance to sit by himself without some random patient coming and badgering him about this, that, or the other. That might have been the first time, in fact, since he didn't count when Jason had stood him up. He'd pretty much glared at anyone who'd even walked within five feet of him that day.

Getting to sit outside when the weather didn't make him feel like he was going to die and when he could just sort through his thoughts... Well, he hadn't realized how badly he'd needed that. It wasn't like he'd made any startling breakthroughs, but he pretty much spent all of his waking hours in company here. And it usually wasn't good company, either. Having just an hour or so to be more or less alone was a relief

[hes_deadjim]

Mr. Dent sitting down across from him was a surprise. The nurse walking away was testimony to the fact that it wasn't entirely voluntary on Dent's part. He supposed it was better than Mr. Carter, namely because McCoy wasn't ready to repeat having each and every value of his assailed so soon, or be the target of another attempt at taking his arm out its socket by that overeager young man

[unheroed]

What kind of statement was that? McCoy was a country doctor now? That seemed like a pretty big change from his talk of planets last time. While the man had quickly tried to brush all of those questions aside, it was pretty hard for Harvey to forget. He realized he could drill the man about it, but part of him was just happier staying in the dark. No point in hearing crazy talk

[hes_deadjim]

There it was, that 'I-told-you-so' look coming on at warp speed. It'd be followed then by barely restrained smugness or outright gloating, and after his too-long session with Doctor Venkman, McCoy wasn't so sure his patience could hold out much longer

[unheroed]

It was clear that the doctor was doing his best to keep face now, after he'd probably been proved wrong a few times over the past few days. While Harvey could have pushed the matter by laughing in his face, that wasn't really his style. He was smirking just slightly, but it was hard to tell when half of his face was wrapped up.

In any case, it didn't seem like McCoy was going to try and argue with him anymore, so that was a welcome change. Most people got their heads on straight after a few days here, though Harvey did have to admit that he was still taken by surprise fairly often. Not that he was going to say that out loud as some sort of reassurance. That wasn't his style, either

[hes_deadjim]

Well now that he had that (if that was Dent's form of rubbing it in) out of his system, they could move on. The doctor let it slide. He was right though, better to know so they could prepare. He doubted anyone outside of their captors had the full picture, but any preparation, even if based on incomplete information was better than none at all.

"You could say that was par for the course in my line of work," McCoy said. Medical mysteries aside, he'd seen plenty of incidents and anomalies that defied physics as they knew it, things that hadn't even imagined in their wildest dreams.

After being aboard the Enterprise, it felt like things not making sense initially was just part of the average away mission. Usually they could figure out the phenomena or problem quickly with the various departments on the job, but then you had matters like Miss Clark, or the Guardian of Forever, that Lazarus character or being pulled out of a transporter and surviving the ordeal. At this point, a part of him had gotten used to the high possibility of the

[unheroed]

It was hard to understand why being a doctor would bring up things that made no sense (wasn't that a profession that was based on everything functioning the way it was supposed to until a virus got in the way and screwed it all up? But maybe he'd just answered his own question), but what was even stranger was that McCoy had been so confused in the first place. "If you're used to it, then why did you have such a hard time believing me?" he questioned

[hes_deadjim]

Seeing someone's bones all but break themselves without a single sign of exterior trauma or encountering a silicon-based life form was distinctly different than somehow arriving here out of the blue, or seeing medical staff act in this way

[unheroed]

Harvey had to concede that that was a decent enough explanation. He didn't imagine most people were used to staff behaving this way, seeing how generally a place like this would have been shut down in two seconds flat. Then again, Arkham had been allowed to stay up and running for far longer than it should have, considering what Crane had been doing within its walls

[hes_deadjim]

"I'm afraid bites are more common than bullet wounds," he said, mostly because guns just weren't as commonly used in this day and age. You had the occasional far outpost that still relied on them and a developing civilization or several in the gunpowder stage of development, but phasers were generally the weapon of choice. Bites and stings were far more common with the away team, especially on unexplored planets. Usually they weren't too life-threatening. It was toxins or deep wounds or other unknown bacteria got involved, that's when there was trouble. He'd seen everything from a wound foaming over to severe bloating and nearby arterioles seemingly to spontaneously burst

[unheroed]

What the hell? How did that figure? Harvey couldn't think of any place where what the doctor said might be the case. Part of him was almost certain that he didn't want to know, but there were times when it was hard for that impulse to process before he opened his mouth. "What, do people send dogs out in battle where you're from?" He couldn't see how that would be more effective than the advanced weaponry he knew existed. Unless the man was from some area where there was a lack of firearms, it just didn't make sense -- but McCoy looked as American as could be

[hes_deadjim]

A dog? A dog bite he could deal with easily, at least partially because at least he was familiar with the animal and knew what to expect from such a wound, even at its worst. There weren't any surprises like venom, no third or fifth sets of hidden teeth to pull a wound open, just the same fangs and nails that came with canis lupus familiaris and same general sets of possible infections

[unheroed]

If that was the sort of stuff that McCoy was involved in, then Harvey supposed that his earlier comments made sense. It almost seemed like he was out in the jungle taking samples or something. If that was the case, then he imagined snake bites or maybe even worse could crop up. Harvey nodded to indicate that he understood. At least it meant the man was well-prepared for this place. "If I ever get a nasty wound, I know where to go," he said, though his tone was light enough to make it clear that he wasn't serious. He doubted that taking advantage of the doctor would go over well, especially when he'd given him such a hard time during their two meetings