"Hospitals. I'd never been to one. This was my first experience.
At my previous home, the doctors came to me, but I never had any serious illnesses or injuries. My health and condition were excellently cared for, with all those private chefs and intermittent checkups. Even during those sparring matches, I was always wearing protection and they were arranged for me to never win anyway. The gap in skill and weight class was always so immense that I was just being played with. The only exception being… her.
…Even when I left to live with my mother and took care of her, I always prayed that it wouldn't come to her needing a visit here. If Ruby Sporo had needed to be treated for alcohol poisoning, there would have been scandals galore, her career most certainly over or severely damaged. And without her career as motivation, my mother might never have begun recovering.
Luckily, it had never come to that, even in the very beginning, when she had been drinking the most. That one time, thank god we had William's clinic in town, and Elise was a classmate whom I had already judged safe with the secret due to her own troubles. In hindsight, it was quite ironic that it was a stomach virus, which I mistook for the early symptoms of alcohol poisoning, that got Elise to start getting to know me and slowly interacting with me over time.
…Was that the start of my mother's slow recovery? William had given me and my mother quite a scolding after all…
Anyway, my first hospital experience involved a stressed and overworked female doctor in front of me, with the valuable power to see through tissue for internal diagnostics. She couldn't see through clothes, though, so Elise had the privilege of stripping me down.
She stripped me down to my underwear, severely blushing, but our reward was me being healed of all superficial damage once she saw the bruises and scrapes on my stomach, back, and everywhere else, which gave her the motivation to swallow her embarrassment.
The female doctor naturally asked about Elise's power, of course, but we gave the same explanation to her as we had given the receptionist, and she quickly lost interest. She didn't have time, even to ask how I had sustained my collection of wounds.
So she diagnosed me. Even a few seconds in private with my underwear off. Elise was, well, too embarrassed. Me? She was a professional, so I didn't care.Although I thought she stared a bit too long considering there were no injuries, but that could have just been her double-checking.
Elise asked me afterwards if I was embarrassed at all, and a blunt "no" elicited an apparently astonished yet cute reaction.
As for my current state. Elise had healed all my bruises, and the torn skin on my left hand once the bandages were off. And the doctor said I had no internal bleeding.
Regarding my bones, my skull, neck, and spine were okay. All that training to protect my head when falling finally showed something worthwhile in the form of a reflex when I was sent flying to the ceiling. Though the trade-off was that my right hand was completely shattered, according to the doctor, who had even failed to maintain her professional mask when she saw it.
Elise went completely pale once she saw the swelling and discoloration. Discoloration that didn't disappear with her power. Only the torn skin I got from the rowing healed.
I think we can therefore safely say, especially given her failure to heal my shinbone when it was broken, that active wounds didn't get healed with her power. Only stabilized ones like bruises and scars. So no cuts and gunshots getting immediately healed,although I still felt pretty convinced that a properly treated amputation could allow the limb to regrow. But Elise didn't want to go that route, and I'd respect her wishes.
So, two options left.wait to see whether William's condition allowed him to operate on me, or be operated on by an orthopedic surgeon here.
Coincidentally, when we explained William's situation while discussing my options with the doctor, who urged me to get treated as soon as possible, she saw in the system that William's planned surgery time had almost elapsed, so I got booked for the same surgeon after him. If William was able, he could immediately start treating me, or otherwise the orthopedist would do it.
With that arranged, Elise and I thanked the doctor, and moved towards the area in the hospital where William and Beth were.
And now, as we arrived there, we saw that William was already out of the operating room.
With his dominant arm in a sling, and his right hand in a big cast.
"Dad!"
Elise ran towards William, sitting on a bench next to Beth and talking with a doctor, but he spotted his daughter once she called his name.
"El-Elise," he said astonished, but Elise had carefully wrapped her arms around him before he could speak further.
"Are you alright?! You're hand… couldn't you heal yourself? Are… are you in pain?"
"I'm not in pain. Doctor Bonner let me do what I could to heal myself, but it didn't work. It seems I really need to do the full procedure myself, but I'll make a full recovery. Doctor Bonner's power is excellent too. But enough about me. You're face, I'm so glad, but how?"
"It… it was my power, through Jack."
"Oh thank god. Thank you. Thank you," William said to me, full of appreciation just as I walked in front of him.
And I could only stare at his broken hand.
"It's not your fault," he immediately said when he caught me staring.
"…I know, but..."
I still felt guilty for all the patients he couldn't treat now, because he got involved. I let him get involved.
"Jack, listen. What happened has happened. I have no regrets. Focus on yourself first. You'll be in excellent hands with Doctor Bonner."
"…Alright."
No regrets? That workaholic was obviously hiding behind his stoic façade, but he was acting like an adult for me. …I'dl see later if I can do something for him.
I then looked at Beth, staring at me. I now started seeing her appearance a bit through my conditioning, because she wasn't some neutral bystander anymore, but someone involved and showing obvious displeasure toward me. No wonder, since she had been told the minimum while she was driving the wounded William and Elise here.
She was middle-aged and brown-eyed, with her light brown hair tied in a short ponytail. She had a full face with freckles that looked motherly. Elise had once told me she was a single mom with a daughter who was… around ten now. Where was her child? Maybe with her father?
Anyway, I should alleviate Beth's concern a bit
"Thank you for bringing them here out of nowhere. I'm sure you have a lot to say, but maybe Elise can…"
"Don't worry, I will. Just get treated first, please," Elise said to me with emphatic determination.
I gave her a nod and a smile, and gave Beth one too, which in response she stiffly gave one back. I then pivoted to the doctor patiently waiting for me.
"I'm Jack Rowan, I'll be in your care. Thank you for treating William, and from what I just heard, it seems I'll be in excellent hands with you," I said to him while extending my left hand.
The doctor blinked a few times, but ended up extending his left hand too and shaking mine with a kind smile.
"I'm Tyrone Bonner. Doctor Ambrose hasn't mentioned either his situation or yours, but don't feel obliged to tell me. And I must say, you're very polite for your age. Compared to my daughters' boyfriends…, well as a father you must surely be happy with him," he said, now looking amused at William.
"…Well, he's good for my daughter, and she's certainly happy with him. That's all a father can ask for."
"D-dad!"
"Hahaha that's certainly true. Now, come with me Jack. I'll get that hand of yours puzzled out too in no time."
I gave another smile and nod, and after taking another glance at cutely embarrassed Elise, I was led to the operating room.
…Puzzled out too?
***
With my first hospital experience also came my first surgery in one. William had removed that knife from my hand and mended my shinbone in his clinic, but I trusted him and his professional reputation, not to mention his power.
But now sitting in the chair, a hand of mine once again immobilized, I began to feel anxious, even though William had given his recommendations and I got a good vibe from Doctor Bonner.
Maybe it was because it was a hospital? All those medical dramas, and the movies my mother had starred in, something always seemed to go wrong. But well, because of Elise, I was also somewhat relieved that I could always ask for a quick chop if my hand ended up botched, nonfunctional or irreparable.
So once Doctor Bonner actually started, after someone injected me with a superpower enhanced syringe of anesthesia that worked immediately and for a long time, Doctor Bonner started the surgery alone since he apparently didn't need a team… or couldn't get one because the hospital was clearly over capacity… But well…, despite all that…, nothing could have prepared me for my experience here.
Imagine my surprise when he actually asked if I wanted to help him with my own operation…
I was naturally a bit skeptical, but when I asked the doctor what my help required, he mischievously hid the specifics. He just said that it required me to watch the live X-ray of my hand alongside him. I agreed to help nevertheless of course, anything to improve the odds of my operation's success, which excited the doctor.
So I was shown my life X-ray, and well… the good doctor was astonished that I wasn't constantly screaming and crying in pain.
Shattered. From wrist to the start of my fingers, my hand was completely shattered. No wonder the doctor who diagnosed me had urged me to get treated immediately.
But this doctor was nevertheless unperturbed, and he began explaining to me while beginning his work, making the incision and opening my hand.
Normally, with the swelling and complicated state of my hand, the procedure would have been very difficult, potentially requiring lots of metal wires and pins, not to mention likely multiple operations.It would probably result in permanent nerve damage and loss of function, if it hadn't already, which would theoretically explain my apparent lack of pain response.
But normality had been long gone since the Whiteout, and this doctor now had a superpower, which he had gleefully demonstrated to me.
Urging me to look at the X-ray, he activated it…
I instantly saw the broken area inside of my hand hollowed out into puzzle pieces,lying suddenly in a neat pile at the bottom.
The power that had given the doctor his confidence for the successful operation. He would puzzle my hand back together,each piece of bone and tissue fitting cleanly with the others, requiring no metal parts promoting clean, natural healing, even to the damaged nerves and tissues. I would still require a cast, the puzzle wouldn't magically heal the damage I had sustained, but the bones and tissues would be realigned and reinforced so well that it would probably only take two or three weeks for a complete recovery.
That would have been the case if my anxious instinct hadn't proven correct…
Maybe this was a medical drama after all.
There was a… complication…
Something that had drained so much color from Doctor Bonner's face that I briefly wondered whether he also needed medical attention.
You see… for example… "William's relatively cleanly fractured hand had turned into about 50 largish puzzle pieces.
Mine…
Mine became several thousand microscopic ones…
We discovered that the amount of damage sustained determined the complexity of the puzzle…
So… since the doctor couldn't undo his power and reverse my hand to its previous state, we suddenly had a three-dimensional puzzle consisting of thousands of millimeter-sized pieces to solve. Several hours' work to say the least, if solving it was even theoretically possible. William's hand had taken a long time too, although that was more because he did everything himself to try and activate his own power.
…Doctor Bonner even took the joke about cutting my hand off seriously. Maybe I would have if Elise and everyone else weren't so against it.
But luckily for both me and the doctor, at least it wasn't lupus.
And more importantly, I had a superpower too.
So… me helping him out literally turned into me being my own helping hand.
I let the doctor take all the pieces out of me and lay it on a tray. Then, with my left hand and a small pair of tweezers, I reassembled all the pieces while putting them back into my own hand under X-ray guidance, together with the doctor's help.
I didn't know how much time I had spent figuring the puzzle out within frozen time and through accelerated assembly. Maybe twelve hours? But I was glad that my power also provided precision. During reassembly, I made no mistakes and was lightning fast too.
So the operation was a success, and I had a cast on me within the hour. We could only imagine how much time my power had cut off. Well, imagining it was nice, but I was dead tired and starving once again after I was done with myself.
Overall, after this experience, I never want to visit a hospital or make a puzzle again.
The doctor, however, didn't share my sentiment. He was so impressed with my mental and surgical skills, not to mention my power, that he asked me while closing up my hand if I wanted to become a doctor myself in the future.
I politely said I would consider it and that I hadn't thought much about my future career yet. The doctor accepted the sentiment, and then we ended up talking some more about what it's like being a doctor now that the world has changed, his children, and what he thought of the future.
To summarize, hope. The doctor had hope. Even though it was chaos now, with the country slowly burning down, the doctor thought it would all be alright.
I didn't have the energy left to argue with him. I certainly didn't share the sentiment. Maybe things would stabilize eventually, but in a worse way than before this world changed. Obviously, somehow, control must be kept countrywide while superpowers were prevalent, andI could only dread that it would happen in a way that made the worst fictional dystopias imagined in the old world pale in comparison.
But I was just a kid who hadn't even planned out his own future. My father had it preplanned for me, and when I was taking care of my mother, I didn't have that luxury. The furthest I had come was to study something yet to be determined at the University of Pennsylvania if my mother had recovered, since I had by then secretly discovered through a servant that James was studying there.
Study there, free James from my father, somehow get Jane out of the household before she was traded off, threaten, blackmail, or screw over my father to prevent retaliations, that was the slapped-together plan. One that would always have failed, since my father would always have killed my mother anyway to get me back.
…What comes after my father? …My mother's gone. I had Elise and my siblings… Willow now too. …Maybe I should ask them how they see the future and the world. I… after my father… I had to go on in this new world somehow. Otherwise… my mother's death and everything she endured would have been for nothing.
But after those thoughts had run their course between conversations, the cast was hardened, and my broken hand was once again placed in a sling in front of me. I made a final joke that the good doctor should probably find an assistant with a puzzle related power, which he took to heart.
Doctor Bonner walked me back again, because he wanted to discuss with Williammy procedure and the eventual… heavy pain medication… that I might need during recovery.
I'd nnever in my life take any addictive crap, but I was too tired to argue right now. At least the supernatural anesthesia would work approximately until the next morning, I'd just endure the pain after that.
Once we came back, I saw James, Ken and Willow had joined them in waiting for me. Willow immediately started teasing me, asking if I had fun puzzling.
…I let Doctor Bonner answer for me, turning everyone pale, aghast and impressed at the same time. Only William took it in stride, but when Doctor Bonner told him his opinion about my potential in the medical field, I saw a glint of what I thought was pride enter his eyes. But Elise was definitely the proudest of everyone present, balanced out by her being the palest after hearing about the whole medical fiasco.
Once my… medication… was discussed, I thanked the doctor once again and then we all left the hospital, heading back to Elise's house. We had seven people and two cars, so I suggested splitting everyone up for the drive back. Each car had to be able to survive a shadow attack if my father ended up suddenly attacking.
James, having the highest combat potential, would drive back with Beth and William. When discussing things, I learned that Beth didn't have combat-related power, only something simple related to handwriting, but we didn't go into detail.
As for Beth, Elise had managed to subtly and quickly get her up to speed during my operation with the same information James and Willow were aware of. With her involved in things now, she was also a target for my father, so she would be staying with us until it was safe again. Luckily, her daughter was currently with her dad in the next town over, so she would contact them to let her stay with her dad for a while longer.
How Beth felt about the entire situation, well… she was understandably wary of me, so besides ensuring her own safety, her primary motivation for sticking around was helping William instead of helping my 'kidnapped' mother. What didn't help my case either was that Beth also definitely had some… jealous feelings about how my mother's charm had affected William in the past.
How I felt about that… well my mother aside, the widower William and monogamist Elise should figure that out between themselves. Elise's mother was definitely still a heavy subject in the Ambrose family. I… never pushed Elise about the topic since I had always sensed her avoidance, but I do want to know Elise even better and help her process things… even with the heavier topics, if it ended up making her happier..
But that was all for later. While Beth was driving off with James and William in her car, Willow was driving Elise, Ken, and me in… my car…
I immediately wished I had gotten that amputation.
"Turn! Turn!"
"Y-yes!"
Willow corrected, preventing my car from flying off the road.
Ken was petrified in the passenger seat. I was sitting behind Willow in the back seat, with Elise clinging to me for dear life.
And I was pissed off!
"Do you even have a driver's licence?!"
"I do! I do! I just… haven't driven much."
"Why didn't you say something then! We could have split up differently instead of you almost constantly crashing MY CAR!"
"Sorry! Sorry! I thought that since this was an automatic, I'd manage, but it just turns weird! Are you sure that massive dent isn't affecting it"
"YOU'RE BLAMING THE… DID YOU HEAR JAMES COMPLAINING!... No, sorry, just, just slow down. Drive below the speed limit, there isn't anyone else on the road anyway. Just don't get into an accident or get pulled over for drunk driving, please."
"…Okay. You… you're right. We absolutely shouldn't be pulled over. …This is probably not the time to mention I don't have an American licence, right?"
"…"
My death glare finally made her quiet down, drive slower and safer, letting everyone in the car exhale in relief.
"…I'm giving all three of you a driving lesson soon. With William's hand and mine broken, having only Beth and James as drivers was too few for my comfort."
"Hey, if I get used—"
"ALL… THREE… OF… YOU."
"…Yes."
…First that puzzle and now her, couldn't I please catch a break? I just wanted to cuddle Elise and fall asleep…
…We're almost back. Just… this car trip now and dealing with Cassandra, who has probably already arrived by now.
…Focus. Focus. Willow… no, I should thank Ken first.
So I set my sights on him and started speaking.
"Ken, I haven't had the chance yet, but thank you, seriously, for going with me. Without you… well… things would have gone very differently."
"I'm also very thankful to Ken. Thank you so much for going with him," Elise added.
"…Sure. I'm glad you're okay too, after what I heard on the phone. And… I'm glad I went. We did a lot of good."
"That we did, support boy," Willow immediately teased.
"Maybe focus on the road. If you crash Jack's car, he might put a gun to your head too."
Willow immediately focused again.
"G-gun?" Elise suddenly whimpered next to me.
"Oh yeah Elise, did you—"
"Road."
"Y-yes."
God… should I take over anyway? Even one-handed, maybe that would still be safer?
But… I should probably explain to Elise first.
"I did text you that I had interrogated my brother."
"You put a gun to his head?! Why?! That… he's your… wasn't there another way?!"
"I wish there was, but… you two understand, right?"
Willow and Ken both nodded grimly, which got Elise's anger at me to subside, replacing it with a look of sadness.
"Jack. Is… is your brother like—"
"Like me, yes, but different. Basically, he's terrified of my father and can't refuse anything he says. Even… even stuff that is totally despicable and goes against everything he believes in," I answered Elise.
Another look of sadness from Elise. The whole car was downcast.
"But James is a good person. He… in the past, he always looked out for me and covered for me, even at his own cost. He taught and cared for me. I… I really looked up to him. So… everything I do, however harsh and brutal it seems, it's to help free him from my father. Can you trust me on that, Elise, and… discuss it with me, if you think I'm going about it the wrong way?"
Elise looked deep into my eyes, and cnodded compassionately.
"Alright, I understand. And thank you for trusting me. I'll… tell you if I think you're going too far. So let me start with that gun! How could you even! Never do that again, you hear?! I can't even understand how he could look you in the eyes again after that!"
"Well… let's just say that James is made of tough stuff too. And…I don't think putting a gun to his head will be necessary anymore. Actually… I think the help I can personally give him is very limited without doing stuff I never want to do. So…"
I moved my head to look at the driver's seat. Something that didn't go unnoticed to the driver, causing her to tense up.
"Willow, I know that what you saw of James in that car must have shocked you, not to mention what you discovered about my family and me. But even so, I know you care for him, and my brother is different around you. I believe he cares too. So please, I ask you, can you help James too, however you can?"
"…"
She didn't respond immediately, and instead went into her head. With bated breaths, we all awaited her response. And then she gave her verdict.
"Sorry, Jack. I'd like to help, of course, but I have my limits and priorities too. James… I don't see how I could be of any assistance."
Ken stayed quiet, but I saw that Elise wanted to respond. However, I signaled that I'd handle it, and she immediately backed down. I then spoke to Willow again.
"I think you're the perfect person to help my brother. Why don't yo think sou?"
"…Why do you think…"
"…"
"…"
We both fell silent. The whole car grew quiet. Three gazes remained focused on Willow.
But she kept her composure.
Seconds passed… a minute passed…
Then something changed, when she looked into the rear-view mirror.
Her eyes caught Elise's.
She quickly averted her gaze… and yet… she stole another glance… then another… and another…
She couldn't keep looking away from the blue eyes filled with acceptance and compassion.
And finally, Willow faltered, and spoke from her soul.
"I… I'm not as impressive as you," she said, now staring into my hazel eyes through the mirror.
I kept quiet, and she kept talking.
"I mean… James being in the other car isn't a coincidence, right? So that… so that we could discuss this."
"…If you've figured that out—"
"It's not the same. I could never…, and James, he's amazing too. What can I even…"
"…You know how Elise saved me?"
That got her attention. So I spoke the simplest truth there was.
A truth that was lost to me.
"Just by being herself," I said with my mother's smile.
Willow's eyes went wide. She looked at Elise, whose eyes had also gone wide, but she managed an embarrassed nod nevertheless.
"Willow, I just want you to be yourself. That's enough to help my brother."
"…Don't be ridiculous. I—"
"I'm not. I mean, you said it yourself, that you already had him tamed. Do you think that skirt-chaser would remain completely loyal if you had no power over him?"
"…Come on, Jack. We both know that it's because Damian's after my family's influence."
"Even so, you heard his true feelings after Elise was done with him. I've never seen him treat a woman 'right' before."
"I don't think anyone would continue pissing your girlfriend off further in that situation."
"…Should I start listing all your good qualities too, so that you'll stop making excuses."
"Yeah? I'll list what I think of you then. Let's compare."
"Okay, I'll start. Besides everything Elise already said, you know exactly who you are, will never yield on it, and you're such a quick study that you'll be better than me in no time, if you aren't already."
"Wh-what? S-stop lying."
"Haven't you noticed yet, then?"
"Noticed what?"
"That you're now driving my car flawlessly."
Willow froze. And yes, she now realized too along with everyone else. Just by feeling, she was already driving my car expertly. She could control five of those clones simultaneously after all, what's one automatic SUV in comparison to that?
"That's… I told you—"
"And you already figured out why I had placed James in the other—"
"That's… of course I would notice when you steered the conversation—"
"And you noticed James was sent by my father to seduce you."
"Well, that I immediately knew. He chased me… relentlessly, after all…"
"Even that witty tongue of yours, you could give my mother a run for her money. You emulated her, right?"
"I… she's my role model, okay! Stop it! Just… stop it… you… you don't know anything…"
"…Then do you want to know about me?"
Now she was once again staring at me. Almost… with hope…
A hope I had to crush immediately.
"Elise and Ken already know most of it. But the last part… Elise… why I froze when I saw your face hurt like that. Ken, why I said to you that killing is the only thing I could never do. Willow, I trust you, and I want you to hear it, so that you can decide if you'd rather become someone like me or stay like yourself and become someone better. What say you three?"
Elise, quietly following the conversation thus far, desperately holding her tongue to keep from complimenting Willow into oblivion too, gave an empathetic nod.
Ken, in disbelief that confident Willow could be in such self-denial, now looked at me seriously too, and gave a determined nod.
And Willow, full with the hunger of bettering herself, gave me the go-ahead.
So I began telling once again about my childhood. How my father had trained me through that puppet show, and all the consequences of my conditioning.
And then, I came to the part that I hadn't told Elise and Ken yet.
The part that broke the camel's back. The horror that made me decide that I would defy my father and live with my mother. The decision that led to her being broken and killed.
That fight in the sparring ring that still gave me nightmares.
And the girl that still haunts me to this very day.