Three of Five, Chapter 23
May. 27th, 2006 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melo_annechenChapter Twenty-three
“All right, then professor - everything checks out fine. I’ll have the physical therapist contact you to schedule your intake assessment.” Dr. Goldwyn said as she escorted Madblood to the door. “I’ll see you in two months, and don’t forget about letting your primary care provider know to send for your records here.”
Madblood made a non-committal grunt, and left without taking the appointment reminder card. The receptionist merely handed it over to Charlotte as she settled the insurance information. Dr Goldwyn watched the turn of events and shook her head. “I’ll e-mail everything to him at home, since his daughter gave me the e-mail address.”
Charlotte paused, and realized it wouldn’t do any good to correct the doctor’s contact information, especially since Lovelace needed to know what her orders were. “Probably a good idea - I’ll see you later.”
“Wait - come by tomorrow and we’ll go to lunch. I have some questions for his GP, and it looks like you are the one that’s going to have to drag his sorry butt to PT.”
Charlotte nodded, and then left to find the professor waiting impatiently by her car. “I dislike taking so much time from my research.”
“It’s either this or you become incapacitated. Think of it as maintenance for the brain’s support systems and it may not be as much of a bother.” She keyed the remote for the lock, and opened the door for the professor. “Your physician hasn’t been doing their job properly if they didn’t get that across to you.” Professor Madblood wore a perturbed expression when she entered the vehicle and belted in. “Something wrong, sir?” Charlotte waited for his answer before starting the ignition.
“Just trying to remember when the last time I was seen by a medical professional in a treatment setting.” His forehead creased as the thought - “Near as I can remember, it was before I received my doctorate.”
Charlotte shook her head - “No wonder your FAIR health insurance policy was still active - you’ve been paying the premiums with no claims for benefits since you signed up.” She started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. “You might want to call your attorney about the possibility of the insurance company attempting to cut off your coverage in the wake of your illness.”
“I - haven’t contacted him since the heart attack. I’ll have Lovelace call for an appointment when we get back to the lab.”
>>>>
“So he doesn’t have a primary care provider beyond you - can’t say I’m surprised.” Susan said as the waiter left to place their orders.
Charlotte frowned, and considered her next statement. “I am not sure I can honestly say I am a valid treatment source. If he does have the information, I hope he discounts it as a false trail.”
“Oh? And why would you need that information discounted? Perhaps he found what the police in five states could not?” Susan stirred her tea, feigning indifference.
“Perhaps - you are an anomaly in my history. Except for family, you are one of the few people to meet me more than once.” She sighed “I suppose it’s a sign I’m getting too old to run away from my mistakes.”
“That was years ago - the important question is what have you learned from your experiences?”
“That I should not have become attached to my face, or perhaps I shouldn’t have become involved with anyone, ever - but that raises more eyebrows than anything else.”
“How so?”
“Just about every serial killer has the same pattern - ‘a quiet neighbor’, ‘they kept to themselves’, ‘didn’t socialize much’ - to the point that now anyone who wants their privacy is watched that much closer.”
“You seem to have studied neighborhood dynamics pretty thoroughly when you arrived on Oak Hill.” Susan’s eyes narrowed - “You selected the house specifically?”
“The house, no - the neighborhood, for the same reason so many other students were in the area. I had no real plan when I landed there other than to add to my fund of knowledge. I ended up at your house because you weren’t squicked out by my major.”
Susan laughed quietly - “Well, to be honest - it wasn’t that far removed from my work. I should have been more suspicious of you after that call from the police station, but the truth was I was envious of your forethought in having a valid driver’s license for your pub crawls.”
“Ah, well, it’s better to have at least one clean record; sometimes that means having another that is filthy.”
“Normally, most people would finish that statement ‘in order to have a clean record, you need to behave yourself.’ I have often wondered what sort of family would raise someone so honest yet -”
“Yes?” Charlotte propped her chin on her hand.
“Hm, ‘deceptive’ isn’t the word I’m looking for, but perhaps ‘slippery’ and ‘mercurial’ certainly fit. You didn’t deny you were registered under a false name after I bailed you out that first time.”
“No need, especially if I needed someone to bring my bail money. No, I rarely deny my, oh, shall we call them - alternates, should they be discovered. Although once they are compromised, I usually have to discard them.”
Susan snorted - “Makes me curious why you thought they were necessary in the first place.” Charlotte was saved from responding immediately by the arrival of their orders. She did not bring the subject up again after the server left, instead turning the conversation to catching up on the doctor’s family. It wasn’t until the checks were settled that Susan brought it up again. “So, why is it I think I still don’t know the name you were born under?”
Charlotte smiled - “its better that way. Sometimes a legacy is a boatload of luggage to carry.”
>>>>
Upon returning to the lab, she had the first indication something was wrong when she left the garage just in time to hear the professor in top form.
“I WILL NOT CONDONE THIS SORT OF ACTION! THAT IS MY FINAL WORD ON THIS TOPIC! FINAL!”
Charlotte contemplated trying to sneak off to her workstation, at least until the storm blew over. The possibility the professor might have a stroke under the stress of his ranting decided her next action. “Lovelace, do you need a referee?”
“I could use a hand, yes - I got the e-mail from Dr. Goldwyn and had scheduled an appointment with a geriatrician later in the month.”
Charlotte palmed her face. “An internist would have done just as well, Lovelace. You could have even scheduled with a general practitioner, and left the referral to the medical professional.”
The professor was found in his command station glaring at the main screen. “I do NOT require the services of a geriatric SPECIALIST! YOU ARE MEDDLING IN-”
“Do you require assistance, sir?” Charlotte asked when he took a breath to ramp up the volume.
Madblood visibly reined in his anger. Turning to Charlotte with icy calm, he intoned “Explain to Lovelace it is unnecessary for her to schedule my appointments.”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow - “I was not aware you had scheduled your follow-up appointment. Did you know of this, Lovelace?”
“He has not reported an appointment to be included in his schedule. I am not aware of any appointments beyond his physical therapy intake assessment next Thursday from Dr Goldwyn’s office.”
“Bah,” the professor muttered. “I require no such assistance; you will clear that portion of my schedule.” Charlotte stood before him, with her arms crossed for several moments without speaking, her expression unreadable. Madblood shifted under her gaze, and mumbled “rescind last order.”
“Of course, sir.” Lovelace’s response was surprisingly devoid of sarcasm.
“Thank you, sir. Now, as to the reason for your - discussion - as I entered; did you have a preference for a treating physician?”
>>>>
“NO.” Madblood sat in the car, refusing to believe this was the destination.
“Sir, please don’t make me injure your dignity by requiring that I bodily haul you into the fitness center.” Charlotte stood by the open car door.
The professor glared at her - “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” Charlotte grinned. “I haven’t had a chance to pull a Brunhilde stunt in a while.”
“I still don’t think you could - awk!” he said as Charlotte hefted him out of the car and over her shoulder in a swift moment. “All right, all right! Put me down! Fine!” he straightened his wind suit jacket and grumbled. “As if it were more important than monitoring the moon base progress.”
“If you wish to survive to see the completion of the moon base, it is.” Charlotte held the door for the professor to enter the gym.
They were greeted at the door by a talking wall. “Good morning, are you Professor Madblood? I‘m Darren Maxwell, I‘ll be your physical therapist.”
“Ah - yes I am.” Lupin craned his head up to speak to the man who was taller than Charlotte. The way she hung back from the introduction was strange, until the physical therapist glared at the intern.
“You - go back and get your bag. It’ll take us ten minutes to get his paperwork finished, and you had better be suited up by then.”
“I will return at my usual time, thank you.” Charlotte replied.
“One, you will be here anyway and might as well spot for the professor, and two, I have Kings Island photos in my office.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes - “Dirty pool, old man.”
“Haul it before I get the photo albums out.” PT Maxwell grinned. “This way, professor.” Without a backward glance to see if she was complying, he led Lupin to the assessment office. He noticed Lupin’s visual sweep of the office, and chuckled. “No, this isn’t my office. We need to get your measurements for tracking purposes.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, right - if you’re anything like Charlotte I know you probably detested physical education in school, right?”
Madblood‘s reaction was guarded. After all, this man resembled the epitome of the standard tormentor at school, and they were in his territory. “Perhaps - I never saw the point of the games.”
“School systems catering to the lowest common denominator - you probably would have done better with non-confrontational competitions, and all they had to offer was flag football. Right?” Maxwell motioned Madblood onto the scales.
“Something of the sort; what physical training I had as a child was nearly at gunpoint. Mother could be very insistent.”
“I think we can find something that will fit both your physical needs and your aesthetic tastes.” The physical therapist recorded the professor’s height and weight, and motioned for him to sit in the odd recliner taking up the other half of the office. “Now for the rest of the information, I’m sure you’ve been in an evaluation pod before.”
“Sorry, no.”
Maxwell looked puzzled. “Charlotte hasn’t installed one at the lab? That’s weird. This is just a basic medical evaluation sensor array pod - she used to build units much more complicated than this one as a sideline.”
Madblood intensely disliked this young man, but could not help but ask - “You are rather familiar with Dr. Bowman?”
“We’re old friends. She and my twin were classmates. They tutored me in my math classes and I coached them through the presidential fitness course. Mens sana in corpore sano” he concluded with a shrug, to Madblood’s surprise. Maxwell pointed to the hood over the recliner, “Are you claustrophobic?”
“I don’t think so…”
“Good, this shouldn’t take long then.” Maxwell took the professor’s glasses and lowered the hood over him.
>>>>
“Good news is - you are cleared for activity as tolerated by your doctor, and your readings from the pod are in line with the information from your cardiologist.” Maxwell handed the professor a USB key tag with the gym’s logo. “This is your door key and your copy of your file. You’ll need to bring it in every visit so we can keep your records updated with ours.” Then he grinned “Bad news is now you have to sweat.”
“Lovely.” Madblood’s expression tuned sour. “I really don’t need to be a bodybuilder, so we aren’t even going to try, correct?”
“Be damned hard to make an ectomorph like yourself Mr. Universe, but since your main worry is being able to keep up with Charlotte, that’s not a problem. We need to make sure she doesn’t wear you out, so your main focus is going to be cardiopulmonary endurance.”
Madblood glared at Maxwell - “I do not care for the cavalier attitude you are taking - not only with your assumptions of my private life, but also with my research assistant’s. The fact that you also threatened her with something she obviously does not want to be public knowledge-”
“Wait, she’s just your research assistant?” Maxwell consulted the readout from the pod. “How odd, that’s - hm…”
“DARREN. You are NOT going to meddle.” Charlotte said from the door of the evaluation room. Madblood noted her workout gear was nearly the same cut as the suits she wore to work.
“Well, if you aren’t going to give him some incentives, I’ll have to work something else out.” Maxwell grinned. “Hokay you two, out to the weight room!"
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Date: 2006-05-28 08:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 08:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 12:30 am (UTC)Anyway, to change the subject, I found my own quote while looking for a Kaja-ism:
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 02:21 am (UTC)Also, if I remember correctly, Rat Patrol (which is something else I've never really seen), and I think that too has been released on DVD.
So, more fun than *gag* soaps.
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Date: 2006-05-29 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 02:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 11:46 am (UTC)But it is more fun this way. :)
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Date: 2006-05-28 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-28 08:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-28 08:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-12 06:17 am (UTC)YOU ARE MEDDLING IN-”{{things you don't understand? ::snerk::}}
the man who {was} taller than Charlotte.