A Gift from the Goddess

Book Two – Ch.# 22 

“Please sit down on the bed over there,” said the doctor, pointing in the direction.

She was an older lady and quite pretty for her age, her most notable feature being her gentle eyes. She had introduced herself as Doctor Melissa Chambers. “Kieran, did you want to sit in the chair?” she asked without looking. A question met with a second of awkward silence between the two of us.

We hadn’t discussed him being in the room whilst I was examined. I’d just assumed that, like human doctors, they normally were more of a private thing unless the person was a spouse or relative.

But before any of us could talk, the doctor quickly shook her head. “Oh, right, I forgot… I suppose just wait outside then.”

“No… hang on,” I said, hesitating. “Kieran should probably be here. You know… in case I don’t understand parts of what you tell me. I may need him to help explain later….” I then turned to look at him. “If that’s okay with you?”

He nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “Whatever is most comfortable for you.”

And without any further delay, I went and sat on the bed as the doctor began examining me.

There was a small privacy screen, so I didn’t need to worry about Kieran seeing anything, but I was just grateful to have him there. Truthfully, I was more nervous than I cared to admit and having him close by helped soothe my anxiety a little.

“I didn’t hear the whole story from Kieran, but I was told there was something about potential suppressor usage… and silver,” she said. “If that really is true then we should do an internal investigation as soon as possible.”

She poked and prodded at my skin as she conducted different tests, but her words caused a stir in me.

An investigation could lead back to my father… which could lead back to me. All of which I didn’t want uncovered. My past was still something I hadn’t divulged to Kieran yet.

I didn’t argue with her though, choosing to remain silent. My head was now already thinking of ways I could avoid the situation. But I was promptly pulled from my thoughts after she finished taking my blood pressure,

Because upon lifting my shirt up, a small gasp left her, Just how bad did it need to be for a doctor to be surprised?

“However..,” she continued, her eyes not leaving the old scarring on my skin. “Kieran told me a little about your situation Told me about the potential abuse. As a personal favour, he’s asked me to give you some time to adjust here before we let officials go digging into your personal life I can see merit in that Mental wounds are just as important to heal.” It felt strange to have someone talking about me like this. My last doctor never seemed to show more interest than was absolutely necessary,

“…Were these scars originally caused by a silver object?” she then asked.

It was a difficult question that brought up some less than pleasant memories, but I bit back any discomfort I had.

“No,” I answered, keeping it simple.

The truth was that most of these were from my victim’s pocketknives, training daggers or… whatever instrument Gavin felt like using during punishment. All normal metal from what I could recall.

“Adult scarring like this is rare for our kind. You should have completely healed from these. It’s true the suppressors would limit ability but I’m more inclined to think this might be from the… silver consumption.” She seemed to struggle to say the last part, almost as though the idea of it made her sick “I’m going to take a blood sample now. You can pull your shirt down.” I did as instructed and allowed her to do what she needed. She spoke a little as she worked.

asked, taking the sample to a

“Yes.”

tell you how lucky you are to be alive

understand just how bad this really is,” she defended. “…And I don’t say that lightly. This is the worst case I’ve ever seen in all my years as a doctor. Worse than even the things I saw during the war. We stopped production of the suppressors exactly for this reason. To ensure that it wasn’t adapted or developed into something

Melissa,” Kieran said, a warning in

wasn’t sure what she was referring to, but it was a term I wasn’t familiar with Internally, I made a

on her workbench. Working until she was able to produce a syringe full of whatever she’d made “This is the best I can give you,” she finally said, walking back over to me. “The external damage already done will most likely never heal and, for that, I am truly sorry. But what I give you will help to

permanent scarring.”

asked, unable to hide

harnessing a fraction of my potential. “For bruising and wounds… usually within a day. Of course, this also depends on the

and stabbed me

this exact scenario, but I believe this should help with the silver in your body. I’mi hoping that it will bind it like a metal, allowing for it to leave your system without issue. And, as for the suppressors….” To my dread, a bottle of pills were then handed to me. A sight I now loathed after discovering the truth regarding my

held significant ability despite the suppressors and silver. Did Kieran not tell her…? But I proceeded to take the pills from her anyway, deciding not to mention it. “I appreciate your help,” I said, trying to give her a smile. Only her eyes seemed to tear up a little

happened to you,” she said, reaching for

say, I couldn’t help but hear a tone of genuine sincerity. Almost as if the apology were more personal. I frowned a little but thanked her nonetheless, doing my best to stay neutral. Another several minutes then passed before Kieran and I were finally leaving the hospital. The entire time we walked, I kept thinking back to the doctor’s words, questioning

do an investigation. Then…. “.. Are you okay?” Kieran asked. I hadn’t said anything since we left her office so it probably did seem odd. His voice quickly snapped me out of my thoughts. “I’m fine,” I said. “I’m just a

“About”

said, biting my lip. “But… did

went quiet. Something that made

I stopped walking so he would turn to

“Kieran?”

was close with my mother before her passing. But… there was another reason too.” He then paused, a crease forming between his brows. “She was one of the lead developers who originally designed the suppressors. I figured she

That explained a lot.

she didn’t really have a choice either. Meting you now and

her old age and whether it was voluntary or not, surely she had to be culpable for

out of my mind though, knowing it wouldn’t do much good to mull on it. There wasn’t much

that made me recall her words regarding the need for

there could be others out there just like me, unknowingly affected. But… letting them follow my trail back

to be a way to find out where

someone said

reminded me of the person we’d met at the border yesterday; a similar sort of athletic authority about them. A ‘warrior’ perhaps? I remembered Kieran mentioning that term

minutes,” Kieran said to me. “I’ll

to talk

whatever it was, it was work related since I wasn’t

get me thinking about my own