It all started - and in a way ended - with a phone call. When she was about fifteen, Nicky came into the teacher's lounge searching for Frisk, who was a guest speaker and lecturer for that week. It was during class, but Frisk was on a break, and the moment she saw her daughter, Frisk knew she was sick. Her eyes were bright with fever, and her pallour was pale and sickly-looking.
"Mami," she said softly, walking up to Frisk slowly, her steps a touch stumbling. "I feel like crap."
Frisk touched her forehead, unsurprised to find it hot, and reached to her throat to feel for anything swollen - and with a jolt did, on both sides. With growing shock, Frisk looked into Nicky's eyes and saw pain there, dulled by fever but still lingering.
"How long have you felt sick, sweetie?" she asked gently.
Nicky sighed, closing her eyes for longer than a blink. "I dunno," she mumbled, further worrying Frisk. Without another pause, Frisk grabbed her phone and dialled the number for Dr Thicke, hoping she was able to see Nicky within the hour.
That was when it happened.
As Frisk listened to the phone ring, one of the phones in the same room began to ring. She at first shrugged it off, thinking it a coincidence and focussing on Nicky instead, her hand firmly atop her daughter's head.
But when the phone went to voice mail and the ringing in the room stopped, Frisk suddenly got a very bad feeling.
Frisk hung up the phone without leaving a message, then dialled again, this time keeping the phone away from her ear. Again, the ringing in the room started up, almost ring-for-ring matching her call. With growing fear, Frisk slowly walked towards the sound, the sound being Darian's hilariously corny Hawaii Five-0's theme. Pausing only to redial the number and have it ringing again. By now, there was no question: it was not a coincidence.
"Mam?" Nicky called softly, sitting down at Toriel's desk tiredly. "What are you doing? Shouldn't we call the doctor?"
"I... I am," Frisk admitted, calling a last time and finally finding the source of the ringing: Darian Reden's cellphone.
She grabbed it and stared at it, her whole body going cold in shock. On the screen, as the phone rang, read the display: "FRISK - FOR DR THICKE".
"Mami?"
Frisk stared at the phone, letting it ring out. She checked the missed calls, and all of them were labelled the exact same way. Carefully, she picked up her phone again and decided to call the hospital ER, instead. Before she and Nicky left, Frisk took pictures of Darian's phone before returning it to its place, then took her daughter to the hospital.
Luckily, Alphys was working at the hospital that day, and took time off not only to see them, but help get Nicky to surgery - tonsillitis - as fast as possible. When Nicky was finally in the OR, Alphys sat with Frisk (Asriel was on his way), who was now staring at her phone with an odd expression on her face.
"Frisk?" Alphys said gently, startling her into looking over. "Asriel will be here. Don't worry."
"I know," Frisk agreed, her voice soft. "I'm not worried about that. Look." She handed the phone to Alphys, who took it and eyed it closely. "'Frisk, for Dr Thicke'?" she read, bemused. "Is this a picture of a phone?"
"Yes," Frisk agreed. "Darian Reden's."
Alphys was staring at her, now. "The forensics teacher and former cop?" She blinked. "Wait - where is Dr Thicke? Today is her day off, but if Nicky's this sick, you'd think she'd be here."
"Exactly," Frisk agreed, her voice oddly blank in its soft tone. "Odd, those two things, don't you think?"
Alphys handed her back her phone and placed a hand on her shoulder gently. "It could be a coincidence, or some kind of typo or autocorrect issue."
Frisk looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Alphys sighed, scratching her cheek a bit. "Why does it say 'For Dr Thicke' though?" Frisk asked her.
"Maybe he took up work as her assistant?" Alphys offered, "Teachers don't get paid much, monsters even less, despite how hard Toriel tries. He could be doing extra work to make ends meet."
Frisk sighed. "Maybe," she allowed. It was a possible scenario. "But it still strikes me as odd. Why hide it? She's my doctor. He's a co-worker and a family friend. Why would he keep that from us?"
"Embarrassment?" Alphys offered.
"Frisk!"
She stood, arms out already, and Asriel ran into them, hugging her so tight she could feel him shaking. "It's okay, love," she told him softly. "Tonsillitis is pretty easy to fix."
Asriel hugged onto her tight, still shaking. It was actually understandable, considering. Nicky had very rarely even spent time at the doctor's clinic, and never for a surgery. Asriel was a pessimist through-and-through, and always expected the worst. He was in tears, but she didn't mind. She understood.
Alphys stood up and placed a hand on Asriel's shoulder lightly. "She'll be just fine," she agreed.
"Right," he murmured into Frisk's shoulder, his voice thick. "Okay."
Frisk held him close and nodded, kissing his head lightly. "Have you heard from Dr Thicke?" she asked him.
He shook his head slowly. "No. She's not here?"
"I haven't been able to get a hold of her," Frisk admitted carefully.
"But, why?" Asriel wondered, looking up in his surprise. "She always answers the phone, always. Even when Nicky was a baby and we couldn't get her to sleep."
Frisk bit her lip. She wanted to tell Asriel about the weirdness that happened to her with Darian's phone, but at the same time didn't want to add more for him to worry about. "Maybe she's just busy."
Alphys was nodding, deciding to play along in order to keep Asriel calm. Right now, that was the most important thing.
Halfway through Nicky's surgery, Dr Thicke met them in the waiting room, looking very worried and rushed. Frisk stood up immediately, a jolt hitting her. She was conflicted; she was glad to see her, but the words she saw on the screen of Darian's phone flashed in her memory, and she felt apprehension, instead.
Asriel, however, was at the doctor's side at once. "How is she? Is she okay? Is she okay?!"
Dr Thicke put a hand on his shoulder gently. "She's fine. She's just fine. They're almost done, and she's doing well so far. It should be a routine surgery."
"So... she'll be okay?" Asriel repeated softly. At his tone. Frisk stood up and placed a hand on his back. He relaxed.
Frisk met Dr Thicke's eyes, and for a moment, they stared at each other; Frisk felt a sinking in her gut, because she realised that, just maybe, she didn't recognise her. Not really. Which was strange, because her appearance was exactly the same as it always was. She realised it was purely instinctual, solely based on how she felt.
"Ambassador," Dr Thicke smiled. "Everything is okay. How are you?"
Frisk forced a smile. "I'm okay, considering. Nicky will be okay, right?"
The doctor nodded. Frisk then realised what was throwing her off: it was something to do with the doctor's eyes. Whatever she saw, it was gone in a moment, but she knew she hadn't imagined it; she'd seen something.
"Nicky will be fine. I know you hate hospitals, Ambassador, but rest assured: you and your family are among friends. You're safe."
Alphys was nodding with a smile. "You are," she agreed.
Asriel looked relieved, but Frisk looked back at Dr Thicke, her eyes hard. "Friends," she repeated.
"Of course," Dr Thicke agreed. "We've been through a lot, haven't we? Tonsillitis is pretty easy, considering what you've been through before."
Again, there was... something there, something off, in Dr Thicke's gaze. It tipped the scale for Frisk, and she said, almost sharply, "Dr Thicke, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Dr Thick smiled wider and agreed, but Asriel and Alphys exchanged a confused look. "Is everything okay?" Asriel wondered, eyeing Frisk closely. She looked bothered by something, he could see, but she nodded despite it.
"Let's go to a spare room and talk," Dr Thicke was saying as they walked. Frisk looked closely at her, but the doctor's face was a perfectly calm smile.
That is, until they reached the empty room, and Dr Thicke's smile faded slightly. She gestured to a spare chair, and she sat on the empty cot. "Something's wrong," she said simply. "I can tell."
Wordlessly, Frisk grabbed her phone, opened the picture, and handed it to her. "When I tried to call you about Nicky earlier, I found this."
Dr Thicke stared at the phone, going pale. "Oh," she said sadly. "I was hoping... I was really hoping..." She sighed deeply. "Well, alright." She looked up and met Frisk's gaze, then said, "Stay sitting. You'll need to."
Frisk opened her mouth to say something, but found her words just dry up in her throat. Slowly, as if caught in a movie transition from one scene to another - only far more real, with the smell and feel of raw electricity, and even a few errant red feathers emitting and turning to dust around her form - Dr Thicke shifted from herself - to someone else completely, and not even human.
"Uh," said Darian Reden, now, all semblance to the doctor completely gone. "Sorry, Ambassador. It's sort of a long and complicated story."
Frisk stared at him. Then, surprising herself, she said, very flatly, "I have time."
Darian sighed, then nodded slowly, looking down at the ground. After a pause, he began, and Frisk, with each sentence, realized just how much of a fool she was.