The life of a suphero was a busy one; something that Stephen Strange was learning each day. How he even managed to live a semi-normal life was beyond him, but he did. When he wasn't protecting Earth from mystical enemies, he was settling back into the routine as an ER doctor. None of the doctors gave him any hard stuff, mainly just case review, x-ray technican, and occasional stitcher.
As Stephen entered the ER to begin his shift, he ran into his ex-girlfriend, Doctor Christine Palmer.
"How's the heroics game?" Christine asked quietly.
"Nothing that my new friends can't handle." Stephen said.
Christine nodded and sighed. "It's pretty quiet here tonight. My shift is about to end, so I was wondering if you could handle a stitching?"
It used to be that Stephen could take a job like this and not worry. That was before the accident.
"How many?" Stephen asked.
"It's a nice sized cut, but nothing too major. Probably seven or eight." Christine explained.
Stephen nodded and Christine handed him the patient's chart. When Stephen pulled back the curtain to see the patient; he found a young woman, dressed in a blazer and skirt. Your typical New York businesswoman; broken high heel and open gash. Yep, typical.
"Good start to a morning, huh?" Stephen asked.
The woman turned towards Stephen and smiled. She sat up slowly with Stephen's help, holding a towel to her head.
"A word of advice? Never try running in heels or you'll end up eating concrete." The woman said.
Stephen extended his hand. "I'll keep that in mind. Doctor Stephen Strange."
"Molly Tyler." The woman shook Stephen's hand. "So, give it to me straight: Will I live?"
Stephen smiled and examined the wound. It was a small, but defintely open gash. Thankfully, it had stopped bleeding sometime ago and it seemed that Christine had already cleaned it.
"Doctor Palmer was right, it's going to be need some stitches."
As Stephen started to prep to put in the sutures, Molly groaned.
"I could give you something for the pain before we begin." Stephen suggested.
Molly gave a dismissal wave. "It's not that, I can handle some headaches, believe me. It's just I had a huge case I was working on. I wanted this bastard to get life, and now I'm going to miss the first day of the trial."
"You're a prosecutor, then?" Stephen asked.
Molly laughed and then winced. "What gave it away?"
"Hold still, please." Stephen started to suture the gash shut. "How long you been swimming with sharks?"
"About ten years. I had an accident at some point in my life; can't remember a damn thing before 2003. Became depressed, but when I decided to stop moping, I joined the bar and it's history from there."
"You had amensia?" Stephen asked.
"Yeah. I mean, the only thing I remembered was my first and last name, and only fragments from my childhood. Everything else is gone. Why do you ask?"
Stephen paused but then gave a short laugh. "It's nothing. I hope you don't mind, but we're going to keep you over night for observation; just to make sure you don't have a concussion."
"Will I be outta here by noon tomorrow? I need to be in court by then." Molly said.
Stephen finished the last suture and bandaged the wound. "Shouldn't be a problem. I'll see about getting you a bed."
Stephen left Molly alone. He didn't want to worry her, but something seemed off about her being an amensiac. Way off. There was nothing on her chart to suggest previous brain trauma. Perhaps it was nothing but a misprint. Perhaps she just happened to be single; after all, Stephen didn't see a wedding ring.