A/N-
This is a request fic from DES on DA that I worked on the past few days. I already posted it on DA, but she told me it was okay to put it up here, too.
OC belongs to DES, the others are from ATLUS.
A young boy was standing tirelessly in front of her elementary school, impatiently but eagerly awaiting for his parents to come pick him up. He grew a bright smile when he saw a car that was familiar to him park in front of the building and cheerfully ran up to it.
Other kids were scattering after saying goodbye to their friends and teachers, some played for a little before being picked up. The buses have already been packed with students and have left the circle, walkers and car riders were what filled the courtyard now.
School was over for the summer. Everyone was leaving with joyful grins and enthusiasm for vacation. The afternoon sun beamed on their faces as they went home.
But there was a girl cut off from the festive horde with tan skin sitting under a tree, her light backpack hanging on one shoulder. Her ocher eyes were shut tightly as she curled up; she was fighting off tears from being picked on. She wore a solid-red shirt with dark jeans, her clothes with some mud stains. The ponytail on her dark brown hair was loose, too.
The teasing, bullying, pranks...they wouldn't stop. Not even at the last day of school. She was going to middle school after the two month break, what was going to happen there?
"I hate it when they're like that!" The child under the tree pouted quietly to herself. Little did she know, a man with burly, dark green hair wearing a tan suit and pants just pulled up at the circle drive in a black car. He was grumbling about being late as he exited the vehicle and looked around.
"Hey, Nina!" The man smirked after yelling out the the girl sitting under the shade of the tree. But with other voices speaking and kids squealing in cheer, he was unheard. The man sighed and stepped into the crowd of parents and children.
Nina wiped away any trace of tears on her face and stood up, determined to find her parents and go home. First she tightened her ponytail and clenched her teeth, then she climbed up the tree, high enough to get a view of those below. Her amber eyes were targeted on someone with messy green hair in the mass of people in front of her and she smiled. "Easy." After muttering out the word, she threw her backpack down first before carefully going back down to the ground. With a direction sought out, she charged into the crowd with the backpack gripped in her right hand.
"Excuse me..." The adult with distinguishing olive hair resorted to mannerisms, seeing that kids were playing tag in front of him. "(Move, dammit...)" He felt something latch onto his waist and groaned, "Sorry but can you-" When he glanced back, he exclaimed, "Woah...how did you..."
"You a bit late, daddy." Nina said as she released her grasp on her father. She grinned, feeling accomplished to be the one to seek out her parent when it was supposed to be the other way around.
The guardian smiled and made his excuse, "Well, doctors are busy these days..." He winked, putting his shame of being caught aside as he said, "Let's head home..." His hand and the girl's were together as they marched past the crowd and made it to the spot where the man's car was parked.
After starting up the vehicle, the driver pulled out a cigarette from his right pocket and asked his daughter in the passenger seats behind him, "So how was the last day of school?" He fit the cigarette into his mouth and put on the seat belt as he waited for an answer.
"Like any other day." Nina said nonchalantly as she buckled up. She coughed a bit from the thick smell of smoke inside the car, she opened both sides of the window to let the scent out.
"You seriously can't mean that...I mean, all the other kids were ecstatic to be outta there." The parent used the head mirror to see the girl with a casual, naughty expression. Summer was the greatest time for a child. He brushed aside the indifferent attitude and asked, "What else?" The car was driven at the exit of the parking lot as he asked.
The daughter exchanged skeptical glances at first before listing blithely, "Well, there was a movie with popcorn, recess, and more playtime." She leaned forward and questioned, "How was work?" Her interest shifted to the day of the other one in the car.
"Eh. Quite a few patients to deal with, none of them were too bad. I got all the exams done, so I think we're clear to go straight home today..." The diagnostician responded as made a turn onto the road. He noticed the child in the back being a little too silent and asked, "Uh...did something happen? Nini...you look a little beat up." The kid would usually shout 'yay' when she heard that they won't need to stop by the hospital. He made note of the grass and dirt stains and asked, "Is it what I'm thinking it is?"
The girl, who was a natural at horseplay, commonly had stains on her clothes after school. But the silent treatment was a factor that let the parent to believe something else. Nina sighed, "A few boys made fun of me...because I had two dads." She displayed her backpack, which read 'Nina Freebird Cunningham' on top. There was a few graffiti made in crayon next to it. "Meanies..."
Dr. Cunningham exhaled deeply as he comforted his daughter, "Hey, they'll grow out of it. Besides, you know that what they say is their-"
"Their own opinion, I know...but there's nothing wrong with you and dad!" The child objected as she sat on the seat with her legs crossed. Before the driver could continue the conversation, his cellphone started to ring.
Even though he was driving, he couldn't risk missing a call if it was important. He took out his phone and read the caller ID in surprise, "Esha?" He flipped the device open and asked in a irritated tone, "What do you want?"
Nina, who had a blank face as she watched her father speak on the phone, sat idly in place. She had a bad feeling in her gut, and she felt a little sick to boot. If she recalled correctly, 'Esha' was the boss of doctor in front of her.
"What? You want me to..." The father glimpsed his daughter using the mirror for a second before answering, "Fine. I'll handle that guy...but I better be getting a bonus. Be there in less than 30 minutes." With that, the cell phone was put away.
"What was that, daddy?"
The man bit on his cigarette as he said as calmly as possible, "There's someone that I gotta go check up on... just one, then we can go home. Hank is going to be busy until past dinnertime, so you're gonna have to wait until I finish this diagnosis so I can take us home...sound good to you?"
The girl was disappointed, but she tried to keep a decent smile. At least she'd have an opportunity to play around in daddy's office and if she was lucky, she may have a chance to play with RONI. "Okay, but hurry." Still, nothing beat the fun of playing in the backyard at home.
Resurgam First Care
Dr. Cunningham's Office
All Nina knew from eavesdropping the conversation beyond the crack of the door that led to the exam room was that this 'check-up' was going to take a long time. Of course, after checking the storage and mini-fridge of the office, nothing that could take her mind off of boredom was found.
At this rate, she may as well hide away RONI to settle her mischievous self. But, she obviously knew the consequences of that sort of prank. Maybe the papers on the desk would do...
The old-fashioned alarm clock caught her attention with its red digits. It has only been five minutes since she was kept in the room. The girl sighed, pretty sure her math and memory were right.
"Psst. Nina..!" A voice very familiar whispered to the child.
The child, who sat restlessly on the couch, turned to see a woman with the same dark skin and brown hair at the other door of the office whispering her over. She smiled and said merrily, "Aunt Maria-!" Though the person in front of her wasn't actually related by blood.
The woman who was peeking inside the room opened the door wider and stood straight, boldly showing off her first responder jacket. She had a embarrassed face as she hissed back, "Not so loud! And...can you not call me that..?" Maria knew the kid and her were great buddies, though being referred to as an aunt made her feel a little older.
"Oops...sorry." Nina giggled at her mistake as she asked in a soft voice, "So what are you doing here?" The unexpected visitor rarely showed up here of all places. If anything, Maria would never charge into the office of the doctor that ended up only infuriating her.
"I had to drag in the old hag in the other room...she's a tough one." The paramedic entered the room and seated herself by the girl, her face with a subtle grin. "I had a feeling you might be cooped up in here, so I thought I drop by..." Her shift was ending early for the day, might as well spend a little time chatting that going home all alone. "What's up?"
The girl sighed weakly as she complained, "RONI's busy, and there's nothing to do here." And she recalled precise instructions to not leave the room and wander the hospital. "My dads are both working...Oh yeah, and today was the last day of-" She coughed and rubbed her eyes before continuing the phrase, "School for me."
Dr. Maria Torres patted the girl's back at seeing her cough. "Geez, did you catch the flu today? It's not in season..." She saw the girl's usually sweet expression turn sour as she said, "Geez, you look like you're about to puke, does Gabe know about this..?"
The girl shook her head as she tried to convince the paramedic to stop worrying, "It's nothing, Maria..!" Her words weren't paid any attention, ignored by the stubborn, but caring woman.
"Dammit, the idiot..." The EMT looked at the assistance terminal beside the desk and ordered, "Hey, computer...tell Gabe he'd better hurry, his next patient's gonna be his daughter." But before the computer responded to the outside command, another voice spoke.
"I'm right here, you know."
Maria and Nina shifted their eyes to the diagnostician standing at the doorway that connected to the exam room. Gabriel had a doubtful gaze as he asked, "What are you doing here and what's going on about me diagnosing Nina?" He glared at Maria and snapped, "Is this your idea of a game? I'm kinda busy." The girl flinched by seeing her father grow so serious, but the woman beside her was not at all afraid.
The paramedic stood up and accused, "Nina is sick, Gabe...and you don't look busy at all-" Before any other sentence could be said, the diagnostician let out a heavy breath and sat down at his desk.
No one had to explain anything. All that was known was that the diagnostician was 'occupied' in another task, the first responder arrived out a a simple curiosity, and the child in the couch being suspected of being ill.
"The old lady looks like she has Alzheimer's on every single exam. I had the staff take her to the scanning department immediately for some MRIs... So I'm waiting in here." Dr. Cunningham grumbled with a cigarette hanging out from his mouth. He glanced at the two in front of him and said, "I was going to have a talk with Nina until you showed up..."
"Get that thing out of your mouth, Gabe..." Dr. Torres' command had no reaction from either side of the room. She received a long stare from the doctor in his office chair with a cigarette firmly in his mouth and grew agitated. "Fine, I'll leave-!" She declared as she stormed out of the room.
The girl seated on the couch had a confused face as she watched her father chuckle at the paramedic's loud exit. She looked at him and asked, "So...daddy, what did you wanna talk about?"
"Actually, I was just pulling Maria's leg..." Gabriel smirked then motioned to the computer next to him as he said, "Whatever, I'll be in here for a while before RONI here says the images are ready for me to look at..." He took off the stethoscope that hung around his neck and asked, "So, what was that about you being sick?"
Nina lied on her innocence, "Maria said that...I'm not-" She cleared her throat when her voice suddenly went coarse and finished the statement, "Sick, I...just didn't drink any water lately..." She watched her father grow suspicious and added, "Really..!"
The father fell back on his chair and said despite the child's denial, "Okay, RONI, you still working?"
A female, robotic voice spoke, "Yes Dr. Cunningham, I am still operational." Nina immediately sat straight up, a little startled to hear the machine responding so swiftly unlike to herself and Maria.
"Good. Add 'sore throat' to a separate list of symptoms for me." The diagnostician said casually, even with receiving a surprised look from the girl on the couch.
"Understood. Under what patient?"
"Nina Freebird Cunningham, of course." Gabriel grinned as Nina grew a defeated expression. He then asked with a smile, "Might as well come clean, Nini... So, you feel anything else going wrong?" Seeing the girl was rubbing her eyes once in a while he muttered to the terminal, "RONI, have 'itchy eyes' jot down, too."
"New symptom recorded."
"Just say 'gotcha' or something..." The doctor wondered how long ago since he messed with RONI's way or wording things. He finally lamented, "That's kind of a mouthful..."
"Gotcha, Dr. Cunningham."
"...Forget what I said."
The girl was stunned to see the 'Master of Deduction' marking down a symptom with her ever action. "Um...It's hard to breathe..." She coughed once more.
"Looks like a pretty bad case of dypsnea..." The diagnostician mumbled to his assistant, who returned to saying 'understood' and 'yes doctor.' He then bit on the cigarette; the signs weren't good. He took off his stethoscope and moved over to sit next to Nina. "Lift up your shirt real quick..."
The girl raised her red and slightly dirtied shirt as told. When the metal of the tool was placed over her left lung, she detected a cautious look from the doctor. Then the stethoscope was put over the other lung and she finally heard her father mention 'tachypnea' after. "What does that mean?"
"You're breathing faster...in this case, the heart rate would be..."
Then the heart was checked. Nina heard the word 'tachycardia,' still confused on what the vocabulary meant. This part of exam was finished and she was able to lower her clothing,
"That's all I can do for now." The diagnostician concluded before grunting at his daughter and saying, "See? That took almost no time at all..." The thrill of performing the exam on his own child could be spotted on his face. He went back to his desk and spun to face the machine.
The 'patient' felt like exclaiming 'wow,' but knew the doctor understood how much she was impressed. She saw him focused on the computer screen, dragging items to certain boxes as if he was playing a fun video game. "So...am I sick?" Her throat was hurting so bad that the voice she used was almost deplorable.
"I'm not finished, just wait a little longer, okay?" Dr. Cunningham evaluated that the flu and common cold were lacking a few symptoms to make the call. He scrolled down to the last suggested ailment RONI had added and froze when he read the name.
Nina, who felt extremely miserable from wheezing, could barely see through her stinging eyes. She didn't even eat dinner, and bedtime wasn't even close. Her body tilted from exhaustion and sooner or later she was laying on the couch, fast asleep.
Gabriel had noticed from the corner of his eye. He breathed, "Add 'gets tired easily' to the symptoms, RONI..." The assistant responded without a word and the new recorded symptom appeared in the left column. The right column remained the same; the first two recommended ailments were taken care of and eliminated previously, there was still one left.
The father couldn't let any possibilities be ignored, especially if his daughter was on the line. So he forced himself to click on the final listed ailment and began dragging over matching symptoms. When he was done, he heard RONI speak, "Dr. Cunningham, with these symptoms it appears that-"
"I know, you don't need to tell me." The doctor pushed himself away from the desk and found himself with a bitter face. He stood up and asked, "Are the results in yet? I'm thinking of heading to the lab now." But before leaving, he took off his lab coat and put it over the sleeping girl. He assumed the stethoscope was proof enough that he was an employee at the hospital. He also removed the smoke from his mouth and disposed of it.
"Yes, the images are ready for observation." Without further ado, the diagnostician departed from his office, closing the door slowly behind him.
Later
Beyond the office, voices erupted from the nearby exam room. "Gabriel, this is becoming serious. You must break this habit..." A deep, but gentle voice could be heard speaking. "Nina's health is at risk...as well as mine and those in the hospital."
"I'm already aware of that-" Dr. Cunningham replied, frustration and annoyance could be detected in his words. "I love two...seriously. Don't get me wrong, Hank...I wanna give this up for our sake as much as you and her want me to."
"But...Gabriel..." Hank Freebird said in a concerned tone, "Your addiction...we can't delay any longer, you need to quit now."
A sigh was heard as the other parent groaned, "Quit telling me the obvious-"
"You know the hazards of smoking. You're a doctor." Dr. Freebird said to the diagnostician; this time with utter disappointment. "You're also a father. So please..." He pleaded, "Take responsibility."
There was nothing said for a few minutes.
"Hank...I don't want to make the same mistake." Gabriel, taking the fire from his actions, murmured, "I can't screw things up like I did with Joshua..." There was a small sounds of movements from the room before he said, "God dammit... I..."
It was that moment when the girl sleeping inside the office woke up, still tired beyond belief. She noticed the lab coat that was used as a blanket and sat up immediately. She was off of the couch in seconds.
"I don't know..."
Deducting that the voice came from the exam room, she peeked through the door. Her eyes astonished to see her parents, one standing to confront the other that was sitting in a chair, as if there was an argument.
It didn't look good. She wanted to intervene, but she didn't know what to do.
With the direction Hank was looking at, he could perceive the girl. But he didn't mention her presence as he said, "You have us. We can support you to quit..."
"Haha. You and Nina, huh?" Gabriel laughed as he presumed, "I imagine you stalling me as the kid sneaks away with my smoke and buries it somewhere." His prediction had the other father crack a smile.
The child saw this as her cue and leaped from her place behind the door to hug the troubled diagnostician. She promised, "I'll make sure to do that!" The idea was perfect, equally fun and equally...beneficial.
The doctor in the chair was recovered from his heart palpitations that were caused from the sudden assault on him by his daughter. "Sweet Jesus- when did you get up?" He raised the girl onto his lap and mouthed to Hank, "How long was she there?"
Dr. Freebird just gave a innocuous grin and shrug. He gave his word, "Don't worry, Gabriel, Nina and I'll will ensure that another cigarette will never reach your hands...or mouth." He watched as the other parent rolled his eyes at him and chortled heartily.
The girl jumped out of the diagnostician's hold and said proudly, "You can count on us..!" She had her confident pose with a thumbs up.
There was a pause in the room.
"Hey, daddy? Why did you start smoking in the first place? You were a doctor for a long time right?" The daughter had no answer from the anyone and looked to Hank first. "I don't get it..."
As much as the orthopedic surgeon would like to spill, he didn't know if his theories were even accurate, so he looked to Gabriel, hoping to take his place and respond.
And he delivered. "I first got the idea in the military...then with Joshua and Lisa gone, I really started smoking..." The explanation was brief, but a decent summary of it. "I don't do it as much as I used to...but..." Nina was glanced at by the diagnostician before he went on, "I still put you in danger."
"That's why I'm gonna work extra hard to make you stop." Nina warmed up and guaranteed in determination, "I have all summer break to watch your every move." She nodded strongly, her ponytail swung up and down from the motion.
Hank patted the child's head and said, "Well that's settled..." He then stepped out of the room and announced, "You should go home now...I still have an appointment to attend to. And Nina, be careful and keep an eye out, alright?"
"You got it, dad!" The girl jumped as she shouted back.
"You won't regret this, Gabriel..!" The giant said as he went down the hallway.
"I think I already did..." The diagnostician leaned back on his chair, his head far back as he groaned. His daughter only smiled at him zealously, knowing what must be done once she got home.
In the Car
"So what do you want for dinner?" The driver asked the passenger in the back, knowing that the first day of summer break called for some form of celebration, whether it was a meal or...
"First tell me where you put your other cigars..." Nina bargained, refusing to listen to a word from her parent. She knew that one stash that was in the desk in her parent's bedroom, but there was bound to be secret hiding places for the rest of the drugs.
Gabriel braked on a red light and widened his eyes. When he regained his composure, he joked, "As if I'm gonna tell you straight off the bat, come on..." He wasn't going to give in to the girl this easily.
"Tell me or else we're not gonna get dinner." Nina took full advantage of Gabe's inability to cook and his reputation as a parent to feed a child. She watched as the father hesitated and chanted, "I'm waiting..."
The green light signal flashed, but the doctor took a few seconds to react and press the gas pedal. He gave in to hid daughter and blurted out, "F-fine...! There's one box near the TV set..." Surrendering to the kid was a bad strike to his cool reputation against the staff back at work, at least none of them were listening. "Now tell me what you wanna eat...!"
"Uh...does pizza...and cinnamon rolls for dessert sound okay?" Nina said, not actually concerned about the food.
"Who would..." Before the father could object to the combination, he sighed and accepted the proposal. He couldn't mess with the dessert, it happened to be a favorite of the girl's. "Okay, you got a deal..."
Two problems rested in side the drivers head: Where to get the food, and what would happen once Nina gets her hands on all of the cigarettes at home.
Few Days Later
Their Home
Noon
Gabriel and Hank were on leave from work that day, making Nina avid to know she wouldn't be stuck in the hospital or some daycare as it she had been the past few days. Also she made a great accomplishment in the time she had at home...
"Aargh! It's not here..!"
Dr. Cunningham, who was pressured by Hank ever since that day to not to light up a cigarette, now was facing the frustration from being addicted. For some reason, his partner let him sneak in a smoke.
Problem was, with the two main stashed removed and given a funeral somewhere in the yard, he was to resort to the final hidden supply in the bathroom cabinet. It was hidden behind the mass of bottles and boxes...
And apparently, not there. "Where did it go? I haven't told anyone about this one...!" He began to dig through the pile out of desperation.
As the father was yelling in disbelief, the child was in front of the kitchen doors that led to the back patio. She was dusting off her hands and pants. Hank was waiting as he stood next to the stove, he brought over a towel to help clean the dirt that fell on the floor.
After the kitchen tiles were spotless and the child was safe to enter further inside the house, the two exchanged prosperous and successful looks. The last member of the family entered the room with a panicked face.
"We did it..." The girl declared, rubbing the tiny smudge of dirt of her left cheek.
Gabriel Cunningham stood still with his eyes opened in disbelief.
Every last cigarette at the house has been eradicated. Purged. Gone for all eternity. Banished to the backyard. Removed and eliminated by a kid.
"I'm very proud of you..." Hank said to the girl as he turned to the doctor at the entrance of the room. "Aren't you, Gabriel?"
"Uh...yeah...slick one." The parent sighed, recovering from his flustered composure as Nina ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He said in an impressed tone as he lifted up the child. "That was fast...Definitely worth being proud of."
The three all smiled as they continued their day- one of them freed from the hold of a bad habit. Back in the yard, three low mounds of dirt were concealed in the reaches of thick, lush bushes and veiled in the shadow of a towering tree.