NOTES:::
Hello! Welcome to my story! I know where I am beginning, and where I am going to end up, but the area between A&B is a little cloudy right now. This is one of only 4 fanfictions I have ever put down in writing, and the first I have ever posted. So, be gentle with the critique, I welcome constructive criticism; I want to make the story better, but I have always been very nervous about posting any of my writings. I know I am not the greatest writer in the world, but I like to come up with the stories in my mind and I decided to share this one with others, it is just very difficult to take the "movie" in my mind to a written description that lets another person see it too.
I am going to try super hard to stay in character with Hancock/Nick/etc. but please let me know if I am off.
We were all just sitting around the fire in Sanctuary. Eating and drinking, some of us were laughing. Nick and I could tell for a while that something was wrong, but we had no idea what, and Hancock would never admit to us that anything was up. For a while, he hadn't been himself. He wasn't talking much, he didn't seem to want to go out anymore, and most shockingly, he was taking fewer "chem breaks" by choice. But when we would ask him about it, he would just say, "Nothing but some bad mentats. It'll blow over."
Nevertheless we didn't see it coming when he just fell off of the couch and started seizing. I had only seen anything like it one other time, one of my friends from high school had epilepsy and had a seizure at a party once. Up until the war, up until vault 111, it was the most terrifying thing I had seen.
Everyone at dinner was shocked. Most stepped back, Nick, Curie and I rushed in to stabilize him. I made sure to grab his jaw so he wouldn't bite off his own tongue. It was all so surreal. Just a few weeks ago, he was sitting here with us, joking with us, pissing off Danse just to see him react. Now here we were, sitting on the floor holding his convulsing body. Curie was barking orders at everyone that I couldn't even pay any attention to. It was like the movies where after an explosion, the main character would see people talking in slow motion, but not hear any voices. I couldn't do a fucking thing to help my friend who may be dying in my arms.
"What do we do now?" Nora asked, fear dripping from her words.
"Truthfully, madame, I have no idea. I only have a limited medical knowledge for ghouls. No doctor who I have spoken to in our travels has been able to give me more than a basic understanding of them. They told me what they knew for my research, but it was not much. They are a mystery to medical science." Curie spoke mournfully. "We have him stabilized. He is alive. He is breathing, but he is nonresponsive. For lack of a better term, he is in a coma. I am sorry Nora, but I do not know what else I can do. I can keep him breathing, keep him alive, but I do not know how to fix him." Curie watched as tears formed in Nora's eyes and she ran from the room. She looked down at the ghoul laying on the bed, Piper had folded his red frock coat and laid it neatly on the chair beside him. His tricorn hat placed on top. He didn't look like himself, just an undershirt and pants. No cocky smirk. No witty retorts. Just a ghoul on a bed. Lifeless other than the abnormally slow rise and fall of his chest. Curie was never fond of his avid drug use, but he was kind to her. Nevertheless, she did not enjoy the way she felt seeing him like this.
Nick followed Nora out of the room and found her sitting on the edge of the pavement outside the building. Her face in her hands, and her elbows on her knees. He knelt down behind her.
"Hey. Are you okay?" He asked quietly. Already knowing the answer, but he had to ask anyway.
"No, Nick. I am not fucking okay. Hancock is my friend and he is laying in there in a Goddamn coma, and there is absolutely nothing I can do. Curie said she has no idea what to do. I can't just sit here and let him die, Nick. I can't."
"I know, I know." He slipped his arms around her and put his head on her shoulder. She clutched his arms and rested her head against his. "We will figure something out."
She turned her head to look at him, "How? Nobody knows how ghouls work. In the words of Curie 'They are a medical mystery'."
Nick suddenly remembered something he had heard a long time ago. "Wait a second. Back in Diamond City, before McDonough purged all the ghouls from the city, I remember always hearing whispers of a doctor for ghouls. Nobody ever said much about them. I think this doctor wanted to stay hidden. It was one of those 'You have to know about it, to know about it' type of things. I never had a reason to look into it. Nobody ever needed me to." Nora's eyes got big and watery; Hope.
"Oh my God, Nick! We have to go find this doctor, he is our only hope." Realization dawned on her, "Wait. that was like, ten years ago. And all the ghouls are gone, how would we find him?"
Nick stepped closer to her and grabbed her hands in his. "Honey. You know who you are talking to, right? I am Diamond City's best detective."
"This is hopeless. We have talked to twenty people, and nobody knows what we are talking about." Nora said, looking at Nick as they continue walking through Diamond City.
"Don't give up just yet. There is one person left that I wanted to talk to. He used to be a bar hand at the Dugout Inn in those days. He knew everything about everyone. He stopped working there not long after the ghoul purge. But he still lives here." Nick said. He really didn't know if he would know anything either, but he had to sound confident. Not just for himself, but for her. He had to make her keep hope. I hope he knows something. Anything.
Nick walked up to the rickety door and knocked sternly, Nora standing behind him anxiously.
"Who is it?" A voice yelled from within.
"Hey Jake, it's Nick Valentine. I was wondering if you could help me with something." The door opened slowly.
"Hello, Detective Valentine, it has been a long time since I have seen you. Heard you have kept yourself busy." He looked at the beautiful women standing slightly behind Nick, holding onto Nick's arm, "Really busy, it seems."
Nick pretended not to notice the glance at Nora and the remark about her. "So, as I was saying I need your help with something, and it is kind of an emergency. It is about a rumor I heard a long time ago, back before the ghouls were ran out of Diamond City."
Jake could hear the urgency in Valentine's voice. Something he had never really heard before. "Oh yes, of course. Both of you come on in."
The two of them entered the man's residence. Jake was your average Commonwealth citizen. He was older than Nora, he was maybe fifty, but he looked well for his age. His age was only truly evident in the stark white of his hair, and the years in his voice. Jake gestured towards his couch, and the two obliged. Jake sat in an old chair across from them.
"So what is this rumor? I knew most of the rumors back then, but not all. There were more than you'd think."
"I never heard much, I think it was kept very quiet, but I heard about a 'Doctor for Ghouls', who was here in Diamond City"
A look crossed Jake's face, a look of shock, followed by sadness. "Why are you asking about this, Valentine?" Nick looked at Nora's face, and saw the worry still in her eyes.
"A friend of ours is really sick. We think he may be dying, but normal doctors, they… They don't know what to do for him. "
Jake took a deep breath. "Who you heard about wasn't really a doctor. She was more of a Pharmacist for ghouls. Her name was Lydia."
"Was?" Nora spoke softly. Her voice cracking.
"Yeah, she is dead. Her whole family was murdered during the ghoul purge. When people accused Mcdonough of killing her he claimed that the ghouls turned against her, and killed her. Nobody who sided with the ghouls believed that bullshit, but the bandwagon for his campaign just got larger. Most people believed him, and a mother and father and two small children being killed by ghouls was the fuel he needed."
Jake looked at the couple, tears were forming in Nora's eyes, and Nick was looking very concerned as well. They are really worried about their friend. Shit. I have to tell them.
"But, that is beside the point. What I meant by the whole "Not a real doctor" thing is that people would come to see her, she would take note of their symptoms and based on a book of protocols, she would give them medicines that she had for ghoul problems. "
"A book of protocols? Ghoul medicine? None of this makes sense!" Nora said, getting dragged along by her emotions.
"Cool it, lady. Let me finish my story. If there was an emergency, something that wasn't a generic Ghoul sickness, she would have volunteers take them to 'The Office'. Where they would meet the real Doctor. The person who wrote the book, and makes the medicines."
"How do you know all of this, Jake? This isn't information you hear in rumors." Nick questioned.
"I know this, because when Lydia was killed, I took over her position. That is why I quit the Dugout. Work is light, there are only a handful of ghouls who still live here in secret. And I have yet to have an 'emergency' situation."
"Holy shit! You have to help us. Will you please help our friend?" Nora said, standing up from her calm seated position. Jake looked at her, and then back to Nick. A look of distrust in his eye.
"Jake, you know you can trust me, and I trust this woman with all that I am. She just wants to help her friend, more than anything, and her emotions sometimes get the better of her." Nora sat back down, and with a frown, placed her hand on Nick's knee, a sign of apology.
This was good enough for Jake. "Okay. The doctor treasures her privacy more than anything. So what I am about to tell you, you cannot share with anyone else without her or my permission, you understand?"
Nick nodded, and after a second so did Nora. She was surprised. Her? This doctor is a woman? That is impressive.
"She travels to a few towns on certain days a week, you can maybe catch her one of those days if you know when and where to go."
Nora interjected, "That will work great, when does she come to Goodneighbor? I am sure she goes there with all of the ghouls living there."
A serious look crossed Jakes face, "Um…She doesn't go to Goodneighbor. Ever. I think her exact words when I asked her were, 'I can't go to Goodneighbor because If I see that God-forsaken Mayor, I can't guarantee I won't rip his throat out with my bare hands'"
Nick and Nora's faces dropped in horror.
"Shit, that is your friend, isn't it? Mayor Hancock?"
Nick nodded just once.
"Well, then your best bet is to go directly to her office and try to plead your case. I know she must sound psychotic, but I swear to you she is the best person I know. I am not saying it will be easy, but she isn't beyond reason. I don't know why she hates him so much. She shut me out completely when I asked her. But it has to be something big and something personal. So tread very carefully. I will mark her office on your map. Good Luck."
"Thank you so much, Jake. I know this wasn't easy." Nick said as he shook the man's hand.
"I hope she helps him. For your sake." Jake said looking at Nora and shaking her hand.
After the door closes Nora looks at Nick, "So, we found a doctor that can save Hancock, but she has some sort of mortal grudge against him and wants him dead. Is this a step forward or backward?"
Nick steps forward, and brushes a lock of her black hair behind her ear and pulls her in for a kiss. She throws her arms around his shoulders, his other hand finds the small of her lower back.
After a moment, he pulls away and softly smiles, "Let's just call it neutral."
NOTES::
Wha-what? Nick and Nora? Nick isn't even a romancable option for Nora! but seriously, I swear, it is a Hancock fic. You just gotta be patient. Hope you enjoyed it! I will try to keep it updated in a reasonable time frame. Thank you for reading!
-Jumb