Okay so I have a poll going on my page about the last part of my story, 'The Four Treasures of Remnant' on whether or not I should split the final chapter into multiple or do just one big ass chapter. It would mean a lot if any of you who read that story to vote, otherwise I'm just going to go with my gut. Or to be more exact I'll discuss it with my editor and see what he is up for. Okay, shameless self-plug out of the way, I'm back to this. And again, I FUCKING LOVE writing a psychotic Ruby.
Chapter 4:
"Blllllaaaaaakkkkeeee! Do I really need to be here? Can't I just give you a picture for you to show them?" Ruby whined, still trying to figure a way out of talking to a doctor as she and Blake sat in the waiting room of the hospital as she covered her nose from the harsh smell of antiseptic. "Plus this place smells like vodka." Ruby continued and began to cower away from Blake's intense glare.
"Yes Ruby, for the umpteenth time, you need to be here, I don't, and it doesn't smell like vodka. It smells like the chemicals they use to clean it to make sure there are no pathogens that can infect the patients." Blake scolded as she pulled Ruby back into a seated position in the chair next to her. The only reason Ruby hasn't made a beeline for the door is because she knows what Blake would do if she broke the simple promise of not getting the injuries looked at by a professional.
"Yes, but most pathogens are killed with very weak concentrations of alcohol, like five percent. Plus, all alcohol we consume is a hydrocarbon called ethanol, the only difference is they use insane concentrations in places like this just in case, around two hundred percent." Ruby commented as she began to resume her previous thought process of getting the hell out of dodge.
"Since when do you know so much about this topic, let alone chemistry? Last I knew you knew next to nothing on anything even close to these places." Blake asked, sceptical, pulling Ruby's attention back to her and away from mentally forging an escape plan.
"Know your enemy Kitty, that and my cover story was dealing with a laboratory that specialised in advances in the chemistry front." Ruby spoke quietly as to not alert anyone nearby. She may hate the place but she wouldn't want to have to kill everyone. "By the way how much does everyone know? So I don't let something slip that I shouldn't." Ruby asked, trying to figure out what she can tell Yang and really hoping she could drop the whole innocent act around Yang.
"Nora and Yang got told the same thing you told me when you bitch slapped me awake the first time but your dad is still in the dark. Ren said I had something like Alpha clearance. You would need to check with him." Blake said looking back to a magazine she was reading, or at least pretending like she was reading.
"Well I'm glad he doesn't know anything but who is coming up with the cover story?" Ruby asked fearing that she would need to come up with one. She knew she couldn't lie that much to him. She knew he was fishy about the whole cover story which is why neither brought it up too often. Ruby hated lying to him and Blake but anyone else she would be fine with lying to people. Hell she would have no qualms killing someone for scuffing her shoes, but in the world there was two people she hated even lying to, Blake and her dad.
"Ren said he would handle that. Nora and Yang are aware of your coming back, but were also told that they can't say it to anyone until Tai knows, they were made very aware of that." Blake managed to get out just as a doctor approached them.
"I'm looking for Miss Rose, I assume that is one of you." He spoke dutifully and had an almost regal tone to him as he stood at his full height, an even six feet. He had short, messy, greying hair, the original colour was hard to distinguish, and if Ruby had to hazard a guess she would guess he was platinum blonde originally. He was clean shaven with a thin build, a pair of glasses perched on his nose.
"That would be her, sorry she has a fear of hospitals and doctors, so much so you would swear she wasn't twenty eight, hence why I'm here. If I wasn't you would need a body bag for one of you. I'm her significant other, Blake Belladonna." Blake said, holding her hand out as the doctor took it and shook.
"As in the writer?" the doctor asked, and Blake just nodded, hoping that this would not turn out the same way as when she met Ruby. "My son is a huge fan. He has been waiting for the next book in the series. He has been wanting to get some of the books signed and would kill me if I didn't ask if you know how long it would be until the next title's release?" The doctor asked taking a seat across from the duo.
"Tell him sorry but my hands have been full with her." Blake said, pointing to Ruby. "But if he wants his books signed he can send it to my p.o. box." Blake spoke in a similar regal tone as to not offend the doctor in front of her, especially before Ruby got seen by him. Blake would hate herself if she contributed to Ruby's irrational fear.
"I'll give you that address later, right now I need to make sure she is alright. If I didn't catch the marks she would gladly ignore it." Blake spoke causing Ruby to pout and slide down in her chair hoping they would have forgotten about her. Dreading about walking past the double doors and not being able to walk back, hell Ruby would gladly take paperwork over being in her spot at this exact moment.
"Your right, the patient takes priority. I'm Dr. Jonathan Arc but please call me Dr. Arc." the tall male spoke, causing Ruby to react in a very interesting way. She began to perk up. "Wait... is your son Jaune Arc? Works in a geography research thingy? Was entirely oblivious to this smoking hot red head's approach? Looks like a strong breeze can knock him over?" Ruby asked a long list of questions as the doctor began to shrink in his seat.
"Yeah... that's him. How do you know him?" the doctor asked, leading the way back behind the same double doors Ruby previously feared with a slight smirk on her face, she just now began to think of all the mischief she could cause. She knew Blake could read that smirk on her face but was happy Blake didn't want to stop her.
"I roomed with that smoking hot red head known as Pyrrha. I'm actually surprised they didn't mention me, I'm the one that pushed them together so I could get the white haired one he was after. I must remember to have a talk with them about this next time I see them." Ruby thought as she fell into an almost mocking step walking the exact same way as her friend's dad.
They walked into a room with a single dividing curtain. Ruby almost laughed at Blake, sighing at how well she was taking the current visit to the hospital. Despite how bad Jaune will be by the end of it, but if it would make sure Ruby wouldn't murder someone at the hospital it was worth the price. She was tempted to send Jaune a message but didn't, this should be something he finds out from Ruby, no matter how bad it would become. Which it will if Ruby's smirk was a broadcast of things to come.
"Now let's change the topic to what I get paid for. What is the matter with you?" Jonathan asked Ruby as he pulled a chair up to sit in front of Ruby as he pulled out a clipboard and a pen. Ruby debated if the pain she imagined this meeting would cause Jaune was worth it. She would cause Jaune some suffering, which she hasn't done for a few years and get Blake off her back. But the problem was dealing with what she feared.
Blake spoke up because Ruby was taking a while. "She got into a bad scrape while she went abroad to work. She came back yesterday and I only saw the scars this morning, personally I think it looks infected and even a medic friend suggested that we got it checked out properly instead of a quick check." Jonathan quickly began to write on the clipboard.
"I'm going to need to see them, if it would make you feel more comfortable, I could get a female doctor to look at them." he spoke softly and waited for Ruby to make the call of whether or not he should go.
"Nah I don't mind... but can you turn around while I take my shirt off? It isn't anything against you... I just have a phobia about the entire profession and the building, these places only bring bad memories." Ruby said quietly as Jonathan turned around in his chair and Ruby began to smile slightly. Blake walked over and helped Ruby take her shirt off and turned her around so the doctor could look at the injuries and Ruby could look at her. "Okay... you can turn around." Ruby said blushing at the comment she made.
Blake looked as the man turned around and instantly began to work. He pulled his chair over and began to examine the scars and the wounds on her back. "What is it that you said you did?" he asked as he observed the marks closely.
"I work in research in chemistry, I can't say any more than that, confidentiality and such." Ruby said wincing at the pressure he began to apply to the same one that went across her lower back. The same one Ren only a few hours ago looked at.
"Well you can put your shirt on. I have a fair guess at what is the matter." He said quickly writing something down. As Ruby quickly pulled her shirt back on and turned around to look at the man who just possible sped up the annoying process of dealing with the hospital up. "Well it is one of two things. Option one it is a bacterial infection that isn't dangerous at all, option two is that you are a sea turtle getting ready to lay her eggs." He said with a slight laugh in his voice as Ruby relaxed.
"Well now that you mention it... I have had an odd instinct to return to the exact same hole I hatched from and then leave my children to never see them again." Ruby quipped back, earning a laugh from the doctor.
"Well, just in case it is option one, I'll prescribe a cream that should be applied twice a day and you should wrap your back in a bandage and it should clear up in a few days." He spoke quickly as he wrote something down and pulled a small section off and handed it to Blake. Ruby meanwhile jumped up and stretched, she had been sitting for a while.
"Hey Jonny boy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Jaune or Pyrrha, they still think I'm abroad. I came back early to spend some time with Blake and I just know if they found out I'd get bombarded with questions." Ruby asked as he walked them to the door.
"Okay, I won't tell them, but out of curiosity when was the last time you spoke with either of them?" He asked, causing Ruby to think how long it has been since she last talked to vomit boy which caused her to wonder if will he ever live that name down.
"I haven't seen him in about eight years, our schedules seemed to conflict after that. But I haven't talked to him for about a year. As for Pyrrha, before I left to go abroad I saw her almost every week but Blake never liked to leave the house. The only reason she is out now is because if I didn't know your son she wouldn't have been joking, we would need a body bag for one of us." Ruby said, rubbing the back of her neck lightly. It wasn't intentional of how long it had been, but getting tortured sort of puts a monkey wrench in the whole friends thing.
Jonathan just nodded as he walked them out the front door. The silence was slightly awkward but Ruby didn't mind it, she got to hear some interesting things about an old friend. In fact it was only a good thing. As the sun's beams of blinding light hit them, Dr. Arc spoke up. "If it doesn't begin to heal properly within a week come back and we can run tests to determine if we should progress to removing the damaged tissue via maggot therapy." He spoke quickly and dutifully. Enjoying the sun's rays.
"Okay, hopefully it won't come to that, just the thought of maggots crawling around and eating me is somewhat repulsive. Right, Blake and I should get the stuff so it won't get to that point." Ruby said shying away from him and grabbing Blake's hand and intertwined their fingers. A small sense of security filled them, the warm connection that they always seem to long for.
"Good bye, and remember apply the cream twice a day, once in the morning once before you go to bed, and keep clean dressing on it when you aren't applying the ointment or cleaning yourself." He spoke and waved them off as they began to walk towards Blake's car. They walked in a peaceful quietness. Ruby had a massive smirk on her face, as Blake began to unlock her car.
They took their seat in the front of the car and Blake just put the keys into the ignition when the smirk on Ruby's face began to annoy Blake slightly. "Okay... I have to know... what is with the smirk? In my experience that is never a good thing unless you happen to be me or Tai. Should I be worried for someone?" Blake asked starting the car and began to drive towards the nearest pharmacy.
"Nah... It is just you never thought someone as old as I was a few years back should like your books. Jauney boy is as old as you, probably got laid by less women too." Ruby commented being overjoyed at Blake glowing red at the comment. She was faced with a moral dilemma, she could continue the comments until Blake pulled over and they could participate in a nice quickie... or she can stop there. By dilemma Ruby meant there was none, she always liked tempting Blake with dirty talk.
"Honestly I'm pretty sure Yang has been with more. But could you picture how hot you and Pyrrha would be. Just going at it. I wouldn't be mad mind you... as long as I could join in. Just thinking about it is making me all hot and bothered... how about we pull over and do a bit of dogging... just the thought of people watching me dominating my kitty makes me….eager." Ruby said in a sultry whisper into Blake's ear. At the first red light Blake turned around to glare at Ruby the best she could.
"Ruby! No! Last time we did something like that we got arrested. Plus we should get the stuff and then we can go visit Yang who would be training for her start to climb to the top of boxing this year." Blake said and started to drive forward towards their destination. The thought did cross her mind of taking Ruby the first chance she got but, good things always come to those who wait. Come the night Ruby will be begging for them to just go to sleep but they were going to go until Blake felt tired.
"Fine if you want to be a bad kitty we can do that stuff later. But I'm not going in to deal with the far more annoying pharmacists with their knowledge of what is wrong with people. If I ever snap they are the first to go after I kill all the doctors in the country." Ruby sulked crossing her arms as Blake giggled.
"I swear Ruby, if I didn't know how old you were I'd swear you are eight. You hate dentists, doctors, pharmacists and if I'm not mistaken you also hate any dog or cat larger then you on all four legs." Blake commented pulling into a parking space. Enjoying how annoyed Ruby looked.
"Hey it is just common sense if something is larger than you it is a lot harder to kill at close range. Ask Ren about our time in Guatemala. As for the rest, that is just a phobia I've had since I was just a little girl." Ruby said trying to throw off an as innocent appearance as she could knowing Blake knew how dark she could become.
"Right I won't be long, if you try to run away I will tell Ren to start protocol Rose. That's right I know all about that." Blake said getting out and walking into the building. Ruby watched as Blake walked in and got in a line to be seen. Ruby got out and walked to a car not too far from where Blake parked the car. She tapped on the window. It rolled down to reveal two men in the front.
"Gentlemen, I have no idea who put you on this duty but if I catch anyone tailing us again I'm going to start shooting. Unlike you two, I'm not expendable. I could kill the both of you now and it wouldn't be questioned. Sooo I'll ask this once, do you understand?" Ruby asked and was overjoyed with how far they shrunk. When no response came Ruby spoke up again. "Either answer my question or we are going to play Twister. It is where I twist your neck until I hear it snap. We could also play Snap, It has similar rules." Ruby continued smiling an eerie smile.
"Yes. We won't follow you. Agent Green was worried." the one in the passenger seat said trying to recompose himself and failing under Ruby's gaze.
"Well you can tell Ren if he sends someone besides himself, I will personally send him their heads." Ruby said and began to walk off back to the car. She just got in as she noticed Blake walking out with a small white bag. As she got into the car she tossed Ruby the bag and giggled as Ruby nearly dropped it.
"Okay the blonde fighter next, but so we are clear... when we get home, we are going to do it in every room. I haven't had any in over a year. Plus you falling kinda ruined the mood earlier. Then tomorrow I need to start hunting. It would be a lot easier to deal with because I have Remnant at my disposal." Ruby said stretching.
She looked out the window and enjoyed how little had changed in a year. It may not seem very long, but to two people who are in true love it was an eternity. While Ruby was getting tortured, Blake was getting a different type. She had to live in pure suffering about not knowing if she was alive or dead. Ruby couldn't even begin to how bad Blake had it, at least she had training to deal with that sort of thing, Blake had no such saving grace. Ruby barely noticed them pulling into the gym Yang always trains at.
When they walked in Ruby dodged the blonde flying at her trying to give her a crushing bear hug. "Rubes!?" Yang yelled, trying to get Ruby into a hug repeatedly. "When did you get so good at dodging?" Yang asked as Ruby continued to dodge.
"I was always this good if not better. I just kept up a front for you and Blake and the others. Hell I'm a little slow and drained because... and I can't stress this enough, FUCK hospitals!" Ruby yelled and finally hugged Yang. When Yang began to give her the patented crushing hug, Blake winced at imagining the kind of pain she would be feeling.
"Yang... she has some serious injuries on her back. Can you not crush her? I haven't even had her back for a full day." Blake said and Yang kindly gave Ruby a gentler hug, curious as to what Blake meant by serious injuries.
"Can I see what she means Rubes?" Yang asked and saw Ruby beginning to sag a bit.
"Come on, I already showed Blake, Nora, Ren and a doctor who happened to be Jaune's dad." Ruby summarised what her day consisted of thus far. She just looked at Yang who proceeded to give her, her attempt at pouting. 'This is going to be a very long and annoying visit.' Ruby thought.
Author's Note:
Okay this is shorter then I would normally write for this but I have an excuse. I was drinking and wanted to get this to my editor faster so I can get it to you faster. Which he should be given a round of applause. Mainly because he doesn't mind working on this after I made it far more difficult then what it needed to be. Blame me needing to be social. (*Thanks. –A*)