"Alright, you're all set." Jack smiled as he finished tying a bandage around one of the spider legs on Webber's head. "Just take it easy and it'll heal up perfectly. Okay?"
The boy smiled giving a nod.
"We will! Thanks, Dr. Carter! Can I go play now please?"
Jack chuckled, smoothing down some of the fur on his head. "Go right ahead. Be careful now."
"Yay!"
Webber ran off, heading towards Wendy and Abigail who were tending to a flower patch. Jack chuckled a bit before focusing on his medical kit, looking over things.
Okay… I've got plenty of healing salve and bandages to last me awhile, I just need to get a proper kit made. This backpack is fine but nothing beats a proper case.
He closed up his bag, stretching a bit.
Maybe I'll go for a walk-
CRASH!
Jack froze at the sound of something crashing, looking towards the source. It was coming from Wilson's work area. He hurried over, his bag in his arm ready just in case.
"Everything okay over here?"
Wilson was standing in the center of his work area, a large wrench in hand. He looked enraged as he stared at a broken piece of equipment on the ground.
"Oh just DANDY!" He screamed, bringing it down as a hammer to smash the device again. "JUST! DANDY!"
Jack had concern in his eyes as he watched Wilson destroy whatever it was. He stopped as soon as he was out of breath, the equipment now in billions of pieces.
Jack set his bag down, walking over to Wilson. He took the wrench out of Wilson's hands before placing his a hand on his shoulder
"Feel better or do you still need to get some anger out?"
"Oh just fine." Wilson hissed. "Everything is absolutely positively FINE!" He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated growl. "I'm a bloody idiot but that's fine! I'm TOTALLY incompetent but it's fine!"
"Wilson."
"WHAT!?"
Wilson looked up at him, his blue eyes having flames burning in them.
"I won't say what I'm thinking since I found it never works but I will say this. Breathe. Please. Deeply, preferably. I just don't want to see one of our working devices broken. Particularly the alchemy engine. I need that for my medical supplies."
Wilson took a deep breath, giving Jack a cold look as he exhaled.
"One more time please."
"Oh come on."
Jack gave him a look that mimicked Wilson's own infuriated look.
"I said: One more time."
Wilson gulped before doing as told.
"There. Better?"
"Not really."
"I guess what I should be asking is do you still feel the need to break things?"
Wilson looked at his hands before shaking his head.
"No, not in particular."
"Then we have progress."
"... I've made a mistake, haven't I?"
"Possibly." Jack looked to the broken device. "What was that supposed to be anyway?"
"I honestly don't remember." Wilson pulled away from him, leaning against the science machine, bringing a hand to his face. "But that doesn't matter because it didn't work and it probably would have never worked."
"Well hey now, just because something failed once doesn't mean you should give up. It's from failing we learn how we can improve and what doesn't work."
"Easy for you to say, you actually got somewhere with the path you chose. I didn't." Wilson gripped at his head. "You actually got the job you wanted and were successful. Not… a failure who could never get anyone to take him seriously. Not… some quack and failure of a son."
Jack frowned.
"Now what's got you saying all that all of sudden? You do realize a majority of the tools here were made by you, right? I wouldn't call that being a failure, Wilson. That's pretty good if you ask me."
Wilson gave him a flat look.
"That was after I made a deal out of desperation. I wanted to be an amazing inventor. Someone great enough to… to put my name in the books. To make people look at my family and go: "Those are the Higgsburys! The ones who raised that amazing scientist." but it never happened. I was living in a shack, possibly filled to the brim with diseases by the way and played with chemicals all day long."
Jack sighed.
"Wilson, be honest with me now and this is going to be harsh. Were you in it for the sake of loving what you do or was it because you wanted fame?"
Wilson rubbed his arm, looking down.
"It was a bit of both. I loved science ever since I was a young child… but inventing was what I wanted to do. Not what I was actually… showing any talent for."
"I see." Jack brought a hand to his chin, humming in thought. "Failure of a son… You were under a lot of pressure, weren't you? Not the greatest parents I'm assuming?"
Wilson growled audibly.
"My mother I'll have you know was the most wonderful person I had ever met!"
Jack held up a hand.
"Don't bite my head off. Father?"
Wilson frowned, looking around to be sure no one was listening.
"... You have to promise to keep your mouth shut about what I'll tell you, okay?"
"My lips are sealed and the secret shall be kept in the medical filing system that is my head."
Wilson chuckled a little before sighing.
"My father had a mental breakdown when I was a young child." He started, a haunted look coming to his eyes. "There was such a change. Like night and day. He was cold, harsh… He was always yelling at my mother and I..." Wilson's voice cracked as he squeezed his arm tighter. "Told me… Told me to just be quiet and stop annoying him.."
"I see…" Jack frowned.
Sounds like he's got some mental trauma hidden in that head of his.
"Was he committed?"
"Yes."
"And your mother did what she could to raise you?"
"With all her heart along with my grandparents and uncle."
"Hm… Then where was all the pressure coming from? From what you're saying and how you're saying it, it sounded like those who cared for you would love you no matter what. Why would you be so concerned with being famous?"
"To prove… them wrong."
"Your caretakers?"
"My mother's family." Wilson growled a bit. "To prove to them I wasn't a runt. That I wasn't a mistake. That I wasn't an idiot. That I was so much more than what they thought I was."
Ah, there it is.
"I see."
"They're the worst… Just… the worst."
"So, why do you need to prove them wrong here, hm?"
Wilson froze up a bit, giving him an infuriated look, opening his mouth for a comeback but finding he couldn't come up with anything.
"... When we get back I will."
"Then what?"
"Huh?"
"What happens after that?" Jack crossed his arms. "Do you just stop?"
Wilson looked down, giving a shrug.
"I… I don't know. Maybe?"
"Wilson, do you even like engineering? Like, actually like it, not just following what your dark knowledge feeds you?"
"... Not particularly."
"Then what do you like?'
"... Chemistry. Even if it blew up in my face half the time."
"Ah, but what kind of chemistry? Chemistry can go all sorts of routes. I should know." Jack grinned. "I had to learn some myself in regards to medicine."
Wilson smiled a little. "I'm interested mainly in chemistry that applies to that actually. Researching vaccines, seeing what reacts to what bacteria… A-And I really love biology too."
"So, why weren't you focusing on that?"
Wilson gave a sheepish look.
"That, I admit, was some of my own hubris. I didn't think it would be helpful or would get me anywhere."
"You kidding?"
Wilson got an astonished look.
"Wilson, ever hear of the Journal of Medicine? That's something all doctors dream of getting their names in even if it's just the tiniest little thing. Some of them were just pure chance like how the first real anesthesia was discovered by Thomas Green Morton out of wanting to help patients not feel pain during surgeries. He wasn't sure if it was going to work but hey, it worked out for the boy he was helping a surgeon operate on. On top of that, you know who he consulted on the matter? A chemist. So, another thing to note, it's a group effort too. While it's any doctor's dream, including myself to get our name in the journals, our goal is to work together and build off each other's knowledge so we can help people. That's how it works."
Wilson got a hopeful look on his face as he took that information in.
"That's amazing… just, amazing." He chuckled a bit. "Heh… guess I was judging myself a little too soon then."
"Wilson, have you ever considered taking on medicine over inventing?"
Wilson got a surprised look before pointing to himself.
"M-Me? A… A practicing physician?"
"Why not?"
"... Jack, you're talking to someone who is constantly almost dying and has probably experienced every disease possible here."
"So? That doesn't affect anything. You just need to be more careful."
"But… Okay, but why?"
Jack grinned, taking off his backpack, taking out all his supplies.
"You made all of these right? In particular, the healing salve, the honey poultice and the injectors?"
"Yes but what does that have to do with anything?"
"I know you didn't invent them but you can craft these off the top of your head, correct?"
"Yes?"
Jack grinned.
"Well, then you have one skill needed in order to be a good physician. A sharp memory."
"Yeah but that doesn't mean much."
"One more thing I'm going to throw in. The meat effigy we have sitting in our camp. While that one has never been used the method does work, yes?"
"Yeah." Wilson rubbed the back of his neck. "Had a heart attack with Wolfgang dying for a moment then coming out of the thing but it does work."
"And if I recall correctly, you invented it, yes?"
Wilson nodded.
"Yes. A life insurance policy just in case something ever happened to one of us. Namely me." He gave a sheepish grin. "Namely after Willow threatened to burn my remains should I die permanently."
"Ah good move on her part. Anything else?"
Wilson hummed in thought.
"Well… there was something but… it sounded so far fetched."
"Tell me."
Wilson grinned, going to his work bench, rummaging through a chest under it, before pulling out a rather large jar.
Jack's eyes widened at the contents. It appeared to mimic a human heart.
"Is that..?"
"Not the real thing. Artificial and charged with magic like the effigy. I was thinking of calling it the Tell Tale Heart after the poem." Wilson stood up fully. "A method of reviving the dead without sacrificing the original body or if there is no time for an effigy or to be used to replace a heart should heaven forbid someone in our camp suffers heart failure or cardiac arrest."
"Interesting." Jack looked at it carefully. "This world sure is strange but I never did once look into revival methods. They were rare for me to ever see. Hm… I guess there is some cost though."
Wilson winced.
"With both the effigy and the heart here, some blood is required. I often feel exhausted after doing it, even if it isn't much."
"Well, inflicting pain on one's self can do that and there's magic involved so it gets into your system." Jack stood up straight. "But all that aside… Wilson, if you are interested, I could teach you all you need to know in order to be a physician and certify you. Not that you really need a license here but still."
Wilson's eyes widened.
"R-Really?"
Jack smiled.
"You already know some things and on top of that I have taught you some of my tricks and to be quite honest you catch on quicker than any intern I've seen in the hospitals I worked at."
Wilson's eyes lit up.
"You think so? You would do that for me?"
"Wilson, I'd love to have another set of hands helping me with things around here. You'd be incredible at it."
"You sure? I mean, you're the main medic."
"Like I said, another set of hands would be a huge help." Jack grinned. "But you have to want it. I can't teach a reluctant student."
Wilson grinned.
"I'd love to! I… I could actually have some kind of purpose once we leave here. I want that."
"And you have to want to help people."
"Of course! Plus… Willow seems to still only really trust me. I'd love to know more if she ever hurts herself worse than what she's have so far."
"Which would be good since I'm still building my trust with her." Jack sighed. "Doctor and patient trust sometimes takes a lot of time with some and I don't blame her considering her background."
"Then I can most certainly help." Wilson grinned.
Jack smiled back.
"Very well." Jack extended his hand. "Then, by shaking my hand you'll take the same oath I did. To do no harm and help others however you can."
Wilson didn't hesitate as he grasped Jack's hand.
"I swear to do no harm and to help others no matter what."
Jack gave it a good shake.
"Then from here on, you're now on your way to becoming Dr. Wilson Percival Higgsbury. It's going to take a lot to earn that title but I expect great things from you, Wilson."
Because I know you can do them.