Rising Worries 3
February 3, 2011 (2:00 PM) \ Cloudy
Brockton Bay, BB General Hospital
Entrance
"Welcome to our humble hospital, Dr. Folinic." the Hospital Administrator, Dr. Aaron Glassman, greeted them. He offered his hand. "It is a pleasure for you to be here."
Folinic shook it, giving him a smile. "It's not everyday I get a chance to compare medical notes on a multiverse level."
With the Satellite Office being decorated by Kayden, Folinic began reaching out to local hospitals as part of the standard RI Outreach program. It was also a chance to help out and promote Rhodes Island within the city. With the help of Theresa Ricther (Dragon's real identity), some of RI's patented medical equipment were already in production. If they can get local parties interested, it would go a long way in making them self-sufficient.
Dr. Glassman laughed as they stepped into the lobby. "I can't say for certain, since we've been in contact with Earth Aleph for a long time now," he replied. "Strictly speaking, I think we'll learn more from you than the other way around."
Folinic frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Dr. Glassman is referring to the massive gap between the medical advancement of Earth Bet and Terra." Ptilopsis interjected, her near monotonous tone surprising the human. "For example, common Earth practice for amputees is to replace the missing limb with a prosthetic or, if one has the monetary capabilities, a robotic limb.
"Terran practice, on the other hand," she continued. "Is to clone and reattach the amputated limb. Such practice, according to Dr. Brown of PRT, was attempted before through TinkerTech but was too expensive and not viable in the long run."
"That's Terran standard practice?" Dr. Glassman exclaimed, a look of amazement on his face. "Fascinating! I've heard from Claire that Terra's medical practices were leagues ahead but I didn't expect that kind of difference."
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg, Aaron." Dr. Claire added, walking up to them. "Hey Ptilo, Dr. Folinic!"
"Claire, I wasn't expecting you today." the BBGH administrator turned to the PRT doctor. "Are you covering for someone?"
The mousy haired doctor shook her head. "PRT assigned me to help with the tour." she revealed, grinning. "It was a last minute thing."
Dr. Glassman nodded, accepting her explanation. "Well then, Dr. Folinic," he turned towards her. "I understand you wish for a tour of BBGH. Do you have a preference of where to start?"
Folinic frowned, mulling things over. "Would it be fine to start with the ER?" she asked. "We'd like to see Earth Bet medical practice in action. Although we've noted it is similar, seeing them is believing, I suppose."
"I don't see why not." Dr. Glassman chuckled. He gestured to a hallway, signs indicating it led to the Emergency, Radiology, and Rehabilitation Departments. The doctors followed after him, with their escorts (Yato and Noir) trailing behind them.
"Dr. Folinic," Dr. Glassman started as they made a left. "If I may ask, what made you choose our hospital over MedHall?"
"Standard RI practice upon reaching a city or settlement is to reach out to public hospitals and clinics." she revealed as they neared their destination. "From there, we then reach out to the private ones after helping the first group."
The door slid open, revealing a long, rectangular room with multiple observation stalls. A long nurse station was at the center, nurses within reach to any patient in need. "In that case, we're honored that you chose our hospital first." Dr. Glassman chuckled. "Welcome to our BBGH Emergency Department."
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February 3, 2011 (4:30 PM) \ Cloudy
Brockton Bay, BB General Hospital
Emergency Department
For over two hours, Folinic and Ptilopsis helped the nurses with diagnosing and healing of ED patients. The two alternated between diagnosing the patient and watching humans do their thing. Thankfully, the PRT had approved the use of Healing Arts on humans after a thorough testing last week. The few children (and some of the adults) who experienced it were completely amazed by Ptilopsis' use of it on them.
"And this is completely common in Terra?" Dr. Audrey Lim, one of the ED's trauma surgeons, asked. The Feline could hear the awe in her voice. "This...Healing Arts?"
Folinic nodded, watching Dr. Alex Park and Ptilopsis discuss how to treat a patient who had first degree burns on his left arm. "Though the prerequisite is one can manipulate originium," she replied. "Though I've heard of unverified rumors saying otherwise."
Dr. Audrey whistled, sounding impressed. "What about that device strapped to your waist?" she continued, taking a glance at it. Having decided on what to do, Ptilopsis used her Arts to alleviate the patient's pain. Afterwards, Dr. Alex took over. "HONEY?"
"This is my liquid dispersion device." she answered, patting HONEY. "Semi-Automatic Liquid Collection Device. Allows me to launch globs of medigel or my Compound Drug Shell."
"What's that?"
"My personal mixture of toxins. I use HONEY to launch them at enemies during combat operations."
"Oh - WAIT, WHAT?" Dr. Audrey suddenly screamed, getting everyone's attention.
"Dr. Lim, keep your voice down!" Dr. Claire shushed the resident doctor. Behind her, she spotted the familiar forms of Panacea and Glory Girl entering the ED. They had gotten acquainted since Panacea had to verify the use of Healing Arts and Medigel on humans. "There are people sleeping here."
Dr. Audrey ignored her. "Why would you need such a thing?"
Unsure why the human was making a big fuss out of it, she shrugged. "Well, I am a Combat Medic." she explained. "I need to support my teammates outside of healing them."
"Are you two talking about her HONEY?" Dr. Claire decided to step in. "Fascinating thing, that one."
The resident doctor shot her PRT counterpart an incredulous look. Meanwhile, the RI medic noticed a frantic couple hovering over what seemed to be their child. Thankfully, Panacea walked up to them to start her round. "Are we just going to ignore the blatant disregard that it can fire toxins?"
"Different world, different practices Audrey," Claire joked, grinning. "From what Dr. Folinic told me, she is not the only 'harmacist' in RI."
Folinic giggled at Dr. Audrey's confused look. "RI tends to collect people with...diverse talents and personalities." she explained, snorting. "We have a medic who can bench people twice her weight, another who uses her blood to buff a single operator during combat operations, my mentor can summon a biomechanical dragon-like creature."
She then pointed at herself, grinning. "And there's me with my Compound Drug Shells."
Dr. Audrey just sighed, face palming. "Don't fret too much, Audrey." Claire comforted her, patting her on the back. "My team at the HQ had the same expression when she told us about it."
"What do you mean you can't heal her?"
The three stopped talking, turning their attention towards the shout. The couple Folinic noticed earlier was now looking frantic, with Panacea looking confused. "You're Panacea, the best healing cape out there!" the father exclaimed, his voice rising in anger. "This should be easy!"
"Sir, please calm down." The cape tried diffusing the situation. "The only thing my powers are telling me is that she's in pain but for some reason, I can't do anything about it."
"Excuse me, what's the situation here?" Claire stepped in, Folinic and Dr. Audrey followed after her.
"Panacea can't heal my daughter!" the man exclaimed, running his hand through his hair. Glory Girl was about to intervene but the RI operator motioned her to stop.
"Let's all calm down, everyone." Folinic cut in, trying to emulate her mentor's calm yet authoritative tone. "Yelling would only delay us in finding a solution."
The trick worked, with the father growling in frustration but had backed off. "Good," Folinic began, looking to Audrey for her permission to take charge. The resident doctor nodded, staying close but out of her way. "Let's start from the top. What happened?"
The mother, who was holding her daughter's hand, spoke up. "We were on our way to visit our lawyer when she started complaining how her wound started itching." She pointed at the bandaged arm. "By the time we got here, she was already in pain."
She then turned to Panacea. "When you touched her, what happened?"
The young cape frowned. "It was...weird," she began, trying to find the right words. "I grabbed her arm and began scanning her but...it was as if there was a blank spot on her arms. I could tell her pain receptors were transmitting something from that part and that something was attacking her immune system, but that's it."
She mousy-haired girl stared at the patient. "This is the first time I've seen something like this."
"May I unwrap the bandaged arm?" Folinic asked. Both parents nodded, giving her space to inspect it. She took a quick glance at the patient, a green-tagged 'M. Clements'. A nurse handed her bandage scissors, allowing her to cut it out, revealing a familiar, black lesion she knew all too well.
Awesome Notes and Notifications:
I have no doubt some of you were wondering when things were going to escalate. Hm...I wonder if these black lesions should do the trick.