"You notice anything weird about Normal this morning

"You notice anything weird about Normal this morning?" Sketchy asked at Jam Pony while trying to put off his first run of the morning.

"He's yelling, bitter, and annoying," Cindy replied. "Original Cindy sees nothing unusual in that behavior."

"Max is forty-five minutes late," Sketchy whispered. Cindy knew that already. She knew Logan was worried about her last night, but sister-girl could take care of herself. "And Normal hasn't said anything about it," he continued. It was an unusually astute observation for Sketchy.

"There she is," Cindy said, watching Max come through the front bay. She looked like death warmed over though.

"Hey boo," Cindy said, going to her. Damn, Max would like death warmed over if she didn't look so deliriously happy. "Where were you last night and what's wrong right now?"

"At Logan's," Max muttered. She grimaced and grabbed her stomach. "I threw up twice coming here," she said, and then ran to the bathroom. A lovely retching sound filtered out of the bathroom.

Oh great, Cindy thought when Normal came over. "Back off," she ordered him. "The girl is obviously sick and don't need nothing from you."

Max came out of the bathroom. She really felt like hell. She'd been doing great when she left Logan's, but then she'd started to feel lousy. The little she'd eaten the day before decided to show back up along with the coffee she'd grabbed on the way to work. What was wrong with her? She was never sick like this. Normal was there. She wanted to ask him, but it wasn't the most appropriate forum in the middle of Jam Pony.

"There's a cot in the storage room," Normal stated. "I think you should lay down until you feel better." Everyone's jaw dropped. This was the first time anyone could remember Normal trying to be compassionate towards a sick rider. He didn't say slacker? He didn't give her a package and tell her to work it off? Someone call God, Cindy thought. Hell just froze over.

"Thanks," Max said, and went into the storage room. It was crowded with boxes of old paperwork and some janitorial supplies, but there was a cot in there. She lay down, trying to relax. Some days it didn't pay to be genetically revved. She started to relax a little and dozed for a while.

The opening door woke her. She glanced up and saw Normal. He was carrying a backpack. Maybe she was having a weird dream. No, the place still smelled funny. It was real.

"Max, did you take your Depecote this morning?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yeah," she replied. He wasn't going to blame this on her missing her meds.

"What did you take it with?"

"Coffee."

He gave her a patented Normal sigh. "You did read the instructions didn't you?" he asked with a rather superior look. "I would have explained them to you so there wouldn't be a mistake, but you ran out too quickly yesterday."

She rolled her eyes. "I took the right amount," she retorted. "You give me too much or something?"

"So you didn't read the big letters that said 'take with food or milk'?" He already knew the answer to that. He opened the backpack and took out a thermometer and blood pressure cuff. He wanted to make sure she wasn't running a fever or any other possible complications. There was a slight chance she was really sick, but Normal didn't think she'd been designed to get sick easily. He also wanted to make sure she wasn't having an allergic reaction to the meds.

Oops. Well, not really. "I didn't take them with anything last night and I was fine," she informed him.

"And your metabolism isn't exactly regular either," he replied calmly. "You've got to do what I say or else." He held up the thermometer, and Max opened her mouth. Which was the exact position she was in when Cindy burst through the door.

"All right," Cindy snapped. "You do not come in here when my girl is down and start telling her she better be doing what you…" the scene hit her, and she wasn't sure if she was going to pass out or not. Normal was standing in front of Max who was sitting up with her mouth open looking like she wasn't happy about whatever was going to happen next.

Cindy closed the door and very calmly went to Max, kneeling in front of her. "Boo," she said gently. "Original Cindy knows you not happy about your boy not being able to get it out of neutral, but you can do better than Normal. Sketchy can do better than Normal."

"It's not what you…" Max tried to explain, but Cindy cut her off.

"Max," she said. "You are being told this for your own good. Original Cindy will be forced on general principles to bitch slap you if she catches you with Normal. There's no joking with that."

Max looked up at Normal. There was no reasoning with Cindy when she stopped yelling. A quiet Cindy was a Cindy barely keeping herself from killing. "She already knows about me," she told him. Cindy looked astonished. Max told Normal? "And," Max continued, "Letting her think that way is just nasty."

"What the hell is going on here?" Cindy managed to ask.

Before Normal could say anything, Max informed her, "This is my neurologist, Dr. Ronald."

"Wait a minute!" Cindy nearly exploded. "You telling me that the big shot doc your boy set you up with is NORMAL?" She stood. "That bastard asks for Original Cindy's help, and doesn't say a word that it's Normal he sending her boo to?"

"Shut up!" Normal hissed. "This does not need to be spread all over by your fellow Neanderthals." He glared at Max. "I was promised confidentiality," he snapped.

"I was promised you wouldn't know about my dysfunctional childhood either," she retorted. Max turned her attention to Cindy. "Listen, he really is a doctor. Eye's Only did a favor for him, and I did a favor for Eye's Only, and he passed it along. You know how that works."

Cindy did not look convinced. This was Normal for crying out loud! "Max, if you letting him mess with your head, you really do need it examined."

"Mmmhmm," Normal commented in his best arrogant tone. "And are you going to cure the seizures? Beer, late nights and wild parties aren't the usual homeopathic cure for such a problem, but I'm sure you've cured, how many people? Zero? Zip? Zilch?" He wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Max's arm. "When you treat thousands of patients, then we'll talk. In the meantime, you do have a job to be doing." Cindy just stood there. "Bip-bip-bip!" he snapped. "There're three hot runs on the counter. Let's go people!"

"Later, OK?" Max asked. Cindy nodded and left. "You could have been nicer," she told Normal.

He held up the thermometer. "This isn't rectal. I am being nice."