Chapter 5: Infirmary
Loki and Alex followed Bruce and Steve in the infirmary.
"Okay, who want to go first?" asked Banner looking at the two slaves.
"I'll go," said Loki. Whatever they were going to do to Alex, he would be the first to experience it.
"Let's start with weight and measurement."
Loki stood on the balance and allow Bruce to measure him. Alex went to a corner and kneel there.
"Hey, Alex, how about we play a game," asked Steve. Alex shook his head, then looked as his father who nodded.
"If you want to," answered Alex.
Turn out, it wasn't a game. Steve asked Alex about the names of animals that were not found on Asgard with pictures that were more like drawings that the real thing. After, Steve presented Alex with a kind of puzzle where Alex had to take the shape of the animals and place them in their right place. Alex, on the plus side, seemed to be doing well though.
In the meantime, Banner asked Loki questions. They had moved to a gurney on which Bruce had insisted Loki sat.
"You are a bit underweight. And you are pregnant, so you really shouldn't be. How often do you eat?"
"A slave eats when he is given food."
"Which is?"
"Usually gruel once a day."
"Anything else?"
"No master Banner."
"Do you share your ration with Alex?"
"Of course."
"Okay, I would like to do a blood test. I will insert a small needle in your arm to draw blood. You will feel it, but it won't hurt much."
Banner took the blood with a needle and Loki stayed very still.
"It's over now. The needle is out. Did it hurt much?"
"No master."
"Okay, I will draw the curtain and I want to examine your body now. Is that okay with you?"
"A slave doesn't have desire."
Bruce draw the curtain, cutting sight of Steve and Alex. Loki was still on the gurney.
"Take off your shirt."
Which Loki did. There were bruises on his back, cuts too. He did not appear to be showing his pregnancy yet, but his ribs showed.
"I will put a cream on those. It might fall cold a bit, but it should help you heal."
And Bruce did as he had said.
"I want to test your reflexes. So I will hit you slightly on your knees. Nothing too strong."
And Bruce did. Loki wasn't hurt, but his leg just tried to kick the doctor who was now smiling. Was this a test to see if he was going to attack the doctor? He could not stay silent.
"I'm sorry, I didn't try to kick you. I don't know what happens."
He couldn't say his leg acted without his impulse, that was just stupid and a slave should never say anything stupid.
"No, it's okay Loki. I was testing your reflexes and you did exactly as a normal person should do. I'll do it with your other leg now."
Bruce also checked Loki's eyes, his ears, his mouth, his pulse and his lungs.
"You are not as good as a healthy man, but mostly because you are malnourished. Now, I want to look at the baby and then we'll do the whole lower body. You will lie down and I will apply a gel on your stomach and use an instrument so I will be seeing the baby on this screen."
The gel wasn't so bad. Loki saw the screen, but he didn't know if he had permission to look at it.
"You see that, this is the baby. It's small and seems healthy."
Loki then looked at the screen. It was just black and white, but somewhere was a baby.
"How long was it between the moment you think Alex was conceived and the moment he was born?"
Loki knew exactly when Alex was conceived. Not in love, but with a lot of fighting.
"About ten months, master."
"And how long ago did you fall pregnant with this one?"
"Two or three months ago, master."
"The baby looks a little small. Not by much, but you will have to eat more. Was Alex small for a baby?"
"Yes."
Was Alex a Jotun runt like him? He was small for a frost giant, but Alex was only half a frost giant, his genitor was asgardian. Which might be a good thing because Alex was not blue. Loki cannot even image the hell it would have been if his child was born looking like a Jotun.
"Let's hear the heart beat."
Bruce turned a knob and a heart beat was heard.
"Strong, this is good. Your baby is alright, but a bit small. Now, wipe yourself, put your shirt on and remove the bottom."
Loki sure didn't want to show his lower body, but Banner was one of his masters and Loki had to obey. Not necessary to say the doctor was shocked to see the damage between Loki's legs.
"Loki, I understand you were raped, repeatedly. How many times do you think you were raped?"
"I was not raped, a slave cannot be raped. But to answer your question, they were teaching me how to serve as a bed slave in any possible way. I'm not a good slave, so the lesson was long. They had tried at the end of my first year of training and it resulted in Alex. Toward the end of my training, it was one of the few lessons left, so they tried again."
Bruce had to step back a bit in order to not turn green. After a moment, he started to apply a cream on Loki.
"You will need to come back daily for more cream. I don't know if you have bacterias in Asgard, but I rather not found out if you can have infection. Not to change the subject, but your legs look okay. What happens to your ankle?"
"They chained me. I tried to escape."
"I will need to bandage that."
Then, the exam was over.
"Loki, you need to eat more, come back daily for the cream and weekly for a follow up on the pregnancy. I will also be taking a closer look at your weight, for you and the baby. I will give Steve my recommendation about your diet. Now, can you go get Alex."
Loki approached his master and his son. Alex was still "playing" with a puzzle. Loki bow in front of his master and the kneel.
"Doctor Banner would want me to bring Alex to him."
"Okay, let's go, Alex," said Steve. "We can play with the puzzle latter. Did you have fun with it?"
Alex, frighten, shook his head.
"You didn't have fun with our game?"
"I shouldn't be having fun, master," said Alex with his small voice.
Steve crouched down to be at Alex's level.
"Here, you are allowed to have fun, to play game, to play with toys, okay?"
Alex nodded unconvincingly.
"You are allowed to have fun, Alex."
"But daddy said..."
Alex didn't know what to say. He was scared to give the wrong answer, afraid to put his father in a difficult situation. Loki just had to do something. He might end up in the cage if he spoke out of turn, but he had to help Alex.
"Master, if I may, Alex and I know our place as slaves in this household. We cannot have fun or take pleasure in anything. I tried to raise my son so he will be a good and obedient slave, maybe even better than me. So please, master, don't punish him for giving the wrong answer, I told him to say that. Punish me for that and for speaking without being addressed."
"Oh, Loki... Right now, Thor and his raven are not here, so let's forget you spoke. No punishment this time. But Alex is a kid and here, he has the right to play and have fun. Now, let's go see Bruce."
To say Steve was unhappy was an understandment. Steve had Alex's hand in his and Loki was just following a couple of steps behind. Banner asked him to bring Alex after all.
"Hi Alex, I'm Bruce. I will examine you today, okay?"
Well, Alex didn't answer.
"Loki, I would like it if you could stay close. I might have questions for you."
Loki went to kneel in a corner of the room. Steve went back to the waiting room area.
"Okay, Alex, can you stand on that platform? I will measure you and take your weight."
Alex just obeyed.
"How old are you Alex?"
"Three." To the point, nothing more.
"Loki, do you know if this is the average height of kids on Asgard?"
"He is a little bit below average, but not by much, master. I assure you, he is strong and can work."
"And he eats the same thing as you?"
"Yes. I gave him more."
"The good thing is that he is not as malnourished as you. You took good care of him, Loki. Now, Alex, I will insert a small needle in your arm, not to hurt you, but to take a bit of blood. You don't have to watch, just sit here, okay?"
Alex was afraid. Bruce needed backup.
"Hum, Loki?"
"You won't feel it, it's just a little pinch. And it doesn't last long."
Loki stayed in his corner with his head down. Alex didn't sound so convinced.
"How about your father comes here and you can sit on him during the blood test?"
Alex nodded, hesitantly.
"Loki, come here. Sit there and take him on your lap."
Loki felt weird sitting on a chair with his own son on his lap. That was not something he usually did. Loki rested his head on Alex's left shoulder so he could talk to him.
"It will pinch just a little, but if you don't look, it's even better. And it's only for a second," said Loki holding his kid.
Bruce tried to work as quickly and painlessly as possible.
"Did it hurt at all, Alex?" asked Bruce.
"Just a pinch."
"Okay, now, I would like you to remove your shirt and sit on that table. Your father can help you with that. And Loki, you can sit on the table too, you don't have to kneel."
Loki kept calm and helped Alex. Then sat beside him. At least, Alex didn't have a lot of bruises, just one on his back.
"What happen? How did this happen?"
Alex just shook with fear. He remembered too well.
"I wasn't allowed to ask for his punishment. Though, master, Alex is good, he obeys. He won't cause problems."
"What did they do to him?"
"They just hit him once, with a wooden object, master."
"Alex, I will put a cream on this so it will heal faster," said Bruce and then he put the cream. "Does it feel good?"
Alex nodded.
"Okay, I will pass a small light in front of your eyes. But I need you to look here, can you do that," said Bruce while lifting a finger up. "Okay, now follow my finger with your eyes."
Alex found all this strange and alien. Well, alien from his point of view, and with another word because of his age. Bruce had decided not to do the knee cap trick; Loki reaction was bad enough.
"Now, Alex, can you lay down and remove your pants?"
Loki help his son remove his pants, but then, he couldn't sit beside him.
"Loki, you can stand beside him, it's okay. Alex, I just want to make sure you don't have bruises, okay?"
Alex just nodded. Bruce didn't find anything alarming, so that was a good sign.
"Okay, get dress and then come find me on the other side. I'll need to talk to both of you and Steve. Oh, and drink that. One each."
Bruce handed Loki two protein shakes, then left and Loki redressed his kid.
"Daddy, we already eat this morning. We never have more."
"This is different. This place is different. New rules, new masters. We have to do what they want. So drink, Alex."
oOo
When Bruce arrived, Steve didn't know what to do.
"The kid is fine. No sign of sexual abuse at all. But Loki is worst... This is a mess. I'm so glad I refuse to be their master."
"Yeah, but I'm responsible for both of them now. What should I do Bruce?"
"They will need more food. As long as the raven is here, they can only have one meal per day or Odin would be dissatisfied because Thor is not acting like he doesn't know his own brother. I think you should sneak him snacks. They both are malnourished, they will need food in small doses, but regularly. I want to see both of them daily for a while to take care of their bruises and weekly for a follow up on their weight and the pregnancy. For the baby, he should be fine if Loki eats more."
"And that's just the physical part. I hate Asgard."
Loki arrived with Alex and they both sank to their knees in a corner of the room.
"Loki," said Steve, "do you remember where your room is?"
"Yes master."
"I want you two to go there and wait for me."
"Yes master."
Loki and Alex rose and left the infirmary.
