Medicine Practiced

"This way!" Bruce pressed against the side of the hallway as a couple of nurses pushed a cot down the hall. When they had passed, he waved for the gaggle of third year medical students to follow him through one of the nearby doorways.

The Kluang hospital was busy and crowded, which made trying to do a teaching ward round in there a bit difficult. Not to mention the language barrier really didn't help. Bruce had volunteered to come to Malaysia as part of the budding partnership between Gotham City University and the International Medical University. The experience was valuable, but having to give regular public lectures and teach had been a bit intimidating. He tried to follow his father's advice that confidence was the first step to being listened to, and drew his shoulders back before turning around to his small group in the tiny visitor's area being slowly taken over by ward beds. .

"Okay gang, before we head in did anyone manage to find anything interesting? Anyone?" Bruce sighed as his group fell silent - no one dared to speak up. "Alright then, so I found a case that I think is compulsory for your log books. I believe you guys are on Infectious Diseases week?" Bruce was met with nods from the medical students.

"As you know, Malaysia is endemic for dengue fever." He continued, "What can we expect to find during presentation?" He attempted meeting each of their eyes, chuckling inwardly as he remembered doing the exact same thing as his students. Namely, not meeting the eyes of the clinical teaching fellow and hoping this somehow caused him to become invisible. It was a simple enough solution.

"Ming Wen!" The gangly, bespectacled student started as Bruce addressed him directly, "Presentation?"

"Um."

"Go on."

Ming Wen took a breath and started, "Dengue fever initially is indistinguishable from an URTI - due to coryzal symptoms. It's important to take the factor of the season into account and whether or not there has been fogging occuring in the area - since Malaysia is endemic."

Bruce nodded, "Good! Now why is it important that we diagnose dengue as quickly as possible? Hmmm… Joanne!"

"Uhhh… To be ready for supportive treatment and to monitor for progression into Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever?"

"Which is a sign of... Let's go with you Imran."

"Moving into the critical phase?"

"Yup! Now the patient I managed to find is in the recovery phase. So you'll be able to see a very classical presentation of the recovery rash. This is an excellent opportunity to practice for your upcoming module practical so do we have any volunteers?"

He sighed once again as his students tried once again not to meet his eyes.

"Well okay then, you guys decide amongst yourselves while we find the patient. Actually, Loo Fun can you go grab the screen? Let's see if we can even attempt to give the man some privacy if he's amendable."

Bruce grimaced a little as he squeezed his way into the ward, there was something apprehensive in the air. Or maybe it was just the fact that there were policemen stationed at most of the exits of the ward. Out of the corner of his eye, Bruce saw Rajith grimace and whisper to Ming Wen, "They are treating one of those Mamak gang members here I heard. They're not taking any chances."

"Maaf saya." One of the nurses pushed through their group and everyone shuffled around to let her through into the ward. As she went through the doorway, she let her gaze linger on Bruce for a moment before continuing on. Great. That had been the other reason Bruce had wanted to get experience in a different country. Back in Gotham everyone knew him as the heir to the Wayne fortune, or in the medical community, as the son of the brilliant surgeon Thomas Wayne. He had wanted the chance to get some experience without those expectations hanging over him but it looked like someone had recognized him from the international news. As the nurse went over to the patient (presumably the Mamak Gang member) who was handcuffed to the bed, Bruce turned back to his students, leading them over to the bed. He idly noted that it looked like the screens would not fit well enough to give the man privacy or the students the necessary space to work.

"Okay so remember this is a good opportunity to see where you need to improve before your module practical. It'll allow you to note whether or not you've understood the different differentials and the necessary distinguishing investigato-"

Crash! "Allah!" Bruce swung around to see that the patient who had been handcuffed to the bed had somehow got loose...and had somehow acquired a BB gun. He was shakily standing up and swinging the gun around to point at anyone who seemed like they might try to approach. People tried to back up as quickly as they could only to bump up against the beds and other people. A man in the bed next to the gunman started crying as he tried to shift away.

Bruce made sure he was between himself and his students as they all tried to push backwards. The man swung the gun around and paused when it was pointed in their direction. Bruce could have sworn he smiled as he locked eyes on him.

Thankfully a couple of police officers showed up at that moment, pushing through the crowd of people trying to get away. "DUDUK SITU" One of them yelled as he drew his baton, passing over his gun. "Turun lantai!"

Even though he was clearly struggling to stand, the patient smiled. He had stopped when he had seen Bruce, but now he turned to face the police. He screamed something that Bruce didn't understand. The bb gun was no longer pointing directly at Bruce but was still vaguely aimed in the direction of his group. Bruce didn't think it would shoot actual bullets but whatever came out of it would still hurt.

Some people had managed to escape down the hallway giving the police more space. They both had batons out and had split up to try and get on either side of the prisoner. Unfortunately, he still had one side of his body pressed against the bed to support himself. As the policemen tried to get closer he finally moved the gun away from Bruce to point it at the one who had gotten closer.

The second one suddenly burst forward the last couple of feet and brought his baton down on the elbow of the gunman's arm that was holding the gun. The elbow bent down and the gun swung upward. Bang! The other policeman jumped forward as well, tackling him to the ground. A tile fell from the ceiling. The officer who was still standing grabbed the BB gun and used his other hand to stick his baton back into his belt and pull out some handcuffs.

Bruce turned back to his group. "Are all of you alright?" There was a series of mutters and some heads nodding. Everyone seemed fine.

The guards were reattaching the cuffs to the gunman. A police officer came over to Bruce's group. He pulled out a notebook, rattling off something in Malay.

"I'm sorry um… saya tidak tahu Bahasa Melayu. Boleh Bahasa Inggeris?" The officer looked at him and called over his Indian partner. "You saw everything that happened? Can I get your names and contact information?"

Each of Bruce's students gave their information and the police officer sent them on their way. Finally, the officer turned to Bruce. "Bruce Wayne." He sighed and gave his address near campus.

The officer looked up from his notebook. "You're awfully calm for someone who just had a gun pointed at them."

"It wasn't the first time."

He winced. "Not here, I hope."

"No. Back home."

"Let me guess. America?"

"Yes." Between his accent and America's reputation regarding guns it wasn't hard to figure out. "Twice."

"Twice?!" The officer was shocked. "Wow. Well, hopefully this was the last."

"Yeah. Hopefully." If his rotten luck with guns could follow him even to another country Bruce wasn't going to hold out hope.

The police officer moved on to talk to some of the employees. It occurred to him he would have to tell his parents about this. He wouldn't be surprised if Jameson arrived in the country within the week.


AN: Thanks once again for reading! If you'd like to contact us via tumblr, just to ask us more about this universe, my handle is eastoniablogs!