Chapter 5:

The two survivors ran into the security deposit room and towards the back to finally get the weapon they wanted. Using the new keycard they had found, Leon happily opened the weapons locker. With a beep, the doors slid open rewarding them with the shotgun and a box of ammo to start with. Leon pulled out the gun checking it for ammo, while Veronica grabbed the box reading the name on it, 'Steel Boys'.

"Hm, I got some steely boys for you, Leon," she giggled. It was dumb, but it felt nice to laugh every once in a while. He grinned while shaking his head before taking the box. He put two more bullets into the gun then cocked it, now ready for use.

"Thanks. Here, this is going to be your gun," he told her, holding it out to try and give it to her. Instead, he was met with resistance.

"Whoa! No! Leon! Th-that's a big gun!" she panicked, trying to back away and shoved it back in his hands. He blinked, shocked at her response.

"I know, that's why I'm letting you use it. It has more firepower which will be good for protecting you. If you shoot at the head at a closer range, the zombie is done for. If I let you use a smaller gun, it'll be harder for you to aim as a beginner," he explained, trying to hand it back.

When she didn't grab it right away, he gently took one of her hands and wrapped it around the barrel. Veronica felt her arms shake nervously as he did the same with her other hand, keeping them in their place with his own. It felt really heavy in her hands and she didn't think she liked it.

"Leon, I don't-."

"I know you're scared, but you have to trust me on this. You'll be safer with this gun," he stopped her, his eyes gazing into hers gently. "I need you to be safe, so please." She swallowed the lump in her throat before slowly taking the gun, his hands retreating back to himself.

"We can go to the safe room and I'll teach you how to use it. So just, hang it like this around yourself," he said, hanging the shoulder strap connected to each side of the gun over her left shoulder. She could feel the gun lying across her back, the nozzle was near her right hip while the back end was near her left shoulder. "Let's get to that room where we know it's safe." On the way out, they grabbed more shotgun ammo that they had left in a locker since they now had the weapon for it.

They quickly made it to the safe room, but Veronica was still unsure about the new weapon. It felt weird having it on her back like this. Once inside, Leon placed his own gun into its holster and turned to his partner who looked nervous as hell. He felt kind of guilty giving her such a big gun, but he knew she would be better off with it. She would've needed to use a gun eventually and this was just the only option they had between Matilda and the shotgun. The close encounter in the library only proved it to him.

"Ok. Let me show you how to use this thing. First, you're gonna wanna grab it by the nozzle on your right to slide the gun into your hands from your back," he explained, watching her do the actions as he said them.

"Once it's in both of your hands, lift up so that the strap isn't around you anymore. You won't be able to aim or shoot properly until it's off. Make sure to always shoot with two hands. I shouldn't have to explain this, but this gun is big and the power behind it is unpredictable with just one hand, so always shoot with two. Real quick, practice just taking it on and off, so that when the time comes, you'll know what to do."

She did so about three times. The first try was too slow, the second was clumsily fast, and the third actually worked out well. He reached out and moved her hands to more appropriate spots on the gun as she held it. The small touches of his hand were gentle and the girl couldn't help but suddenly feel a little nervous as he drew closer. Her heart began beating a little fast and it wasn't just because she was holding a gun.

"Can I just hold it?" she inquired so that she didn't have to hang it on her body.

"Yes, but make sure your finger is away from the trigger at all times until you know your about to shoot. We don't want to cause any accidents." She nodded in understanding, placing her pointer finger away from the trigger. "Now, you aim it by putting the stock against your shoulder, like this," he explained, stepping behind her and moving her arms with the gun into the proper position.

His breath lightly brushed against her ear and suddenly, she was very aware of his body heat against hers. She swallowed trying to focus on her arms but was finding it very hard to do so. His hands move to press the stock against a better spot on her shoulder and on her elbow to fix the angle. Why she was suddenly so focused on this, she didn't know. This is so not the time for this! His voice behind her suddenly awoke her from her thoughts.

"Veronica? You ok?" he asked, her head turning to look at him. She didn't realize she got caught up in her thoughts. Heat was already filling her cheeks in slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine!" she cleared her throat, looking back at the gun in her arms.

"You still nervous?" She glanced at him again and inhaled deeply.

"A little," she confessed, but whether it was about the gun or about the young officer, he didn't have to know.

"It's ok. It's always scary the first time. You wanna know a secret?" She nodded. "As long as you don't tell a soul." Once again, she nodded. "When I first shot a gun, I cried." The girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"You did?" She carefully relaxed her arms as he smiled reassuringly.

"I did. I went shooting with my dad for the first time when I was 15. I had already made up my mind that I wanted to be a police officer, so to prepare me for it, my dad took me to a shooting range. They gave me a handgun and taught me how to do it. I really thought it was going to be fine since the movies made it look super easy, but I took one shot at the target and the recoil caught me off guard. It was more powerful than I thought and that power scared me. So I started to cry."

"How did you get over it?"

"My dad helped me and pushed me to keep trying. After a few more practice shots, I felt a little better, but knowing my dad had my back and wanted me to achieve my dream of being a police officer, I pushed through," he spoke fondly before pausing for a moment. Then he placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently for reassurance.

"It'll be scary for the first few times. The recoil on a shotgun is way more powerful than a handgun, but I know you can do it. If you can make it through a zombie-infested city all by yourself, you can shoot this gun. Plus, I'll have your back! As my partner, I want you to be safe," he assured, as he held up a fist to her. Veronica couldn't help the grin on her face as she met his fist with her own. His encouraging nature gave her a small boost in confidence, and it made her want to try.

"Thank you, Leon. I feel a little better, but I'm still a little nervous." Leon thought for a moment then an idea came to mind.

"Come with me!" He led them back outside and stood in front of the boarded window at the base of the stairs. The zombie that had tried to get in was still there clawing at the wood, but could still be seen through the slits of the boards.

"I want you to shoot it," he stated.

"What?!" Her face showed the nervousness she was feeling as soon as he said that.

"This can be a practice shot for you. It'll be easy 'cause he's in one spot. Easy to aim at and we're not in any real danger." Veronica's hands tightened around the weapon as she bit her lip, contemplating. "I'll be right here by your side. Ok?" She glanced between him and the zombie before nodding.

"Ok." She stood in front of the window and tried getting into position. "Like this?"

"Yes. Lower your right elbow a little...there! The gun is already cocked, so you don't have to do it till you have to shoot again. So just aim," she raised the barrel at the head growling at her, "breath in," she inhaled. "Now shoot!" Her finger pressed down on the trigger, the recoil catching her by surprise as it shocked through her shoulder. A shot rang out in the air and the zombie's head was nothing more than brain matter.

She pulled back, body slightly trembling at the feeling. Her finger pulled away from the trigger out of reflex as she lowered the gun. Leon peered out of the window to assess the damage then looked back at her with a big smile. He took a step closer and reached a hand up to brush a lone tear away from her cheek that she didn't even realize was there.

"You did it! I knew you could. I'm proud of you!" He rubbed a hand gently on her shoulder blade. "The shakes will wear off after a few minutes, but now you know how to shoot and what it feels like. Are you ok?" Veronica swallowed the lump in her throat before letting out a shallow breath.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. The recoil scared me when it hit, but I did it!" she said with a small smile on her face. "Thank you, partner." She held up a fist and he reciprocated the fist bump happily. He quickly showed her how to reload as they walked back into the safe room to gather themselves.

With the gunpowder they had found, they put together more shotgun bullets and organized their pouches. Space was getting a little low, so they decided to search the second floor before going up to the third for the medallion. This meant that they would leave the detonator in the safe room for the time being.

Since there was no room for the pole Veronica used as a weapon, she set it on the desk in case of emergencies. She still had the hammer with her as well as knives in case she ran out of ammo. They also left the bolt cutters there since they haven't seen any new chained doors, but if they did find one, they knew where it was. With a new weapon in their midst, they began their journey up to the second floor. She decided to keep it hung on her back until they reached the new area.

Walking into the familiar locker room, Veronica went to turn off the steam with the valve, while Leon opened the locker with the new code they had found. Inside was more ammo for the new gun and there was still the other box that was left in the other locker. To say she was stocked up was an understatement.

"Man, maybe I should've taken the shotgun instead," Leon joked, watching his partner turn the valve. The steam stopped blowing, opening the path forward.

"Too late!" she teased as they looked in. It was the shower room, with stalls lining one side of the room while sinks lined the other. One of the stalls had been left on, water flooding both the bathroom and down the drain. On the other side of the room, the wall had a giant hole similar to the one on the third floor, like something had busted through it. Whatever it was, it was something they had to make sure to avoid.

Walking through it, they found themselves in what was probably the female's shower and locker room. As they entered the locker portion, they saw a man sitting on one of the benches hunched over. Carefully, they walked past it, but only for it to fall forward, crumpling onto the ground. It spooked them causing them to jump back in preparation for it getting up. They waited a moment, but it never did. In one of the lockers, they were lucky to find a canister of gunpowder, but nothing else.

Now, this was going to be new territory, so the two of them took out their weapons and slowly walked in. It was a dark hallway, lit only by the light above the door they stood under and a light lying on the ground somewhere down the hall. There was a broken window blowing in the cold night air and the downpour of rain, drenching the floorboards. Shining a flashlight, they noticed on a couch nearby was some more shotgun ammo, but considering how loaded Veronica currently was, they left it there for later.

There were a couple of dead bodies lying around and blood was splattered everywhere, but no walking zombies that they could currently see. Treading forward a couple of steps into the hallway, they could hear a clicking sound coming from the way they were heading, putting them on edge. Suddenly, they were stopped dead in their tracks as something screeched loudly before something long and slimy shot down from the ceiling to the floor maybe 20 feet away.

Shining a flashlight up, they watched in horror as a terrifying creature that had stabbed a body with its incredibly long tongue then snapped it up to it. It was clung to the ceiling with giant sharp claws, it's muscles exposed as if it was a human body with no skin. Whatever it was sank its razor-sharp teeth into the body and began digging through hungrily, blood splattering all over the place. Once it was done with it, it dropped the body back onto the floor with a sickening thud and licked its chops as if it had a delicious meal.

"What in God's name…?" Leon whispered in horror at the sight. He jumped a little when a small hand quickly shot up to cover his mouth, effectively shushing him. As if it heard him, the creature began to crawl along the ceiling towards them, tilting its head and trying to listen for noises. Their lights didn't seem to attract it, so perhaps it was blind. From what they could see from far away, there were no eyes, just an exposed brain, and teeth.

Veronica dropped her hand from Leon's mouth and used it to grab onto the back of his bulletproof vest, pulling him backward alongside her without talking. Keeping their eyes on the monster, they slowly backed away to the door that they came from, Veronica opening it as quietly as possible. They quietly slipped back inside the locker room just in time for whatever it was to drop onto the floor.

They could still hear whatever it was clicking and screeching on the other side of the door. It's large claws scraping along the wood floor as it crawled around. They waited, frozen in their spots till the sounds dimmed.

"What the fuck was that thing?!" Veronica hissed, terrified to talk any louder.

"I don't know! But whatever it was, it looked like it didn't have any skin! It was all just muscle and I think it only had a brain for a head!"

"Why does it not have any...Wait, didn't we read something about that?" Leon remembered what she was talking about and dug into one of his pockets, producing the folded up note.

"'Keep your eyes peeled for those creepy fucks that look like they were skinned alive- 'lickers'. They're blind as bats, but their hearing more than makes up for that. Make like my grandma and creep around as slow as possible around 'em," he read, skimming over the unimportant parts.

"That's a licker?!"

"It would make sense if that was the tongue. It must be sharp like those claws it has."

"So, as long as we walk slowly, we should be fine, right?"

"I hope so. Maybe the brain could be a weak point, but I say we use it's blindness to our advantage."

"That thing was made to kill! Those claws. We're dead if it catches us," she paused as she thought up some sort of plan. "I noticed there was a door just past it. We should take this slowly and just get to that room first. I think once there's a door in the way and then we blockade it, we should be fine. Then we'll do the same when we leave to pass through."

"We need to be as quiet as possible. This isn't some regular zombie. Stay close, keep your eyes on it, and your gun out," Leon commanded before reaching for the doorknob. Swallowing nervously, Veronica quickly cocked her gun and watched him crack the door open. He peeked through the small opening and pulled back, pointing to the area right next to the door. Of course, it's right there!

He slowly opened the door, glad to have the rain making enough noise to cover any sound it made. He walked out, taking it one step at a time, then allowed Veronica to pass him so that he could shut the door. They didn't need this thing to leave this hallway to get to their safer territory. They watched with bated breath as he closed it as silently as possible. The only sound he made was of a small click as the knob was put back into base position. To their luck, the thing didn't seem to hear it as it was seemingly preoccupied with a soda can that was sitting on a table next to a vending machine.

With each passing step, Veronica could hear the blood rushing in her ears and it was getting harder to breathe since all she could take were shallow breaths. Sweat began to drip down her temple as they walked by it, making it ever so closer to their destination. Time felt like it was passing by slowly, feeling like an hour had passed with how slow they were going. She could see the door with a plaque next to it reading 'S.T.A.R.S. office, but she couldn't get too excited. They had reached the broken window when a floorboard beneath Leon's boot creaked loudly.

The licker's head shot up and looked over in their direction with a loud hiss then began stalking towards them. Adrenaline coursed through their veins as they tried to speed up their steps, but it only seemed to pick up on them even more. They were so close, just a few more feet. The beast suddenly jumped up to the ceiling and sat there listening. Leon took one more step back and the board beneath him creaked even more loudly, revealing his location.

The licker screeched at finding its target then pounced down at him. Instead of a licker's embrace, however, Leon was suddenly shoved back in time as Veronica tackled him out of the way. His back hit the floor as a pained scream reached his ears, but it wasn't his own. He watched as the licker's claws barely missed him as it flew over past, sliding down the hallway, but the scream was what caught his attention. Peering down at his feet, Veronica was lying face down on the floor, her face contorted with pain and the back of his windbreaker was torn.

Oh shit! I need to get her out of here! Leon turned his body to see the licker beginning to stalk them, so without a second thought, he grabbed the fallen shotgun and aimed. He shot two rounds at it before it got close enough for the third shot to finish the job. The beast fell with a final hiss against the floor near him. This meant the thing wasn't invincible, but it was still tougher than any zombie. The hallway was once again quiet, save for Veronica's pained gasps.

The young officer quickly got onto his feet and hung the gun over his shoulder before kneeling at his partner's side. Looking at her back, he could already see that the cut made it through his jacket. He reached under her, as gently as he possibly could, to turn her, then hooked his arms under her back and thighs to carry her. She whimpered, her eyes shut tightly while raising an arm to wrap around his neck as he stood up.

"I got you, Vee. Just hold on!" he assured her before running to the S.T.A.R.S. office. It was hard to open the door with her in his arms, but Veronica chose to hold on tightly to allow him to use his hand. The pressure of using her body to keep her up shot white-hot pain through her, but she fought through it so that they could make it to a safer place. He ran in, kicking the door shut behind him before looking around the room. He was relieved to find it empty and well lit then glanced into the S.T.A.R.S. leader's office. There sat a wide desk, just right enough to put her on. In a flash, he set her on the desk and swiped everything that was on it onto the ground.

He carefully laid her down, keeping her turned onto her side then began digging through his pouch for all of the medical supplies he had. After placing them on the table, he took off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves.

"I have to look at your back. I'm gonna need to take off the jacket and lift up your shirt ok?" he told her, getting a small nod in return. She helped bend her arm so that he could pull the jacket away just on that side as well her elbow pads, her breathing was heavy as she dealt with the pain. Leon turned her body gently so that she was slightly lying on her stomach then lifted the bottom of her shirts to get a better look at the wound.

Etched across the middle of her back was a set of three long scratches, blood pooling at the edges and dripping down her irritated skin. He needed something to clean it up. He told her not to move before jogging out into the office. Looking around, he noticed a first aid bag hanging on the wall near a desk. He quickly picked it up and dug through, finding proper medical supplies then ran back to his injured friend who looked like she was about to pass out.

"Stay with me, Vee! Stay with me!" he urged, pulling out a clean cloth from the bag. He pressed it against the scratches causing Veronica to gasp in pain. Her hand was clutched around the edge of the table, knuckles turning white at how tightly she was holding on to it. Mopping the blood out of the way, he inspected the slashes and to his relief, they weren't too deep. She must've just grazed by with a fraction of a second. If she stood there any longer than she did, it would've probably meant death, or at least really deep cuts.

He pressed the towel harder against the wounds to try and stop the bleeding, causing her to cry out more with tears running down her face. He whispered apologies as he waited for the blood to dry, a slightly bloody hand reaching over to pet her head soothingly. Once he began to calm down, he began putting his thoughts back together to process what had just happened.

She saved him. She thought quickly and pushed him out of the way, only to get herself hurt in the process. So much for having the bigger gun to protect herself with it. He began to feel guilty as he pulled the cloth away, knowing that he couldn't stop her from getting hurt. He should have been more careful-.

"Leon," her voice croaked, pulling him from his thoughts. He sat down in the office chair so that his face was at level with hers.

"Hey. How are you holding up?" he asked softly, his eyes studying her face. The sweat on her forehead caused her hair to stick to her skin, so he lightly dragged it away and pushed it behind her ear. Her eyes were red and there were tears that were still wet sliding down her cheeks. She looked a little pale, but it might've been more so from the pain rather than blood loss.

"It hurts."

"I know, but the good news is, that they're not deep. They're very shallow, so they'll heal up in no time. You got really lucky, Vee. It could've been so much worse," he said while reaching for a roll of gauze and the medical spray that he found in the first aid kit bag. They could save their other healing items for later. He uncapped the spray bottle and read the instructions on it. Seemed like it would do the job.

"Leon...can you hold my hand, please?" she wavered, holding out the hand she was gripping the desk with, knowing it was going to really hurt. He didn't hesitate in taking it into his own and giving it a small squeeze.

"This isn't gonna feel too great. Just squeeze my hand as hard as you can. Get ready," he said standing up, keeping his grasp firm. Aiming the bottle, he began spraying, covering the injury in a strong jet of antibacterial mist. Veronica yelped in pain and squeezed Leon's hand tightly. It felt like hand sanitizer getting into a papercut, but times 5.

"Fuck!" she cursed, gasping for air. For good measure, he sprayed around that area of her back, emptying the bottle of its contents. He set it to the side then reached for the gauze before sitting back down. Her eyes gazed up at his face watching him find a random napkin in a desk drawer to wipe the blood off of his hands.

"We're going to let that sit on there for a couple of minutes before we bandage you up." He paused before looking back at her. "God, I'm so sorry!" The injured girl took a second to swallow the spit in her mouth before replying.

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one that got hurt. I should be the sorry one for not being careful," she retorted. He leaned in a little closer, his eyes gentle and sad.

"You saved my life. If it wasn't for you I would be torn to shreds by now."

"That still doesn't mean you should apologize."

"But I'm supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around. It's my job, remember? Instead, you just got hurt because of me." She untangled her fingers from his hand then reached up to caress his face.

"Leon, you're my partner, my friend. We have each other's backs!"

"But-!"
"I'm alive, aren't I? I know you'll always have mine, but you gotta remember that I have yours, too. We're in this together, rookie," she smiled weakly. He couldn't help but lean into her touch with a small smile of his own.

"I like the way that, that sounds when you say it."

"Then I guess I'll keep calling you that then," she giggled, wincing a little at the movement. "You called me something earlier too, didn't you? What was it?" Leon sighed as her hand dropped from his face to grip his own again.

"I called you Vee. Short for Veronica. I know it's not really creative, but I like how it sounds. I was gonna ask if it was ok to call you that, but it kinda just slipped out when I was panicking." She squeezed his hand and nodded her head the best she could against the desk.

"It's more than ok! I like it. Short and simple. But I think I'm gonna have to stick with 'rookie' for you though. Your name's already short to begin with and I'm not about to come up with something funky right at this moment." He chuckles softly at that, his eyes crinkling happily at the edges as he smiled fondly at her.

"I'll take it….Thank you, Vee." She mirrored the smile and squeezed his hand again.

"You're welcome, rookie. I would hug you, but I kinda can't right now."

"Will this do?" he asked before leaning in and pressing his lips to her exposed forehead to kiss softly. He pulled away, nervous that he might have crossed some line, but he was met with a blushing face and a shy smile.

"That'll do just nicely," she whispered, squeezing his hand once more. He was a bold one, that was for sure, but she didn't seem to mind it. He took a look at her back then stood up.

"How are you feeling?"

"Really sore. Still hurts a lot. Are there any pain pills in that pouch?" Leon dug in and found a small plastic vial filled with them. He put a couple in her hand and put the vial back in his pouch for later.

"Let's get you up so I can bandage you properly," he said while grabbing her arm. Using her other arm, she shakily pushed up from the desk and, with Leon's help, she was sitting up with her legs hanging over the desk in no time. She popped the pills she was given dryly since there was no water around to drink and looked down at the mess on the floor.

"Jesus. I hope no one planned on using this desk anytime soon," she said sarcastically as Leon got the rest of the medical supplies ready.

"I think it's safe to say, they won't be," he replied while placing two large pieces of gauze over the first slash. "I'm gonna start pressing down and wrapping," he warned before doing so. She hissed between her teeth but fought through the pain. Standing in front of her as he did his job, he reached over and went to wrap around, but found her shirts to be in the way.

"I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to lift your shirt a little higher," he requested. Careful as to not move too fast, she pulled her shirt up all the way to her chest and hooked them under her armpits, making sure that it wasn't going to fall. She didn't want to constantly hold or fix it since it hurt to lift her arms. Looking back up, she was surprised to find a red-faced Leon who was trying very hard to look anywhere but her.

"Leon, are you ok?"

"Um...you're bra...it's uh…," he couldn't seem to finish the sentence as he tried focusing on the wrapping. She looked down and realized she had exposed her blue bra to him and felt both slightly embarrassed, but also annoyed.

"Leon, it's just a bra. I'm sure you've seen plenty of other girls wear one," she huffed, trying to reason with him. He was quiet for a moment as he reached around her one last time before grabbing more gauze pads for the next scratch.

"Actually, I've only had one other girlfriend," he murmured, feeling a little embarrassed. Veronica was taken aback by that.

"You've only had one girlfri- agh!" she yelped as he pressed against the new cut.

"Sorry. Yeah." He seemed to contemplate his next words carefully. "And I haven't had one since then." This seemed to surprise her even more, but on the inside, she couldn't help but feel a little happy to hear that.

"How come? I would've thought you had a line out the door of people waiting to get a chance at even holding your hand!" He chuckled at that, face still red. It was kind of adorable.

"What makes you say that?" She opened her mouth to answer but closed it right away, face turning a little pink. She was not about to say her thoughts out loud. He seemed pleased by this and continued his answer.

"I wanted to focus on becoming a police officer first. It takes lots of training and studying, which also means my time. Sure, I've dated in high school, but those weren't real relationships. They always lasted like a month. Even then, I was too shy to do anything more than make out with them," he explained. He felt tired from constantly moving to each side of her to wrap, so he decided to make things easier for himself. He got really close and stood in between her legs, then leaned down.

"Sorry, this will be easier for me to do this."

Once he was situated, he looped both of his arms under hers and peered his head over her shoulder so he could see what he was doing. It made the wrapping easier if he stuck to one spot, but Veronica was now suddenly very aware of where he was standing. Fuck it! she thought as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder. His warmth was nice and it was close enough to a hug that she enjoyed it. This was also gonna be perfect fantasy fuel for later.

"Fair enough," she responded. "So wait, how old are you then? You don't look that much older than I am and you're already in the police force!"

"21. I worked my ass off to get in and got really high marks that scored me the opportunity of being an officer earlier than a lot of others."

"Dude, I'm 22 and I barely got out of college! You're only a year younger than me! What the fuck!" He chuckled, grabbing more pieces of gauze for the last cut.

"I told you! I worked really hard. Frankly, that's why that relationship I had didn't last that long. I was so devoted to getting my dream career that my girlfriend at the time got tired of it. Not that I blame her. It was rough what I put her through."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Those wounds healed ages ago. Speaking of which, just one more to go." He began wrapping again when he suddenly felt her begin to sag against him. "Whoa, you ok over there?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just comfortable. Shoulder's comfy enough to nap on." She could feel his body laugh against her and it made her feel a little giddy inside.

"Well, instead of napping, why don't you try and keep awake. Talk to me. Tell me about yourself. I feel like I've shared my whole life story with you." She giggled against his shoulder.

"Where should I start?"

*Survivor bonding is always nice. Also should mention that I am not a medical professional. So once again, making shit up.