For a day in the middle of July it was surprisingly chilly outside, so much so that when Donald stepped out of his car when going to work, he halted a bit. And then reached inside to pull out his jacket to shield him from the chill.
Most likely just an early morning chill Donald decided as he grabbed his cane to make the small walk to the hospital entrance.
Thankfully Donald had no surgeries today, he sincerely doubted he could do that with a clean conscious right now. His eyes were still droopping and he was honestly exhausted.
Just a few check ups and then paperwork, he would be fine.
Donald yawned as he had nearly reached the front entrance then halted… He turned his head and blinked as he saw a woman standing not far from him. Not really someone he knew… And yet, there was something odd about her.
The woman was wearing simple clothes, jeans and a black tank top which fully exposed a pair of very strong looking arms. The woman seemed extremely strong and toned. Perhaps she was an athlete of some kind. Her long dark hair was pulled up in a pony tail. First then did Donald notice, and he felt a bit stupid it wasn't the first thing he saw.
There was a god damn sword strapped to her back. That sword looked very real.
Suddenly the woman turned around to showcase a beautiful and toned face, she glared at Donald with harsh brown eyes.
Donalds eyes widened and he turned away as he realized he had been staring. For a moment he stood still, then glanced to the side again and saw the woman snort annoyed as she turned and started to walk away… With that sword strapped to her back.
Was that even legal? Carrying around on a real sword. Donald sincerely doubted it was, but wasn't going to question it right now. Let security handle it if they had any issues.
"So. Mrs Jackson." Donald spoke kindly to the woman sitting in front of him on a chair. Her skin was dark. Like deep dark chocolate and her hair curly and black. Next to her was her husband, with fair skin and dark hair, clutching her hand. "You had time to go over the results of the tests?" he asked.
Mrs Jackson nodded as she swallowed.
"I fear it doesn't look to good." Donald spoke seriously. "Your condition is called bradycardia. Your heart is unable to pump at the rate it needs to and needs help. Now, it is possible to live with this illness for many years. But there will be a constant risk of heart failure at any time. Just like the original reason you were brought in here last month. Your heart was unable to keep up and then stopped. It was a good thing your husband was there to perform CPR" he said.
Mrs Jackson smiled lightly as she glanced at her husband who squeezed her hand, relief clear to see in his eyes.
Then Mrs Jackson swallowed. "So it could happen again at any time." she asked.
"Yes. I'm afraid so." Donald informed. "There are things we can do though, and I highly recommend a pacemaker which will help your heart along whenever it is about to fail. We can schedule a surgery in the next half year, giving you time to heal from the first heart stop. As long as you remember to take it easy and not strain yourself, you should be fine for the time being."
"Pacemaker?" Mr Jackson asked. "That requires an open heart surgery doesn't it? Isn't there something else we can do?" he asked.
"It's your safest bet." Donald informed. "I'm sorry sir. The heart is a muscle, a very vital muscle. And sometimes, muscles just don't work right." he tapped at his own thin legs. "That though doesn't mean we should stop living and just give up. Mr and Mrs Jackson. I promise you, if you allow the surgery I will do all in my power to have it go as flawlessly as I can. You want to be around for your children, and they need their mother."
Mrs Jackson swallowed as she nodded. "Yes… I want to do it." she said then wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but isn't the Air conditioner awfully cold?" she asked. "Can you perhaps allow it to be a few degrees warmer?" she asked.
"Of course." Donald grabbed his cane to push himself up. "Now you say it. It is very cold in here." he agreed as he walked to the wall and reached for the button to the AC. Though as he did. Donald halted. He blinked.
"Doctor Blake, is something wrong?" Mrs Jackson asked.
Dumbfounded Donald was looking at the air conditioner panel as he swallowed. "I think maybe it's broken." he admitted. "We can go to another office if it's to cold."
"Broken?" Mr Jackson asked as he stood up. "Let me have a look. I'm an electrician." he informed as he walked up beside Donald then blinked. "Erhm Doctor… It's not even turned on." he commented and Donald turned to him.
"Yes… That's what I thought I saw." Donald admitted and they both looked up towards the AC machine, but there was no wind, and no blinking light signalling its power was even on.
Mrs Jackson slowly stood up as she walked towards the window then wide-eyed looked out.
"Donna?" Mr Jackson asked his wife. "What is it?"
Mrs Jackson lifted a shaking hand as she pointed outside, both Donald and Mr Jackson ran to the window then halted as they both gaped as outside… everything was frozen over. Covered in a thick layer of pure ice.
Donald stepped back as he swallowed. "You should go home." he said. "We can arrange another meeting some other time." he said.
Mr Jackson nodded as he grabbed his wifes shoulders. "Come on Donna. Let's get out of here."
"I… I don't understand." Mrs Jackson gasped, with each breath a cloud of mist escaped her. "It's July! It was so hot when we drew from home."
Donald turned to the door and grabbed the handle, only to feel the icing cold of the metal against his hand. He hissed as he pulled down his sleeve as a layer between his hand and the handle and pulled, only for the door to bind.
"Let me!" Mr Jackson exclaimed as he grabbed the handle with both hands and yanked it down finally managing to open the door only for them to be faced with a hallway also covered in ice. Mr Jackson sucked in a deep breath as he grabbed his wifes hand. "Let's get out of here!" he stated as he pulled her out clearly assuming that Donald would just follow in their mad dash, it probably hadn't even occurred to him that Donald needed his cane to walk. He couldn't exactly run.
Donald sucked in a breath as he placed his cane on the icy floor outside to take a first step, though the moment he did the cane itself slipped and Donald fell over right on his stomach, head first into the ice.
"Hahahaha! How pathetic!" a childlike voice suddenly laughed. "How I wished my master could see this. The mighty thunder god laying on his stomach! It's hilarious!"
Donald hissed as he propped himself up on his elbows and moved towards his cane.
"Crawling on hands and knees to! Oh how grand! I love it I love it!"
Donald hissed as he reached for the cane, his fingertips almost touching and in that moment… Suddenly the cane was encased in a block of ice as the child like voice laughed.
Wide-eyed Donald looked at his cane now useless in its block of ice and he looked up. "What do you want with me?" he asked.
"I want you to pay." The voice said and suddenly a light appeared in front of Donalds eyes, small, white and cold. "For what you did!"
"What did I do?!" Donald asked bewildered. "How can I pay when I don't even know what I did?!"
"Easy!" The light exclaimed. "Just die!"
"DOCTOR BLAKE!" Mr Jackson had turned around and seen him on the floor now running back and Donald looked up just as a great spear of ice just shot up between them.
All Donald could do was to cover his head as the wind increased.
That was when suddenly, a woman holding a sword jumped through the window and cut the ice.
Wide-eyed Donald looked up and realized that it was that woman from the morning, the same one. No wielding her sword. "This stinks of sorcery." she muttered. "I knew it."
Mr Jackson ran to Donald touching his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Donald nodded. "Yes. Sorry… my legs. I can't walk on my own." he admitted.
The woman snorted. "And you call yourself a man. Take him, get out of here." she demanded and Mr Jackson nodded as he grabbed Donalds arm putting it over his own shoulder.
Just as the light returned and flew around the woman with her sword. "Ooooh what have we here. I remember you. Just as violent and vial as the Prince. You laughed as my home was destroyed! Lady Sif of Asgard!"
"I do not know who you are." The woman, Lady Sif, said sternly. "But I know who your master is! No further."
And the little light seemed to scream as Sif ran forward with her sword while Donald could only do his best to hold unto Mr Jackson as they ran.
They did their best to get away, but everything was frozen and the ground slippery. Donald barely managed to not fall over again as they reached the elevator only to realize it was frozen as well.
"We have to take the stairs." Donald gasped. "Where did Mrs Jackson go?" he asked.
"I told her to continue and get outside." Mr Jackson said. "I hope she's outside." he commented guiding them towards the stairs.
Defeated Donald looked at them. "Do you know I have worked here for six years but this is the first time I have ever taken these stairs."
"Well, it's probably about time then isn't it?" Mr Jackson smiled jokingly just as more ice spikes came and both man yelled in surprise as they almost fell down the stairs, but finally they were on their way.
Thankfully they didn't need to go to long before suddenly several people came running from behind as well, one of them a blond nurse seeing Blake yelling. "Doctor Blake!" as she grabbed his other arm pulling it over her own shoulder so now Mr Jackson and Nurse Hasting were sharing the weight of Donald between them as people flooded them from both sides. Thankfully it was easier to just follow the flow towards the entrance.
How-ever all they found at the entrance were even more people, all caged in by the ice which had created a big wall at the large door people were now hammering at while crying and screaming.
Donald was horrified as he saw it as a terrible thought came through him… This was his fault. What-ever that thing was, it was targeting him. Just like that snake.
"DONALD!" Jane suddenly came running with out stretched arms and then embraced him tightly. "You're okay."
"Jane." Donald gasped then swallowed as he freed his arms from Mr Jackson and Nurse Hastings to embrace Jane. "Yeah… I'm fine."
"Foolish humans." The childlike voice suddenly came and they all turned to see that light, a whisp. "So fragile small mortals, I shall take you all at ones!"
And then it grew, it gained physical form as it grew up, grew legs, four them until it suddenly looked like a giant wolf made of ice towering over all of them and everyone screamed.
"YOU FOOLISH CREATURE!" Lady Sif suddenly shouted as she came running. "You thought you could trap me so? Please. Thank you for giving yourself physical form!" she yelled as she jumped up into the air with the sword and swung down, decapitating the ice wolf and it fell to the ground.
Sif snorted as she stood up and put her sword back in the sheet on her back. "Pathetic." she commented. "And not one of you were fighting back. Mortals truly have become weak cowards." she glared at all of them. "Not one single real man among you."
Wide-eyed Donald looked at the woman… It felt like he knew her. And her name, Sif… it was foreign and yet it sounded so familiar.
Her eyes though flew right across him. "He's not here. How disappointing." Sif muttered.
Just then a woman behind them fell to the ground as she gasped in pain. Mr Jackson turned as his eyes widened. "DONNA!" he yelled as it was indeed his dark skinned wife and Donalds eyes widened.
"HER HEART!" Donald shouted as he let go of Jane to fall down on his knees and glide towards Mrs Jackson where he quickly rolled her to her back. "Stand back!" he ordered as he started to work, his fingers dancing across. Pulse… breathing. It was indeed the heart and he smashed his fist into her chest and then started massaging the heart. "Easy, easy. Listen to me Donna." he addressed her. "Breath deeply, as deep as you can. Slowly!" he asked. "Breath in, as slow and deep as you can. And then out, concentrate on your breathing. Can you do that for me Donna?" he asked.
Donna managed to nod and then slowly did as she was told and Donald continued, continued for what could be minutes or an hour. Didn't matter, he just had to concentrate and finally. Donnas breathing had become normal and easy.
Donald sighed deeply as he sat up. "It's okay…" he gasped. "It's okay." and then he almost dropped himself before Jane grabbed him.
"Sorry…" Donald groaned. "I suppose. This day has been a little much for me."
"Yeah I get that." Jane sighed deeply. "You did good."
"You know that vacation you talked about?" Donald asked. "I think I'll take it now…"
And Jane nodded. "I think that's a good call."