Obake was doing his best to keep himself from falling over. He only had another block or so to go before he reached his destination. He could taste copper in his mouth.
Never a good sign.
His steps were staggering, his vision flickering but he kept pushing till he was finally through a set of doors. Soon as he passed through, he let himself fall to the floor, his eyes sliding shut.
Before he blacked out entirely, he could hear people coming towards him. Their voices had a slight panic to them yet they were mostly calm.
The last thing he could hear clearly was someone shouting:
"Get him on a stretcher and have an OR on standby!"
I'll leave the rest to you, now.
Please, don't kill me.
oooooo
Dr. Shaylin Sky was used to crazy.
When you sign up to be a doctor, it was a given that anything could possibly go wrong and anything could possibly happen during a shift at a hospital and you just had to learn to roll with it and not question things.
Though sometimes she wished nights could be quieter. Especially when she was about to head home.
It had been a long day of appointments and assisting surgeons in surgery and trying to get the hospital back in proper working order after everything went to heck with concerns of the city being destroyed by a star that seemed to come out of nowhere.
And now… she had an unconscious man she was rushing to an OR after exams had revealed he was suffering massive amounts of internal bleeding in the abdominal region.
Along with something else that was definitely not normal but I don't got time for that. Treat and stabilize now, ask questions later.
As soon as the man was in the OR she quickly scrubbed in before joining in on the procedure.
"Shouldn't you be heading home?" The surgeon asked as he started to make incisions into the affected areas. "And is a blood transfusion on the way?"
"I would be, Leon, but I had a man pass out on the floor in front of me and you know I don't like dropping a patient and running, even if I'm supposed to be gone by now and yes, I got the boys looking through our O- stash as we speak.
"Devoted as ever and good, because he's losing a lot and fast." Leon narrowed his eyes. "What the heck did he do to himself? Throw himself off a building?"
"Doubt it, considering the only broken bones I saw in the scans were a couple of ribs. If he had been thrown off a building there would be a lot more broken. Though with the bruises he's got on him he certainly had something rough happen be it a landing or a fight. Just not sure what."
"Questions we can ask him once he's stable and awake. Clamps, please."
Shaylin handed Leon on the tool in question.
"Oh, trust me, I got a LOT of questions for this guy once he's conscious and lucid."
"That's an omen." Leon looked to Shaylin with some concern. "See something of interest in your exam?"
"Nothing harmful… I think but it was… definitely of interest."
"Wanna enlighten me?"
"Drain blood and fix injuries first, then I'll tell you."
"Very well." Leon eyed the man's face before getting back to work. "Though, gotta say, it's a miracle he made it here on his own. You said he stumbled on in?"
"Yeah. Again, not sure what the story is but I'm sure we'll find out soon."
And I get the feeling it's going to be a weird one.
oooooo
For Obake, it had only been a few minutes between when he had blacked out to when he was waking up again. He knew it had certainly been longer than a few minutes he just wasn't sure how much longer.
As he opened his eyes, he could hear the faint sounds of a heart monitor beeping and the dripping of an IV bag.
Those are sounds that bring back memories…
"Just a little longer, Bob. You're almost done."
"Just a few more drops then we can go home and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together like you promised, Daddy! You can do it!"
For a moment, he was back in that treatment bed again, his daughter holding his hand while his wife monitored his vitals. He could see a young Trina smiling at him, hopefulness in her light blue eyes as she helped keep him comfortable.
It all quickly faded as a voice broke the illusion, revealing he was in an ICU room with a woman he didn't recognize.
The woman appeared to be of latina descent with tan skin and light brown hair that was pulled into a loose ponytail. She had a look of concern in her deep blue eyes. Judging from the lab coat and ID tag she had hanging around her neck, she was most likely a doctor.
He squinted his eyes to read the name on the ID tag.
"Dr. Shaylin Sky"
"With me?" she asked.
"More or less." He said, practically whispered. He cringed, bringing a hand to his abdomen. "What happened…?"
"You collapsed in our ER bay. You were rushed in for emergency surgery after some quick tests. You had a couple of broken ribs and massive internal bleeding in the abdominal region due to damage done to various organs. All of it was treated and you're stable now and are on strict bed rest till further notice."
"I see… perfect." Obake sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Anything else I need to know about in regards to injuries?"
"No… More so I need to know about something."
Obake looked to Shaylin, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Shaylin crossed her arms.
"You got an interesting looking implant on the left side of your skull… and a pretty nicely sized tumor to boot. I doubt those are things you don't know about. Care to explain?"
Obake glanced to the side.
"... I have to ask a question before I can answer anything in regards to those two things. Are you associated with Sycorax or Liv Amara?"
Shaylin gave a disgusted look.
"The day I associate with that woman or her company is the day I resign from being a doctor. No offense to her and her work but I don't like her attitude. She's just…. condescending and sometimes has no regards for morality… It's… a long story. Either way, no, I am not associated with her, nor is this particular hospital. They're not rich enough for her. Who wants to know?"
Obake let out another sigh.
"Bob Aken wants to know, that's who."
Shaylin's eyes widened at this, though kept her composure.
"Go on."
Obake closed his eyes.
"I've had this tumor in my head since I was 15 years old that manifested due to a rather unfortunate accident with an experiment. It was managed with chemo treatments for the longest time till around last year when someone came in, claiming they could help me. This someone being Liv Amara." Obake opened his eyes, his implant letting off a glow for a second. "This implant was supposed to cure me… when it all it did was make things worse." His eyes narrowed. "She took everything from me that day I entered her operating room doors… all with a simple series of shocks."
"Your family is none of your concern anymore, Obake. Your concern is making your mark on San Fransokyo. To be remembered as a legend."
Obake was panting, grabbing at the table as electricity pulsed through his mind.
"Ngh! No! Kim… Trina… I… Gck! I need to…"
"Shhhh…" Liv brought a hand to his cheek again, stroking it with her thumb. "They're not here anymore… It's just you, Obake. You're alone. And there's nothing wrong with that. Think of all you can do. No limits whatsoever. You can be the genius you longed to be. You can make great accomplishments. You can make Grace regret ever abandoning you in your time of need. You can make her wish she had never given up on you."
"I… I…." Obake's pupils dilated. "I could be… remembered by all…"
"That's right." Liv smiled. "You just have to do exactly as I tell you. There's no Bob Aken anymore. There is only Obake. A ghost. But soon to be remembered and revered by all."
"Remembered… and revered by all."
Obake grabbed at the blankets of his bed, lowering his head.
"I haven't been in my right mind for awhile now… and I want it to stop. And I only know one person I could trust with my head." Obake looked at Shaylin. "Do you know Dr. Kim Aken."
Shaylin nodded.
"I do. She's a dear friend of mine… who has been dearly missing her husband who disappeared around last year." Shaylin's look turned gentle. "And it seems he's finally been found."
Obake nodded.
"Can you get me to her? And do you have my things? There's some important equipment in that backpack I came in with along with the USB I had around my neck."
"Yes and yes. I have your possessions in my office for safekeeping and I can contact Kim's hospital right away and have you transferred."
"Thank you… Where is she at, by the way?"
"Saga Regional Hospital."
Home…
"Good… I want to get away from this city for a bit." Obake leaned back into his pillow. "Too much crime and too much noise."
Shaylin chuckled.
"Kim said the same thing." She gave a small smile. "You know, she never stopped looking for you. Even came here for a bit with her daughter in hopes they'd find you. They're going to be so happy when they see you."
"Maybe… though I'm expecting irritation considering my current state."
And telling them what I've been doing for the past year. That's going to be fun.
"Possibly. Kim's more level headed than I am. If you were my husband you would've gotten a slight pow pow."
"And a sandal?"
"That's la chancla to you, mister."
"Nuance."
Shaylin rolled her eyes, getting up from her chair.
"I'll go make some calls then. Can I get you anything?"
Obake gave a small smirk.
"I have a blueberry scone in a tupperware in that backpack of mine. I'd like to eat it now, please."
Shaylin smirked, shaking her head.
"You're not gonna be able to enjoy it as you are so, patience on that one."
"Oh, come now, I know how to eat slow."
"Eat it when you don't have a tumor the size of a ping pong ball suppressing your right from wrong junction."
Shaylin left without another word.
Obake gave a flat look, plopping his head into his pillow.
It's called the temporo-parietal junction, plebeian.
… And it's not the size of a ping pong ball!