Disclaimer: Midna and The Legend of Zelda are the intellectual property of Nintendo.

Entwilightened

Chapter 4

Doctor Kiowa held a clipboard in her left hand, a pen in her right. She was unconsciously tapping the pen against the clipboard, and her lips were a scarcely visible save for a thin line.

Bandaging the victim had been easy enough. Alec had done a good job keeping the wounds clean, even if the toilet paper had been a mess to handle. She smirked slightly. Leave it to Alec to bring in a victim covered from head to toe in lacerations, swathed in toilet paper. She had an absurdity limit, and he frequently toed the line.

She blinked and refocused on the patient lying on the examination table. Now, the question of what to do with the patient was stranger and more important than usual. Having a person's immediate future in her hands was not unusual for her, but this was bigger than that. What she decided could dictate the course of the rest of this strange woman's life. As far as Kiowa could tell, she had two choices. Report this to someone better suited to handle it (though she would never admit that this was beyond her), such as the police. Or, she could leave the girl in Alec's care.

If she did her "civic duty" (she scowled at the phrase) and reported the "extraterrestrial" (more scowling) to the police, or the government, or whoever handled this kind of thing, the poor woman would spend the rest of her life being interrogated, poked, prodded and hidden away. All for the "betterment of mankind". Kiowa could not repress a shudder at the thought.

Or, she could let the girl heal up, and let Alec take her, and it would cease to be any of Kiowa's business. Life would resume as normal, and eventually the memory would fade away, remaining nothing but a mild curiosity. Simple enough, open and shut case, no problem.

Why was she even trying to fool herself?

She desperately wanted to know more about the multi-hued, tattoo-inscribed princess lying on her examination table. She had grown up on an Iroquois reservation with a deadbeat brother and a drunken father as an example. Her mother had apparently flown the coop when she realized the "man of nature" she had married wasn't all he claimed to be. Her father had often regaled her with tales of her people's past prosperity, their gods and their traditions. Afterward, he would pass out, drunk and snoring on the floor. She grew up hating the reservation and all it stood for. In rebellion, she pursued the most intellectual, logical, and least mystical profession she could think of. She became a doctor. She lead a life of study, academia, and finally healing. It wasn't nearly as glorious as she had envisioned, but it was as rewarding as she had hoped.

Suddenly this inexplicable, illogical woman appears, and everything she thinks she's learned is thrown into question. Letting this opportunity slip through the cracks was out of the question. But she'd be damned if she handed this woman over to the suits, her conscience wouldn't allow it.

On the other hand, leaving her with Alec wouldn't exactly leave her conscience clear either. He was a sweet boy, but she saw him and his friends in her clinic far too often. He was trustworthy, and…moderately responsible, but very young. Kiowa didn't trust him to be able to handle this situation alone, no matter how competent he seemed at the moment. However, she couldn't watch the princess herself—her clinic would keep her busy. Telling the girl when she woke up that she had to stay inside the clinic was out of the question—she knew if she was a stranger in a strange land, exploration would be top on her list of priorities. This didn't account for the girl's personality, but the doctor had a hunch.

So Kiowa struck a compromise with herself.

She would leave Midna in Alec's care but require that he bring her in for weekly checkups and so forth. In the meantime, she would contact several friends from university and ask, purely theoretically of course, if travel between dimensions was possible in any capacity. If she found any leads, she'd quietly refer them to Alec, and possibly help get this poor girl home.

Kiowa blinked. She genuinely wanted to help her patient return to her home dimension. Or world. Whichever. All this, despite the fact that she had not spoken to the girl, or gotten to know her.

She shook her head, and scribbled some barely legible notes onto the forms held to the clipboard. She had filled out so many of these forms that she could very nearly do so in her sleep.

Paperwork complete, she scrutinized her patient once more. Swathed in medical-grade bandages, but otherwise looking none the worse for wear. The bandage that bound her head wrapped around her chin and gave her the appearance of a washerwoman. The ornate jewelry on her forehead muddled the image however; the end result being somewhere between subdued nobility and proud peasantry. Her clothes had been removed, folded and put aside. Ordinarily, she would've thrown away such bloodstained clothes, but these were extraordinary circumstances. For the moment, she was garbed in a simple hospital gown.

She sighed. She was stalling and she knew it. She filed away the blood and tissue samples she had taken for later study, and left the examination room. Before she closed the door behind her, she took one last look at her otherworldly patient.

More questions than answers today…

In the waiting room, Alec was similarly introspective. His head was down, one hand over his mouth, one foot jiggling up and down unconsciously. Now that the adrenaline and immediacy had left him, he was left with the cerebral aftermath of what had happened, and none of it was comforting.

I've got Midna in the examination room of my doctor's clinic. Twilight Princess Midna. Oh man. What happens now? What am I going to tell dad? Do I keep her hidden, or do I tell somebody? What about the Doc? What's she going to think about all this? What about when Midna wakes up, what then?

A horrible idea occurred to him; What if she doesn't wake up? At this, Alec froze briefly, and shuddered. The thought was somehow too terrible to bear.

Alec's mind wandered further. I wonder where all the other patients are? Normally she's got one or two in here around this time…and now that I think about it, where is the receptionist? Doc almost never answers the phones personally. I'll ask her when she comes back out, I guess…

Right on cue, Alec heard the clp clp clp of heels on the floor before the door to the waiting room opened to admit Doctor Kiowa. She strode over to Alec, hooked the chair next to him with her foot, and pulled it out to face him before lowering herself into it. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped under her chin.

A tendril of fear snaked its way into Alec's gut. "Doc, that's your 'something's wrong' pose. What is it?"

"Nothing's wrong. Midna's in stable condition, the bleeding has stopped, and the concussion looks like it won't leave anything lasting but a nasty headache for a day or two," said the doctor.

Alec frowned. "Why the chair, then? You never use the chair unless you mean it."

Kiowa took a deep breath. "It concerns Midna's future while she remains here. I have no desire to see her caged up in a lab somewhere deep in a government base," said Kiowa, straight to the point as usual. She continued, "However, I'm unable to keep an eye on her personally, due to needing to run the clinic." Alec looked at her apprehensively, and she continued. "I've given it some thought, and I'd like you to take her into your care."

Alec narrowed one eye and looked and cocked his head slightly, studying Kiowa. "There's more to this," he said. "Keep going."

"Of course there's more. You're not going to be able to do this by yourself. No, don't say anything, it's true and you know it," she said, cutting Alec off before he could interrupt. "You keep her under your roof, and come for weekly visits to me. Meanwhile, I'll contact some of my colleagues from University, and see what we can do about getting her home," she finished.

"Get her…home. Yeah…I guess that's what we should do," Alec said, frowning.

"You don't want to get her home?" Kiowa asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I…I guess I hadn't thought about it. I didn't really have time, you know? But…yeah, it's what we're supposed to do, right? If I were stranded somewhere, that's what I'd want to do. Get home," Alec said, rambling.

"You're still not sure of it," Kiowa said calmly.

Alec sighed unhappily. "It's just…here's proof that the world is more than we've always thought, that there's more than we can see. To let that go is…" he trailed off, unable to finish his thought satisfactorily.

Kiowa's features softened, and her voice held an uncharacteristic hint of compassion, "I understand what you mean, Alec. But remember, Midna's not a thing to be coveted—she's a person, just like you or I. We can't forget that."

"Yeah. I know. I know that…it's just a matter of convincing the selfish part of me."

"Don't worry about it now. I'm sure there's more to come, and it's not like you won't get a chance to talk to her," said Kiowa.

Alec looked up, "Right! Doc, how's she look right now, anyway?"

Kiowa stood up and pulled her clipboard out for reference. "I already told you, but I'll give you the details this time. She's stable, and aside from blood loss, seems fine. The head wound doesn't seem to have resulted in a concussion, but there's no way to know for sure until she wakes up, especially with…what did you say she was again?"

"Twili," Alec said.

"Right, especially with how little I know about Twili anatomy. She seems to have passed from unconscious to merely asleep, so all we can do now is let her rest and wait."

Alec nodded, satisfied. Midna was going to be okay, and was recovering. He let out a deep breath and he felt as though some of the weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was about to ask if he could see Midna when he remembered something else.

"Hey doc…where's the rest of the staff and patients today? It's not like this place to be so quiet," Alec said, "And you never answer the phones. What's up?"

Kiowa smiled slightly, "I'm closed for the day." At Alec's apologetic look, she continued, "But when I saw it was you calling, I knew I had probably better answer it. Nine times out of ten, you've got some horrible emergency, always when it's least convenient. You've got a knack, mister."

Alec grinned nervously and looked away. "Yeah, I guess I do, don't I?" He chuckled quietly.

The two friends enjoyed the comfortable silence for a moment. The rain battered the front windows of the clinic and ran in tiny rivers down the surface of the plate glass. Faintly, Alec heard the hum of one of the many humidifiers or sterilizers the clinic employed to keep conditions inside optimal. Alec's head was buzzing pleasantly as his body and mind recovered from the morning's adrenaline high and settled back into the more sedate pace of everyday life. For a while, just a little while, everything was going to be okay. Alec smiled faintly and relaxed as his world went soft around the edges.

All good things must come to an end. Alec and Kiowa were rudely jerked out of their trance by a crash from the direction of the examinations rooms. Their heads jerked up simultaneously and they shared a glance. They leapt out of their seats and made a beeline for the door leading further into the building.

As their feet pounded across the tile floor, their emotions mirrored one another; excitement, apprehension, fear, and concern, all mashed together.

The pair knew that whatever happened next in that examination room would change their lives.

Notes: And we learn more about the good doctor, her motives and her personality. Alec's finally waking up from the panic that's seized him all morning, only to be yanked back into it.

What awaits our heroes now?

Chapter five is written and awaiting editing. Please leave a review, feedback, both good and bad is appreciated.