Infinite had no choice but to walk most of the distance to the hospital. What few busses were running had very limited options when it came to routes since many of the roads still hadn't been fixed. He kept a brisk pace through the streets, pointedly ignoring the confused eyes of other pedestrians on him. Summer was still in full force so it must have seemed odd to them to see a black anthropomorph walking the streets in a leather jacket and a tattered white scarf. No matter what they all thought of him, Infinite was not going to walk around town with his chest scar and stupid looking supporter on view for the whole world.
By the time he got to the hospital he was surprised to find that he felt drained. A trip like that should have been nothing to him but everything that had happened in the past few months had evidently taken its enormous toll. After being shunted from reception desk to reception desk until he was finally in the correct waiting room he had never been more glad to be seated in an uncomfortable plastic chair. He was on time but of course the hospital was running abysmally behind schedule, so it was in hindsight a stroke of luck that Gadget couldn't drive him to the hospital early otherwise he might have been waiting for 4 hours instead of 2.
He didn't recognise when he'd been called right away. It was only when the nurse called more insistently that he remembered that 'Mr Jackal' was him as far as the hospital knew. He put aside the sudoku puzzle he had been working on in boredom and stood up, following his ears rather than his eyes at first. When he saw the woman set to be his nurse he kept his expression schooled to neutral-bored to hide his disappointment. He'd been hoping for the cute dhole or if not him then he'd settle for the stern-looking cat who seemed to have a lot of experience and a no-nonsense attitude. Instead, of all the nurses he'd seen flitting in and out to call in patients, he got the chubby-cheeked blonde human.
"Right this way," she said to him with the flimsiness of uncertainty. She gestured into the hallway but instead of going immediately Infinite stood and stared her in the eye. It only took a second before she glanced away with a nervous chuckle. He grinned but turned away to leave the waiting room without her.
The nurse caught up and took him to a small room that was fitted for a doctor's consultation but it had no name tag on the door and was completely vacant. She was about to invite him to take a seat but he beat her to it, sitting down in one of the plastic chairs and causing her to utter a quiet noise as she dithered from one side to the other before finally settling in the doctor's chair in front of the inactive computer. She looked a bit ridiculous sitting there - a full grown human in a chair for an anthropomorph. The seat was too small for her bottom and even after adjusting the chair to its highest level her knees were still up higher than her hips.
"Hi, um, my name is Lucy," she said, flipping through papers on her blue clipboard more for something to do with her hands than to really look at them. "I'm your nurse today." Infinite raised a judgmental eyebrow at her and she gulped. "Um, so, it looks like you're just here for a check-up following your recent surgery. So, um, do you mind taking off your scarf and jacket?"
"Do I mind?" Infinite said in a low, even voice. The corner's of his lips turned up when she paled and her hands flew up in a useless defensive flail.
"Oh, well, um, I need to see the surgical wound and take some other readings so, um, you'll need to take your clothes off. Just some of them. Um, just the jacket and scarf."
Infinite's eyes narrowed as he scrutinised her, examining in the way her quivering fingers curled over her palms, her lips pressed together nervously, and her pupils dilated. He smirked in satisfaction but it was short lived, not the sort that lingered with the gratifying sense that he'd accomplished something. He took off his jacket first, throwing it over the seat of the second chair followed by his scarf. Lucy perked upon seeing what was underneath.
"Oh, um, I see you're using a sternum supporter," she remarked, happy to find some easy ground. "Do you find it's helping with, um, pain management strategies?"
Infinite stared at her. She squirmed again but he wasn't paying attention this time. He had no idea what the 'pain management strategy' was other than taking painkillers when it felt really bad nor was he aware that that was what the sternum supporter was for. He'd thought Gadget only got it because Simone said he should have it and figured it had more to do with keeping the wounded area flat so it would heal faster and better. Instead of letting any of these thoughts out, Infinite bluntly replied: "Yes."
"Oh, well, um, that's good," Lucy stammered. She'd hoped he'd give a little more than that. Feeling awkward, she quickly turned away and fumbled around the desk to bring the blood pressure monitor closer. "Well, could you take that off as well? I'll start by measuring your blood pressure."
Infinite did as he was asked and sat still while Lucy set up the digital monitor and then put the inflatable cuff around his upper arm. His eyes flicked from one focus to the next in the windowless room, glancing at the instruments and resources. The bed liner dispenser had a handwritten sign taped over it that read: 'EMPTY. Already told Luke and he's working on it.' The hand sanitiser had a similar story. As he quickly read over these lines a soft sensation on his left hand began to creep into his awareness. His gaze returned to his immediate vicinity and stared at his hand, which Lucy held gingerly and stroked soothingly, always going in the direction of his fur but her attention was completely focussed on the numbers on the monitor screen. Infinite stared at it in disbelief for a couple of seconds. He opened his mouth to say something but at that exact moment she pulled her hands away just as absentmindedly as she had been stroking to write down the readings.
"Okay, so, your blood pressure looks good and your pulse is normal," she said. She put her pencil down and loosened the cuff methodically like nothing had happened. "Okay, now can you hold this under your tongue while I listen to your chest?"
She presented the metal tip of the thermometer so close to his lips that he barely needed to move to put it under his tongue. Then she scooted up close to his side on her wheeled chair, lifting her stethoscope off her shoulders and plugging in the ear buds. Infinite's fur buffered against most of the chill from the silver disc as Lucy placed it gently on his chest just under his right collarbone to start. She spent a couple of seconds listening before lifting and moving it to the left. Her other hand gripped the back of his shoulders like she was trying to hold him in place even though he was cooperating perfectly. He stared at her out of the corner of his eyes confusedly. As the disc moved around his chest, checking his belly and sides lower down, the grip loosened until it turned into soft petting again and again Lucy didn't seem to be paying much attention. She instructed him to lean forward so she could listen to the back of his chest, standing up to get better access. Her hand left his shoulders and landed on top of his head, petting the thick, white hair.
Infinite's eyebrows creased angrily. He took the thermometer out of his mouth. "Stop petting me."
She jumped back, startled. "Wh-what?"
"You," Infinite growled, letting his lip curl back. "Stop touching me. I'm not a pet dog that you can put your hands all over whenever you feel like it."
"I-I-I-I'm sorry!" she squeaked. "S-sorry! I-I'm still n-not used to... to... you guys."
"You guys?" Infinite echoed warningly.
"I'm, um, from a veterinary clinic i-in a hu-human area," she explained, eyes darting back and forth to avoid looking at Infinite's blazing glare but she was frozen facing him, too afraid to let him out of her vision. "I-I elected to transfer here b-because I was told that, um, vets and vet nurses were n-needed but I mostly deal w-with pets, n-n-not anthropomorphs. They're, um... they're usually v-very scared and n-need comfort at the clinic."
"Do I look scared to you?" Infinite asked, rising to his full height. Hardly menacing when he was as tall as a child compared to her.
"I'm sorry! I won't pet you again!" she whimpered. "Um, I just, um... I just need to check your wound before you go. And your temperature, so, um, if you could just put that back in..."
Infinite looked at the thermometer and the barely perceptible dropping mercury. For a moment he wondered what happened to all the digital thermometers that would have been the latest and most reliable in medical technology. That tiny distraction only delayed the thought that was already creeping up on him: Gadget's face, trying to look angry but unable to chisel away the concern and disappointment because Infinite didn't complete his task for the day to keep himself in good health. That little red wolf doing everything he could to keep him comfortable, help his wounds heal, and ease his physical pain. He felt his tail wagging before even thinking about it.
He growled in frustration and willed himself to remember the words from earlier this morning. In a fit of pique he threw the thermometer aside, sending it clattering across the desk. Then he leaned over to pick the supporter up from the chair, wincing when without its restrictive guidance he put painful pressure on his breastbone.
"I gave this a chance but I don't appreciate people touching me," he growled, fastening the supporter. Watching Lucy cower in fear and shock didn't give him that lick of pleasure anymore.
"W-wait!"
Infinite ignored her, not interested in hearing her out any further. He forced her stuttering and anxious exclamations into the background noise as he left the room, putting his jacket and scarf on as he went. By the time he was back in the waiting room he was wrapped up again so his condition would be completely concealed.
He breezed through to the front doors, stepping back out into the smog-filtered sunshine and roar of the noisy chatter and rumbling vehicle engines of the street. Pausing for a moment, he scanned the surroundings. The car park was tucked away underground but a few metres outside the door a large bitumen cul-de-sac and service road had been carved out for public transport, drop-offs, and a taxi rank. An ambulance screamed down the service road much faster than was safe and rolled up a ramp at the end with a sign above telling all drivers that the parking garage beyond the ramp was for 'PATIENT TRANSPORT ONLY'.
Infinite breathed deeply, so used to the smell and feel of smoke and ash that the copious smokers ignoring big red 'NO SMOKING' signs didn't bother his lungs. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and closed his eyes for a contemplative moment before walking on. He only got three steps when something huge suddenly dropped down in front of him. It was so heavy the paving beneath its sturdy black feet cracked and crushed and several pedestrians around it, including Infinite himself, were bounced off their feet against their volition. His gaze panned upwards in dread. The shape of the cleft metal feet with that flash of fluorescent green between the toes gave the assailant away. Nonetheless, Infinite still felt more comfortable looking into the backlit eyes of the red and black robot standing in his way. White titanium alloy claws folded back into the large arms to make room for machine gun barrels to spring out and take aim at the black jackal in point blank range.
"Enemy unit sighted," E-123 Omega declared as his gears whirred. "Prepare for annihilation."