Then maybe you should consider a different name if that is a concern.
[ not that he's about to make the jokes, but choosing a name like that seems counterproductive if you then have to start interactions with a disclaimer... anyway, ]
Yes, I am. Why do you ask? [ what are your symptoms, he almost asks, but it could be this guy is asking for someone else. ]
I've got a friend. Something wrong with his lungs. I dunno if you've got another term for it in your world, but... you ever heard of tuberculosis?
He's had it for a while now. He's been weak since he got here. Sometimes when he coughs, there's blood in it. He sweats at night even when it's cold, and he's losing weight like crazy.
He hates sitting still and being treated like a patient, but it's gettin' hard to watch.
[ there is a terrible familiarity to this, and law sighs. ]
As it happens, I'm working with another patient with a similar case. He was dead before arriving here, too, and it's not left him without consequences. I suspect your friend is similar. [ he draws a breath, continues, ] The body that has been brought here, unless they have somehow remade him entirely, was already deceased. The illness should have killed him instantly when he woke up here — that it hasn't is both reassuring and intriguing.
[His friend made it sound like he was the only exception... Okay. That was a wrong assumption on Rinne's part. What the hell.]
I know I'm supposed to be happy about that, but that's the thing, Doc: he's already been brought back from the dead before this. Like, several times. He thinks he was brought to this place the same reason he was brought to wherever he was at last. I don't know if he was sick each time, but I think we can assume that much.
I don't even know if medicine will fix him, but I dunno how else to help him. He won't tell me anything about it, and I don't want to lose his trust. He's always keeping himself busy, like he's trying to make up for lost time...
I want to get to the bottom of this, Doc. I'll pay you whatever it takes.
[ and if they have done so twice, they must have done it more times than that — he wonders just how many among their number have already died once. ]
I see. I think the best course forward would be for me to see this friend of yours. I want to examine him... and I would suggest we try at least some medication to mitigate the symptoms. But I don't want to see him at my clinic. I work from a Patho-Gen facility, out of necessity, but I'd rather there's no official record of the meeting... if your friend agrees to it.
[ Well, that's generous of him. Rinne supposes Law sees the benefits of having a case study, though. The more they know about what Patho-Gen's done to their bodies, the better. Rinne just doesn't want the man to have a hard time... ]
Thanks. That's fine with me. The less Patho-Gen's involved, the better. I'll send you his contact details ASAP.
[ Rinne forwards the contact details of Takasugi Shinsaku. But... Hmm. Reaching out to him isn't that easy. ]
Takasugi-san ain't your ordinary patient, Doc. The government branded him a terrorist when he was alive. He's gonna make things difficult.
Whatever you do, you need to make it look like I didn't ask you to do it. Can you handle that?
Aside from being a doctor, I'm a pirate captain with a bounty of three billion, [ comes law's laconic response. ] I can handle a terrorist.
[ what he can't handle, however, is... ] But if you're asking me not to tell him because he told you not to tell anyone, I really couldn't care less. If using your name gets him to agree to being treated, then I will use it.
[Treating a man like Takasugi is a tall task. Rinne shouldn't be calling just anybody for it. If this doctor wanted to give up on Takasugi, Rinne wouldn't blame him. But Law says something curious, and it's curious enough to make him give in.]
...Kyaha! Fine. Have it your way. It already sounds like I called the right guy.
[If they all have to face something as dull as Takasugi's health, then at least let Law make it interesting.]
I'll leave him to you, Doc. Be careful with him now!
[ whether he's the right guy or not. with a sigh, he imparts some final words: ] Just remember I make no guarantees. I will see him, and try, but that is all I can promise. I'm just a doctor, not a miracle cure.
[ so don't be disappointed if nothing much can be done, he doesn't say, but the thought lingers in the spaces between his words.
and then, finally, ] And my name isn't "doc." It's Trafalgar Law.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
countershocks) wrote2020-06-29 04:08 pm
voice, un: AMAGIBIGDICK69
Hello? Sorry, I'm kinda not in the mood for any jokes right now. [ About his username. Yeah... ] I heard you were a doctor?
voice;
[ not that he's about to make the jokes, but choosing a name like that seems counterproductive if you then have to start interactions with a disclaimer... anyway, ]
Yes, I am. Why do you ask? [ what are your symptoms, he almost asks, but it could be this guy is asking for someone else. ]
no subject
I've got a friend. Something wrong with his lungs. I dunno if you've got another term for it in your world, but... you ever heard of tuberculosis?
He's had it for a while now. He's been weak since he got here. Sometimes when he coughs, there's blood in it. He sweats at night even when it's cold, and he's losing weight like crazy.
He hates sitting still and being treated like a patient, but it's gettin' hard to watch.
no subject
[ he could give a succinct explanation of what exactly it is — but he assumes rinne knows. he wouldn't be bringing up its name like this otherwise. ]
Has Patho-Gen given him no drugs for it? Why hasn't he asked for any?
no subject
For starters, he's supposed to be dead. Tuberculosis is the thing that killed him.
no subject
As it happens, I'm working with another patient with a similar case. He was dead before arriving here, too, and it's not left him without consequences. I suspect your friend is similar. [ he draws a breath, continues, ] The body that has been brought here, unless they have somehow remade him entirely, was already deceased. The illness should have killed him instantly when he woke up here — that it hasn't is both reassuring and intriguing.
no subject
[His friend made it sound like he was the only exception... Okay. That was a wrong assumption on Rinne's part. What the hell.]
I know I'm supposed to be happy about that, but that's the thing, Doc: he's already been brought back from the dead before this. Like, several times. He thinks he was brought to this place the same reason he was brought to wherever he was at last. I don't know if he was sick each time, but I think we can assume that much.
I don't even know if medicine will fix him, but I dunno how else to help him. He won't tell me anything about it, and I don't want to lose his trust. He's always keeping himself busy, like he's trying to make up for lost time...
I want to get to the bottom of this, Doc. I'll pay you whatever it takes.
no subject
[ and if they have done so twice, they must have done it more times than that — he wonders just how many among their number have already died once. ]
I see. I think the best course forward would be for me to see this friend of yours. I want to examine him... and I would suggest we try at least some medication to mitigate the symptoms. But I don't want to see him at my clinic. I work from a Patho-Gen facility, out of necessity, but I'd rather there's no official record of the meeting... if your friend agrees to it.
[ a pause. ] We'll discuss payment later.
no subject
Thanks. That's fine with me. The less Patho-Gen's involved, the better. I'll send you his contact details ASAP.
[ Rinne forwards the contact details of Takasugi Shinsaku. But... Hmm. Reaching out to him isn't that easy. ]
Takasugi-san ain't your ordinary patient, Doc. The government branded him a terrorist when he was alive. He's gonna make things difficult.
Whatever you do, you need to make it look like I didn't ask you to do it. Can you handle that?
no subject
[ what he can't handle, however, is... ] But if you're asking me not to tell him because he told you not to tell anyone, I really couldn't care less. If using your name gets him to agree to being treated, then I will use it.
no subject
...Kyaha! Fine. Have it your way. It already sounds like I called the right guy.
[If they all have to face something as dull as Takasugi's health, then at least let Law make it interesting.]
I'll leave him to you, Doc. Be careful with him now!
no subject
[ whether he's the right guy or not. with a sigh, he imparts some final words: ] Just remember I make no guarantees. I will see him, and try, but that is all I can promise. I'm just a doctor, not a miracle cure.
[ so don't be disappointed if nothing much can be done, he doesn't say, but the thought lingers in the spaces between his words.
and then, finally, ] And my name isn't "doc." It's Trafalgar Law.