After the End: Serenity

“Blaze?” Lancaster looked around the healing hall. It took a few minutes to find the healer. “Do you know where Macho is? I stopped in yesterday but was told to come back this evening.”

Blaze led Lancaster down the hall. “Yes, he’s over here.” Blaze stopped between two doors. “He wasn’t conscious until an hour ago. We were, “ Blaze cleared his throat. “Slow to give him any magical healing. In fact, I believe we didn’t do any more than keep him alive until, oh, yesterday morning.”

Lancaster turned towards Blaze. “When I stopped in and said I had some questions for him, by some chance?”

“The timing does seem to line up.” Blaze’s lips twitched into a smile. “I should check on his hearing. Echo destroyed one of his eardrums. I repaired the one that was only damaged, but I haven’t checked on it since then.”

Blaze led Lancaster a few doors farther down the hall, then into a room. Macho lay on a pallet with heavy bandages on his chest and both arms. His hands were both encased in bandages, and one of his legs was tied to a leg of the bed with more bandages. It didn’t look like it would be impossible for him to escape, but it certainly looked like the healing staff had opinions about Macho.

Lancaster wished he had his notepad but for some reason, it - like his radio - hadn’t made it into the Tutorial. “Macho.”

Macho twisted awkwardly on the bed. After an abortive attempt to sit up, he ended up rolled halfway onto his side, facing Lancaster. “Oh. It’s you. What happened to Raymond?”

“Dead.” Lancaster didn’t see any reason to hide it. “Tell me why you were breaking into that house, before all this started.”

“What house?”

Lancaster wasn’t sure if Macho was being difficult or if he really wasn’t sure which house Lancaster meant. “The one where you were injured. Before the Tutorial started.”

“Oh, that house. I wasn’t breaking in, I rang the doorbell. All nice and peachy. It was all a misunderstanding.” Macho ostentatiously turned his gaze to Blaze. “Got any pain meds, doc?”

“After you answer.” Lancaster wasn’t sure how much pain Macho was actually in. He certainly wasn’t acting like he was in much pain, but then again he wouldn’t, if he could manage it. “Why were you there?”

“Friendly visit. Welcoming her to the neighborhood. Had no idea her boyfriend was crazy. That all you needed?”

“I need a real answer. Why were you there?” When Macho didn’t answer, Lancaster figured he needed to push harder. “I can have someone come in and read your mind, if you don’t want to answer. Might find some other interesting stuff.” Lancaster wasn’t actually sure that was possible, but it made a good threat.

Macho blinked twice, rapidly. “There’s no need for that!” What Lancaster could see of Macho seemed pale under the bandages. “There’s a device. Supposed to look like stained glass or some shit, but with some small bowls set into it. Might connect to something else, that wasn’t clear. About two foot wide, round, somewhere in the house. That’s all I know. No idea what it does or how. Wasn’t even told it did anything but you don’t go after something like that unless it does. Now keep your dirty telepath out of my head!”

Lancaster stared at Macho. He hadn’t actually expected that to work. I wonder why he believed me so quickly?

Now all he had to do was confirm with Rissa that she had such a thing and he’d know Macho was telling the truth. It was too outlandish to be a guess.

Blaze followed Lancaster out the door. When they were again out of Macho’s hearing, Lancaster asked, “Can you keep him here? I don’t want him disappearing.”

“We can only keep people here if they need medical attention.” Blaze turned his gaze to the ceiling. “With that said, Macho’s injuries are such that I doubt he will be fully recovered before the end of this Stage of the Tutorial.”

When the two of them reached the reception area at the end of the hall, Blaze commented, “Most of the physical painkillers we keep on hand will also knock the patient unconscious. They’re cheaper, and when we’re working on someone there are other ways to control pain anyway. He’ll be less trouble if he’s out; we have the setup to keep someone unconscious healthy for days. Is there any reason you need him conscious?”

Lancaster smiled. It was nice to work with someone who was so happy to help. “No, and I should be able to let you know in advance if I have any more questions. How much notice will you need?”

“That depends on how aware he needs to be. About twelve hours will generally be sufficient.”