This choice: Before Julian could do anything, the doctor comes back to check on him (7:32 PM) • Go Back...Chapter #8The Doctor Is In by: Kilbil   Before Julian could decide on anything, the door suddenly slammed open, causing Julian to practically leap up to the ceiling with a yelp. Fortunately, Dr. Turvin hadn't seen his comical display, as he entered the room with a red plastic clipboard firmly in front of his eyes. The stocky 12-year-old could tell that it would be a while before he took his eyes off of whatever medical junk he was reading.
Julian didn't know what to make of the doctor, honestly. He was the one who had taken charge of treating him once the nurse had managed to stem the bleeding, and he'd been more or less trained on the boy like a hawk since. He had the typical general practitioner getup, with the white coat and the stethoscope around his neck. Most of the rest of his appearance was nothing special, either: yellow-and-blue striped tie, black shoes, burgundy pants, all designed for practicality more than show. The only reason Julian took much note of what he looked like was because he had a bulbous nose dotted with warts that kind of looked like a diseased tomato, with a bushy grey moustache that wiggled with every word his spoke and thick-rimmed black glasses that looked far too large for the face they were holding. That comical-looking face had imprinted itself into his young, impressionable mind, and would no doubt linger long after he had forgotten almost everything else about this miserable oh-so-wonderful and grand island vacation.
However, contrary to his otherwise dull appearance, Dr. Turvin was extremely sharp, managing to discern more or less what had happened within a few seconds of observing him. There were times when Julien swore that he lingered on his pendant a little bit longer than strictly necessary, though. He knew that it stuck out - any pendant that had an arm flexing on one side was bound to catch a few stray eyes here and there - but there was nothing to indicate that it was anything more than one of those cheap novelty medals you could get at a gag store.
Julien's eyes widened in realization. Did the doctor know about the pendant? That paper the pendant had come with looked old, though the fact that it was in English meant that it probably wasn't too long ago since it was written. This guy seemed like the type to read a lot, which definitely included a lot of texts about old civilizations and ancient artifacts. There was a non-zero chance he came across a reference to it somewhere along the way while reading through some treatise about ancient Hawaiian hygiene or whatever and read all about its powers!
Well, Julian wasn't going to let anyone get their greed mitts on what he rightfully found first without a fight. He was on to that doctor.
Dr. Turvin, meanwhile, had finally finished going over his clipboard, and did a cursory lookover at his patient with a discerning, yet concerned gaze. "That was quite the nasty head wound you got. Be glad that someone managed to find and drag you here right away, otherwise things would've gotten dicey really quick. I presume you don't want to tell anyone else what happened?"
"Well..." Should he be truthful about this? It seemed like the doctor was on his side, but he didn't want anyone to interfere with giving his brothers their first real taste of revenge. "I... no. It's personal, and I'd rather deal with this myself."
"I see." the doctor replied with a non-judgmental tone. He didn't appear to be paying any mind to the pendant, instead continuing to note down Julian's current disposition and well-being. The 12-year-old was relieved, but at the same time he kept his guard up. There was no telling what kinds of thoughts were going on behind those heavy-rimmed glasses. "In any case, I've already called your parents to let them know that you're here. Your vitals appear to be fine, so they should be here to pick you up shortly. In the meantime, though, I would like to perform some quick tests. You can never be too careful."
"What do you mean, 'tests'?" Julian skeptically asked. He scooched away from the doctor a bit, putting himself against the back wall of the clinic right next to the examination chair. "You're not going to probe me or anything, right?"
"Oh, no, of course not." Dr. Turvin good-naturedly denied with a bemused huff. "Just some simple diagnostic checks here and there to make sure that you're in tip top shape. With any luck, you'll be able to make it back in time for dinner."
Julian wanted to object - he just wanted to get out of here already - but there was the kindly uncle vibe to the doctor that had him hesitating. There didn't appear to be anything particular untoward about him, and he hadn't given the impression of being some shady character looking to undermine him. Honestly, he felt kind of bad for judging him so harshly.
"Alright." The stocky boy eventually relented. "As long as you're done quick, I guess I'll allow this." He didn't have to try too hard to rationalize his decision.
There was only so much energy he could dedicate to thinking the worst of everybody he met. All of his rage and anger had to be reserved explicitly for the ones who deserved it the most.
Dr. Turvin smiled jovially. "Oh, I assure you, good man: this'll be over in a jiffy."
Reluctantly, Julian took off the pendant and put onto a metal stand set by the examination chair to his left. Then, he let himself relax while the doctor did the usual procedures, mainly checking his heartbeat and testing his reflexes. He still wasn't entirely sure why all of this was even necessary, but at the same time, he did hit his head pretty hard. Maybe Dr. Turvin was just being cautious.
Eventually: "Now then, you should be good to go. Just wait right here, and your parents should be right along to pick you up."
At the sound of the door slamming shut, Julian lifted himself up from the examination chair. Finally. He was going to kind of miss how comfy the seats were, but he had work to do. Hopefully no one else would be around to interrupt him this time.
As fate would have it, just a few short seconds later, at around 7:42 PM, something most awful came about to ruin any plans the preteen may have had:   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2025 Kilbil (UN: lllop at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
citywalker has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author