New faces

When the three of them exited the barrier onto the actual roof of the hospital, the bright light of the sun blinded John. It took several moments for him to adjust to the light, then several more to get over the sight of the unblemished Hospital.

“But there was so much damage,” John stated in astoundment, “how is there no damage?”

“We talked about this, John,” Rowena replied teasingly as she took John’s other arm, shooting daggers at Ryoko with her eyes, to which Ryoko replied by sticking her tongue out at one of the Voices.

John watched the interaction between the two girls that seemed to be desperately clinging to him discreetly, not understanding what was going on.

’Why does everyone want me?’ he wondered to himself as they reentered the hospital.

When the three of them reached the floor that John had been recovering on, they were greeted by two ladies that couldn’t be more different from each other if they tried. The first was dressed in a basic doctor’s lab coat and had the palest features without seeming to look like a corpse freshly raised from a grave, while the other was dressed like a careless kid rebelling against their upright parents, with a healthy glow to her skin and kind eyes.

John cast a quick observe on the two of them to find out who they were and to see if he could find out why they looked like they were expecting him.

’Well, that gives me something, but it doesn’t help with why they want to talk to me,’ John thought to himself. ’’Kay, let’s try something a little bit more direct.’

“Uh, can I help you two?” John asked looking back and forth between Tricia and Michelle with what he hoped was a helpful expression on his face.

“My name is Dr. Danielle Kislev,” the pale woman said, sounding nearly emotionless as she did so, “and I take it you are the patient that I was supposed to look at a one Mr. Newman, John, before the commotion, is that correct?”

“Yes,” John answered hesitantly, unsure how to act around the overly stuffy and cold woman.

The brightly dressed girl next to her burst out laughing. “If you two were any more awkward with each other, you could start your own sitcom,” she exhaled trying to get a grip on her laughter as she gripped her sides and bent double.

Tricia’s face darkened slightly in disapproval of her partner’s antics. There may have been a bit of a blush in there, but if there was, it was clearly too quick for anyone to see.

“Well, since you seem to be up and walking about, follow us,” she stressed the word as she gave a not so subtle kick to her partner’s shin to get her to focus, “and we can talk about what happened and your recovery plan.” Tricia turned and began walking down the hall, clearly expecting everyone to follow her.

“My name is Michelle,” the bright girl stated with a smile and a come along gesture, “and while she doesn’t seem like it, she does care deeply about each of her patients and their recovery. Let’s not keep her waiting, eh?”

John nodded and followed the second Gorbachev as she followed the first, taking the time to let his eyes rove over her backside.

She was thinner than the girls that had currently surround him, with a distinct lack of womanly curves. But he found that her lack of curves made her oddly endearing to him, a smile forming on his lips.

Rowena frowned as she watched the two Gorbachevs, following along as she was still attached to John’s arm as tightly as Ryoko was. “John,” she whispered to him, pressing her chest more tightly against his shoulder, “I think I know this doctor. She is definitely connected to the Abyss, so be careful how much of yourself you reveal to her, okay?

John looked at Rowena and nodded while Ryoko growled slightly.

“If she thinks that she will hurt my man,” Ryoko hissed warningly, her claws beginning to extend across John’s arms, “then by the Goddess of Destruction Nathalia, I will end her.”

John looked down at Ryoko, with a worried look crossing his visage. “You should watch Tenchi Muyo,” John commented, idly drawing the comparison in his mind to her and the character with the same name. Ryoko looked up at him, confusion on her face, not understanding what he was talking about. John just shook his head to indicate that she shouldn’t worry about it as they continued to follow the two ladies.

“I will be honest, Mr. Newman, I didn’t expect you to be up and about so soon out of a coma, even with your abilities,” Tricia stated matter of factly. “Frankly, we expected you to still have another week of treatments before you would be up and walking around like you are.”

She led the way into a room and patted the table for John to hop up on. “Excuse me, you two, but my patient is going to need his arms,” Tricia said while looking pointedly at Rowena and Ryoko. Rowena blushed and let go of John’s arm, while Ryoko glared at Tricia until John placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

She looked at John for a moment before her hands slid from John’s arm. Ryoko bared her teeth at Tricia, much to the amusement of Michelle who was now leaning against a wall. Ryoko stood away from John while Rowena sat down in one of the chairs.

“Now then, since we are all connected to the Abyss,” Tricia said and cast a barrier.

John looked around noting a box had appeared on her desk, but other than that nothing seemed different. Tricia watched him from the corner of her eye as she opened a box and out of it flew several small drones, which began to hover around John, scanning him with green lasers.

Rowena flashed into her armor and had a sword halfway drawn from its scabbard at the sight of the drones scanning John, and in the same breath Ryoko flew across the room and snagged one of the drones with her transforming mouth, teeth elongated and jaw grown to fit them, her hands transformed into parodies of a dragon’s clawed hands.

“That’s so cool,” John said before he felt the rush of air from Ryoko flying by him. “Wha?” John asked as he turned to see Ryoko shaking her head like she was trying to break the drone’s neck.

The total silence was enough to get the dragon girl’s attention, and as she looked over her shoulder in confusion, she saw ten eyes looking at her as if she had grown a second head. While she didn’t care what the others thought of her, it was the somewhat scared look in John’s eyes that made her drop the now destroyed drone and revert back to looking completely human.

“I’m sorry,” she said, a hurt tone in her voice, “I’ll just be outside.” And with those words she disappeared from the barrier before anyone could say a word otherwise.

Rowena frowned and put her sword and armor away. “I will stay with her to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.” And with those words she too disappeared from the barrier.