Enter the Dragon Part 10

Hello everybody,
And – here we go, part 10. 🙂 You can find Part 9 here with a list of where all the others are as well. When I have holiday, I’m going to sort out the ease of browsing a bit.

Enter The Dragon, Part 10

Minias stared at her for several seconds then, said quite smoothly, in the most articulate tone she had ever heard him use;
“No.”
Alyssa blinked. “Just like that?” she queried.
“Yes,” Minias said simply, but crossed his arms, telling Alyssa that he expected retaliation on her part. “No.”
Alyssa wasn’t going to take that as the easy answer. “Yes or no?” she said queried, even though she knew what he meant.
“No,” Minias said again. “You wanted a dragon, you take care of it.”
Alyssa gave him a look. “I didn’t want him,” she said. “He wanted me. Or my room anyway.”
Minias raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “But you let him stay,” he said. “You didn’t want to kick him out.”
Alyssa made a sound in the back of her throat. “Last time I checked,” she said coldly. “I let you stay too.”
Minias smiled at her, though it wasn’t a pleasant look. “But, you asked me to stay,” he pointed out. “Which I have to say makes me feel as if we’re on even grounds in this.”
Alyssa hesitated, realizing that her side of the argument was slipping a little. “But, I don’t charge you rent,” she said.
“But, I hardly take up any space,” Minias pointed out. “I have my own rooms Alyssa, I just pass through yours to be sociable.”
Alyss’s eyes narrowed. “And catch me naked I’m sure,” she said dryly. “And for that privilege, I would ask you to please take care of my dragon.”
Minias raised an eyebrow. “What?” he queried. “To see you naked?”
“No!” Alyssa snapped. “To pass through my room! Please Minias, I just need you to take care of Will for a couple of hours.”
Minias looked at her blankly. “No.” He said again. “And, really Alyssa – you’ve never asked this of me before, normally he stays in your room. He’s perfectly happy here.”
Alyssa nodded with a touch of dismay and looked at Will who had gone to worry Nikki out of her basket. He wanted to play with the sausage dog (still believing that she’s a dragon) but Nikki was having none of it. She waddled outside and went to lie in the weak winter sun.
“I know,” Alyssa continued her side of the conversation. “But, Will’s been following me around all day. I went to the garage store with almost disastrous consequences. I really want someone to keep him here in my room.”
Minias frowned and looked the young woman up and down. “You’re going riding?” he queried to which Alyssa nodded, making him smile.
“But, that’s perfect Alyssa,” he all but purred. “There’s a lot of space there, you can take him along let him get some exercise. He hasn’t spread his wings properly in all the time he’s been here.”
Alyssa snorted. “If you’re referring to flying,” she said. “I’d rather he don’t attempt that in my room. It could be disastrous.”
Minias raised an eyebrow. “So could me taking care of him,” he pointed out. “Take him with you Alyssa, otherwise let him go entirely because then you are not doing him or his kind a justice keeping him locked up in your room.”
Alyssa growled at him, but realized that he was right. Sighing, she grimaced at Will who was still pestering Nikki. Now that he was outside the room, he was the size of a pony again and the little dog didn’t like it.
“Fine,” she said and grabbed her bag, turning around so that she didn’t have to see Minias’ smug expression. “I just don’t know how I’m going to get him there.”

The Road of Fame Reloaded.

I’m getting a bit tired with my NaNoWriMo tale, and decided as a treat to a good friend of mine who reads this blog that I’ll post this continuation of my NaStySuMo story. To recape, NaStySuMo was a writing project I participated in during August where the challenge was to write a story where the characters had super powers. My character was a young woman called Fame who found herself in a little bit more trouble than she could deal with. You can find the whole story in my Nastysumo catergory. J

The Road of Fame Part 10

Staring at the Wanderer, dreading the outcome of the next couple of minutes, Fame gave the young woman one last look and stood up, carefully reaching out to touch her. The Wanderer braced herself and closed her eyes as Fame closed her own. She tightened her hand on the young woman’s shoulder until, quite abruptly, she felt the woman disappear. When she opened her eyes it was only she and Lara in the room. Glancing at the Tomb Raider, Fame took a deep breath and slowly sat down on the floor, clutching her shoulder. She had slipped the game controller into her sling next to her PSP but didn’t reach for it immediately.

“It hurts.”

Lara grimaced and went to the kitchen to pour her a glass of water. “I’m not surprised. You better get on with it.”

The young woman looked at her and sighed, looking at her television screen. “What if ah can’t bring him back?” she queried and gladly accepted the glass Lara offered her. The game character’s face was very stoic as she shrugged, not giving away a shred of her own doubt and worry.

“We’ll answer that when we know,” she said simply. “Come on Fame.”

The young woman grimaced and took the control again. It only took her a couple of seconds to find another loaded game, but it took almost a full minute to load it.

It felt like the longest minute of her life.

When she paused the game, staring at The Wanderer’s computer generated hands, she grimaced and stood up again, fighting the sense of vertigo that threatened her balance. Lara didn’t join her, but remained in the corner of the room, watching as Fame went closer to the television screen and carefully rested her good hand on it. Closing her eyes, Fame took as deep a breath as she could and focused.

There was a lengthy pause and then…

“Did it work?”

Fame opened her eyes and turned to find The Wanderer standing behind her, her eyes wide with hope. Looking around the room, Fame glanced at Lara who shook her head. “I’ll try again,” she said. “Just stay here, I’ll see if I can pull him out.”

The Wanderer’s eyes were dark as she regarded Fame and crossed her arms. Biting her lip, Fame looked at the screen and took another steadying breath. She reached out to touch the television screen but was interrupted by a knock on the door. All three women blinked and looked at each other. When the knock came again, Fame quickly stepped away from the television and moved to the door.

“It must be Dr. Walker,” she said. “Just stay back; ah don’t want her seeing you.”

She linked in the security chain and opened the door and, as expected she saw her doctor standing in front of her door, peering through the crack she had made. She smiled when she saw Fame and made a motion down the stairs.

“Are you ready to go Amy?” she queried.

Fame grimaced and shook her head. “Ah just need tae finish up with a couple’a things,” she said. “Ye can wait for me in the car if ye want. Ah’ll be down in a second.”

Dr. Walker raised an eyebrow and put her hand on the door. “Why don’t I wait inside?” she said. “I can help you finish up then if you want.”

Fame refrained from showing her irritation and quickly glanced back at the two game characters. “Ah’m almost done,” she insisted. “Ah’ll be down in a second, really. Ah just need to… finish up.”

Again, the woman gave her that look in which Fame could immediately see that she didn’t believe her. “Fame, please let me come in,” she said. “I’m not going to wait for you in the car.”

Defiance burned inside the young gamer as she glanced back at Lara and The Wanderer. They had both had their weapons drawn, but Lara sighed first and put them away, motioning to The Wanderer to do the same. When the girl didn’t comply immediately, Lara pointed her finger at her in a ‘careful’ kind of gesture before she motioned to Fame that she could let the doctor in.

Sighing miserably, Fame nodded at the doctor and closed the door so that she could slip off the chain. Then, when she let Dr. Walker in she stood back, also giving The Wanderer a warning look. Rolling her eyes in an exasperated fashion the young woman holstered her pistols, following Lara’s example. The two crossed their arms and didn’t smile when Dr. Walker saw them.

“Dr. Walker,” Fame said quickly before anybody could say anything. “These are friends of mine, they’ve just… come from a gaming convention in Cardiff. They came round to see if ah’m alright.”

Dr. Walker studied the women’s apparel with a critical eye. She glanced over The Wanderer but looked at Lara with a little bit more attention.

“Lara Croft I presume?” she queried.

The tomb raider smiled and stepped forward smoothly, holding out her hand in greeting. “Trying to be,” she said with a small smile. “I take it you are Amy’s doctor?”

Fame glared at Lara for using her name, but Dr. Walker smiled and nodded, taking Lara’s hand and squeezing it briefly before turning to Fame.

“For the moment,” she said. “I’m here to take her back to hospital, we had an agreement. Didn’t we Fame?”

The welsh girl sniffed stubbornly, turning her face away from the woman so that she could look at her television screen. She couldn’t help but think suddenly that if the power went out without warning, she was going to have to explain a lot.

“Ah haven’t found m’dog yet,” she mumbled. “Ah can’t go back now.”

Dr. Walker seemed to grimace and shook her head. “Amy,” she said softly. “If he’s no here love, then I can’t see you finding him within the day. It’s really time that I get you back, you’re as pale as a sheet. If you let me take you back, I promise that I’ll go to some of the shelters myself and look for your dog. Your friends can come with me if they want – I’m sure they’ll be able to spot him quicker than I would.”

Not wanting to tell the woman that that would not be a very good idea, Fame shook her head tiredly. “Ah just need ten more minutes,” she said. “Please Dr. Walker – ah’ll be at the car in a moment. Just give me a little bit more time.”

The doctor looked ready to protest when, without warning, there was another knock on the door. Knowing the two women, Fame could see that it took a very visible effort from both of them not to draw out their guns in the presence of Dr. Walker. She too had to show an intense amount of self restraint not make it known how intensely irritated she was. She could not stop herself from cursing as she stormed to the door.

“What dumb smuck’s here now?” she drawled. “My apartment’s small enough.”

Once again she put the security chain on the door and glancing back at the three women in her small living room she threw it open, her irritation clear on her face. She looked at the person for a moment or two then said abruptly.

“Who the bloody hell are you?”

To Be Continued…

NaStySuMo – Part 9 – The Road of Fame.

Hello everybody,

Part 9 of my web story for NaStySuMo. Three days left in August. 😉 It won’t be done by then.

If you want to see what the Lone Wanderer (in my mind here) looks like please feel free to go to this link. It’s not my art naturally, it’s a representation of someone else’s idea of their wanderer but it’s the closest look to mine. 😉

Enjoy!

Part 9 The Road of Fame.

The Wanderer managed to get one punch in before the Tomb Raider pulled her from Fame. The young gamer opened her eyes just in time to see Lara grab the Wanderer by her shirt collar and throw her across the room. The Wanderer reacted quickly as she rolled to her feet and pulled the automatic shotgun from her back. Before she could aim though Lara had both her pistols in her hands and aimed for The Wanderer’s head.

They were going to kill each other.

With her head faint from the pain in her shoulder and the Wanderer’s punch, Fame pushed herself up quickly and stumbled towards them.

“Stop!” She yelled as she stepped in between the two women. “Drop ye weapons! Ah said stop! Ah won’t see you two harm each other! Ye won’t! Not here!”

Lara’s features were unchanging as she kept her gaze on The Wanderer. “Step aside Fame,” she said coldly. “Get out of the way.”

The Wanderer’s eyes were livid as she looked at Lara but there were grubby marks on her face, showing that she had been crying. She was short, with dirty brown hair and dark eyes that were hidden behind old biker goggles. She brought the smell of dirt and dust and human sweat with her and her clothes were worn and dirty. She had a red bandana around her neck and a brown jacket with cargo pants. Along with the shotgun in her hands she still had two more pistols strapped to her legs and a hunting rifle to her back.

“Don’t think I won’t shoot you,” The Wanderer growled at Fame. “Get your guns out of my face bitch. My dog is dead!”

Lara made to comment but Fame gave her a pleading look and put her hand on The Wanderer’s shotgun, pushing down the barrel. The young woman resisted, but her arms started shaking as her emotions threatened to burst to the surface.

Fame saw it and met The Wanderer’s gaze, not caring if she showed the woman how scared she was. “Tell me about Dogmeat,” she said. “Please, ah have t’ know what happened.” She glanced behind her. “Lara, please.”

Looking at her, Lara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, she dropped her arms to her side, but she kept her pistols in her hands, her attention never wavering from The Wanderer. When the guns were out of her face, The Wanderer seemed to sag inside herself and allowed Fame to pull the shotgun from her grip.

“He’s just lying there,” she said. “He’s dead Fame.”

She was struggling to remain on her feet, to keep her calm pose. Fame swallowed and blinked, clinging to The Wanderer’s shotgun. “Are ye sure?” she queried to which the Wanderer gave her a dark look and showed her the old blood on her jacket.

“You can’t stand up from a bullet in the head Fame. What did you do to him?” She looked at the Tomb Raider accusingly but Fame quickly shook her head.

“It wasn’t her,” she said, just to clear things up. “He got shot at m’work. They robbed the bank and the suspects came into the shop. It happened before ah could do anything.” Her throat tightened. “Ah didn’t even see him. I’m sorry.”

The Wanderer looked at her and abruptly took a step back so that she could sink down on Fame’s threadbare couch, her head in her hands. Lara shifted awkwardly and put her pistols away, studying Fame as she looked at the other woman in dismay.

“May I point out something?” she said. “I can’t imagine that he’s completely gone.” When the two women turned to her she continued quickly, turning her back on them so that she could go to the console and pick up the controller.

“I have watched you play your games Fame,” Lara continued as she put the controller in the young woman’s hand and directed her back to the console. “I have seen you,” she pointed at The Wanderer, “die quite a couple of times at her hand and then, all she does is reload her game and continue. And then it’s possible for her to summon both you and your dog afterwards, none the wiser.” She motioned to Fame. “Just reload the game and summon him back.”

The two others turned two very similar looks in her direction. Fame’s mouth thinned as she thought it over, tapping the controller as she thought about it. “That… might work,” she said. “But… Ah think for continuity… Ah don’t know.”

The Wanderer glared at her. “That’s the problem with you little girl,” she snapped. “You don’t know, don’t think. You just pull us out of our lives without a thought to the consequence. It’s not a game there!”

“Quiet,” Lara snapped, seeing the look on Fame’s face. “You’re not making it easier Wanderer. Fame, maybe you should sit down love, you are not well.” She pulled a chair closer.

Fame didn’t sit down immediately, her features puzzled as she tried to work something out she didn’t completely understand. Looking at The Wanderer she took a deep breath and motioned to the screen. “Ye can’t watch,” she said. “When ah load another game ye’ll leave, ah can’t summon two from the same line at the same time.”

The Wanderer stood up sharply, her face cold as she picked up her shotgun. “Then send me back and get this over with,” she snapped. “I’m not willing to wait on false hope.”

Lara gave her a look and all but pushed Fame to the chair. “You don’t know that it’s false.” She pointed out to which the Wanderer snorted. “Just send me back.”

Fame, grateful to be sitting down, nodded. “I’ll fix this,” she said slowly but the Wanderer shook her head.

“Don’t make false promises,” she said. “Now, let’s get this over with.”

To Be Continued…

 

NaStySuMo – Part 8 – The Road of Fame.

I’ve read through this story and I think that it bears testament to my slightly dark outlook on life this past month. I apologize, lol, I had planned to keep it light and funny but my characters develop issues all by their lonesome. The newspaper article is a salute to Meleart’z fiction. You can find it here.

Enjoy!

Part 8

To Fame’s surprise, the doctor released her into her personal care and drove her to her apartment after her shift ended. The idea was that she would drop Fame off at home, run some errands for herself, and then return to take her back to the hospital. Fame wasn’t sure whether it was legal or allowed but she didn’t care. It would give her a few, precious moments by herself in a place she felt safe.

In theory, she could’ve summoned Lara back while she was still at the hospital, but after EPR’s questioning, she had been totally freaked out and frightened of being discovered.

On some deep, instinctive level, Fame knew that her powers had changed and that she would be considered a lot more efficient now than she was a couple of years ago. The shift hadn’t come in her own powers but rather at the development of technology and graphics in the console world. She didn’t want to get involved with EPR in any way. She really just wanted to be left alone.

The mere exertion of going to the doctor’s car had exhausted her and after explaining to the woman how to get to her apartment, she dosed off until the woman touched her leg to wake her.

“We’re here,” Dr. Walker said when Fame blinked at her. “Amy, should I come up with you?”

Unsure of what she was going to find, Fame shook her head sharply and looked at her apartment. She rented a room in the outskirts of town above a charity shop. It used to be old offices but was now rented out as oddly build, one or two room apartments. Getting out of the car, ignoring the pain in her shoulder, Fame thanked the doctor and remained on the curb until the woman pulled away. Then she turned around slowly and went round the back of the building because she had to use the fire escape to go to her apartment. It didn’t bother her normally but today, the wet metal staircase loomed in front of her, daunting. Closing her eyes, Fame steadied herself against the railing. In the sling, she turned on her PSP and waited until she felt steadying hands on her shoulder.

“Fame, where have you been?!”

The young woman opened her eyes to see Lara Croft look down on her, her dark eyes lined with worry. “You haven’t called me in days!” She continued her tirade as it started raining. “I have been beside myself! The last thing I saw when that bloody thing turned off was you slipping away into unconsciousness. And then, you just didn’t call me back! What was I supposed to think?!” She trailed off suddenly when she saw the expression on the young woman’s pale face, how she barely managed to keep from crying. The brunette seemed to sag inside herself and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. She still wore her black cargo pants and tank top but this time she had a jacket on as well.

“Let’s get you inside,” she said gently and put a careful arm around Fame’s back, half pushing, half guiding her up the steps. “We can talk about this after you’ve had a nice, warm cup of tea.”

Fame chocked back a laugh as she shook her head, hoping that she had remembered her apartment keys in the bag that she packed at the hospital. She had been in such a hurry to get home she didn’t bother thinking about how she was going to get inside. When they were at the top Lara took her bag from her and dug through it until she managed to procure her keys. Fame remained silent until they were inside the narrow entryway of her apartment. There, she pressed herself against the wall and, to Lara’s surprise, sank down to the floor and started crying. Unsure of what to do, the Tomb Raider sat down beside her and carefully held her until she quieted down. They remained still for several minutes when Fame finally pushed herself up, rubbing at her eyes, looking very embarrassed.

“Sorry,” she muttered, not looking at the woman. “It’s been… crazy.”

Sighing in a suffered kind of way, Lara shook her head and stood up, gently patting her on the back. “Let’s get you some tea,” she said. “The world will be a better place after that. Where have you been Fame?”

The young woman grimaced and looked around her apartment to see if things were as she had left it. Her mail had piled up by the door but for the rest everything seemed fine. It came as no surprise to her that her plants looked better than they have when she left and there were even two new tomato plants in her windowsill. Hawk always pretended to be very blasé about his power but he truly loved plants. He had also pinned a newspaper article to her fridge which read:
‘Rogue London telepath kidnaps child, foils robbery in the process.’
Underneath it he wrote: ‘See, we don’t all have to be subtle to save the world.’
Fame didn’t find it very funny.

“In hospital,” she replied to Lara’s previous question. “They wouldn’t release me.”

The Tomb Raider raised an eyebrow as she put Fame’s old, battered teapot on the hob. “I’m surprised that they’ve let you out now,” she said as she watched the young woman search for her television remote. “You don’t look well Fame.”

The young woman snorted. “Ah am well enough, thank ye kindly,” she muttered. “The doctor, she’s going to come an’ get me later. Ah’ve just been temporarily released, ah have. Have ye seen me remote?”

Lara stepped out of the open plan kitchen and went to the umbrella holder by the door, fishing out Fame’s television remote and turning the set on from the passage, giving Fame a very strict look before she walked to the television and stood in front of it.

“That doesn’t sound like a normal course of action,” she pointed out. “And, this is no time for games Fame.”

The young woman glared at her and motioned to her Playstation 3. “Ah have to summon The Wanderer,” she said. “Ah got Hawk t’ turn of the system so tha’ she could go back and check up on Dogmeat. That’s why I needed to come back, to see if he’s alright.”

The flicker of worry in Lara’s eyes was so quick Fame almost missed it. With a suffered sigh, the woman stepped away from the television and went back into the kitchen where the pot was starting to boil.

“Don’t overexert yourself,” she said, not looking at Fame. “And be ready for anything. The Wanderer’s very attached to her dog.”

Fame grimaced and nodded as she turned on her system, waiting for the game to load.

She summoned The Wanderer and Dogmeat from a game called Fallout 3. It was a first person shooter, role playing game. It was set in a post-apocalyptic nuclear war environment, where The Wanderer had to leave the shelter of her home – a vault protected from the nuclear wasteland, to find her father whom had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She was a volatile character with a lot of guns and Fame wouldn’t have summoned her at all if it wasn’t for Dogmeat. Where the canine liked Fame, its mistress and the gamer had a shaky alliance at best.

When she got the game loaded, Fame paused it immediately and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she touched the television screen. She barely had time to open her eyes before she was suddenly knocked the floor with an anguished cry.

“You killed my dog!” The Wanderer yelled as she leapt onto Fame despite the young woman’s pained shout of protest. “He’s dead! Dogmeat’s dead!”

To Be Continued…

NaStySuMo – Part 7 – The Road of Fame.

We are in the last week of August, which will signal the end of NaStySuMo. As you all might’ve gathered, I’m just getting started with this, (laughs at self) so needless to say, it won’t be finished in 7 days. I’m going to see how far this will go and then just continue to write on it afterwards. J If it stretches into November, I’ll use NaNoWriMo to complete it. (Mental note to self… Plan NaNoWriMo… only 69 more days to go…)

On a holiday note – I went on a factory tour today (going to a friend’s workplace with her) and saw how they made/manufactured/bottled cosmetic products. I even saw how they made lipstick. Even though I’m completely against the whole cosmetic industry, I can’t deny that it was very cool. Don’t have any pictures, lol, maybe some tomorrow!

Part 7 – The Road of Fame

As with all children, Fame was tested for the Evolutionate DNA Marker the very day of her birth though it was sort of expected that she would be one. Both her parents were strong Type 3 Red Evolutionates, who did freelance work for the EPR. They were very proud of their daughter and more than a few people kept an eye on her when she grew up, searching for any signs of her powers. By the time that she was nine, she had not yet manifested anything, making her parents retest her for the marker. She had it, but it became clear that, if she had any powers, it was either still deeply buried or very weak. Although there were a few people who were disappointed, her parents weren’t among them, content to be allowed to raise their daughter with no interference from the government.

Even as a child, Fame had very poor social skills, preferring to keep to herself more than to interact with other children. When her parents bought her a Game Boy for her 10^th birthday, she retreated to the world of electronic gaming and, for the first time, showed a spark of power. One day, when her parents entered her room, they found her playing with building blocks similar to those used in Tetris. Their structure was weak, and when they turned off her Game Boy, they disappeared. When they took her to be retested, it was determined that Fame could somehow ‘summon’ elements from computer games.

The ‘system’ tried very hard to incorporate Fame, to develop her powers to something that might be useful, but it became clear that her ability was limited. Game characters disintegrated at touch and Fame didn’t seem to be able to control what she could pull from the games. To her parents’ silent dismay (who had tried very hard to raise her as her own person without limitations), she was tagged among the weakest of the Evolutionates, her ability not even being deemed good enough to be used in self defence.

The law required that Fame had to be retested at sixteen, to see whether her abilities had increased or evolved somehow, but that was a difficult year for the young gamer and when she had to go for her test, she could barely pull anything from the screen. The EPR, who was responsible for the control and monitoring of Evolutionates, did what they could to integrate her into normal society and all but forgot about her.

Until now.

&&&

Fame was transferred to the general ward two days later when the doctor was satisfied with her progress. To her dismay, she was told that she would still have to remain in hospital for at least a couple more days to allow her shoulder more time to heal. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist came to see her, warning her about the signs and effects of post traumatic shock but Fame ignored her as much as she ignored the physiotherapist who came to speak to her about her shoulder’s rehabilitation. The police also came and questioned her about the robbery, but she gave them the same information that she had given the EPR, further stating that she wouldn’t feel confident in herself to be able to identify the bank robbers successfully based on their voices.

She didn’t want to be a witness.

Fame just wanted to go home and when she was capable of walking down the corridor without falling over or passing out, she all but demanded it. When her demands weren’t met, she asked for an AMA dismissal, a request that wasn’t met with enthusiasm.

“Needless to say,” Fame was saying as she glared at the nurse from her bed, clutching her PSP in a death grip. “AMA means Against Medical Advice. Of course me doctor didn’t clear it! Ah want to leave despite wha’ she says! It’s me bloody right. I’m not under arrest!”

The nurse shook her head dutifully and put on an expression that was supposedly meant to calm Fame down. “Of course,” she said soothingly as she glanced at the rest of the patients and abruptly closed the curtain around them. “That goes without saying. I am telling you though that you cannot leave now. You are not well enough to be away from medical care. Any number of complications can still occur. My suggestion would be for you to relax a little bit and wait for Dr. Walker to arrive so that she can explain to you…”

Fame growled and slipped off of the bed, pulling at her IV line but not quite ready to tear it out. “And she’ll tell me exactly the same thing as you just did,” she said. “That I am not fit to be released. Well, I tell you I feel just fine and I want to go home! I know my rights, I demand an AMA dismissal.”

The nurse’s mouth thinned as she looked at Fame, her eyes travelling to the security caller button beside her bed. Fame followed her gaze and fumed. “And, don’t think of calling security! This is not a prison. You cannot keep me here against my will!”

The curtain around them parted unexpectedly as Fame’s doctor stepped in, her air of authority immediately making Fame get back into her bed, even as she glared at the woman. She had come to really dislike Dr. Marlene Walker, feeling as if the woman herself was solely responsible for her incarceration. What vexed her even more was the she was always calm, almost friendly. Even now, as Fame was shouting down her nurse, she surveyed the scene calmly and slipped her hands into her white coat pocket.

“We’re not keeping you here against your will Amy,” she said calmly. “We’re keeping you here for your own good.” She glanced at her nurse. “I’ll handle it from here, thank you.”

The nurse smiled at her, clearly relieved, and left the cubicle, leaving Fame alone with the woman. Fame watched her leave and then turned to the doctor, biting her lip as she considered what to do further.

Dr. Walker calmly leaned against her bed and smiled. “Now, tell me Amy,” she said softly. “What’s the problem here?”

At her real name, Fame flinched and pressed herself against her cabinet, swallowing sudden tears. “Ah want t’ go home,” she said without looking at the woman. “Ah really want t’ go home. Ah need t’ see if m’dog’s there – ah need to sort out some things and see people. Ah can’t stay here any longer. Please, just… I’ll sign the AMA. But, ah want to go.” She slipped her PSP into the sling around her arm so that she could steady herself against the bed with her good arm, her tirade leaving her feeling miserable and tired, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to win a war of words with the doctor.

Dr. Walker considered her for a few seconds and sighed, motioning to Fame to sit on the bed. “Amy, you are not well enough yet,” she said simply. “I have explained to you that we need to keep monitoring you, for your own sake. Amongst all the usual trauma associated with a gunshot wound, you are also still at risk for an infection. Can’t you wait just a couple more days?”

Fame closed her eyes but shook her head determined. “No,” she said simply. “Nobody can find Dogmeat but me. If he is still here, I’m the only one who can find him.”

Dr. Walker sighed and looked at the dark curtain before she continued. “Isn’t there anybody else who can do this for you? A close family member or friend?”

Fame’s urge to cry became stronger as she shook her head. “It’s just me,” she said simply. “Please Dr. Walker even… even if it’s just temporary leave. Like an outpatient. Or something. Please, ah need to go home.”

The doctor frowned at her, debating her strong words before she sighed and picked up her chart, scanning its contents. Her features softened as she turned a page and closed the file, resting it on her lap and pinching the bridge of her nose as she did so.

“Alright Amy,” she said abruptly. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

To Be Continued…