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[jumpthegun]

You've reached Dr. John Watson. Please leave a message.

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[equal_shots]

I am not that young. [He has a responsibility to protest being called young. Obligate teenager.

The clanking stops, and Kid closes the drawer.] ...Professor Stein called you as well, then? I don't think he is suffering any mania right now, but I didn't talk with him for very long either.

[Watson shouldn't feel alone. Kid hung up on Stein, too.]

And like I said before, there are people who need blood transfusions more than I do.

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He's not. He needs to do something to prevent himself causing violence if it comes back. [There's a tightness, an anger in John's voice when he says that, but his tone smooths out.]

And as I said before, you're on the top of my list. Hacking up blood is more of a problem than pain or the other symptoms.

[equal_shots]

That, I think...is asking for a lot. [A chair scrapes along the floor as he moves it to the counter so he can reach a higher shelf with several dishes. The sound of dishes being moved from place to place, with a bit more force than would be appropriate.] ...Professor Stein and I are so different. [The hesitation is obvious, and it's hard to hear him over the dish that is slammed onto the shelf.] My impulses are simply more tolerable to you--and to most--than his.

[Kid doesn't say more on the subject, interrupted by coughing. As Undertaker had hinted in their earlier conversation, as well, Kid sounds distinctly uncomfortable, voice tight.]

Frisk--has also gotten very ill. I ran into them in the maze... [He wheezes between words, working to pull in air.] I am uncomfortable--unwilling to-- [HUFF]

Don't skip others for me. I already told you.

[jumpthegun]

[It's apparently asking too much. John doesn't want to lay that particular burden at Kid's feet. It's not his to bear.]

Kid, don't say that. You impulses aren't anything like Dr. Stein's. You don't want to hurt people. That's the major difference.

And I'm aware of Frisk. I've been talking about what to do about them and you with one of the other doctors. [Well, Claire...] No one is being deferred. We're multi-tasking. Let the doctors worry about medical matters, please. You've got enough on your plate.

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[There is a very, very long silence on Kid's end.] You don't really know that.

[He's always been compassionate towards humans, worried for their plight and wanting to ensure the best for them. But when there was nothing to be done, when he couldn't find any way to balance the scale, he thoroughly considered wiping the slate clean entirely. Surely, nothing was the perfect equilibrium.

But thinking too long on it brings the madness bubbling to the surface and he'd rather not dwell on it.]

If...if Frisk can be a priority. They are so small and without their mother... [He clears his throat, and the dishes that hadn't been moving start being rearranged again.] Which other doctors? While I don't doubt their skill, I question Dr. House and Dr. Volakis' ethical practices...

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I do.

[John is going to hold to that until he's proved wrong.]

Nurse Claire is helping me at the moment to find donors for the both of you. I don't plan on engaging Dr. House or Dr. Volakis for anything apart from equipment. If I were to call on anyone else, it would be Dr. Strange.

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Do not be so quick to think so highly of me--I am the Grim Reaper, Dr. Watson.

[But he doesn't go on. Instead, he keeps rearranging the tableware with more frustration; the plates clang more loudly as he changes their locations time and time again. Kid mumbles something that sounds like this isn't right while working, but his attention seems primarily on the conversation.]

I am glad to hear that. I...don't deny their skill, but unless their is great need, the ethical standards-- [Kid huffs as he tries to figure out how to arrange the eleven large plates and four small plates symmetrically. So far, he's had little luck.] Claire is very kind. She helped me, after Professor Stein... [You know.] And Dr. Strange seems at least appropriately concerned about the questionable ethical practices of some of our other local physicians, which speaks well to his own.

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Is that supposed to scare me? [John's voice is mild.] Death isn't an enemy as far as I'm concerned. It's just something that happens. Sometimes it's horrible, sometimes it's a relief. It just is what it is.

[John doesn't have much else to say about Stephen and Claire. He agrees with Kid.]

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It is not intended to scare you. It does not routinely scare most where I am from. It is a reminder that I am not human.

[He places the last plate on the counter and sighs, frustration audible. The chair can be heard scraping across the floor and then movement as Kid returns to a corner; the sounds of items being dumped onto the floor. Now he's re-packing his backpack.

He curls into the corner with his head against the wallaw, room spinning lazy circles and chest burning from just that short walk.]

...Does it work? Really work, I mean. The--the transfusion?

[jumpthegun]

It works to a point. It'll cure you of your current symptoms fully for a couple of days, but they do return. I'm afraid we've only got one data point at the moment. Their symptoms returned after a little over a week. Temporary relief is still relief for people who are suffering, though. Especially one's who've been suffering as long as people like you, Kid.

[equal_shots]

[He hesitates.] The symptoms come back that quickly?

Are...they the same as they are now, in severity? [In truth, Kid isn't sure how he'd feel about a short reprieve only to immediately be as sick as he is again. Such a brief taste of freedom is almost punishment.]

[jumpthegun]

Like I said, we've only got one data point. That's what happened for that patient. When I spoke with Eve about the idea, she said it might last for a couple weeks, perhaps.

The symptoms have returned to their previous severity, as far as I'm aware.

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[Kid is quiet, thinking for a long few moments. The items he's dumped on the floor from his backpack and are now rearranging are the only sign that he's still on the line.]

Thank you for trying so hard to help, Dr. Watson.

[jumpthegun]

[Trying isn't actually doing, though. That's what the doctor takes from the extended silence and that comment.]

I'll see about matching you up with a donor along with Frisk, Kid. Take care of yourself for now, all right? And please remember to eat and take medicine.

[equal_shots]

Frisk first.

[It is a shame that Watson takes Kid's silence as a statement of inadequacy. Kid is more fearful of a transfusion that could've gone to someone else being given to him and not truly benefitting him. And he still doesn't feel quite worthy of the good doctor's help, not since Stein had cut out the man's eye and Kid could do nothing to stop him.

Kid takes a deep breath and chokes on it; the cough followed by wheezing is louder than the shuffling items near the tablet.]

I do eat. And take the medicine you prescribed. It has not really been working much. Now, it just makes me tired--it has not stopped the coughing very much. [He takes a slow breath, the quiet whistling wheeze of narrowed air passages still audible as he does so. Undertaker was right to call Watson when he did, even if Kid has stalled doing it himself.] And I think--when Professor Stein--I believe he broke at least my sternum. I thought the medicine you gave, for the swelling and pain--I thought that would be enough. It...just isn't helping anymore. I know I should have said something before, but I didn't want to bother you.

[Kid doesn't think Stein broke bone. He knows, because he'd heard the crunch of bone. But hey, he's admitting he'd screwed up. And he's embarassed. He's going to try to be subtle.]

[jumpthegun]

It's never a bother to me when you ask for help, Kid. [John sighs, trying to think of what to do.]

I can see about a stronger prescription for the cough syrup. We really need you to stop coughing for that to heal, Kid. I'm sorry. A cold compress on your chest might also help with some of the pain.

[equal_shots]

[Kid is here to make sure you feel useful, Watson.]

If you are sure... [He isn't. He isn't confident that he's not bothering Watson.]

It does not hurt too terribly. [Lie.] But I will try whatever you think will help. Whatever medicine you prescribe, I will take.

[jumpthegun]

[Yeah, he doesn't believe that, Kid.]

Okay. I'll put in for some higher grade cough syrup. Let me know if that's a wash, as well, once you've tried it for a few days.

[equal_shots]

...thank you. I will let you know how the medication works.

[jumpthegun]

All right. It's going to be another syrup you'll take every four hours, or as near to that, as possible. Don't take any more than six doses over the course of twenty-four hours, though.

I'll talk to you later, Kid. Take care.