Etraya Inbox

[badlydisarmed]

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Forgot to note he's texting from his civillian id (ceo)

[theknightshift]

Perfect. I'll be in shortly.

fantastic, robert loves ceos

[badlydisarmed]

[ Once Bruce makes it to the hospital, he'll be greeted by a wheelchair and a couple of helper bots (they have name tags! Carter and Ross) if Bruce cooperates, they'll take him to Robert, who's got an exam room ready.

The hospital doesn't get a lot of use outside of arrivals, not many people stay there so outside of the helper bots, the place is pretty quiet. ]

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce refuses the wheelchair but does follow the helper bots to Robert. He doesn't particularly behave like a man injured - at least not outwardly. There's a limp, though it's slight. And Bruce wears it like an inconvenience instead of pain. It's Brucie who walks into Robert's exam room, all sheepish, but charming smiles. ]

Thanks for fitting me in. I promise I'm not usually this high maintenance.

[badlydisarmed]

Of course. And I'm sure if I asked how you got hurt you'd be completely honest about it.

[ Robert knows the type, high pain tolerance coupled with the tendency to downplay injuries. Luckily, it doesn't matter to him how the guy got hurt, his job's the same. ]

Let me see. I got a very fancy x-ray machine and I've been waiting for an excuse to use it.

[ He said two broken ribs, but only someone familiar with having broken ribs would be able to tall how many they broke. Usually he'd assume walking in and looking mostly unbothered means there's nothing too out of place, but with all the different brands of heroes in town he knows better than to risk it. ]

[theknightshift]

Got a little carried away during that last mission.

[ Technically not a lie, but Robert did not need the sordid details. And even if he did, Bruce would insist on keeping them to himself. He's not here to hash out his mistakes. Just to get this under control before it gets any worse. ]

Here I am. X-ray away.

[badlydisarmed]

I should ask the kids with x-ray vision if any of them wants to be on call. It'd make my life easier.

[ If the ribs are still where they should be, he'll take a look at the knee, give the man a brace and pain killers and see him again in a week. ]

Sit down first, let me see if it's even worth the trouble.

[theknightshift]

That'd be pretty convenient, yeah.

[ He does like he's told and has a seat so Robert can look him over properly. The knee is his main concern. The rest he could deal with on his own. ]

How long have you been a doctor?

[badlydisarmed]

Fourteen years or so. I worked in Europe for a while, should've stayed there.

[ Robert's left arm is a prosthetic from the 2000's, it's visibly janky, but it seems to be working as well as can be expected at the moment. He uses it to put on the stethoscope, though once it comes to listening to Bruce's breathing he uses his real hand. ]

Breathe in.

[theknightshift]

Oh? What part of Europe?

[ He breathes in, despite the pain, and holds. ]

[badlydisarmed]

[ Assuming Bruce's lungs sound clear an uninjured, he'll skip the x-rays. ]

England, mostly. Germany and France occasionally, I mostly did cardiothoracic surgery over there. You break your ribs often?

[ He knows the answer is yes, but it'd be neglectful not to confirm it. ]

[theknightshift]

[ More information for the profile he's building in his head. ]

Depends on what you mean by often. I like fast cars. They don't always like me.

[ It's delivered with practiced ease. The kind of sheepishness that makes it sound like a charming bad habit. ]

[badlydisarmed]

You don't have to explain yourself, how you break your bones isn't any of my business— though in the spirit of keeping some semblance of ethics, if you're being abused I can assemble a small army of helperbots for you.

[ He doesn't think Bruce is being abused, he assumes superhero shit, but he doesn't really keep tabs on the network or who's doing what. ]

Let me see the knee.

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce doesn't use the public network, so he wouldn't have found him there at any rate. He does appreciate knowing this guy doesn't ask a lot of questions.

He rolls his pant leg up to reveal a bruised, slightly swollen knee. ]

[badlydisarmed]

How did that happen? Not the circumstances, just tell me if it was a direct hit with a cartoonishly large mallet or what.

And tell me if you'll use crutches.

[ He meant to send the helperbot for them, but why bother if they won't get any use. ]

[theknightshift]

Direct hit.

[ He won't use them but for appearances -- ]

Yes, I'll use them.

[badlydisarmed]

[ One of the helperbots wanders off. ]

Usually I'd order an x-ray first, but everything is free so we can skip right into an MRI. Unless there's metal in you.

[theknightshift]

Some. I had a small MCL injury before I got here. I just wanted to make sure I haven't made it worse.

[ Damian cracked that crowbar across his knee pretty good. ]

[badlydisarmed]

There's some metal in you?

[ Why is there metal in this guy? How much metal is some metal?

Whatever, maybe he can do a CT scan. That should make the bullets a non-issue and it'll give him a clearer picture than an x-ray. ]

You know what? Forget I asked, we'll do a CT, if everything's in the right place I'll give you a brace, anti-inflammatory meds, and painkillers you probably won't take.

[theknightshift]

[ Some plates and some pins. Bruce shrugs. ]

I like fast cars.

[ He leaves it at that as he hops down from the table. ]

Which way?

[badlydisarmed]

[ The helper bot helpfully offers Bruce the crutches. Robert doesn't actually expect Bruce to use them once he gets out but he's doing what he can. ]

Left, first door down the hall.

[ It'll be interesting to see all the cumulative damage from "fast cars" ]

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce isn't overly concerned about any of that. He could have - probably should have - asked Clark to do this. But there's sense in having more than one option. The poorly healed bones and plates and pins will be difficult to explain, but Bruce will manage.

He takes the crutches and puts them to use to hobble his way out of the room and into the next. Easy enough. ]

Mind if I keep my shirt on?

[badlydisarmed]

Not at all. Patient's comfort first unless it's an emergency.

[ Mr. Smooth Liar can keep all of his clothes on if he wants to, Robert just wants to make sure his knee functions as well as it possibly can. He almost wishes they had an actual healer in town, it'd be nice to have someone who can mumbo jumbo injuries away— he was helped by one but he hasn't seen her or sought her out.

He pokes at one of the robots as they make their way to the CT machine. ]

Remind me to check if that one healer's still in town.

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce doesn't trust magic. So he would do no such thing, unfortunately. He settles into the CT machine and waits for the scan to begin. ]

Have you been in Etraya long?

[badlydisarmed]

A few months. I was originally pulled from my home universe to Solmara, I don't know if you've heard about that.

[ He's happy to give out his tragic multiverse backstory while he runs the scan. ]

Different bubble city, ran by a different AI— there's a whole soap opera there, but a group of us were sent to infiltrate this bubble city. Our carefully selected spies found friends from their home worlds here and folded immediately.

[theknightshift]

[ He's combed the network, though only to a certain point. Solmara is a name familiar to him and while he knows broad strokes, finer details are missing, making for an incomplete picture. Bruce has work to do when he's done here. ]

Huh. So there's more than one of these places around. That's really neat!