Madam President

Chapter Three

"Are you sure you have to be in the room?" Rebecca asked for probably the third time as she walked down the hall with Freen at her side. There was a slight rasp to her voice. Leave it to her to get sick a month into office.

"One-hundred percent sure."

"It seems..." Rebecca trailed off and glanced in Freen's direction.

"It's just a cold, and as much as I'd like for you to be as comfortable as possible, I also appreciate you being as alive as possible."

"I highly doubt a cold is going to be what does me in, Agent."

Freen laughed quietly in response to that. This was something new - Freen laughing. It was such an infectious laugh. And the more time she spent in the agent's company, the more often she heard it.

"Why is that funny, exactly?"

"It isn't my job to protect you from colds," Freen explained with a smile still playing at her lips as she reached to open the door to the office they'd been heading for and stepped in to let Rebecca in. "What if your physician is compromised?"

The gaze Mind leveled on her was the most deadly thing Freen had yet encountered on this assignment.

"Compromised?" She asked in an even tone with a lift of one of her brows. "Really? The first time I meet her, and you're going to suggest that I'm compromised."

Rebecca glanced between them but recovered quickly enough, reaching out to grasp the doctor's hand. "I highly doubt you're compromised, ah..."

"Doctor Mind Sarocha. You can call me Mind, of course."

"Is Sarocha a terribly common name and I'm just not aware of it?" Rebecca asked as she released her grip and Freen moved to stand near the door of the room.

She was, suddenly, as stoic as always. Save for what might or might not have been a slight quirk of one side of her mouth.

"It wasn't until my sister was assigned to head your team..." Mind trailed off and patted the cushion of the examination table nearby.

"Oh, I see." Rebecca glanced down at her hands as she nodded, then back up at Mind as she looked over what appeared to be a chart. The fact that she seemed to be clearing her throat repeatedly to avoid actually coughing wasn't lost on Mind.

"I'm actually glad you made it in today...though I'd have preferred to see you under better circumstances. I actually had a few questions."

"What might those be? I hope I have some answers for you."

Mind hummed to herself as she flipped a few pages in and tapped her pen against the sheet of paper she was examining.

"I've never gotten an incomplete medical chart for someone newly elected. Especially in the area of family medical history. Would you mind filling me in on a few things before I figure out what's ailing you?"

Rebecca was quiet for a moment. She hadn't been expecting that specific question. Not at all.

She glanced in Freen's direction to confirm that she was doing her absolute best to pay absolutely no attention.

"I'm afraid I can't help you there." Rebecca began as Mind seemed to focus a bit harder on the charts.

"You aren't aware of who your biological parents might have been, you mean."

Well. At least she wasn't going to have to explain that. "No. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help."

Mind looked up at her with a smile and placed the chart aside dismissively. "No trouble at all. We'll get some blood work on you and get more in-depth another time. We need to deal with this cold, for now."