The Doctor's Assistant

Scrapped Material/ More Halloween Stuff

I usually don't do authors notes, but this is one of the exceptions. I just found some old writing for an earlier chapter that I didn't include since I didn't know at the time if it would fit in at all. It didn't make it, obviously, but it's long enough to allow you guys to enjoy it. I'll be updating other stories soon, too. Have a good day!

Two more volunteers showed up within a week of each other in mid October, one of them skipping the conversation entirely by doing something a bit...graphic. Madds dispatched the other, after I did my job as his assistant by opening the door and greeting the new victim, shooing me to another room so I didn't have to see anything. He was working on things, respecting my boundaries, not making me eat the volunteers either. The rest of the month mimicked regular domestic living, give or take the few times the doctor took a medical cooler outside with him, clearly full from the muscle strain his arms were showing, and returned with it emptied.

Halloween was a nightmarish event. Beyond being scary due to Madds breaking out the real human skulls and bones, it was also fun. I had so much candy that I was jittering for the next week afterwards. Apparently the only trick-or-treaters that showed up were scared young kids that were dared to knock on the door by their older siblings. Madds opened the door delightedly each time to hand out candy, sometimes pushing me out of the way if I got up first, but by the time he had turned around to drop it in their bags the kids had taken off. On occasion, there were some kids that came back and thanked the doctor before running off again. Madds seemed to be happy just to celebrate the holiday. When it got too late for kids to be outside, the doctor suggested that we watch a scary movie. I decided to suggest all the movies I knew he'd say no to.

"Silence of the Lambs? That might be a good one, Madds."

"Very funny, Elliot. But do you have any actual suggestions?" The doctor was giving me a look, it was the look of someone that was sick of cannibal movies.

"Motel Hell? Hannibal seasons one through four?"

"No."

"Frankenstein?" I said pointing to my new eye, which still had scarring beneath it, obviously out of ideas.

"Really, Elliot? Is that the best you can do?" questioned Madds. I'd never seen someone so disappointed and irritated at the same time.

"Yes," was my meek reply. Afterwards we settled on an old movie starring Bela Lugosi, laughing at the nineteen times the film reused a scene since the actor apparently died during the making of the movie. The doctor had good taste when it came to classics. His projector mixed with the lackluster special effects made me feel like I was in a movie theater from the 1940's.

On a less haunted note, Madds also taught me how to cook throughout the month. Now I wasn't bad at it, but I wasn't the best either. It scares me knowing that I picked up murder quicker than how to boil an egg. And while he hadn't been pushing me to do it, I decided to open up to Madds about what was on my mind and he listened for hours on end. Maybe Mom was right about therapy, it does help.

Back to the present.

"Elliot, can you come here for a second? You told me that you were good with technology so I assume that you can help fix the stove," chimed Madds as he passed by my room before poking his head in. The oven was refusing to light so he wanted me to take a look at it. Upon inspection it seemed that the ignitor was busted. All we needed to do was pick up a replacement part at any hardware store and the problem would be solved. Simple.

"I had this oven for twenty years and now it decides to die on me," remarked the doctor as I got up from the floor after announcing the problem. "Thank you for your work, Elliot. I highly appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Hopefully you won't discover another issue at midnight again."