S3E06: Part 1
Doc POV
He hated when they split up, it was worse when they didn't plan to. He'd somehow lost the others and was now wandering alone through a forest.
"Warren!" he shouted, another thing he hated, might as well be ringing the dinner bell for the zombies, "Warren! Addy! Anybody! Where'd everybody go? Hector! It's me Doc! Oh, come on guys! Sure, keep old Doc around when you need something stronger than a baby aspirin. But I take five minutes to take care of business and –"
"Doc!" he heard a shout and turned to see Bailey coming through the trees.
"Bailey!" he said smiling and holding out his arms. She rushed over and they hugged quickly, "Girl, it is good to see you! What were you thinking running off on us like that?" he said putting his hands on her shoulders. She smiled at his scolding, but he knew why, as odd as it sounded you didn't miss being yelled at by your parents until you didn't have them anymore.
"Sorry, Doc. I didn't mean to worry you guys."
"Well as long as you're okay." He said letting her go both of them still smiling.
"I'm not the only one who's okay." She said and he became confused. "10K's alive."
The confusion fell off his face as his eyebrows shot up into his forehead in surprise and he pointed a finger in her face, "Don't mess with me about this." He said calmly and she kept smiling.
"I wouldn't mess around when it comes to 10K's life, I found him. He was running from Murphy. We were together for a bit but got separated, I haven't been able to find him."
"I knew it!" he said, "I knew he wasn't dead! Oh that little cockroach really does survive anything."
"But he's hurt Doc, Murphy did a real number on him. We have to find him before anything else does."
They kept walking through the forest shouting for the others. They went on like that for a good half hour before they saw something move between the trees in a blur.
"Warren?" he asked. Then he heard a thump like a body dropping and turned around.
"Elvis?" he asked as a guitar was swung at his head.
"He's still standing."
"Hit him again – harder."
Then it all went black.
«»
"Oh man my head." he groaned when he came to again. The first thing he saw was a group of people in front of him staring at him, among them was Elvis next to a nurse who was smiling. He tried to move but his arms were held back, he looked down to see he'd been put in a strait jacket.
"Where am I?" he asked looking back at the people in front of him and the nurse stepped forward.
"Welcome. To the Serenity Falls Institution. . . for the Criminally Insane." She said in a voice that seemed far too kind.
Oh. . . shit.
"Wait a minute." He said struggling in the jacket and looking around, "Where's my friend?" he asked not seeing Bailey in any of the chairs that were arranged in a circle.
"Oh not to worry she's in our recovery room still . . . recuperating. Winona would you be a dear and go fetch her please?" the nurse asked and a girl with short choppy black hair and a black sweater left the room with her arms crossed. Then the others joined Doc each taking a seat in the circle as the nurse began some sort of therapy session.
"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." They all chanted and when they'd finished a man in a blue robe and red socks raised his hand high in the air.
"Mr. Liddy?" The nurse asked, "You have an issue you'd like to discuss with the group?"
"Yeah, yeah, uh, uh how do we know he's not infected?" he asked stuttering heavily as he pointed at Doc, "He looks infected. Or worse, he was sent here by the government to infect us."
"There's no more government man. It's all zombies." Doc told him.
"That is exactly what I would say if I worked for the government!" Liddy yelled getting up and waving his finger at Doc.
"Mr. Liddy!" the nurse shouted before her tone turned into more of a hiss, "Please give our guest some space."
"I'm sorry nurse, sorry." Liddy said sitting back down twitching a little.
Then the nurse turned back to Doc with an unsettling smile, "You'll have to excuse the group. Having a new face is cause for excitement." She said with her more pleasant voice returning.
"So, this is an asylum?" Doc asked in a whisper.
"An antiquated term. We prefer extended care facility." The nurse said.
"And how extended are you thinking? Cuz those zombies sound pretty close." He said nodding toward the window. The nurse got up and looked through the blinds as the double doors to the large open white room opened and the girl in all black – Winona, returned holding Bailey by her sleeve. She clutched her head and Doc could see a nasty bruise under her palm on her temple that spread across half of her forehead. Man, Elvis had gotten her good with his guitar. Winona plopped her next to Doc before taking a seat in the circle herself. Bailey looked relieved at seeing him though she still held her head in pain.
Then the nurse returned from the window, "Serenity Falls has been patient-run and self-sufficient since its founding in 1905. We will continue to maintain a high level of personalized care for our patients for the rest of their natural lives." She said sitting across from Doc in the circle.
"To be honest I've been in worse places." He said with a shrug, "So how did we get here?"
"We were hunting for mushrooms when we heard you say you were a doctor. Just so we're clear. You are a doctor correct?" the nurse asked.
"Absolutely, yeah I got a PhD in clinical psychology. And a little side in pharmacology. That's a little something I picked up along the way." Doc said smiling before nodding toward Bailey, "She's my intern, we were reviewing psychological diseases in my office when the outbreak happened, have been traveling together ever since."
"Prove it. Prove you're a doctor. Prove it!" Mr. Liddy shouted again.
"I'm sure," the nurse snapped at Liddy again in that same hissing tone, "the doctor can demonstrate his medical knowledge." Then her tone returned to normal, "This is our regularly scheduled group therapy time, where we all try to help one another with our issues. Convince me you're really a doctor, I'll let you out of the jacket."
"Well, how do you expect me to do that?" Doc asked shrugging to gesture at his restrained arms.
"With a background in clinical psychology, a quick diagnosis of everyone here shouldn't be too difficult, right?" she asked her tone kind until she snapped a little at the end.
"Um okay sure." He said looking to Liddy, "Paranoid, delusional."
"Correct." The nurse said.
"I mean of course he is. I mean, they probably briefed him on our bios before he got here." Liddy said as Doc turned to a man with white hair that was missing in several places, he walked along the side of the room with a blank but almost angry look in his dull eyes.
"Oh that one's tough, can you give me a hint?"
"Mr. Morgasteros experiences feelings of detachment, has social anxiety issues and feels a lack of true identity." The nurse said.
"Well welcome to the apocalypse man. You could pass for normal these days seriously. I'm gonna say depression. Possible brain damage, maybe a little blunt force trauma?"
"Welcome to the heartbreak hotel, hippie." Elvis said from his seat beside Bailey, two down on Doc's left.
"Dissociative disorder?" Doc asked the nurse and Elvis looked at him a bit offended and pissed, "Um, time warp?"
Elvis smiled and put his glasses back on. "I like him. He's a real doc as far as the King is concerned."
"Oh, oh, well then that just settles it." Liddy said, "That just settles it. If the King thinks he's a real doctor then please let the brain surgery begin. Please! I'll just go prep the OR! Sorry. Sorry." He said seeing the glare the nurse was giving him.
"Might as well say hello." Winona said from the chair at Doc's right, "There's no point in waiting for Re-Pete. He'll never sit down." She said glancing at a short stocky man with glasses who'd been standing next to his chair adjusting it frequently and wiping it down.
"I told you! Don't call me that!" he snapped at her.
"I'm Winona, pleasure to meet you, doctor." She said getting up and standing in front of him holding out her hand.
"Oh, just Doc. I'd shake your hand but under the circumstances. . ." he shrugged again.
"Oh I get it. How about a hug instead?"
"Oh ok. I'd hug you back but that's all I got." He said as she leaned over and wrapped her arms around him then returned to her seat.
"Ms. Sims." The nurse said giving her a look and Winona got up and passed her a bag of joints.
"Hey that's my stash." Doc said.
"Sorry I can't help it. It's in my nature." Winona said sitting back down and crossing her arms.
"Wow that is impressive." Doc said.
"Kleptomania?" Bailey asked turning to the nurse still holding her hand to her temple trying to massage the pain away.
"Correct." She said then held up the baggie of joints questioningly.
"Oh, that is strictly for medicinal use only." He said turning to Bailey before they both looked at Re-Pete.
"OCD." Bailey said.
"Maybe a little germaphobia." Doc added, "Uh, hey man. Did you ever stop to think that maybe your chair is the only one that's straight and everybody else's is crooked?"
"That's what I've been saying all along." He said.
"Do you want to trade? My chair's perfectly straight."
Then Re-Pete sat down, "That's okay. I'll keep my chair, thank you."
"Okay."
"Impressive doctor." the nurse said, "You've more than proven yourself." She gestured for the others to remove his jacket and they did so. "There's just one last patient I'd like you and your intern to take a look at. Our newest patent. A special case - a foundling. He's too insane to be let in with the other patients, follow me."
Doc turned to Bailey and they shared a look before they got up and followed the nurse down the hall. "Normally I don't feel the need to ask for a second opinion. But this one has exceeded my level of knowledge. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts."
"Well what are his symptoms?" Doc asked.
"Hallucinations. Psychosis. Delusions of grandeur. He's been slipping in and out of consciousness since we found him."
She led them to a window that peeked in on a padded cell. Doc looked in and saw a guy lying on the floor in another strait jacket with his back to them, he turned to Bailey who was leaning against the door to the room and he made a mental note to see if these people had any aspirin for her as the nurse went on, "He keeps mumbling to himself about blue men and a mission to the planet Zona."
Then Bailey got out of the way as the nurse opened the door and they went inside. The patient rolled onto their back and Doc got a better look at him.
"10K?" he asked and turned to see Bailey equally shocked. 10K was panting heavily and his eyes were darting wildly around the room like he didn't even notice three people had just walked in.
Bailey POV
"You were right Bailey, 10K is alive!" Doc said in joy.
"10K? You know this patient?" the nurse asked from the door causing Doc to backpedal.
"Uh, no. Not 10K as in a name. 10K as a diagnosis. I'm just so shocked to find a patient with such advanced symptoms of 10K fever – it's still alive."
"I've never heard of 10K fever." The nurse said.
"It's a relatively new diagnosis. It just came out in the DSM. . . 5."
"But he doesn't have a fever." She pointed out and Bailey's eyes kept shuffling from the suspicious nurse to 10K on the floor.
"That is exactly why it's so hard to diagnose." Doc explained, "Tell me, have you noticed the patient counting at all?"
"Yes." The nurse said with wide eyes as if Doc's diagnosis now suddenly made sense with 10K's behavior, "When he first came in he kept rattling off strange numbers."
"10K fever all right. The victims exhibit an obsession with counting, coupled with delusions. If you could give me time to study him to see how far along he is I can come up with a treatment plan."
"You can cure this?"
"Of course. My intern here had 10K fever herself." he said turning to Bailey who gave him a subtle look that said 'really?' as he went on, "She had it real bad." He said and she picked up the slight teasing in his tone that the nurse missed as he turned back to her, "And look at her now, healthy as a horse, mentally and physically."
"Well I –" then her attention was diverted as they heard knocking on the window and saw Winona there. She waved the nurse over, "I suppose I could give you a moment to examine him." she said before she left to see what it was Winona wanted, though Bailey saw her keeping a careful watch over them through the window. Doc moved to kneel beside 10K and Bailey moved so her back was to the nurse as she brought her hand to 10K's head subtly running her fingers through his hair while making it look like she was checking for a fever.
"Well you were right, he's pretty beat up." Doc said looking him over, "But you're not bitten kid." Doc said and Bailey turned her eyes to the padded floor. You can't tell Doc, 10K wouldn't want them to know. "Man, I'm glad to see you." Doc said pulling 10K off the floor and hugging him. Bailey turned to the window glad the nurse wasn't watching them.
"Red?" 10K mumbled and she turned her attention back to him.
"Hmm?" Doc asked.
"Red, I saw her but she wasn't really there." 10K said his voice low and rough but he seemed to be in his right mind, more so than before anyway. "And so was 5K and Murphy. He's always there, I can't get away from him. . . it's okay though. . . he makes everything okay." He said before shaking his head trying to clear it, "Where's Warren? I need to tell her something. Something important. I don't want to be blue." He said the words now coming out in a desperate rush.
"Okay, kid. You just hang tight, okay?" Doc said resting him back down to lie on the floor, "You rest now, I'm gonna get us all out of here." He said before turning to Bailey. "He looks like he's in really bad shape."
"He didn't look this bad last time I saw him." Bailey said taking in 10K's disheveled appearance, his hair was sticking up in all directions, the dark circles under his eyes had gotten much worse, he wasn't wearing a shirt anymore but she'd seen him throw it into that bloody puddle, and that left him in only the jumpsuit which was open revealing his chest and she didn't like how pale he was looking or how torn up his clothes were, one sleeve had ripped off at the elbow and the shoulder of the other one was so tattered it looked like it would fall off any minute.
"We gotta get him out of here." Doc said looking up to see the nurse watching again in window. "Come on, follow my lead."
Then he got up and left the room with Bailey following him. "So you say he's been this out of it the whole time?"
The nurse nodded, "At first we thought he was a junkie coming down from some strange new drug. The mutterings, the hallucinations, the cold sweats. And he was carrying these with him." She said lifting the satchel 10K had been carrying. She pulled out an injector and Doc looked at it confused, then he saw Bailey on the other side of the nurse, she looked from Doc to the vial and back again and again and hoped he got the message – they needed those injectors. She dug her nails into her palms to keep herself from attacking the nurse and taking the satchel she wanted that medicine so bad, without it 10K was Murphy's slave. "God only knows what home-brewed concoction that poor wretch is addicted to. It is our mission to save him." The nurse continued as she put the injector back in the bag.
"And you say he was carrying this?" Doc said reaching for the bag but the nurse snatched it out of his reach hostilely.
"So this 10K fever, is it contagious?" she asked.
"No, but I'd like to do a more thorough examination of the patient. Do you mind if I leave my assistant here to analyze and observe him further? With 10K fever being so rare we really need to take every chance we get to study it."
"I'm not sure we have the time for that doctor. As a potential threat to himself and others I had no choice but to schedule an emergency Leucotomy."
"Leucotomy? You mean Lobotomy?" Doc asked in horror.
"You can't!" Bailey shouted and the nurse turned to her with wide eyes before Bailey cleared her throat and regained her composure, "Uh, as the doctor said, 10K fever is so rare it'd be such a waste not to study it while we can. And you're in charge here, can't you postpone the operation until we've collected our data?"
"Don't worry. I've had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. He'll be fine. There should be few side effects."
"Side effects?" Doc asked.
"Please, just let me stay to examine him. . . for science." Bailey begged.
The nurse paused and took a deep breath, "Very well. You can collect your research up until his scheduled operation."
Then Bailey went back into the padded room while Doc and the nurse went back down the hall with the injectors.
"Tommy." Bailey whispered in his ear as she crouched down beside him being careful of Winona still watching in the window, "Tommy, how many injectors did you use after we lost each other?"
"2,075. . . 3,003. . . 4,236. . . " he rattled off numbers. Bailey heard a cuckoo clock off in the distance and saw Winona leave, then she pulled 10K off the floor and hugged him close thinking about how that crazy lady wanted to carve up his brain, where somewhere inside it 10K was still fighting.
"You'll be okay." She whispered with his head nestled into her shoulder, "Doc's going to help get you better again."
"Bailey. . . " he muttered and her breath paused, it was the first thing he had said that acknowledged that she was even there.
"I'm here Ten, I'm here." she said rubbing his back.
". . . love you."
"I love you too." She said trying not to get choked up, part of her wondering what happened to her ability to stay composed in desperate situations, "We're going to help you, okay?"
"No Murphy. . . no Murphy." He said shaking his head.
"No, no Murphy. We're not going to let Murphy get anywhere near you ever again." She said running her fingers through his hair which seemed to soothe him.
Doc POV
"When Bob got here he was just like that poor kid with 10K fever." The nurse said as they passed Mr. Morgasteros in the hall, "A mess beyond hope. And now look at him." It wasn't too reassuring, Doc thought as the man just stood there staring at them. Then a cuckoo clock went off and the nurse smiled, "Medication time."
"All right, now we're talking."
She went into a storage room with a small window were she sat a tray of paper cups, half had granola while the other had water. The patients lined up right according to schedule and the nurse began passing out a cup of each to every patient. Winona took hers before heading down the hall where 10K and Bailey were.
"You run a tight ship, nurse." Doc complimented.
"Rituals are the formula by which harmony is restored." She said and Doc saw on the shelves behind her a pile of 10K's stuff. His satchel, boots, socks, belt, glove, goggles and bandana, all neatly folded and piled up. Next to them on the shelf he saw Bailey's hatchet, knife and gun in its thigh holster next to her messenger bag and a rucksack.
"What is that anyway? Trail mix?" he asked looking back down at the cups she was passing out.
"Placebos." She whispered, "Our patients might be. . . unbalanced but they are not stupid. They know what they're eating is not really medication. Sometimes the illusion of normalcy is all we really have."
"Doctor! Doctor!" Came shouting and both he and the nurse turned to see Winona running back down the hall, "Come quick! The kid with 10K is seizing!" she shouted.
Bailey POV
It came on so fast, one minute he was fine with his head in her lap, the next his body went into spasms and he started foaming at the mouth. She tried to remember what she'd learned about seizures in school, you had to roll the person on their side and let it happen. That was easier said than done, especially when it was someone you cared about so much. She did her best to hold it together, if these people saw her fall apart over 10K their charade would be over and she, Doc and 10K would be in even more trouble.
"Hold on Ten, hold on. Winona went to get Doc, he'll know what to do." She said as 10K's eyes rolled back into his head as he fell off her lap and continued to seize on the floor.
The next second the door to the padded room burst open and Doc rushed in.
"Okay. Come on, kid. Come on." He said dropping to his knees beside 10K trying to help Bailey hold him as 10K's head thrashed back and forth, "You're not checking out on me now."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Winona asked from the door.
"Bring me my surgical tools." The nurse said.
"A lobotomy is not gonna fix him." Doc shouted, "He needs medication." Winona held out her cup, "Real medication!" Doc shouted as 10K began to gag as he tried to breathe. "Are you telling me that an institution of this size with only a half a dozen patients in it has absolutely no medication at all?"
10K's face scrunched up like a kid refusing to take their medicine as the seizing calmed down but he kept thrashing.
"There is a fully stocked pharmacy. . . in the Z ward." The nurse said and Doc and Bailey shared a look, that was 10K's best chance and possibly only hope.
Doc POV
Doc went into the hall to talk to the nurse and Winona about the Z ward. Where was it? How many Z's were in it? But they didn't know much, no one had been down there since the start of the outbreak.
"What's she doing?" Winona asked and they looked through the window into the padded room and saw Bailey with 10K's head in her lap as she stroked his hair.
"That seems awfully personal. . ." the nurse said suspiciously.
"Um, yeah. It's comfort therapy. It helps patients who suffer from delusions, they form a bond through comfort with their caregiver. It gives them something real to hold onto and helps keep the hallucinations at bay, helps them to distinguish what's real. But he'll still need medication for his other symptoms." Doc lied and he hoped they bought it.
"Well it . . . seems to be working." The nurse said watching Bailey and 10K, it was true, the thrashing had stopped, his eyes weren't looking around wildly and he wasn't mumbling anymore. "Well done doctor. Your assistant is. . . quite well trained." she cleared her throat, "Regardless, Winona stay here and keep an eye on them in case she needs any help." Then the nurse showed him to the Z ward. It was a set of electronically locked double doors at the end of a hall a few corridors over. Doc peered through the window and saw bloodied walls, destroyed equipment and flickering lights, but for the apocalypse what could you expect?
"What's the big deal with the Z ward?" he asked just before a Z popped up into the window making him jump back.
"That's the big deal." The nurse said, "Shocker zombies. Patients who turned during shock treatment. This is where they kept the worst of the worst of the criminally insane."
"And?"
"And you have to go through the Z ward to get to the pharmacy." Re-Pete said.
"Of course." Doc said as he grabbed a metal bar from floor and the nurse gave him some sacks for the meds.
"The doors are controlled by automatic locks. Takes a sequence of three to open them. Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be. On the count of three? One. Two. –"
"Wait." Elvis said before strumming his guitar, "Only fools rush in." he sang, "Without some help."
"All right, thanks man." Doc said tossing him the second bag. "All right let's do this."
"Three." The nurse said as she hit the button that unlocked the doors and Doc and Elvis went in.
Bailey POV
She sat with 10K, cradling his head in her lap. Then, again from out of nowhere, he gave a small twitch, then it grew as his eyes rolled into his head and he started to cough and foam at the mouth again. She barely noticed Winona leave the window and run to get the nurse.
"Hold on, hold on." Bailey kept muttering trying to help calm him down as his face scrunched up again. The last thing she wanted was to give that nurse more reason to perform a lobotomy on him.
"We can't wait any longer." The nurse said coming into the room with Winona behind her. Bailey also saw Bob and Liddy behind them, Liddy had a sick grin on his face which didn't help reassure Bailey one bit.
"You can't operate until my doctor comes back!" Bailey protested.
"It's highly unlikely he'll return from the Z ward anyway. Now if we operate quickly we should be able to help him before his 10K fever gets worse."
"You can't!" Bailey shouted standing up and Bob lumbered into the room and backed her into a corner, she tried to get around him but the guy was like Frankenstein, not too bright but strong as hell. He restrained her while Liddy and Winona helped the nurse get 10K onto a stretcher and wheel him down the hall, Bob practically lifting Bailey up and taking her with them.
"Get his strait jacket on her." The nurse said when they got 10K into the operating room and Bailey continued to thrash and struggle in Bob's hold, they removed the jacket from 10K and strapped him down to the metal table then they got it on Bailey "I was afraid of this." The nurse said getting scrubs on, "You've clearly begun to relapse with 10K fever after being exposed to it for so long."
Then Bailey was tossed into a corner while Bob stood in front of her making sure she didn't go anywhere.
"But not to worry." the nurse went on, "Your lobotomy will come right after his." She said moving to a table of sharp surgical tools. "Make sure he's strapped down tight. Remember last time?"
"We should pull his molars while we're at it." Liddy said holding 10K's jaw before he slapped a hand over his mouth, "Just in case the government's implanted them with listening devices."
"Just make sure he's immobilized." The nurse said grabbing a long sharp tool and a tiny silver hammer and Bailey struggled harder to get free as Liddy put another strap around 10K's forehead as the nurse approached him with her mask over her nose and mouth.
"There and there, good." Liddy said as 10K's eyes rolled around in his sockets not focusing on anything.
"I'm thinking. . . trans-orbital." The nurse said moving to stand beside 10K.
"Sure whatever. That's great, yeah. Let's do that." Liddy agreed.
"Pity we don't have any anesthesia." The nurse said leaning in close to 10K's face, his eyes going wider. Then she brought the sharp tool down closer and closer to 10K's face as his eyes followed it and crossed. "This might sting a little."
"WAIT!" Bailey shouted and the nurse turned to her, "Sorry Bob." She muttered under her breath as an idea came to mind.
Doc POV
He and Elvis had just come out of the Z ward with the meds when Winona told him that 10K had another seizure and the nurse had begun her operation. He rushed to the operating room to find the nurse covered in blood spatters.
"What the hell have you done?" he asked in horror.
"You're here just in time doctor." She said as he pushed past her and to 10K who was strapped to a table.
"No lobotomy." He whispered checking his head then turning back to the nurse, "I don't understand." He said now seeing Bailey in the corner in a strait jacket.
"Now that we have the technique perfected this next one should be much easier." The nurse said as Bob sat up from another table with a fresh stitched up cut across his forehead. "That was an excellent idea." The nurse said pointing to Bailey with her silver hammer and Bailey shrugged and looked at the floor in partial shame that Bob had to suffer more so she could save 10K. "Prep the patient for a bi-cranial trans-orbital resection and lobotomy."
"Now, hold on!" Doc spoke up, "This is my patient and I accept full responsibility for him."
"He – he can't just do that, can he? Can he?" Liddy asked.
"Yeah, I have the cure for 10K fever right here." he said holding up his sack of meds and giving it a shake. The nurse paused seeming to think it over.
"Well then. If you have this under control –"
"I do."
"I will just go check on the others." She said leaving with Liddy as Bob got up and headed out of the room.
"Bob. You- you okay to travel?" Doc asked as he lumbered out of the room, then Doc moved over to 10K, "Don't worry kid, I got your back." He said bringing a hand to 10K's head again.
"Good work Bailey." He said as Elvis helped her out of the strait jacket and he got to work pouring meds into a silver bowl.
"Okay, we got Clobazam, Divalproex and Diazepam for seizures. Uh, Risperidone and Haloperido for psychosis. Hydrocodone for pain and Alprazolam for anxiety. Two for him and . . . a few for me, haha. Oh and Dextroamphetamine. Oh, you're gonna like those kid. Those are fun. My Air Force buddies call them 'go pills'." He laughed.
"Try these hippie." Elvis said handing him another bottle as Bailey stood by 10K watching his eyes roll back and forth slowly.
"Progesterone? Why not?"
Then he boiled the whole thing and put it in a needle for injection. They unstrapped 10K and he began to thrash again as another seizure started.
"Hey kid. You're not making this easy. We got to roll him over." Doc instructed as Bailey and Elvis rolled 10K onto his side and held him in place. "Here we go kid. Doc's kitchen-sink-anti-apocalypse-hangover-special, if it don't kill ya it'll cure ya."
"Kill him?" Bailey asked as he stuck the needle in 10K's. . . well you got the idea. He stopped twitching after Doc injected him and Elvis rolled him back over. Doc leaned his ear over 10K's heart to check for a pulse and 10K lurched up off the table.
"Doc! Doc, are you there?"
"Kid how you feeling?" he asked as 10K seemed to calm down a bit.
"I feel like I've been shot. . . in the ass." he said before he fell back onto the table with his eyes shut.
"Is- is he dead?" Elvis asked and in the next second they heard 10K snoring.
"Apparently not." Doc replied as Bailey leaned over and kissed 10K's forehead. Elvis saw them and turned to Doc.
"Hey can I sign up for some of that comfort therapy next, Doctor hippie?" he asked and Doc chuckled.
"One patient at a time man."