2012-09-14 Safe Haven

Late afternoon. It's been a slower day than usual, which for a clinic is actually a good thing. Sue is at the front desk as usual, getting a bit of filing taken care of that is usually LAST on the list of to-do tasks. "Dr. Bhattacharya?" She calls toward the back. "Have you decided yet on computerizing the filing system?"
The door from the street opens and Matt Murdock's cane is seen and heard tap tapping a brief second before the counselor walks into the clinic. He is wearing a typical business suit in that it is fairly unremarkable. Dark colors with a white shirt and royal blue tie. His glasses reflect the scene back at anyone that looks at him. He is using his cane in his right hand today which might catch those that know him as odd. "Good afternoon," the blind man calls out as he enters.
From the far door that leads deeper into the building, Prabhakar slips out, one hand in the pocket of his coat. Wings are, as usual, folding over his shoulders and left to hang back behind him almost like a cloak. "Hmm?" he asks of Sue as he steps to the desk. "Oh, well, that should--" He's cut off by the entrance of the man, and like anyone would, he looks over. And sees the warmth from the man's shoulder, blood rushing through a recent wound to repair it. He lets Sue start to speak with the man as he comes around the desk and heads toward the man as well.
Sue Storm looks over and smiles as Mr. Murdock enters. "Good afternoon, Mr. Murdock." She stands and steps toward the front counter. She's not really noticing that the lawyer has the cane in a different hand from usual, and also lacks Prabha's thermal vision. "Is there anything we can do to help you today?"
"Sue, please. I think you can call me Matt now." He smiles as he steps towards her; Sue's voice giving him an accurate map in his mind of today's layout of the clinic. He hears the doctor coming forward as well, but does the courtesy of "not seeing" him until he gets a bit closer. "Well, I took a bit of tumble a few days ago. Unfortunately, I sort of fell on my cane and it gave me a bit of a nasty wound in my left shoulder." He shrugs the shoulder stiffly. "I got it looked at, but thought I would come by for a follow up. It is great being one's own boss most of the time, but unfortunately Nelson and Murdock cannot always afford health benefits for the lawyers."
When he gets close enough for the man to "see" him, Prabhakar smiles at Matt. "You've actually arrived at the perfect time, as I can see you right this minute, if you wish, and Miss Storm can get your information while I take a look." He's friendly as all get-out, as usual, as he talks to the man next to the reception desk. For an afternoon, the place is somewhat empty, and the few people that are in the lobby all have appointments with other doctors, leaving Prabhakar that previous and rare free time to devote to this.
Sue Storm winces at Matt's explanation for his injury, then nods to Prabha and turns to start pulling Matt's medical data -- she's honestly not had any reason to look for them before, so has no idea how much or how little data she'll actually find. But whatever she does find she puts together for the doctor. "Sorry, Matt. It's kind of force of habit. Just keep reminding me, okay?"
Cain Marko ducks his head as he steps through the doorway and glances cautiously around the clinic. He blinks and stares for a few moments at the doctor by the reception desk, but has seen stranger. Not sure where else to go, he starts over in that direction. "We gotta sign in or something?"
"I appreciate that, Doc." Matt says to Prabhakar with a nod. "I am glad I did not interrupt anything too impor..." Matt's words are cut off as the newcomer enters the clinic. A monster heartbeat rattles in his head as he turns towards the source. Monster of a man to go with that kettle drum heart he can hear. He turns back to Prabhakar and Sue. "If his need is more pressing, by all means. I don't mind waiting. This is really only a follow through after all."
The doctor's reaction is one of--surprise, really, when the rather large man walks in. Brows lift a bit as Prabhakar studies the man, but his words shake the doctor out of his reverie. And he'd really thought he almost couldn't be surprised anymore. "Um, ah--yes, simply speak with Miss Storm, here," he says, indicating the woman with a small gesture of his hand, "and she will help you with registration and such." A smile given to the large man, a sincere one, too, then he looks back to Matt. "It will be a few moments while this gentleman is getting signed in; I can take you back to an examination room; it would not be a problem."
Sue Storm offers the folder of Matt's medical data to Prabha at the same time as smiling to the just arrived man. "Hello there." She quickly picks up a clipboard and sets three sheets of paper on it along with a pen. "How can we help you today?"
Cain Marko doesn't seem to be hurt at first glance, though his eyes do squint in the fluorescent lights as though he's in pain. He gives Matt a nod. "Thanks, guy, but you go right ahead. " He shrugs his heavy shoulders and mutters , "I ain't cutting in front of a blind guy just cause I'm getting headaches...". His eye twitches as he glances up at a light and imagines it shattering into pieces. He forces a smile as he looks to Miss Storm. "Need painkillers or something...strong. Stronger than whiskey, at least."
Matt listens to the voice of Cain and slowly nods. Someone who seems to be in pain and has been self medicating. Someone that big could cause trouble with that combination here in the kitchen. He will keep his ears open although that big a heart beat will be heard to miss. He turns back to the Doc. "Okay. I'm hoping this will be fairly quick and you will tell me the wound is healing nicely. It hasn't caused any pain beyond what a wound into your shoulder would cause. I mean, I don't feel feverish or the like."
"It should be, if all you say is true," replies Prabhakar, smiling a bit wider. "We just need to make sure, yes?" Turning to Sue, he says, "We will be in exam room four, if you need anything at all." With that, he motions toward the double doors--then catches himself. Right. "Sir, the entrance to the back is about ten paces from you, and approximately a foot to your left. If you're ready, let us go back there." He'll head off in that direction, opening the door for Matt like he does any other patient.
"All right, Dr. Bhattacharya." She then turns to Cain, clearly concerned by the large man's admission of headaches. "I can tell the overhead lights are bothering you. Are loud noises also painful? Any nausea, or blackness around the edges of your vision?" She's jotting notes on the papers attached to the clipboard, her own suspicions that the man might be suffering from migraines.
Cain Marko thinks a moment. "Blackness? No...sometimes nausea or sha..." He cuts off what he'd been about to say. "Yeah, loud noises suck too...Trying to do some construction work, so yeah. Fun times." He sighs. "Can I get some painkillers, or what?"
Matt nods and follows behind Prabhakar as he hears him beckon him on. He goes into the exam room and begins to loosen his tie and slug off his jacket. He is still a little stiff with his left shoulder. There is also a slight wince across his face. He begins to take off his shirt as well so that the bandage on his left shoulder can be seen.
"Let me help you with that, please," says Prabhakar, reaching to do just that so Matt doesn't have to move as much if it can be avoided. "So you said that you took a fall, hmm?" he asks as the shirt is slipped back. Eyes narrow a touch when he sees the bandage, and he starts to carefully peel it back so he can take a look for himself.
Sue Storm is sort of trapped behind the receptionist's desk, but that doesn't keep her from offering the clipboard to Cain. "I'm sure we can, but the doctor might want to help you find out /why/ you're getting these headaches, so you're not stuck taking painkillers indefinitely. If you could please fill out as much as you can of this?" She's completely willing to help the man with the forms, but she wants to give him a chance to ask first.
Cain Marko gives the forms a quick look over and seems about to argue, but glances up at Sue and finds she's just not the sort of person he can get frustrated by. "Yeah...okay.". He starts filling paperwork, then pauses to glance up again. "You folks have to keep all this confidential, right?". A voice in the back of his mind reminds him that the headaches would be gone in a second if he really wanted....his features harden as he pushes the thought away and goes back to filling out the paperwork.
Matt's upper body has more than its fair share of scars across it, and this new wound will probably join those. He reaches up with this right hand to take away the glass he wears too in case they get bumped or the like. His cloudy eyes look aimlessly. It is in his files about the accident when he was a teenager about how he lost his sight. The new wound itself was stitched well and appears to be in good shape. No redness around the stitches. The bandage itself could use a change as there is some blood on it, but over all the wound looks like it was taken care of by someone that knew what they were doing, but perhaps didn't have the best equipment. He nods to the Doc. "Clumsy of me really." Of course, to a trained eye, it would look unlikely that Matt's cane could have caused the wound.
Once the wound is revealed, Prabhakar runs his fingertips around it. There should be no pain; he's got far better hands than that. But those fingers also tell him this was a /puncture/ wound, and one caused by something designed do to just that. His eyes tell him the way the wound's been healing, the way the blood flows through it. Exhaling softly, he goes to step around the table to stand in front of the man. It's--principle, really. Sure, Matt can't "see" him, but that's not the point. "Mister Murdock--this clinic is a safe haven for everyone. We sometimes work--off the books, you could say, to help those who need it but can in no other way get it." A beat's pause. "I tell you this because that--is not from your cane. You do not need to tell me what it is from; I know your reputation here in the Kitchen. Yet you do not need to lie to me, either." This is said with another, if small, smile. He sincerely wants the man to know that he doesn't need to lie, here.
Cain Marko finishes off his paperwork and reluctantly gets herded off to an exam room. He is very much a man out of his element, and not one used to relying on others. He flinches as a cart with a particularly squeaky wheel gets pushed past down a hall and disappears into his room.
Sue Storm takes the paperwork from the large man and starts entering his data into the computer, at the same time creating the paper file (with braille notations for Prabha) that goes on the giant shelving unit against one wall for that exact purpose. When she hears the squeaky cart for the umpteenth time, she doesn't register it immediately. But then she looks over abruptly and bolts out of her chair to 'apprehend' the orderly pushing it. The darned thing's been bugging her for a while now, and now she has an additional reason to silence that squeak once and for all.
Unlike the others, the squeaky cart is almost a comfort to Matt. It breaks up the quiet that all doctors' offices seem to have. Everyone always seems to be so hushed and afraid to speak loudly. The squeak helps him keep his bearings and know what is going on. He nods slowly towards the doctor. He listens, but his heart doesn't flutter or skip. The doc is telling the truth. He still holds quiet for a bit longer before slowly nodding. "Yes. It wasn't the cane, but I would rather not go into it right now. Is that alright, Doc?" He cocks his head to listen to the doc's answer. The doctor isn't lying either. He honestly believes that he can keep a secret.
The doctor smiles a bit wider, reaching to lightly touch the man's right shoulder, the good one, reassuringly. "As I said, we know your reputation in the Kitchen, yours and Mister Nelson's," Prabhakar says softly, hopefully just as reassuringly. "If you need us, we are here, no questions asked. In return--keep doing what you have been doing, hmm? This city--this world--needs more people fighting the good fight, as they say." Too many people don't get the help they need, whether legal or medical. If he can help this man, he'll be helping more people get that very aid. "Now, your wound does look fine," he says next as he heads over to the sink and pulls out a drawer. "I can change this bandage and give you more, as well as a prescription for pain-killers, should you require them."
Matt nods to the doctor. "A clean bandage is all I really need, Doc. Pain-killers..." He pauses and shakes his head. "Pain killers just play havoc with my head. I know they are supposed to be useful, but I just feel I am missing a step when I take them. No, I will just be careful not to jar it much. Mostly a dull throb now anyway." His head turns slightly as the cart's noise is silenced. Nonchalantly, Matt taps his foot back and forth against the exam table to keep a small amount of noise going in the hushed clinic. He can hear heartbeats, but it is easier to get a picture with a little noise.
Sue Storm realizes that everything's caught up, so reaches over to turn on the small radio at the front desk. It's set to a light classical station so to not offend anyone, and it's just barely loud enough to carry faintly down the hallway. She sets about tidying up the lobby area, humming along to the music as she scoots chairs straight, reorganizes the magazines on a side table, picks up the toys in the little kids' area in one corner of the lobby.
"Alright, that is just fine," says Prabhakar, closing the drawer again and setting some boxes of bandages and cleaning supplies on the counter near the sink. "I am glad to see that you are taking care of it," he comments somewhat idly as he brings out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. "A little bit of cleaning to make sure, that should be all you need, though this will sting some." With that, he wets a cotton ball and works on making sure the wound is clean and disinfected. One can never be too careful, after all.
The sting of medicine is always worse for Matt but he is ready for it, and does not give any indication of the burning sensation his hyper touch feels from the disinfectant. "Unfortunately, I've had a bit of practice with wounds and the like, Doc. This time, luckily, there were places I could go to that did not ask many questions but still did a good job." He cocks his head slightly, listening to the classical music from the waiting room. He recognizes one piece and hums it slightly as Prabhakar does his work.
Sue Storm finishes the tidying up, piling a toy bucket full of all of the smallish plasticky toys that can be easily cleaned in a dishwasher, then heads for the break room. The really tiny things can be rinsed in bleach water, and the larger toys spritzed similarly. Once she gets to the break room she starts tidying up in there, starting by filling the dishwasher there with coffee cups, silverware, the toys from the lobby... each item settling into the appliance's plastic-coated metal racks with soft clinks, thunks, clatters, and all overlaid by the intermittent sound of running water as she rinses things before putting them in to wash.
"I am sorry to hear that, though I am glad you have found safe places," says Prabhakar as he tends to the wound. As well-kept as it's been, it doesn't need much. It's more precautionary than anything else. The excess gets dabbed up with a fresh cotton ball, then all of that is put aside. "The city--well, all of these cities--they can use more safe places like those. As for this one--you are of course welcome here any time." A fresh bandage removed from a box and removed from its paper packaging, then he gently applies it to the wound, careful to not put too much pressure on it. "Now, how is that, hmm?" asks the doctor.
Matt gingerly moves his arm and nods. "It feels as good as a stitched up wound can feel." He cannot help but follow Sue's movements through the clinic. She appears in his radar as clear as if she was standing next to him. He is quiet for a moment as he listens, but then is responding back to Prabhakar. "Wish I could do more to help the clinic here. Maybe just gets its name out there a bit more. See about getting more city funding for you as you do an important service to the community."
Sue Storm finishes loading the dishwasher, but leaves it waiting to start until it's completely full, then bustles about tidying the rest of the break room. Old newspapers are dropped in recycling bins, the microwave wiped out and the coffee makers (yes, plural) are are cleaned and their carafes set in the sink to soak.. and then she pauses. The fridge. Well, at least she can get away with not actually touching anything in there herself... Shaking open a trash bag, she starts carefully looking through the contents of the breakroom's fridge for anything that looks like it's been forgotten and needs to leave. She's not allowing any smells near her face if she can help it.
"From what I have heard, I think you do so much for this clinic already," says Prabhakar as he gathers trash and throws them away in the nearby bin. "I have heard of how tirelessly you and your partner work for those who deserve it but cannot afford it--and some of those have been patients here. Of course, we will not turn down getting the name out there, as you say." That's said with a grin, and he starts gathering up the boxes of bandages. "Now, these are for you--if you need more and do not wish to come to the front door, call and ask for Miss Storm directly. I have found her to be impeccable in her work and exceedingly trustworthy, so I will have her, when she's here, meet you at a side entrance discreetly if that would be better for you."
Matt takes the offered bandages with a purposefully clumsy hand, but then is on his feet. He sets the bandages down for a moment as he pulls on his shirt once more. "Thank you, and that is appreciated. Sometimes there will be moments when that side entrance will be most beneficial." He picks up the bandages once more and his cane. He brings himself around and towards the exam room door once more. "I hope we help as much as you and Sue do. We can see your efforts right away. Ours take a little time and even then I'm never sure." He is making his way now back towards the lobby, taking his time as the cane swings back and forth.
Sue Storm hears the voices as Matt opens the door and steps into the hallway, so she quickly finishes what she's doing and goes to meet the lawyer on his way out. Have to do the checkout paperwork and all that. "Everything looking okay, Matt?"
That makes the doctor chuckle softly, and Prabhakar reaches out to pat Matt's bicep--of his good arm, of course--in a friendly manner as he accompanies the other man. "You do what you can and--perhaps much more. That is all anyone can ask of you, and I say that I am grateful, on behalf of the people I have seen here--people who have hope because they were helped by you. And hope is a wonderful thing." When they get to the lobby, he grins at Sue. "I've given him some bandages, and--the chance to call upon you for a private meeting, if he should so need it." A bit of code--he's to be allowed in the side door without anyone knowing he's there, more than necessary, if it comes to it.
Matt nods and smiles. "Yes, thank you. You both are more than kind. I appreciate it a great deal." He begins to make his way towards the door. "And naturally the reverse is true. If there is anything I can do for you, please feel free to ask me."
Sue Storm raises her eyebrows at Prabhakar's declaration -- it's the first time she's heard that -- but she knows better than to argue. "Of course, Dr. Bhattacharya." She starts the checkout paperwork, but will of course have to ask what was done after Matt has left. So first, she pulls one of the business cards from the counter -- the kind with embossed printing and braille both on it -- and writes a phone number on the back of the braille-free area. She makes sure to press firmly enough to leave distinct impressions on the card stock. "Matt, here's a business card with my personal phone number on it. This way you can call me no matter the hour." Of course, he's already got her personal number in his files.
"We will, I am sure," says Prabhakar, smiling as Sue hands Matt the business card, then he'll walk the man to the door, opening it for him out of courtesy. "Anything more /we/ can do--do not hesitate to ask /us/, either." That's said with a wide, friendly smile for the man.
Sue Storm waits for Prabhakar to finish seeing Matt out of the clinic, then asks him, "What would you like me to put on Mr. Murdock's file for this visit, Dr. Bhattacharya?"
Returning to the desk, Prabhakar rests his hands on it, looking at the young woman. "Accident, as he said, and it's taken care of, won't need a follow-up visit." A beat as he scratches the side of his head, just below his horn, then, "That should be fine for the file. I have an idea we'll be seeing him again, however." He doesn't say, since he's in the lobby and all, that it will be in that side door.
Sue Storm looks at the doctor for a long moment before nodding and making some quick notations in the paper file and in the computer. "Noted. And it's about time for me to leave for home. Is there anything else I can do before I leave?"
"Hmm? Oh, no--no, I don't think so," says Prabhakar, smiling at the woman, though the smile is a little--insincere. It's tough to see a man work himself to the point of physical injury, over and over and over again. The rush of blood around old wounds, the way his skin pulled a little oddly from old scars. It makes the doctor--sad. Sad that whatever the man does to earn those, they're needed. "You--go home and hug your family, okay? And--have a good evening." That's said with a light tap on the table with his knuckles, then he turns to head deeper into the clinic.
Sue Storm smiles after the unusual doctor as she turns the radio off again and straightens up the desk for the next person before getting her purse from the lockers where all employees keep their personal effects. She is definitely going to go hug her family -- even if Johnny complains about it.
Category:Logs
Category:RPLogs