Chapter 4 - Chapter 3: Dr. Death

Title: DR. Death

Robyn McKerley: Dr. Deloris Nightfield, civilian

Stationed: Twilit Medical Center, Owner and Primary Physician
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Opened: June 19, 2004 2:02 AM
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Closed: June 19, 2004 3:44 AM

I looked at the wall, empty. There used to be things hanging there. Pieces of paper that supposedly told the rest of the world that I'm a doctor. Funny most just call me a butcher. Twenty-five years, I thought, this place has been my life for twenty-five years.

“Deloris?” a voice called from the doorway.

“Yes, Richard?” I folded the tops of the box down and picked up the tape.

“Tell me why Deloris. The clinic is your life.” Richard moved in to the room

“Yes, but there are more important things to do with my talents.”

“What about your patients? What will become of them?”

I turned to face him. “They signed their lives and deaths to me. When they came here I offered no cure, no lessening of pain. All I ever offered is to be able to help those who come next. No matter how advanced medicine gets there are still things we can't overcome. What we do helps those who come next. I will give those left the end.”

Richard looked unblinking into my eyes, “Dr. Death” he murmured.

“Yes that's what they call me,” if he thought he could stare me down, he was wrong, “that or butcher. But without my research and me most of the medical advances in the past quarter century would not have happened. And all of my patients are here under their own will.”

“I was not trying to be insulting”

“Right”

“So what is so important that you would give all this up”

Richard's green eyes boor in to me as I searched for an answer. I turned away, looked back to my empty wall. “I'm going in to space, you are looking at the Professional Medical Officer; Warrant officer 3rd class for the Verethragna. No body in the UEM was up to the job.”

“What's so bad about being the medical officer on the new ship?”

“It's not that, it's the other part. They need a head for a top-secret medical research team. The UEM thought that Dr. Death would be the best for the job.”

“You mean they want you to study any GA cadavers they recover.”

“Yea whether they're brought back dead, or alive.”

“WHAT!!!! Deloris, willing patience's is one thing, but dissecting live POWs, is that a line you really want to cross?!?”

I stared at the empty wall. Somebody's got to, we need to win to survive. I turned around and smiled. “I just have to live up to the monster people make me out to be. I have fought the things that would destroy humanity my whole life. This is just the same. The more you know your enemy the easer it is to beat him. Some one has to cross the line, I'm the closest one to the line. I've already signed a contract with the UEM. In two weeks I'm off to train to work off world.”

“It's not right.”

“It still needs doing”

“Good Bye Deloris, hope you can live with your self”

“Good Bye Richard, I'm sorry”

Richard stopped, looked at the wall then out the window to the stars. He shrugged his shoulders and walked out the door, quietly closing it behind him.

So that was over, the worst part about having family is telling them things they never understand. Now all there was to do was my job.

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