~Part 98~
~Dr. Judsworth~
After his confrontation with Sydney, he immediately caught the next flight out to New York. The doctor he had consulted in Los Angeles had called him to tell him the location of his meet with the new doctor. It was at some abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Vaughn was a little sketchy about it at first, but if his sister trusted the LA doctor then so did he.
And if he did screw him over, then Vaughn could just break his legs.
He shook the thought from his head. This is what was happening to him, it was getting worse. The morbid thoughts happened more than they had in the days previous. He was glad he had decided to get checked out when he did.
The cab pulled off to the side of the road when Vaughn spotted the warehouse. He paid his dues and thanked the cabby before getting out. The sky was dark, but the snow on the ground made everything much brighter.
He zipped up his coat and walked across the unplowed street. There were no cars in sight except for a white van parked outside one of the buildings. Vaughn checked the address before walking to one of the entrances and knocking loudly on the door.
A few moments later the door opened a man stood in front of him. He was older with gray hair and a thin gray mustache; his blue eyes were very dull with his age.
“Mr. Vaughn?” He asked.
“Yes.” Vaughn said.
The man looked outside to make sure no one was watching and then stepped aside to let Vaughn in. Vaughn entered the warehouse and the man closed the steel door.
“My name is Timothy Judsworth. Brian informed me on your situation, I’d be more than happy to help you.” He said.
“Thank you. But I thought he said you were a surgeon, why are we meeting here?” Vaughn asked.
“It’s safer. I do operations on the side, the things I do the city doesn’t want any part of. I move around constantly.” Judsworth said. “Come with me.”
Vaughn followed him into another large room. In the middle was an operating table, machines and other equipment were set up next to it.
“Brian sent me your x-rays. I assure you that this won’t take long at all. The chip doesn’t appear to be too troublesome to get too.” He said.
Vaughn started to become slightly nervous with all the medical equipment. “Are you sure you can do this?” He asked.
Judsworth looked at him. “I’ve seen worse, son.” He said. “Your case to me, it’s like watching a beautiful woman walk across the street, having to actually start a conversation with her? Now that’s the difficult stuff.” He smiled.
Vaughn laughed softly, slightly reassured by the mans confidence.
“We’ll get started right away. If you would, strip down to your boxers and lay on the table.” He told Vaughn as he started to turn on the medical equipment. He checked the liquid in the IV’s as Vaughn got undressed. He laid down on the cushioned table and shivered slightly from how cold it was in the warehouse.
“Don’t worry, you won’t feel the cold for long.” Judsworth said as he looked at the x-rays once more. He then started to stick small sensors on Vaughn’s body, with wires attached. “I hope you’re okay with needles.” He said as he took the end of an IV. He took Vaughn’s arm and dabbed it with alcohol before sticking in the needle.
“At this point in my life, nothing bothers me anymore.” He said.
Judsworth nodded as he took an electric shaver from off of one of the trays.
“Alright, unfortunately I’m going to have to leave a mark, I have to shave your head.”
Vaughn wasn’t exactly happy about the news, but he really didn’t give a damn.
“My hair grows fast.” He said. “Just get this over with.”
Judsworth nodded as he turned on the buzzer and carefully started to shave his patient’s hair off. Vaughn closed his eyes and tried to relax.
This f***ing sucks….
Once Judsworth was done, he brushed the hair off the table. “Alright, I’m going to inject you with a tranquilizer. You’re going to feel very tired.” He said as he took a syringe from off of the cart. “I’m going to count back to ten, when I get to one you’ll be out. Most patients say that it feels as though you took a five minute nap, so you won’t feel like you’re out for long at all. Just think of something that helps you relax, it’ll make everything a whole lot easier.” He said.
Vaughn nodded and watched as Judsworth stuck the needle into his IV. He pushed the liquid into the plastic tube and Vaughn could feel it enter his veins.
“Alright, just relax….ten….nine….eight…”
Vaughn felt himself already start to succumb to the drugs.
“…seven…six…five…four…”
He fought to keep his eyes open, but it was too hard.
“…three…two…one….sweet dreams.” Judsworth said as he put the syringe back and put his gloves and his face mask on. His eyes traced Vaughn’s scalp for any abnormalities. He looked closer, and just above Vaughn’s left ear was a small spot of pink. It was a trail left from a previous scar.
“Well…well…well…what do ya know?”
~~
The soft ocean breeze blew through the small area that was set up for the special event. Few sat in the chairs behind the flowered arch on the beach, only those that mattered the most to the both of them.
He stood under the arch, his best friend standing next to him on his right side.
The music started a few moments later, and everyone stood up. From behind the row of palm trees came the woman he had been born to love, dressed in white and being escorted by her father. Her white vale covered her face slightly, but couldn’t hide her smile, nor the glow she exhibited.
As she got closer things started to fade, people started to disappear and the colors of the environment turned to black.
She kept smiling.
~~
He opened his eyes, staring up at the dark ceiling of the warehouse. It took him a few moments to understand what was going on. Then he realized, it was over. He turned his head to the side slightly to find that all the equipment that had previously been there was now gone. The room was empty except for the bed he was lying on. He groaned and brought his hand up to the side of his head.
It was weird to him at first, touching his head without hair. He felt a small line above his left ear and then the crosshatching of stitches. It wasn’t longer than an inch. He felt more tired than anything. He felt weak and sick to his stomach. He forced himself to sit up and when he did something fell off of his lap to the ground. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached down to pick up a small plastic bag containing a piece of paper, a black knit hat and another small bag.
He opened it up and took out the paper.
Sorry, I had to leave; I never stay anyplace too long.
You’re going to feel very tired for the next week, right now more so because the tranquilizer has to fully wear off.
Everything went smoothly. It took about two hours. In the bag is what I extracted, I washed it off, don’t worry.
Gods speed
~TJ
He folded the letter back up and took out the second bag. A small pill shaped metal chip was inside. He shook his head and put both items back into the larger bag. He grabbed his shirt from the end of the table and pulled it over his head before putting his jacket on. He stood up and nearly fell as his legs gave out from under him. He grabbed the edge of the table and caught his balance.
“Shi*.” He said.
He slipped down to the floor after pulling his pants and shoes from the table down to the floor. He got dressed slowly and then took out his cell phone from his coat pocket. He flipped it open and found that he had no bars left, it was dead.
He sighed and pushed himself to his feet.
This should be fun. He thought as he took out the knit hat that Judsworth had left him. He pulled it over his head carefully and walked towards the exit.
He felt better already. Now he just had to make it up to Sydney.
