damned_institute | Dayshift 31; 4th Shift; Doctor's Office 4 (Stegman)

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Dayshift 31; 4th Shift; Doctor's Office 4 (Stegman)

Lunch had been taken in his own office. Stegman had little desire to mingle. Not today, at least. His peers seemed marginally competent at least - not like those mockeries of medical men and women at Kingdom - but he was simply too frustrated to suffer through company.

A quiet lunch in the privacy of his own office was enough to soothe his ruffled feathers. And now it was back to the grindstone, so to speak. A new file was pulled from his folders and he scanned it idly. A teenager, lovely.

Well, hopefully this session would go better than the last.

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Instead of meeting with Orihime like he'd planned, Keman's nurse had instead managed to rouse him enough to get him to his room and had him sleep off enough of the sedatives that he'd be able to actually function in his "therapy" session.

After leaving a note for her on the board, he let his nurse lead him to where his doctor was waiting. Once she'd left them alone, he gave the grumpy-looking old human a weak smile.

"H-hello. I'm...Calvin."

"Ah. Yes. Good afternoon, Calvin. Please, have a seat."

Well, this was a good sign. Calvin knew his name, at least, which was more than could be said of most of his patients. Hopefully this would set the tone for their first meeting.

"I'm Dr. Stegman, and I'll be handling your case."

Keman sat where he was bidden, eyes firmly planted on his feet and not on the "doctor." He would sit here, and he would go along with their little games if he absolutely had to, but he wasn't exactly going to make this easy on Stegman.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Stegman," he muttered.

"I thought we'd take our session today to get to know one another," Stegman began, folding his hands on his desk. He liked to think he was good with children.

"No need for us to be strangers, is there? Now. How are you doing today? Settling in alright?"

Looking up, Keman gave Stegman a blank look. Settling in all right? His left arm was heavily bandaged and in a sling, his back was covered in burns, and he had a band-aid on his chin. Even though the young dragon was sure the question had just been small talk, he couldn't help but be utterly bewildered by it.

"...I...guess," he said eventually. "I'm sorry, but I'm not even sure what I'm here for, so I doubt I could be 'settling in' terribly well."

"That's quite all right." Stegman nodded. "I just meant getting used to the routine, your nurse, that sort of thing. Don't worry about why you're here right now, we'll get to that in time." He made a little note on the paper in front of him, still smiling.

"It says here you've been in a few fights." Clearly. Didn't the nurses step in quick enough to avoid serious injury? Mental patients were like animals - the needed to be watched at all times.

"What are you writing," Keman asked, curiosity getting the better of him. "Are you taking notes or something?" Suddenly, he was very self-conscious. He felt almost...trapped, like a horse being examined before the race.

"A couple," he shrugged, looking evasive. "They both deserved it, and I ended up out the worse both times."

"Yes, I'm taking notes." Stegman nodded. "We'll be seeing each other again, and notes help me remember what we've already discussed." Of course he was taking notes!

"Deserved it?" He chuckled a bit. "I'm sure they did. That doesn't excuse fighting, though, Calvin. Not to this extent - oh, all boys get into scraps, it's perfectly natural, but I'm seeing reports of broken bones. You've got to turn the other cheek, be the bigger man." And never stoop to their level. No matter how hard the cretins tried to drag you down...

"Why don't you tell me what these fights were about."

"Oh." Keman gave Stegman another one-shouldered shrug and looked away. That made sense, even if he wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of seeing the doctor again.

"...Wait, what? Broken bones?" In spite of his best efforts, the young dragon was slowly being pulled into the session. "I threw two punches. Both hit the face. I don't remember breaking any bones." ...Well, he might have broken Valyn's nose, but it had healed all right, hadn't it?

Why was Stegman so interested, anyway? He'd said it himself--all boys fought, and Keman thought he was doing an admirable job of fitting in with the two-leggers, if he did say so himself. "The first one was about my sister. My friend insulted her, and I hit him. Fairly straight-forward. I don't see why you're so fascinated by it."

Stegman eyed Calvin with a raised eyebrow. "I was referring to your injuries," he explained. "Broken nose, it says here, and a variety of other serious injuries. That goes a little bit beyond boyish rough housing. Calvin, I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to help. There's nothing to be ashamed of here."

His pen kept moving, jotting down a few things here and there as he listened.

Keman had to bite his tongue to avoid asking Stegman how he could've possibly gotten third-degree burns on his left shoulder from a fist fight. Or the finally-healing gashes on his chest. Or the long cut that had nearly filleted his arm. It probably wouldn't do anything. It hadn't made any impression on his nurses. Why would it work on his doctor?

"...What are you here to help me with?"

"That remains to be seen." Stegman smiled. "But you are aware this is a mental health facility, aren't you?"

He had to know at least that. They all knew that, at the very least.

Keman raised an eyebrow. "You know, before I came here, I had no idea what a 'mental health facility' was. But yes, I do. Apparently I've been sick."

"It's just a hospital that caters to the mind rather than the body." Good. "And I wouldn't call you sick. That's such a loaded term, isn't it? No, you've just had a bit of trouble, that's all. And we're going to get you back to your old self in no time. I'm sure you want to be back with your family."

"I gathered," Keman said, sighing.

"I'm...trying to get better, I really am, but I'm very...confused." That was what the doctor wanted to hear, wasn't it? "I'm afraid I don't really know who my old self is, and I'd like to get back to my mother as soon as I can. I'm sure she's worried."

Keman was only certain of one thing: he doubted that Stegman meant "an adolescent dragon" when he said "old self."

"Don't worry about a thing." Stegman leaned forward. "You're in very good hands, I assure you. Now let's get back on track. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? Any hobbies? Interests? Things like that?"

The questions seemed nothing but friendly chatter, but Stegman had reasons for asking.

Hobbies? Keman shrugged. "I like to read. And I like animals. I used to have a lot of pets when I was younger."

"Well, plenty of ways for you to keep up with your hobbies here. You've been to the library, I assume?"

"Yes, but I haven't read that much," Keman admitted. "I've been too busy talking to people."

Barret was escorted to the office, and he was silent. The nurse left him to face the Doctor, and he kept silent. The thought of therapy left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he decided to not cause a scene. Instead, he kept a keen eye trained on the light haired 'psychologist' and hoped he'd be able to keep his cool long enough not to take out his aggressions on the guy.

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Dayshift 31; 4th Shift; Doctor's Office 4 (Stegman)

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