The Doctor's Equal (Echo and I)

[DragonMistress07]

Karma gently lifted his head so he could get at the marks as he listened. He sensed the other was distressed. "From what you've told me, it seems like something came back home with you from the war. Something that can enter your dreams and torture you. It probably powerful if it can physically leave marks." he started before starting to apply the antiseptic to each mark thoroughly. "This is going to sting quite a bit." he added after a second as he continued. "Did someone in the military die recently in a horrible way before you were discharged?" he asked, keeping the conversation going to see if Chris could give him any information as he wanted to help the other. Whatever was going on, it was not healthy for Chris.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

┏━━━━━━━━━┓
₡ħяɨʂ
┗━━━━━━━━━┛

Chris hissed a bit when the antiseptic made contact but outside of that didn't move. He mulled over Karma's question a bit before answering. "I watched a lot of my brothers in arms die," he said softly ",the marines are the first line of defense, we get sent in before anyone else. I've seen children run into the middle of a street with a bomb strapped to them, my best friend was decapitated over there. I've got a big stock on horrifying deaths." He felt like he was over sharing but he had to remind himself that Karma had asked. "I keep seeing the same creature in my dreams," he added as an after thought.

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

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DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma had to inwardly flinch at his statement. "I am sorry to hear that." he replied just as softly as he finished cleaning and sanitizing the marks before carefully placing a gauze bandage over them, making sure to cover all of it. It took up most of his face but he would be fine. "There. Done." he added after a minute, checking his work and nodding. It would do. "Hmm. Creature? What creature. What did it took like?" he asked as he cleared away the supplies, placing them back into the kit. Could whatever's harassing Chris be the best friend who died and came back to torture its friend? It was unlikely but still something was nagging at him and it irritated him that he did not know why.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

┏━━━━━━━━━┓
₡ħяɨʂ
┗━━━━━━━━━┛

Chris gave Karma a small smile when he finished bandaging him. "Thank you," he said softly though he didn't specify what he was thanking him for. The question about the creature had Chris looking back over to Karma. He hesitated a moment before answering. "At first I thought he was a human," he started ",he looked human the first time I saw him but he started to change as the attacks progressed. He's tall with dark hair and paper white skin. At first his eyes were blue but now they're a dark red, every time he speaks to me it's...distorted, like it's coming out of two sets of vocal chords. Last night it opened its mouth and it was like something out of a horror movie. His jaw opened like a mamba but it began to split and tear at the edges of his mouth and it was full of rows of sharp teeth like a shark."

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

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DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma waved away the thanks, fighting down a blush at the sincerity of it. He listened intently once again as Chris described his dream and frowned. "Hmm. It sounds like a Dreamstalker. Which is not good for you at all." he replied once the other finished. "They're creatures that steal into the dreams of those who are troubled and harass them until they go insane from the nightmares, physical attacks, and eventually kill themselves. Then they eat the souls of the deceased." he added after thinking about it. "The only way to get rid of them is a thorough cleasing of your home." he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the his desk while watching Chris.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

┏━━━━━━━━━┓
₡ħяɨʂ
┗━━━━━━━━━┛

Chris rubbed a hand across his forehead and sighed. "I've tried everything except getting myself exorcised by a priest," he stated ",I've had every place I've lived cleansed. I even had this one blessed from my childhood preacher. Nothing works." He was not feeling his usual optimism hearing what he was up against.

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

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DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma was silent for a few minutes and sighed inwardly. "Yeah. Those aren't going to work for this thing. You'll only tick it off. You need a tribal Shaman in order to get rid of it." be started after a beat. "And lucky for you, I have one living on a reservation not far from here." be added, looking at Chris. The faster they got rid of this thing, the better off Chris would be. And maybe he could finally get the sleep he deserved. The man looked rough. "That's if you want. I don't want to force it on you." he finished after another beat. He really thought that Chris needed help but he would not force the other to get it if he did not want it. No matter how worried he was.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

Chris listened to what Karma had to say and mulled it over. He really couldn't see the down side to this whole situation. He wanted this thing gone and it seemed Karma was offering him a way to do that. "That would be wonderful thank you," he sighed as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

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DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma smiled at him and nodded. "No problem. I will call him on my break later." he replied before looking at the other male again. "Are you sure you want to work today? You look like hell..." he asked after a minute, wincing inwardly at his words. Wow. He really had to work on his tact. He had no idea of why he had gotten so worried about the other male as they had only known each other for a day or so and not even that but there was something about Chris that brought out those damn protective instincts within him. He had not felt like that in a very long time. Not since he was a boy.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

Chris thanked Karma again and hung his head a bit. He laughed at the other doctor's description of him. I'll bet I do. He nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah I'm sure I do," he chuckled ",but I can handle it. I've dealt with a lot worse." He smiled up at Karma. It was nice to have someone looking out for him, he hadn't hadn't that since he was in the military.

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

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DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma was doing doubtful about that but he let it go for now. "Well, if you are sure, I'll let it go." he replied after a moment of thinking about it. Bit seriously though. He was going to call the shaman as soon as he could before this thing escalated to the point where it would be almost impossible to help Chris. "Well, we should start our rounds. I'm manning the first floor desk today. So I better get down there. I'll see you later and try not to push yourself to hard." he added with a small smile, patting the other male gently on the shoulder before heading out of the office and towards the elevator. He really hoped that Chris would be okay for his shift. Really, he did. Kami knows that the other man could use a break.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

Chris flashed Karma another smile before watching him leave. He took a moment to collect himself and sighed heavily. You've got this Sanchez. If you can make it through a war, you can make it through the day. Truth was he felt awful. He was tired, mentally and emotionally frayed and in a hell of a lot of pain but he shoved it all down. He stood and began making his rounds and seeing to his appointments. His day was going fin until a particularly rambunctious patient shoved him and he slammed his back into the wall. He made it through the rest of the exam before stiffly walking to the nurses stations to see if any of them happened to have some Tylenol handy.

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

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DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma sighed as he saw the state the front desk was in. Really? These nurses were so messy. With another sigh, he got to work straightening up the mess left behind. Between that and the visitors as well as other patients, his patience was wearing thin. Between all that he made sure to ca his shaman friend to let him know Chris' situation.He then noticed Chris walking over and also noticed that he was walking stiffly. "Hey...Are you okay? You look like you are in pain." he asked as he put away a few files while waiting for a response. Be made a mental note to ask when would be a good time to come over to his place to cleanse it. Also, maybe he should tell then other to go home early. He looked rely tired and that thing haunting him probably wasn't doing him any favors.

EchoMonroe

 

[EchoMonroe]

If you don't mean it, don't you say it
If you don't feel, don't you fake it
If it's a lie, baby, don't say it's true

Chris gave a small forced smile at Karma before answering. "Yeah just had a kid kick me into the wall," he explained ",so I was wondering if anyone had some Tylenol." He rolled his shoulders in an attempt to alleviate some of his back pain ans grimaced. It really did hurt but he was willing to tough it out. Come on. You're a soldier. Pain is just weakness leaving the body. You got this. He leaned against the counter to alleviate some of the strain on his back and grimaced.

If you don't want it? Why'd you take it?
How come you bought it just to break it?
If you don't love me, don't say you do.

show spoilerhide spoiler

DragonMistress07

 

[DragonMistress07]

Karma winced. "Yeah. Those paitents are the worse. Especially when they are throwing a tantrum." he replied, his voice filled with sympathy. Be blinked at the question, tilting his head to the side before nodding. "I can take a look. Give me a second." he added before starting to look around, moving things aside to look for some aspirin. "Ah! Found it!" he exclamied after several minutes of searching. He held up a bottle of said pills and handed them over to Chris. Along with a glass of water to help them go down. "Here you go. These are the good ones. So they should last you a good while." he said with a small smile at the other male. "Are you sure you don't want to go home? Or at least take a nap or something?" he asked after a beat

EchoMonroe