Check you out/up (Sahalie)

A female voice calling out my Name tears me out of my half sleep. As I Open my eyes I See a dark haired Woman in in scrubs down the hallway waiting for me. SO I get up to join her. Once I'm close enough I recognise her.
"I'm sorry. I think there's a mistake."
She's already dissapearing in One of the exam rooms so I follow her inside.
"I'm Not hear to get my screws tightened. I Need a medical exam to Return to work...a physical One."
She does't seem to care and asks how I am so I huff but Nod. "Fine."
With my hands on my hips I wait for her to get the right person but she doesn't.
Cocking my head to the side I sarcastically question her. "You're a doctor, too? Aren't you a Jack of al trades!"
It's supposed to be joke but the pretty brunette stays serious. SO I look around at the room I'm in. Aside from the usual shelves and examination table there's treadmill with cardio equipment and a strange Clear box with a chair Inside.
maybe I am in the right spot with the right Person.

OOC?.I'm on a Public ipad with Weird autocorrect that I can't turn off.

the gown. It's part of this building and all the Test just like the sterile smell or the scrubs the personell wears.
" I Know the drill." I let her know and take the soft Fabric from her.
It still feels a little weird to be examined by her of all people. I feel a slight tad of red creep on my cheeks as I start to pull of my shirt when she leaves.
Unfortunately it's Not her but a much uglier nurse, who comes back to take my blood pressure and all the stats. The Woman checks the scar in. The middle and on the side of my chest but seems satisfied. A Long wait follows before she returns to do the actual Lung function Test.

"That's okay. I can't continue before You give me the all Clear anyway."
I hope she understands what this means to me and will act in my favour but Right now she Looks stressed and tired.
"Miss Loyd....is special." That's the nicest thing that I can say about that nasty, hairy woman, who just left the room.
"Is your family okay?" I figure th e nicer I am the nicer she will be.

"I'm fine again...almost the way I was before."
A nice smile should Convince her, so I try my best in that ridiculous out fit. Mind you, I Kept my boxers on.

A simple yes or no i regards to the family question would have sufficed but the psychologist actually takes the time to answer my question giving me a bit of personal information. Maybe it's her way of making her 'patients' open up to her. Give a little, get a little. But I don't consider myself her patient when it comes to my feelings, just the functionality of my lung.
"I don't know anybody who does listen to their family members." I share, my family is only me and my father anyway because the rest took off.

"Now then up on the treadmill. Let's make sure you can join your fellow peacekeepers. "
Her smile makes me feel a little comfier now. But the weird gown almost compensates it.
I follow her advice and get up on the treadmill. We start out slow but she keeps monitoring my heart rate while the thing is exellerating for the next 10 minutes until I'm sprinting. At the end of it I can truly feel how hard it is to keep up and start wheezing slightly. My legs are getting shaky, too.
It's the one thing that worries me because it's never happened before the incident.
With slightly unstable legs I put my feet on solid ground and place both hands on my thighs to catch my breath.
"That...wasn't ..so easy." I confess because I'm not only here to get the all clear by faking something but also to find out what's going on with me and whether I'll be okay in the long run.

She directs me into a small chamber with plexiglass sides where I sit and do a breathing test. I'm not sure how well or badly I'm doing but she scribbles down tons of notes so once this part is done I push the door open and give her a questioning look.
For some reason I don't even dare to ask what's pon my mind because I feel she might tell me that my health is in the crapper and I'll never be a career or peace keeper again.

If I should guess I'd bet most of the color faded from my lips and the rest of my face by now so I busy myself with drinking water from a white plastic cup and try to read what she's been writing.

Pursing my lips I fake a smile and nod. "Your handwriting is really messy." I need a joke right now.

OOC: Yeah, school and work can do that. Glad you're back.

The work out on the treadmill and the following blowing into a tube has me panting. Even the cup of water can't help much. It's obvious that I'm not even close to the shape I was in when I fought in the pregames and almost brought home the victory.

The psychologist joins in my joke about the messy hand writing of doctors and lightens the mood but the smile soon fades from her lips as she declares in a matter of factly tone that I can't go back to 5 mile runs yet. It's dissappointing but I had a feeling anyway.
So I sit down on one of the plastic chairs with sweat glistening all over my forehead. "Yeah, I can tell."
"Give it two weeks and come back again. You are improving but ..." That's all I hear before I interrupt her shaking my head.
"I wish I had that kind of time but the program finishes in three weeks and I'm way behind on points. I don't have two weeks, doc." I look her in the eyes hoping she'll understand my dillemma. If she makes me hand in the piece of paper that she just drew up I'll have to repeat the whole damn program.
"Don't make me start from scratch. You said it yourself. I'll be a good peace keeper but I need your help."
I guess the prescription is an attempt at helping me but I need different words on the paper for the academy.
"I need your all clear. I'd even promise to come back to chat to you." Bribery, sometimes it works but what does this woman care whether I'll come back or not. I\m sure she's got enough work without me.

Of course there's a bit of concern in the back of my mind as well. So I straighten up but avert my gaze because I don't want to look her in the eye when she tells me.
"Is it really getting better? Cause it feels like I'm running on half a lung. Is it possible that it'll stay like this?" If so, I will ahve to return to my fathers company to take whatever boring job he's willing to offer me.

It's hard to stand here and beg for her understanding when clearly she'd have to go against her work ethos. Against all odds she does.
The doctor takes the paper from my hands, folds it in half and pulls out another one.
"you have to promise me you'll stop if you feel as though you are going to faint. You are improving because if you weren't you would be collapsed on the ground right now. It could have been worse."
"Anything!" I cheer because I want to show her just how grateful I am for what she's doing for me.
I'm glad she's convinced that I'm improving because I am not. This is going way too slow for my taste but considering a few weeks ago I was in the hospital with a tube stuck in the side of my chest because I could barely breath this is more than anybody could expect.
"Please use the medication and becareful." "Promise." I smile at her. I've never gotten along with any woman but Kyanite. This one seems to be an exception. Maybe she likes me.
I cast a quick glance at her looking into her stern, yet pretty face. Is there more in her look that I can tell at first glance or is this the way she treats everybody? I can't imagine so because she's overstepping some boundaries for me.

"you have to come back to me as soon as you graduate. You got that."
"I will...as soon as I graduate." I'd tell her just about anything right now.

The next look she gives me is fileld with concern I cvan tell. I guess she knows me pretty well when she says. "You'll make a fine peacekeeper you just have to keep yourself alive." Maybe she's just read my file.
"ya." I just nod because what she says is very true. I've come awefully close to kicking the bucket or at least getting injured.
"That's how I live, doc." I try to explain because my whole life has been filled with fights and brawls, professional or not.

She releases me and hurries out of the room. I hurry to get changed back into my own clothes and then leave with the prescription that I'm not planning to use. Why would I? I'm improving, right? Maybe just to push myself that one step further during physical tests.

---



During the following week I do have to do a few of those. Most of them fairly easy for what I'm used to but still too much for my current state. each time I find myself half on the edge of keeling over so I decide to actually go to a drug store and get the inhaler she prescribed, which makes things a hell of a lot easier because it expands my lungs a great deal.
This way I can actually function during most test. The results aren't great but at least I don't fail.
Once or twice I get asked whether I'm okay because I get awefully pale and overly exhausted by the end of each run or sparring session. They even asked me whether I really got the all clear and I just nod but never tell anybody about our little deal.

That weekend Kyanite drops the bomb on me. I'm going to be the father to her child! Me of all people. Me! I'm absolutely useless when it comes to human interactions and I'm supposed to be a father..that word alone doesn't sound like me one little bit.

The following days I'm in an absolute days. Nobody can really talk to me and I thrpw myself into the tasks at hand more than ever trying to excel at each one of them until it becomes painful.

I'm unable to handle that bit of information to an extend where I can only sleep a few hours at a time and push myself during physical exercises until I start wheezing, use that spray and keep going. If I can do anything for this baby it's to have a job to provide money.

Together with all my fellow recruits I stand in line waiting for what's to come. The anticipation has us all running on fumes because it's the last of our tasks but also the most difficult one where most cadets fail Nobody wants to be one of those so we're nervous to say the least.

I've already reached my limits this morning though.
The abseiling course, we had to do, has almost become an obstacle which I was unable to overcome. A lack of good sleep, being physically only half-fit and the news Ky dropped on me distracted me enough to do three rounds badly enough to have the captain tell me to sit this one out.

+++ flashback

I know that I need the points though. One point short and I will fail. And then? I don't have a job to provide for Ky and the baby. I've never felt such pressure and lack of aptitude at the same time.
I'm already panting and sweating my ass off when the trainer told me.
"Dunham, I've seen enough. Sit over there in the shade and leave this to the pros."
I hate it when he talks down to me like this. With my hands on my thighs I look up at him breathing like a steam engine. With bright red, sweaty face I shake my head.
"I can do this better!"
"Sit it out, I said!" He yells at me so I huff but walk over to the shade to watch the next group finish a round through the course that consists of ropes to climb on, balance over, a wall and finally a tower to abseil in a certain time.

From the shade where I can drink some water I watch the others but to know that they will get poinst and I won't has me taking desperate measures. I use the inhaler that I got with the prescription from the doctor. I take a deep draw of the spray, wait a moment and then inhale once more. It only takes three minutes for the effects to kick in. Suddenly I can breath much better and deeper. It also provides a rush of energy that I desperately need.

So I get up again, dump some water over my head and step out to the captain again.
"I want another shot."
Instead of waiting for his okay I run right into the course to catch up with the group that started a moment ago.
I hear him call my name but don't give a damn. It's time to prove myself.

I'm still not flying through the obstacle course but if I'm not wrong I'm faster. So I push myself, crawl under some ropes like a caterpillar, balance so fast that I almost slide off and then jump to reach the top of the wall. My fingers managed to grab the edge so I can pull hard. Without any grace I slide over the top ripping the skin on my stomach because I'm not careful enough and drop onto my ass on the other side.
I'm not even sure whether I'm breathing in and out fast or slow at this point because I'm way too focussed on the challenge. My whole body feels hot and cold at the same time, somewhat numb even but I still need to conquer the tower. using the holes in the wood on one side I climb with all that damn gear including a vest and climbing harness, gun and baton. The muslces in my arms and legs protest at the speed but I just want to get through this. Is someone calling my name? I don't care.

By the time I stand on top next to one more cadet my hands and legs are shaking from exhaustion, I can hear the damn wheezing again but waste no time to loop the rope around my figure eight and close the screw of the carabiner on my harness.

When I look over the edge to the ground down below I suddenly remember Kyanite and what she told me. She's pregnant. I need to be careful...
That thought messes enough with me to waste another precious second before I jump over the edge and descend much quicker than we learned. The rope burns through the palm of my hand with so much force that I let go and drop the rest of the way with little to stop me.

I'm not sure how I dropped down to the ground but from one second to the next I'm in the sand below gasping for air with a hand that's lost most of it's skin on the inside.
Is any air even entering my lungs at all?
Did I make it?

I let my head drop into the sand and try to catch my breath while looking for our trainer, who soon appears above me surrounded by big black splotches.
"Did I make it in time?" I gasp. The man only shakes his head at me but then frowns. "Yeah...get out of my course, cadet."
Sounds like he's not very happy with what I put on display.

+++

I'm not even sure whether I'm getting points deducted for unruly behavior and will fail anyway but so far nobody's approached me so I stay with my group just to be greeted by no other than the psychologist, I've gotten to know a bit better. She's wearing sunglasses but once it's my turn and I join her in a room I can tell that she's got a shiner. It's red and fresh.
"What happened?" I question her instead of greeting her and sit down because I'm pretty sore from my fall this morning.
"Hi. Didn't think I'd see you so soon again."
I let my gaze roam around the almost empty office before I let my eyes settle back on her.
"Thanks for your help by the way. It's going pretty well." That doesn't even sound right to me.