Tadashi cringed a bit when she gave him the injection, the
sharp sting of the needle only a brief distraction from the
throbbing in the wrist. He stood, then, and followed herto
the waiting x-ray machine.
“Do you mind if I ask a personal question?” he asked once
the hypo began taking effect and the pain slowly began
numbing just a bit. “Sorry for my prying, but do you have any
brothers, ma’am? I have one back home. And trust me, if
he found out about this, I’d never hear the end of it. I’d be
on my deathbed and he’d be like ‘remember that time you
fractured your wrist making a textbook idiot mistake?’ Believe
me, keeping this quiet to spare the med crew—while definitely
very high on the priorities list—wasn’t my only reasoning for
not coming in.”
Still, he smiled. “But I’ll keep all this in mind next time. And
come in for more immediate treatment instead of letting it
sit and potentially aggravating it worse.”
As she performed the x-ray's, she would glance occasionally at the Lieutenant. Her head tilted a bit when he asked permission to ask a question.
"Of course. Ask away." Her smile faded a bit when he asked about her family, but she didn't avoid the subject.
"I have three, actually. And four sisters." Looking back to her work, she let out a soft sigh, barely audible.
"Your brother. Is he younger? Or older? You sound close, the two of you, if he cares enough about you to hold this over your head." She was smiling brightly again, and laughed a little.
"But I understand. There are people I wouldn't want to worry, either, nor would I want them lording an injury over me." Gently moving his arm, she moved to the holoscreen, looking over the displayed x-rays.
"Looks like you've got a comminuted fracture. It's fixable, though it'll take a bit longer to work on. If you had come in earlier-" she stopped and shook her head.
"No, I'm done lecturing you. Sounds like you learned your lesson. We'll get you set up for surgery asap. In the meantime, it's hyposprays and a sling for you." She looked at him again, from the corner of her eyes.
"And please, call me Korina. We'll be working together, right? No need to call me ma'am."