Flutter: Chapter 8

Nora woke up to the sound of someone tip-toeing about her room. Sniffing the air, Nora sensed that it was Mary, and she turned around to face her.

"Mary?" Nora questioned, eyeing Mary who was dusting an end table.
"Oh drat. Caught red-handed." Mary stilled, throwing up her hands in the air. "I was hoping I wouldn't disturb you, hoping you could sleep for the next hour."
"What's in the next hour?" Nora righted herself, curious.
"Your medical examine, dear."
Nora groaned, and fell back on the bed with a thump.
"I forgot about that." She said, running her hand down her face.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news." Mary said apologetically.

"No it's no problem, Mary. You didn't cause all of this." Nora said softly, staring at the blank white ceiling above her.
"It would help if you happened to know about a secret passage that leads out of this building?" Nora said wistfully.
"Actually, come to speak of it, there is one. I am duty bound to Quinton, and participating in your escape would be treason."

Nora looked at Mary, wishing that Mary could in fact help her leave this place, and go far, far away, but she would take that risk. For Mary, helping Nora to leave would mean banishment from the only life she's ever know. Nora knew first hand what that felt, life - she was living it currently. She wouldn't let another person go through the same trouble if she could help it.

"I wasn't actually expecting there to be one, and I would never do anything to make you lose your job."
"I appreciate it, miss. Now that you're up, you might as well get ready. I was told to tell you to dress in comfortable slippers and a loose gown. They prefer that you not eat beforehand."

"Where am I supposed to meet the doctors?" Nora rose out of bed then, stretching her muscles, and hearing the cracking, and pops of her joints.
"I'll direct you there. They are stationed in one of our unfurnished rooms on main floor. Anything else?"

"Nothing. Thanks, Mary." Nora said Mary left quietly, and Nora began disrobing, thinking about what the doctors were going to do with her later. Worry began to fill her belly like fast growing vines, tangling themselves into a thick mass of apprehension.

As she stood in front of the sink, she looked at her face in the mirror, her hands reaching up to touch her lips. She thought about last night, and what it had brought, and what it would mean for her and Quinton in the future. It was easy to feel spite and contempt towards Quinton for his behavior towards her. Now, though, a new feeling had been introduced - wanting.

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"You're strangely quiet Miss Nora. I assure you that nothing will go awry. Quinton would damn himself before making you doing anything that would be dangerous."
Mary, and Nora were walking down the staircase, going to Nora's appointment.

"I really doubt that." Nora said, her voice bitter.
"Now, now. Just relax. You're in perfectly good hands. These are one of the most prominent physicians that we know of. Nothing to fret about."
"How did they come to study my people?"
"They could answer that question better than I."

Nora was quiet from then on, lost in her thought, still not relieved by Mary's words. They approached the room that Nora was to enter. It was near the library that Nora had been to several times, but she'd never gone father down the hallway.
"I'll be leaving you now."

Mary said with a tilt of her head, before walking back the way she came, leaving Nora at the door. Nora turned to face it, her breath coming in short puffs. She could hear low voices, and mummers coming from behind the door, and she knew it wasn't polite to keep others waiting. Grasping the knob, she turned it, and opened the heavy door slowly, the creaks and moans of the hinges interrupting the relative quiet.

The walls were painted olive-green, and the floors Brazilian walnut. The room had been unfurnished originally, according to Mary. However, now it was made to look like a mini operation room. A gurney lay in the middle of the room, a IV stand besides it. Two large carts were nearby, covered with an assortment of vials, tubes, and flasks. A large file cabinet was pushed off to the side. The room was lighted by the sun shining through three huge windows at the back of the room. Quinton was here, along with two other individuals - a man and a woman. They were dressed in traditional physician grab - a white doctors coat, and blue latex gloves. They had been standing in a circle, conversing deeply, but now stood facing her. Nora stayed by the doorway, intimidated by the humorless faces before her.

"Mr. Geron and Mrs. Kanover, I'd like you to meet my mate, Nora Jean Thompson. Nora, come meet your doctors." Quinton walked over to the motionless Nora, grasping her hand and leading her to the pair.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Thompson. I am Teesha Kanover." The woman, Teesha, stepped forward first, offering her had. She was a woman of average height, with strawberry blonde curls, that were streaked with white. She had dark green eyes, bordered with wrinkles.
"I can't say that I'm excited about all this." Nora said, honestly, shaking the hand before her.

"Oh please. Don't be so morose." Quinton said, from behind Nora.
"It's hard not to be upset about things done for you that you've had no say in." Nora said bitingly. Quinton was about to retort, but was interrupted by Mr. Kanover.
"Harold Geron, at your service, miss. We've heard the details of your predicament, and when Quinton here asked for our help, we surely could not refuse. Why a wolf incapable of transforming? It's remarkable to say the least. Now I understand that you may be skeptical, but I assure you that we will not do anything you don't feel comfortable with." Harold stepped forward, and Nora sensed that the stout, jovial, man was sincere.

"Thank you." Nora said, relieved just a tad bit.
"Well then. I'll be leaving you two to your work." Quinton said, looking at his watch. "I've got work waiting for me, so please whenever you're done with the examination, visit me in my office. Good day."

With that, Quinton walked out of the room, the sound of his footfall bouncing off the walls, and echoing about the room.
'At least I don't have to worry about anything being awkward. He still ignores me.' Nora said to herself, trying to feel happiness in that statement.

"Well then. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Harold said, clapping his pudgy hands together.
"Yes let's. Before we begin, is there any question you'd like to ask of us, Nora?" Teesha said sweetly, turning to one of the carts, and fiddling around, preparing the tools she was going to use.

"Um, yes. Err, how did you two, humans, come know about us wolves?" Nora inquired, sitting down on the gurney that Mr. Gerner indicated she sit on.

"We were born into it. Teesha and I live in the wilderness of Colorado. We are neighbors. Our fathers, and mothers were researchers, and scientist, as were their mothers and fathers before them. 0 As legend tells it, my great something or other, was camping, along with a long gone relative of Teesha's. They stumbled upon an injured male, of your kind, who had been in the midst of transitioning into human form. You can say that their curiosity peeked from there on in. They nursed the man back to health, and figured that they wanted to help the creatures. The man was thankful, and alerted his pack that there were humans, willing to help. Now, it took a while for trust to build, but needless to say, eventually they won over the wolf, and here we are today, continuing the legacy."

Nora sat there a moment, absorbing Mr. Gerner's spiel.
"Now Harold. I've told you that you talk far too much than you should." Teesha scowled, shaking her head, her curls bouncing about as if they too had a bone to pic with Harold.

"I actually find it very interesting. There are more like you then?"
"Few and far between. Though our family has surely prospered, there aren't enough of us for all of you. Though, it isn't often that our expertise is needed, since you all seem to be in great states of health."
"And your ability to repair yourselves must come in handy." Harold added, while looking over a chart.

"But, don't people in your family ever choose not to be something else?" Nora continued on with her questioning.
"Of course. It's a pity, but between us two families, we have enough to make do. Now let's begin. There'll be plenty of time for questions the next visit." Teesha said.
Nora quieted then.
"Not to worry dear. I'll be looking you over while Harold here marks things down. Now, part one will be a regular check up. Eyes. Ears. Nose. That sorta thing. Say 'Ahh.'"

The procedure went smoothly. Teesha looked into Nora's mouth, nose, and eyes. Nora's hearing was tested as well. Next came common motor functions, and reflexes. It certainly was like a regular appointment at a clinic, but just sorta tweaked. Their equipment had been modified to fit the standards of the humanoids they were dealing with. For example, their Audiometer used extremely low sound waves that a normal human being could not pick up on, but of course, a wolf could. To test her vision, the lettering on the eye chart was smaller than ordinary human eye charts, to account for Nora's acute vision. They worked silently, Teesha making the observation, and Harold recording them. They took her blood pressure, height, and weight. They then asked her to donate a sample of her blood, and urine, so that they could analyze her DNA, and such. In about an hour and a half, they began to wrap the examination up.

"Okey dokey. You're all set. You can button up your gown now." Teesha said, removing the stethoscope from Nora's chest.
"That's it? I thought you all were supposed to figure out what's wrong with me."
"That is the point of this process, yes." Harold agreed, packing Nora's samples into plastic bags. "First though, we want to make sure that you're in tip-top shape, and that you don't have any unknown aliments that might be affecting your physiology. Though you seem to be healthy, but once we determine that for sure, we'll continue on from there."

Nora got up off the gurney, releasing a breath of air, happy that she would finally be allowed to leave. The doctors were kind enough, but Nora never liked people poking around her body. Back in Wicks, people never went to city doctors, not even if they were deathly ill. They couldn't risk endangering their people. The medical doctors that were available to them, like Mr. Gerner, and Mrs. Hanover, were hard to come by, unless you had the right connections. They couldn't get to everybody at once, and those who were ill had to wait. Sometimes, they didn't make it... sometimes they died before they could be gotten to, leaving family behind - husbands, wives, children. Children, just like Nora.

Nora was quiet, thinking about her mother, who passed away, sick, brittle, and frail. Not ever her supernatural body could combat whatever affliction was torturing her body. Yet, here Nora was, getting five-star treatment for a problem that in truth isn't really a problem. Funny how life works sometimes.

"Nora? Are you with us?" Teesha asked, concerned at Nora's silence.
"Y-yeah. Just thinking. Are my next appointments going to be as simple as this one?"
"I'm afraid not. Once we get your results back, we'll analyze you psychologically, and then try to determine what method would best help to release your inner wound so to speak."
"I don't know how I feel about that..." Nora said, wrapping her hands around herself, uneasy.

"Now we won't be using any electric probes on you, or any shocking method. That would be barbaric.The actions will be strenuous on you psychically, but nothing you can't handle." Teesha said, laying a hand on Nora's shoulder, attempting to lessen her worry.

"You haven't done anything to make you distrust you so far." Nora said with a shrug, relaxing.
"And we won't do anything in the future. You can skedaddle now. We'll be meeting with Quinton to discuss the examination, and our strategy later down on the road." Teesha said, placing her hand on Nora's back, and leading her towards the door.
"Until we meet again!" Harold called from behind them.

Nora said goodbye to the two before exiting the room. She was eager to go to her bedroom, and into proper clothing.

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Now, I've been gone a while, but no need to hurry with this story. This one shall be lengthy, or lengthier than my others, so just sit back and relax.

Now this chapter is shorter than I thought it would be, but as you read, the examine was just a check up.

So any questions or comments? Please do say something. I love to hear from you guys. It's good to know that people are out there :D Thanks for staying with me.