Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 68
“Um, are there any Powered Criminals here?” she’d asked the nurse Dashing Devil had talked to as they’d entered the swanky hospital. Well, it was swanky when all you were used to was the free clinic.
“No dear, not right now,” the nurse—Laura if Daisy remembered correctly—said.
Daisy was pretty good with names. This Laura had a very soothing presence; even Connor was a little calmer, though he was still excited and stared around wide-eyed as if hoping to see a Powered Criminal in person.
“They only ever pass through here for stabilization and are kept heavily sedated and under guard. You don’t have anything to worry about. We’ve never had an incident where a Powered Criminal got loose in the hospital.”
“Okay,” Daisy nodded, mostly worried about her brother.
While Connor had the Hero worship all kids his age did, she’d made sure he was smart enough to stay well away from Powered Criminals—even for just a chance to see Heroes in action. He’d taken her warnings to heart, given what had happened to their parents.
“This is Terri, one of our best nurses from pediatrics,” Laura said, turning and indicating a younger nurse. “She specializes in young people who have recently been very brave during frightening events.”
The senior nurse turned back to face Daisy. “I understand Connor helped fight off some bad men to protect you?” Laura asked.
She was obviously speaking for Connor’s benefit but spoke to Daisy as she introduced a youngish blonde nurse who was pretty in a standard way. She looked to be good with kids, at least.
Laura certainly was. Connor looked like he felt ten feet tall.
“I’d like to take a look at that wing, but would it be okay if Terri takes Connor over to pediatrics to have his lip taken care of and to check him over to make sure he leaves here in fighting shape?” Laura asked before smiling down at Connor with a motherly affection.
Oh yeah, Laura was great with kids. Daisy only wished she wouldn’t encourage fighting—even indirectly. She sighed, because it certainly worked as far as making her brother willing to let the younger nurse treat him.
“Sure, that would be great, thanks. Connor, would you be okay going with Terri for a little while?” Daisy asked the still very proud and brave-looking Connor.
“No problem, sis!” he enthused.
Never had Daisy seen him so willing to go for a checkup or let her clean a scrape.
“Well, Connor, we’ll have a short walk to get over to Pediatrics,” the pretty blonde nurse said as she stepped up to Daisy’s brother. “Would you like to hold my hand?”
“That’s okay,” Connor replied with some bravado. “I won’t get lost, and my hands are dirty, so please, lead the way.”
“Okay, Connor, right this way,” the nurse smiled warmly as she began to lead Connor away.
Daisy had that brief pang of worry she always got when Connor left her sight, but it was made worse by recent events. She knew she could be too overbearing, sometimes—especially since she was his sister. She often tread a fine line with him, knowing that she risked pushing him away by holding him too close.
“You’re an excellent older sister,” Laura said as she watched Daisy stare after her brother as he more or less marched off beside the nurse. “I can always tell the good guardians from the rest, it’s in the eyes. Be careful it doesn’t become overprotectiveness, though—that’s always a risk for the good ones.”
Daisy blinked, then turned to the nurse. Daisy had been fighting the urge to lock Connor in their apartment and never let him leave for as long as she could remember. It used to apply to her parents, as well, but was made all the worse regarding Connor after their loss. It was like the universe was telling her that her urge was right—she should lock up those closest to her to keep them safe.
The nurse watched her closely, as if reading her with a level of understanding Daisy wasn’t sure she was comfortable with.
“How do you know so much about us?” Daisy demanded. “We just met, and I didn’t hear Dashing Devil call ahead or anything.”
She had questions about his Powers, but he obviously had some form of mental Power on top of all that muscle. She was curious if he had telepathy, which typically involved mind reading. Mind reading meant she would have to be extra careful in any further dealings with the too-handsome-for-her-own-good Hero.
“His handler called ahead,” Laura winked a pale green eye. “It helps make The Authority appear to be all-knowing, huh? I’ve got a room open for you and everything, please come right this way.”
Daisy wanted to ask more questions, but was having a hard time being as suspicious as she normally tried to be. Instead, she followed the nurse into an empty room.
“There is a gown on the bed that should fit you, Daisy. Can you remove your clothes without agitating your wing?” Laura asked as she stepped into the room and gestured to the bed. It was a real bed, not one of those clinical tables like they had at the free clinic. It looked medical, but more comfortable than the ones Daisy had become familiar with these last couple of years.
“No, but it really isn’t a problem. I’ll heal in a couple of days at home,” Daisy explained. “I’m glad Connor is being treated, but…”
“Sorry dear,” Laura replied with motherly firmness, “you’ve already been admitted, and we can’t let you leave until you’ve been cleared by the head nurse. You will, of course, have a choice whether or not to receive treatment, but because there is an ongoing investigation we need to understand the full extent of your injuries so the criminals who caused them can be held responsible when we catch them.”
“Dashing Devil is really going to investigate this?” Daisy was surprised. Heroes didn’t usually get involved in small stuff like this.
“Not personally, no.” Laura shook her head. “Although I get the feeling he might like to, it would be against the rules. He’s already filed a report with the Non-Powered Officers which includes their identities. While I can’t tell you who they were, rest assured that they will be arrested before leaving the city.”
“Oh.” Daisy hadn’t expected there to be any follow-up, figuring that their rescue was more than she could have hoped for.
“Please change into the gown. I’ll give you some privacy; just call out when you’re done and a light outside in the hall will let me know you are ready.” With that, Laura left her to change.
Daisy didn’t really want to change, the crimson blanket she had wrapped around herself was warm and absurdly soft for something that appeared to have been pulled from nowhere like some sort of magic trick. Dashing Devil was a demon-type Changed, though. Maybe he could pull stuff like this out of mid-air.
Sighing, Daisy capitulated and removed her torn and tattered interview outfit. She’d be able to restore it once she got home, so it wasn’t that big of a problem. It was still annoying, though. Her larger concern was the missing credit chit she’d intended to return to Dashing Devil. Now what was she going to do? He’d insisted that there were no strings attached to the generous offer, and seemed to mean it. But she’d somehow have to come up with eleven hundred credits before he changed his mind.
Daisy sighed as she pulled on the drafty pale blue gown and tied it closed below her wings, the torn wing wasn’t such a big deal. It happened fairly regularly, just never at home. Anywhere else, though, and she had to be careful not to snag them on stuff. But it wasn’t the worst injury to suffer. It just stung a little. The ripping of her wing itself was horrendously painful but faded quickly. It would be fine in a couple of days; at least they healed quickly.
She wasn’t sure what to call out, so after sitting at the foot of the firm but still comfortable bed she went with, “I’m ready.”
It must have worked, because a moment later Laura came back in the room, glancing quickly where Daisy’s clothes were folded neatly.
“Perfect, would you like me to send those to the laundry? We have someone fairly talented at temporary repairs who will probably be able to get them wearable. Or, we do have a selection of donated items you are welcome to check through.”
“The temporary repairs would be fine, thank you,” Daisy nodded with a polite smile before frowning and asking, “Is this all going to cost anything?” She really didn’t need to go more deeply into debt right now.
“No dear,” Laura assured her. “When a Hero brings someone in, The Authority covers all expenses. That way Heroes don’t have to worry about financially burdening the people they rescue.”
“Oh…”
Well, she couldn’t hold that against him, then. Daisy didn’t want to bring it up, but his insistence that she receive the normally expensive emergency treatment had irked her.
“Now then, let’s start by cleaning those wounds. I see you’re bleeding has stopped already, so I want to get that done before any debris heals into the wound,” Laura explained as she began quickly assembling a tray of supplies.
Daisy watched as she also slipped a vial of some kind of medicine into the pocket of her scrubs.
“This is a version of Chlorhexidine Solution that has been developed for Changed,” she explained. “It will get anything nasty out of your wounds, just to be safe.”
“It really isn’t…”
“Ms. Baker,” Laura spoke politely but firmly, “I’m sure you will be quite fine without my help. But I am something of an expert on Changed physiology, and it is still better to be safe than sorry. I’ve seen case files of Changed who were never sick a day in their lives go down in days because they failed to properly treat a small cut.”
“I know but…” Daisy tried again.
“I have seen your file and I know you are capable of cleaning it when you get home.” Laura held her polite smile. “You have a very impressive Powerset. I do encourage you to use it when you get home, just let me help make sure you get back there safely. Okay? You can never be too careful. There have been instances of Powered micro-organisms getting into people and doing all sorts of horrific things. I also promise that I’m very good, you’ll barely feel it.”
“Fine.” Daisy sighed.
“Thank you.” Laura smiled warmly as she approached the young woman. “As far as I can tell, it’s just the one wing. Does your hip hurt at all, I saw the stain on your skirt. It looks like you landed on it.”
“Oh, no, my body is fine… just the wing,” Daisy confirmed waving a hand at the folded semi-translucent wing that draped over the edge of the bed on that side. They were flexible but thin—somewhere between paper and silk in texture. They weren’t powdery or anything, like one Changed she had known who took after a moth. They did have a thin layer of fluid in them that leaked when they tore, though.
It wasn’t her blood, that much she knew. Daisy had red blood, although she rarely saw it. She liked the way the colors of the fluid sort of shifted through her wings when they were whole. It evaporated quickly when it leaked, so she didn’t think much about it. It was connected to her Power, which was weaker until the wound closed, and her wings refilled.
Laura pulled up one of those rolling stools and sat next to the bed on that side. She, very carefully, separated out the folds of the damaged wing until she found the rip that jerk had caused when he’d grabbed it.
“It doesn’t look too bad… this won’t take too long,” Laura said softly once she got a good look at it.
“Good.” Daisy was fairly relaxed, but she wanted to get back to Connor as soon as possible. As she watched, a tiny trickle of what looked like water began to flow from the torn segment of her wing that Laura held with gentle fingers.
“Are you doing that?” Daisy asked. She’d never seen her wing leak like that.
“Oh, yes… sorry, I’m Powered.” Laura didn’t take her eyes off her work but spoke in a friendly tone. “It’s nothing major, just lets me move small amounts of liquids about as long as they are fairly close to me. I’m taking just the right amount of antiseptic from the bottle here on the tray and flushing out the wound with it. You should barely feel a thing.”
“I don’t feel it at all,” Daisy admitted. “That’s neat.”
“Thank you. I think it’s fairly useful,” Laura agreed. “It certainly comes in handy for delicate work like your wings.”
“And you said you were an expert on Changed?” Daisy wondered why a Powered with such a useful ability would focus so closely on the small minority of people like her.
“Mhmm,” Laura confirmed. “I’m actually just about finished with my doctoral dissertation on Changed physiology.”
“Really?” Daisy was flabbergasted.
All of the doctors she knew who focused on Changed were Changed themselves. They had two in Glorith City, and it had been a pain to get an appointment with either of them back when she went to doctors. Her parents were great about everything, though, and Glorith had a Changed community that was welcome more or less everywhere—but they were a minority. Once her parents were gone, scheduling appointments during their pro-bono hours became too much to ask in addition to all her other responsibilities.
“Yup,” Laura laughed good-naturedly, steadily cleaning Daisy’s wing. “I get that reaction a lot. I was one of three non-Changed in the courses I attended, and there are only three schools that offer such courses in the world. Before you ask, my older sister was Changed and got sick when I was a kid. It got bad and she didn’t make it. I decided then and there to do something to help Changed like my sister.
“You don’t need to console me, either,” Laura continued. “It was a long time ago and I think she would be proud of me. I’m the head nurse, here, and have instituted several training programs to better educate the nurses on Changed treatments. I’ve also treated several Changed Heroes, including Dashing Devil.”
“So you do know him. It seemed like you knew him.” Daisy was hoping to ask a couple of questions about the relatively unknown Hero.
“Not very well,” Laura admitted.
She had moved a small trickle of liquid slowly through the torn section of Daisy’s wing and was almost done. Daisy truly didn’t even feel her working.
“That was only the third time I’d encountered him,” Laura admitted. “And the first two weren’t all that much longer than this one.”
“Ah…” Daisy deflated a little.
“You were hoping to ask me some questions about him?” Laura chuckled. “Many people seem to have the same idea, but when they find out what little I’m able to tell them, they’re always disappointed.”
Laura shrugged. “I can tell you that he’s different from most Heroes; he seems to be a good person. You should be prepared to deal with some questions, yourself, once it gets out that you were the first civilian he rescued directly.”
“Oh,” Daisy sighed, then let her shoulders slump, “crap.”
“Just come up with something like I just said.” Laura smiled up at her, done with cleaning out the tear in her wing. “A nice, abbreviated story will probably serve you best. Now, this looks like it would be safe to use a medical adhesive with, have you ever tried one before?”
“Yeah, it works,” Daisy confirmed.
“Good, I’ll get this patched right up so hopefully it will heal a little quicker for you.” She picked up a spray bottle from the tray, but put it in her pocket instead of using it directly. She started very carefully pushing the ripped segment together with the main part of her wing, starting at the base.
“I’ll admit I did have an ulterior motive for bringing up my expertise,” Laura said softly as she worked.
“You did?” Daisy asked, vaguely confused.
“While it isn’t a focus of mine, I have studied Changed psychology as part of my coursework,” Laura said carefully, “and I recognized the look you were giving your brother earlier. How bad is it getting?”
Daisy knew exactly what she was talking about. She hung her head. “Pretty bad… and I think it will be worse after today.”
“Mmmh,” Laura made a soft sound of confirmation, “when was your last training?”
“Uhhh,” Daisy didn’t want to answer but did. “A little more than three years.” She had been behind when her parents died.
“Oh,” Laura paused, “well, that is…”
“I know,” Daisy sighed.
“That was before the newer methods were introduced,” Laura seemed more concerned than before, but was trying to hide it.
“Newer methods?” Daisy asked.
“Oh, well…” Laura looked up at her and Daisy didn’t like what she saw in the woman’s pale green eyes. “You’re still using the denial-based methods, right? Just ignore it until it goes away. Never listen. Shout it down. Those things?”
“Pretty much,” Daisy confirmed. “Why? I thought those were…”
“No longer the recommended methods because they cause both long-term damage and risk the Changed reaching a breaking point where they can no longer control their urges,” Laura explained. “You really need to get back into training as soon as possible.”
“Oh, well, I…” Daisy began to say, but then stopped. She didn’t have time for a training program.
“Ms. Baker,” Laura said firmly, “the methods you are currently using are outdated, wildly dangerous, and prone to failure. Do not repeat this, but they are what causes Changed to go Primal.”
“What?” Daisy asked, stunned.
“Again, do not repeat that information—anywhere.” Laura’s eyes were deadly serious. “That information is not public knowledge. I am only telling you to stress to you the danger you and your brother are currently in. If you feel even remotely close to a breaking point, you need to strongly consider a temporary separation from those you care about while you receive the new training.”
Daisy stared at the nurse with wide eyes.
“I don’t think you are at an immediate risk,” Laura continued, “or you would have started fighting me as soon as I brought it up.”
She sighed. “I’m going to let Connor leave with you, today. I need you to promise me you will start training within the next few days, though.”
“I… I will…” Daisy could only blink at the nurse, dumbfounded.
