Chapter 17 - 17

After he was fed Adam decided today was going to be an off day, he had nearly died yesterday and while there was certainly a part of him that was excited to jump back into it, go back out and explore some more, he needed a day to recuperate. If, for no other reason, than to explore the town a bit more, pick up some supplies, and see about some of those odd jobs that he'd heard about. For starters he started with exploring the town. Following the various paths through the more residential area he noticed that besides homes there was a blacksmith, a doctor's office, and a schoolhouse. He only was able to recognize the school house because Eric had mentioned it earlier and because there was a teacher standing in front of a bunch of kids who were all sat on the grass listening to a lecture about the dangers of radiation. It was nice to see that kids still got to learn in a comfortable setting here. Schooling might be boring but boring is a lot safer than teaching a kid by throwing them into danger. Especially when they needed to be taught about crucial concepts like radiation. But he didn't linger. For obvious reasons a stranger standing around kids wasn't the best look, besides his curiosity was sated so he moved on. The next interesting location he stopped at was the stone building labeled "Blacksmith" However a quick peek through the glass window on the door and a test of the doorknob revealed that it was locked and empty. So whoever was in charge of the blacksmith wasn't in yet. If they would be in at all. A peek at the front of the building showed no hours, no schedule, no 'closed' sign. So he was simply left without answers. It was fine though, he didn't even really need a blacksmith, it's not like he was a medieval knight or anything, he didn't need a sword or a suit of armor, though it would fulfill his childhood fantasies, but practicality came first and he certainly didn't need that. The last place he checked was the doctor's office. It seemed to be open judging by the neon 'open' sign at the front window, so he walked right in. As soon as he entered a little bell at the top of the doorframe dinged, letting the room know someone entered. "I'll be right with you, if you aren't dying then please take a seat and wait. If you are… scream 'help I'm dying or something', I don't know…" A voice said, starting his sentence with gusto and authority and then slowly petering off as he both seemed to lose interest in speaking and lose his train of thought. The voice was coming from one of the two doorways in the back left corner, opposite where Adam entered. The voice was male and had a strange accent to it that Adam couldn't quite place. Middle Eastern? Indian? He wasn't sure, not helped by the fact the accent itself was very faint, only noticed through the way he said certain words. Regardless, Adam, who was most certainly not in any life threatening pain or danger, took a seat in one of the padded wooden chairs near the entrance as requested and waited. He sat there for twenty minutes before a man emerged from the second of two doorways wearing a labcoat and with a pair of framed goggles still on his head but pulled up to rest on his hair. "Thank you for waiting. As a reminder, I am a chemist, not a drug dealer. If you are looking to get your hit of psycho go elsewhere." He said as he closed the door behind him and walked over to the counter as he addressed Adam before actually looking at him. But once he turns to fully look at Adam his expression changes. "I don't think I know you." He said as he studied Adam. "Actually you don't." Adam said, finally standing up from the chair to walk over to the counter himself. "The name is Adam Baxter, I'm new in town, recently from a vault." Adam said with a casual smile. He had decided that describing himself as 'from a vault' was a far simpler and easier way to introduce himself rather than trying to explain he was from before the bombs. It's not like it mattered much, but even though the description was woefully ill equipped to explain his true past, it sufficed. Even if he preferred not to be associated with that vault he found himself in. "Ah yes, the man in the blue and yellow jumpsuit with the 42 on it!" The Doctor said with a bright intrigued smile as he held out his hand. "The name is Doctor Greg Abbas, you can call me Doctor Abbas, Doctor, or Doc, whatever you'd like." He said with a friendly smile. Adam took his hand and shook it. "Pleasure to meet you Doc." He smiled. The doctor shook his hand for a few moments before he kept holding onto Adam's hand and flipped his wrist up so he could inspect it. "Hm… yes…" He said inspecting Adam's… veins? He was unsure but he wasn't as comfortable anymore. "Um excuse me…" Adam said, trying to remain polite before he wrenched his hand back. "Oh yes, apologies, where are my manners?" He clears his throat into his free hand's fist and lets go of Adam's hand. "I apologize, you are just the first Vault Dweller I've ever met and I so rarely get new patients that aren't either dying or babies." He laughs a bit nervously. "It's alright, I get it." Adam said, deciding to forgive him. "With… that in mind…" Doc begins pausing a bit as he spoke almost sheepishly. "If it were at all possible… Would you mind submitting yourself to a physical check up? It would do wonders for my studies, being as you are from an isolated environment." He said, hopeful. "Uh…" Adam was caught off guard, he did have a reason to come into the doctor's today, but getting a full physical was not part of that. It was a completely unplanned part of this excursion. Also what reason did he have to agree other than to sate this man's curiosity? "I um… didn't come in for a physical…" He paused, considering outright rejecting the request, but then he had another idea, this man was asking him for a favor, so why not turn it into his advantage? "But I might be inclined to agree if you were to make it worth my while." Adam said, trying his hand at haggling. The doctor seems to ponder for a moment. "I don't have too many caps, but if you are in the market for Stimpacks, Rad X, Radaway, Med X, and other purely pharmaceutical chems, I'm sure we can work out a deal." He offered. "Actually that's why I'm in today, so if we can work something out with that then I think I can agree." He smiled. "Wonderful!" He said with a wide smile. "Come, follow me into my observation room." He said ushering Adam into the first of the two doorways. "Do you often get people coming in here asking for drugs?" Adam asked as he followed him into the room and took a seat as instructed as the Doc set up some instruments. The Doc seemed to let off a massive and elongated sigh when this question was asked, going so far as to stop what he was doing temporarily. "Yes, unfortunately." He said with some exasperation. "Not from the people of this town, no, but from the outsiders, much like yourself." He turned around to look at Adam. "They always come in thinking that, because I'm a chemist, I can make them psycho and jet and daytripper!" He said with some energy behind it, clearly this was a big pet peeve of this guy. "I mean, I can, but that's beside the point. Im not interested in feeding their already addled minds to deterioration! I'm only interested in healing people, not giving them the means to make them worse!" He turned around in a huff as he reached for a box of sterile gloves and began to put them on. "The only exception to that rule is Mentats… and that's because they are berry flavored." He said as if he was making an excuse to himself. "Well the ones I make are berry flavored anyway." He said with a shrug as he now grabbed a stethoscope. "The point being I do not enjoy catering to those who only want to harm themselves." He said with a note of finality. "I uhh, understand." Adam said not realizing he had stepped on a landmine by asking that question. He regretted it. "Well anyway, that aside, let's begin the examination. I hope the results will be as interesting to you as they will be to me." The entire testing process took about 2 hours. It was very thorough. The Doc seemed to want to know everything from his internal health to his physical health and even his mental health. Aside from actively cutting him open he did practically everything else. All jotted down and logged. By the end of it the Doc tabulated all the results and read the conclusion to Adam. "So, with the testing done, I can firmly say not only are you a fine specimen in good health, but you also are in such peak physical condition you are a perfect example of textbook prime physical health." He said as he looked through the papers on a clipboard. "Your internals show no radiation damage, and your liver, lungs, and spleen all are shown to be in prime condition." He continued before slipping to the last page. "Your mental health could use some work, but considering what you told me you've been through it's no surprise you aren't feeling euphoric." He said putting the clipboard down. "If this is the health of an average vault dweller than I am rueful my ancestors didn't make it into a vault themselves, seems my health would have been a scholar's envy." He chuckled. Though this process took a lot longer than Adam would have liked he did learn a lot about himself. He was in incredible shape, even pulling off feats of strength in these tests he couldn't have when he was serving. He was more flexible than he remembered too. There was certainly something weird about his body. He had noted it when he first woke up in the vault but he never spent too much time thinking about it, but once again he is reminded that his body seemed to be in peak physical condition, a condition he had never reached before, as well as seeming to be younger? Or at least more healthy. There were still no answers about that but this confirmed that he was, without a doubt, in far better health than anyone here. In addition to all of that the doctor checked the back of his head, where he was hit, and confirmed it was nothing to worry about, at most a light bruise. "Thank you for your work, Doc." Adam said as he stood up from the chair. "No no, thank you for these results, I may be able to further my own theories!" He said happily and then followed Adam back out to the waiting room. "Now, you said you were interested in some medicine?" He said as he got to his side of the counter. "Yes." Adam responded, as he brought out his own caps bag from his pocket. "I was wondering if you would sell me some Stimpacks, Rad X, and Radaway, i'll take some Med X too if you are selling but those three are the big ones." The doctor nods and then bends down to pull up a tray full of the mentioned chems, all on their own trays. "As a physician I am obliged to ask what you plan to do with all of this." He asked, though he clearly didn't intend to not sell, but mostly getting a question off his mind. "I'm a Scaver." Adam responded. "I'm going to be going to more dangerous and possibly irradiated places in the future, having some things to rely on when I'm in a pinch would be nice." The doctor nodded and then looked down at the chems, addressing each of them in turn. "Normally I charge 40 per stimpack, 35 per Rad X, 50 per Med X, and 70 for each Radaway." He explained as he looked at the chems. "But considering our deal and since you have been so helpful to my research I'll offer the Stimpacks for 25, the Rad X for 20, the Medx for 35, and the Radaway for 50." He offered. "I believe that is a fair deal no?" Adam nodded, though he had hoped the prices would be cheaper, but ultimately this was the cost of doing business, and having them would be safer than not. "Alright I'll take 2 stimpacks, 2 Rad X, and 1 Radaway then." He paused before adding: "Actually throw in 1 Med X too. I'd buy more but I'm not made of money." He laughed as he then pulled out the vouchers for 200 caps, which the doc takes as he handed over the appropriate chems. "Just… stay safe if you head back out there, it would be a shame to let that perfect health of yours be ruined by a bullet to the head." He replied as he pulled out a blue voucher for 25 caps and handed it over to Adam. Adam laughed softly, as he took the change from the Doc. "Well don't worry about that, my next stop is to grab a helmet." He grinned.