Chapter 46 - 46

Words : 1445 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

The walk over to the doctor's office was slow and gave Adam's mind enough time to clear. He was, of course, curious why he was being singled out to be spoken to by the woman, but mostly he was just glad she was awake. "She's right in there." Doc said as he let Adam inside his office and then pointed to the other door in the back, the room Adam hadn't gone in last time he was here. He walked into the room and saw the same woman they had rescued from the raiders, sitting up, wrapped in a large blanket, naked but covered, on a medical bed. Now that Adam was looking at her, she was rather pretty, she had long brunette hair and green emerald eyes. Of course she was scarred, not just on her back like he saw when he killed the raider but everywhere, even on her face. The room itself looked to be more of a surgery style room, it had various tools on rolling tray tables and an auto-doc in the corner. It's clear that the other room was for routine examinations and this one was for more important medical actions. It made sense she was brought here. As Adam entered the room her eyes locked with Adam's as she shifted a bit on the bed to address him. "Are you Adam? Adam Baxter?" She asked with a calm, measured tone. "Yes, that's me." Adam said softly as he stopped a few feet away from her. He paused as he heard the door behind him close, the doctor likely giving them privacy to have their conversation. "I wanted to thank you… personally." She said with the same tone. Though now Adam was hearing it differently. When he first heard her speak it sounded calm, measured, unshaken. Now he was hearing the opposite. It sounded more reserved, quiet, like she was a few steps from just sobbing. This was likely her keeping a brave face on, he respected that a lot. He wouldn't bring any of this up to her of course. The best thing he could do for her to respect her ability to keep herself together after what she went through is to treat her normally, like she seemed to want to be treated. Adam smiled warmly at her comment. "Thank you, but I don't see why you wanted to thank me, specifically." Adam said as he took a seat in the chair sitting against the wall on the other side of the room. "You were the one who killed that- killed Jay, right?" She asked. It was clear she was going to use another term other than the man's name but held herself back and instead chose a tamer word. "Yes. I saw that man on top of you. So I got behind him and killed him." Adam said resolutely as he looked her in the eyes. She nodded. 'Then you saved me…" She said, her voice wavering a bit now. She placed a hand on her heart under the blanket she wrapped around herself. "It wasn't just me, it was thanks to everyone that we managed to kill all the raiders. Especially those that didn't make it." She raised an eyebrow and offered a weak smile. "You have a hard time accepting compliments huh?" She said with a single quiet laugh. Adam laughed softly too and scratched the back of his head a bit. "Not usually no…" He smiled. "Well then, you are welcome. I am glad we made it in time and I am glad to see you doing okay now." "That's debatable…" She muttered quietly under her breath, Adam could only barely hear it, he wasn't even positive he heard her right. "I'm not…" She paused, and looked away from Adam, at the wall. "The doctor said I'm okay. My injuries will all heal with time…" She gently dragged two fingers down her face, tracing the outline of the fresh scar that covered the right side of her face. It extended all the way from just above her eyebrow down to her chin. "Most of them…" She muttered to herself again, though this time Adam heard her perfectly. "Trauma is never easy to get over. We all carry scars of some kind or another. I'm sorry. The wounds you have received are going to take a long time to heal but…" he started, speaking softly and soothingly. Pausing for a moment before continuing. "They will heal." He said with a light smile to her. She sighed deeply and then nodded. "I know, I'm usually stronger than this, just this whole thing has really shaken me up…" She said, petering off a bit at the end. "There's no rule that says you have to be strong all the time, or that you have to handle what you just went through alone. The people of this town are very friendly, kind, and generous. If you let them, I'm sure they will help you stand on your own two feet again." She paused as she looked into Adam's eyes for a moment before she let off another soft laugh. "You some kind of therapist?" She said with a half smile. "No. I'm a soldier, mechanic, and scavenger." Adam said with a small laugh of his own. "Therapy isn't one of my skills." "Could've fooled me." She said back before letting off a heavy exhale and then straightening up a bit. "My name is Mira by the way. Mirabelle, actually, but I hate my full name so I just go by Mira." "Nice to meet you Mira." Adam smiled. She seemed to study Adam for a moment before speaking again. "You from a vault?" She asked. "Yes, I am. One not too far from here actually." "Your vault have any room for me?" She asked joking softly, though it was clear she was hoping the answer was yes. "The vault I came from is empty, there's no one living in it and it wasn't functioning properly. One of the reasons I left." Adam explained calmly. Again, the situation was far more complicated but making it simple and bite-sized for people was the far better course since explaining the full truth would not only take a while but is much harder to believe. Besides she wasn't asking for his life story, just if his vault had room. "Shame." She said with a disappointed sigh. "I always wanted to live in a vault. Sounded safe." "Well considering everyone left, I think that's up for debate." Adam chuckled, she laughed a bit too. "I'm sorry for taking time out of your day, Adam. I just really wanted to thank the man who saved me. Plus I heard you carried me all the way back here. I don't think I would have been able to sleep comfortably until I at least expressed my gratitude." Adam smiled warmly. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad it's behind us now. You are safe so we can both be happy about that. Besides, I wasn't doing anything today, I went all out yesterday so I'm taking the day off." "Well then I apologize for taking time from your relaxation." "I was bored anyway." Adam said as he stood up. "So this was a welcome diversion." Adam started to walk towards the door but was stopped by her speaking up again. "Do you… live here… in this town?" She asked tentatively. Adam paused for a moment, his back to her before he turned around to look at her fully. "No, I don't…." He said with more of a note of finality than he intended, just an accidental consequence of his thoughts not yet being in order and petering off his sentence. "I um… only recently left the vault and I'm looking for answers, I will likely be leaving the town soon." "Oh…" She said with a disappointed tone. "Well please… just stay safe. I don't want to hear that you died out in the wasteland. That'd be too sad of a fate." She put on a sad smile, perhaps thinking of not only Adam dying in that way but referring to someone else she once knew. Adam grinned softly. "Don't worry, I don't plan on dying until I get some answers." He then nodded to her politely before opening the door to leave the room, leaving her once more alone in the operating room.

Chapter 46 - 46

Comments (0)