The Sorcerer's Apprentice {Stephen Strange}

Three

I Started A Joke by Bee Gees

Emerson's eyes dart open and her memories from the other day start popping up in her head. She slowly looks around, seeing a hospital room surrounding her. She glances down to see she's laying in a hospital bed with intimidating machines surrounding her. While the sun brightens the room, there is a quiet yet steady beeping sound coming from the machines.

"Emerson," a voice says. She turns her head to see her dad sitting on the guest chair. He gives her a small smile; one that shows he's happy to see his daughter. "Glad to see you're awake."

"What happened? How long have I been here? What's- " Em quickly asks, instant panic overcoming her. 'The situation must be pretty bad considering I'm in the hospital with foreign objects poking and prodding me,' she thinks to herself.

"You're fine," he tells her as his head drops. "It's all going to be okay." The tone in his voice doesn't sound all that reassuring so she finds it hard to believe him.

The sergeant tries to recall what happened to place her in the hospital. She left the gym for the evening and she was jumped outside her car. The men in black suits started hitting and kicking her before they stomped their heels into her back. She lets out a gasp, her eyes visibly widening. She remembers the immediate burning and piercing pain along with the loud 'crack', and remembering feeling afraid and overwhelmed.

"What is this?" Em questions referring to the brace that's around her lower torso. She lays in the hospital bed with a tough plastic brace around her body and she's unable to move anything below her abdomen. "Dad?" She tries to whisper but her voice cuts out halfway through. He just looks at her, sadness written all over his face. He slowly looks down to the ground, avoiding eye contact with his injured daughter.

"...I don't know how to say this, Em. But there's something broken in your back. I don't understand it. None of this makes sense," he tells his child, his voice hitches in his throat and he turns around, holding his forehead. Emerson stares at her father and it takes a minute for her to process what he says. She looks down at her body realizing how bad this situation is. She genuinely cannot believe this is happening to her. Just then she hears a set of knuckles knock on the door before walking in.

"Sargent Moore," the man in the white coat starts. His face looks tired and oddly apologetic. He begins checking a clipboard while continuing to speak with his patient. "We have a lot to discuss."

"How bad is it?" She abruptly asks as she tries to pull herself into a sitting position. After a failed attempt to move the doctor makes his way over to her. He grabs under her shoulder and pulls her up until she's sitting straight, leaning against the pillow behind her back.

"Well, you've been out for a couple of days-"

"Days? Oh, no, no. I have to go to work. I've got to make money. M-My dad's bills," Emerson spews out anxiously. Her dad looks at her before pursing his lips. He wants to say something, she can tell. Both of them rely on her making it to work every day. They're always tight on money meaning Emerson can't afford to miss a day or two of work, let alone weeks. They live off of her income, so if she can't work there won't be any money to live off of.

"About that... Sergeant Moore, I hate to be the one to tell you this but... you're not going to be able to walk anymore. See, we performed the surgery to fix your lumbar region. You had a couple of bad fractures. Normally one would be able to walk after having that procedure done but we found that the nerves in that area were severed as well. The mortar fibers that receive messages from the brain are no longer intact. Those are the ones that allow you to move your legs in the way you want. Unless some miracle doctor is able to reattach them and re-train your brain to control your lower body, you won't be able to walk normally ever again. There's a chance that by undergoing intensive and specialized physical therapy you could be able to gain feeling and limited control in your legs again, however, it would be very pricey. We could refer you to an outside clinic that would be located in another state. I wanted to recommend a couple of facilities before sending you on your way," he bluntly responds.