Night City Aliens: The Wandering Planet

Ch 3: A Professional Opinion

Jackie was trucking down the highway as fast as he could without drawing the NCPD's attention. With the midday traffic, it was gonna take 30 minute to drive to Little China. And his new friend didn't look like she would make it. V started out the emergency trip looking fine enough, but now she was woozy and couldn't stop shivering. When she started to cough up green blood, Jackie decided it was time for more meds.

"Get the first-aid kit, V", he said, pointing to bag of supplies. It took the woman a second to figure out what he wanted. She pulled out a bottle of water, but when Jackie shook his head no she was able to guess that he meant the kit. Once she had it open, he pointed to one of the MaxDoc inhalers.

"Take off the cap. Good. Now put the opening in your mouth," Jackie guided V through the process, being sure to talk slow and point with each new instruction. It was more difficult than he was used to, considering he was also trying to drive his hunk of junk car down the main express way. "Awesome, tìo. Now press down on the top." He made a pinching motion, and V followed suit. There was the expected hiss, and V let out a small sigh. Even though she didn't inhale much of the MaxDoc, Jackie was satisfied that she would last the rest of the trip.

It was quiet in the car for about a minute before V started to gag. Jackie thought she was coughing and tried to hand her the water bottle, but she pushed it away. Unsure what to do, Jackie was beginning to panic. His first thought was to get off the highway and pull over, but he didn't get the chance. V reached for the door handle and opened it.

"The fuck you doing?! We're going 80!" Jackie's adrenaline spiked as he divided his attention between driving and pulling V back into the car. But he backed off V once she had her head out the door and began to violently vomit. The extreme heaving continued for several seconds as Jackie dodged around cars so V wouldn't lose her head. Once she stopped, Jackie pulled her in, the door coming with them as V had not let go of the handle.

"Feeling better there, choom?" Jackie asked, trying to joke with the girl. She didn't respond, or even acknowledge his question. She instead took the water bottle that Jackie had dropped in his panic, and took a large gulp. Jackie grimaced at the bile and green blood her mouth left on the lip. "I guess that's officially your water bottle."

Again, V didn't respond. After capping the bottle and placing it in the cup holder next to Jackie's phone, she closed her eyes. Her gangster friend was still worried about her shivers, as he half watched her hug herself for warmth. Everything was quiet again, the only noticeable sounds being the engine and V's steady breathing. Jackie assumed she dosed off and didn't dare wake her till they were at Vik's.

---

"Welcome to Misty's Esoterica. I'll be with you in- oh... um," Misty stuttered as she looked up from the client she was helping. Her kinda boyfriend had just walked in, but her attention was drawn to the severely injured woman he was with.

"Hey Misty," Jackie said, half dragging the woman into his girlfriend's shop. "Could you let Vik know we're here? We got an appointment."

"Uh, yea. Yea." Stepping over to the counter top, Misty typed a short message for Vik on her computer. Within a couple seconds, she received the ripperdoc's response. "Vik's all set for you. Is she going to be alright?" she asked. Despite being Viktor's impromptu receptionist for nearly a year, Misty couldn't stop worrying about the more injured clients. And this woman was struggling to stand up, let alone walk.

"No worries, cariño. Vik is the best there is," Jackie said. He dragged his companion out the back door and down the alley stairs to Viktor's Clinic.

"I like your synth skin!" Misty called out to the green woman, but she was ignored.