One, Two . . He's Coming For You

Part 4.1: Dr. Schneeplestein

Laying back in his office chair, he stared up at that plaque.

He could have scoffed at it, it was so meaningless to him.

He was a genius and it was wasted on him running in this inane family business.

People were not his strong-suit. He hated people.

The whining and complaining all day, every day about all their aches and pains. Not to mention the occasional surgeries at the hospital and the check ups and the ridiculous paperwork he had to go through day in and day out.

'A waste of my precious time'

All he wanted to do was go home and begin the next phase of his REAL work.

Medicine was the family business but his heart would always belong to something MORE. He wanted to go into mechanics and physics and strange phenomena. 

Medicine was something that was known and learned and teachable. He wanted so much more than that. He wanted to DISCOVER.

"Dr. Schneeplestein?"

He didn't even flinch at the voice on his intercom.

" . . .. yes?" he drawled in his tired German accent.

"Mrs. Richards is here to see you again about that nasty boil on her hooter"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Vhy can't she just go to the gynecologist that I referred her to?"

"She says you're better. Ain't that sweet, Dr. Hen?" the secretary mocked.

"Henrik. My name is Henrik and you vill not call me that, remember? I've told you a million times, Mrs. Bernett, you vill CALL me Dr. Schneeplestein!"

" . . . yeah, yeah, whatever. You coming out of your office or not? She's your only patient today. It's amazing you can keep this clinic open at all"

Henrik shut off the intercom and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes, "Oh, how I WISH it'd just burn to the ground already"

Henrik hated his life. He was a hateful man. 

Doomed to suffer with what his father always wanted for him. After all, his father was the one with the money and until the old man croaked, he was stuck 'living the dream' taking care of patient after patient with mounds of useless paperwork.

His father had even started to subjugate Henrik's family to bend to his wishes, forcing his own little grand-daughter to learn more about anatomy already than most kids.

Henrik's daughter, little Olivia, was only five but knew all the names of the human's body's organs and what the main functions of what they did already. Her grandfather gifted her toy doctor playsets and even a dead frog to dissect last year.

Henrik's wife had enough of his family, though, and chose to live apart from him until he could 'grow a backbone already'.

Henrik knew he couldn't do that though. No, not if he wanted the family fortune. He hoped one day his lovely Eva would understand and forgive him.

Only THEN could he live out the rest of his life in peace doing what he loved with the people he loved. The ONLY people. After Henrik's mother died several years ago, he only ever considered his wife and daughter his family.

Henrik was finally done for the day, finishing up paperwork in his office with one last signature when there was a knock on his door.