Dr. Infatuated

1.3

Alec wandered back to wakefulness in slow, staggered steps. A cool stream of sterile gas flowed up his nostrils, and machines whirred and chirped quietly in the periphery. None of it struck him as out-of-the-ordinary until he opened his eyes—he didn't recognize where he was. It looked like a room in a hospital wing: there were three other beds in the room aside from his own, but they were obviously vacant. They lacked the proper bedding and equipment, and, upon closer inspection, seemed not to have been touched for years.

Alec struggled to recall what had happened. He looked up, past the muted flatscreen that was stuck on a sports channel, and read the analog clock hanging on the wall.

It was just past twelve. The stress test had been scheduled for 09:00, he remembered. He let out a displeased grunt—had he been unconscious this whole time?

"Uh... hello...?" he meekly called out. When no one answered, he found the call button at his hip and pressed it.

Within moments, he heard footsteps drawing near. Dr. Palmer pushed through the door, coat billowing behind him as he crossed the room in long, urgent strides.

"So glad to see you up and at 'em, Alec." Dr. Palmer greeted him playfully. "How are you feeling?"

"... Tired. A little dizzy, maybe. Confused." He sounded most sure of the last thing.

Something glinted in the doctor's eyes. "That's alright, son. What do you remember?"

Alec considered again. His mind was less hazy now, and he tried to walk himself through the sequence of events. He remembered struggling with the rigorous exercise, laying back down on the table... and a hand on his face.

"I'll take such good care of you, okay?"

"Um..." Alec stammered and cast his eyes away. "Something... happened during the stress test. I don't know. I remember you telling me to lay down... I think I passed out...?"

"Your heart just got a little excited." Dr. Palmer tried to sugarcoat it to put him at ease about the incident. "You experienced what we call a sustained tachyarrhythmia. Ventricular tachycardia, to be exact."

Alec's face twitched with concern. He nodded, urging him to continue.

"After you laid back down, I was able to get a sonogram of the arrhythmia for my mother to look over. Your heart looked great on the resting ECG and echo—it just didn't make sense to me." Dr. Palmer crossed his arms and looked quizzical. "But I'm not surprised you don't remember. You were drifting in and out by that point... perhaps it's even a good thing."

Alec creased his brow. "Why... would it be a good thing?"

"I had to paddle your chest. Twice." His eyes wandered to where he'd placed the capacitors. He had only the faintest outline of a burn, but it still gave him pause—he was a pretty man, and he hated to see his pretty skin marred. "Cardioversion is usually done under sedation, so. Best that you forgot. It hurts—a lot."

He noticed the doctor's wandering eyes and looked down at himself. Beneath the cables zig-zagging across his chest, there was a rectangular outline on his right pec, and an accompanying burn on his left side that he couldn't quite see.

Alec wrestled hard with the information. "I had a heart attack?"

"To be reductive, yes." Dr. Palmer equipped his stethoscope and carefully pressed the diaphragm against his aortic valve. He followed it up by pressing his fingers into the corporal's neck and holding them there to measure his pulse. "Take a deep breath."