Doctor Strangelove

Chapter Three

I'd just like to clarify that the Time cover for Doctor Strange is not mine. It was fanmade and I came across it on Facebook. It is not mine in any way, and all credit goes to the person who made it (judging by the watermark I think their name is Joe). The one of Rachael, however, is mine. I think it looks pretty real, what do you guys think?

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(Present)

Success. This was the world that surrounded Stephen and Rachael lately. Stephen had become who the world was calling the greatest surgeon of all time. He had completed his five year residency at NYPH, but his rapid progress and achievement had made him more arrogant than ever. His interest with his patients was usually just their bill. He'd become one of the wealthiest surgeons in the world before he'd turned thirty. This had made him able to buy one of the best apartments in New York City and help pay for Rachael's college. She'd gotten into one of the best acting schools in the country: New York University. She'd been adamant about paying for most of her education, but Stephen had helped with the rest. All he asked in return (at the time) was a front row seat to all of her performances. These days, though, Rachael wouldn't put it past him to ask for the money back.

Rachael's success had taken off when the professor of her drama class (who had favored her) got her an audition for Bonnie & Clyde. She had gotten the main role of Bonnie Parker and it had all been uphill from there. Even though the musical hadn't done well, she had and other people had taken notice. She had gotten offer after offer from directors and companies. Rachael had gotten her degree early and then she had taken the offer that had looked most interesting to her: the Genie in Aladdin. She'd been on tour for two years. After that she'd repeated her role as Grace in Annie, played Elphaba in Wicked, and been in Cats. Her latest role that she was doing was the title role in Mary Poppins. She was being called Broadway's new "It Girl." Unlike Stephen, she was humble about her success and often pinned it off on him and her other friends, her family, the directors, her professor who'd gotten her career started, and her fans. The few things they had in common lately was that they lived together (just as friends, of course), both were single for the moment, and they'd both been featured on the cover of time.

"Hey, Stephen, can you help me rehearse?" Rachael asked one day. 

"Sure," Stephen said. Just as he was walking over to their piano, he got a call on his phone. "In a minute. Just let me take this. Hello? Yes, this is he." Rachael sat on the couch, humming Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. "Of course I can do your surgery. I think I've got room on...Tuesday? Yes, I do. The cost? Let me look. Now, I need to remove a tumor, correct? Alright, so that will cost...about 50,000 dollars, but insurance will probably cover half of it. You don't have insurance? Then I'm afraid that it will have to come out of your own pocket. You don't have the money? Then I'm afraid I can't do your surgery. You'll have to find another doctor."

"Stephen!" Rachael, who had been listening in on the conversation, gaped as he hung up the phone. 

"What?" Stephen said. 

"How could you do that?" Rachael asked. She was becoming more and more horrified at how Stephen treated his patients. 

"I do need the money, Rachael," Stephen said. 

"Call that person back right now and tell them that your roommate just said that she'd pay the bill," Rachael said.

"Rachael..." Stephen said.

"Do it," Rachael said. "You get your stupid money. It's a win for both parties."

"Fine," Stephen sighed, picking up his phone and calling back his soon-to-be patient. "Hello? This is Stephen Strange again. You're in luck because my roommate just said that she'd pay your bill. You want to talk to her? Well, here she is."