Nobody

Checkups

The burns on my back were tight, but not too bad. No worse than stitches or staples, even if the injuries did cover a larger area. They'd healed pretty well, with Miss Lily-Rylee helping me take care of them. I looked at them in the mirror after I took a shower and for the most part they were just splotches of pink now on my back. Which was weird, it made the scars really stand out.

There were a lot of smaller scars missing now. The rune Aine had carved in my shoulderblade was still there and for a moment it made me irrationally angry.

It had been to protect me.

But Pru was dead, and I hurt so bad inside.

I ate breakfast, just two fried eggs and a piece of toast, left the plate and fork on the counter, and went out to the back deck to smoke a cigarette. I just stared at the woods surrounding my little house...

...my empty house

and smoked cigarettes, going through the jar of sun-tea slowly.

The crunching of the gravel let me know that someone was here. I sighed, put out the cigarette, and went back into the house. It was Doc what's his name and another guy in a relaxed brown suit.

Probably the psych.

They knocked on the door and I wandered over to open it.

"Morning, Texas," Doc said. "This is Doctor Planter, can we come in?"

"Sure, Doc," I said, turning around and walking away. They came in, shutting the door behind them. I flopped back on the couch. The Doc walked over and pulled a chair out.

"Let's  get a good look at you again, Texas," he said.

I sighed, stood up, and moved over to the chair, limping slightly.

The Doctor went through the doctor things. Blood pressure, a little on the high side of normal for a man my age and size, still six-two, a little heavy at two-twenty since I'd gotten soft over the years, but other than the burns on my back I was doing pretty good.

"You've been leading a sedentary life the last few years?" The Doc asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Office?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Last ten years of so I've mainly been going to meetings, stuff like that. Real estate development, working with the Governor, stuff like that," I told him. I thought for a moment. "Now that I think about, I haven't even walked more than from the limo to the boardroom in years. I did work out now and then but nothing like I used to."

"You need exercise, get outside more," Doc told me. "You're a large man. You need to exercise regularly if you don't want to get fat. You're old enough you need to start watching your diet too."

I nodded.

"Other than that, your burns are healing nicely. That knee of yours we'll need to keep our eye on, but it should be all right for a few years," Doc told me. He leaned back in the chair. "I received a copy of your medical records, and I have to say, Mister English, you should have been under a doctor's care years ago."

I shrugged. "I feel fine."

He nodded. "Still, I want you to come to my office next week. I'm going to write you a couple of consults. I want to see what's going on in your chest, for one. X-ray that knee of yours," He tapped his folder. "But, we can check all of that next week."

The Doc got up, putting his stuff in his bag. I put back on my T-shirt and flannel.

"I'm Doctor Planter, Mister English. Doc Rutheford asked me to come see you," the other man said, stepping forward and holding out his hand. I stood up, shaking it. Afterward he waved at the couch. Let's get more comfortable, shall we?"