Fallout New Vegas: Wasteland

Melissa Thatcher

She opened her eyes and blinked, trying to clear her blurry vision. Looking up she saw wooden ceiling fan spinning.

“Your awake, how ‘bout that.” She heard someone say from her left. Sitting up, her vision blurred again from the sudden movement, but it slowly cleared again. Sitting in front of her she saw a fairly old man with a white mustache and hardly any hair on his head.

“Woah, easy there. Easy.” The man now in front of her warned calmly.  

“You’ve been out cold a couple of days now. Why don’t you just relax a second? Get your bearings.” She looked around a bit and noticed that she was in an area dedicated to medical procedures, or just a general doctor’s area. Looking down and at herself she noticed that she was wearing a blue jumpsuit with yellow trim around the edges.

“Lets see what the damage is. How about your name, can you tell me your name?” He asked kindly and she looked back up at him.  

“M-my name?” She stuttered, as her mouth remembered how to form words again.

“Oh, my name is…” She paused, her mind was drawing a blank. She couldn’t remember what her name was. In fact she couldn’t really remember much of anything that had to do with her past. As she racked her brain for a name, she continued to look around the room. Looking at the window that was to her left, she saw a name scrawled onto the frame.  

“My name is Melissa Thatcher.” She said, adopting this new found name as her own.

“Huh, can’t say its what I’d have picked for you. But, if thats your name, thats your name.” He stated. Melissa frowned a bit, ‘My name is just fine,’ she thought stubbornly.  

“I’m Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings.” Doc said kindly.

“Now, I hope you don’t mind. but I had to go rooting around there in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out.” Melissa put a hand to her head, trying to feel for the stitches that may bet there. She cringed at the thought of being shot in the head.  

“I take pride in my needlework, but you’d better tell me if I left anything out of place.” Doc stated as he handed her a mirror. In her reflection she saw a young women with light tan skin, jade green eyes, shoulder length burgundy hair, and a slightly pointed nose. 

“How’d I do?” Doc asked. She wasn’t exactly sure what she looked like before, but she thought she looked fairly well. 

“Good, I think you did fine.” Melissa said trying not to sound self absorbed.

“Well, I got most of it right, anyway. Stuff that mattered.” He said as he took the mirror back and stood up. He set down the mirror on a nearby table and turned back to her.

“Okay. No sense keeping you in bed anymore. Lets see if we can get you on your feet.” He reached out to grab her hands and steadied her as she stood up. As she stood her eyesight got blurry again, but went away quicker than before. Now standing, she noticed that she was a tiny bit taller then Doc Mitchell.

“Good. Why don’t you walk down to the end of the room? Take a few minutes to get used to walking around. Take it slow though, its not a race.” She nodded in reply and proceed to shakily walk around the room. Walking to the other end of the room, she saw that there were two ways to exit. One leaded to a hallway, and the other seemed to lead into a living room of sorts. 

In a few minutes she was walking well and without struggle. Walking over to the Doc with a triumphant smile on her face.

“Well, what's next in our checkup?” She asked.   

“Just a few basic things, like your eyesight and reflexes.” She nodded, and they proceeded to go through the basic procedures.

-*-*-*-

After about an hour or so, they were sitting in the Doc’s living room finishing up the last couple of medical questions that he had.

“Before I turn you loose, I need one more thing from you. There are some forms I need you to fill out so I can get a sense of your medical history.” The Doc said as he handed her a couple sheets of paper and a clipboard.

“Ok, but why?” Melissa asked curiously.

“Its just a formality. Ain’t like I expect to find you have a family history of getting shot in the head.” Melissa smiled and nodded, and started to fill out the paper work.

-*-*-*-

“Alright, I guess that about does it. Come with me, I’ll see you out.” Doc said as he stood up with Melissa’s paperwork in hand. Melissa followed him as he put the papers away in a filing cabinet and then to the front door. When they got there he was carrying a medium sized bag of, something. She wasn’t quite sure what could be in the bag.

“Here, this is yours.Was all you had on you when you was brought in. ” Doc said handing her the bag. It had some weight to it, but not enough to make it hard to carry. The bag was dark navy blue backpack, covered in dust and dirt.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I gave the note a look. I thought it might help me find a next of kin. But it was just something about a platinum chip.” He said apologetically. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. ‘I don’t know anything about a note,’ Melissa thought, confused.

“Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this.” Doc handed her a piece of technology attached to a glove. Melissa slung the backpack on her shoulder and took the item looking at it curiously.

“They call it a pip-boy. I grew up in one of them vaults they made before the war. We all got one.” She nodded in order to show that she was still listening.

“Ain’t much use to me now, but you might want such a thing. After what you been through. I know what its like, having something taken from you.” Melissa looked up at him sympathetically. He seemed to be staring off for a minute, almost like he was remembering something.

“Anyway, that jumpsuit you're wearing, you can keep it. It was my wife’s. She was about your size, and she hardly wore it after we left the vault. Felt it was to brazen.” Melissa nodded.

“Thanks for patching me up doc. And for everything else.” She said with a large amount of gratitude.

“Don’t mention it. It’s what I’m here for.” He replied.

“You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn how to fend for yourself in the desert. She’ll likely be at the Saloon.” Doc recommended, and Melissa nodded.

“I reckon some of the other folks at the Saloon might be able to help you out too. And the metal fella, Victor, who pulled you outta your grave.” He suggested. Her interest was peaked when he talked about the robot who saved her, Victor.

“Anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I’ll fix you up.” Doc said sincerely.

“But try not to get killed anymore.” She laughed.

“I’ll do my best doc.” She said smiling, and walked out into the town of Goodsprings.