soul_campaign | [video] 2/6, evening - Megumi vs. the modern HMO

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[video] 2/6, evening - Megumi vs. the modern HMO

[The video feed comes on to the office Megumi has now occupied in the General Hospital. You can see tatami flooring and a pot simmering on a hot plate. A timer dings in the background and there is the sound of her speaking:]

This is ridiculous. What is the need for all of these papers, I'm up to my ears in them. Taking the time to fill them all out takes time away from where we should be-- the patient's bedside. And why is this "medical board" having us perform so many tests on each patient even when the diagnosis is already clear? No one gets better from running all of these unnecessary tests, but we have to bill them anyway. It's a waste of time and money-- ours and the patients'.

[A man's voice can be heard, it's an NPC supervisor] That's not my concern, Doctor Tanaka. Fill out the files or-- do what the rest of them do, get yourself an assistant and make them do it. I don't care, just get it done. Good day.

[The door closes and Megumi turns around and shuffles back towards where the communicator is. She can be heard cracking an egg into a bowl and muttering something that sounds very much like:]

It's Takani, you stupid ass.

[She cracks another egg for her tamagoyaki, and that's when she notices the mirror was on that whole time.]

Hmph. Figures.

If you are out there, and you're injured-- and I know there are many of you after all of that. Come to the clinic at the hospital tonight or tomorrow. I won't give you the same nonsense or run-around that they are recommending us to. It's my job to get you well and back home.

[Open to action threads here, or you can tag in to this log!]

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[His managed to wrangle the small cat.]

Nah. We did enough sittin' around in the Grand Canyon. Toldja we'd get out!

[...Huh. That reminds him.]

Oh yeah, I left my jacket with you. You... you still got it, right?

So you did tell me. And yes, I have it right here. I suppose you need it?

It's chilly out and I won't have you catching pneumonia or something and blaming it on me. Come and get it. Or shall I bring it to you?

It'll take a hell of a lot more to gimme a cold!

I'll come get it. [He looked up when a rumble of thunder started.]

...Guess I'm runnin'.

[She looks at the window, surprised.]

Bring an umbrella-- [Another rumble cuts her off.]

[He was all ready up, setting the squeaking Iza aside.]

Don't need one!

[He honestly never thought about getting an umbrella, since Death City sat in a desert... but the more you know!]

I'll be up in a bit.

Edited 2012-04-06 20:34 (UTC)

Ah- wait, you-- tch.

[Too late. A sigh. He's as stubborn as a boar!]

[Megumi shuts off her communicator and goes to mix and pour her tamagoyaki, which she's cooking on her hot plate. She lets the egg cook slightly, then flips deftly.]

[So he ran through the rain and noise. Stubborn as he was, he didn't mind the weather conditions one bit: Inaba had its rainy periods even before that mysterious case, and there was something comforting about hearing the thunder.]

[The directions he'd been given at the front desk when he arrived were easy enough to follow, even for him. Megumi would first hear the squeak of wet shoes upon the hard floor. When they stopped, there was a knock upon the office door.]

Ah, so you know how to knock? Hoho.

[She's super amused by that. She expected him to just barge in.]

[He made a face at the door, then just let himself in. Kanji was a little soggy from the rain, but he got lucky: Had he left a minute later, he would be drenched in what fell now.]

Yeah. Crazy, ain't it?

[A pause. He knew that smell.]

Tamagoyaki?

[She nods at the little carpet she's put out to be her makeshift entry area.]

Take off your dirty shoes, and don't drip on my tatami. They'll get moldy and I'll have to brain you.

Yes, tamagoyaki. You still eat this in the future?

[He looked down. His shoes were a little muddy, and he hadn't quite had the chance to clean them from the invasion. Kanji gave a stubborn little growl, but complied, kicking them off and nudging them together with a foot.]

Lotta things change, but not the food, I guess.

[And he looked and saw the mountain of paperwork she had to get done.]

...You really gonna get all that done?

[You don't wear shoes on tatami you uncouth kid. Geez what are they teaching you all in the future.]

Have some, then.

[Megumi finishes her tamagoyaki roll and puts it onto a small plate to slice it up. It looks like she's been able to procure what she needs to cook for herself a little in her office.]

[She shrugs at the papers]

They can give them to me, but I'll put them off as long as I can. Disgusting stuff. They're turning caring for people into a profitable business. Makes me want to have my own office.

[I dunno, stuff?]

...Uh, y'sure?

[He wasn't about to eat what she made for herself, but if she was offering... maybe just a little bit. It smelled a hell of a lot better than what he or his mom made, that's for sure.]

Tch... Part'a why hospitals piss me off! I get that doctors n' nurses gotta eat n' shit, but some hospitals gut you for being sick.

[Megumi put the plate of sliced tamagoyaki on a tray on the floor, and brought out a bowl that had a lid over it.]

I'm not the kind of person who would offer if I weren't sure. Don't hold back, eat. You didn't get to eat while we were in that witches' place, and you're a growing boy.

[She brings over some little bowls and chopsticks, and puts the bowl on the tray also. Inside are potatoes, carrots, seaweed, and tofu. This is what nikujaga was before the meat was added in the early 19th century. Megumi doesn't even have a name for the dish, it's just what she tosses together and boils. But it tastes heavenly.]

They're cooked in soy sauce and miso. I made too much on purpose, so help yourself.

[With that she tosses him a cushion to sit on. Welcome to Meiji-era life!]

Honestly. I can't believe what a racket this is. These doctors are rich, too. They're rich off of people's blood. Should be ashamed.

A-a'right...? [Damn, why was she going through all this trouble?]

Thanks.

[He stooped for the cushion, and settled down on the floor. Eating like this wasn't too unfamiliar; the textile shop was rather similarly organized.]

[Kanji was hesitant at first when he selected a piece of the tamagoyaki. Hopefully this wasn't like Mystery Food X. Ready for hell, he ate the piece he picked up and was proven so very, very wrong.]

S'all the paperwork for, anyway?

[There was someone she was waiting for. It wasn't Kanji, but the company is welcome, maybe even a little moreso, because there's no old baggage attached.]

[As she lowered herself to her own sitting cushion with a sigh, she realizes it's kind of nice to have people that represent where she could go with her life as opposed to where she'd been.]

Each patient who visits, there is a certain amount of paperwork that must be done to document their visit and their condition. If they are a patient who is here using "insurance", the "insurance company" wishes us-- excuse me, encourages us-- to order certain diagnostic tests to be run just to rule out things that are extremely unlikely to be the cause of a person's complaint.

I don't like it. If a person comes with a cough I know is bronchitis, and the patient knows is bronchitis from previous experience, ordering an "X-ray" to rule out tuberculosis-- which I am told is rare here-- means that this person must pay for the X-ray. A small payment, but nonetheless... if each patient must do some small, unnecessary test, imagine how much profit is being made.

It would cost the patient less to simply start treating the bronchitis, which usually takes ten days. In the very rare case that treatment is ineffective, then taking the step of going to an X-ray examination-- that's how I would do it.

[He remembered all the poking they did when he was admitted to the clinic yesterday just to find out that, surprise surprise, he was dehydrated. Surely, how often his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth should have tipped them off that he was low on fluids.]

Makes sense to me. [...Some of that confused him. He selected a piece of boiled potato and helped himself. This was definitely a good way to wait out the storm, even if he liked storms a little.]

Y'run yer own clinic back home, then?

'Run my own clinic'?

[She pauses in pouring a big cup of green tea for him. Megumi says this as if he has just asked, "So, do you walk on the moon?" or something else equally impossible for her to do.]

Don't be silly! How could I? No, I work as an assistant doctor to Oguni Gensai-sensei. He's an elderly doctor who, as a friend of a friend, was kind enough to hire me, and give me room and board. He has a clinic that's part of his home in Tokyo.

Gensai-sensei calls me his apprentice, but really, he allows me to practice at the same physician and surgeon level of my education. I have my own examination room and am allowed to treat patients. It's a very high honor.

Edited 2012-04-11 07:21 (UTC)

[He blinked at her. What? What'd he do?]

[But he understood as he listened further. If only he knew, he would find and show Megumi a newspaper clip in regards to a man walking on the moon. Just... not this creepy one they've got looking down on everyone.]

...Oh. I'unno, you just sound like you did!

[He gestured with the chopsticks. He couldn't stay silent about this any longer.]

This is also seriously awesome! I got friends that could probably kill a Kishin with the shit they cook up.

[Now there was an idea... ending the war through food poisoning.]

[She scoffs, at her own expense.]

Oh, pish-posh. Who would go to a clinic run by a woman.

[She breaks hers in tiny pieces, eating her own food. She was starving, ugh.]

It's very simple to make. I like mine with a little bit of sugar and a little mirin. When it boils down, it makes the potatoes softer.

[He wouldn't admit he nearly ate himself sick after being discharged from the clinic for the dehydration and mild malnutrition.]

[He slouched and picked another tamagoyaki piece. This guy had no table manners whatsoever.]

Guess you add more than I do... I like it kinda sweet. [He popped the piece into his mouth as he thought a moment. Now that he thought about it, he never did figure out what a certain friend of his liked to eat.]

[Kanji seemed to be spacing out a moment, getting a little pink, the ends of the chopsticks still stuck in his mouth. He got compliments on the french toast he made that day, but he had to wonder.]

[OH NO]

Kanji-kun, are you feeling well? You're looking a bit flushed.

[Megumi gets up and comes over to see if he'll let her check his forehead with her hand.]

[Her moving closer brought him out of his thoughts, blinking up at her. Flushed? What was she talking about? Wait--]

H-huh!? 'm fine, what're you--

[...And pink went to red when he was checked for any sign of fever.]

I-I ain't flushed!

Your face feels warm. Is it my cooking? What are your symptoms?

Yer cooking's fine, it ain't that!

I-I was just thinking!

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