ArchivedLogs:Serendipity

Serendipity
Dramatis Personae Corey, Iolaus	2013-05-24 Corey gets a lucky pick of doctors.
Location <NYC> Common Ground Clinic - Clinton
A dingy waiting room with a line of rickety chairs, a small glass table with a set of permanently out-of-date magazines, a set of plastic holding racks with a number of informational pamphlets about STIs and partner abuse. This place is not, to be sure, the most cheerful on earth, but for many of its clientele it is the best they have. The Common Ground Clinic's staff provides free and low-cost medical care on a sliding scale to many of Manhattan's poorest residents, without checking for insurance, immigration status or many other things that bar entry for many of them to traditional medical care. There is counselling available, too, and once a week social workers to help people find resources for getting on their feet. The wait times are long, but the volunteer staff here is dedicated (if always overworked.) As always when it is open, the Common Ground Clinic is busy. Patients come into the lobby, go to the counter, wait, wait, wait, see a doctor, go back to the lobby, pay - if they can - and then leave. The staff are overworked, and resources stretched thin, but they get by. Most of the staff are volunteers, thankfully, helping to keep the money that they do have to subsidize the costs of those who walk through the door. In the back, today, Iolaus is working at this clinic instead of working on his own. His smile is cheerful, though, still, as patients come in and out. In the little exam room that is his for the afternoon, he has just finished up with one patient and sent them out to go see the receptionist, and is turning to a man looking very bored and reading a book. "Only another few patients, don't worry." he reassures. Finishing up his shift, Corey decides to make a stop at the clinic on the way home. Glancing around the intake room, he seems a little nervous, but the large man standing over most others probably makes others feel the same way. His plain black shirt and khaki slacks don't really show much about him, but being here probably tells more about him than much else. He's been waiting for awhile, but he's managed to keep mostly calm. On the plus side, mainy who have passed into the back seem to not be as bad off as they originally indicated, hopefully speeding up the process all around. "Corey?" The woman behind the desk calls out, looking around for him. "You're up. Straight back, second door on your left - exam room 2." She says this, covering the mouthpiece of the phone as she coordinates new patients coming and going, paying bills and handling all the phone calls of the clinic. Reception is, many of the volunteers say, the hardest shift. Rising, Corey sets his magazine down and giving the receptionist a smile and a nod, he heads on back. "Well, good luck to me," he says with a slight exhale as he walks through the hallways. "Why am I more nervous about getting answers than a stupid medical exam." Frowning as he talks to himself, he passes the room, he's supposed to go to, and with a quickly muttered "Oops" he loops back to the designated room, looking in before entering. "Hello!" Iolaus says, brightly, as Corey sticks his head into the room. "Please, come in. Have a seat," he says, gesturing to the exam table with a fresh piece of paper covering it. "My name is Doctor Saavedro, and this is my assistant, Alec. Don't mind him - he's just here to observe." It is a very passive form of observing, apparently, as after the man has looked briefly over Corey when he entered, he has gone back to his book. Bored. "What should I call you, and what brings you in today?" Smiling at the cheery demeanor of the doctor, Corey inclines his head to Iolaus, then once to the bored observer before looking back to the Doctor. "Oh, well. Its nothing too important really I guess." He frowns, still somewhat obviously nervous as he takes a seat on the paper, feeling like a slab of meat. "I'm not sick or anything. Its just well, I kinda wanted to get my blood work done." He seems slightly embarassed saying those words. "I.. well, um. I'd like to get confirmed if I have the x gene or not." Iolaus turns to grab a pad of paper as the other man sits down and gets settled. The nervousness gets a wider smile, but this freezes on his face as Corey tells the doctor what he is here for. Iolaus blinks at him several times, surprised. "Well, that's a bit of serendipity." he says, and the edges of his smile twitch wryly. "I'm actually the doctor who is founding a clinic for mutants, specifically." He leans against the counter, amusement on his face. "Or did you come here to see me?" "Oh, no not particularly. I just figured that the clinic could do the test." Corey looks over the fellow curiously a moment, head tilting as if in thought. "Though, I mean I don't really need to visit the doctors much. Just my yearly physical is all really. Its just never come up." He nods at this, calming down as he's talking more to a person than an imposing figure. "Wait, weren't you in the news recently? I think I've seen your name in the paper somewhere." "Quite a few times, I imagine. It is not a particularly popular thing to do." Iolaus says, amusement in his voice. "Well, that kind of test is quite expensive - genetic testing runs to the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the clinic doesn't have the equipment necessary to do it in any case." he explains. "But, let's get the basics out of the way, first, and then maybe there's something we can do to help." He pauses, leaning back against the counter. "What makes you think you might be a mutant?" "Oh, I hadn't known it was that expensive. The way they talk about it, they do it fairly often," Corey says with a frown. "Well thats what I get for believing television." He sighs and shakes his head looking like he's getting ready to stand before Iolaus asks more questions. "Oh, well I have a friend who says that I am one. And well, theres been some pretty coincidental occurances otherwise that seem to indicate it. I just wanted to know for certain rather than just assuming one way or another. After all, it could just be a coincidence and nothing special. After all, someone should know if they are one right?" "Not... necessarily. In fact, most people who are out there /don't/ know that they are mutants." Iolaus says, placing the pad of paper down on the table behind him and lacing his hands against his stomach. "The majority of mutants have abilities so simple that they don't even register, even to them, from what we understand. Their hair grows a little bit faster, or their hearing or other senses are a bit better - your vision might be 20/10, instead of 20/20. Not at all like what you might see on television." The doctor tilts his head to one side, looking over Corey for a moment. "What kind of coincidences? And why does your friend say you are?" he asks, gently prompting. "Well there is a lady who's kinda plant like, and she's been blooming more often than normal if I'm around. I guess when I say it that way it sounds sorta silly doesn't it?" Corey shakes his head, but the prompting does get him to continue. "And well my friend says that he can sense if someone is one, and well I'd have good reason to believe him. I can't see any reason why he would lie about it under the circumstances. " Shrugging, he smiles to the doctor. "Not exactly helpful, I know. But thats about all I know on the matter myself. That was sorta why I had hoped for the blood work to tell one way or another." Iolaus takes these statements surprisingly in stride, only the twitch of one cheek betraying his inner confusion at the statement 'blooming more'. "Well, it sounds like it is certainly possible that you are." The doctor hedges, pursing his lips. "I'll tell you what. Let me take a couple of samples, and see if I can get one of my old co-workers to let me in the lab and run you the test. No promises - I probably can't get in! But if I can, I can give you the results. How's that sound?" "Well its better than nothing really. I didn't know it was that expensive of a test really. You'd think if it was so expensive, then the whole ban on mutants in certain fields would be economically invaluable." Shaking his head, Corey rolls up the edge of the sleeve on his left arm to make it easier to draw blood. "Sorry if its not exactly more clear. Its all rather new to me too, but if you're planning a clinic for mutants then you'll probably get much odder cases." "I'm quite sure that I will," Iolaus says, turning and opening a drawer. "And it's no trouble, and no apologies are needed. Ah- here we go," he says, tugging out a paper packet which he pulls open to reveal a long pair of swabs. "Just a cheek swab, actually. DNA is everywhere; no need to go straight for blood like a vampire." he teases, lightly. "Just open up and I'll be in and out before you know it." Sure enough, cheek swabs are something that he is very well practiced in. Not, per se, that it takes very much practice to be able to figure out how to rub two giant q-tips into someone's cheek. After he has retrieved the sample, he inserts the end into a long plastic vial and screws the top on tightly, scribbling on a label. "Alright thats not too bad," Corey says before his mouth is introduced to swabbing. "Abit nicer than a vampire yes. Though not sure which is more invasive." He chuckles and glances to the vials. "So those might tested then if you can get through to the lab?" Shaking his head, he smiles. "I can't really complain about the options really. How long would it take, if you can do so that is." "The samples won't last too long," Iolaus says. "I'll give them a call when I'm finished here for the day, and see if I can go in tomorrow. If I can, then I'll give you a call when I have the results in a few days. If not, I'll destroy the samples just in case." Iolaus glances back at Corey to give him a smile. "If you're really sure you want to know. With the way winds are blowing in politics right now, not having a definitive answer might be a benefit to you. They can't get angry at you for doing something you don't know you're doing." Nodding at the words, Corey inclines his head to the doctor. "I've thought as much myself, and had those words echoed by friends who can't hide what they are. But well, lets just say I'm trying to find myself." He shrugs then shakes his head. "Silly thing to say in this day and age I know. But I'd rather know one way or the other, so I can make the decisions myself. Truth is better than hiding ones head in the sand after all." He glances around the office and then back to the doctor. "Is there anything else that needs to be done? I'm used to doctors visits being a bit more exploratory." Iolaus winks at the younger man, grinning. "In my younger days, I chose genetics because it meant I didn't need to get my hands all dirty." He chuckles at himself, looking through the drawers and removing a small paper bag for him to put the plastic vial into it. "I then managed to completely ruin all my plans by not going into research, but, that's a different story." He turns back and smiles widely at Corey. "Unless you have anything else concerning you, that's it. All done." Shaking his head, Corey smiles and stands up off the table seat, and rolls his sleeve back down. "Nope, I'm fit as a fiddle really. I exercise, eat right, sleep well and avoid stress. It pisses off normal doctors that they don't have anything to complain about. I don't even have high cholesterol." Chuckling, he stretches out and nods. Iolaus laughs and nods his head. "Well, in that case, keep up the good work. Doctor's orders." he gestures to point in the direction that the man had come in. "Make sure to leave your phone number with the receptionist so that we can get in touch. I'll make sure they give you a call whether I can get the results or not, alright?" He reaches out his hand to the other man. "Have a good day, and stay healthy." Inclining his head again to the doctor, Corey shakes his hand. "A pleasure to meet you Doctor. And I'll be sure to keep up the good work." Heading to the door, he looks back. "Good luck with your own clinic by the way sir. May I never need your services for anything serious enough to warrant full and proper medical attention." Giving a shrug he heads on out.