Day 48: Doctor's Office 5 (Dr. Venkman) [Second Shift]

[whoyougoncall]

Last day of the work week. Venkman should have been thrilled. Instead, he was told in the morning that not only had the attractive Dr. Burroughs quit before he ever had a chance to ask her out, but that her patients were being thrust onto all the other doctors in turn. That meant that he would have two - count 'em - two double patient shifts to

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[hes_deadjim]

McCoy had actually been relieved when the shift ended before he had to give a fully detailed account of what he thought of space. Mr. Carter was a strange one, surprisingly optimistic and cheerful for someone whose business was destruction. The doctor just didn't have it in him to try and do space the justice it deserved. He'd probably completely turn the stranger off the idea if the question of travel came up. If he'd known he'd spend half the time being scattered all over the place...

So when a nurse, the same one he'd confronted earlier, pulled him aside and told him he had therapy, it took him by surprise. He'd half-expect the institute to hold off as long as possible, drag it out with as much bureaucracy as possible.

Maybe he could finally get some answers. He didn't imagine it would be easy, but at least he could speak more openly to a doctor than a nurse. Less red tape and run-arounds. McCoy followed her eagerly enough. It didn't take long before they stopped in front of an office. The pretty redhead pushed open the door, and

[whoyougoncall]

Venkman swiveled in his chair to face Ingram, still holding his coffee mug. He listened to the man bellow at him. That was a new one. Well, for here, anyway. Ingram's outrage was not entirely unlike that of another blowhard he remembered dealing with back in his firehouse office. What had that guy's name been again? Prick? Pecker? Whatever. He wasn't really interested in giving men with no dicks more attention than they deserved, even in his own mind. It was yet to be seen whether Ingram here would be one of the Dickless or not.

He looked Ingram up and down slowly with a neutral gaze, his expression infuriatingly casual. "Yeah. And?"

[hes_deadjim]

McCoy's fingers tightened angrily into the back of the seat. He was restraining himself rather well, he thought, especially when a part of him wanted to give this Doctor (McCoy looked darkly at the desk) Venkman a good shake, a piece of his mind, and demand he show some professionalism. Accusations of malpractice weren't anything to laugh off

[whoyougoncall]

Venkman leaned forward, setting down his coffee. "Oh, I'm sorry. You mean all the tasty meals, full days of enriching activities, and kind-hearted nurses are coming off as abusive? I had no idea. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention." He raised an incredulous eyebrow at Ingram. Landel's Institute may not have been the best mental hospital in the world, but in his (admittedly short) experience so far, the only abuse he could see was from Landel, who seemed intent on throwing the most annoying patients possible at him

[aperfectbloom]

Yuyuko's breakfast had been typically enjoyable, insofar as she was provided as much food as she could eat (an amount that had been much reduced by her transformation into her current, fully corporeal state) but the conversation had been as off-putting for her as it had been for the other party. A rude fellow with no appreciation for proper conversation... and he hadn't even given his name, at that! If all the living were this difficult to talk to it was going to be hard for her to organize any sort of expedition. Her respect for Yukari's abilities was quickly growing

[whoyougoncall]

As expected of Landel's Institute, the woman, Reiko, was indeed a bombshell. The only thing that threw Venkman off was that she did look quite a bit younger than expected. Was it possible for a woman her age to still look like a teenager? Maybe it was the pink hair. Venkman had never really been a fan of wacky dye jobs. Still, she was a patient, and she was a lady, and he was thus obligated to not judge her (at least she wasn't just asking to be judged yet, unlike some of the patients he'd had so far). Maybe the pink hair was just part of the crazy, and she would stop caring for that color once she was cured. Of course, she had been a medium before, so who knew.

"Afternoon, Reiko. I'm Dr. Peter Venkman, and I'm going to be your therapist for the next little while," he said with a rare sincere-looking smile, one that was generally only seen by members of the opposite sex. "I'm told you're actually a ghost. How's that workin' out for you?" Of course, even with women, that trademark Venkman snark could never be completely beaten down.

[aperfectbloom]

Chatty. Ingratiating. She could work with that. Or play, rather. She didn't hope to gain anything for her doctor, and certainly not his therapy, but who was she to turn down good conversation?

"Very well," Yuyuko said, returning the smile. "Though it does leave me with too few opportunities to meet charming young doctors."

He might think her young, but the actual ratio of their ages was far larger than he supposed, and in the opposite direction.

[whoyougoncall]

Completely straight-faced and smiling as she answered his question. Oh they had a ways to go.

"I'm sure that must be just terrible. Everyone needs more charming young doctors in their lives," Venkman asserted, hamming it up just a tad for fun. "You may be in luck on that front, though. Just so happens that I've made ghosts my business for a good part of my life. Maybe I can help?" he asked with a shrug. True, the way he tended to handle ghosts probably wouldn't be to Reiko's liking if she really did believe she was dead. He doubted she would be too keen on the idea of being sucked into one of their tiny traps. But hey, what he said was true, and he figured it might catch her interest. So long as she didn't study the postings on the wall behind him too much, anyway.