Erie Retreat

[Doc Holliday]

"John," called Gilbert's voice over the personal com, "You need to get over to my place."
"What is going on?" replied Doc sitting on his porch going over some files.
"Emiko. There is something very wrong with her and I don't think I'll get her to you as she is," Gilbert replied with urgency.'
"I will be over shortly," was Doc's reply.

3 Days Later At One of Gilbert's Private Cabins

The room was fuzzy. Nothing came into focus. Only a figure at the end of the bed sitting in a chair was there and even it was blurry. She stirred as her eyes adjusted to the soft daylight. She was in a bed, settled but uncomfortable. Her stomach was even more uncomfortable. She rubbed her eyes a bit as she finally started making out where she was. The figure at the end of her bed was her father. He was sitting straight faced. Her head was a bit flush and she felt the need for her breather. Slowly, she began to prop herself up a bit to address her father but without thinking, her right hand slowly started looking for something that wasn't there. That's when her father through a breather in front of her.
"Looking for this?" he asked her with disgust.
Placing her hand on it, she nodded before her senses told her, Damn! He knows.
"Go ahead," he continued with a straight face and disgust, "do not let me stop you."
He then tossed her kiseru in front of her as well with a lighter, "And I am sure you need that as well."

She just looked at him for a moment, her hand still covering the breather. Realizing that he knew about her addiction, she hung her head in shame. A tear rolled down her cheek knowing how disgusted he was with her. But...why was she here? Why did she feel so weak and uncomfortable?
He gave a nod. "Go ahead, take your drugs. The tobacco I can live with but the drugs? Really? I thought I taught you better."
Her mouth began to open and the air entered her lungs to speak before he cut her off. "Go ahead, use it. You need it. Do not let me stop you. My grandchild could not!" With that, he rose to his feet and turned his back to her.

With him not looking, she put the breather to her lips and inhaled. She closed her eyes as the drug was absorbed through her lungs, into her bloodstream and around her body. As she exhaled, her cleared slightly. Yes, it is what she needed. Upon exhaling, her father simply asked, "Feel better?"
"Hai," she replied softly. It was then that the odd comment of "grandchild" came to mind. She was confused.
"Grandchild?" she asked softly.
He turned his head only enough to speak to her, "Yes, grandchild."
"But Father, you don't have any grandchildren," she replied confused.
He sighed, looking forward and downward, "No. Not anymore."
Now she was really confused.

She thought for a moment at his words. The room was silent, so silent that a passing ant could be heard. She then looked under the blankets at herself. She was naked, obviously treated for something by her father. She had a pair of panties with some bandaging at her vaginal area. She remembered the pain she was in when she arrived, the pain in her abdomen. She kept looking but saw nothing unusual, only the dragons tattooed on her body. Her father could hear her looking under the blankets.
"Where did you get the tattoos?" he asked.
"Barrier Gate Station," she replied softly, "A few months back."
He snorted back, "A fine establishment for scourge. I am guessing you got your other habits there too." He crossed his arms and walked to a window, his side how visible to her.
She looked at the breather, "Not this one."
He just looked out the window. "Where, who and why then?"

"Somewhere in New Tokyo. Who doesn't matter and why is irrelevant," she replied evasively.
"Look under the blankets at yourself again and place your hand over your abdomen," he told her softly and think hard before you answer me again. You owe me at least that."
She did and as she did, he simply said, "Now you will not hurt anyone else with that again."
She thought some more. Grandchild, Not hurt anyone else with that again and the bandaging started to add up. As she though, he brought over a small jar and handed it to her, ordering her to place it atop her belly. She looked at it. It was red and not appealing to the eye but she did as he instructed. That's when he gave her the bad news.

"The pain, the discomfort and violent reaction you were having when you arrived here was the cardamine in your system killing the two month old fetus inside you womb," he explained. "You have no idea the pain it caused me to remove what is now in that jar from your womb because your body would not give it the dead fetus within."
Looking at the red remains in the jar, a look of horror crossed her face as she began to cry. Only then was it that she realized what she had done. For the moment, her father showed nothing more than disgust.
"That is right," he continued, "that would have been a grandson to me. Yes, I tested it. Yes, you killed it with your habits."

She started crying heavy, upset with herself for the murder and for the shame she felt for hurting her father as he began to get loud and upset.
"So is this how you want to find your way on your own? Using cardamine and smoking to maybe make a few credits from the odd trader or criminal with your body? You can see what it is getting you!"
She was inconsolable at this point, the jar slipping from her hands but her father grabbing it and placing it on the stand next to the bed.
"And based on the scans I took of you, I know you have been doing that. How many men? A dozen? A hundred?" He was getting irate.
She only shook her head through the tears as her mouth silently released an "I don't know." With that he just nodded in disgust. He took her pile of clothes which were washed and folded, placing them next to her. He calmed himself a bit as he told her to get dressed and get to her feet. Taking the jar, he left the room and waited.

When she finally came out, her face was a mess as she looked at him, hoping to find a sign of forgiveness. She found none. He just grabbed her on the arm and almost pushed her to a small cemetery where he handed her a shovel and pointed at a spot nearby. He only said, "Dig."
A hole was dug deep enough to put a small, iron box in the ground that would encompass the jar. She then looked at her angry father.
"Now, give him a name," he ordered.
She thought a moment as the tears again began to fall.
"Shane," she said softly, "Shane Holliday."
Her father nodded, "Now, place the jar in the iron tomb and cover it." She did as instructed, the iron cover fitting perfectly."
"Now, finish it," he ordered, "bury the tomb." Again, she did as ordered.

Gilbert wasn't far away. When he heard the name, he took a laser engraver and made a tombstone. It was simple. The child's name and an approximate birth date and death date. He handed it to Doc who handed it to Emiko who then took a knee before the new grave and placed it. She again fell to tears and cried hard. Now the reality of what she had done set in. Still, she was addicted to cardamine, the penalty now would be a life of dependency and eventual sterility. She attempted to apologize but no one was hearing it. She only hoped that one day soon that some miracle would reverse the damage done. As she cried, her father filled a bag with what she arrived with, a couple of extra breathers, each with a fresh supply of the drug she needed. Once she got to her feet, he handed her the bag and looked at Gilbert.
"Get her out of my sight and do not let her back here." He did as demanded.

Doc himself would return to his cabin and finish her file.
Patient: Shane Holliday
Diagnosis: Murdered by cardamine
Disposition: Proper burial
He dated it with the day's date.

Patient: Emiko Holliday
Diagnosis: Abortion by cardamine
Treatment: Released. Five breathers of Stabiline
He smirked at the last statement. With the beginnings of addiction, to him, there was hope as the psychological effects would be the same but the damage would not.

Finally, he had time to himself. As he sat in a chair in his cabin, the thoughts of Shane came to mind. As they did, he finally had a chance to weep himself.
As to Emiko? She found herself on a shuttle heading back to somewhere in New Tokyo. With the guilt still fresh, it was the longest ride she had ever been on.

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises