Doctor's Story Pt. 2

Clarine was taken aback. It was the first time that hag made a face that didn’t embody any negative emotion. If you asked me, it looked like a mix of shock, and maybe revelation. It was hard to tell.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You think just because you were born into this mess that you got it worse than those of us who weren’t-”

“Yes, I do! You think I don’t know about the old world but I do. I know so much because my father would never shut the hell up about it! All of you took it for granted and now that you’re here, the only way you can deal with your stupidity is by lashing out at others. It makes me sick how classless you are. I know it’s hard but if you can’t begin to appreciate the future of the world in front of you, you might as well kill yourself, right here and now.”

“... It never changes. It’s not just you, in the old world and this one, people can’t help but scale each other’s pain. Everyone wants to be the victim in their own story… What’s so interesting about roller coasters anyway?”

What does that mean?

“What isn’t there to love about roller coasters? That feeling you get… Rocco told me that you knew it better than anyone. The anxiety, the rush, the feeling of everything melting away. In the old world, you needed it because life was too comfortable. This world needs roller coasters so people can escape the discomfort of everyday life. This world needs a theme park more than anything and I’ll be the architect. I can’t go back in time and fix your screw-ups, but making the best out of whatever we have now is the only other option. When you really think about it, roller coasters maintain the balance of humanity!”

She laughed for the first time, “Haha! That’s rich coming from the son of Edwin. Roller coasters, huh? They are quite fun. This dream of yours, you’re serious about it…?”

“Deadly.”

“You still have a lot to learn, Bane… But you’re more intriguing than I thought you’d be.”

When did she learn my name? How does she know my father?

“I wouldn’t mind riding a roller coaster again. Let’s get going then, I’ll tell you all about them…”

…

“... And that was the last park I went to before Y2K hit.”

Clarine spent the last thirty minutes explaining the beauty of every amusement park she’s ever been to. Some parks would have these rustic aesthetics and it almost made people scared to ride their roller coasters. Other parks had these sleek designs with lights all over them and even the roller coaster rails would have changing colored lights so when you rode them at night, you were not only feeling everything melt away, but the world before you started to melt away as well. Some would celebrate the holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. There would be employees that dressed up as Santa, elves, and scary creatures. Theme parks were a place that anyone could go to and enjoy being alive whether they were working there or visiting.

In this forsaken hell, I will create our heaven.

A grumbly voice appeared seemingly out of thin air. “My Lord, I didn’t know you could be so passionate… Would you care to share more about yourself?” Fence asked.

Two sentences in and he’s already more articulate than I imagined.

“Well, since I’m already on a roll, why not? Just don’t tell Masir any of this, and you, you better not tell Rocco any of this either…”

It’s not like he and I were best friends, so I had no intention of saying anything…

“Ever since I was a little kid, I knew I wanted to help people. It was those corny shows they had on TV that made me think I could do something like a superhero. By the time I grew old enough, I decided that just because superheroes weren’t real, didn’t mean I couldn’t be one. Believe it or not, we still lived in a time when women in positions of power didn’t sit right with a lot of people. Men naturally despised them but even worse, many women were conditioned into thinking they shouldn’t be more than what the world asks of them. In fact, many looked down on other women often out of jealousy… In the old world, a social construct was in place where I’m from. It was called the patriarchy. In a world like this, as messed up as it is, at least it eliminated that insane idea from our society. It’s a damn shame it only took an apocalypse to do so… You can imagine that not a lot of people took kindly to a woman being a doctor instead of a nurse. By the time I started working, a lot of my peers didn’t want much to do with me. Even some of my patients would give me stares. However, there was one person who treated me like I was normal, Rocco. Rocco was the janitor at my hospital and our paths didn’t cross often but I would look forward to the times they did. Eventually, I asked him if he wanted to hang out and go on a date outside of work. One thing led to another and we got married-”

“So, what happened? Rocco seems like a reasonable guy, at least as much as I know him. Why did things go sideways?” She was likely about to explain that, but at the moment, I was too eager.

“Alright, if ya’ shut up, I’ll tell you… I was married to Rocco for about five years. We dated for three before that. My family said I was calling it way too early but they didn’t understand what we had. This love was unlike any other relationship you’d ever seen. It made me feel complete. He was always doing everything for me. He took care of me, and despite his job, he never made me feel like we were in trouble. He’d always buy me these amazing gifts with money he was secretly saving for months on end. I told him he didn’t have to. I loved him all the same but the fact that he kept spoiling me despite my words is likely why my love blossomed to begin with. Rocco was just the perfect partner…”

What kind of explanation is that? Does Clarine need therapy, because from everything I’ve assessed, there’s no reason she should’ve divorced Rocco… or maybe he divorced her? My head, oh my God, why is it coming back? That damn premonition. Why do I keep seeing my mother? Go away!

“Two months before we were divorced, I came home from work after a long day. I had to take care of three more patients than I anticipated and they were annoying as well. One of them lied about their symptoms in an attempt to get a prescription, and the other was not so subtly hitting on me. I can’t even remember what the third one did but he was annoying too. The first thing I did when I got home was take off my bra as I entered our bedroom to change. It was at that moment, my life shattered before me. They always say that men cheating is different from women. A man cheating is because he's just a hornball who couldn’t keep it in his pants. When a woman cheats, it’s a sign of emotional betrayal. A bunch of shit, if you ask me. Not that it matters because I had no idea what to feel when I saw Rocco making love to my sister. I wanted to hit him, her, and myself. For a moment, I didn’t want to exist. They both tried stopping me as I silently stormed out of the house but I didn’t acknowledge them one bit. I took my car and drove as far as I could. No destination in sight. The roads of the old world were made from this material called asphalt and it would make this soothing humming sound as you drove on it. That white noise clouded a lot of the rage pounding in my heart. When there wasn’t rage, there were tears and I cried about every second I could for weeks and the pain lingered for years. I couldn’t even face him to sign the papers together. I’m sure he couldn’t face me either. From that point on, I kept my head down and decided that I would let life do whatever it wanted to me. I wouldn’t respond to anything on my own. Then the conversion happened. Every news channel was raving about the hidden effects of Y2K and for about a month, the world erupted. Everyone was scavenging for supplies while many of the rich were already safely retreating to their underground properties. I was working overtime. Before the surface became completely inhabitable, some poor bastards, usually those with sensitive skin, burned earlier than everyone else. My last two weeks as a doctor were spent treating those who would light on fire out of nowhere. A couple of times we had people walk into the hospital while ablaze. They screamed and cried for anyone to help them. It makes me feel sick just remembering it…”