THE MOMENT
After a couple of hours, Lawrence realized it'd been over two hours. His first visit to a new clinic was usually much quicker. Although he did have to admit that times were changing rapidly. There was less shame these days around mental health, but the lobby at Chroma Clinic was relatively empty for the brief half hour he had waited there. For some reason, he was waiting in the examination room far longer than his wait in the lobby. Was that a reason to worry about anything?
Lawrence had his secrets, but it'd been so long since he worried about it, he didn't know if he should be concerned right then. But, it did cross his mind that maybe they were making him wait intentionally for some reason. There was a brief moment when a nurse poked her head in and gave him a thoughtful stare as if examining him from the doorway. She assured him someone would be along momentarily, then closed the door. That was an hour and a half ago. He'd kept himself absorbed in his phone for most of that, barely even noticing the passing of time.
"Mr. Brandford...," the door opened as a woman's voice spoke, but Lawrence was instantly on edge. She wasn't a doctor as he expected; she appeared to be some sort of important executive. The woman wore a platinum grey blazer and slacks with a polished chrome tie, and she had an obvious air of authority about her. When she spoke his name, her voice carried a flat tone of disbelief, as if she doubted that was his real name. Not only that, she had to duck slightly to enter the room. "...my name is Minerva," the eight-foot-tall woman said as she looked down at him. Lawrence chose to live his immortal eternity with a healthy, muscular body, but Minerva was still at least twice as broad as him.
"I apologize for the delay, but I'm a busy woman, and the clinic thought it'd be best if I spoke to you, for safety's sake," she said.
"Are you a doctor?" Lawrence asked. He knew she wasn't, but it was the only question he could ask without revealing how unsettled he was now. Somehow they must've realized he was lying, but he had no idea how to get out of the situation. Especially not with the mountainous woman standing right in front of the door.
"No," she shook her head. "I'm an executive with Chroma Corp., the owners of this clinic," she said. "We take staff and patient safety very seriously around here, and in the rare cases where someone feels they have a reason to lie on our intake forms, someone is sent in to uncover why they felt that need," she said it plainly as a fact without bothering to accuse him. And, he wasn't going to admit to anything he didn't have to.
"What do you mean? What makes you think I lied about anything?" He asked. Minerva's neutral, formal expression softened at his question.
"Well, first of all, you're a horrible liar," she smirked playfully, and the entire room seemed to relax. "Second of all, the only thing you lied about was your age and name, which are kind of important flags for us. The nurse that stopped by confirmed you were immortal," she said.
He was too stunned to even deny it.
“Chroma Corp. has a lot of experience with, we'll say, non-traditional humans,” she continued. “Lots of patients come through here used to hiding their real selves. And I'm here to tell you that you don't have to. Chroma Corp. will be happy to serve your medical needs throughout the rest of your immortal life.”
“You mean it?” He believed her. “I don't have to find a new doctor every three or four decades?!” He was on his feet now, fighting the urge to hug her; he wasn't even sure he could get his arms around her. But she gave him a sincere smile and nod. “That'd be amazing. I was dreading the thought of having to go off my meds,” he chuckled, completely at ease now. “Boy, after centuries of not being able to accomplish anything, spending this last couple of decades being able to focus has been a life changing experience.”