THE MOMENT
It took a few seconds for the panic to wear off. The potion hadn't done exactly what Peyton wanted, but he was making progress. And, at the very least, the intense burning sensation he felt down his throat and spreading to his body had dissipated. He no longer felt intense agony, and he was thankful it hadn't lasted longer than a couple of seconds. He'd writhed and screamed, inadvertently wrecking his home lab in the process.
"I should probably get to the hospital," he sighed as he looked at his hands. The blazing orange glow still remained, and that wasn't supposed to be how the potion worked. He was more worried about unexpected secondary effects than his current condition. Peyton had a solid decade of potion experience under his belt. It was more of a hobby, and he wasn't a professional alchemist by any means. But, he'd developed plenty of useful knowledge along the way, along with an unhealthy dose of familiarity and the confidence that brings. He almost never tested his potions on himself, but this time he was sure it looked 'close enough' to the translucent red-orange elixir he was trying to perfect.
He moved quickly, across the concrete floor, and through the open door, and en route straight to the hospital. He'd left the glass door open for ventilation, so he was thankful for that, but he didn't feel comfortable driving in his current state. And, he'd deliberately chosen a home within walking distance of a hospital; this wasn't his first hurried trek.
He made it to the hospital after a light jog and walked in, straight to the emergency room entrance.
"Hi..," the nurse looked up at him with a confused expression.
"... yes?" she asked.
"Uh, alchemy experiment went horribly awry," he chuckled. She smiled and relaxed somewhat when he laughed. She offered him a clipboard, but seemed to think better of it partway through her explanation.
"Just fill this out and...," she paused, and smiled. "It'd probably be better if I get someone to fill it out for you. Um.. can I ask you to wait outside, please?" she asked.
"Will it be long?" He asked. There were a handful of accidents also seated, waiting in the lobby around them. An elf with a sickly green pallor sat hunched over and breathing heavily, and there was a couple of humans; one groaning in pain and drooling viscous, shiny blue spittle while the other tried to comfort him. If he was honest with himself, he probably wasn't worse off than any of them, but he was severely inconvenienced in the meantime.
"It's based on urgency," the nurse shook her head with a smile. "Your case doesn't seem too threatening."
"You do see that I'm on fire, right?" Peyton smirked.
"And if you were actually burning instead of charring your surroundings, that might've been more urgent," she waved him toward the door. "Please step outside."