Caduceus
Derek pushed open the door to ‘Bean Me Up’. It was a small café just a little way from the Caduceus USA HQ. He’d managed to scrape a few days off fro, Chief Kasal and arranged to meet Naomi, Valerie and Markus here. Since Markus and Valerie were still working, this arrangement seemed to be the best.
He ordered a drink and waited on a table. Naomi should be arriving soon, and the Blaylock-Vaughns promised they’d get there as soon as they could.
The bell above the door chimed, and a woman with silver hair stepped into the shop. Derek automatically found himself standing, before all eyes in the café were on him and he sat back down. Right. Not at the hospital. This is just friends, meeting up, and he was going to mention Rosalia.
“No need to stand, Derek. I’m not that important,” Naomi sat down opposite him.
“Dr. Kimishima, you um...you look well,” Derek scratched the back of his head.
“You know you can call me Naomi. You’ve known me, what, forty years now? Come on Derek, calling me Dr. Kimishima is weird.”
“Sorry, Naomi. Old habits.”
“Ha. Do I know......thank you, by the way. You don’t look to bad yourself.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. It’s been a while since they’d talked about anything other than work, and even longer since they’d seen each other in person.
Derek cleared his throat. “So...how are the kids? Aaron?“
“Aaron is well. He’s looking into studying law.”
“Difficult field,” Derek said.
“Yeah,” Naomi sighed. “Alyssa’s loving her job. Veterinary nursing was definitely the right job for her.”
“And Jesse?” Derek couldn’t shake the feeling that Naomi was hiding something.
“He’s...good. Doing well at his job, the Kid told me. He’s on what’s equivalent of the SDCT at Resurgam.”
“But how is the thing with that weirdo?”
Naomi froze. Her eyes went cold and distant. “He’s still with him. I would like it if you didn’t bring that up again, Dr. Stiles.”
“Okay, okay. Sorry.”
Naomi relaxed, and sat up straight as the bell rang again. Valerie and Markus stumbled in, whispering to each other. They came over to Derek and Naomi’s table straight away.
“Dr. Stiles. Dr. Kimishima,” Valerie said, nodding to them both as she sat down.
“Good afternoon, you two,” Naomi said. “So, now we’re all here, you gonna tell us why you dragged us into Maryland for a coffee Stiles?”
“Just to catch up!” Derek said defensively. “We haven’t talked in ages!”
“If that were the case, why did you invite the Blaylock-Vaughan’s while they were on their break?”
“And you barely know us, Dr. Stiles,” Markus added. “So that’s not a very good excuse.”
Valerie gently slapped him. “Markus you can’t just-!”
“It’s quite alright, Valerie,” Derek said, smiling at the woman.
“Vaughn has a point,” Naomi said. “Why did you actually bring us here? No lying.”
“Fine!” Derek put his head in his hands. “Evie called me about-“
“An outbreak of Rosalia in Portland?” Valerie finished.
“And that it could possibly be post-Rosalia?” Markus added. Naomi closed her eyes as Derek nodded.
“So you all got told too.”
“Seems like it,” Derek said. “What did you tell them?”
“Probably what you did,” Valerie said. “Give it your best shot, be prepared for the unexpected.”
“I told Jesse to use what knowledge he already had on the virus to adapt the treatment plan accordingly.” Naomi sipped her coffee.
“Yeah, pretty much what I said. I requested the tests be sent to Caduceus.”
“Harry mentioned Chief Müller wanting to do that,” Markus said. “I’m assuming they’re gonna sent them here, since we’re closest.”
“Yeah,” Derek lifted his head. “I’m transferring over here with Dr. Niguel for a short while, while the tests are being run. Dr. Cromwell specifically requested our presence.”
“I’m not surprised,” Naomi said. “However, how on Earth is that man still alive?”
“I honestly don’t know, Dr. Kimishima.”
“Well,” Derek finished his drink and checked his watch. “Your break ends soon. I need to come and see Director Quatro.”
“Oh, she retired last year,” Valerie said, standing up. “Her eyesight was giving. She’s quite content in her cottage in the country with her wife. She send letters from time to time.”
“Huh.”
“You can come and see the new director,” Markus put his jacket on and grabbed Valerie’s hand. “C’mon Val. Dr. Kimishima, are you coming?”
Naomi glanced at her phone, and put it to her ear. The café went eerily cold for a second. Or maybe Derek was imagining it. Naomi’s voodoo hotline messed with his head. In the wise words of her husband Navel: ‘It’s weird, it makes no sense, but roll with your gut instinct about it.’
“Hm, interesting. I apologise, I have a new case. Stiles, do the paperwork for me to be transferred?”
“Sure thing Naomi.”
They headed out the door, and Naomi looked at her phone again. It was warm, and the screen was black. It wasn’t even her work phone. She felt a twinge of guilt as she left the café but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. She had a more important place to be than Caduceus. Namely, her son and his boyfriend’s apartment. That man was about to receive the wrong end of a mother’s protection.