Chapter 4
As promised, the driver was punctually in the underground car park and when he saw that it wasn't Volstagg, Thor sighed in relief. No matter how much he missed his friend, today he wouldn't have had the strength to deal with the bearded man. It was his first day after all.
Since his stay in the rehab center, his two closest friends, Volstagg and Sif, had completely broken off contact with him. After the accident, everything had happened very quickly and his father's lawyers had certainly been responsible as well for the lack of communication, because there was always the fear that conclusions could be drawn that a member of the Borson family had been the drunk driver of the responsible car. Of course, Thor was aware that the two of them knew what he had done since they most likely had recognized his red ferrari in the newspaper article back then. He was sure of that. What he didn't understand was that his friends hadn't even tried to reach him since he was back home. Brunhilde had certainly said something to her best friend, as his sister and Sif were inseparable. Even Fandral had left no stone unturned, but unfortunately he had quickly realized that it had been impossible to reach him in the clinic and that Odin had shieled his son perfectly from the whole world. But now he was back, so what stopped them?
Thor sighed softly. Understandably, he was disappointed, but he wouldn't allow himself to drown in self-pity. No, he had to concentrate on his job! The young man didn't want to be responsible for any other catastrophes again.
Natascha stopped and greeted the driver warmly, the two had probably known each other for some time.
"Thor, the young man here is Clint Barton. He has been employed by this company for years. You can always count on him. Clint, in front of you is our new intern Thor. He'll accompany me through the week and then I will decide which tasks he can take over and which patients he may be allowed to look after."
Clint just gave a freindly nod and since he didn't say anything provocative to him, he might not recognized Thor as the son of Odin or he just didn't care.
"Hello, I'm glad to meet you."
Thor got into the van. Of course, he sat in the background voluntarily, so that Natascha and Clint could talk. In the beginning, he still listened, he didn't want to miss any important facts, but the longer the ride took the more he sank into his thoughts.
Now, when it came to his first patient, he wondered what had happened to the driver of the other car. His father said that he had been injured and had been treated at the hospital, but he didn't get much more informations. No one had told him the truth. His mother had taken great care that he was completely focused on himself during the withdrawal and at some point he had simply stopped asking. But now, more and more guilt feelings came up because he hadn't tried anymore. He was sure that he could talk to his friends, he might still be able to negotiate with his dean if he explained that he had been in a rehab center and was now working on a voluntary basis, but with the driver, it would certainly be more difficult.
Maybe that was why Thor unconsciously refused to investigate. Perhabs he was afraid of the reaction, which, as he could imagine, would be less friendly. Perhabs he was afraid of more consequences, more than he already had to deal with. After all, he still didn't know what had happened to the driver. Had he been seriously injured. Maybe he had destroyed a life with his stupidity. No, that couldn't be, right?
Thor suddenly got sick and started to sweat. He was just overwhelmed by the events. He had only recently returned home, faced his father's wrath and his future was on the edge. Surley, he interpreted too much and his worries and fears triggered these bad thoughts. He had to calm down again.
"Hey big guy, is everything alright back there? You look pale. Should I stop for a moment?"
Clint had probably wachted him through the rearview mirror. But these words also attracted Natascha's attention. They hadn't even been on the road for 15 minutes and Thor had already caused trouble. He could slap himself for it.
"No, it's ok. Really. Due to the excitement this morning, I hardly came to eat. I think that was probably just something that made me feel dizzy. We can go on."
This seemed to reassure the two of them because they didn't make an unnecessary stopover for him. Fortunately, he had solved the problem charmingly because he had already had enough practice, otherwise how else was it possible for him to wrap so many woman and men around his little finger.
After another 10 minutes, they finally arrived at their destination and were able to get out. Natascha walked straight towards a building and took a small key ring out of her pocket. Clint, on the other hand lingered at the car and indicated to Thor that he should follow his colleague.
After he had arrived at the building's entrance, the young woman was already waiting for him at the elevator. Annoyed.
"If this is going to work, you have to pull yourself together. Everything has to be done quickly. Right now, it means: get out of the car, pick up the patient, bring her safely to her appointment, and then we have to go to the next one. There, we'll be able to work a bit more relaxed. But remember that we can't waste any time, everything is well planned. Even if a patient, especially elderly people, are disappointed sometimes because they may live alone and are happy when they have someone to talk to. But long conversations are only possible in very few cases. Do you understand me?"
Thor nodded and he never had a chance to answer since they had reached the fifth floor. Natascha went ahead and opened the apartment door and entered.
"Good morning, Mrs. Hansen. How are you today? Could you sleep a little better that night?"
The young nurse spoke louder, probably the lady didn't hear so well anymore. Thor went in slowly and saw a beautifully decorated apartment. The entrance area was painted in a bright yellow, on the wall hung a big picture which showed a bride, a groom and a group of guests who happily smiled into the camera. The hallway led straight to the living room, where an elderly lady sat in a chair. She talked nicely to Natascha but paused when she saw him.
"Mrs. Hansen, may I introduce you to Thor. He started his internship today and will accompany us to your appiontment."
After his colleague introduced him, Mrs. Hansen turned to him and gave him a friendly smile.
"Really? That's wonderful. My dear Natascha, you have to be lucky to be able to work with such a young and good looking man. Look at his arms, he can certainly pull out trees with them."
The young nurse just grinned und rolled her eyes slightly. It was easy to see that Mrs. Hansen and Natascha had become friends over the time, as the two of them looked more like mother and daughter. But Thor didn't want to make any further assumptions and that's why he dutifully turned to his colleague, who already had the right task for him. He should get the rollator out of the kitchen and help the woman to get up. Of course, she couldn't resist laughing and telling him that it was the perfekt job for him, since he was such a strong and young man.
After he had safely get Mrs. Hansen into the car and Natascha had put the important documents for the doctor's appointment into an envelope, they could start again. During the ride, he was sitting in the back seat next to the older lady, as there was more space for rollators, wheelchairs and other bulky tools. At first he thought that it would be strange because Thor had hardly had any contact with older people. He had never met his grandfather and since he studied economics, he didn't have the same experiences and qualifications as his sister Brunhilde, who had already attended severals internships in hospitals and nursing homes. But as it turned out, the young man was wrong.
Mrs. Hansen took over the task of talking for him. She loved to tell that she was looking forward to the next weeks, as she would travel to her daughter, who was living in Boston and that's why she had to visit her doctor, so he could confirm that she was fit enough for the trip. The woman also said that she had lost her left leg due to a sports injury, but giving up wasn't an option for her back then because she had had to raise her little girl. When she had recovered, she had even started exercising again. Now, she was old but the lady could look back at her life with a smile. Thor was only able to sit quietly and stare at her. He was speechles for the second time today.
Later, when they had accompanied Mrs. Hansen into the waiting room and handed over the documents to the doctor's assistants, Thor could no longer get her words out of his head. Once again, he had been allowed to meet a human who, against all odds, had never given up. He admired the older lady as much as his friend Volstagg. He also had fought.
"She's great, isn't she? But I warn you, not all people are so friendly. Many patients are unreasonable, they can't accept that they suddenly need help. Although our next patient, Loki, is a rather introvert young man, his words can sometimes be quite hurtful. He hasn't been here for a long time and was released from the hospital only three months ago. He has to get used to his new situation. But I like him."
But even though Thor took the warning seriously, nothing could ruin his good mood at the moment. Finally, hope had returned to him and if other people had managed to get their life back, he could do the same. So the young man got into the van and they could move on.
However, the trip took a little longer than planned because in the afternoon, the streets were crowded. But Thor could only smile. He sat in the back seat and listened to the impressive cursing of Barton. He learned more and more about his colleagues. First, that their driver was kind and quiet but could be a completely different person within seconds. The perfect evident was that there wasn't much left from the casual driving style, no, Clint quickly squeezed the car into tight gaps between cars instead and showed him one or two dangerous tricks on how to change lanes faster. Natascha, on the other hand, was relaxed even in stressful situations and effectively kept a clear head. Together they were invincible.
After another ten minutes, the grin left Thor's face, as they approached the university and with horror, he realized that it was his school, or better, the faculties which taught business and law. Pale, he stared out the window. Although there were only a few students on the campus, the classes would soon be paused or ended, more and more people would leave the building, among them fellow students of Thor. If they would see him, dressed like a nurse, his reputation would surely be ruined.
"I could let you out, right here."
Clint looked at him expectantly. At first, the sentence made no sense to him but quickly, Thor saw that the parking lots, which were located directly at the entrance and reserved for disabled people, were already occupied. Ashamed, he had to realize that he had also parked there several times before and he had never thought about that these parking lots would really be needed. He closed his eyes with embarrassment and then nodded. He had to face his fate.
Natascha was already walking in the direction of the entrance door when Thor had just managed to get out of the car. But with big steps, he had quickly reached the young nurse and was able to exhale briefly with relief as they turned left. This way led directly to the law school. Thus sank the chance of being seen by his fellow students and having unpleasant conversations.
In the meantime, the classes had been finished because the old corridors were getting more and more crowded, everyone was pushing the other aside. When they had found and entered the wanted room, most of the students were already out. Only a few were still at their tables, either to write down some notes or because they still wanted to speak with the professor.
Their patient, on the other hand, already came to meet them. He was rather young, Thor assumed that he was at least three years younger than himself. What the blonde also had to admit was that he was very handsome. With his pale skin, his high cheekbones and his black hair, he was exactly the type of man Thor would flirt with.
"You're late."
His thoughts were interrupted with these words. Natascha just laughed next to him and gently put a hand on Loki's shoulder.
"I missed you too."