I'm shaken awake by Arcade. He shook me gently. "Hey, wake up. Want breakfast?" He asks. I move the book off of my face. Then I realize the book was on my face.
"Uhm, yea. Food i-is good." I smile. I sit up and bookmark my book where I remember leaving off.
"Fall asleep reading?" He asks as I get out of my tent.
"T-tryin to. It's um a l-little hard to understand." I lie.
"Yea, I didn't expect to find you with a copy of The Arsenal of Democracy." He says.
"Plane on the cover, I-I um like planes." I look down, trying to hide my shame from this man. He hands me some food and I take it. I start eating and so does he.
"You seem nervous." He says. I nod a little. "Why?" He asks. I shrug and keep eating. "Don't wanna talk about it?" He asks. I shrug. "Alright." He says. When we finish our food I pack my stuff up quickly.
"L-lets get outta here." I say.
"Alright." He says and we leave. When we start walking it's an awkward silence. Why am I not taking a chance with him? He's smart, sarcastic, nice. Why can't I be myself..
Some time passes, us walking. My radio cutting the thick silence like paper. Some raiders jump us and they catch us off guard. Arcade starts shooting first. I get hit in the shoulder. Grazed. I start shooting second. It's then I realize Arcade and I have the same pistol. Once they're all down he looks over at me and catches the sight of blood. He starts moving towards me. "Tony, l-" one of the raiders still alive on his last legs fires a sawed off shotgun and hits Arcade in the chest. I pull my gun again and finish this jack ass off. Arcade stumbles a bit and I catch him before he falls. I move him into the shade and lay him on the ground gently. It doesn't look too awfully bad for a shotgun blast. I start unbuttoning his shirt to get to the wound. "Tony, listen, get me to the closest town. N-Novac isn't far from here." He says.
"Arcade-"
"Tony I need a doctor." He coughs. I put my hand on his cheek.
"You're in-in good hands." I say.
"Tony listen to me-"
"Arcade, trust me." I say and unbutton his shirt the rest of the way, exposing the wound. I grab my bag with my med kit and I pull it out. While I'm at it I grab my pillow and put it under his head. I open up the kit.
"This is serious-" he says.
"Not too serious, I I I just need to pick the buckshot out and and clean it. Bandage it. This couldn't have go-gone deeper than a quarter inch." I say. I grab some med-x from my med kit. I inject it into his chest. He seems to relax. I give him a rag to hold on to while I work. "Here, squeeze this." I tell him and grab my tweezers. I carefully pick the lead out, making sure I get all of it. He's bleeding quite a bit. I get the last bit of lead out of him and I grab some water and rinse away some of the blood and dirt. Then I grab some rubbing alcohol and a rag. I pour the alcohol on the rag and start to dab it on the wound. Arcade tenses up. I grab his hand. "It's okay, I'm taking care of it." I say. I finish dabbing the rag on him and I grab a bandage. I put some anti-infection rub on the bandage and I carefully apply the bandage to his chest, securing it with medical tape. Lastly I inject a stimpack next to the wound. It'll heal a little faster now and help with the pain. I'm shaking now when I pull my hands away from him. He looks up at me. "Tony?"
"G-good as new?" I say.
"Where'd you learn to do this?" He asks.
"Oh, y'just pick it up." I shrug.
"You don't just pick up medical practices." He shakes his head.
"Uhm..." I look down.
"Tony, where did you learn that?" He asks.
"I-I, I was born in a Vault in DC. Trained to be a doctor." I say.
"Really?" He asks. I nod.
"Yep, just like my dad. Just like his assistant Jonas. I-if they could see me now... they'd be d-dissapointed." I shrug.
"Why?" He asks.
"Hiding myself i-in fear of b-b-being dismissed as a a an idiot. Playing dumb, people don't make fun of you for your stutter. F-for things you can't help. Uh fo-for things someone else did to you.." I say.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"I was shot in the head. I-I survived. Sometimes I wish I ha-hadn't. I used to sp-speak clearly. Not like this." I say. "It's g-g-got me in a depressive state. Like I'm worthless. My w-word doesn't matter. I don't matter." I say.
"Oh, Tony..." He says.
"I don't matter..." I look down. "I-I can't let let let anyone know I'm not stupid." I tell him. "I can't." I say.
"Yes you can. You can start with me." He says.
"N-no, I'm not smart enough." I say. There's a bit of silence. He sighs.
"How's the book you've been reading? I'm sure you understand it, you told me you didn't." He says. I look at him.
"I-I haven't gotten far yet. I uhm I just started it a couple days ago. I-interesting so far though." I say. "Interesting how s-s-small Henry Ford started. Father of uhhm automobiles." I say.
"I've never read that book you're reading. Could I borrow it when you're done?" He asks. I nod.
"Yea, yea yea you can." I smile at him. "Do you uh feel well e-enough to keep moving? Or sh-should I set up c-camp." I ask him.
"I can't say I've ever been shot in the chest before. It hurts. I'd like to rest for a while if that's alright." He says.
"Of course it is. M-my dad said i-it's the patients comfort above all else." I say.
"Well I'd say patients life above all else but alright." He chuckles.
"W-well, that's true too. B-but improve quality of life and all that. Didn't have too w-w-worry too much about keeping people alive in the vault. Th-there wasn't much risk of death." I say.
"Yea, how long were you in the vault?" He asks.
"How a-about this, we uhm talk more when I'm done setting up camp. I-I-I'll tell you all about my life in the vault." I say. He nods.
"Sounds nice." He says. I smile at him and get to work.
