Yelena rides in autopilot mode to the clinic. When the bike pulls up to the front she finds a place to park and secure it. From the outside the clinic looked rather unprepossessing, much like every street clinic Yelena had ever had cause to use. She actually hesitates at the entrance, almost as if nervous about going in. While standing at the curb she sees a young man assisting a much older one toward the door. The older man was clearly in need and the young man was having trouble helping him maneuver. Yelena moves to take the old man's free arm and helps the two into the clinic. The man looks his thanks and nods but the boy just looks surly.
A pretty but obviously frazzled nurse is at the counter. Despite her weariness, she manages a smile for Yelena and greets the others by name. "Hello, Alexei. Same trouble again?"
The man nods and opens his mouth to say something, but the boy jumps in before he can say a word. "Yeah. You fraggers should be ashamed letting him back on the street. He needs to be put away where he cannot hurt himself or anyone else. Can't you see how useless he is? Cannot eat without spilling all over himself and needs help doing drek all. Don't you have a place to just put him where he don't do no harm to himself?"
Yelena stands quietly off to the side watching the old man, who seems to be accepting the rejection but his eyes are shedding silent tears. The nurse is clearly used to this sort of treatment by the healthy for the elderly and ill. She carefully avoids the old man's eyes as she says. "Alex, you know the answer to that question. Your grandfather needs help, yes, but he needs more than we can give him here. We have limited assets and can only take care of patients on a short term basis."
"Fine for you to say. You do not have to see him like this every day or live with him puking or crapping allover himself then cleaning it up."
"Your mother........."
Now angry, he interrupts the nurse. "She is no better than he is. Either drugged up or in bed with who knows who. I have had it. I am leaving and you can just keep him."
The young man just swears and races out of the waiting area. The old man has stood as straight as he can through the entire ordeal, the only sign of his sorrow being the tracks of tears on his cheeks. The nurse comes forward to him and takes his arm. "Come on Alexei, let's get you settled. I have already signed you in. I will take your coat and then we will go back to get Doc to see you." She looks at Yelena with an apologetic smile. "I will be right with you, miss. Please be patient." The nurse carefully removes the old man's greatcoat, exposing a thin frame enclosed in old rags. Yelena's eyes idly wander over the many-times patched and threadbare trousers then up to the old jacket covering the ragged shirt. She notices the badly frayed embroidered patch with the number 14 on it. Instantly Yelena feels as if kicked by a mule. Her mind reels with a hundred, a thousand emotions all at once.
When the nurse leaves the room with the man, Yelena slips behind the counter and looks at the tablet registration. The man has been logged in as Alexei Gaspodin. The effect on Yelena in seeing the name is immediate and brutal. She manages to stumble out to the door and stand there, gasping for breath and sucking in air like a drowning woman. The man had been there She knows the name. She can still feel his hands on her body, touching her, violating her. Smiling all the while he was raping her. And not just once, and not just her. The man had been a member of the Russian State Security Service and had been a guard at Relocation Camp 14. Raping the young prisoners had been a perk of his job. She had thought he had died during the breakout, along with the rest of the security guards. She was only ten at the end but had killed thirteen guards and scientists that day with a rifle that was way too big for her. Yelena's current world swirls around her until she feels a light hand on her shoulder and a concerned voice. "Are you alright, miss? Please come inside and let me look at you."
Yelena shakes herself to clear her head and stands to let the nurse take her back into the waiting room. Once inside, she says, "Am Yelena. Not here for sick. Here see boy Z. Came in yesterday. Shot and beat." She nods at the screen where the nurse had taken the old man. "Man ok?"
"Old Alexei? Probably not. You saw how the grandson treats him. Not much love in that house. Poor man. Came over here with nothing and made something of himself. I can remember from when I was a kid. He always looked out for the kids in the neighborhood, even standing up to the gangers. Now he is sick and no one to take care of him. Not sure what we can do here. Not enough money, not enough nurses. Just not enough," She sighs. "It will be up to the Doc to decide what happens to him. Ah. Yes, here he is. Let me take you back to see Z."
Yelena follows the nurse through the screen, passing a small cot that the old man was sitting on, a bowl of some sort of soy drek at a small table near him. The nurse continues past several beds and stops at one that held the small frame of Z. She holds up a hand and whispers, "Now please do not disturb him while he is asleep. But you can talk to his friends just over there. And before you ask, he will be fine with some rest and the right medicine. Are you a relative?" Yelena shakes her head as she looks over to where the nurse pointed. She notices three of the other boarders from the park. "No. Yelena not relative. Just friend."
"That is too bad. Some of the medicine is quite expensive. It could mean a longer stay or going home without the proper meds. Well, please let me know when you leave." With that the nurse leaves. Yelena stares at the other boarders for a minute then goes to them. The three try to put on a tough face, but first one then the rest crack and come to her. Yelena and the three spend an hour together talking and learning about each other. Yelena is entirely surprised that none of the kids hold her responsible for what happened to Z. If anything her stock with them has risen dramatically because she had gone to save him. After the hour, Yelena leaves after agreeing to see them again and getting a promise that none of the boarders would try to hide where she was if some ganger, any ganger, came looking.
On the way out, Yelena's slight sense of happiness is again shattered as she walks past the old man. He is still sitting on the cot as if he did not know what to do, the bowl of now cold soy-drek sitting untouched on the table. Almost without thinking Yelena's hand drops to the Predator at her hip. Here was a chance to clean part of the slate. She has spent years cursing the guards, scientists, and others who continued to torture and murder young kids just because they were different. She draws the pistol but decides that the man needs to see her face. Moving to stand in front of him, she kneels to look him eye to eye. The old man looks at his killer and focuses on her face. Suddenly his eyes widen and he tries to mouth something, failing. Trying again, he wets his lips and whispers, "You are one of them, aren't you? One of those kids." He lifts a trembling hand to reach out to her, almost touching her then falling back. "I remember the hair. I remember........." He falls silent. Tears begin to roll from his eyes. "I was so wrong. We all were so wrong. What we did to you was against God and all creatures. Are you here to kill me?"
At that moment part of Yelena changed. Her hand tightens on the butt of her pistol, ready to end the miserable existence of one of her tormentors. Instead she holsters the pistol and catches the attention of a passing nurse. "Please get man warm food." The nurse is going to object but the look in Yelena's eyes stopps her cold. Nodding, she takes the bowl and leaves. When the nurse returns with the new bowl, Yelena sits and feeds the old man until the food is gone. Neither says a word. When the old man finishes, Yelena gently lays him down on the cot and stands. When she turns she see an older woman near, watching. She approaches and says. "I am Doctor Yavin, but people around here just call me Doc. I understand that you know Z and Alexei?"
"Not really. Yelena know boy little. Know man not at all. Will live?"
"The boy, certainly. Alexei, certainly not. He has little time left. When he dies a good light will go out of the Barrens. Wait, you are Yelena? One of the heroes? The Barrens needs heroes. And the Barrens needs more men like Alexei. He always hinted of some great evil in his past, but all I ever saw was good. I suppose he was trying to atone for something. He never talked about it." She shakes her head, "It is too bad that he does not have good family that can take him for his last days. Daughter used all his money and grandson only wants to be a gang lord. And Z has similar problems. No money and no family means nowhere to go to get the medicine he needs. And before you ask, no, I do not have it here. It costs way too much for our tiny budget. Most of what we get from the people that come here is in-kind services, not real cash money. And in-kind services do not buy expensive drugs."
Yelena reaches out to take the doctor's commlink from her pocket. Before the doctor can react, Yelena slots a cred stick and transfers 5000 nuyen to the clinic account. "Buy drugs, buy blankets, buy clothes and food. Care for old man. Care for Z. Care for others. Find Yelena when need more. Yelena check back." Yelena replaces the woman's 'link and walks out before the startled doctor can do more than stammer out a thanks. Outside, Yelena climbs on the bike, and motors away, surprisingly.........happy.
