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"Well can you please find his prosthetic leg so that this poor gentleman can engage with physio?" Guppy is asking, as he comes through the door. "They're not cheap, you know."

He closes the door and shakes his head. How can you lose a prosthetic leg, of all things? And the junior doctor looked terrified, as if it was her fault. Something to check on later, he reckons.

He sits down in his usual spot and puts up his clinic sign.

Free Walk-in Clinic
The doctor is in

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I wear a lightweight vest - also from Atton's world - which looks like cotton but works against knives and punches." Beat. "My workplace is quite dangerous."

Jack raises his eyebrows. "I'm not particularly worried about knives and punches. My line of work's more alligators and boiling oil."

Among other things. And, no, don't ask how the oil is still kept hot after three thousand years.

"What kind of archaeology involves maintaining live alligators?"

"The kind where you're going to be working alongside them, in the same river. At least, probably. Also, bullets. But they'll be coming from competitors, rather than the trap systems themselves."

At least, he hopes so, anyway.

"Oh, I was thinking people were leaving them as traps." Guppy says, feeling a little stupid.

"Lift the patch, let's see your arm?"

Well... Some people do. Jack's just not aware of them, yet.

"Not that I'm aware of. But, working in Egypt, it's a good bet we'll meet a few Nile crocodiles along the way."

Jack lifts the patch up so Guppy can see. He's aware it's definitely not hurting as much as it was, but he's not sure whether what remains isn't yet healed, or is just phantom pain.

"Hm, needs a few more minutes."

Guppy nods. "I've never been to Egypt. Do you keep all of the artefacts, or do they end up in museums or sold?"

Jack settles the patch down again.

"Neither have I. Not yet, anyway, but I know this project is going to involve work there," Jack admits.

"Officially, all artefacts found on Egyptian soil, are property of the Egyptian state. Much like a lot of countries."

"That must make it difficult to finance your trips."

"Finance isn't something I'm worrying about," Jack admits. "I'm still on an Army salary, indefinitely. I'll survive."

"Oh, that's good." Guppy nods. "So you're an army archaeologist?"

Jack considers the statement. "Not officially. We don't tend to go in for things like that. I'm a soldier who's been assigned to an archaeologist, with a purview to looking after national interests."

Which is kind of a lot to dump on a guy's shoulders at 22 years of age.

"So you stop him getting eaten by a croc?"

"Pretty much. Also, I can go places he can't. I'm younger, faster, sharper reflexes."

Because, you know, it's never just that simple.

"I never heard of the army doing that before."

"Yeah well. It's uh, very quiet. National security. I probably shouldn't even be saying this, but, I've been given a certain amount of discretion on that front."

"My lips are sealed." Guppy nods.

Jack smiles. "Cheers."

"Do you think we're done?" he adds, glancing at the patch. It feels done now.

"Let's see?"

Jack lifts the patch up again, so that Guppy can see.

"Looking good."

"Feeling good, too," Jack says as he removes the patch completely, and gets his first look at his newly healed arm.

"Damn, that stuff's good," he says, whistling appreciatively.

"Be gentle with it for a couple of days." Guppy says, nodding. "Probably gonna be a little bit sore. But yeah, Atton's world has advantages."

Jack nods "I'll be careful."

"I can see that," Jack agrees. "This is way beyond anything we have."

Edited 2013-06-24 23:10 (UTC)

"Wish I could take it home. I'm assuming you didn't get injured anywhere else."