Superhero Syndrome

“Box, please stop fidgeting,” Astrid says in a calm if slightly annoyed voice.
 
The big man has been laying on his stomach for a couple of hours now, and was getting restless with his chin resting on his crossed arms. The vid was playing some ridiculous television drama which Box was weirdly into and Astrid was doing her best to keep him distracted, but it had been a long day.
 
“I’ve gotten all the shrapnel out and the swelling under control. I’m just trying to get it all closed up cleanly. Give me another hour and you should be good to go.”
 
With a heavy sigh, Box settled back down.
 
The injury itself wasn’t life-threatening, certainly not for someone as buff as Box, but it was potentially crippling if not treated properly. In the van hours earlier, Astrid had been able to bandage the wound up enough that Box figured it was all good, so he was planning to head back to his place after the job. It wasn’t until Astrid pointed out he’d probably have to crawl his sorry ass back here to her place every day for months for treatment if he didn’t get it dealt with properly that he agreed to spend the time.
 
Astrid was a medic and therapist more than surgeon, but she had assisted in plenty of procedures back at Rushlight so she felt like she could handle it. The facilities—as in the former garage in the Triangle where Astrid had set up her little clinic—were not all that great for a surgical procedure, but Box wasn’t the usual patient either.
 
The sniper bullet would have probably killed most people outright. His armor had taken out some of the energy of impact. In addition to him just being a tough son-of-a-bitch, the medical-grade titanium lacing over his bones and spine had help shield the neural tissue. The damage had still resulted in spinal epidural hematoma, which had to be drained in addition to making sure any bullet fragments were removed before sepsis or metal poisoning set in.
 
Box had been a big kid, and always dished out as much as he could take. Growing up, Astrid mostly had to just keep his cuts clean, and help keep him more or less fed, and he was generally fine. His biggest problem was—and still is—never knowing when his injuries were serious and not something he could just “walk off”. The medscanner had found numerous scars from old wounds, and even a few unremoved fragments of metal, so she had been keeping busy the past few hours trying to get this little patch cleaned up.
 
Both Astrid and Box had lived for years in the corpo world, so their friendship had mostly picked up where it had left off. In a world of constant double-dealing, back-stabbing, and frighteningly easy abuse of power, it was good to have someone to watch your back that you could trust. Still, Box was never what you’d call talkative.
 
Another 45 minutes, and another episode of Housewifes & Hengernades later, Astrid finished up, gave Box a hypo of antibiotics for good measure, and tapped him on the shoulder.
 
“OK, big guy, you are all done. Just move slow for a while and try to get a decent night’s sleep. I recommend the cot instead of the work-table.”
 
Box pushed himself up, then rolled his shoulders and arm. He gave a bit of a quizzical look. “Feels the same as when you started, but whatever you say.”
 
Astrid gave a brief snort, and pointed at a surgical tray filled with bloody metal fragments. “You are a crazy man.” She gave him a brief friendly kiss on the check, “Get some sleep here. I’ll head up to ’s office and crash on his couch again. You don’t need to be climbing up a 50 meter rope in the middle of the night until that surgical glue fully sets anyhow.”
 
After getting him settled on the cot, and dropping an MRE and a bottle of water on his lap, she left him to the vid and the garage. It was late at night by the time she’d finished up the procedure and the cleanup. The Triangle was still hosting a few groups of hard-core barflies, but it was easy enough to cut through the winding hallways, up the stairs, and up to Arjay’s office. He was up and working, but Astrid slipped in, gave him a little wave, and settled down on the couch for some much needed rest.