#jack doesn't really have much of a pov while he's seizing but yanno

[inscrutable-shadow]

Mediwhump May Day 3 - Seizure

@mediwhumpmay

This is canon-compatible with Five Card Draw and therefore does not have any AU markers. The 'Suit Booster' drug is more explained in unposted sections of that manuscript but basically, it's a performance enhancer that the Suits can take when they've pushed their bodies as far as they can and still need more, it removes the pain and fatigue temporarily and kickstarts their regeneration factor.. Jack helps the Doc with testing because he forgives easily and the promise of food is enough to get him to at least consider pretty much anything.

“So, Doc, what are we testing today?” Jack’s feet barely brushed the floor as he kicked them gently. They should really get the Doc some new equipment in here; a guy’s feet were definitely not supposed to reach the floor when he was sitting on an exam table, and he wasn’t even the tallest person in the Deck.

The Doctor was in a good mood, as was typical on a testing day, their smile real and their glasses on, which meant they were actually trying to be able to see him. “This is another drug trial. The formulation is not overly different from the previous test, so I will mainly be looking at the efficacy of the-“

Jack yawned loudly. “I’ll be honest with you, Doc, I just got off of a triple, so if we could skip the long-winded explanations, I’d really appreciate it.” He leaned back heavily on the reclined table, half-wishing he could go to sleep right there. Why did they have to call for him now, of all times?

The Doctor, of course, had the answer to that question. “That is actually why I asked you here today. My hope is that this new iteration of the ‘Suit Booster’ drug, as you insist upon calling it, will activate more quickly, remain effective longer, and have less of a rebound effect. Your fatigue is vital to the experiment.”

Sure. Whatever. Jack couldn’t bring himself to sweat the details. The sooner he did what the Doc wanted, the sooner he could be in his bathtub and then his bed. “Cool. So I take it like a normal booster?”

“Yes!” They handed him a palm-sized capsule of dark purple gel. “Just rate the change in your fatigue level and the monitors will do the rest.”

“Aren’t these usually blue?” he asked before sucking down the liquid. The texture was like drinking yogurt, not unpleasant, but also not grape-flavoured like his brain was telling him it should be.

The Doctor shrugged. “Would you prefer another colour? The blue dye was added at the Queen of Diamonds’ request when I was developing the original formula. She thought the four of you would prefer it to dark yellow.”

Well, she’d been right. Jack couldn’t think of many things worse than sucking down a tube of viscous piss-coloured fluid when he was already at his limit. He’d take any colour but that. And any taste in his mouth other than the suddenly overpowering grape flavouring. “Mother’s veil, Doc, that grape stuff comes on strong. It’s giving me a headache.” the lights were too bright suddenly, and he shielded his eyes with his hand.

The Doctor’s brow furrowed, and they set a hand on his shoulder in concern. “Jack... I haven’t added grape flavouring to the formula. I have not added any flavouring. Are you sure you’re- where in the blazes are you going?”

Jack’s head had snapped up and he was already halfway to the door before the Doctor’s hold on his arm stopped him. “Something’s here. Something’s coming.” His instincts had been honed by fifty years of being the Jack of Clubs, and he never doubted them anymore. The feeling of unease usually wouldn’t be this strong or come on this quickly. He felt close to a panic attack and nothing had happened to cause one of those. He realised that his breathing had become erratic, was vaguely aware of the Doctor calling his name, and then a sensation like falling off of a cliff before darkness.

When he became aware again, the first thing he noticed was how badly his head hurt. If this was what a migraine felt like, he had much more sympathy for Queen now. It was the sort of headache that made him feel like removing his jaw might help more than it would hurt. The next thing he noticed was that he’d been put into the recovery position. That was nice of whoever had done that. Was he on the floor? He guessed he must be. It wasn’t as dusty as he would have expected. Did the Doc spend all of their time in here cleaning?

Oh! The Doc! they must be worried sick if he’d passed out. He forced his eyes open a bit further. There they were, sitting on the floor next to him, uncharacteristically attentive. “Wha’ ‘appened…” His voice sounded strange…

They sighed in relief. “Welcome back. How much do you remember?”

Jack swallowed thickly. His mouth was so dry. How long had he been out? “Not much. We were... testing something, right?”

“Mhm. You had a temporal focal followed by a generalised tonic-clonic seizure, and, rather impressive one too, I might add. Not one of the anticipated side effects. I apologise, I rarely make such a severe medical error…” Their expression was neutral, but he could tell that they were furious with themselves.

“Not your fault, Doc. My head hurts…”

“I will be the judge of that. And yes, that is a standard after effect. You must be exhausted. I would like to keep you overnight for observation, if you feel up to getting up off of the floor.”

Jack did not, in fact, feel up to that. He’d much rather go to sleep right here. The last thing he heard was the Doctor’s “Hell’s teeth...” of affectionate consternation. Taglist: @youareshauni @arieadil @i-eat-worlds