Liz kept her arms wrapped around Nickel for several minutes.
She eventually pulled back, wiping her tears.
"Are you alright?" Liz asked, searching his face for any sign of pain.
"I'm fine," Nickel smiled to reassure her. "Where's Will?"
Liz's eyes shot over to the chair beside her, seeming to only now realize it was empty.
"I'll be right back," She stood and walked to the door. As she opened it, she looked back and pointed at him. "Don't go anywhere."
"I got it."
Liz nodded once, and left the room.
"Where would I even go?" Nickel laughed to himself.
A few minutes later, Liz returned alongside Will.
With them was a white-haired elven woman.
This was the person Nickel had attacked earlier, one he only now recognized.
"Mr Silver. I'm Dr Slate," the woman said, extending her hand to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Nickel shook Dr Slate's hand, slightly star-struck.
This woman was Helena Slate, one of the most talented and powerful healers in the world. She had single-handedly cured plagues, restored the near-dead to life, and had partaken in several of the most difficult dungeon raids of the last several decades.
And while, truthfully, Nickel hadn't followed her work particularly closely, someone in his family had.
"It's… a pleasure to meet you too…" he trailed off. "My mother was a big fan of yours."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes! She told me you were a big inspiration for her becoming a healer." Nickel blushed, embarrassed. Why was he telling her this?
"That's always wonderful to hear."
Still maintaining their handshake, she leaned down to look directly into his eyes.
"Hmmm… the sensory dampener appears to be working properly."
Nickel frowned at the term "sensory dampener". His guard became slightly raised.
"Would you mind explaining what a 'sensory dampener' is?" Suspicion colored his voice.
Dr Slate's eyes widened.
"Oh! My apologies." She released Nickel's hand, leaning back. "First, though, do you remember what happened earlier today, when you first woke up?"
Nickel remembered. And realized he was being rude towards a person who was being quite polite, despite having a perfectly good reason not to be.
"I remember." A look of remorse crossed his face. "I'm so sorry about that."
"You don't need to apologize, Nicholas," she smiled gently. "In fact, it's not that rare for those with higher Pathfinder Ranks to become overwhelmed and lash out."
Liz looked like she wanted to say something at that, but Will stopped her.
The doctor continued.
"While your circumstances are quite unprecedented, that shouldn't have been any reason to eschew protocol." Dr Slate smiled a smile that wasn't a smile. "I've already had a talk with the doctors formerly assigned to you."
"The sensory dampener is a device that, as you probably can guess, suppresses your senses. It was created to help acclimate newly awakened to their new normal by slowly reducing it's effects over time."
"How much longer until I'm acclimated?" This was the question Nickel most wanted answered.
The sooner he got out of here, the sooner he could start growing stronger.
"Should be a few more hours, just after dawn." As she said, Dr Slate began tapping at the monitor console by Nickel's bed. "Once you're ready, we can discharge you! Any questions?"
"Two. Why are you assigned to me?" Nickel asked cautiously. "And how do you know my… circumstances?"
"Well," Dr Slate began, "the reason I'm assigned to you has to do with your circumstances.
I'm not here in Tralken all the time, of course. Technically, I'm on call for each of the major hospitals in each nation. I come in whenever there's a patient with… let's call them unique circumstances. Like you."
She finished tapping at the console.
"So, I know your circumstances because they are unique enough to require my input." Her lips drew into a line, worried. Her eyes darted over to where Liz and Will sat. "do you mind if these two heard?"
Nickel immediately shook his head.
"No, they're family."
"Alright. Then I'll start by saying, you are an anomaly. There has never been a case of a person's Pathfinder Rank changing. Ever. It should be impossible.
"I was called in when your Rank abruptly changed yesterday morning." Seeing Nickel open his mouth, she continued, "You don't have to worry. Everyone who knows about it has signed a system contract. They couldn't tell anyone if they wanted to."
"Thank you." Nickel shoulders slumped, relieved.
"Do you have any idea why this happened, Nicholas?" Dr Slate sounded genuinely concerned for him, but he could detect a note of curiosity in her voice.
Nickel pretended to think for a moment.
"No, I have no idea."
It was better for everyone to consider him an anomaly or a freak accident, than to think there was some sort of divine interference going on with him.
"I see." Dr Slate didn't sound convinced, but didn't press.
"Well, I'll be right outside if you need anything from me."
Once she'd left the room, Nickel turned to find Liz glaring at him.
"Don't you think you can get out of telling us what happened," She whispered at him. She always knew when he was lying.
"And what the hell is this about being a higher Pathfinder Rank? What Rank are you now?"
Nickel grinned at her, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
"Guess!"
Will groaned and slumped down in his chair.
"Please just tell us. It's been a long three weeks."
Nickel's gaze snapped over to Will. "Three Weeks?!"
"Thank you."
Will sighed and gave a tired smile. He reached over and ruffled Nickel's hair. "Of course, Kiddo. We wouldn't just leave you alone."
The rest of the pack's been in and out as well. Also, Kal messaged a couple days ago. Said you got an important looking letter?"
A look of surprise appeared on Nickel's face. Who'd send him a letter? Everyone he knew lived here in the capital.
"So what Rank are you?" Liz was getting impatient.
"Rank 6."
Liz and Will exclaimed at the same time.
"What the fuck!"