“I never told anyone the voice was female…,” Jeff said. He glanced at the doctor with wary eyes and stepped back. Dr. Tate smiled broadly, then chuckle.
“How much does it really matter whether I’m male or female?” the voice asked. Jeff ignored it and focused on the doctor.
“What?” The older man asked. “What do you mean?” Jeff’s eyes narrowed, then he looked toward the door; he half expected a burly orderly to step in and glare at him.
“See? He doesn’t care,” the woman whispered in his mind. Jeff clenched his fists in annoyance but kept his attention on the doctor.
“I never mentioned the voice was female. How did you know?” Dr. Tate’s grey eyes darkened with confusion.
“Why are you acting like it’s a secret?” he asked Jeff.
“I never asked you to keep me a secret.”
“It’s in my head!” Jeff said in a near-shout, the frustration threatened to burst out. Dr. Tate took his own step backward. He inched toward a red button on the wall that would summon security. “How do you know she’s female?” Jeff hopped off the examination table and moved toward the door, ready to bolt.
“Oh,” Dr. Tate sighed. Jeff noticed the doctor visibly relaxed. The older man sat down on his rolling stool and smiled at Jeff. “You don’t know what you are, do you?”
“Maybe if you didn’t try to ignore me all the time you’d have learned something,” the woman said. Jeff felt a certain smugness with the thought.
“What I am?” Jeff lifted his hands and held them out to the doctor with his fingers splayed. “I’m human.” A burr of doubt irritated the back of his mind. Most humans probably did not have multiple voices in their head. “Right?”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Laughter erupted in Jeff’s brain loud enough to make him flinch. Luckily, the doctor nodded in agreement allowing Jeff to stay calm.
“The short answer is, ‘yes, you’re human’. But you have abilities.”
“Like hearing voices in my head?”
“Like receiving thoughts telepathically.”
“Thoughts? You mean she’s real?” Dr. Tate nodded.
“Real. Documented, and annoying,” the greying man smiled.
“Heeeeey. I heard that.” Dr. Tate nodded at Jeff’s right hand.
“Those pills are pretty popular.”
“Popular? How many people have abilities like me?” Dr. Tate shrugged.
“Not too many on this Earth. However, we get a lot of traffic from other universes and usually they can hear her.”
“Hang on. There are other universes? Doc, C’mon what’s going on?” Jeff looked around the room suspiciously. “This is a prank, right? Are you even a real doctor?” Dr. Tate nodded.
“As real as the voice in your head. I have other patients to attend to,” Dr. Tate shrugged and stood from the stool. “Take the pills, don’t take the pills. I don’t care. Come back if you have an allergic reaction.”
“Wait!” Jeff blocked the door. “What about my abilities?”
“Sorry I don’t have time to get into that any deeper.” Dr. Tate placed a hand on Jeff’s shoulder. “If you really want to know you’ve got a few options. Make a new appointment with me, try to find a traveler from a different universe, or try talking to the voice.”
“The voice?” Jeff asked. The doctor’s response satisfied him enough to move out of the way. Dr. Tate nodded while he walked out of the exam room.
“She’s a Mundo. It’s her job to explain it.”
“It’s not my job! It’s my career of choice!” Mundo retorted in Jeff’s mind.
“What’s a Mundo?” Jeff asked himself aloud. He stayed behind in the exam room after the doctor left.
“Well look who wants to chat all of a sudden,” Mundo replied. “I’m #37, El Mundo. You’re #11, El Melón. That’s all you get for now until you help me.”
“Help you what?” Jeff asked the empty room.
“Escape.”
