It was a nice night to be alone. And alone, Gale was, sitting in his favorite booth in his favorite coffee shop just blocks away from the place he used to live. He told himself he'd never come back here again, but after so many weeks away he couldn't resist. This place was special. It was a hole in the wall, there was barely enough space to seat fifteen people, but luckily it was about 3 in the morning so it currently only sat three. Even when it was packed, though, it never felt packed. There was something about the atmosphere here. The 60's diner style look of it combined with the friendly staff and a certain other quality made it always feel cozy, almost like a home away from home. It was kind of place one found only in two or three places anywhere. It was to be cherished, to be sure, but the most alluring part of this shop was the coffee. They had a special dark blend that had a medley of flavors combined with an almost supernaturally smooth finish that it couldn't be replicated nor resisted once you got a taste. Gale always wondered why this place hadn't exploded into a whole franchise, with their own special branded cups and TV spots and-
"Here's your coffee, sir." Gale blinked as he was suddenly brought back to reality, looking up at the waitress. She had snuck up on him while he was lost in thought, but she had coffee, so it was a forgivable offense. He quietly thanked her and accepted the plain white mug.
He eagerly brought the cup up to his lips but before he could drink, the waitress interrupted again. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" she asked, squinting at his face.
Gale began to sweat. He was so eager to finally reunite with his favorite coffee that he had forgotten to wait for her to leave before removing his mask. Looking back up he too recognized the inquisitive woman. It was Beth, the same waitress who was always on staff at this hour. They had gotten along pretty well while he was still at the hospital. A warm mug and her company were usually his only two comforts after working a graveyard shift. He wondered if she knew he was dead, but quickly shook those thoughts away.
Without taking the mug away from his face he begins, "Ah-" he coughs a couple times, then with a faked deeper voice, "Uh, no. I'm- I got a new job nearby. Just got off work." He begged whoever was hearing his thoughts that they would make the woman go away.
"Oh yeah? Where are you workin'?" she asked.
"Bookstore." he said, then instantly regretted it. Bookstore? What kind of-
"What kind of bookstore's open at this hour?"
Gale's panic worsened. She could read minds! Wait, no- that's ridiculous. She would've heard him thinking about him being dead. Gale reminded himself to get it together.
"It's a small place called the-" he paused for a moment. "-the Midnight Oil. It's on 7th and Elm." He knew there wasn't a shop like that on Elm, but he hoped she didn't.
She stood there for a moment, then said, "Huh, fitting name. Well, welcome to downtown. Enjoy your coffee!" She trotted away, leaving Gale finally in peace.
Gale sighed, his breath pushing away a wispy thread of smoke. Finally, he could drink, and he did. Taking a gulp, he savored the rich- Bzzrt.
His pants were vibrating.
More specifically, the pager in his pants was vibrating.
Gale whispered several expletives, then pulled out the small device. It was his work pager, which meant that somebody was going to be dragged into his clinic, in the next few minutes. Maybe even seconds. They were probably going to be in bad shape too. There were two problems with this. One was sitting in his mug, the other was the fact that he was in downtown and his clinic was near the docks. It was a twenty minute walk between the two places, and that was if he hustled. He wouldn't make it in time if the person was already in bad shape, at least not normally. He looked around and as he did the world took on a surreal quality, everything starting to look like it was being held together with glowing, silvery threads. They hung in the air, too, representing connections that were shared across vast distances. He blinked and shook his head and the vision faded. Gale wasn't very used to his powers, and only ever used them in dire emergencies to fix up wounds, but now it seemed he'd need to try something new.
Gale threw back the scalding liquid, swallowing the contents of the mug in just a few seconds, quickly setting it back down and sliding a twenty underneath. He gets out of the booth, bidding farewell to the familiar coffee shop and pulls up his mask as he exits into the cold night air.
He walks half a block and enters a quiet alleyway, stood himself next to the wall and focused. The world took on its threaded appearance again, and he focused harder on his clinic. He could feel his connection with that place, and looking down he saw the thread that had formed between himself and those doors. It wasn't much, but it was a beginning. He wound that thread around his finger a couple times, and then in his other hand manifested a spectral needle. With a practiced hand, he threaded that silvery thing through the eye and pressed it into the stone. It sunk into it like it was butter, and turning the needle he started to stitch a vertical line into the wall. Up and up it went, from the ground to just over his head, and with that he let go of the needle and it disappeared, leaving him with a thread that went from his body, down the wall, and to the clinic all the way in the docks.
He gripped the spectral string with both hands and pulled, hard. There was a tearing sound that echoed through not only the alley but through some higher plain as well, and as it tore so did the wall, parting like a curtain along the stitch. Beyond the stone sheets was his clinic, as it was seen from the door leading into his private room. He stepped through this portal, and there he was, standing in his clinic. Gale was feeling pretty proud of himself, but realizing he had just torn a hole in reality, quickly spins around and pulls the spectral curtain shut. The wall reforms where it once was, without a trace of him or the needle, but if Gale focused on that event he could see those shimmering, invisible curtains, ready to be pulled apart at any moment.
Dusting his hands off, he turns around just as the front door to his clinic swings open with a loud slam. A man stands in the dark stairwell, blood oozing from a huge gash on his side. A single word escapes his lips, "Doc-" before he collapses in the doorway. Gale rushes over, feeling his neck. He was alive, barely. He hoisted the unconscious man up onto the operating table, and after assessing the damages, he got to work.
It was going to be a long night, but at least he had his coffee.
Full action: Gale creates a hidden portal between his clinic at the edge of the docks and an alleyway downtown.