Hanahaki Disease

Chapter 3

*Content warning*

This chapter contains a sensitive topic and a disturbing scene.
Reader discretion is advised.

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We are puzzled about what is going on. How on earth this can be happening? Is there someone making this up? Is there someone playing on us humans?

"Cassiel...Cassiel!" I saw Urriel's hand waving in front of my face, "you are zoning out, Cassiel. Do you have anything in mind?" she looks confused.

"I-I think we need to do an autopsy on the body. Urriel, can we secure permission to do this? Since we are the leading team in this situation." I asked and she nods.

"I'll give an order right away so we can conduct an autopsy," she looks at the holographic face of Juno.

"I want you to secure the body and let them know that our team will do an autopsy as soon as possible."

"Copy that," Juno told Urriel and ended the call.

"She's not going to die, right? Tell me, Cassiel... Mavis is not going to die!" her sobs filled the room. Urriel wipes Sarrina's tears across her cheeks

"We will do anything to save Mavis, but please, pull yourself together. We cannot solve this thinking that we will be going to lose her." I look at Urriel with sad eyes, cause I truly understand Sarrina. That feeling of losing someone so close to you as if your heart will be torn apart. Even I cannot handle this well if she was in the same situation as Mavis...

A few hours had passed since Urriel did a requesting letter to have permission for the autopsy, hissing sound coming from the metal door of our laboratory make us stand up from our seats.

"I got it!" Juno shouted while holding the papers of approval. I almost run and grab the papers

"Both of you stay here to monitor Mavis and continue to look at the patient's charts. Urriel and I will do the rest, please call us right away if something went wrong."  I told them before Urriel closed the metal door.

We both ran towards the Serpent building where the autopsy and other human body studies were conducted for medical purposes. I look at the paper and the cadaver was sealed in a room that is under level 4, a class Q which means it is highly secured.  Pressured is applied and the temperature is between 4-6 degrees celsius which is pretty cold. We passed the security check presenting the approved document. Urriel and I went to the donning area where we put the Level A hazmat suit that we needed to protect ourselves from a potentially contagious organism that caused this madness.

A hissing sound comes from the tightly secured door when it opens. Both of us stayed in the middle of the rectangular room that is called a decontamination area before proceeding to the next room which is the cadaver was kept. When the door of the autopsy room opened, I saw the cadaver lying on the autopsy table. He has toned muscles and a fit body. I think he might be 6'2 feet tall.

"Based on his record he's only 23 years of age, an athlete. No other health issues other than he was on medication for his Dysthymia." Urriel said while swiping the holographic image of the cadaver's chart.

"He has depression, does the toxicology department take a sample? Maybe he took something and decided to suicide?" Urriel shakes her head and continues to read the chart whilst I start to check the body for marks, cuts, or bruises.

"The toxicology department didn't find anything beyond normal usage of the substance, basically he was completely doing well based on his chart."  I open up the cadaver's mouth and it's full of petals covered with blood just like Juno said.  A sigh of frustration came out of my mouth. This can't be happening, how on earth can this be happening?

"Look, I want you to give us an answer so please let us see what was the caused of your death," I told the cadaver as if he can hear me. I look at Urriel that is confused also, but we need to do our best.  She pulled the mortuary carts where the tools and types of equipment are prepared.

"I'll be doing Evisceration then we can send the organ blocks to the laboratory for further studies," I told Urriel then she handed me a scalpel and cut the trunk of the cadaver with a modified Y-shaped incision technique. From the point near the end each of the clavicle, I cut through with a curve shape above the nipples. Then I cut from the middle where you can find the sternum down to the xiphoid process extended downward in the midline of the pubic symphysis with a straight course incision. Revealing his organs from his neck down to his intestines.

I examine his throat, looking at his thyroid organ. Nothing seems suspicious but I took a small sample for organ block.

"Urriel, large cartilage knife" she handed me the sharp tool which I will use to cut the costal cartilages from the middle to the costochondral junction to open the chest cavity. I keep the sharpness of the knife to be placed parallel while cutting so that I will not cause damage to the lungs. Then we start to sever the rib with rib shear. Dissecting the diaphragm freeing it from the last rib, exposing the heart and the pleural cavity.  Before continuing we must test if there's a presence of pneumothorax or not.  Thinking if that is the reason why he was suffering from difficulty in breathing when he was alive

"Negative, no pneumothorax is noted," Urriel said as the artificially intelligent robot took notes of our observations.

But I stop for a while to stare at his pleural cavity. Why does it look like it was coiled by something? Like a rope tied on something but it does not have any mark.

"Cassiel, are you okay? You are zoning out again." I just shook my head and took a sample for the organ block. Then Urriel takes note of the presence of fluid, adhesions, and amount of haemorrhage in the cavity.

"Wait, do not touch it," I hold Urriel's hand. I opened the pleural cavity cause I saw something that is not typical. I touch the tissue with a colored green string that is not supposed to be seen. I cut the part of the tissue and put it on a glass slide. Using our advanced microscope we can identify what type of cells and the composition of the sample. I put it inside and press the button to analyze presented on a screen the image descriptions and flash it on the holographic screen.  All were typical but the last data was not supposed to be seen in human lungs

Presence of eukaryotic cell wall

"That is not supposed to be there..." Urriel said since she's a botanist and a microbiologist. She knows that the eukaryotic cell wall is not present in our basic cells. We, humans, lack of cell wall which is made of cellulose that only can be seen in the kingdom Plantae.

"We must open the heart, now!" I told her and the next thing we did is the opening of heart. Carefully opened and note every fluid and condition of the surface. And again, I recognized the shape as it was coiled like the lungs yet, I cannot see anything visibly with my naked eyes. I also saw that his chordae tendineae were broken more than the normal cadaver should be having.

I cut the heart from the right atrium and continued to the tricuspid valve on the inferior part of the right ventricle. Through the anterior wall of the right wall close to the septum. Again, it reveals a  small but many strings that are colored green. We get the sample again inside for the advanced analysis and it appears that it also has these eukaryotic cell walls.

Uriel and I just look at each other with so many questions inside our minds.

"How on earth did he have a plant inside his lungs and heart, Cassiel?"