If You Asked Me To (UWOC)

Eight

Over the next week, we went over everything several times. During this time, I learned the joys of living with the Kymari. I now understood why a dragonet would want to become a bonded animal. The heat lamp alone was a big incentive, but to add the food and company into the mix, and—it was a little slice of wonderful.

From what I could see of this mysterious illness, some Kymari developed flu-like systems and recovered independently, but in most, it attacked their central nervous system and turned into their version of meningitis. Their flu cure did not work on it, and their antibiotics would help but not cure the meningitis. Their bodies had to fight the virus off themselves.

The big question was, why?

I learned they developed cures through the genetic makeup of the diseases themselves. That meant we needed to find the virus that caused the condition to create a treatment.

But if it was airborne, more of them would have it, and none of those diagnosed had anything in common except being active.

Huh.

"Everyone who has gotten sick was outside at some point before becoming ill. That is the only common denominator in this. Let us focus on that for a bit," I suggested.

"When you say 'outside', that's too broad. Some went to parks, and others just walked the streets. One woman was sitting in a chair in her backyard the day before," Sebia stated as Thorn got us drinks and snacks.

"Can we sit outside for a new perspective?"

We moved our items out back, and I flew up to a tree branch and looked around. It wasn't my first time out here, but it was nice to breathe fresh air. There were still puddles everywhere from the rain the day before.

"Do you like playing in the water?" Thorn asked as he sat down.

"I do. We usually swim daily to rinse our scales before applying sand to finish cleaning them."

"Is that why you rub sand on yourself all the time?" Sebia asked.

"Yes. I've been rinsing off in the restroom and using the sand." I chuckled a bit through the link. "Handlers clean the bonded ones by hand with a scrub brush and oils. They love the process, from what I'm told."

"I could ask Soranto to bring supplies over and show me how to do it. I'm sure you would enjoy a good cleaning. It's the least we could do for all the help you have given us," Sebia offered.

I thought about it for a moment. While I was not crazy about being handled, I was curious about the process and why it was so noteworthy to the bonded dragonets.

"I would not mind trying it, but you do not need to go out of your way for me," I thought to them. It really should be their decision, as they were the ones who would have to do all the work.

SMACK!

My head swung around to Thorn.

"I wish we could eliminate these flying bugs that bite," he said as he wiped the mess off his arm.

My brain thought it all at once, and my emotions soared.

"West Nile Virus!" I yelled.

They both jumped and stared at me.

"It fits all the symptoms! At one point, it covered most of the planet, and it is spread by mosquitoes, which is what that bug you just killed is called. They get it from biting infected birds and thrive in standing water, like these puddles."

"Why didn't we come up with this earlier? I don't remember discussing it before," Sebia said.

"It only caused mild symptoms in humans unless it bonded to the central nervous system, which it only did in one percent of the population. Their bodies fought it off, and life went on. It rarely hit any other animals except for horses, which no longer exist."

I looked to Sebia, who was, again, staring into nothing. She did that a lot, but her brain, oh, it was active. I saw her going through all the cases. Even Soranto had commented on how warm the weather was lately. Warmer weather meant less clothing and a greater chance of a mosquito bite.

"We must catch some of these bugs and run the tests," she said.

"It would be best to do it in an area with a high population of birds and infected Kymari."

"Thorn!" Sebia suddenly yelled. "Did it bite you?!"

"Yes. That was how I knew it was there," he said softly.

Her eyes were wide with sudden terror, and her reactions were not tempered, as they usually were with the Kymari.

"I'm contacting the doctors working on this. We will take you in right now for testing," she said as she started to hit buttons on her wrist comm.

"Sebia, calm down. No one has died from this virus, and we don't know if I have it," Thorn said as he reached for her. He pulled her out of her chair and into a hug.

"Let's go inside. You can make the phone calls from there," I recommended.

While they made their calls, I linked Tasha, Tom, and Tessa.

"I think we found the answer. West Nile Virus. It fits, as everyone infected had spent time outside before onset, and while most of the animals on this planet were killed off, we still have birds and mosquitoes. The virus is hitting the Kymari harder than it hit us, and their cures are not working because they didn't make them for this virus."

The dragonets spread the word rapidly through their handlers, while Sebia contacted doctors and researchers to collect mosquito samples and compare them to blood work from the sick Kymari. No one questioned how she came up with this idea. That seemed odd to me, but if this was the answer, they could develop the cure, and no one needed to leave the planet.

"Sebia, I don't need to see a doctor unless I show symptoms," Thorn stated calmly. He was trying to relieve her worries, but it wasn't working.

She was visibly upset that her husband may be sick.