Catabolism - Part Two: Diplopia

Chapter Ten

A mindless walk, narrated by the explanation of what the hell the difference between the DSO and the BSAA even was, a brief detour upon coming to an empty room only to be redirected by a random attendant in the hallway, and Taliah found herself standing outside the medical room that she had twice woken up in. There was an observation window on a wall farther down from where she had been kept, looking into the beds. Chris stood next to her, though not too close in an annoyingly obvious show of giving her some personal space. Her shadow had not joined, which made sense, because the man was built like a one-man army. Which apparently, he was.

He made Taliah, who was not short by any means, feel small. And she supposed that was what upset her most. She had gotten two solid hits on him, and yet she knew there was no taking him in a fight. Because of course her mind would not let go of any thoughts of escape. It was how she was wired.

The only occupied medical bed was filled--barely--by a little boy, who sat calmly as two doctors and the professor from earlier stood over him. Glancing up at the window, the professor gave a smile before nodding to the doctors. She met them in the hallway a moment later, though she did not venture as close and was not smiling in any kind of real way.

"He's how we found you," was all Chris had said, through the door of her room as she changed out of scrubs.

"What's wrong with him?" Taliah asked, keeping her eyes on the boy, watching the woman doctor scrutinize the way the man doctor took his blood pressure.

"He was born with XLA," the professor answered simply, but with a slight tone of melancholy.

Taliah turned only her head to stare at the woman, keep her face neutral.

The woman, Rebecca, she remembered her name, shifted. "It stands for X-linked agammaglobulinemia."

Ah, yes, that cleared it up, Taliah thought bitterly. She was a science experiment, not a scientist.

Rebecca frowned after another silent moment caught under Taliah's stare. It had worked on the big one, too. "It's an immunodeficiency disorder. He can't produce antibodies on his own. Something as mild as the common cold could kill him."

"As far as we could tell, Cameron's the only patient that Elliott took any personal interest in," Chris added, and though she was not looking at him, Taliah could hear his frown.

"His legal guardian consented for him to be subjected to Dr. Elliott's experimental treatment, which involved receiving regular blood transfusions taken from you." Rebecca looked ready to jump back if needed.

Taliah did not react, not outwardly at least. It did not make sense, did not add up. There was no way that Eric knew what happened in the med bay, so he must have known for a while that her blood could help cure people. But the how did nothing to explain the why.

"The kid has come to see you as like a guardian angel," Chris said, the frown slipping away.

So, was it just going to be like that with them? Taking turns explaining? Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbbells.

"He's become pretty protective of you." She could hear the smile creeping into his voice. He must have thought that was a good thing. "I had to agree to let him check to make sure you were okay."

The boy was sitting on the bed with his legs hanging over the edge, occasionally swinging. He grinned sweetly up at the woman, completely unaware that he was now the one being watched.

Taliah did not want to hear more. "What treatment will he be getting now?"

What followed was the exact reaction that she expected, an awkward silence. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rebecca frown and tilt her head, as if confused by Taliah's confusion.