Sweet Symptoms

Chapter 3: Hopefully Just an Unfortunate Coincidence

The next morning, Jesse reentered the hospital. He immediately noticed Kitsune sitting on one of the benches by the window. She seemed... weirdly out of it. Her eyes were slightly hazy. It was hard to tell if she was tired, stuck in thought, or... under some form of influence.

Feeling concerned, Jesse walked over to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Kitsune? Hey, are you alright?" He called.

Kitsune shook her head, snapping back into it. But even so, she still seemed slightly out of it. "Oh, hey Jesse... Heh, I apologize. I had to take a drug trial for some reason... I was gonna go get a coffee or something, but... I started feeling really faint, and nauseous. So I decided to sit down out here." She explained.

Jesse couldn't help but freeze up at the mention of a drug trial. That phone call last night- was this the person Absinthe chose? If so, then why?

He forced any paranoid thoughts out of his head. It had to be a coincidence, surely.

"Are you okay? Do you need help going home?" Jesse asked.

"No, no, I'm fine. Just feeling a little disoriented." The redhead stood up, allowing Jesse to give her support. "I would go home, but I don't wanna lose my pay, y'know?" 

"I suppose that's fair..." Jesse sighed. "Very well, but if you're feeling faint again, you're going home." He stated.

"You got it." Kitsune nodded, seeming more absentminded again.

Jesse paused for a second before sighing. "...For now, however, I'm going to take you with me to my office. I'm surprised no one's monitoring you." He wrapped an arm around her to steady her as they started for one of the hallways.

"Oh yeah, that is kinda strange, huh... I guess the stuff made me... not think of it?" Kitsune shrugged.

The black-haired male looked at her a little strangely. "What in the world are they making you take? Do you know?" He asked.

"Uhhh... I don't know the name of it. It's not a medicine I'm familiar with. They said it could... help me, though? Not fully sure what they meant by that... Is there anything about me that I need help with?" Kitsune asked. Perhaps there was some truth to that rumor afterall, as her tone had a small tone of insecurity laced into it.

Jesse frowned a little, lightly rubbing her back as they entered his office. "I definitely don't think so..." He responded, gently sitting her down on the small sofa. "Alright... Did they tell you why you were chosen for the trial? Or did they just tell you that it could help you?"

Kitsune rubbed her head. "Just... that I was selected because it could help me. That's about it." She responded.

'Okay, so they didn't tell her someone else put her up to this... Maybe she really was just chosen for these as well. Just by chance.' Jesse thought to himself, doing his best to convince himself. He couldn't have caused this, right? It was just... a very strange, unfortunate coincidence.

"Hmm... Well, do you need anything right now?" Jesse asked.

Kitsune lightly shook her head, her eyes slowly closing. It seemed she was getting faint again, and Jesse quickly noticed. He gently grabbed her shoulders, slowly and carefully laying her down on the couch. He hummed a bit, looking down at her.

"Somehow, I doubt you don't need anything... Perhaps some rest will do you some good. When you wake up, however, you're going home, got it? I'll take you."

"Okay... Thank you, Jesse. I appreciate it..." Kitsune mumbled, her voice getting progressively softer and softer as she was starting to fade from consciousness. Before much longer, she drifted off into a -hopefully- peaceful sleep. Before she did so, however, Jesse quickly noticed she twitched slightly. 

That was... a little concerning. He'd have to ask her about that later. For now though, he'd just let her rest. He didn't have any surgeries to perform right this second, and his little side project could wait. He would just sit here and monitor her.