ADWAW old version (English)

ADWAW Chapter 2 (2/2)

Ian

I stared out the window questioningly.
I could have sworn I just saw something. It was like some... some kind of shadow that had passed the window. I rubbed my eyes and put the palm of my hand against my forehead. It felt warm. Great.
Fever hallucinations was just what I needed.
The agonizingly loud ticking of the clock made my jaw tighten. The minutes ticked away slowly. The only other sound that could be heard was the gleeful giggling of the little girl by the kid's table. She had stacked the blocks on top of each other and was now trying to balance the firetruck on top of the small tower. I couldn't keep from smiling as everything fell and she laughed loudly. It was like seeing Anna when she was that age.

She sat happily in the backseat when we drove off this morning. Judith pulled up right outside the schoolyard and Anna had been so proud when she jumped out of the car and swaggered off to the school building. When she got past the gate, she turned and waved with her whole arm, grinning from ear to ear. We'd already started driving again, but I turned in my seat and waved back. Judith had her eyes straight forward on the road.

The trip down to the mall where the healthcare clinic was located, was silent. I leaned against the car door and looked out the window, watched all the buildings as they passed. It was weird to think that in each of them lived other people, families. Every one of them lived their own lives, had their own dreams and their own thoughts. Everyone were individuals who looked at the world from their own point of view, a point of view I would never understand because.. because I would never be able to look into their minds, would never be able to understand any of them completely.
I frowned.
Damn, how profusely deep and philosophical you get during boring car trips..

Judith stopped the car right in front of the mall. I opened the door and stepped out, pulling my backpack along.
Her hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"If they figure out you've got something then... call me."
I looked at her. She didn't meet my eyes, just stared ahead. My hand was barely holding the door open. I turned and closed it with a thump. "Fine." The sound of the engine growling was heard as the car disappeared down the road. I threw the backpack over my shoulder and turned towards the mall.

"Warwick, Ian?"
I jolted back in the chair. My eyes darted up and met the eyes of the woman behind the glass hatch. She'd slid it aside to lean out. "Eh... here." I said a bit unsure as I stood up. She followed me with her gaze.
"There has been a couple of changes, so Dr. Cueton is now occupied. You'll have to go in to Dr. Steinberg instead. Down the hall and to the right after the red door." she informed. I nodded and went in the door. The receptionist lady closed the hatch and leaned back in her chair again.
I walked down the hallway. My shoes hit sluggishly against the clean floor. What kind of changes would make a doctor change patients? I shrugged. Honestly it didn't matter to me who gave me the results, as long as I got them. The inside of my elbow still itched after the blood samples. I'd never been a fan of needles, and the blood sampling went way beyond uncomfortable. Tim Cueton had helped himself greedily to the red fluid and I had tried my best to ignore the fact that my head got even lighter with each sample. The other tests involved two q-tips, and every single part of my body had braced itself as he took samples from the back of my throat and nose. It felt like he was jabbing them all the way into my brain.

Finally I reached the door. Down the hall and to the right after the red door. There was nothing on it, not even a name sign. I grabbed the doorhandle and pushed it down. When I opened the door and looked inside, my eyes landed on the tall figure right away.
Simon Steinberg stood there, back straight with a thin stack of papers in his hand. The white doctor's coat hung off his broad shoulders, almost like a cape. The pitch-black hair was combed back with the exception of a few stray hairs that fell down from his forehead. He looked up from the documents and his gaze hit me. A friendly smile appeared his face.
"Come on in."
I entered and closed the door behind me. The tall man put the papers down and reached his hand towards me. I grabbed it and was met by a firm handshake. His eyes studied me from top to toe. "I knew Warwick sounded familiar. You're Judith's son, right?" he said, squeezing my hand tightly.
I nodded. "Yeah, that's right. You're Benjamin's dad, aren't you?" I replied and smiled back politely. He looked surprised for a moment before he smiled and laughed lightly.
"You've got an impressive memory. Last time we met you weren't exactly the biggest fellow. It must have been about..." He stopped and his brows twitched. With a bit of a clumsy gesture he let go of my hand. "Yeah, that time..."
His brows furrowed and something glinted in the dark brown eyes. There was a short silence.
Both were thinking of the same thing. Simon eventually smiled carefully and put his hand gently on my shoulder. "You've grown up to be a fine young man, at least. How tall are you now? 1,80?"
I laughed a little. "Not far off. 1,82 last time I checked." He whistled, impressed.
"You'll catch up with Benjamin soon."
"That's the plan."
He chuckled, but then his expression changed. He frowned. "How is she? Judith, I mean." He looked serious.
"Good. She works a lot now." I answered.
He nodded. "That's good."
I looked around the room, studying the office. It was as completely bare, there wasn't even a tiny bit of decor. The room consisted of a tidy desk, an examination table and a workbench with machines I didn't know neither the name or function of.
"So, you've gone from the clinic to this?" I asked and looked back at him.
Simon walked to the desk, picking up the papers again. He got the hint. "They needed people here, and I was off from the clinic today. It gets boring at home, so I like to come here and help whenever I can." He skimmed the first document, miming some words as he read. I sat down in one of the chairs. Simon looked up and sat down in the chair across from me.
"I got Tim's notes right before you got in but didn't get to read through it all. It says here that you threw up tonight, as well as having a high fever. Is that correct?" I nodded. He tipped his chin down and read through the rest of the paper. "Your mother informed that there was blood in the vomit. You haven't been noticing any irritation or swelling in your throat or stomach since then?" I stared at him stiffly. Blood?
He registered the sudden shock and looked up from the paper. Simon crossed his legs. "Of course it can be caused by a small rupture in one of the blood vessels in your throat. It sometimes occurs after throwing up heavily or for long periods of time." He looked sternly, yet comfortingly at me. I frowned and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
She hadn't mentioned there was blood. Suddenly it made sense why she demanded I went here. I snorted and folded my hands tightly. Simon watched me, eyes narrowing.
"You didn't notice anything special when it happened? A pain somewhere? Do you know if you ate something you shouldn't?" he asked with the calm deep voice.
"I can't even remember that it happened." I answered honestly.
He went quiet. The sound of pen against paper sounded across from me and I could see that he was writing something in a little notepad. The distressing silence made the nerves in my body tense. I twiddled my thumbs impatiently and looked over at the weird machines on the bench again.
"So, any exciting results?" I finally asked a bit nervous after a couple of minutes had passed. He'd flipped through the stack and read through all of them now. His mouth turned up into a smile again. "Your blood values are somewhat abnormal, but it happens sometimes so it's nothing to worry about. Other than that, you're as healthy as a horse." he told me.
I straightened my back and didn't even try to hide the relief I felt. Simon stood up and went to the desk where he opened a drawer to look for something. I watched him from the chair. He eventually picked up a small booklet and bent over the desk as he started writing.
"I'll give you a prescription for some pills that'll get your blood back on track. Nothing strong, but you'll have to take two a day for a week. That'll be okay, right?"
I pouted slightly. "I'm not really a fan of pills." I mumbled. Simon chuckled there he stood, the broad shoulders shaking.
"You're a big boy, Ian. I think you'll survive."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the chair. He finished writing and reached me the paper slip. Right before I managed to take it, he jerked his hand back and looked at me with a strict look. "You have to remember to take all the pills. Don't skip one or simply stop the cure. Understood?"
A stab went through my chest. For a brief moment it felt like someone had ripped a piece out and there was just an empty, cold crater left. I jolted slightly and was pulled out of my thoughts. Without a word, I nodded and grabbed the prescription. Simon smiled and patted my head. A new stab struck my chest.
"Go down to the pharmacy on the ground floor and they'll take care of the rest." he said before he turned back to face the desk again. I glared down at the slip and folded it between my fingers. The scars on my arm itched.
"Dr. Steinberg? How... how long does it take for a wound to heal?"
He turned his head and looked back at me. "Depends on how serious it is. How come?"
I swallowed. How would he react if I told him? He was a doctor. He knew stuff like this wasn't physically possible. I felt his gaze rest on me.
No, I couldn't tell him. No way would he believe me. I mean, who would?
No normal person...
I looked up and our eyes met. "No reason. I'm just curious." I replied as sincerely as possible. It was true. I was curious. Simon turned all the way around and leaned against the desk. He crossed his arms against his chest and looked up, jaw shooting out a bit. "Well, there are some factors that play a part here. You're a young and healthy boy, so that helps speed up the process. You don't look like you smoke either, so that's good. If the wounds are small, it shouldn't take more than a couple of days, maybe a week before they close. But if we're talking about a serious cut, the healing process would take maybe as much as three to four weeks, if not more. Of course, it depends on a lot of other factors as well, like diet and if it's left alone to heal in peace." he explained and rubbed his chin with his right hand. I tried hiding my frustration. He had just confirmed it; it wasn't possible. Four deep cuts couldn't heal overnight. It was simply not possible.
I hissed. Fuck.
Simon watched me as I got up. His eyes had this curious look in them.
"Anything else? Other things you've experienced? Some people experience that they start seeing things, hallucinations." he asked, relaxed. The image of the shadow replayed in my head. My hands twitched a bit, but I managed to hide it. My fingers pressed against the paper slip.
I couldn't tell him.
"No, it's fine." I responded and smiled encouragingly before turning and walking to the door. I grabbed the doorhandle but stopped. Simon noticed. I turned my body slightly towards him, still holding the doorhandle. "It's really easy to see that you and Benjamin are related." I said. Simon smirked.
"Is it that obvious?"
"He's the spitting image of you."
It was true. The tall figure could just as easily be Benjamin in twenty or thirty years. They had the same fair skin, the same thick, black hair and the same strong build. Looking away from the age, face shape and a slight difference in Simon having a pointier nose, the biggest dominating difference was their eyes. While Benjamin's were clear and green, his father's were dark and brown.
"Well, I hope that's a good thing." he said.
I smiled and laughed politely. "It could be worse."
I tensed the moment the words left my mouth. Shit, was that rude?
To my relief, Simon just chuckled.
He got quiet for a little bit, before smiling to himself. "It's good to know that he has friends at school." I raised my eyebrow slightly. "He doesn't talk about us at home?"
His mouth twitched, almost unnoticeably, but he kept the friendly expression.
"Benjamin has always been rather quiet." he said calmly.
"Yeah, you're right about that." I agreed. I pushed the handle down and opened the door.
"Ian, say hello to Judith for me."
I walked into the hallway and looked back. Our eyes met one last time. His black brows furrowed. There was something in his eyes, something familiar. It wasn't the first time I'd seen that look.
I nodded and smiled. "I will." The door closed and I was left standing alone in the bright hallway.
A dull stab of pain went through my chest again.