More Dead than Alive (A Victuuri fic)

Cure

A/N

Hey guys, just wanted to apologize in advanced- this chapter is mainly dialogue. It's necessary for plot progression though!

If you notice any medical inaccuracies please feel free to let me know :)

Hope you enjoy!

CH. 4

The second he said that the air in the room seemed to completely disappear.
I choked on nothing. Viktor let go of my hand and leaned in eagerly. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"You have a diagnosis?" Viktor's warm voice filled the suffocating room.

"Yes." Yurio answered back.

The silence of the room was deafening, pounding into my head like waves. A vicious ringing erupted in my eardrums.

"What... is it?" I choked out, looking down in my lap.

I held my breath.

Viktor held his breath.

Yurio took a deep breath.

"Well for starters you have social anxiety. Just in case you wanted to know..."

"But what about his heartbeat?" Viktor asked bluntly.

"Ah well," Yurio shuffled from foot to foot, staring down at the clipboard in his hands. "This is all purely theoretical of course, I cannot guarantee any of this is correct."

"Just tell us." Viktor sounded on edge. I could see his fingers curling around the hard metal table.

Yurio nodded his head shortly. A small gesture that seemed to encompass the entire room. He parted his lips to speak and the ringing in my ears faded away slowly.

"I believe I have found a diagnosis. Based on the zombie's symptoms, answers, and the information given to me by the medical books I read. At the time of the apocalypse- January 17th 2031 the zombie was in a hospital for a serious brain injury. Without the proper medical equipment I can't be 100% sure, but it is my opinion he was classified as a patient with PVS."

As if he knew we would question what that was, he continued.

"PVS stands for Persistent Vegetation State. It's a disorder of consciousness in which a patient with severe brain damage, namely Yuuri, is in a state of existence rather than true awareness. It is possible for patients to recover partially from this condition. Which explains why he has been slowly healing over time. However it is impossible for him to recover fully. It is my belief, as a medical expert, that the zombie Virus is an infection of the dead or dying brain. Yuuri must have been on the brink of brain death while suffering from his PVS at the time of the outbreak- causing him to become infected while not being entirely dead."

The room went silent after Yurio's declaration. Nobody moved a muscle. I could hear Viktor next to me, breathing rapidly, obviously trying to process the new information at our finger tips.

I was in too much of a state of shock to question any further, but Viktor however was not. He straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat, ruining the silence and stillness of the harsh grey room.

"You mentioned him being on the brink of brain death," Viktor called out weakly, "but I remember reading about a huge discovery for a cure for that like 5 years ago- before the apocalypse started."

It wasn't a question exactly, but it hung in the air as one. It was Viktor's subtle way of asking if there was a cure.

Finally finding my courage, I looked up from my hands and into the blue eyes of the intimidating boy in front of me. He sucked in a breath and sighed, rubbing his face as if he knew that question was coming and it annoyed him.