Lucy's POV
All throughout dinner the doctor stared at me with parted lips and his eyebrows set in a flat plane. He looked quite deep in thought, as if He was staring beyond me. He barely touched his food. He barely spoke. They did say the guy never leaves his house. That probably means that he doesn't get a lot of visitors. Which is a shame, he seems like a nice guy. He's a bit stiff and formal though. He didn't look like He relaxed much. He also doesn't look much older than I am. I honestly don't see how he's had the time to become such a gifted geneticist. Unless he's like me and completed his education earlier than most.
There's lots of men wandering around the house. They all wear suits and seem more stiff than the doctor is. I said hello to many of them but they only barely acknowledge me with head nods. The man who brought us here, Johnny, was the only one so far that had held a conversation with me. His eyes keep darting to the doctor, but the doctor hasn't taken his eyes off me. Maybe he finds me attractive. I'm sure there's not a lot of romance in his life since he keeps himself under house arrest.
After the fairly quiet dinner the doctor quietly excused himself and went upstairs. My mom also went upstairs, turning in for the night. I stayed downstairs and watched TV for a while. The men in suits didn't leave but they disappeared throughout the house. I was unsure what they were to the doctor. They weren't friends. Friends would have been more friendly. They didn't seem very friendly at all. In fact, they stared at me as much as the doctor did.
At about two in the morning I saw the doctor coming downstairs. He was still in a suit with gloved hands. He saw me and hesitated his descent down the stairs. His mouth parted as to say something. But he didn't speak, he closed his mouth and continued down the stairs. He nervously stood in the living room looking at me with that intent look in his eyes. It was like burning curiosity.
"Sorry, I couldn't sleep," I smile at him.
He folds his hands behind his back, "Same here," he says softly. "Is this a frequent occurrence for you Lucy?" He asks.
"Yeah, it seems to get worse with every day," I admit to him.
"Sometimes insomnia can be hereditary," he says.
"My mom sleeps like a tank," I huff.
"Well, perhaps your father then," he replies distantly.
"I don't know," I look down at my hands, "I've never met the guy. He left my mom before I was born."
"Oh...I apologize for bringing it up," he says and his eyes fall down on his shoes.
"No, it's fine," I don't hesitate to say. He turns as if he's going to leave. "Dr. J?"
"Yes," he looks at me over his shoulder.
"I'm not feeling very well," I say.
He turns to face me again. "What kind of symptoms are you experiencing?" He curiously stares.
"Fatigue. Dizziness. Weakness. Headache," I rattle off my symptoms.
He looks concerned. Very concerned, almost genuinely worried. "Perhaps you should come upstairs to my lab. I'd like to get a blood sample of you don't mind."
"Ok," say and get up and start up the stairs.
About halfway up them the world started spinning. I quickly reach out for the railing and make a slight grunt. I feel out of breath. The world just starts spinning faster and faster. Then things began looking hazy and smokey. I feel my knees buckle and I start to go down. But before I could hit the ground the doctor scooped me into his arms bridal style.
I regained some of my senses and looked to his face. He had several scars that I didn't notice until I got this close. His blue eyes scan my face and he looked completely mesmerized. But he quickly blinks a few times and his eyes flutter away. He carries me the rest of the way to his lab. He must have been really muscular underneath that suit. He takes me into a room. It looked like my high school chemistry lab. He sits me in a chair and turns to a drawer. He pulls out a syringe and several vials.
I extend my arm out and use my free hand to shield my eyes from the bright lights in the lab. The doctor kneels beside me and places the tip of the needle over my vein.
"This won't hurt. I'm really good at this," he says softly and the needle slides under my skin. I didn't feel a thing.
I look at his face as his eyes concentrate on what he's doing. I watch one lone sweat bead trickle down his forehead. It's trail revealed very pale line. Was the doctor wearing makeup? Maybe so. He is agoraphobic and never leaves his house. He probably is pretty pale. Maybe he's embarrassed by his condition. That would explain why he tried to hide it.
"Dr.J?"
"Yes?" He says and pulls the needle from my arm. He places a cotton ball over the puncture and bends my arm up to hold it.
"How old are you? You don't look much older than me." I muse and study his profile. He didn't have a single wrinkle or laugh line.
He turns to a counter, "I assure you, I'm much older than you are."
"You don't look a day over 25," I commented, still examining his features.
"Well I am," he says flatly as he puts a drop of my blood on a microscope slide. He seemed like he didn't want to talk about his age.
I redirected my attention to the countertop while he looked at the slide. There was a deck of cards neatly stacked with the Joker card face up. Then I look back to the doctor as he's bent over. Just inside his suit I can see an ivory handle. It looked like a gun.
"Is that a gun?" I gasp. I had never been around guns before and frankly, they scared me.
He glances at me and his eyes go to the object I'm staring at. "Oh...uh..." He seemed to be searching for the words to explain. "Did I mention I'm paranoid and a bit of a hypochondriac?"
"But why do you need a gun if you never leave your house?" I inquisitively ask. This guy had to be a psychiatric marvel. I don't think I've ever met someone with so many phobias before.
He pulls at his jacket to cover up the gun, "One can never be too cautious," he shrugs.
I just nod. What could I say? It wasn't my place to tell this guy he didn't need a gun. Maybe he felt more secure with it. I must say, I did find the strange doctor to be pretty intriguing. I just hope all his quirks don't prevent him from finding out what's wrong with me.
