𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ➢ ᴅᴇʀᴇᴋ ʜᴀʟᴇ / ᴊᴏʀᴅᴀɴ ᴘᴀʀʀɪꜱʜ

Ch. 86 - GENOTYPE

"Anything?" Malia asked and Lydia made a face, clearly not happy about touching a corpse. "Nothing." She said. Malia grabs Lydia's hand and places it on Halwyn's clawed-up chest, "What about now?" She asked. Lydia makes a noise of disgust, clearly grossed out, and rolls her neck as Malia holds her hand down, "Nope."

Malia takes Lydia's hand and places it on Halwyn's chin this time, much to Lydia's exasperation, "Now?" She asked as Aurora raised her eyebrows slightly when Lydia gave her a look. Lydia yanked her hand away from Halwyn and Malia and gives her a look, "Okay, stop."

Malia makes an equally grossed-out face as she gently turns Halwyn's head to the left, exposing the back of his neck to them. She then looks at Lydia and Aurora, "I could try it?" She said and Aurora instantly shook her head.

"You could damage his brain, probably even more than that bullet already has." Aurora said and Lydia nodded making Malia look slightly relieved by this answer and gingerly returns Halwyn to the prone position before beginning to pace around the room.

"How did it work last time?" Malia asked and Lydia sighed, "Last time, I was unconscious." Lydia said and Malia nodded slowly. "Unconscious..." She mumbled as she looked around the room, eventually finding a large steel surgical hammer and smiling, "Okay, we can work with that!" She said making Aurora's eyes widen and look at her horrified as Malia banged it against the autopsy exam table to emphasize her point after explaining her idea.

"See? It will be quick!" Malia said and Lydia shook her head,"No. Mmm-mmm. Not like that." Lydia said making Malia frown. "You want me to knock you out, right?" Malia asked and Lydia shook her head, "Render unconscious. Preferably without pain." She said.

"I'll do a spell. The spell I use to put people to sleep will hopefully last long enough and doesnt have any side effects." Aurora said and Lydia nodded, "Good idea." She said and Aurora walked up to her. "Ready?" Aurora asked and Lydia nodded before Aurora raised her hand and her necklace started to glow.

"Somnos." Aurora whispered making Lydia's eyes roll back before she started to fall. Aurora grabbed her before gently blowing her to the ground then stepping back. "How long do you think she'll be out?" Malia asked, turning to Aurora who shrugged slightly, "Maybe ten minutes." She said.

A little while later suddenly gasps awake making Malia and Aurora run over to help Lydia. "He's not dead!" Lydia said then pauses briefly to catch her breath, "Halwyn's not dead... And I know how to save him." Lydia said, glancing over at her friends.

⚔

Aurora, Lydia and Malia, in navy blue scrubs, masks and cap, wheel Halwyn on a gurney into the radiology wing. When they make it into the room where the MRI machine is located, they remove their masks and caps while Aurora checked the hall before nodding slightly.

"Step one, complete." Aurora said as she walked over to Lydia and Malia, "Now, how do we turn this thing on?" Malia asked. Lydia pulls out her phone and holds it out so that Malia and Aurora can see the screen, which reads "MRI Technical Operations Manual". "We read the manual." She said and Aurora nodded, "Good enough."

After a few minutes they move to the observation room, where Lydia typed something into the computer. Malia and Aurora watched over Lydia's shoulder as she used the controls to put Halwyn's body into the MRI machine. After a moment, imaging of his brain comes up on the screen, which Lydia uses to show them the bullet.

"Look- see that image artifacting? That means the bullet is ferromagnetic. Probably steel. It'll react in the MRI. We'll increase the magnet's power, and the machine will pull the bullet right out." She said and then turns to look at them wide eyed, "Ready? It could get messy." She asked and Aurora raised her eyebrows m.