If You Asked Me To (Completed)

Eight

Can't help feeling, darlin', since I've found you

That I've found my home

*******

Over the next week, we went over everything several times. During this time, I learned the joys of living with the Kymari. I can now understand why a dragonet would want to become a bonded animal. The heat lamp alone is a big incentive, but add the food and company into the mix—it's a little slice of wonderful.

From what I could see of this mysterious illness, some developed flu-like systems and recovered independently, but the flu cure for the Kymari did not work. Their bodies had to fight it off. In most, it attacked their central nervous system and turned into their version of meningitis. Their antibiotics would work on it but not cure it. Their systems still had to fight it off.

The big question was, why? They have treatments for both things, but they do not work. I learned about the genetic makeup of how they develop cures, and they are based on the disease itself. We need to find the condition to create a treatment.

If it is airborne, more of them would have it. None of those diagnosed have anything in common except being active. Huh.

"Everyone who has gotten sick was outside at some point before becoming ill. That is the only common denominator in this. Let us focus on that for a bit." I suggested.

"When you say 'outside', it's too broad. Some went to parks, and others just walked the streets. One woman was sitting in a chair in her backyard the day before." Sebia stated as Thorn got us drinks and snacks.

"Can we sit outside for a new perspective?"

We moved our items out back, and I flew up to a tree branch and looked around. It wasn't my first time out here, but it was nice to breathe fresh air. There were still puddles everywhere from the rain the day before.

"Do you like playing in the water?" Thorn asked as he sat down.

"I do. We usually swim daily to rinse our scales before applying sand to clean them the rest of the way."

"Is that why you rub sand on yourself all the time?" Sebia asked.

"Yes. I've been rinsing off in the restroom and using the sand." I chuckled a bit through the link. "The bonded ones are cleaned by hand with a scrub brush and oils. They love the process, from what I'm told."

"I could ask Soranto to bring them over and show me how. I'm sure you would enjoy a good cleaning. It's the least we could do for all the help you have given us." Sebia offered.

I thought about it for a moment. While I was not crazy about being handled, I'm curious about the process and why it's so noteworthy to the dragonets.

"I would not mind trying it, but you do not need to go out of your way for me." I thought to them. It really should be their decision as they are the ones who would have to do all the work.

SMACK!!

My head swung around to Thorn.

"I wish we could eliminate these flying bugs that bite," he said as he wiped the mess off his arm.

My brain thought it all at once, and my emotions soared.

"West Nile Virus!" I yelled. They both jumped and stared at me.

"It fits all the symptoms! It is spread by mosquitoes, which is that bug you just killed. They get it from biting on infected birds. At one point, it covered most of the planet. They thrive in standing water, like these puddles."

"Why didn't we come up with this earlier? I don't remember it coming up in our discussions either." Sebia said.

"It only caused mild symptoms unless it bonded to the central nervous system, which it only did in one percent of the population. The body fought it off, and life went on. It rarely hit animals except for horses, which no longer exist."

I looked to Sebia, who was, again, staring into nothing. She does that a lot, but her brain, oh, it's active. I see her going through all the cases, and even Soranto commented on how warm the weather was. Warmer weather means less clothing and more of a chance for a bite.

"We must catch some of these bugs and run the tests." She said.

"It would be best to do it in an area with a high bird population and infected Kymari."

"Thorn!" Sebia suddenly yelled. "Did it bite you?!"

"Yes. That was how I knew it was there." He said softly.

Her eyes were wide, and her reactions were not being tampered as the Kymari usually did. She was suddenly terrified.

"I'm contacting the doctors working on this. We will take you in right now for testing." She said as she started to hit buttons on her wrist comm.

"Sebia, calm down. No one has died from this virus, and we don't know if I have it." Thorn said as he reached for her. He pulled her out of the chair and into a hug.

"Let's go inside. You can make the phone calls from there." I recommended.

While they made their calls, I linked Tasha, Tom, and Tessa.

"I think we found the answer. West Nile Virus. While most of the animals on this planet were killed off, we still have birds and mosquitoes. The virus is hitting the Kymari harder than it hit us. Their cures are not working because they are not made for that virus. It fits as everyone infected had spent time outside before onset."

The dragonets spread the word rapidly through their handlers. Sebia contacted the doctors and researchers to get samples from the mosquitoes and compare them to blood work from the sick Kymari. No one questioned how she came up with this information. That seemed odd, but if this is the answer, they can develop the cure, and no one needs to leave the planet.

"Sebia, I don't need to see a doctor unless I show symptoms," Thorn stated calmly. He is trying to relieve her worries, but it's not working.

She is visibly upset that her husband may be sick.