GUNPOINT | 2

11.| Unsolved Problems II

Noah had just walked into the waiting room when he spots Keith further down the room, in a corner, on the phone. He walks up to him and taps his shoulder, surprising Keith from the call.

"The tests are in. When you have a chance we can talk."

Keith nods and quickly tries to wrap up his call.

"Dad, I have to go. Nat's results are in."

With that said Arthur quickly agrees to hang up and Keith finds himself following Noah outside the waiting room. Keith reached for the door; wanting to open it up further but Noah stops him with a silent head shake.

"I need to talk to you alone.", he says seriously.

Keith looks at him a bit confused but backs away from the door, allowing Noah to block the door's pathway.

"I know she won't take this very well, but not so sure you will either...", Noah says nervously looking down at his clipboard before meeting Keith's anxious glare, "How should I word it...Agent 387178's arm can't be saved due to the poisonous substance injected in the subject's arm three years ago."

"So, you're saying the stuff DeVito injected in Nat's arm three years ago turns out to actually be poison and now she's gonna lose her arm?", Keith exclaims as he looks down at Noah.  

"A slight correction; she could not only lose her arm but her life's on the line. And there's-"

"Shacks stop telling me things I already know! How do we fix this!", Keith says angerly as he begins towering over Noah, clearly exposing the height difference.

"Keith, calm down! The only solution is to cut off her arm before it gets worse than it already is."

Keith looks at him disturbed and bewildered. It had somehow felt as if the hall of once passing nurses had gone silent with the saying of that sentence.

"Cut off her arm?"

"It's the only solution so far, but if she agrees with my solution then there is a possibility I could get her a robotic arm ten times stronger than her actual arm.", Noah states, hoping to lift up Keith's spirit.

"How exactly did it get this bad again?", Keith asks as he tries to remain calm for Noah's sake.

"We ran many tests and as you know, every week she would come in for a test. The only thing I don't understand is how DeVito got a hold of this chemical."

"What'd you mean?"

"This chemical input in her bloodstream was something that could only have been made with supplies off the black market, this concluding that the mystery expert couldn't have been DeVito, it had to be a very highly educated scientist who might've been forced or bribed by DeVito."

"Wonderful! Another villain set out for us...unless...they're the same perso-", Keith begins concluding before quickly shaking his head and getting back to the point, "Still...you can't just cut off her arm, there has to be a better solution."

"Keith there isn't! That's why I'm telling you this. If there was then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Keith backs away frustrated as his hands cross behind his head, providing a cushion for it.

"Keith...you have to be in on me with this. If your not your gonna end up losing her too."

"I know, I know. Just...just give me some time with her...I'll try to convince her somehow.", Keith says frustrated as he rubs his temples.

Noah nods pleased before stepping away from the door, giving Keith access to the room. Keith walks in and looks at the bed to find the white covers thrown to the right side of the bed with the hospital gown Natalia once was in topping the mess. Panicked, he looks over to his right to see Natalia's back facing them as she struggled with his prized possession.