A single drop of a cloudy yellowish liquid plunged onto a small plastic slip.
Large and veiny hands delicately put the slab on a small podium with the tediousness of a seasoned surgeon.
He held onto a plastic gear-shaped object and twisted it- making the podium grow taller. It got closer to a round microscope hovering above it.
Pushing his feet onto the ground- his chair on wheels rolled toward the other side of the desk. He pulled a small control panel toward him and pushed some handles and buttons until the image on the monitor before him got clearer.
His long white coat slightly dangled from the chair. It hugged his muscular frame tightly, not attempting to hide his large biceps and wide shoulders.
The man leaned toward it- his light blue eyes scanning the black-and-white image.
Snatching a hair tie off his wrist- he pulled his long white curtain of hair into a man-bun. His beard scratched his hands that pushed past.
With better vision of the monitor- the man watched different white and grey molecules shift amongst each other. Lymphocytes and monocytes pushed and rolled off each other like jelly, but it was noticeably crowded.
"Clear as day..." He muttered under his breath.
Clicking on a pen icon in the software- he'd circle specific cells in red.
The man circled grey, black, and white cells that were shaped like full metal jacket bullets with round tips, "This is what I'm looking for." The white-haired man explained and leaned back in his chair.
A larger man stood over his chair; his arms crossed over his muscular chest. He leaned toward the monitor. "Is that the virus?" he asked. " It looks like bullets."
His dark auburn hair was slicked back with hair gel. Shimmering emerald eyes flickered to eye every circled cell.
Cronus Lycoris- the esteemed Alpha male of Atourania.
It was unusual for him to meet the man- especially considering he came from Canada to view a single patient. She was an extremely unusual patient- it'd be foolish to deny the opportunity to see her.
"Yes," He confirmed, "I didn't find anything in her saliva, though."
The saliva sample proved to be nothing out of the ordinary. She was dehydrated- but nothing two glasses of water couldn't fix.
Cronus scratched his beard, thinking, "Does that mean she can't spread it?" He rose a brow and looked down at the white-haired man.
He pursed his lips, "I don't know."
Admitting he was wrong upset him. He was the kind of man who always preferred to be right and struggled to admit his wrongdoings. This trait must've come from his father.
"Since the virus is still obviously present inside her body- there's a chance the saliva sample remarkably didn't have any cells or her brain isn't inflamed." The man began printing the image of the fluid, "But- brain inflammation happens in a few days after the virus enters the system... so it's unlikely her brain is untouched."
The brunette pulled up a rolling chair and sat down with his legs spread and elbows on his knees. "But she's showing physical signs of the virus," he commented.
With a nod, the doctor turned his body to face Cronus fully, "Her wounds are going through the first stage of healing, the protection process, but her body is too busy handling the virus that it's not continuing healing." He added, "This is why rogues commonly appear like zombies."
Cronus scratched his beard in thought, "And she's admitting the smell of a rogue... doesn't the virus affect the sweat glands and cause that?"
"Bingo," He'd wag a finger, "The Apocrine glands are sent into overdrive after the brain swells- this happens the same time the virus invades the salivary glands."
An exaggerated whistle stole their attention from the direction of the doorway.
Shifting both their bodies- he spotted a man walking into the room. He had messy black hair and a clean stubble- his chocolate eyes swirling with copious ego. "That's some scary shit, but it doesn't answer why she's acting so normal."
Lucifer Dieu, the Beta male. He was the only one the white-haired man expected- considering Beta's managed werewolf affairs and recently welcomed the cases of rogues.
Both immensely high-rank individuals would perturb most, but he's been raised by even more important people.
In short, he didn't care.
"That's the question of the day," he told the two men. "Labs came back with no illnesses—her vitamin D is a little low, and her white blood count is high."
Lucifer walked further into the room, "So she's fighting an infection?"
Cronus folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, which squeaked with his weight. "How do you know that?" he challenged the younger male. "None of her wounds are healing."
"Higher white blood cell count means the body is fighting an infection." The beta leaned toward him as he stood his ground, "But, somehow, none of her wounds are infected... just scabbed over. Maybe there's an infection somewhere else."
The white-haired male knew an argument would immediately ensue- so he stole the printed paper from the machine and stood up.
His chair rolled backward at the sudden motion, "Which hasn't been concluded- we've done no CT scans yet, so she could or couldn't be fighting an internal infection."
He lifted the paper and said, "I'll show her this and get some patient history. Anything might help, whether two decades old or not."
The trio of men left the room in a subtle hurry and glided down the hallways.
Deep in his heart, he knew that this curious case could lead to the cure of Roguis Lyssavirus. If her body somehow coexists with the virus, then there's a chance they could find something in her body that'll help others.
He's spent years studying the virus to see if it can be treated. You could say it's a personal vendetta, considering the virus has been a sore on his mother's back for decades.
Calamity Steele could be the breakthrough he's been looking for.
Clearing his throat- they entered the exterior of the bubble room. He had no intentions of suiting up right now.
Strolling into the middle of the outside of the glass wall- he searched the room.
There was no one.
"Where is she?" Lucifer snapped- leaning toward the glass and scrutinizing every inch of the room.
Cronus clenched his fists, "The bathroom?" He theorized.
The doctor was breathing hard now. With trembling hands, he grabbed his pager and swiped on it until he was calling Calamity's lead nurse.
"Hello, this is-" He interrupted the male nurse immediately, "Where is she?" He lowly asked in an authoritative tone.
There was shuffling on the other side, "The roguis patient?"
"Where is she?" He snapped again- far more impatient this time.
He could hear the nurse running on the other end of the pager, "She should be in her room-" He panted, "She has to be... is the bathroom light on?"
Lucifer answered for them, loud enough for the male nurse on the end of the pager to hear, "Off."
The white-haired man was shaking at this point. His emotions were a bubbled mess as hot as lava- confusing and unpredictable.
The beta ran his fingers through his messy hair and wandered away from the glass- his mind just as much a mess as the doctor's. His tight black blouse tensed with his raised muscular arms.
Between the two of them... Cronus stood silently. His fists were clenched, but no emotion appeared on his face.
He licked his lips subconsciously and lowered his head.
"The window." He rumbled quietly, "She went out the window."
Immediately, he lowered his pager and got as close to the glass as possible. Eyeing the window with crazy eyes...
The window wasn't wide open, but the locks keeping it shut were twisted to the side.
"Eyéndyá chisha awa tae nru ts'in'in... " He whispered- shock making him clench his muscles and snarl under his breath.
[She jumped out the window...]
They were on the 9th floor.