Raven?”
Raven heard his voice but didn’t respond. She didn’t move. She was staring at the dash but not really seeing it.
The ride back to the mansion was quiet and only took a few minutes but her mind had raced with enough thoughts and questions to last the rest of the month.
*What are the chances the Doc found a solution? What if it doesn’t work? What if it kills me?*
Raven felt them stop moving as he killed the engine. Damn ‘what if’s were going to kill her before any of her father’s enemies could.
“Raven?” His voice finally broke through the cacophony and she turned to him, face still under control. “Are you ready?”
She could hear the caution in his voice as if he was trying not to worry her. As if he could help with that. She quickly checked her heart rate to make sure it was slow and steady. Her face was still relaxed and she was sure she looked bored. She could tell they had made it back and reached for the door without answering him.
Raven got out of the car and closed it as his massive form moved to her. She mentally sighed that he was sticking to her side as they moved through a door to the rest of the house.
“Shall I take that for you, miss?” Luther quickly moved to them.
Raven was about to say no but the servant continued,
“The Doctor awaits you in his wing if you would like to meet him,”
Raven felt her muscles move automatically and handed the servant her backpack. “Thanks,” she muttered and he smiled at her warmly.
The servant moved away and Raven stared down the hall, suddenly feeling the air heavy.
“Lead the way,” she glanced toward Isaac, who was staring at her.
He nodded once and began to move forward. She followed as he led her through the hallways… or were they corridors? She tried to pay attention to anything else except where they were headed. She watched Isaac move in her periphery and noticed the knives he had strapped to him. She made out a few throwing stars and could see a gun holster. He was armed tonight but he wasn’t armed yesterday… was he? She should have been paying attention.
*He probably doesn’t trust me after yesterday’s conversation,* she thought.
Raven frowned slightly. Why did that bother her?
*I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to get cured and get the hell out,* she reminded herself. *I need to get back out there. For Anise.*
They got to the Doctor’s door and he held it open for her.
Repeating her last thought, Raven moved passed him to the brightly lit room.
“Ah, greetings again, Ms. Raven,” the Doc moved to them quickly.
“Hey,” she gave him a quick nod, her eyes sliding over a few sharp medical instruments. “Will it work?”
The Doc shifted uncomfortably and his eyes glanced over to Isaac. “After extensive testing, the results seem promising. I would like to conduct one final quick exam by taking a bit more blood.”
Raven sighed and held out her arm. “Go ahead.”
The Doc chuckled and bent her arm back in, holding her hand. “Just a pinprick this time is sufficient.”
Raven let him extend her finger as he lifted the little device. She recognized it but couldn’t steel herself against the quick prick. She gasped and jerked softly. “Sorry,” she forced herself to relax and kept still.
“Be back in a moment,” the Doc quickly collected a drop of her blood and gave her a cotton ball to press onto the wound. He moved away quickly to a microscope.
*I hate those damn things,* Raven growled to herself as she looked anywhere but at the giant beside her. She stared at her quivering finger uneasily. Her hand would be useless for her Quick Points method and she’d have to rely mostly on her right. For now. *Why’d he have to use that finger anyway?*
“You seem nervous about something,” Isaac noted beside her and she instinctively pushed down her thoughts and controlled her body.
“Do I?” she asked back and heard him sigh.
“Raven, you don’t have to pretend. I know this isn’t easy but it’d get better if you’d begin trusting me. Even if just a little.”
“You’re asking me to just grant something that has to be earned?” Raven met his yellow eyes questioningly but could find no frustration this time. He was being absolutely sincere.
“What can I do to earn your trust?” he asked softly and Raven felt as if she should trust him on a trial basis at least. She thought about it for a second but couldn’t come up with something he could do to earn her trust. She’d never had this sort of thing happen to her before.
“Oh, dear,” she heard and immediately whirled around to the doctor.
“What?” she was about to ask but Isaac’s voice had asked instead.
“Ah, Raven, do you wish I speak to you in private about the treatment?” Dr. O walked back to her, looking grave. She didn’t hear Isaac say anything so she guessed it was her choice.
“Just tell me,” she sighed.
The doctor blinked before regaining his composure. “The treatment is based on treating the toxin through a type of radiation so our goal is to isolate it and dissolve it for this cannot be surgically removed. The test subjects I used to experiment had already succumbed to the toxin so the results were… messy. Yet the blood sample I took from you showed promising results after being exposed to a lower dose of treatment,” the doctor paused before continuing. “What I also found was that the treatment will need to be consistent and there will be pain involved.”
“Type of radiation,” Raven repeated. “Does that mean you’re putting me through chemo?”
“Almost. You will have to be exposed to radiation to increase the toxin’s effect before the rest of the treatment dissolves it.”
Raven couldn’t speak for a second. She didn’t like this. Unfortunately, she had to try it… for Anise. “What are the side-effects?”
“You will not lose your hair, if that is a concern. You will, however, lose motor functions,” Dr. O said and she felt really cold. “Only for movement, I assure you. The treatment will leave you very weak where you won’t be able to move. You’ll sleep for hours afterwards so it’d be best to do this in the early morning. When you wake, you may experience nausea, dizziness, headaches, vomiting, and feel very sensitive to the touch.”
Raven felt slightly dizzy without the treatment already. She was going to be obsolete due to all this. Curse that night in the park!
“I can set up a hospital bed here, if you wish, so you may rest after the treatments,” the doctor offered.
Raven thought about it for a second. They were just under the first floor. Here, she’d be exposed. Here, she could be attacked if anyone with the same training as herself found a way through the yard. Her enemies could be hunting her now…
“Actually, can you give us a second?” Raven asked and the doctor walked away with a nod. She turned to Isaac, who was watching her with a confused expression. She knew she couldn’t stay here. Not only was there no bathroom for the possible vomiting session but waking up to all those medical instruments at fault for her condition would be an absolute nightmare.
“Look, this is horrible for me to admit but I’m a little nervous about the side-effects,” Raven forced herself to say and took a deep breath to continue before Isaac could respond. “And I don’t want to wake up with all those knick-knacks being the first thing I see so… I was wondering if… since I’m going to be so weak I can’t move… and considering your vampy strength… if you could…” she couldn’t do it. *God, I’m so pathetic!* “Um, forget it.”
“No, go on. If I could what?” Isaac urged helpfully and Raven avoided eye contact.
“If you could move me to my provided room instead,” she forced on. “And possibly… stand guard.”
“I would be honored to watch over you,” Isaac said with a slight bow that made her feel worse about having ever asked.
“Thanks…” Raven immediately turned away to walk up to the doctor, suddenly eager to get through the treatment to forget this moment. “Ok, doc. Let’s do this.”
“If you are ready, please remove all electronics or metals on your person including your shoes and lie on the stretcher,” the doctor instructed and indicated the stretcher that slid into the machine.
Raven took out her cell phone and the cell phone Isaac gave her. Then she removed her necklace that she always hid under her shirt, feeling very naked. She placed them in a metal container the doctor indicated to. Then she undid her boots and placed them beside the table with the rest of her things. Then she moved, barefoot, to the stretcher and laid down, feeling very uneasy. She felt something hook around her right wrist and tighten.
With a jerk, she raised her head to watch the doctor strap her right wrist,
“Hey, what—”
“I’m sorry, miss. This is to ensure you do not move a muscle while in the machine. Believe me, it will be necessary,” the doctor said and began to move to her right ankle next.
Raven had the sudden urge to kick the doctor away, untie herself and run the hell outta there when she noticed Isaac was now at her side. She met his eyes and found herself feeling calmer about the situation as the doctor continued to strap her down. She stayed still and forced the same control onto her face, masking her turmoil.
Finished, the doctor rolled over a metal table with three needles on it. Raven pushed down her fear of needles and tried not to look. She always hated needles and immediately refused when her father wanted her to apply Botox to her face in order to manipulate her features.
The doctor wiped the side of her neck with a sanitation wipe and then picked up a needle, saying, “This is the first of three stabilizers that you will need because of the level of radiation. This first one I must inject into the main spot of concern.”
Raven knew what he meant and steeled herself, trying to keep relaxed. “Do it,” she ordered.
She could see the doctor near his hands to her and held her breath when she felt the needle push into her throat with a small burn. She felt him inject the stabilizer and inhaled as it burned more. She didn’t feel the needle slip back out so much as see the doctor’s hands move away. The stabilizer was still burning and it was slowly increasing.
“This won’t cause brain damage, will it?” Raven felt herself ask as the burn moved up her jaw and down to her collarbone.
“None whatsoever,” Dr. O said with a soft chuckle she wanted to hit him for. Next, he wiped the inside of her right arm before applying a second needle there.
As the burn continued to spread from her neck, Raven felt another start at her right arm.
“Is this shit supposed to burn?” she asked next as the second burning sensation moved to her fingers and up her arm.
“Normally, I’d say no. Yet, in your circumstance, the toxin is making this burn,” Dr. O said as he moved around her to her left arm and began to wipe it clean for the last needle.
When the two burns met at her shoulder and began to wrap around her right breast, she felt herself start to lose patience with it and nearly fought the restraints so the third needle wouldn’t inject more of this pain into her. But Raven forced herself to hold on as the doctor injected her once more and her left arm started to burn.
Raven had a strong inkling that if she wasn’t strapped down, she’d be clawing at herself to stop this fucking burn spreading through her.
“Now, I would wait a minute before inserting you into the machine but I have a distinct impression that the stabilizer is spreading quickly,” the Doc said to her right.
“What the fuck gave you that clue?” Raven asked as the two burns met in the middle of her chest and began to spread down her body and fill her head.
“You’re sweating and gripping the straps,” he replied calmly and she could hear the whirr of a machine starting up.
“Aren’t you a fucking Sherlock?” she snapped as her temples nearly exploded. Her neck, precisely where she’d cut herself, was the epicenter of the burn. It hurt there the most.
“Raven, you know he’s trying to help you,” Isaac’s voice scolded her. She would have laughed if she wasn’t busy trying not to scream.
“You could’ve fooled me,” she grunted as the burning sensation pooled around her abdomen and slowly spread on.
“Let me know when it gets to your legs,” Dr. O said patiently.
Raven tried to breathe through it as the pain pounded in her temples and the burning sensation attacked both her thighs at the same time. “There,” she panted, straining against the straps holding her. The burning nearly cramped her shin muscles but she pushed a finger deep into her thigh muscles, tripping the nerve to numb her legs. She would not add muscle cramps to this already annoying pain.
“Alright, I’m going to insert you into the machine so try your best not to move while you’re in there,” Dr. O instructed and Raven felt the gurney tremble as he pushed it. Forcing herself to remain still, Raven watched as she entered the machine and listened to it start up again.
*I hate this. I hate this!* She yelled in her mind, realizing the machine was like the one used for CAT scans if a bit tighter. She wouldn’t have been able to move much even if she wasn’t strapped in.
“I’m going to turn on the radiation for thirty seconds,” Dr. O’s voice said. “Don’t move.”
Raven would have yelled at him to stop wasting her time when the lights around her turned on and the burning that filled her turned into an inferno. Forcing herself to stay still, Raven took deep breaths and gripped the straps for all she was worth. The inferno got worse and there was a ball of pure agony at her throat.
Sound was filling the machine.
It was horrible and full of pain and she wished it would stop as it rung in her ears.
It took her a second to realize that she was screaming.
Quickly slamming her mouth shut, Raven felt her eyes stream with involuntary tears. She was panting now in pain and getting weaker by the second. She felt tired suddenly and her heart was beating so fast, it might just give up in all this madness. She closed her eyes and the simple action felt amazing. She suddenly didn’t care about her heart stopping. If it did, she’d be calm and relaxed. She’d be at peace away from all this pain. Away from obligations. Away from people trying to kill her. Away from having to always fight.
*Anise*!
Raven snapped her eyes open.
The lights of the machine shut off and she felt herself grow extremely dizzy as the doctor pulled her out of the machine. Her body didn’t feel like it was on fire anymore but she was sure that it was smoking.
*That was not thirty seconds…*
She felt the darkness begin to creep over her but she had to stay awake. If she gave in to sleep, she might never wake up. She felt so close to just giving up.
Distantly, she was aware of two male voices speaking near her and of someone placing a finger on her throat but their words didn’t make sense. She tried to say something but only let out air. The overhead lights were too bright; she couldn’t see anything.
Her eyes had closed again.
Next thing she knew, everything hurt so horribly that she wasn’t sure if she blacked out or just couldn’t concentrate on what was happening. Her head swam like she was moving too fast and she felt her world spin.
Then everything was gone.
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