The initial tests came out positive. A further blood investigation was ordered per regulations. Lynda was ushered to the NtBM ward where numerous guards were stationed outside.

I expected there to be many patients here, but I was off mark. NtBM isn’t a super contagious disease that spreads through air. It’s limited to blood contacts.

So despite all the craze online, it’s more manageable than it looks.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I have a friend here with me. Okay. Un. I’ll be fine, there’s a way to cure me, really, I’m not joking. Yes. Alright, see you. Take care.”

Lynda cut the call and sighed.

“How did it go?”

“My mother will come over now. Aether will come over a little later. Father is too busy with work.”

“That’s good to know.”

“How about you, Avner? Does your parents know that you’re here?”

“Not at all.”

“Which means you’re in trouble.”

[Very big trouble. Avner, it’s almost 3:30 pm.]

Crap.

“Cain..”

“Yes?”

“No. Nothing.”

Could I just leave Lynda here? I’ve already given the necessary information to Nyill. All that’s left is to leave it to the medical staff to do their work, right?

There’s nothing more for me to do here.

“If you want to leave, you can. I’m fine now, thank you,” Lynda said.

“Not possible,” Cain responded.

“Huh? Why?”

“I’m your guardian, you’re a minor. I can’t just leave a student alone in the hospital.”

“Then there’s no choice.”

Cain is the one who will send me home. And since he’s adamant on staying, there’s no way I could just leave.

“Avner, I’ll call your parents and tell them about the situation. We’ll go with this story. You noticed that Lynda is pale so you brought her to the hospital. Will that be alright?”

“Alright then.”

I think it’s the perfect excuse.

“Pardon me.”

Cain got up and left to make the call.

Now it’s just me and Lynda. The curtains around the bed were partially closed, so there’s some level of privacy. Then again, one of Lynda’s hands is restrained to the bed in case of emergencies.

“Um, Avner. About earlier. You said something like you could see the future?”

“In a way. Though, it’s more like, I read a book that shows what’s going to happen in the future. So with that knowledge, I’m doing my best to change it.”

“Then did something bad happen?”

“Not particularly. In the future I read, your case was never reported. Emily became your first victim. Next is Daniel. Eventually you learnt that you could survive off feeding each other’s blood. Which led to you turning the baking club into a cult of vampires.”

Lynda blinked.

“So that’s how you found out?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about the future now? What will happen to me after this?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably changed.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don't. It's a one time thing. So I don’t know what has changed because of what I did.”

“Which means you’ve changed the future permanently?”

“In a way.”

I think it is better to say that I have no clue what the future has in store.

“I find that really hard to believe..”

“Not that you should think too much about it. It doesn’t matter all that much.”

“It does!”

“It doesn’t.”

“You practically saved the world by telling information from the future.. if it’s correct information.. Do I really have to drink blood?”

I’m pretty sure things would’ve been fine even without my intervention.

“Yes.”

“Did the future me say it tastes good?”

“You said that it tastes like drinking rust, so no.”

“Fuck. I want to drink blood so bad though hahaha..”

Lynda's head was wobbling.

“What? Oh, right, and?”

“You can treat the feeding urge using blood with the other formed elements like plasma and white blood cells..”

“You’re right, that can totally work too~”

“Lynda?”

“Yes~”

Her speech slurred. Something was wrong.

“I’ll call the nurse.”

“No~”

I found Nyill beyond the curtain.

“Miss Nyill, I think Lynda is going into delirium.”

“Ah, really? Let me go check on her.”

Lynda pulled the curtains close.

“Avner, who’s that?”

“Lynda, can you tell me how you’re feeling right now? Do you feel any pain anywhere? Does your head feel like it’s spinning or anything like that?”

“Huh? My head is starting to hurt.. i-is something going on?”

“Miss Nyill, when is the blood going to be ready?”

“Her blood reading isn’t out, we haven’t prepared the blood packs. Lynda, listen to me, I want you to lie down on the bed.”

“Okay?”

Nyill pressed the call bell, removed her coat and folded up her sleeve. Then xe attached an oximetry clip on Lynda’s finger and put nodes on her arms. Xe also checked her temperature using a scanner.

The dinamap machine began showing readings of her blood pressure, pulse and oxygen level.

Other nurses came to help, most of them working to soothe the anxieties of the other patients.

Close curtains were a bad omen here.

I stood to the side and watched Nyill perform the procedures on Lynda. An IV drip was given to the restrained arm.

“Woi?! Is she turning?”

“Calm down, it’s going to be alright.”

“Will the same thing happen to me too?”

You could hear their panic.

Cain came through the curtain.

“Avner, your parents allowed me to send you back home once everything is settled here.”

“Alright.”

“When do you wish to return?”

“Until her parents arrive.”

“As you wish.”

“I hate you so much, Avner. I hate you!!”

Lynda yelled, almost giggling.

“I was trying to study and you just had to disturb me.. nm..”

“Lynda, stay calm, we’ll get the blood as soon as we can.”

The type of blood doesn’t matter, as long as it’s not contaminated. We don’t need to wait for the correct blood pack to arrive. There’s no hard fast rule you should use blood that corresponds to the patient's blood group.

Even though that was what I knew, I couldn’t simply just tell the nurses to let her drink blood.

The doctor from before came to check on Lynda’s condition. He made a call to the lab staff. Exchanging a few words and a sigh, he made his way to a storage unit with the biohazard label and took out a small blood pack.

For some reason, the packs came conveniently packaged like a juice carton.

Can a doctor just administer blood? Don’t they have to sign consent forms or something?

“Sit her up.”

“Try to take slow sips.”

“Oh, this is.. this is blood.”

Lynda smelled the packet a little before downing it with the included straw.

It was an eerie sight, seeing blood disappearing from the packet like pomegranate juice. Some of the blood remained stuck to the side. The packet itself was quite a small one. So she finished it in no time.

Nyill offered her some water to rinse her mouth. After that Lynda just went to sleep.

“It’ll take a few hours before the blood begins its effects, if you have any concerns, please ask the nurses around,” the doctor said to Cain.

“I’ll pass the message to her parents.”

“Oh, I thought you were her uncle? Pardon me.”

The doctor nodded to Cain before moving to another patient nearby.

“Don’t look so down, she’ll be alright. Regarding the information you gave me, I’ve passed the message to the doctors,” Nyill said to me.

“You were able to convince them?”

“Yeah. Since I’m going to win the Nobel prize, if you get what I mean.”

It took me a while to realize that Nyill got the credit for being the first person to share this crucial piece of information. And because of hirs initial success, it increased the credibility of hirs claims.

That’s good to know.

“I’ll be sure to let the world know your name if it ever comes to that.”

“No thank you.”

“You would make a good doctor, strive hard for it.”

“No thank you.”

“Suit yourself. Demon.”

Cain’s eyes turned sharp at hirs words. Xe meant no harm of course.

Lynda’s mother and aether came soon after. I didn’t know what to say to them.

{Karma: +9}

===

dotturndot: I’m just guessing my way through the procedures of the hospital. I’m a nurse but have yet the chance to experience what it’s like to be in the wards (due to Covid and some other factors). Though, I tried to make things as realistic as I could.

Then again.. stories are stories. Just because the facts are realistic, you shouldn’t take it literally. Anyways, I’m going to sleep now, good night~