Disclaimer: Same as before…

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Tseng was almost certain that it was nothing; Rufus was after all learning how to walk again and falls were almost an everyday occurrence. It was to be expected that he'd have bruises on his body.

Although the back of your hand is a strange place to have a bruise from falling. The more he thought about it, he was starting to wonder about the nature of the bruises as well. His chest I can understand but his hand? Unless it was in front of him when he fell but still, it's an odd place for one. We'll just have to see what the doctor thinks about them I guess.

As if on queue, Reno was back with the doctor. 'Look who I found strolling through the hallway. He looked pretty bored so I figured I'd drag him in here to see the President. Aren't I nice?'

'Yes, yes, you're the nicest person I've ever met Reno.' Must he honestly have a stupid comeback every time he brings the doctor here?

Tseng then turned his attention to the doctor, 'Dr. Collins, the President seems to have a few bruises that he's concerned about. Could you take a look at them please to appease him and everyone else in this room?'

'Bruises? Where are these bruises?' Tseng noted something along the lines of worry in the tone of the doctor's voice.

'One is on his hand and the other is one his chest. We think that it's from falling in therapy but it's better to be safe and ask about them correct? Is there something wrong with the fact that he has bruises? You don't seem happy to hear that.' He knows something; why does he sound so worried about bruises?

'Oh, it is probably from the falls that he's had the past couple of weeks, I wouldn't worry about them. I'll just have a look just to be sure.' He made his way to Rufus and asked to see his hand.

Tseng and Reno followed close behind the doctor. Tseng went to the other side of the bed so that he could have a clear look at the doctor. He was hoping to see a smile on the doctor's face which would tell him it really was just a bruise; unfortunately that was not the look he saw.

Rufus noticed the look as well. 'Doc? Is something wrong? You don't seem to think that this thing is just a bruise.'

'When did you first notice this?'

'This morning, the same for the one on my chest.'

'Do they hurt?'

'Depends by what you consider hurt.'

'What do you mean?'

Rufus didn't like the tone of the doctor's voice. It was as if he knew already what it was but was stalling to avoid having to tell him what was wrong.

'I mean that they don't really hurt until they spasm. That part of my hand and chest have been doing that for the past few days but the black spots were never there before.'

'Has anything oozed out of them yet?'

Has anything what? 'No, what do you mean by oozed out? Judging by your reaction to this bruise on my hand, I think it's safe to assume that something isn't right about it. Quit stalling and just tell me.'

'I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, since there hasn't been much time to research it. However, there have been other people that have had the same bruising as you call it on different parts of their bodies as well.'

Having heard that Rufus wasn't the only person that had these bruises, Tseng realized that it was something more serious then either he, Rufus or Reno had thought.

He was afraid to hear the answer to the questions on his mind but he felt that he had to ask them. 'What happened to the people that had the same bruises? What exactly did you mean by something oozing out?'

'The people that had the same lesions? Well, most of them are children. They are still alive but they get very ill when the lesions react. We're still trying to determine what exactly causes them to react and cause, for lack of a better word, the ooze to come out.'

Rufus could tell that the doctor was trying to avoid something. He noted that he mentioned that most of the infected ones were children, what about the rest?

'And so, obviously, the rest that weren't children are adults, correct?'

'Yes sir, the rest are adults.'

'How are they dealing with it?'

'Well, for the most part, they are doing fine considering.'

'You're avoiding something. Just spit it out already, how are they doing?'

'Most of them have already died sir.'

Although shocked and scared about the outcome, Rufus somehow managed to hide his emotions from his voice. 'They died? How long did they live?'

'Some of them are still alive, but most died within the first month or two of the outbreak of the disease. Once the lseions appear, it's hard to say exactly how long the person has.'

Tseng, standing quietly next to Rufus' bed, didn't want to accept what the doctor just said. Rufus was going to die and there was no telling when that would be.

There has to be something that can be done. 'You have to be able to do something about this, give him some drug, give him something to stop this. Isn't there a cure?'

The doctor looked up at Tseng, compassion and sorrow both in his eyes. 'I'm sorry sir, but there's nothing we can give him to stop this. We can give him pain killers to make it more bearable but there is no cure.'

'Is there a name to this disease? If I'm going to die because of it, I would at least like to know the name of what it was that killed me.' He somehow managed to maintain his composure even with all the thoughts going through his mind. This can't be happening to me, not again. I was just recovering from one set of injuries; I don't need something else.

'Yes, it has a name sir. It's called Star-Scar Syndrome but most people call it Geostigma. I'm sorry sir.'

Having known Rufus for years, Tseng could tell that he was devastated regarding this news. Who wouldn't be? Anyone would break if you told them you're going to die and it's going to hurt. If Rufus was going to die, he wanted to ensure that it would be as comfortable as possible. Regardless of what he would have to do to ensure Rufus' comfort, Tseng would be sure that it would be done.

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A/N: Too long? Like / hate it? Review and let me know!