Hey, guys! Omega, here. Sorry that took so long.. I've been studying for a mid-term I'm taking soon for my college class. Updates will probably be weekly, from here on out.. I know they'd kind of been a daily thing when I first put this on here.. Sorry if it takes a long time for the next chapters, in advance.. My teachers are starting to give out more and more homework, which takes away from the miniscule amount of free-time I have every week, now.. Oh, well. I enjoy writing for you, though, so, rest assured, I will not abandon you. :)

To RedHeadedMarina:

Hello! Thank you for your review! :D I really, really appreciate that feedback.. And I do apologize for the grammar mistakes, and the other mistakes I've made.. I'm researching all this medical stuff as I'm writing (I do know some things about it, but I'm not a surgeon or anything.. I'm doing my best) And I guess that whole water thing just slipped my mind. When I read your review, I couldn't believe I had accidentally did that! D: I'm sorry, again..

The way I picture Jillian, she is incredibly observant, but oblivious. Like another reviewer (Moonlight Calls) suggested, she may also be subconsciously denying her mutation. She isn't a huge fan of it, after all..

Thank you, again, for your review! I hope you keep reading! :3

To Moonlight Calls:

Hey, thanks! :D I'm glad you're enjoying it! Yes, I thought the 'Three Stooges' fit Shino, Keith, and Lily well.. Hehe.. Thanks so much for your reviews! I also hope you keep reading! :D

Well, my reviewer answer time is over now.. On with chapter ten!

Chapter Ten: Abnormalities

With the new year came a flood of drunken stupor to the pit. Our emergency room was filled with people, most bearing some kind of wound that could have easily been avoidable, had they not been inebriated. While the rest of the staff decided to take a small break (it had been almost 11 hours of constant work), I decided to assist the Three Stooges with a man who swallowed a few dozen quarters because of a bet. He was not only drunk, but high off his ass. He kept asking me for Doritos and that gross canned cheese squeeze stuff.

Even with the over-flow in the emergency room, the day had been, more or less, an interesting one. I wasn't a huge fan of the pit, but, on holidays, it became a wondrous land of mysterious stomach pain and people with household objects in undesirable places.

Something I noticed, as I was collecting my charts to begin rounds, was that McCoy had not decided to grace his presence on all of us today. That didn't bother me, not in the slightest, but I did find it strange. Most medical practitioners found the holidays, more or less, fun! Especially New Years.. Or, maybe it was just Jack and I..

"Sinclair!" Came a familiar voice behind me. I turned, pushing my glasses up on my nose to see Lily Richardson bustling towards me.

"Richardson? What's going on?"

She stopped, thrusting a chart into my arms.

"Chief Peterson.. He asked me too tell you to meet him in the morgue. He said it's urgent."

I raised an eyebrow, looking down at the chart in front of me.

'OLIVIA JOHNSON'

"... How urgent?" I questioned, not taking my eyes off the chart.

"Very. He needs you there, now."

My heart started picking up speed as I gave her my other charts, moving to exit the pit through the doors to my right. What if Jack had figured it out? What if he had caught something I hadn't? Oh, my God..

I hadn't even realized that I'd been running until I slammed against the morgue's door. My eyes landed on Jack, who was standing, his back facing me, at a table. On it, lay the body of a small child.

I inhaled slowly, slipping on a cover, and entered the main room. It was chilly, of course, so I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Jack..?"

"There you are." He said softly, throwing me a glance over his shoulder. The hair on the back of my neck rose, my stomach churning uneasily as I took in his odd array of emotions.

"Richardson said it was urgent." I told him, coming to his side. I'd already figured out by now, of course, who would be on this table. But, part of me still wasn't entirely prepared.

Olivia.. They'd removed the bandages. A long, thick, jagged wound wrapped around the right side of her shaved skull, held on by medical tape. Her skin was pale and ashen, no longer a brilliant golden brown. Even in death, she looked scared.

The feeling returned. The boa constrictor wrapping around my neck, the gag being shoved down my throat. Tears sprung to my eyes, but I blinked them away.

"Why am I here?" I asked him after a minute or two of silence. Jack's eyes briefly connected with mine.

"Look at her.." He said, quieter than before.

"I am. What about it?"

"Look at the wound." He instructed. I clenched my hands slightly, before flexing and leaning over to check it. Yes, it was a wound. A wound we created. The line looked painful, even if it no longer caused her any pain, all deep and pink and-

I froze. Pink? I came closer, adjusting my glasses.

"T.. This looks as if it's been-"

"-Healing?" He finished for me. My fingers found their way to her neck, resting gingerly on her jugular vein. No.. No pulse. But, then why was it-

"She healed, Jillian." Jack was putting things away as he spoke, avoiding my eyes. "That wound was healed fifteen hours after we operated. The nurse, who had been up for two days straight, thought she had hallucinated when she went to change the bandage, so she reported nothing. Jillian.. She was healing. I.. I did an MRI." He pulled something out of a file, flicking on a switch to illuminate the viewing board.

"..And?"

Jack slid the images into place. They displayed, of course, one hemisphere. Her remaining hemisphere.

"Jack, what-?"

"Look closely."

I stepped around the table, coming towards the images. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. One remaining hemisphere, a dark blotch where the infection had been..

"That?" I pointed at the blotch. "Jack, that's the infection."

"The infection died with Olivia." He put up another image. "That... Is her right hemisphere growing back.."

I stepped back, staring at Jack with a speculative eyebrow raised. What?

"We removed her right hemisphere. Brains do not grow back."

"But hers started to." He whispered, wide eyes on the screen in front of us. No.. No, absolutely not. That wasn't possible! Healing a serious wound, and re-growing the brain? Bullshit!

"Jack, there must've been a malfunction in the machine.. That isn't-"

"-LOOK AT IT!" Jack snapped, throwing his arm out towards the picture. "That is NOT infection! That looks like healthy brain! Her body was rejecting the damage and replacing the lost organ! She healed herself, Jillian!"

I took another step back, feeling rather unsafe. Jack seemed a bit mad, with his blood-shot eyes and pale face. His feelings, however, were anything but crazed. He was sure of his theory, sure of his words.. Part of me wanted to believe him, but the logical side remained set.

"Jack.." I said softly. "When's the last time you slept..?"

"I'm not making this bloody thing up, Jillian! And I know how it sounds!" He spat. "Think about it: The body is suddenly missing a vital part of its nervous system, so it responds. Temperature rises for the tissue to repair, the subject becomes tired because of the body's actions."

I glanced at the images again, then back at Jack. His face had paled again, his hand being brought up to his chin.

".. What if.. What if she was a mutant?" He suggested. I felt my heart skip momentarily.

".. What if she was?"

"Some kind of.. Regeneration.. A mutant.. That would make sense. Did Mrs. Johnson ever say anything to you about Olivia possibly having non-human qualities?"

I shook my head.

"No, Jack. She didn't."

"She should have told us." He shook his head. "No, no.. It's a good thing that she didn't. I'm sure some of the staff wouldn't have particularly liked working with a mutant. They are naïve, sometimes.. And then there's the F.O.H.. If word had gotten out, they would have been all over this."

I released a tense breath.

"Jack, if.. If you are right, if Olivia was a mutant with regenerative abilities, why did this happen? Shouldn't her body have.. Y'know, rejected the infection..?"

Jack paused, pursing his lips.

".. Yes, it should have.." His eyes narrowed in thought as he sat down on a stool. ".. Why did this happen?"

I crossed my arms again, biting my lower lip as I examined the images in front of me again.

".. Maybe.. Maybe her body just.. Couldn't take it..?" I offered, trying to wrap my mind around the idea. "I mean, she had just gone through surgery.."

"She did start waking up." His eyes lit up suddenly. "Regenerative mutants.. Wouldn't anesthesia have less of an effect on them, because their body's would fight it?"

"Why would it fight it?" I asked, wondering how Jack came up with all of this.

"Their nervous systems are like ours, only intensified." He stated matter-of-factly, stroking his chin.

"How do you know that?"

He tensed, then, his eyes snapping to me only for a moment.

".. I just do."

Jack normally wasn't a secretive man, he never had been. That's why, when his mood shifted from surprised and focused, to cautious and collected, I grew slightly suspicious. However, I did not press the matter. Yes, it was odd, but I guess everyone was entitled to secrets.

"Okay." I rubbed my neck. "What are we going to do, then? How do we test this?"

"There's only one way to know for sure.." He said gently. I waited for him to continue, which he did. "Jillian, grab my pager. I need to get Hank in here."

(R/R!) Have a great day, and an awesome Halloween! :D