Victor, after several minutes of shutting out his feelings, lost the battle and broke down. He cried quietly and not for long, but in the time that he did, a young girl discovered him. He was all alone and undoubtedly upset, so she did what her instincts had taught her. She hugged him around the waist, laying her head against him and crying along, but for no apparent reason.
His eyes were wide in shock. He'd never met this little girl, and here she was in his lap crying her heart out. He checked to see if she was hurt, but found that she wasn't. She was perfectly fine.
"Better?" the sweet little neko asked. Her tail was wagging like a puppy's and her ears were dancing cheerfully on her head. The tears had already dried from her large, blue eyes.
"Yeah…" he replied unsurely. He did feel better, strangely. She smiled up at him. Her two front teeth were missing, making it obvious that she couldn't have been older than 3 or 4.
Now, Victor wasn't one to believe in the ever so "contagious smile", but seeing this little neko grin was too adorable to resist. He smiled back at her, and a small and pleasant giggle resulted. She got off his lap and rushed off, bringing her baby brother in her arms to him. The baby was certainly a new-born, judging by his size. He was wrapped in a fur blanket and was sleeping soundly.
"Here," she said, handing him to Victor. She had nearly dropped him on the way back to him, because though he was a small 7-pound bundle, he was quite heavy for her. Taking the baby in his arms, he rocked him fatherly, trying to lull him back to sleep, for he had almost awakened.
"He's cute," said Victor, eyes brightening at the sight of the adorable baby boy. However, it was frighteningly apparent the infant was sick and that something was wrong. His breathing was raspy and choked. He was very pale, not the normal pinkish color babies should be. The fur on his ears was also ragged and dirty, which wasn't normal either. All the other nekos kept their fur groomed and healthy. The other infants he had seen kept their ears clean even without grooming them themselves, because their fur was growing and shiny as it was. "How old is he?"
"I think he's… two months old," she answered, recollecting her thoughts. Her rust colored ears began swiveling suddenly. She could hear something Victor couldn't, and it was clear she was scared. "I-is something wrong with my brother…?"
Victor glanced down at the infant, not noticing any difference from when she had brought him to him moments earlier.
"I think he's sick, but I don't see anything else too unusual," he answered blankly, still trying to come up with a diagnosis that fit the child's symptoms.
"Don't you hear that awful sound?" she asked, pressing her ears down against her brown hair to shut out the sound. Victor shook his head. "You're a doctor aren't you? Please, tell me what's wrong with him."
"I'm not a doctor, but I have colleagues that are. Stiles! Come here, would you?" he called across the camp. Derek walked over casually, not sensing urgency in Victor's voice.
"What is it?" he asked, looking down at the baby. Derek cooed soothingly at him, his eyes now open, but he didn't respond like a normal baby would have…
"Can you take a look at him? The girl thinks something's wrong," Victor said as he handed him to Derek.
"He does look a little bit pale, I'll have a look," he said, ordering Angie to bring his bag of medical instruments over. He examined him, finding nothing wrong on the outside. What was hidden from view on the inside was what answered everything.
Placing his stethoscope on the infant's chest, he listened for several seconds, and right away something sounded abnormal. Not just abnormal, but familiar.
"Victor…" he said quietly, listening harder. "I think this baby is infected with the NRCV…"
A/N: I apologize for the length of this one. It was pretty late on Sunday when I was writing it. I hope you enjoyed it, things are getting mysterious now…
Until next time…
