Lifeline

Chapter 27

Chikage sighed, letting the water run over her face as she closed her eyes, tilting her head toward the ceiling. She stood that way for a while, finally wiping the water droplets from the tip of her nose as she finally inhaled again, blinking the drops from her eyelashes as she reached for the shampoo. She finished her shower a few minutes later, toweling her hair dry and pulling it into a pony tail, pleating it into a neat braid before she stepped into the fresh scrubs a nurse had just dropped off a few minutes before. She opened the bathroom door, her eyes narrowing as she took in the short, dark-haired woman just closing the door behind her. It was still early – Jack was still asleep in the bed, and Chikage nodded toward the door, following Marie back into the hallway.

"I just wanted to let you two know you could stay with Richard for most of the day," she said quietly. Chikage nodded, crossing her arms over her chest as the woman took a breath to continue. "We finished the scans yesterday, and we're just waiting on results from those and the blood tests."

"And the agenda today?" Chi asked quietly, her eyes following a pair of orderlies strolling past.

"I'd like to check his eyes out. Some more minor tests today, and we'll see what happens after that when the results come in tomorrow."

"When are you starting today?"

"I was just about to," Marie said, seeming a little confused.

"Why don't you wait a few hours," Chikage suggested, glancing toward Riddick's door. "I'm sure he's still worn out, and I don't necessarily want him cranky." A slight smile touched Marie's lips and she nodded.

"I can wait until about noon," she conceded. "That will still give us plenty of time."

"I'd like to be completely honest with you, if I may," Chikage said, lowering her voice intentionally to attempt to intimidate the shorter woman. Marie's eyebrow rose, and she nodded quickly. Chikage licked her lips, hiding a tiny smile as she considered her wording. "I would say I trust you about as far as I could throw you, but judging from your size," she said, making a show of looking the woman up and down, "I could throw you pretty damn far, and that's giving you too much credit at this point." Marie's eyes darkened.

"Look, I—"

"Don't," Chikage interjected quickly. "Maybe it's just my previous experience with doctors," she continued, narrowing her eyes at Marie as the other woman's brow rose. "Or maybe it's just my general distrust of people who do nice things when they don't have to and haven't in the past." A low blow, but oh well. "But I swear to fuckin' God," she said, leaning into Marie as her voice lowered even further. "You do even the slightest thing to hurt him or get him in trouble in any way whatsoever, I will kill you." She leaned back to give the doctor her personal space back. "And I think you know just how serious and capable I am." Marie nodded slowly.

"Since we're all being so honest here," Marie said, "My only concern right now is the well-being of Richard. If you have any doubts about that, you can ask the scheduling clerk over there," she continued, pointing. "I'm losing money on this. I've canceled all of my appointments for this week just so I can get this testing done in as short amount of time as I possibly can because I know how careful he has to be in staying in one place." Chikage's eyebrow rose, her lips firmly set, but she didn't say anything. "You have no idea how I feel about that project, and how every day since I've awakened in the morning with nothing in my heart but the drive to make up for it by helping anyone, and I mean anyone, who needs it. Don't question my motives here," she warned. "I may have had a hand in causing whatever, if anything, ails him, but I've had to live with that for nearly twenty years now, and it's about god damn time I made it right." Chikage gave her one small, satisfied nod, and the woman paused, scratching her forehead. "I know that they used all of their operatives as subjects…"

"No," Chikage snapped. "I'm fine. Don't even think about running anything on me." Marie shrugged.

"Peace of mind can work wonders," she said wistfully. "Let me know if you change your mind." Chikage stared after her as she walked away, letting out a frustrated growl before pushing through the door to Jack's room. The sight of the sleeping girl brought a small smile to her face, and she crept toward the adjoining door.

A small stream of light poured into the room from the light she'd left on in Jack's bathroom, and she stood there for a while, just watching him sleep peacefully. The more she thought about it, the more she realized this was probably the first time in a long time he'd really slept, not just napped. Her smile fell as she silently closed the door behind her, stopping for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Her bare feet moved quietly across the floor. He stirred slightly when she moved the sheets away from him, carefully crawling in next to him. He inhaled sharply, and she cringed. She hadn't meant to wake him.

"Time is it?" he mumbled, scooting over to give her more room.

"It's about six," she answered, curling up against his chest, tucking her head just under his chin as he draped arm over her, pulling her closer to him. "Marie was about to come wake you up and start the day."

"And?"

"I was getting out of the shower and told her to give you more time to sleep," she said with a shrug. He smiled, sniffing at her hair. "She wants to do me, too," she added quietly. She felt him move next to her, pulling away to look at her face. She shook her head.

"It's not a bad idea, Chi," he said, raising his eyebrow. "I hadn't thought about it."

"No, Riddick," she groaned, rolling to her other side, her back now pressing into his chest. She heaved a sigh. "I'm fine."

"So am I," he countered slowly. She closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"I got lucky, Riddick," she said quietly. "You're the one that has to worry about it. They fucked with your DNA. I just got shot a few times."

"With toxic shit," he pointed out. She made a snorting sound, as though it were a minute detail. "Look," he said, "Just let her do a few blood tests and a scan or two. No big deal." She rolled her eyes, though he couldn't see the gesture. "C'mon, Chi. Do it for me."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know you're okay," he said, a small touch of hurt in his voice. She sighed, turning back to look at him. They just stared at each other for a while before she turned back to the wall, squeezing her eyes shut as he nuzzled the back of her neck, a soft kiss prompting goose bumps.

---

Marie knocked quietly twice before turning the handle, slowly pushing the door open and entering the room, her expression softening as she took in the sight. Riddick had wrapped himself around Chikage, his forehead buried in her shoulder. Suddenly, both of them opened their eyes, the contrasting colors instantly focusing on her. Chikage sighed and shifted next to Riddick, preparing to get out of the bed, but his arm over her stopped her as it flexed, holding her in place. She gave him a quizzical look, but he just kept his eyes on the doctor now growing uncomfortable under his stare. He glanced down at the folder she clutched between her fingers and then back up to her face.

"Results?" he asked quietly. She nodded quickly, still startled by the intensity in his gaze. He turned those silvered eyes on Chikage, his expression immediately morphing. "Will you go wake Jack up?" She nodded, waiting until his arm lifted, letting her up. She heard the silence resume as she left the room, quickly waking Jack and returning with the teen in tow. Jack was thoroughly frumpled, her bare feet slapping lazily on the floor as she scratched her head. Marie let out a breath slowly and pulled up her stool, staying near the counter as Chikage and Jack took seats next to Riddick on the bed.

"First off, Jack's results are back." Jack immediately focused on her toes, wiggling them slightly. "I've identified the attackers," Marie continued quietly, glancing at Riddick as she placed a stapled packet of papers on the counter next to her. "You can take the information if you'd like to." Chikage nodded. "That's it for you, sweetheart," she said, pausing to see if Jack would look at her. She didn't, so Marie swallowed and opened the next folder. "Richard, um…" Her eyes quickly scanned over the papers, flipping back and forth for a moment, before she returned to her audience. "Your blood tests came back relatively normal, all things considered." She heaved a sigh, more relief that the process was over than a foreboding gesture. "Bone scans were perfectly normal, tissue scans were pretty much normal, muscle scans were normal, and organ scans are something we need to talk about."

"Blood tests first," Riddick said tightly, his arm wrapping around Chikage's waist as he sat up completely. Marie's eyebrow rose. "Relatively normal?"

"Considering your DNA has been tinkered with, yes. There's nothing to suggest anything's wrong with your blood or immune system. There are a few indications telling me something's not quite right, but we determined it to just be effects of the transfusion." Riddick nodded.

"And the tissue scans being pretty much normal?" Riddick pressed, directing the conversation. Marie took a deep breath, shuffling through her papers.

"I'd like to tell you about the organ scans first, if you don't mind," she suggested. Riddick's eyebrow rose, but he didn't argue. She closed the folder and set it on her lap, twining her fingers over the pile. "A side effect, I'm assuming, of the transfusion seems to be sterilization." Jack glanced at Riddick quickly. "I can't pretend to know why, or even give you half an explanation, but that's what the tests indicate." Chikage's brow furled.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can't have kids, Chi," he said, a slight teasing tone to his voice.

"I know that," she snapped back. "But that's a general risk for any kind of genetic manipulation, isn't it, doctor?" Marie nodded, tilting her head to the side as though she were surprised Chikage would know that. "So what is that important enough to justify making the situation sound serious?" Marie took a breath to explain, but Chi continued: "I mean, you said the organ scans were something you needed to talk about, instead of just fucking saying they showed he's sterile. Something we need to talk about is more like 'you've got cancer', or 'your stomach has a hole in it'." Riddick's fingers dug into her side.

"I'm sorry if it sounded that way. Most people would think that's a serious ailment," she admitted with a shrug. "I doubt it will affect your drives or ability to function," she said, talking once again to Riddick. "But you'll never be able to reproduce."

"Fine by me," he said with a shrug. "And the tissue scans?" She blinked a few times, opening the folder to stare at it as she took a breath and spoke.

"The scan indicated a small abnormality in your brain." The wind left Chikage, and she doubled over slightly. Jack's lip started trembling. "The blood tests, though, indicate there's nothing really wrong – there's no oddities in your red or white blood cell counts, but there is a mass in there," she said, cringing as she looked up at Riddick once again.

"And?" Her brows furled in confusion. "Is it something I need to worry about?"

"Not yet. You definitely need to watch it, though," she said. "Just to make sure it doesn't progress into something you need to worry about." Riddick nodded, swallowing thickly. "I know it sound serious, but the scans are very precise. The mass is only about five cells right now. The cells themselves aren't exactly abnormal, but they're not completely normal either." Chikage sighed, rubbing her forehead. "They do have the potential to change, though, and that's what you need to keep watching." Riddick nodded slowly. "Unfortunately, that means coming back here."

"And that means you need to keep a file on me." Marie chewed on her lip as she nodded. Riddick sighed, adjusting the vertebrae in his neck. "I know that's a risk, Richard, but I can assure you no one will see them."

"How?"

"First, I've labeled your file with a different name. Something only I could recognize." His eyebrow rose. "And I refuse to tell you just in case you're at any time confronted with it. No recognition means plausible deniability." She sighed, plopping the folder on the counter as she leaned on her elbows, resting on her knees. "But the real risk comes in when you have to return to the clinic. I want to see you at least once a year until something happens. Do you think you can do that?"

"Until someone catches wind, yes."

"And then what?"

"Then we come up with something," he said with a shrug. "We can deal with it when it gets here." She nodded, standing to go.

"Marie?" Riddick and Jack both glanced at Chikage, who was now staring at her hands in her lap. Riddick's hand flattened out, sliding around her side to her back and up over her shoulder to give her a small squeeze. Marie turned slowly, eyebrows arched. "I thought about what we talked about this morning," she said slowly, glancing quickly at Riddick from the corner of her eye. A small solemn smile touched his lips as she took a slow, deep breath. "I wondered if the offer still stood," she finally finished, raising her head to meet Marie's eyes. The doctor quickly nodded.

"You do understand I'd need to know what specifically was done to you," she said slowly. Chikage nodded, her gaze returning to her lap. "Let me go get a fresh chart to take notes and then we'll start." As soon as the door clicked, Jack turned large green eyes on Chikage.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked quietly. Chikage shook her head, managing a small smile at the teen.

"Not unless you don't think you have the stomach for it," she answered quietly.

"How bad was it?"

"Well," Chikage said, puffing at a stray chunk of hair falling in her eyes. "Let's just say some of it still gives me the willies." Riddick chuckled a little and leaned back on the bed. Jack glanced at him, silently asking for permission.

"Stay if you want to Jack," he said with a small shrug. "If Chi doesn't have a problem with it, that's all the say-so you need." She nodded quickly, sliding from the bed to curl up in the armchair beside it.

"I guess this means we're staying another couple of nights," Chikage sighed, flopping back onto her side next to Riddick. His arms immediately wrapped around her, and Jack sighed as well, slouching further into her chair. Another pair of knocks, and three pairs of eyes watched Marie walk back through the door. Chikage took a breath, waiting for Marie's pen to poise over the paper before starting her story.