Dr. Kerr closed his eyes, sinking back into his chair with an expression of mixed exhaustion and regret. He had been hoping that his niece and nephew would be able to stay free of the TCTF, something he hadn't managed to do himself. Griffin, however, seemed pleased more than anything.
"I have to admit, those two were very clever. Being able to hide from us for that long, and with an invalid to take care of," Griffin muttered. "I'll have to keep that in mind."
An invalid. Muro. Kerr hung his head, berating himself again for not finding out sooner that Griffin had planned to infect Muro with the X-13 engineered viral strain. The only reason Muro had even survived was because of his Chrysalis; the virus was designed to kill a normal person in a week or less.
"Dr. Kerr, come with me to the labs. You're about to get a couple of new subjects."
Kerr followed Griffin, wishing that this entire day was nothing more than a bad dream. Once the two of them had reached the TCTF labs, three TCTF Agents were standing there waiting for them. Two of them, Lance DeFalco and Jerod Thorse, were holding the limp bodies of Kerr's niece and nephew. Kerr noticed that DeFalco was holding a piece of white cloth against Muro's mouth.
"Dr. Kerr," DeFalco turned quickly to face him. "I got here as soon as I could," the agent sounded both relieved and frightened at the same time. "I did everything I could think of, but I don't have your training or expertise."
"What's the situation?" Griffin asked, ignoring DeFalco entirely and instead looking to Hawsen.
"Sir, Muro is in urgent need of medical attention," Hawsen said.
"Symptoms?" Griffin asked.
"Muro has been coughing up blood on and off ever since we found him, sir," Hawsen said. "He is also suffering from a severe drop in body temperature."
"Dr. Kerr, get to work. I expect to have Muro cured by the end of the day." Griffin turned and quickly strode out of the labs.
"Jerk," DeFalco muttered, once Griffin was out of earshot.
DeFalco quickly handed Muro over to Kerr.
"I hope you can do more for him than I did," DeFalco said, handing Muro over to Kerr.
"I'll certainly do all I can." Kerr turned, placing Muro's unconscious form on a nearby med-bed.
DeFalco bit his lip, thinking. "I have a heating blanket that I'm not using right now, I'll go get it for you," DeFalco said, and quickly hurried off.
Kerr laid a hand on Muro's forehead, feeling the young boy's body temperature the same way he would if Muro had had a fever. Muro was cold, far too cold. Out of the corner of his left eye, Kerr saw Jared putting Mai on another nearby table.
Lance returned quickly, carrying the heating blanket he'd mentioned earlier. Without a word, he quickly plugged it in, spread it out over Muro's shivering body, and turned it up to maximum heat.
"Thank you, Lance," Dr. Kerr said.
"Yeah. You- you're going to be able to help him, right?"
Kerr sighed. "I'll do what I can."