Yay for our medic. ^^

Chapter Nine: Medicus

Lisa had been staring out one of the windows for the past fifteen minutes, now, ever since Gary had lost consciousness. She was waiting for the Healer of the planet to come, and he was taking longer than she thought necessary. She wanted to pace, but her ankle, though wrapped to stop any more swelling, was still tender and she couldn't walk on it without making herself extremely uncomfortable.

The Healer was a unicorn stallion called Medicus, and he knew everything and anything about making cures for whatever ails you out of all-natural ingredients. In addition, all of his ingested remedies tasted wonderful. He'd made the pain medication she'd given Gary.

At last, the sound of galloping hooves and creaking wheels reached her ears. Looking out the window, she saw a white unicorn stallion with red forelock and beard was approaching the house, pulling his cart full of medications behind him.

Lisa removed Gary's cold compress, then pressed a pedal near the floor of the wall with the windows. Apparatuses resembling metal restraints slid from places in the wall to hold back the curtains as the wall slid upward and into a recess in the ceiling, allowing the unicorn access to the room.

Leaving his cart outside, Medicus entered. He nodded to Lisa as a greeting, then walked to his patient. He touched his horn to Gary's forehead, throat, and heart, then frowned. "There's a toxin in his bloodstream," he said, speaking in the basic unicorn language of the planet.

"I know," Lisa replied. "It's some kind of serum a mad scientist made…for me with samples of my DNA or whatever."

Medicus looked up, alarmed. Lisa, however, shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's my problem and I'll handle it. Just…help Gary, will you, please?" She replaced the cold compress, which was more lukewarm now.

"Of course I will. You know I will. Tell me what happened."

Lisa took a deep breath and recounted what had transpired that night in Chicago. Medicus listened patiently.

"All right. I'll need a blood sample," he said when she was done. "Could you hold his arm steady?"

She nodded and placed her hands on either side of the bend in Gary's arm. Medicus laid his hollow horn above a vein and the tip became long and thin like a needle. As gently as he could, he inserted it and Lisa watched as Gary's blood was drawn inside.

The stallion turned away when he was done and went to his cart outside. On Gary's arm, the only evidence of what happened was a tiny, circular scar.

After depositing the blood into a vial, Medicus walked back in, his horn having returned to normal. "I won't lie to you, Lisa," he said softly. "The toxin is reacting badly to his system. You said this scientist was using your DNA to make it?"

She nodded. "He said he had my blood and…and hair and skin."

"So it was custom-made just for you and not meant to be used on humans. He has a very high fever and his loss of consciousness is also an effect of the toxin. There could also be other symptoms. Dizziness and the like."

"What about the bruise?"

"What you're doing will work well in reducing it. This toxin will make him extremely sick, and that's what we have to be concerned with."

Medicus gave her a fever remedy stronger than the one she had on hand and instructions to check his temperature every few hours and to give him some every time it got high. He also gave her a stronger pain remedy just in case.

"Now, about that ankle…"

In truth, Lisa had almost forgotten about it, but the stallion's mention of her injury brought the memory back in the form of a droning pain. She winced. "Ow…right."

Holding out her leg for Medicus, she unwrapped her ankle and waited while he examined it.

"It's a mild sprain," he said, and a bandage much like the one she had had on levitated through the opening in the wall and wrapped itself around Lisa's ankle. "This is like the one you had, but it works much better and faster. You'll still be limping in the morning and maybe the day after, but it won't hurt as much to put pressure on it."

"Thanks." She set her foot down. "So, what about Gary?"

"All I can advise right now is to keep the fever down as best you can. I'll be working as fast as I can on making the antitoxin. He's not bedridden, per se, but he should rest as much as he can. I can't guess the symptoms the toxin will produce, save for the fever and loss of consciousness…I'm afraid you'll just have to play it by ear, as it were."

Lisa glanced at Gary, then moved her eyes back to Medicus. "Will he wake up from… that?"

"Given time. Bring the fever down…might help. I'll give him something to help, now, to start him off." He went to his cart and, after working a few moments, returned with his horn filled with a blue-tinged liquid, the tip once again taking on its needle-like appearance. He injected it into Gary's arm. "There," he said, lifting his head. "That should do it."

She sighed. "Thanks."

Medicus put his nose to her cheek and blew gently. "I'll be as quick as I can. Contact me if he gets any worse."

Lisa nodded and Medicus turned and left, the wall sliding down back into place. She went, still limping as Medicus had said she would be, to the bathroom in the corner and re-soaked the cloth in cold water, then replaced it back on Gary's head.

She took his hand in hers, and waited.

End chapter nine.