Chapter 13: Twenty-four hours

Dr D'Angelo Spencer re-wrote the scenes again and again in his mind.

'We're losing her'
'She's in her crisis point'
'No, wait--she stopped bleeding.'

'I think…I kind of like her'
'That could be very dangerous for you both…Be careful'
'I'm not falling in love, Chuck. I just like her.'

'She's safe.She'll be out of here in a few days.'

A bitter-tasting game of 'what if'.

The young doctor slipped on his plastic apron, mask and his latex gloves. He hated this part of the job.

He passed a tray and was sickened to the sight of organs floating in numbered specimen jars. He was used to this.

But he had always been unsettled by the sight of dead children. A shaken baby, a battered toddler, a teen run over by a truck but what sickened him the most was seeing a mark on the child's neck.

A bite mark.

He looked down and continued walking down the hallway to the lab. To his lab. To Sommer's old lab.

The memory of her made him angry. She didn't deserve to fucking die...

Why does the wrong fucking people always die? He oughta die but he doesn't...Fuck it.

He had worked with a familiar case of twin girls. It was the most emotional thing he had ever worked with and he didn't what to reboard that emotional merry-go-round.

He entered the room and met with the familiar smell of rotting bodies. Without even looking up, he knew that Kasumi wasn't here. It was the other girl. It was her.

"What's his name?" he asked.

"Alex Pennyworth. A five-year-old." Ashley emerged from behind the computer and looked at him with admiration and possibly…something else.

"It's nice to finally meet you D'Angelo. I've heard so much about you." she extended her hand for him to shake.

Somehow, he didn't like her calling him that. It just brought a terrible memory to his mind.

He slipped past the extended arm. "Well, since you've heard so much about me, you must know that I hate being called my first name. Just call me Dr. Spencer. Or Spence."

"But I thought…"

"Listen here, fruitcake, I'm not here to be your friend. I'm not here to be your little play buddy. I'm here to work with you so if you please…"

She slowly lowered her hand, a bit embarrassed and disappointed. "Oh…okay."

Spence felt his stomach flip when he stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the body in front of him. Alex wore nothing as he lay there. Silent…dead.
Next to him lay a pale green gown, bundled clothing, a backpack and a pair of sneakers.

He closed his eyes and felt tears burn the back of his eyelids. He felt a hand on his shoulder and his eyes shot open.

"Let's start." he shifted away from her.

Ashley watched him as he sorted the tissue, opening up the boy's stomach and examing it with a small flashlight.

This was one of the sickest things he'd seen in his life, he forced himself to remain on task. Screw this fucking task.

From the corner of his eye, he looked at her, even with his mask up, she knew he hated her.

Thoughts came onto his mind as she started another conversation…

"What happened to him?"

What d'ya think happened to him you one woman freak show. "A werewolf.", he shook the thought from his head. He didn't mean that. He really didn't.

"Oh. So, what is that on his stomach?"

Your supposed to be the expert, Damnit! Why the fuck you askin me for?

He ignored the voice in his head and looked over to the body, his answer was muffled by his mask.

"The werewolf bit into his stomach and…" he gestured towards it, "As you can see here, the kid has no guts."

"So that's what that is?"

Uh, nuh! It's a dog bite! What d'ya think Ms Genius? It's a freakin werewolf! What? The bite isn't big enough to see?

He started to sweat as he tried to lock the thoughts away. "Yes."

But the questions didn't stop there…

"So, now we know they've been taking anyone. Even children." The thought sickened her. It sent shivers down her spine.

"Yes."

"Can you say anything but yes?"

That's it! He had enough of this. He turned around, simultaneously, pulling off the gloves with his teeth without total care.

"Listen to me you one woman freak show, how do you think I'm able to do all those things you've heard me do?" His voice was stern and serious. "I'll tell you why…Listen to this," there was pause and nothing was to be heard.

"Ya. It's called silence. I learned to live with it. So go take your blah-blah to the blah-blah ologist and get the hell out of here if you can't help because I swear to god that every time I see you I feel like cutting you up into teeny tiny pieces so that even my 'mother', Ruby, who can put together a 1000 jigsaw puzzle in twenty minutes can't put you all back together."

Ashley stood frozen in her spot, stunned.

Spence cursed to himself on having lost control so easily and ripped off the apron and mask, he balled them together and threw it at the biological waste container. He turned around and continued on working as if nothing had happened.

From then, Ashley hadn't asked another question.

Spence remembered his pervious day's happy conversation with the guys and wished he was still back there in the living room, having a cup of coffee and saying the daily insults.

Was it only yesterday that they had picked up Ashley from her home? Alex Pennyworth was alive then…

So much can change in twenty-four hours.