Chapter Two
Abnormal Behavior

I. Day One

He removed the bandage from Alicia's stomach. The wound made a disgusting sucking noise, and Rudy gritted his teeth, holding back the bile that burned his throat. He hated that noise. It always made him want to puke. He silently chided himself for being grossed out by. He was going to be a doctor after all; he had to deal with it.

The wound wasn't healing. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound wasn't healing. He cleaned and dressed the wound, applying a fresh bandage to it. He took her shirt off carefully, sliding another one on her thin frame.

Then, he looked at her. Alicia looked dead. Her eyes were hollow. Her skin was sallow. Her breathing was labored, shallow and shaky. He had to force-feed her to keep her nourished, and he was considering the possibility of feeding her intravenously because of her gag reflex. He already had her on a catheter.

"You know you look better in my shirt than I do," he said, forcing a laugh. She didn't laugh. She didn't talk. She didn't even see him.

She did sleep however. When he woke up in the mornings, he woke her up. He would feed her breakfast, go to his morning classes, come back and feed her lunch, go to his evening classes, and be home in time for dinner. Alicia wasn't violent like the ones on the island, which gave him hope.

After dinner, he put her to bed and went to the hospital. He almost told one of the nurses, Ana, about his situation with Alicia. He felt close to Ana, like he could trust her. He didn't confide in her, though, for fear Ana would report him.

He couldn't let those men take Alicia away. He could cure her. He just needed time.

II. Blood Works

Ana watched Rudy with mild interest. He changed since that incident with the island. He was more withdrawn, moodier. She wasn't accustomed to this new, brooding Rudy. She was used to the jokester, the one who always told her he would've married her if she hadn't already been married.

There was little joking with Rudy now days. Here and there, he would crack a forced smile when she teased him. She didn't know what she expected from him, though. All his friends died in that massacre on the island.

However, he was more dedicated to his studies now, especially where blood work was concerned. It was kind of creepy watching Rudy exhaust himself over countless hours of information about blood. He was fascinated with it now, asking her millions of inexhaustible questions about the subject.

"I think my girlfriend has some kind of blood disease," he said from his microscope, as if hearing her thoughts. He turned to look at her. He looked so tired these days. He said it was from all his studying. Ana didn't quite believe him.

"Shouldn't you bring her to the hospital?" she questioned softly.

Rudy was silent for a moment before answering, "She won't see a doctor." His voice betrayed something Ana couldn't read. She knew that Rudy's girlfriend had been in the accident with him. Rudy said she wasn't well anymore, at least not mentally.

Ana didn't say anything else, as he turned his attention back to the microscope. Something weird was going with Rudy. She could feel it.

III. House Calls

Rogan knocked on the door of the apartment. G let out an exasperated sigh beside him. They knew Curien was there. They watched him enter the complex with a few grocery bags in his hands.

Rogan knocked again, and the door opened slowly. Curien peered at them through the partially open door. "She's not here." Curien said. They stopped by every week to see the girl, and she was always busy, or gone, or otherwise tied up.

They knew something suspicious was going on, but there hadn't been any outbreaks. That was a relief. They were starting to believe the girl was infecting. They thought Curien was hiding her, but since there were no outbreaks, their superiors told them to take it easy on the boy.

In other words, they didn't want them to kick in his door and demand to see the girl. G said he would have felt better if they just let them do that, but they followed the rules. Most of the time.

"How are you?" G asked.

"Making it." Rudy said. They could see him shifting impatiently from foot to foot. "I have some studying to do, you guys. If you don't have anything important to tell me, could you come back later?"

"Yeah," said G. "We'll come back later."