A/N: Whether you guys read it or not, This story is going to continue. evil laugh Seriously, it's good, someone R&R already!
Chapter Seven:
"Sorry it took so long, the elevator was really slow today," Tessa exclaimed as she burst into the infirmary. She stopped in her tracks, seeing as how Dr. Kadowaki was in the company of Headmaster Cid. She gave a salute and stood at attention. "Is there something wrong?"
"Yes, there is," said Dr. Kadowaki. "Do you remember treating an Erin Sans?"
Tessa set her stuff down on the examination table and thought. "Yeah, she came in earlier today with a minor infection resulting from an injury she sustained in a fight with a Catcherpillar this morning."
"And how did you treat her?" Dr. Kadowaki asked. "What did you use?"
"I cleaned the wound with a Holy Water and bandaged it, why? She told me that she wasn't allergic to it," she said nervously as she hid her sweaty hands behind her back.
"Did you swab the infection for testing?" Kadowaki asked. She picked up a Manila folder and pulled out a sheet of paper with Tessa's writing on it.
"I didn't feel it was necessary, but I did tell her to see you tomorrow," Tessa said quietly. "What did I do?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Cid said as he approached Tessa. "There's something you should see."
He turned and nodded to Dr. Kadowaki. The older woman walked to a large white curtain that was used to protect the privacy of the patients that needed to be kept for observations. She pulled back the curtain and Tessa gasped.
Erin was strapped down to a bed, wildly thrashing about and moaning. The sounds were so loud that Tessa wondered why she hadn't heard them when she first entered the infirmary. Even more worrisome was the fact that Erin's body was covered in large, open sores that oozed a green and yellow puss.
"What the hell is that?" Tessa asked. "She looked nothing like this when I treated her. And besides, how could any disease progress so quickly? It takes even the fastest of viruses at least two days to even enter the most minor of stages."
"I know," said Kadowaki as she took off her glasses and cleaned them on her jacket, which Tessa had become accustomed to witnessing. "However, we have to operate in the best interest of our students. Now, you said she fought a Catcherpillar this morning, do you know where?"
"All I can remember is that she said something about woods," Tessa said as she looked over Erin's body. "But isn't that on the form?"
"No," Dr. Kadowaki told her as she looked over the paper in her hands. "All it says about the fight is that it was with a Catcherpillar."
Tessa fidgeted, unsure of what to do until Cid spoke up. "Miss Matleo, try to remember what Miss Sans told you. Her life may depend on it."
"I'm sorry, all I can remember is that she fought a Catcherpillar in the woods," Tessa said regretfully. "That and that she stabbed it."
"So, somewhere in a wood on Balamb is a Catcherpillar with a stab wound," Cid said thoughtfully as he stroked his chin. "I'm sorry, I need to do something, excuse me."
Tessa watched as Cid walked away, then she looked to Dr. Kadowaki. "Is it from something I did?"
She shook her head and laid a hand on Tessa's shoulder sympathetically. "I doubt it, but it's always a possibility."
"I need to see something," Tessa said, and she moved away, letting Dr. Kadowaki's hand fall to into air. She walked to Erin and looked at the younger woman. Erin's dark hair fell around her shoulders, and her ears were rather large. But it was her eyes that drew Tessa. They were bloodshot and the irises had become and a deep red.
Tessa turned her head away and wiped her eyes, trying to control her breathing. It was neither the time nor the place to do what she eventually would have to. She looked at Dr. Kadowaki and continued her examination.
She lifted the skirt and looked at the bandage. "Could you get me some gloves, please?" Tessa asked the doctor.
"Am I an orderly?" Dr. Kadowaki asked irritably, but she retrieved a fresh pair of latex gloves from a nearby box anyway.
"Thanks," Tessa said as she took them from the doctor. She put the gloves on and began to remove the bandage as carefully as possible, which was difficult due to Erin's spasmodic movements. Who found her?"
"Her roommate found her unconscious in their bathroom. The sores didn't begin to appear until after she was brought here," Dr. Kadowaki told Tessa.
Tessa removed the bandage and walked to the medical waste can. She had stepped on the lever to lift the lid and was about to throw the bandage away when the Dr. Kadowaki cleared her throat.
"What?" Tessa asked.
Dr. Kadowaki shook her head. "Are you really going to throw that bandage out?"
"Yes?" Tessa said with great uncertainty. "Isn't that the medically responsible thing to do?"
"Weren't we just talking about your having not swabbed the wound?" said Kadowaki "Put the bandage in one of the jars and I'll examine it later. Now, continue with your examination, it'll be a good learning experience for you."
"Yes, Doctor," said Tessa. She lifted her foot and the lid slammed back down. It seemed to trigger a reaction in Erin because she stopped moving. Tessa held the bandage between the index finger and thumb of her left hand and grabbed a jar from a counter with her right.
She held the jar in place against her side with her left arm as she unscrewed the lid with her right hand. Tessa set the lid on the counter and grabbed the jar with her right hand. She dropped the bandage in the jar and set the jar on the counter. Then she picked up the lid and screwed it back on. Picking up a marker that laid nearby on the counter, Tessa wrote Erin's name on it.
"Impressive," Dr. Kadowaki said with a nod. "Go on."
Tessa walked back to Erin and looked at the wound, which seemed to have gotten worse in the hours since she had last seen it. "It looks familiar."
"What?" Dr. Kadowaki said in surprise. She strode to Tessa's side, trying to see what see had. "You've seen this before? I haven't, and I've been in this profession for far too many years."
"You've seen it, too," Tessa said with a look at the older woman. "You just don't remember. A few months ago, during my first week at Balamb Garden, the attack; don't you remember?"
"I remember, but what does this have to do with that?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, clearly clueless.
"See this blackened area where the skin is dead?" Tessa said as she traced the wound with her gloved finger. "It's surrounded by another ring of inflamed skin. I noticed it when I was examining the bodies. I remembered it because it was it was so unusual. I'm surprised you don't."
"That's because I didn't examine the bodies," Dr. Kadowaki said. "Headmaster Cid was worried and had them burned before I could. He never told me why, though."
Tessa widened her eyes in shocked. "Why would he…" but she didn't finish her sentence because the P.A. went off.
"Calling Squall Leonhart and Antessence Matleo to Headmaster Cid's office," Cid's voice rang out. "I repeat, calling Squall Leonhart and Antessence Matleo to Headmaster Cid's office."
"Go, I'll finish up here," Dr. Kadowaki said. "When you get back we'll look over the bandage together. I think it's just as important that you find out what's going on here as I."