Chapter 6:

"Miss Dinkley?"

Velma stirred as she heard Nurse Hawthorne address her. She wasn't asleep, just very, very deep in thought.

"Miss Dinkley, you have a visitor..."

"Daphne left already..." Velma answered, not really processing what the nurse had said.

"It's not Daphne!"

Velma turned her head at the sound of Shaggy's voice.

"Shaggy?"

"Like... hi..."

Velma blinked. Shaggy had never visited her by himself before-- not the first time she was sick, and not this time. Daphne obviously came over as often as she could, and occasionally Fred, being the perfect team leader that he was, would drop in. Scooby's absences were understandable-- Mystery Inc. loathed the hospital's "no dogs" policy by this point. Shaggy only came when the rest of Mystery Inc. was coming, which was fine-- group visits were frequent and Velma understood that Shaggy hated doing anything alone.

But now, out of the blue, Shaggy (Norville) Rogers was visiting her.

"Jinkies..." she muttered.

Shaggy laughed, nervously. "Like... I just wanted to talk to you... before Dr. Georgis got the chance..."

"Why?" What was Shaggy talking about?

"I dunno... I just thought it would be better if you heard it from me..."

"Heard what from you?"

Shaggy paused, then pronounced firmly, "Velma." He sat down at the foot of her bed.

"Velma... they found you a donor..."

The news lifted her heart immediately. There was hope, all was not lost...

"Who is it?"

Shaggy looked embarrassed, but he was still smiling.

"Me."

He then proceeded to fill in the details.

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"May I help you?"

The secretary that very morning had been dolled up to the extreme-- too much makeup, too much blonde hair dye, too much nail polish. Not that Shaggy was paying much attention.

"I need to see Dr. Georgis..." Shaggy felt awkward in the waiting room. He really didn't like clinics or hospitals very much.

The secretary sighed. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No... this isn't about me, it's about one of his patients... Velma Dinkley?"

The secretary frowned and looked at him sternly. "Sir, I'm afraid a patient's medical record is strictly confidential. Dr. Georgis can't just give you free access--"

Shaggy groaned. "Listen--" He breathed in and tried to sound calmer. "Ma'am." That sounded better. "I already know about her condition; she's a friend of mine. I also know that right now they can't find a donor for her..." Shaggy was so absorbed he didn't notice anyone behind him.

"...and I have reason to believe it might be possible for me to be Velma's donor."

"And why is that?"

Shaggy whirled around, coming face-to-face with Dr. Georgis.

The secretary put on her this-man-is-bugging-me-please-get-rid-of-him look. "Doctor, this man was trying to see you, without an appointment. I told him--"

"It's all right, I was just leaving on my lunch break. I've got an hour, though," he said as he looked curiously at Shaggy, "if you would like to talk."

"Yeah, I would..." Shaggy told him, and Dr. Georgis led him to a private room in the back, to the shock and frustration of the secretary.

"May I have your name, sir?"

"Uh... Norville, Norville Rogers. But Velma calls me Shaggy. Most people do."

"Very well, then." Dr. Georgis looked at him. "Shaggy."

The doctor paced back and forth across the tile. "What exactly brings you here?"

"Doctor, I think I can be Velma's donor."

"Shaggy, donations are very complicated matters. Velma's type is extremely rare. Neither I nor the most qualified professionals in the field have ever seen it or anything like it before."

Shaggy didn't feel like another conversation like the one he had with Fred. "Listen... could you humor me? Just test me?"

Dr. Georgis sighed. "I could test you here... but it would involve taking a sample and--"

"I know, Doctor..." Shaggy gulped. He didn't look forward to the prospect of needles.

"And Mr. Rogers?" Shaggy knew by the doctor's use of his surname that this was serious. "Don't expect a miracle."

Shaggy nodded, but he did expect a miracle. He knew, somehow.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor returned from the lab, a dazed look on his face.

"Well, doc?"

"This... this is incredible!" The doctor looked ready to pass out. He leaned on the table as he came in. Then he smiled.

"Congratulations, Mr. Rogers."

Shaggy didn't even need to hear the next line.

"You are a match."

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"But how?" Velma marveled. When they hadn't even found her type amongst her relatives, how did someone like Shaggy share her marrow type?

Shaggy grinned, thinking back. "Velma... when I heard about the mutation, I couldn't help remembering that one mystery we solved... the one at the power plant in New Czechistan."

Velma thought back. Then her eyes lit up.

"Where those illegal experiments that tapped into the power supply temporarily--"

"--turned us into salamanders?" Shaggy laughed a little. Velma smiled herself.

"Actually, more like lizards, something felt distinctly reptilian about the transformation..." Then Velma shook herself.

"But Shaggy, we fixed those mutations, remember? We're human again."

"Maybe not entirely." Shaggy stood up. "Remember, while we were standing under the Correction Beam, we were in a hurry to change back so we could find Daphne and Fred, right?"

"Yeah..."

"We left as soon as we looked like our old selves. As soon as we looked like ourselves. But Velma, what if something changed on the inside that never changed back? That would explain your mutation, wouldn't it? And if so, it would make sense that I would have the same mutation..."

Velma nodded. Here was Shaggy, the slacker of the gang, filling in for Velma: He was explaining the exact details of a mystery, and he had solved it perfectly. Velma was proud of him.

"So you think that's why our types match?"

"Like what else could it be?" Back to Shaggy.

"You have a point." Velma yawned and leaned back against the pillow, drowsy from the chemo. "But Shaggy?" she called as he was leaving.

Shaggy stopped and turned around in the doorway. "Yeah, Velms?"

"I'm just trying to remember the mystery... I know we were looking for Fred and Daphne, since we hadn't really seen them since splitting up... but where were they?"

Shaggy laughed as he left. "You know... it beats me!"