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Chapter 4: A Simple Check-up
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"Say ahh…" George ordered me once I sat down on one of the chairs inside his office. The room was as of expected, immaculate and well-organized. My first impression of George was that he was a man of great caliber, dignity, respect, and besides the three, a total neat-freak, but in a good way. Surely all of these accolades match his almost-perfect personality very well.
"I'm not a kid anymore, doctor. You could just tell me to open my mouth," I said, rolling my eyes. I opened my mouth afterwards without releasing any sound, especially "Ah", but Claire still laughed as she stared at me.
"You know, when I met you the first time back at Rockfort, you behaved about seven to eight years younger than your current age," She said, with an annoying grin flashed across her face, "and I do believe you still need to be treated as a child."
I closed my mouth and grunted, Claire was being trying to be ingenious again, but at least she thought about making jokes now than having the constant worry about me. My anger died down immediately at that realization, and diverted my attention back to George.
"I apologize, Mr. Burnside. I'm not a doctor, actually. I'm a surgeon," George said as he inserted the tongue depressor inside my mouth, "I rarely get to do this, and when I do, it's mostly on children with the ages of eight to twelve years old." He turned on a small flashlight and thoroughly inspected the inside of my gaped mouth. Afterwards, he removed it and started writing on a chart that was neatly placed on one of the tables.
He then clenched the chest piece of the stethoscope that was around his neck, and walked towards me again. He grabbed the end of my shirt and pulled it up, revealing my broad, well-built chest. Claire's face starting glowing with a shade of red from the sight, and she turned around, facing away from us.
"Know what type of medical process of examination this is?" George asked as he planted the chest piece of the stethoscope on the surface of my chest.
"Yeah, I think it's called… Aucultation?" I guessed.
"Auscultation," he said, emphasizing the first three letters, especially the letter s which I missed, "but I'm glad you have at least some knowledge about these. You take regular check-ups, right?" He asked, and finally he removed the chest piece off of my chest and headed to the table again, and continued to write on his chart.
"Yeah, I do." In Rockfort Island anyway, I had one every single day, the staff there were a bit too paranoid. But it's quite ironic that their extreme paranoia didn't really help them when Wesker came and caused the outbreak of the T-virus.
I went through numerous check-ups aside from the auscultation, even up until leaving the office and the use of the MRI. It took a while, but finally we were back at the office, all three of us seated, waiting patiently for George to finish what he was writing on his chart.
"Alright then, we're done." He said as he raised his chart and held it firmly in between his left arm and hand. I didn't notice that Claire had already faced us again, her blush now completely gone from her cheeks.
"The only thing odd I found out about you is your heart rate. It seems to be beating ten times faster than the average," he said as he gazed at the chart, his face filled with amazement. Ten times faster? That's abnormality right there, and is clearly an effect of the T-Veronica virus.
"But… I don't feel strange at all. I'm not even tired," I said, and when I spat out the word tired, I remembered. Dehydration… Exhaustion… Those symptoms were evident on my body when I used this hidden "power", or might I say, "Curse" inside of me.
"Wait, I did feel a bit tired whenever I used..." I stopped midway, after recalling what Claire said. Don't use your powers out on public, she ordered, and particularly, I could easily derive the sentence into "Don't tell anyone about your powers" as it is related with each other anyway.
"Its okay, Steve. Go ahead," Claire said. She must have remembered her speech to me about my "powers", and she was okay with it.
"Alright, Claire," I said, and faced George once again, "You see, doctor, the increase of heart rate wasn't the only change I received when I was injected with the T-Veronica virus. I've also received…" I tried to think of a better word than power, but I failed, so I continued, "Powers, from it."
"Powers? What types of powers?" George asked, intrigued by my speech.
"I guess, I have Superman's immense strength, The Flash's quick reflexes, and finally, the ability to generate fire from an unknown liquid, which came from a villain rather than a hero, Alexia Ashford. She isn't from the comic books though, she's real as heck. Alexia was the one who created this T-Veronica virus, and is also infected by it as well. And besides that, she had an unstoppable desire of ruling the world, which I find very weird by the way."
After examining his actions when he heard every single thing I have told him, he had deeply thought about it. "Okay… So…" he stopped and placed the ends of his fingers onto his forehead. He was absolutely speechless from what I've said, but who wouldn't? I was a freak, honestly speaking, and besides that, it surpasses reality in an aspect that it wasn't believable by a majority of people.
"Here's another thing as well," I interrupted, well, sort of interrupted, "When you get injected with the T-Veronica virus immediately, without giving the virus time to adapt on your body through cryogenic sleep, you automatically lose your sanity and intelligence, otherwise your whole humanity itself."
Claire applauded when she heard my explanation. "Bravo, Steve! I didn't know you could explain things like that intelligently."
I frowned at her, but she still continued to grin at me mockingly. I ignored her and tried to finish my statement. "But I was injected by this virus without time to adapt, and yes, I mutated due to that, but I guess I had very strong willpower, since I fought off my involuntary actions of trying to kill Claire, and I saved her."
Claire's mocking grin had evolved into a comfortable smile, and stared at me straight on, patiently waiting for the rest of my story. "Afterwards I went back to my normal self, which I do admit, I have no idea at all on how it happened, but I'm pretty glad about it."
"Wait, so, you mutated? And you turned back to normal after you fought it off? Wow, this is very interesting, Mr. Burnside." He started rubbing his chin, and from the looks of it, thoughts were spiraling through his head non-stop.
"So, what do we do now?" I said, uneager to continue watching him think. "Wait just a moment," he replied.
George dropped the chart he was holding onto the table and went over to a rack filled with different types of medicines and fumbled clumsily, searching for something that is perhaps essential as a solution for our current problem. Seconds later, clutched inside his hand was a vial containing an unknown, yellowish liquid.
Before Claire could ask, however, George asked, "This is completely confidential and not a word must be said about this, do you understand?"
Both of us nodded, and since he said it was confidential, the desire of finding out what it really was has heightened to an extent that we would desperately do anything for him if he changes his mind.
"This vial that I'm holding right here is called Daylight, and is the only known cure for the T-virus."
Shock had struck both of us, our chins dropped and eyes widened at the very sound of it.
"T-virus… Cure?" Claire said incredulously, unconvinced by what he had said.
"Yes. One of my colleagues in the Raccoon City University had found out how to create one. After me and a few other survivors had synthesized two for each of us, one for our own consumption and another for our personal needs, we left the premises of the university just before it had been blown into pieces by a bomb. We were unable to get the synthesis notes, though."
"So wait," Claire said, "you're telling me, that's the very cure of the T-virus itself, and you did not decide to announce it to the public yet, even though you clearly know that it will no doubt help the very foundation of mankind and the prevention of another biohazard, like what recently happened in Rockfort Island?" I could sense an anger growing inside of Claire as she said those words.
"We did not announce it for our own protection, Miss Redfield. Umbrella is after it, and we were hunted down by possibly an assassin of Umbrella just because we had possession of this very cure. For now, it's safe to say that we still need to keep it as a secret, up until Umbrella has completely died down, and I'm predicting that Umbrella will be gone soon since the government is constantly blaming them for the virus outbreak."
A moment of silence swept between them as I stood by as a spectator of their conversation. George cleared his throat, and spoke once again. "I cannot easily identify its components though as I need a proper laboratory to do that, nor is it my field of study. I could not risk exposing this to any other people, especially other scientists. Now, we do know that simply, the T-Veronica is just another strain of the T-virus. Meaning, they both have the same genus but not the same species. Daylight is only meant for the T-virus itself, but, if I could alter it somehow, it could probably be able to cure the T-Veronica virus instead."
"How are you going to do that without the access of a laboratory?" Claire asked, now calm and less volatile.
"Both of you could leave that to me. I'll try whatever I can to succeed, so both of you could go on ahead and relax. I do not need any help, so if you feel a bit ashamed, don't be, since I don't really care at all since it does not affect me badly too much. Plus, I am quite intrigued in studying this virus, and the first step would be finding a cure for it," George said, and then he placed the vial of the Daylight inside a small rack.
"Thank you so much, doctor," Claire said, overrun by a vast amount of contentment. "Thanks, George," I said, not letting myself to be left out of the whole thing.
"No prob-"Before he could finish, the door opened and distracted all of us.
Our visitor was a woman, clad in a simple blue sweater and light-colored jeans. Her hair was also tied into a ponytail like Claire's, except it was blonde and was more neatly brushed. Her facial features were magnificent and lovely, and any man would instantly have, at least, a small amount of affection towards her at first glance. She nervously held a grocery bag in-between both of her smooth-looking arms, arms that shook so slowly that they were barely visible.
"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something? I'll just… Wait outside." She closed the door behind her, and the tone of her voice was enough to show that she was ashamed from interrupting us.
"Sorry, that was Cindy Lennox. She's another one of the group of survivors that I was in during the Raccoon City incident," George introduced, "She's a bit shy, but she's actually very friendly and kind. I better go on ahead and talk to her now. But first, I'll need your contact numbers. That way, I'll call you once I'm done with the cure."
George tore off a piece of paper from a whole pad paper and grabbed the pen that clung onto his front pocket. He gave both the paper and pen to Claire, who immediately started writing once she had taken it from his hands. George rushed out of the room, his face a bit perplex from my own perspective.
I stared at the digital clock that lay on the table. It was 12:23, about twenty minutes after lunch time. We've been here for nearly two hours, I didn't notice at all that time was moving so fast while we were inside this hospital.
"Let's get going, Steve," Claire said after she tapped my shoulders. I nodded, and went outside the door.
What we saw surprised me. George and Cindy stood there, only an inch apart, kissing passionately. They were completely unaware that both of me and Claire were standing just behind them; their attention fully concentrated into the constant contact of their lips with amazing compassion.
So, both of them had a relationship. And, both were too in love with each other that they'll actually kiss each other in public. I looked at Claire, and she looked at me. It was like we were thinking the same thing…
Jealousy.
We were both envious of them, they were a perfect couple. Me and Claire… We haven't even kissed once ever since we first met, but I knew very well that a romantic connection exists between both of us.
But still, I was happy for George, and Claire must be thinking the same thing with Cindy. And come to think of it, our pair does have some similarity with theirs. Their love was ultimately created at a time where they are surrounded by despair and death, almost like how our own love formed back then.
"Ahem," Claire finally interrupted. Their kiss was almost endless, and we couldn't just stand there and watch until the world would come to an end.
They separated instantly once they heard Claire, both of them blushing, completely embarrassed.
"Here, George." Claire handed over the paper she wrote in to George, who gladly took it from her. "Th-thanks," He stuttered.
"Nice to meet you, Cindy. We have to go now, bye you two." Claire winked at Cindy, and then turned around, heading for the elevator.
"Thanks again George," I thanked him, "Good luck, both of you." I smiled at them before following Claire to the elevator. There, they stood idly when I glanced back at them, their expressions cheerful beyond any other I've ever seen. I couldn't help but grin at how adorable the two were, even for a guy like me. I entered the elevator, and the only person inside was Claire who held up the elevator door for me.
It was quiet inside. I wanted to talk to Claire badly, but that discouraging feeling I had when I was inside that truck had returned. I found myself just standing there, but I shook my head. It struck me: it was time to get rid of this feeling; it was time to confront her.
"Claire," I said nervously, "so… Want to get a burger or something?"
Crap. Just crap. The time I talk, all I was thinking about was food. It was lunch time anyway, but what the hell was I thinking?
"Sure, I guess we could spare some time. Let's also bring one home for Sherry as well." Claire did not glance at me as she said those words, but at least, she accepted my offer.
It was officially our very first, zombie-free date.
-End of Chapter 4
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AN: It's really weird that I get a bit lazy when I get to the ending parts of my chapters, and sometimes it's the whole chapter already. I know chapters two, three, and even this one is a bit messy (and contains some typos/mistakes here and there). I'll try and find time to rewrite or edit them later on.
Drackwolf: I've always wanted to use George (and Cindy) in this fanfic since he's my favorite character in the Outbreak series (Cindy's my second favorite or my most favorite female character out of all the others). And besides that… It's pretty much evident that they have some love connection with each other. :)