Chapter Thirteen
"Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
John 11:3
Sennett got up late for work but it didn't matter. She didn't have tutorials to take until the afternoon. Silas was still asleep and likely to be all day as he had been awake all the previous night driving.
Sennett hopped on a bus to St John Street carrying the precious samples with her. There was a DNA Lab there she could submit the samples to. She had already spoken to one of department heads there late the previous week about how rare one of the samples was, so the lab was aware there was a need to take special care.
She had been tempted to approach one of the lecturers at Oxford for advice on how to go about the DNA testing but decided against it. The fewer people who knew, the better.
"We are not sure if there is a hereditary relationship between these two people. That is what we are trying to establish. As you can see, the bones are very old but we managed to get some hair samples too," Sennett said seriously to the middle-aged woman who headed up the department dealing with DNA testing unrelated to the standard paternity tests.
The woman examined the samples with an expert eye. "I think you may have enough there to go on and get a quite accurate result. Has there been any contamination?" she asked.
"Not that I'm aware of," Sennett replied honestly, "How long will you need?"
"Standard paternity tests take 2-3 weeks because of the sheer number we do. Because this is a slightly out of the ordinary case handled by a less busy section, I would imagine between 5 and 7 working days at the most," the department head said confidently.
"What is the accuracy rate?" Sennett asked.
"Because one of the samples is obviously so old, it's really hard to say. It depends on the quality of the DNA we can extract. In modern cases where we are trying to establish relationship other than paternity, it's roughly 99 or greater," she replied.
Sennett nodded. That was better news than she had been hoping for. She left her contact details at the lab and went on to work.
Once she got there, she quickly went through a pile of first year assignments she was marking for her Roman History subject tutorial. She could tell on first reading which students had done proper research and had good deductive minds. All the material they had available to them for research, Sennett had read or used herself at some point of her own study. Some had obviously been very lazy with their research and they were the ones awarded the worst marks.
Around 11am, Sennett realized she didn't feel very well. Absent-mindedly, she felt her forehead with one hand. Dammit, she thought, the fever is back.
Digging around in her bag, she took out some paracetamol. Sometimes that would work to get rid of the fever. If not, she had an arsenal of other medication in her bag.
She hoped her illness was not flaring up. She hated how it slowed her down when it did.
An hour later, when the paracetamol hadn't taken away the fever, Sennett dug around in her bag again and took out some codeine. She quickly swallowed two of the strong tablets and sighed. She got tired of being sick.
That evening when she got home, she found Seraphim visiting with Silas. Silas looked more contented than she had ever seen him.
"Would you like to stay for dinner, Master?" Sennett said welcomingly, "It's steak and kidney pie."
"Oh, yes please," Seraphim said with pleasure. He liked company for dinner as he too lived alone.
It turned into a congenial evening. Sennett served some wine with dinner which made the Bishop more voluble and Silas more relaxed. Silas even cracked a half smile when Seraphim and Sennett went off into gales of laughter over Seraphim's description of something that had happened during an Orthodox service he was presiding over.
"Would you like to see the icons in the Dormitian and All Saints Cathedral?" Seraphim asked Silas kindly.
Silas' eyes lit up with interest, "Yes please," he said immediately.
"I'll take you there one night later this week. I know the custodian and he will let us in," Seraphim said, quite well aware that Silas was in hiding.
Sennett thought it was good for Silas to have something to look forward to; otherwise he could get very depressed waiting to heal completely.
The Bishop left at around 10pm hopping on a bus just a few metres down the road.
"Will you be safe?" Silas asked anxiously. He felt protective of his new friend.
"Perfectly safe. It's not far and I catch the bus at night all the time. It's very well lit where I live," Seraphim said truthfully, "I've never had a single problem."
Seraphim reflected that Silas didn't trust the world which was hardly surprising. Having spoken to Silas a little about his early life that day, it was obvious that there really was no-one who had proven themselves trustworthy in Silas' life. That he was able to form any kind of friendship with himself and Sennett, however guarded, was rather miraculous.
Still, Seraphim had doubts that Silas would ever be able to have completely normal relationships. However, there was something endearing about his naivety about so many things.
Seraphim popped around again on Wednesday night to take Silas to the Cathedral.
Sennett waved them off. They would be gone for at least a couple of hours. Silas was no trouble but it was nice to have her flat back to herself for a short while. On the other hand, she had the feeling it was going to seem very empty after Silas decided what he wanted to do and moved on.
She took some codeine. She had been taking them like candy since Monday – two every four hours. It was the only way to stop herself burning up. The rash was back on her face too. Ironically, the colour across her cheeks made her look healthy but it was really a symptom of the disease. If the headaches got worse, she might have to take a day or two off work as well.
She glanced at the clock. It was 9pm. Silas had his key. She might turn in for the night. Rest did help a lot.
Friday afternoon, the Bishop popped by briefly to see Silas and drop off some pamphlets on the icons Silas had seen on Wednesday. Silas' eyes had nearly popped out of his head when he saw the ornate and beautiful Cathedral. Silas had seen many beautiful Catholic Cathedrals but the Orthodox architecture had a totally different feel.
It had given Seraphim great pleasure to see the genuine awe and interest in Silas' face. He loved the Cathedral and loved to share it with others who appreciated it.
"Sennett would probably like you to stay for dinner," Silas said diffidently.
"Sennett is very hospitable but I won't stay today and make her cook for an extra person. She's not well, you know," he added distractedly, sorting through the pamphlets.
Silas went very still and felt very strange. He felt so strange that he couldn't even identify or name the feeling. Once again, he felt suspended in time and reality.
"What do you mean Sennett isn't well?" Silas said. His voice sounded low and grating as it always did when in the grip of some strong emotion.
Seraphim glanced up bemusedly. "Hasn't Sennett told you? She's got a chronic disease called Lupus. Sometimes she's very sick," the Bishop said.
"No, I didn't know," Silas said, an odd expression on his face. "What is Lupus?"
"Oh, you'll have to ask Sennett. I don't know much about it. She doesn't talk about it a great deal. She's only been diagnosed for less than two years, I believe," Seraphim said.
"Is it fatal?" Silas asked light-headedly.
"It can be but usually isn't from what she's told me. Modern medicine has progressed a lot in its treatment," the Bishop said mildly.
All Silas heard was, "It can be".
Seraphim gave Silas the pamphlets and began speaking to him about them. Silas was interested in what the Bishop was saying but the greater part of his mind was taken up with the news that Sennett wasn't well.
He had noticed that some nights she looked very tired but she had never said anything. Why hadn't she said something?
Seraphim had some tea with Silas and then at around 5pm, he left with promises to bring Silas Holy Communion on Sunday. If he noticed that Silas was distracted, he gave no signs of it. Then again, Silas was used to hiding his emotions from others.
When Sennett came in that night, Silas watched her carefully. She did look tired. There was an expression of resignation at the back of her dark eyes that Silas had not noticed before.
Over a dinner of Tuna Mornay (being a Friday), Silas asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"
Sennett did a quick scan of his face, "Was Seraphim here again today?" she asked, avoiding the question.
"Yes, he mentioned it. You never mentioned it; why not?" he persisted.
Sennett's dark eyes went to her plate, "What could you do about it even if I had told you?" she asked quietly.
"I could have helped around here more," he suggested, glancing around the tidy flat.
"You're badly injured, Silas. You need to rest and get completely healed up," Sennett said simply, "Besides, I usually get someone in to clean. I'm not at the moment because the fewer people who know you're here, the better."
"What is Lupus?" he asked with a frown.
"It's an autoimmune disease. My immune system is over-active and confused. It's attacking my own tissues - my own cells. It's not contagious and no-one knows what causes it," Sennett said with a shrug.
"What are the symptoms?" Silas asked, still frowning.
"They are legion and totally unpredictable. The most common are fatigue, headaches, fevers, a rash and rheumatoid arthritis. I'm in the 30 percent that also have hair loss and are photosensitive," Sennett said.
Silas knew what photosensitivity was. All Albinos had it too. Once again, he and Sennett were unexpectedly alike. They were both creatures of the dark, unable to go out into the sun. He glanced at her dark, glossy hair. He had never noticed it was any thinner than anyone else's. Unlike cancer treatment, it obviously didn't cause complete hair loss.
"Seraphim said it could be fatal," Silas said stiffly.
"Very rarely," Sennett said dismissively, "Most people with Lupus will live an almost normal life span thanks to modern drugs and treatment."
Sennett didn't choose to discuss how the disease could affect almost any major organ of her body, with the kidneys being a particular danger area.
Silas felt a little better but he made up his mind to help Sennett wherever he could.
That night when he went to bed, he lay awake contemplating his odd reaction to the news that Sennett was ill. The information was a profound shock to him and he had felt quite light-headed and disconnected when he heard it. He realized that Sennett had become an anchor for him when his whole life had fallen apart. If he lost Sennett, then he would be completely at sea once more.
Unlike those who had anchored him in the past, she asked nothing of him. He was not used to that kind of freedom. He was aware of how much he owed her and now, even more painfully aware of how much he depended on her during this time.
Once again, Silas went to sleep with tears on his face.