A/N: Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's everybody! Sorry this took so long; I had my dad's birthday, Christmas, and my birthday last month, so it was busy. Not to mention I now have a Wii, and so have been playing New Blood for the past few days. And let me tell you, I'm going to play the majority of this game on Easy mode, as it's MUCH harder on the Wii than it is on the DS...
Also, thanks to my friend Ruth, as she beta'd this! This was the hardest chapter to write so far, so I hope you guys enjoy.
A pair of nurses wheeled Kari out of the O.R. and to her room in the ICU, leaving Derek, Angie, and Victor to find and speak with the Kasal family. According to the nurses, they saw the Kasals rushing towards the bathrooms with Cybil looking ready to puke—Greg looked pretty terrible too, they added. "I hope they're okay," Derek muttered.
"Let's just hope Cybil isn't pregnant again," Victor said, earning himself a slap from Angie. Derek sighed. They walked for a few more minutes before running into Sidney, who leaned against the wall. Two bathrooms were to his right, presumably where Cybil and Greg were. His head was leaned back, eyes shut, and his arms crossed.
"Chief Kasal, are Dr. Kasal and Dr… uh… Kasal all right?" Derek asked. "We heard that they weren't looking so good."
Sidney dropped his arms to his sides before pushing himself off the wall. He glowered at the three of them, but his eyes focused more on Derek. "Food poisoning," he said, quickly dropping his glare and letting out a long breath. "They'll be fine."
"I-I'm glad! I mean… I'm glad that they're going to be fine, not that they're sick…" Derek suddenly realized that maybe, just maybehe wouldn't be well received for prioritizing the abscesses over Kari's cardiac arrest.
A door swung open and Cybil walked out, her eyes lined with exhaustion. Her expression didn't change as she looked from Sidney to Derek, Angie, and Victor. She had just one thing to say: "Is she okay?" Her voice was hushed and a little raspy, but loud enough to hear.
"She's alive," Angie said, smiling. "She's back in her room, resting."
"Oh thank God..." Cybil wiped her eyes as she fought back a second wave of tears. "Thank you—just thank you."
"Tch. Don't thank any of us yet. Angie gave you the good news, not the bad." Victor glared at Angie, who glared right back at him. "What? We don't have time to coddle their damn feelings."
"There's a difference between coddling and breaking things gently!"
"Angie, don't—"
"All three of you—quiet! Is this how professionals act in front of a patient's family?" Sidney snapped, his eyes narrowing into slits. "No more arguing. That's final." He spoke calmer now, but there was still a venomous edge to his words. Sighing, he glanced at Cybil, his eyes filled with pity. Their eyes met—Her eyes… They're still so red…—but only for a moment before they met the eyes of the three standing before them.
Victor huffed, his nails digging into his palms as he balled his hands into fists. "Whatever. Chastising us doesn't change the fact that we still have bad news."
"I'm sure it can wait until Greg's here to hear it."
"Whatever."
"Victor—"
"Yes sir, understood sir."
"Thank you. I'm going to check on Greg, so if you'll excuse me…" Sidney backpedaled a few feet so that he stood in front of the men's bathroom. He knocked and called out, "Greg? Are you all right in there?" No response. "Greg?" Sidney's hand went to the doorknob just as it swung open. He looked up to see that Greg's smiling, pallid face inches away from his. Unfortunately, Greg's sour vomit-breath didn't respect the space between them.
"Don't even think about telling me how amazing I look."
"I'm more concerned about your breath."
Chuckling, Greg shoved Sidney to the side and moved next to Cybil. His eyes met Derek's, his smile vanishing. "Derek?"
"Yes?" Derek asked, shifting his weight from leg to leg, uneasiness settling in his stomach.
"Thank you for everything you did in that O.R…."
"Oh Dr. Kasal, it was nothing—"
"…but if Kari's heart stops ever again, no matter how much I pray it won't, I'd suggest not waiting so long to restart it. Otherwise, she might not be the only one in need of a doctor."
Color drained from Derek's face, leaving him as pallid-looking as Greg was. Cybil rolled her eyes and smacked Greg's arm. "Stop trying to scare him, Greg." When he chuckled and stroked his chin, she slapped him again.
"Oh, fine," he said, wrapping his arm around Cybil's her waist and pulling her close.
Sighing, Sidney shook his head as he stepped next to Cybil. "Derek, wipe that terrified look off of your face. And Greg… They have some news to tell us. Start with the good news."
"Y-Yes, well…" Derek cleared his throat, struggling to regain his composure now with all eyes on him. "Kar—The patient survived the operation. She was transferred to her room in the ICU after we successfully removed almost half of the GUILT."
"Almost half," Cybil repeated. "Almost half… So you didn't remove all of the Paraskevi? The GUILT that MIGRATES from the small intestine to the heart if not removed?"
"Dr. Stiles did remove the Paraskevi that threatened her heart," Angie assured her. "However, three pieces of the Paraskevi went deeper into the organ and morphed into Tetarti before Dr. Stiles could remove them."
"Tetarti…?" No, Greg thought, No, no, no!"How can Paraskevi morph into Tetarti? They aren't even similar strains!"
"If you'd stop shouting and give me a chance to dumb it down for you, then you'd have your answer."
"Victor…" Sidney warned. "Remember what I told you."
"Yeah, yeah; whatever," he grumbled, ignoring the glares Greg and Cybil gave him. "The patient has a mutated strain of GUILT; a combination of Paraskevi and Tetarti. Even before the Tetarti showed itself we found abscesses everywhere the Paraskevi went, and before Derek could remove the final three pieces of Paraskevi they fled into the liver and reemerged as Tetarti.
"I'm going to guess that former GUILT patients have a GUILT 'gene' inside of them, which is passed down to their children. Considering that there have been no reported cases of anything else like this, I'm going to assume that it's a recessive, generally inactive gene. Meaning had one of you not had GUILT there's a chance that your daughter wouldn't either."
Cybil shut her eyes and moved away from Greg, pressing her hands against her mouth. She tried to speak but no words came out. Her chest constricted, burning with pain. Angie moved to Cybil's side and put an arm around her, but Cybil stepped back, shaking her head.
"So she has GUILT because of us?" Greg asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Guilt clawed at his chest. It hurt to breathe and again his eyes stung from unshed tears. "It's our fault?"
"Greg, don't go there," Sidney warned. "It's Delphi's fault, not yours and notCybil's."
"How can you be so sure?" Cybil asked. "If… If I'd just been more careful when I fought with Blackwell—"
"Don't even go there!" Angie exclaimed. "My father was armed—anyone would have been watching his gun instead of looking for a small needle."
"But I was a cop Angie, I knowto watch for other weapons they have…"
"So what, you wish you'd gotten shot?" Victor sneered. "If he shot you then you probably would've died that night and your daughter would neverhave existed. Don't you think a small chance of life is better than none at all?
Derek nodded. "They're right! No one has written Kari off as dead yet. I can still cure her GUILT once she's recovered enough for another operation."
"If she recovers," Greg hissed. "She's not even a year old yet! How do you expect her to survive another operation, assuming she even recovers from her first? She's just… She's just a baby, Derek, a baby. And, because of some bad luck on her parents' behalf, she might not live to see her first birthday."
"Greg, stop it." Sighing, Sidney adjusted his glasses. "I understand how grave the situation is, but you need to understand that Kari is in good hands. You too, Cybil." He made brief eye contact with Greg, then Cybil, before continuing. "As hard as this is… you need to have faith in Dr. Stiles and his abilities. He's saved both your lives. I have no doubts that he can save Kari's life too."
"I hope you're right about that." Greg was too tired to argue. All he could think about now was Kari and the possibility of losing her. Watching her waste away in that little crib of hers, or waking up to the sound of doctors panicking as Kari entered cardiac arrest again, dying suddenly.
When silence fell over the group Cybil took a deep breath and straightened herself, putting all that she had into calmly saying, "Can we see her? I need to see that she's okay."
Angie nodded. "Of course! Dr. Stiles, after we check on the patient you should get some rest. Now, you three just follow me and I'll take you to her room."
"Count me out; I need to get started on the treatment plan for the patient's Tetarti. Later." Victor quickly made his way away from the group, going the opposite way the others had to go. Sidney rolled his eyes at how work-oriented Victor was, but understood the urgency.
"I have something to attend to as well, but I'll drop by and visit once I've made a few calls." After bidding them adieu Sidney left, taking the same path as Victor had back to his office. Greg was clearly disappointed that Sidney left so soon, his head hung as they followed Derek and Angie to the ICU. Cybil brought Greg's hand up to her lips and kissed it.
"I love you."
He leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too."
Kari's room was large; much too large for a patient so tiny. Where a full sized bed would be for an older patient there was an incubator. Beside the incubator there was a heart monitor and an IV stand, a bag of clear liquid hanging from it. A tank of oxygen rested on the rack beneath the incubator.
After gowning up, the four entered the room with Greg and Cybil going in first. They rushed to their daughter's side, both unable to hide their grimaces. Maybe it was the surplus of bandages wrapped around their daughter's abdomen, or maybe it was the IV jammed into her left foot—it could have even been the tube shoved up her nose that made it hard to look.
"You know, I never expected to see her sleeping like this," Greg murmured, reaching in and stroking Kari's face. "I'm used to her flopping around for an hour before finally going to sleep."
"Just like her Daddy," Cybil whispered, giggling. "I can't wait to see that again."
"You're not the only one."
From the doorway, Angie giggled and leaned her head against Derek's shoulder. "I'm so happy to see them smiling."
"Uh… Angie? We're wearing masks. You can't see anyone'ssmile."
"Never mind that; let's check up on our patient." Angie trotted over to Kari's bedside. Derek followed after her, sighing. "How's the little sweetie?"
"She seems to be just fine." Greg removed his hand from the incubator, letting Cybil take a turn. "When will the Tetarti treatment be administered?"
"Victor's working on a treatment plan for her," Angie answered, her eyes glued to the monitors. "He'll have it finished shortly. I doubt we'll have to do more than one transfusion until then."
"That's great to hear." Cybil glanced back at Greg, who stared blankly ahead. "Greg? … It's good to hear, rightGreg?"
"Dr. Kasal!"
Greg jerked back, suddenly snapping back to reality. "What? Oh, I—sorry. I guess being sick and not eating anything since breakfast really isn't a good idea." He laughed only to receive strange looks from the others.
"Greg, if you're really that hungry then I can stay with Kari while you go get something to eat."
"No Cybil, I'm fine. Besides, you have to be hungry by now too. You get something to eat." Cybil went to protest but Greg cut her off by saying, "Don't argue with me. Remember: I'm a Kasal."
"More like a mule." Cybil looked down at Kari, her chest aching at the thought of leaving her daughter for one more minute, but Greg had a point. She was hungry and eventually she would have to eat. "Fine," she grumbled. "But when I come back you better go without a fight."
Greg raised his hands in surrender. "Cross my heart."
Cybil rolled her eyes and smacked Greg's chest before leaving, thoughts of food already drifting through her mind; a welcome distraction from her other thoughts. With her gone Greg's shoulders slumped. Groaning wearily, he rubbed his eyes before letting his arms drop to his sides. "This is definitely a day to remember."
"Dr. Kasal…"
"Derek, don't; just listen. You too, Angie." He pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed in deep, exhaling slowly. "I want to thank you both again for operating on Kari. If you hadn't there is no doubt in my mind that she would've died on that table. But as we all know, there's still a good chance she won't make it. That's why I'm asking you two if you even want to be her doctors."
"What? You can't be serious!" Angie exclaimed. "Why would you even think to ask us that?"
"…are you prepared for the pain it will bring you?"
"Dr. Stiles, what are you—"
"Angie, Derek knows what I'm talking about, or at least part of it. Are you two prepared for the pain it will bring you, if Kari doesn't make it?" His eyes betrayed the seriousness of his voice; instead of portraying the same seriousness as his tone, they begged for help. "I'm going to guess and say that neither of you have performed serious and invasive operations on an infant before."
"No," Derek admitted, "and I understand what you are getting at. However, I will never abandon any patient of mine. no matter the circumstances."
"I'm not abandoning her either. Dr. Sti—Derekand I are a team. Neither of us will quit as long as the other is willing to keep trying."
"And if you lose her? What then?"
"We won't, and that's final." Derek chuckled and put his hands on his hips, a habit from his youth he had all but kicked. "Besides, she is a Kasal. She proved that much in the O.R. today."
"So don't focus on us Dr. Kasal. Instead focus on what you'll do when you bring Kari home."
Greg stared at Derek and Angie, his eyes now narrowed. Derek shifted uncomfortably underneath Greg's gaze while Angie met it with one of her own. After probably the longest minute of Derek's life, Greg finally nodded. "Thank you. I needed to know that you two weren't going into this with second thoughts. Now please… please, do everything you can to help Kari."
"I wouldn't do anything less."
"And I wouldn't expect anything less, from either of you." Stroking his chin, Greg asked, "Now Derek, weren't you going to go rest?"
"O-oh yeah, I forgot…"
"Dr. Stiles, with everything you forget I'm sure you would lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body." Angie grabbed Derek by the shoulders and steered him towards the door. "Now go rest! What use are you if you're too tired to work?"
"Yeesh Angie! I'm going, I'm—ow, watch it! You have sharp nails!"
With their backs finally to him, Greg turned around and finally acknowledged the cold sweat running down his back and forehead. He hastily wiped his brow, thankful that no one had apparently noticed—and if they had, they likely chalked it up to his food poisoning. Whichever it was, he was thankful for it.
He turned around in time to see Angie march back over. "He's as stubborn as a mule!" She threw her arms in the air and continued her rant, listing all of the things Derek did that irritated her. And of course Greg listened, allowing himself to laugh every few minutes, patiently waiting for her to turn her back again so he could wipe his forehead once more.
