I, ASSASSIN
Chapter Twenty
Doctor Harveaux was in his fifties it seemed to Remy, a gangly man, much more gangly than Jean-Luc, but with neater hair, a well-groomed moustache and an exquisite suit. The darkness of the man's hair made told Remy that it had to be dyed, there was a tiny hint of grey just at the roots.
The examination itself was simple, eyes, ears, nose, throat, temperature. A few rather straight forward questions. Marius stood over by the door, supervising; the doctor had requested he leave the room but Marius had insisted on standing by, as if he thought there might be a reason to hang around.
Like the possibility I may beg for the doc's help in getting out of here, Remy supposed. Remy would have been quite disappointed in Marius if the man really thought him that stupid.
Remy lay, reacting how the doctor wanted him to, and replying to everything as he was requested, sometimes feeling the need to look over towards Marius as if to query whether it was okay to answer.
"Tell me, Mr. LeBeau," the doctor said, "have you been outside of the country recently?"
"Not for months," Remy said, "In fact, maybe about a year..." he added.
"Participated in any activities that may have exposed you to any harmful bacteria? Swimming in swamp water...drinking unfiltered water?"
"No," Remy made a face.
"Nothing you can think of?"
Marius spoke up after a moment, "he's been huntin'."
Doctor Harveaux paused, he turned to look over his shoulder at Marius, "has he had contact with the animals?"
Remy felt sick to his stomach again at the thought of it, the thought of all those pigs on the conveyor. He turned quickly and retched into the bucket by his bed but nothing came up.
"He gutted an elk a few weeks ago, we took its meat and skin."
"You properly sanitized your hands afterwards?" the Doctor turned to look at Remy questioningly.
"I was in the middle of the goddamn woods," Remy muttered grumpily, feeling rather foul, "didn't exactly have access to anti-bacterial soap and a faucet."
"I see," Doctor Harveaux frowned for a moment, his expression deep. "I need to take some blood," he then announced, eyes roving over the various medications and equipment in his medical case and grabbing a pair of latex gloves. He pulled them on wriggling his fingers in an almost perverse way that oddly reminded Remy of the way a teenage boy might grab for the breasts of a prom date.
"What you need his blood for?" Marius asked, his voice sharp, his eyes squinting suspiciously.
The Doctor went about assembling a syringe out of a plastic barrel and a screw in needle from sterilized packets from his kit, "to test for zoonosis," he replied simply.
"What's that?" asked Remy tiredly.
"That," said the Doctor, "would be an infection disease that can be passed from animals to humans," he explained, "eatin' undercooked meat from a kill can cause it, as can any contact with their innards with out the proper sanitisation afterwards. All his symptoms suggest it could be somethin' caused by somethin' he killed. Had a few cases lately."
"Could I die?" Remy asked. He hated that he sounded almost hopeful when he asked this.
"No," chuckled the doctor, "we'll get you a good dose of antibiotics until we get the blood examined, probably find that if it's confirmed, you'll be on them for a good few weeks. Until then, you need to get plenty rest."
"He has stuff to do, he can't be restin' for weeks," Marius complained.
"Understand," said the Doctor as he took Remy's arm and began searching for a vein, expression full of concentration, "if he has what I think he has, he may be out of commission for a while, he'll be tired for a good time, best thing for him is rest and the antibiotics. I'll have the blood run up first thing tomorrow mornin', we should know soon enough."
Remy saw the disappointed look on Marius's face. He'd have to explain it to the Grand Master, he supposed, it'd be his head on the line for not ensuring Remy hadn't gotten ill ripping apart that beast.
Wincing as the needle went in, Remy glanced beyond Marius, seeing Bella Donna hanging outside, her expression worried.
"Thought I told you to go to bed," her father commanded.
"Daddy, it's only nine..."
"You got trainin' at five am with your grandpere, you better get your ass in bed now."
Bella Donna groaned, "I just wanted to see if Remy-"
"He's fine, now go to bed."
Remy felt sorry for the girl, she was trying to look out for him, much to her father's disdain. He was sure she'd be receiving much more criticism in privacy, especially if The Grand Master discovered she had feelings for Remy.
"Damn girl," Marius muttered as he came into the room fully and shut the door behind himself.
"She's just got a big heart, that's all," Remy supposed, his voice quiet.
"Yeah, well you better keep your focus and your hands off of her big heart and anything else of hers," he warned.
"Girl is like her mother," said Doctor Harveaux wistfully, a soft expression played about his face for a moment.
Remy raised his eyes to the doctor instead of watching the blood being taken. It appeared the doctor had known Bella Donna's mother. He wondered if she'd been a former patient, or an acquaintance in some other capacity.
"Her mother be appalled at the way she goes around speakin' to people," Marius responded.
"Yeah, she always was a very genteel lady. Sure she'd be dismayed to hear the way these young ones talk nowadays," the Doctor gave a chuckle.
Remy wondered why anyone like that would be remotely interested in settling and having children with Marius Boudreaux. He supposed opposites attracted sometimes.
"There we go," the doctor finished extracting the blood, "Hold that there," he instructed, placing a piece of sterile cotton against the red bleeding dot he'd left and pushing Remy's arm up to hold it in place. He took a prescription pad from his case and scribbled quickly, "You'll need to take this as soon as possible. If the test comes back positive for a zoonosis, I'll re-adjust the prescription."
"Thanks," Remy said weakly.
"In the meantime, just get bed rest and stay in quarantine. Don't participate in any sexual activity for a while; it can be passed. It's rare, but it can be passed with contact."
"Fine," Remy agreed, thinking that chance would be a fine thing.
The doctor packed up his medical kit, and he thrust the prescription into Marius's hands, "make sure he takes it," he instructed, and with that, he left the room.
Marius didn't even throw Remy a second look, he went to show the doctor the door as Remy slipped back down between the covers and settled.
It was barely moments later as Remy lay there in the room with his eyes closed that he heard the door squeaking open a little and soft footsteps approaching slowly.
"Your daddy told you to keep away," Remy said tiredly to Bella Donna, whose perfume suddenly seemed to surround him.
"He's talkin' to the doctor," Bella Donna replied quietly, climbing onto the bed beside him, her body lined up with his, her arm draped across him.
"You should keep away from me, Doc thinks I got somethin' contagious from handlin' animal guts."
"I don't care," Bella Donna kissed the back of his slightly sweaty neck and she pushed herself closer to his back, sighing softly.
Remy opened his eyes, he stared towards the windows, the last of the sunset showed the dirt from the rain on the window, making them seemed mottled. "You're only makin' this harder," He admitted.
"They can't stop us from-"
He turned and looked over his shoulder at her, "yes they can," he replied sternly, "they can and they will, and I ain't about to cross your father, and I definitely ain't gonna cross The Grand Master."
"Don't let him frighten you, he-"
"You don't get it, Belle," said Remy, "they're your family, they willin' to overlook your actions...but mine? I'm a threat. Doesn't matter how much potential I may have to be a great killer," he frowned, "I'll always have the potential to bring ruin and shame to this guild..."
"I don't care," Bella Donna said, more loudly this time, "I'm in love with you."
Remy blinked at her, he lay there on his back for a moment, gazing up at her. It was the first time she'd said it. He was positive it wasn't the first time a girl had said they loved him; there'd been many who had temporary infatuations who had blurted the words out so easily and desperately to him before.
However, he was positive that Bella Donna may be the only girl who had ever in his lifetime meant it. This was more than just an infatuation, it was more than a selfish obsession. There were real feelings here...feelings that she couldn't seem to ignore.
What was more, at that moment, he almost wished he could say it back. He felt something strong for her, but...the fear of what could happen if he did admit his feelings, if he even accepted her admission...they burned his tongue as he tried to speak. Finally, he managed to say her name with a tone of finality, "Belle."
"Don't you love me?" she asked hopefully, her eyes starting to blur with tears.
He thought about it, he was almost certain he did, but...he couldn't. It just wasn't permitted. "You need to go."
"But-" she began desperately, "you-" she tried.
Remy thought quickly, trying to think of a way to hurt her, to turn her away, something that would make her leave the room immediately, something that would cause her to change how she felt about him, make it safer for them both.
"All I wanted was to be the one to pop that sweet little cherry of yours," he remarked crudely, "and you know what, it ain't worth it."
The tears in her eyes spilled down her perfectly tanned cheeks, her mouth trembling. She made no other plea, tried no other way to convince him, she took off quickly, a quiet sob escaping as she disappeared out the door, it shutting quietly behind her.
Remy mentally kicked himself for being the one to cause that look on her face, for being the one to hurt her like that.
You had to. It was for her own good; you accept her love, you doom the both of you. Self-preservation, Remy. Take orders, don't deviate, don't dip your nib in the guild ink unless you wanna write your own death warrant."
End of Chapter 20