Gregory had been spilled over Grell's blood tests and the results of her physical examination for the whole day, and most of the previous night. The test results were phenomenal, and confounding! He had taken blood from Grell when he first had been cursed by that demon, and after she woke up. According to the results and chemical work, Grell's entire hormonal structure had changed as well as his brain function. According to the results, Grell suffered such terrible seizures because his brain chemistry had changed in order to turn him into a her. The dry, scaly skin that had taken over his body had been a cocoon, almost like an amniotic sack that had tightened around his body. It copied the lines of a male structure while enabling such a drastic, gender change to occur beneath the first few layers.
The transformation had been quite...he couldn't even find a word for it! It seemed the source of the transformation came from the blood that had seeped into Grell when Michaelis had slashed across her once male chest. The demon had been a demon of lust, Grell lusted most after a romance with a beautiful man. The second half of that fantasy was bearing his child in a beautiful, feminine caste. That had been granted-the ability to have children. Sebastian Michaelis had been Grell's favorite, thus Sebastian hated Grell passionately. The scariest result confirmed his concerns; Grell had contracted the Thorns.
"What do you mean she contracted Thorns?" William's outburst shocked Gregory, his superior calmed, "I deeply apologize for that...There has been no sign of thorns yet."
"The medicine I injected into Grell's heart was for Thorn," Gregory told him, "I did all the tests, and while most back up her transformation chemically and build a diagram of her symptoms she suffered in her comatose state...She has the Thorns."
He gave William the file, "The strangest strain yet though...Not even in the text books. The chemical tests I did on her blood suggest that the thorns are concave and not connected. They are...dormant. Michaelis might not have had enough time to complete the curse before death. Your death scythe might've stopped the curse from taking place even! Those are the only two explanations I have. What I do not know is how the thorns caused Grell to undergo such a dramatic transformation. If Michaelis could not complete the curse of the Thorns, he might've just rushed into making her what she always wanted to be...In order to ruin her,"
William was silent, he sat down, rubbing his temples, "What do you suggest we do?"
"Well," Gregory rummaged through a medical cabinet, "The Thorns are almost like cancer to us, they eat us up and destroy us, change us even. Only eating souls can keep us from being consumed by them. In a way, they make us almost out to be demons. If Grell's are dormant and disconnected, they are more like benign tumors; they cannot spread or cause extensive damage. But, if they are decaying within her they could cause a massive infection. It's most likely these are demon souls within in the Thorns. It's best to prescribe a generic drug to treat them. When she gets back I will take more tests,"
He handed William the bottle, "It's best you tell her, I just...After seeing what happened with Alan...I can't bear to break the news...Just tell her to take three pills a day, with each meal..."
He paused for a moment, "There is a brightside to this though,"
William's brow furrowed, "And what is that?"
"If this does cure her...With the chemistry of her Thorns...We might be able to find a cure for not only Alan but the parasitic disease all around,"
William decided to deliver the medicine to Grell over his lunch break, it was rather chilly out so he wore his coat. Every now and then a chilled wind could pass and his skin would tighten up in an attempt to retain body heat. That did not bother him as much as the thoughts running through his head, it was enough having been almost sexually assaulted by a demon, but to hear that Grell had contracted the Thorns? Or to make it worse, the Thorns brought on by a demon's soul? This was tragic! He felt himself not only growing concerned but almost desperate to see Grell. He wanted to see her face and feel her temperature, check her pulse, anything to let his mind laden with these disturbing thoughts.
Aside from these thoughts he could still hear Faustus' voice inside his head, telling him the more intimate things he'd been recently thinking about. It was wrong to think of Grell in such a way, wrong to even think about such affairs or even endeavors to birth said affair. It was wrong in several ways; Grell was his subordinate, was once a man, was the Warden of the Labyrinth, and she was far too extreme for his taste. The idea of her body pressed against his own, their lips softly touching...Their limbs, moving and stretching to erratic angles and positions. It was a vile thought that his professionalism would not allow. He would have to stop these thoughts.
Because he was distracted he hadn't realized how much time had passed and could see Grell's small cottage in the distance. Immediately he realized there was no light reflected on the windows from within the cottage. He concluded Grell might've had the curtains drawn. He wasn't close enough to see inside the windows or tell if the curtains were drawn. What did raise some concerns though about the inner workings of the cottage was that there was no smoke coming from the chimney. It was a chilly day, and if Grell was recovering, she should have a small fire burning in the hearth to keep her warm. Maybe she was just sleeping in and was so snug under the covers she didn't even notice the cold? After all, around this time of year, Grell would switch to fur blankets.
He hastened his pace, rushing almost to the front door. The empty garden suggested that she had harvested last night, once again supporting the idea that she might be sleeping in. He knocked on the door, no response. He knocked again, this time harder and louder, no sounds resonated from within the small abode. He moved toward the window, which was not covered by curtains internally and saw that no one was home. Where was Grell? Had she gone out and fallen? He rubbed his temples, thinking of where she could possible be. He remembered!
There were hot springs in this part of the forest. Grell would seldom bathe in the springs but it was a possibility, especially since it was chilly. The temperature would provide a rather lukewarm steam. He knew where the springs were, he'd sometimes visit the springs himself to ease his stress. He decided to head there, his heart pounding as he neared their location. The idea of seeing Grell's naked, wet body was quite enticing. He was not thinking that though-at least he thought he wasn't. He kept telling himself that Grell was hurt, that she needed help, that she could be in danger. But he knew deep down he just wanted to see her-or maybe that was just a thought skidding along the shallow surface? He pushed through branches and heavy leaves, not minding the damage he did as he pushed onward toward the springs.
His eyes widened in both horror and envy at what he saw.