Rodwood Academy

Chapter 80: Next Phase

By the time the group of friends had all finished up their dinner, it was growing closer to their departure from one another.

"But why can't Alex come back with us?" Lauren complained as she stayed glued to the man's side while Nina was already standing in the doorframe ready to head back to the Cave for the night before it got too late.

"Cause he's got to stay here so he can feel better. Like how you did when you were here." The woman said for the tenth time.

"But mama-"

"Lauren please." The woman gave her a firm stare.

Pouting as she hugged the man tightly one last time, Lauren didn't want to let him go. And yet as she did so, she managed to ignore every whimper from Alex as she was pressing down on all the wrong spots.

His recovery was slow but he knew better than to push the girl away. He missed her just as much as she missed him. And he didn't want to waste this hug, even if it did feel like she was crushing his ribs.

"Alright it's time to go now Lauren." Nina called. "Tell Alex and the doctor bye." She said as Lauren sadly walked over to her allowing Alex to breathe deeply in relief from the pain around his abdomen.

"Bye." The girl waved with her eyes glued down on the floor.

"Oh I know." The woman tried to cheer her up as she lifted Lauren onto her hip and kissed her cheek. "But we'll have dinner with Alex again another time. Right now it's late and he needs to sleep, and now that I think about it, you do too."

As Nina spoke to the sad girl who looked like she was on the verge of tears, the doctor and Alex finally had the place to themselves again as the doctor shut the door behind Nina.

"Well that was a nice change of pace." She remarked.

"Yeah...too short though." The man dropped down onto his temporary bed grieving the disappearance of his closest friends.

"You'll see them after your wounds are healed."

"But they pretty much are healed." He said looking down at the doctors bandaging work around his chest. From the looks of the white pieces of material surrounding him, it didn't appear that any spots of red came though. "See. It's not even bleeding anymore."

The doctor sighed as she went behind her desk. "The cuts and slashes on your body weren't the wounds I was talking about." Grabbing a small bottle from out of a cabinet, the doctor held it up to her eyes examining the clear liquid inside of it.

'I think it's time to test you out.' She contemplated before placing the vile of liquid back onto her desk.

Going back to Alex momentarily the doctor had to examine him first before knowing whether or not she was clear to proceed in her plan.

"How's your neck doing?" She asked gently tilting his head before removing the bandage covering the two deep marks Faye had left behind.

Placing the old bandage into his lap temporarily while she examined him, Alex gripped hold of it to relieve some tension as the pain had grew. "It's kinda better." He said between his teeth.

"What do you mean kinda?" She asked while running a finger gently along his wounds. Alex hissed as the sensation made his head stiff.

With the small openings that the bite mark had created, the doctor was able to spot tiny slivers of black liquid sinking into Alex's veins and down into his skin.

Making a mental note she sighed internally knowing the toxin was still producing at a rate too fast for her to contain.

"The pain is still there, like I can feel that virus moving to other parts of my body. I feel it in my fingers and toes, but if I try not to think about it then I don't feel it as badly." Alex described briefly before hissing again. There was a sharp pain that had rapidly shot down his back.