Spilling Guts

Part 2 - Little Talks

In her light-dimmed lab, Rachel dampened a cloth with rubbing alcohol as Louis ripped the Velcro off his cast. The exposed skin was sweat-damp and slightly paler than the rest of his arm. Slowly, as if the cast coming off was permission, Louis took off his sunglasses and set them on the tray. Due to certain circumstances, specifically Louis shrinking down to the size of a mini action figure every time he was exposed to intense light, he wasn't exactly sunbathing every day. Over the last few months his healthy tan had faded.

Maybe I should have the lab invest in a tanning bed, thought Rachel. She gave the pale limb a vigorous rubdown with the cloth until the skin pinked. Something to help with his vitamin D levels. Note to self; check all of his vitamin levels.

Without even asking, Louis held out his arm parallel to the ground and opened and closed his fist.

"Any aches?" she asked.

Louis grimaced. "Slight twinge near the elbow when I close my hand."

Rachel nodded. "That will ease with exercise. Now try rotating your wrist."

Louis did so, his lips lifting briefly in a pained snarl. "It's not as bad as yesterday. How long until I can get back to the shooting range? I didn't get my mandatory hours in for this month."

"Not for another week at least," chided Rachel, spraying the inside of the stiff cast with sanitizer and setting it aside to dry. "Be thankful, this is your get of jail free card from Megan and Teegan's combat demos."

Louis rubbed at his pale arm, as if trying to iron out the painful kinks with his fingers. "Do they have one today? I thought they were out on a job?"

Rachel paused, remembering. Megan and Teegan were out running down a lead on Yanif Retten. They had been hunting him between jobs since the Freewill mission. Not that Louis knew. Cetz, Head of Watch Two, wanted Louis as far away from Retten as possible.

"Right," Rachel said absently, opening to a blank sheet on her clipboard. "I had forgotten. Any incidents over the weekend?"

Incidents, as if Louis was a walking disaster. She nearly had a disaster the other day when a bunch of decommissioned lab animals had been dropped off one rabbit short. It turned out that Reese had "liberated" the rabbit and adopted it. It still lived in a cage in the Main Lab, but Reese visited it every day. Disaster averted.

"One yesterday." Louis dug his fingers deeper into the muscles of his left arm. "I woke up and the bed was the size of a football field. Didn't get stuck under the sheets this time. I was lucky the cast shrunk with me."

Rachel nodded and noted down the incident on her chart, asking for further details. When did he wake up? How long until he grew back to normal? Was there light in the room? Did he get much sun the day before? Did he suffer a headache before or after the incident? Minute details that might help their understanding of Louis' condition, but made him shift impatiently in his seat.

Surely her questioning was more interesting than the patent paperwork waiting at his desk?

A staccato knock came from the door.

Louis put his shades back on while Rachel got up, brightened the lights, and slid over the deadbolt on the door.

"It's unlocked," said Rachel, covering the clipboard.

Beni cracked the door and poked her head in. She looked worried and her voice came out like the snapping of pop rocks. "Hey, Rachel, are you busy?"

"I'll be another five minutes or so. Can it wait?"

"Not really..." Beni looked back at someone in the hallway beyond Rachel and Louis' sight. "Never mind, I got this."