He Sees You When You're Sleeping

10th December- The Growth

She could feel it moving inside of her. Growing inside of her. She could feel it wrapping tighter around her lungs and heart with every passing second as it fed off her insides. She didn't have much time left. Her throat made multiple contractions, and she coughed out a single ivy bloom. She stared at the little flower in her hand, covered in her own blood. Then she let loose a scream. There was a thump and a body slumped to the floor. The plant inside her erupted through her flesh, stretching out of her mouth and ears. Multiple other vines ruptured her flesh as they freed themselves from the prison that had been her body.

Jane squinted through the lense of her microscope. The death of a young woman had recently been reported to the police. The body had apparently been covered in ivy, which seemed to have grown from the body itself. This was the fourteenth case in a series of deaths like that, and it was getting out of hand. Being a fairly well-known biologist, Jane Rolland had been called forth to try and study this newfound virus.
She sighed. Almost a full day and she hadn't found anything useful about the sample of cells that had been collected from the ivy. It seemed to behave as normal- the cells didn't grow in any peculiar manner, and from the looks of it, they looked to be just a normal plant. Maybe something else had killed these women- but that wouldn't explain why ivy was found on- and in- every one of the bodies.
Jane rubbed her forehead in frustration. This wasn't getting her anywhere. She'd conducted all the tests she could think of and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Another case. And another. These deaths were spiralling out of control, and pressure was pushing down on Jane. She had indeed discovered that the ivy, or whatever it was, grew inside the host. She suspected it took seed in the womb, and that's why only women were infected. It seemed the women were some kind of host, and the plant was a parasite.
It was all great that the world was now informed about what was going to kill them, but the real problem was that the causes of infection and any potential cures were still undiscovered. Jane had theories to what might cause it- coming into contact with the plant via consumption or simply by physical contact, but she couldn't prove any of them. It could be something completely different. And that was precisely the problem. Until people knew how they caught it, they were helpless.

Jane stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, unable to shut her eyes. Her fingers drummed against the mattress. Time was running out. She chewed on her lip, mind racing. Part of her wanted to give up and accept the fact that there probably wasn't a cure, or at least wouldn't be one in her lifetime. Jane pushed that thought out of her mind. There has to be something I can do to stop this. But a sinking feeling in her stomach left her unconvinced.

"Mum. Psssst. Mum." Jane awoke to the sound of her daughter. She was standing by her bedside, shaking her gently. Jane groaned and sat up.
"What is it, Sam?"
"I have something to tell you. I've kind of been hiding something and I think it's time I told you what it was." She mumbled.
"Did you meet a boy?" Sam glared at her. "Or a girl?"
"No, mum, please. Just..." she sighed. She brought out her hand from behind her back, and opened it to reveal a flower bud, covered in blood. Sam stared at her feet. Jane's blood ran cold. "I-I thought you should know, since you're looking for a cure and all that, but.." Sam met her mother's gaze. "Please, mum. Help me. I'm scared."

Fuelled with new motivation, Jane worked all night and all day. Her daughter was going to die if she didn't do something about this disease. The only way she could think of was to cut it out. And that meant surgery. More expensive than she could afford. If anyone else got it, she didn't have enough to pay for another one. But right now, that didn't matter. All she could think of was Sam. And the little vine of ivy she'd nicked herself on yesterday.

After a long, dread-filled wait, Sam came out of the door, accompanied by a nurse. A smile spread across Jane's face.
"You're okay! The surgery worked!" She cried.
"Yeah, and look at this awesome scar I've got!" Sam lifted the bottom of her T-shirt to reveal a long scar running down from her chest to the bottom of her stomach. It was stitched up, but still fairly new and red.
"......nice." Jane answered, unsure how to react. She felt a sudden stab of pain in her gut, and raised her hand to cradle it.
"Mum? You alright?"
"Y-yeah. Fine." She reassured her daughter, her voice slightly weak.

Jane didn't show up to work the next day. Instead, she locked herself in her room, staring at the bloodied flower bud in her hand.