Chapter Eight
Chris tried to give him another dose of morphine when they parked up in front of the hospital, but the tube was blocked.
“I guess we’ll have to get them to put a new one in, like Heidi said,” Chris said eventually. “Come on, the sooner we get in there, the sooner we get some answers.”
Getting out of the car, glad for the chance to stretch his legs, he walked with Chris to the reception. The woman who greeted them was familiar though he couldn’t remember her name.
“Danny Adams,” she said, smiling broadly. “We haven’t seen you here in quite some time young man. Do you have an appointment?”
Chris spoke first, leaning on the desk, and smiling at the woman. “Actually, we’re here to speak to Doctor Hollis.”
He held out his badge. “My name is Chris Ferris, I’m a police officer.”
“Oh.” She looked surprised, glancing from Chris to Daniel. “I hope nothing’s the matter.”
“It’s very important that we speak to Doctor Hollis. Is he here?”
“He is. He always arrives before eight o’clock. But he might be busy. Let me ring his secretary and check.”
“Please tell him it is a matter of utmost urgency. Life and death,” Chris said, holding eye contact with the woman. She nodded again, echoing his words. “Life and death, of course. One moment.”
She turned away with the phone pressed to her ear. Chris, one hand on Daniel’s shoulder, guided him away from the desk and towards the far wall. Danny had the impression, despite the distance, that he was listening to the woman’s whispered conversation.
“They don’t seem aware of what’s happened. And Doctor Hollis is here,” Chris said in an undertone. “He’s agreed to see us.”
Danny felt a sense of relief, quickly followed by trepidation. His memories of the hospital were vague and not altogether pleasant.
“Mr. Ferris, um… Officer Ferris?” the receptionist called. They returned to her desk. “Doctor Hollis is happy to meet with you. There’ll be someone along in a moment to show you to his office.
“Thank you,” Chris said, giving her a smile that made Danny feel weak at the knees.
A porter arrived, and they followed him along the corridors toward the back of the hospital. The halls were so familiar, their sounds, their smells. The sudden sound of a scream had Danny grabbing hold of Chris’ arm and stepping closer as if he was a shield.
Chris paused and so did the porter. “It’s nothing to worry about,” the porter said. “Some of our patients are emotionally disturbed. The screaming is the worst of it.”
He kept walking and Chris, eyeing Danny with concern, pressed a hand to his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. It’s just… I remember this place. Kind of. It’s all jumbled up.”
Chris urged him to keep walking, but slipped an arm around his waist, guiding him forward. “You must know it well. Marcia said you were here once a year from the age of ten to sixteen. And more often when you were younger.”
“That often?” Danny said, searching his memories. “I thought I’d been here a handful of times.”
“How is the pain? Do you want another dose before we start talking to Doctor Hollis?”
“You know they’re not just going to give me morphine on your say so, don’t you? We’ll have to explain why we’re here first. Even then, they might not be too keen.”
Chris looked briefly irritated. “I forgot how difficult humans can be about these things. Heidi gave me a letter. If that doesn’t work, we’ll call her and get her to speak to Doctor Hollis.”
“She’s a real doctor?” Danny had assumed she was self-taught.
“Of course she is. What did you think she was, a veterinarian? Well, she is one of those, too. I guess it helps to know both facets of our biology.”
“I didn’t mean to suggest… I just didn’t think they’d let shifters go to medical school.”
“I keep telling you, Danny. We’re not that different when it comes down to it.”
They reached an office door. The porter knocked, opened the door, and gestured them inside.
“Ready?” Chris asked.
He was as ready as he’d ever be. Which wasn’t saying much.
Doctor Hollis was exactly like Danny remembered him, right down to the bowtie and the look of surprise on his face. Like he was never expecting Danny even though he knew exactly who was due to walk through the door.
“Good morning, gentleman. This is a surprise, Danny. And you must be Officer Ferris?”
“That’s right, call me Chris,” the Alpha said, reaching over to shake his hand while pulling out his ID and setting it on the table. Doctor Hollis picked it up, glancing at it briefly before setting it down again.
“I must admit, I’m at a loss as to the reason for your visit. It’s been six years, Danny.”
“We need some information. Information that might save Danny’s life,” Chris said. Danny was happy to let him do the talking, not knowing how best to approach this, or a way to start that wasn’t ‘what did you do to me?’.
“Why would you believe Danny’s life is in danger?” Doctor Hollis asked with bemusement, glancing from Chris to Danny with a crooked smile.
“Three nights ago, Danny’s aunt and cousins were killed in a shifter attack. The local authorities believe Danny is responsible but I think you and I both know that isn’t possible.”
Doctor Hollis’ smile faltered, his face growing pale. “I am so very sorry, Danny. I was very fond of Cindy and her determination to care for you.” He reached for a pen on his desk, twirling it absentmindedly between his fingers. “And you’re right, Chris. Danny could not have carried out such an attack.”
“But they believe he’s a shifter.”
“And a blood test will only confirm their suspicions.”
“So Danny is a shifter?”
Doctor Hollis continued to fiddle with his pen, his gaze on his hand and not them. “It’s not that simple, not that simple at all.”
Taking off his glasses, he set down the pen, and rubbed at his eyes.
“When this all happened, when lycanthropy was confirmed to exist, the government was in a panic. They threw funding at us to find a cure. And we found one. It was inelegant and somewhat toxic, but if you survived it, you were no different to any other human. But then came the reports of children born with the infection to uninfected mothers, and it was discovered lycanthropy could be passed on genetically as well as through a bite. For a brief time, the government was doing mandatory testing on newborns, discovering these infections, and removing the children from the parents. The numbers were small, but they were worried about the infection spreading so they asked us to develop a treatment. We tried the anti-lycan serum, but its effects were only temporary, the shifter proteins would eventually bounce back.”
He pulled a writing pad towards him and picked up his pen.
“We studied the differences between adults and children infected with lycanthropy and found that there was a clear distinction between those who had undergone a change to those who hadn’t. In those who hadn’t, shifter proteins circulated separately in the blood. In those who had, these proteins had become incorporated into human cells, enabling the transformation. So we trialed different methods that we thought might prevent this incorporation. Higher doses, continuous doses, pulsed doses. Giving the serum into muscle, into vein, into the spine. By the time Danny was born, we had a technique that was showing some success. Frequent infusions of the serum, repeated as often as needed to keep the shifter proteins levels at zero. Eventually, the body stopped producing them. We continued to test the subjects and give top-ups on a yearly basis to ensure it remained under control. If a child showed no protein production three years in a row, we considered them cured but continued to test yearly.”
“Why do the blood tests still turn up positive?” Chris asked.
“They still carry minor lycanthropy factors in their blood cells, something they’re born with, so they test positive on the standard screening test. But they’re no more a shifter than someone who has never come into contact with a lycanthrope.”
Chris leaned forward, his tone urgent.
“Doctor, is there a way to prove that in Danny’s case? A way that will hold up in court?”
“Of course. We have all the studies to back up our research. Never published because the government put an embargo on us making public the testing we did. Especially now. It wouldn’t look good that we were experimenting on children. Though, at the time, it wasn’t looked at in quite the same way.”
Danny understood the implication. Back then, shifters were seen by many as animals, not people. Who would bat an eyelid if a few less than ethical experiments were run?
“Can you do these tests now, today?”
Doctor Hollis nodded. “Of course. I’ll do them personally and can then testify specifically as to the veracity and meaning of the results.”
“Good.” Chris sat back in his chair. “What do you say, Danny?”
“If… if we can prove that I didn’t hurt my family, then yes, please, Doctor Hollis.”
The doctor stood. “Wait here while I make the arrangements. It shouldn’t take long.”