Mommy, Daddy Doesn't Want Us Back?

Conspiracy

The horror in their faces was inexplicable. Even if I hated her for everything she's done to me, what HE did to me, the healer in me knew better. They didn't deserve this.

But I was soon going to lose that empathy.

"I'll be in my cabin if you need me. And Dr Rhodey will be checking on you with time." Saying, Rayleigh gave us a time-out.

The moment I stepped away from the room, a heavy breath poured out of me.

"That was hectic," I said, walking behind Rayleigh. We reached his cabin where he pulled up previous tests of Leah. The one I helped organise at his home.

He stared at it. Long and hard.

"What's it, Rayleigh? You see something?" I approached.

He was comparing two pictures. Two x-rays of her lungs.

Same exact condition— safe.

Shouldn't HIV eat away at lung tissue at that stage?

"Yup. It's not HIV. She doesn't have AIDS." He says to himself.

"Elaine," he turns to me, "I know I'm asking a lot, but Leah's not my only patient tonight. I need you to observe her, all night. Her symptoms. Everything. She's hiding something." He said. My eyes widened.

"It's not a lot to ask but...are we sure, Rayleigh?" I asked, reaching for his shoulder. He gave a curt nod.

"Nothing can confuse me, Elaine. Not a single disease. She's definitely masking something she can't tell her doctor." His confidence was splendid. I had no reason to doubt.

"I will," I said.

Not for Leah, not for Rayleigh, but for Jean. It doesn't take a doctor or a healer to notice that Jean and Leah are experiencing the same exact symptoms. Only Jean ironically progressed, while Leah had a brief, very brief period of recovery.

Midnight hit. Pulling my mask up, I exit a patient's room after observation to go to Leah's.

Down the hallway, flickering lights and quiet, haunting sounds of machines welcomed me. It was as if they were testing my courage that night.

As I reached closer, my footsteps began to slow. Her room light was on. A barely recognisable male voice kept her company. Conversing formally...emotionlessly.

"...so sorry... I- I didn't know what to do. I wanted to be the right woman for him. I was prompted. It's totally on me that I took a shot of the enhancer..ugh." She said, sighing after every phrase. My eyes widened. An enhancer? What's that supposed to mean?

"Leah. What you've done to keep his attention was wrong. Foolish. You can't change past, however. Is there something you also did that you regret?" He asked. Ah...that haunting male voice sounded so different when he wasn't on the mic.

It's her dad.

"I..." She was hesitating. I was growing even curious. Tipping closer to the wall, I heard her sigh again.

"Say it before I find out." He warned.

"Alright fine! There was a nurse. She saw me stealing a vial and reaching for supplies. I made sure I was alone that night, but I'm only human! That hospital is so full of healers...ugh!" Said Leah. Wow...

Sniffles started pouring out of the room soon.

"Make her disappear, Dad. I don't wanna go to jail. I know you don't, too." She cried.

This is way worse than I thought.

"Tch...sometimes I regret having a stupid daughter like you. Useless. Reckless. And I have to clean up your mess every time. Learn from your brother for once." He scolded her. She has a brother too? That's new.

But the news of them conspiring to make a nurse disappear didn't sit right with me. My heart started pounding. Their secret was too heavy a cost. Not only for them, but for my baby as well.

I was turning to make an exit when suddenly, a cart dashed into me!

"Oh no!" A nurse yelled. Loud enough a crash to be heard from the walls. My heartbeat spiked when footsteps from Leah's room took action. Jacob Fenris was gonna catch me in the act of eavesdropping!

"Who's there!?" He shouted, only to see the grumbling nurse picking up supplies and a spilt bedpan I'm so sorry, Nurse Keira!

Breathing as disturbed as my brain, I made a straight line to Rayleigh.

"...you'll be fine Mrs. Harrison. Your husband will be—" Rayleigh was attending a patient, but I cut him off with my entrance.

He took one look at my dishevelled self and knew I had something to say. The Leah Observation Assignment had a crazy outcome.

He met me in the corridor. Two pairs of eyes were watching us as we quietly discussed.

"I need to tell you...in private. Meet me at your cabin. They're watching." I said, subtly noting how his curious septuagenarians gazed over.

Winding up his check-ups for his shift, Rayleigh met me back at his cabin. Found me pacing back and forth, biting my nails off.

"Leah's done something. That's what she's hiding. She took some...some enhancer of a sort in another hospital." I said.

"Elaine...she's been to a ton of hospitals. Her reports span over three years of hospital visits—"

"She did it to impress Logan, that enhancer. She hasn't known Logan for more than two years." I said. He was taken aback.

"Oh. Well—"

"And they're going to make a nurse 'disappear', Rayleigh! They're gonna kill her!" I exclaimed.

"Why...?" He asked curiously, taking his coat off and getting serious.

"Leah said that the nurse saw her steal the vial and supplies to inject herself. I'm scared for her, Rayleigh.." My brows furrowed as tension in my heart grew.

"That's tense, Elaine. I'm not gonna downplay it. But we gotta stay strong." His voice was barely above a whisper because he was inches away from my face. I sighed, shaking my head.

"I'm a healer, Rayleigh...not a warrior."

"Everyone's a warrior if they fight hard enough, Elaine. Put your jacket on. Let's go to Jean's room." He said. Wow.

"Jean's room? Why?" But I was already exchanging my doctor's coat for a denim jacket I had at his place,

"To remember what we are fighting for."

Motivation...couldn't agree more.

We had so many lives to save.