The doctor kept a neutral expression but looked at me steadily, and at my destined partner, the expression on his face changed to a more serious and calculating one. I knew they were communicating by telepathy that they were probably discussing me.
"What's wrong?" I asked with my pulse racing and breathing slowing to the point that I was choking from lack of air.
The doctor looked at me, drawing a line on his lips. "I can't give you the accurate diagnosis yet, but I have my suspicions," he exclaimed.
"Answer me one more thing, how frequently do you have nightmares?"
I looked back at Eric, and he seemed to be so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice me looking at him before I answered.
"Almost every day, sometimes I wake up tired or scared but unable to remember anything from my dream."
He nodded and shook his head ever so slightly.
"Would you allow me to test your blood?" he asked me.
I was short of breath and squeezed Eric's hand, maybe just too hard, without noticing.
"Of course," I said, trying not to show any insecurities.
Dr. Dawn pulled out of a black briefcase a lancet and a test tube with a thick clear liquid. Then he took the only hand he had free, massaged my index finger, pricked the tip with the lancet, and squeezed it so that a few drops of blood fell into the test tube. We all had our eyes on it as he shook it until the drops of blood dissolved and disappeared completely.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Wait a minute, let it just..." before the doctor finished the sentence, the liquid turned lilac. The doctor's eyes widened like saucers, and looked at Eric, nodding.
"Aconite," Eric then said.
Aconite was a plant known to be capable of poisoning werewolves, so lethal that few had lived to tell the tale because once it reached the heart, there was no turning back.
"It's not possible," I said. "I'd be already dead then."
"Not necessarily. This was done by a professional. You were given a very low dose from birth, so small that it wasn't lethal but enough to poison your blood and block your abilities. That was a technique used in wartime and had been banned by the council after the peace treaty."
I was speechless. All my life, I was told I was a freak, weak, and the disgrace of the Sith family. My own father made me feel despised. But it was all a vile lie. The fault was never mine, and there was nothing wrong with me. They had hurt me from the moment I gave my first breath.
"What can be done?" Eric asked.
"There is an antidote that purifies the blood, but the side effectscan be a headache, spasms, dizziness, mood swings, and loss of appetite," he added.
I snapped out of my trance and got off the stretcher. I can’t leave my life and son behind because it turns out nothing has been wrong with me. "I can't stay that long," I said decisively without contemplating the consequences. “I have to leave.” I stood up and started walking, leaving the doctor astonished.
"Cathy, wait!" Eric said, grabbing my hand. "Please, let the doctor speak first. Listen to what he has to say, and then please think things through before making up your mind." He squeezed my hand gently and looked at me, almost begging. “Please.”
Dr. Dawn looked at me with regained composure. He seemed like one of those people who didn't express their emotions easily. I didn't know if it was because of his profession or just his personality. "It won't take me ten minutes to prepare the medicine for you. I could make you enough for the whole treatment,” the doctor said with confidence.
"See?" Eric said to me. "Just ten more minutes, that’s it." He seemed to know what my answer would be because I noticed some relief in his expression.
"Ten minutes, no more," I said.
Eric led me out of the office. We left the doctor digging through his stuff and pulling out different kinds of herbs.
"Do you have any idea who might have done that to you?" Eric asked, concerned.
I felt a lump in my throat at the prospect of thinking about who could’ve sabotaged my life in such a way. "Lissandra, the Luna of Sith, or even my own father," I replied as my stomach burned. "Either case, it's my father's doing. He never loved me."
Eric wrapped his arms around me and kissed the crown of my forehead repeatedly. "We'll get through this together."
I let myself get wrapped into Eric's arms, full of mixed emotions. I knew the answer, and I had the solution, but it would be something entirely new to me. Something that would be dangerous, and I was afraid I'd hurt someone in the process.
