Chapter 55: Diagnosis: Complicated
The clinic room smelled like antiseptic and polished glass.
Lucas sat on the edge of the examination table, back straight, arms crossed lightly. The robe was slightly too large and pulled at the shoulders whenever he moved. There was a faint chill in the air, but he didn’t shiver.
He stopped doing things like that; his mind began to realize that this was another life and body, one that was simply uncomfortable during medical checkups.
Across the room, Dr. Elaine checked a file on her screen, her brows knit in quiet concentration. She wore the same subtle lavender perfume as last time, and her tone, when she finally spoke, was warm but clinical—measured, like someone who had spent years learning how not to alarm people who had every right to be alarmed.
"You’ve had two types of inhibitors in your system over the last four years," she said. "One long-acting and systemic—clearly planned, possibly since early adolescence. The other was unregulated and recent."
Lucas didn’t blink. "I took that one myself."
"I know," she said gently. "But whoever gave you the first knew what they were doing. They weren’t just suppressing expression. They were delaying development. Carefully."
Lucas didn’t flinch. He already knew.
Dr. Elaine tapped a note on her tablet and looked up, her expression kind.
"The attending physician from your collapse submitted a full advisory," she said. "No medication. No supplements. Nothing that regulates you artificially until we know what’s stabilizing and what’s just masking."
NovelFire
Lucas nodded. "Hence the full exam."
She smiled softly. "Hence the full exam."