"Let's see," said Dr. McGregor as he finished mixing the solution. Elsewhere in the prep room, the enclave machine beep at the completion of it's cycle, and the centrifuge slowed down. McGregor called for Nurse Piper, and the two headed to Lykopis's room.
"I set the oxygen all the way to eight, and she's still starting to wake up again. But her blood pressure's dropping." She looked at the bag Ian was carrying. "What's that, sir?"
"Get some tubing. We'll need about sixty centimeters." He held up the bag. "Lykopis doesn't have the energy to maintain herself, right? So here's a concentration of protein. Forty times more concentrated than any jock's protien shake. Damn, I'm good."
They entered the room. Lykopis's eyes were opened but she wasn't responsive. She appeared not to noticed as Piper opened her mouth and inserted a flexible tube down the Greek's esophagus. "Watch out for her trachea, okay? It would be pretty embarassing to kill her now." About half of the tubing was now inside Lykopis, and the other half was in Ian's hands as he placed a funnel on top and poured the contents of his concoction down the tube. It was about as thick as oatmeal, so Piper forced it down to Lykopis's stomach. Eventually, the entire mix was pushed through the tube. "Check her pulse."
"Still pretty low."
Dr. McGregor pulled the rubber tube out of his patient. "Shite. At this rate, she's go into shock if we can't fix things." There was a shudder from the bed, and then a harsh rasping noise. Lykopis was awake again, and was trying to hack up the tracheal tubing that was down her throat. Her eyes went right and left, then finally settled on McGregor. They looked annoyed. The oxygen's effects had gone away completely. "Shite..."
Lykopis was trying to speak, but the plastic in her throat was preventing that. "Listen, you're in the hospital. I'm sure Paragon told you that I'm Vanguard Europe's physician, Doctor Ian McGregor." Lykopis's hacking accelerated. "Mr. Gaunt brought you in after you collapse, and the team ran several diagnosis on you...please stop trying to get up."
Lykopis pushed Piper off her and then pulled the tubing out of her mouth. She continued coughing. "If you had waited, I would have pulled it out for you. It appeared that you were infected with a particular strain of the metavirus that coded for accelerated healing. Unfortunately, your body could not supply enough protien for the process. We administer oxygen and Apomorphine, and then provided a concentrated form of protien to replenish your reserves."
"I cannot believe Gaunt thought I could not go on." She looked up at McGregor. "You are not that doctor that Mr. Baxter called a prick, are you?" McGregor said nothing, but the artery near his neck swelled and his lips tightened. "Please point me in the general direction out of this place."
What the hell was wrong with this girl? McGregor just rattled his brain coming up with a solution to keep her out of a coma. This girl should be praising him. Hell, they give out Nobel prizes for this sort of thing. Instead, the stupid princess wanted to leave. What part of 'hospilized' didn't she understand? "What? I don't think you realize your sitution, Miss Ly--"
"I understand the situation perfectly well. I am in here. The team is out there. I need to be with the team."
"But--"
"Besides, you said you fixed the problem. And you did such a wonderful job." Lykopis said this sweetly, but realized McGregor might be the sort that wasn't turned by a pair of batting eyelides. "Look, I am well enough to fight. I suggest you get out of my way."
"You can't possib--"
"You really think I am going to be caught sleeping when there is a fight? Get out of my way!"
McGregor tried to protest, but Lykopis was already up and running. She made her way downstairs. "Call Penny and get Jym to lock the doors. Don't let her leave here!" Nurse Piper ran from the room to contact Paragon's secretary. Meanwhile, McGregor's eyes began twitching.
* * *
Penny was about to contact Jym about the doors, when Paragon intercepted her on the phone. "Don't do it."
Penny hated conflicting orders. It messed up her organiztion. "But Piper said Dr. McGregor--"
"Let's indulge Miss Lykopis on this one. Worse case senario, she gets humbled. Best case senario, she gets some agression out."
"All right...I hope you're right."
The elevator door open, and Lykopis calmly walked out. "Afternoon, Penny."
"Good afternoon, Lykopis. Here are the keys to the car outside. I think if you take a left on Hassenberg you can reach the team in less than a half-hour. Drive safely."
