Winnie was having a fever when she heard the news from the doctor, who came to examine her.The doctor told her that Lisanne and her colleague were starting to develop fevers, and when things were bad, they would even vomit. Furthermore, red markings were starting to appear on the skin of their stomachs.The doctor had come to find out if Winnie had the same red markings on her body.Winnie currently could not see a thing, and she had convinced Xavier to leave her. She had no choice but to heed what the doctor said.Once the doctor was done examining her, she asked, âHow is it? Do I have the markings too?âThe doctor uttered solemnly, âYes.âWinnie hummed quietly in response. It was not a surprising answer to her, so she was still composed.However, she could hear the hesitance in the doctorâs voice. Clearly, the doctor had only told her half the story. âPlease, just speak your mind. I can take it.âAfter a few days of interactions, the doctor found out that Winnie was a naturally optimistic and confident person.It would not even be an exaggeration to say that Winnie was the most optimistic individual among all the patients she and her colleagues had been interacting with.After a while of mulling over the right words to use, the doctor confessed to Winnie, âEven though the symptoms are about the same, your condition is worse than the other two patients.âWinnie fell silent for a while before she drew her brows together. âIs it ugly?âHer abrupt question rendered the doctor silent for a moment, for the doctor did not know what to say to her.She was a woman as well, and she knew looks were important for women, especially for someone who was already beautiful like Winnie. Anyone would have a hard time accepting reality after something terrible happened.The doctorâs silence was a quiet affirmation of Winnieâs question.With a slight nod of her head, she then asked, âI understand. I have one more question. Is it only appearing on the stomach? Do I have the markings on other places, like the arms, legs, or the face?ââNo,â came the doctorâs swift response. âThere arenât any markings on any other places. Itâs the same for the two other patients.âWinnie bobbed her head. Even though she could not see anything, she could imagine the red melon-like markings on her body.She massaged her temples as a wave of helplessness crashed into her.What in the world is going on? I went blind first, and now, I have markings on my stomach. What is this? A package deal?After letting out a sigh, Winnie asked the doctor, âThen is there any treatment plan as of now?âThe doctor immediately answered, âWeâre currently studying the treatment plan in hopes of it being able to control the symptoms and not let it mutate into cancer.ââOkay.â The word âcancerâ was a word too heavy. Turning toward the doctor, Winnie said, âIâll leave this to you, then. I have trust in you.âWinnie had mentally prepared herself that her blindness would turn out to be permanent, so she had been practicing locating people based on the source of their voices whenever people were in her room. Now, she could accurately find the doctors upon hearing them.Although Winnie had lost her sight, her eyes remained bright and clear. If the doctor did not stare at her for a while, the way Winnie was looking at the doctor was as if she could actually see the doctor. No one would notice that she was blind. The doctor was impressed.She was also impressed by how excellent people tended to have other excellent people as friends.The woman next door, Lisanne, was equally mentally strong. When she found out that she had strange red markings on her stomach, she seemed to be rather composed as well.It was as though they were just going through a normal cold.Once the doctor was gone, Winnie took her phone and called Lisanne.It had been a while since they had gone into quarantine, and they were now allowed their phones in the room.Moreover, they were using smartphones. They could navigate their phones with voice commands.Winnie knew that Lisanne was currently in the quarantine room beside hers, so it did not take long before Lisanne picked up her call.âHow are you feeling, Winnie? Do you have red markings on your body too? Do you feel nauseous?ââThe doctor said I have red markings. Besides a fever, I donât feel nauseous at all. As far as I can tell, I think the radioactive gas takes a while before it starts affecting our bodies. We canât tell if more symptoms will pop up.â A beat later, Winnie continued, âWhat about you two? Have there been any signs of temporary loss of sight?ââFor now, no.â Lisanne frowned.
âYouâre much worse off than me and my colleague, but youâre right. The effects of Alpha radioactive gas donât appear on us right away. We donât know whatâs going to happen to us next, so we canât put aside that blindness is one of the side effects. If my colleague and my conditions stabilize in the next few days, we can end our quarantine. I want to look for that professor in Rodunst before I lose my sight. Heâs the one who refined Alpha radioactive gas, and there isnât anyone in this world whoâs more familiar with that radioactive gas besides him. If we want to solve this problem, weâll need his help.âLisanne sighed. âI hope our fevers will go down by today. If it doesnât, our quarantine period wonât end.ââWhat about the professor?â Winnie asked. âWhere is he right now? He canât be back in Rodunst already, right?ââFortunately, he isnât. Heâs the one who came up with Alpha radioactive gas, and now that weâre caught up in the matter, the higher-ups wonât let him go so easily. What I heard is that heâs willing to stay to observe us when he found out that weâre under quarantine. However, Rodunst is worried that weâll steal their scientistâs research, so theyâre in a hurry to take him back. The two countries are currently discussing the matter with each other, but this isnât something that should be dragged on for long, so I have to get well as soon as possible.ââI hope thatâs the case,â Winnie answered. Then, she suddenly creased her forehead and continued, âDid you tell Lucas about the mutation?ââI didnât need to be obvious about it,â came Lisanneâs flat reply. âIâve already asked them to mentally prepare themselves for the worst when I started my quarantine. Researching these things comes with a risk, and they respected my choice from the beginning.ââDo you regret it?ââMy god, Winnie. Iâd be able to understand hearing this question from everyone else but you! You were recklessly breathing in the gas back then, and now youâre in a worse condition than I am. Do you regret it, then?âWinnie chuckled. âI donât for that, but Iâm asking if you regret picking this line of work.â