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[x-sanfuaiyaa.livejournal.com]

Early Tuesday morning, Shiro feels crummy and goes down to see Dr. Bartlet to figure out what's bugging him. It's definitely not what he thinks.


Shiro had heard about morning sickness in health class, and he thought it was reserved for pregnant women. But he was proven wrong as he ran from his bed to the bathroom the moment he woke up Tuesday morning. The few contents of his stomach now residing in the toilet, Shiro sat back against the wall and sighed. He'd been feeling sick since yesterday, but thought that it was just stress-induced. Never mind the fact that he'd experienced more stressful things in his life than the past weekend and had never gotten sick before. Picking himself up, Shiro flushed the toilet, washed his face, and decided that a quick trip to the infirmary was in order. Not that he was so anxious to visit the mansion's most often used facilities, but he did not like being sick and wanted to just head it off at the pass.

Madelyn looked up from where she was restocking the medlab's supply of sedatives - their most popular item of late - as Shiro came in, and an almost comical expression of surprise crossed her face. Shiro was not someone she'd expected to see again any time soon. "Good morning, Shiro," she said, closing the cupboard and locking it. "Anything I can help you with?"

Shiro's black skin looked a tad lighter than normal, and his disheveled appearance was a shocker, since he always made sure to look at least semi-presentable before leaving his room every morning. "Yes, please," he said, taking a step into the room. "Pepto Bismol, and lots of it."

"Ooo-kay..." Madelyn looked at Shiro more closely. "I'd prefer to make a diagnosis before I start giving you anything... Anything else besides the upset stomach?"

"I feel very sore," he replied, "Like it was an effort just to walk down here. May I sit?" He took a seat without waiting for a response. "And tired as well, but I just woke up, so that is not alarming. Maybe I caught Mr. Dayspring's flu, which would be odd indeed as I do not see him often."

"Could be - the flu's a contact virus, you don't necessarily have to have direct contact with him, just places he's been touching things..." Madelyn mused as she dragged the examination tray over. "Any coughing? Sore throat?"

"A little bit?" Shiro shrugged, unsure. "I was feeling a little unwell before I went to sleep last night, but I thought it may have been caused by inhaling too many paint fumes in art class." Shiro ran a hand through his hair, brushing it away from his face. He made a mental note to get it cut, because it was getting way too long. Before he knew it, he'd have enough hair to brush back into a ponytail, and that was about as exciting an idea as bleaching his hair. "I bet that I am the first person to come down here on their own without having to be dragged by someone else. Any way that can give me extra points and make be feel better more quickly?"

"No, but you might get a lollipop if you're good," Madelyn said, taking his temperature. Normal. His glands were up a bit, but there was no other sign of a flu or cold bug. And his lungs were clear, she thought as she finished listening to his breathing. "I'd like to take a couple of blood samples, run some tests..." she began, then recalled the files she'd been compiling from the past few months. Achy, exhausted, nauseous... Those were familiar from not that long ago. "Shiro, you're immune to the radiation your power emits, right?" She knew the answer already, but wanted to double-check. Especially before she asked for the other sample she might need to confirm her suspicions.

"Oh goodie," said Shiro with obvious sarcasm. "Past tense, Doctor. I have no powers anymore, remember? But yes, when I did have them, I could protect myself from radiation. Why do you ask?"

"There's nothing that says that's permanent, Shiro," Madelyn reminded him, preparing a syringe for the blood sampling. "Sleeve up, please." As he complied, she went on. "Your symptoms... they're a lot like Paul's initial ones, back when he caught you. I'm possibly wrong, but I still want to run the full range of tests. I'll need a couple of samples 'though."

"As long as I can avoid destroying anything if they ever come back," Shiro said glumly as he rolled up his left sleeve. "When I first manifested, I toppled an old house. Granted, it would have collapsed some day on its own, but it was a disconcerting sight and I would like not to repeat that." He clenched his right fist to keep the stress down; he did not like being poked with long sharp objects. "Do you think I have radiation sickness? I have not been exposed to anything, to the best of my knowledge."

"I don't know... that's why the tests. There's no source of radiation in the school that I can think of, but Moira might have some ideas on that. That was why I asked about your powers - perhaps these symptoms are something to do with the burning out, or a possible return... Still, we won't know until we've checked everything out." Madelyn carefully felt for the vein - it was difficult to see with Shiro's current skin colouring, and slipped the needle in, filling two vials before removing the needle and putting a cotton swab over it. "Hold this for a second," she instructed, indicating the swab before securing the blood samples and labeling them.

Shiro swore in Japanese under his breath as the needle went in, but otherwise sat still until Madelyn had finished. "Return? No, I do not think that is possible, Doctor. I would feel something, wouldn't I? It's just the flu." The prospect of getting his powers back was not one that Shiro had allowed himself to entertain often, so he carefully refrained from allowing himself to become enthusiastic over a possibly false hope. It would do no good if he was in fact just sick.

"Maybe you're right about that - it's something to talk to Moira about, at least. As for the flu... I'm pretty sure it's not that, but there's definitely something up. Which is why I'm sticking you with sharp pointy things." Madelyn taped the swab down and then held out a small plastic jar with a screwtop lid. "One more sample and you're a free man," she told him.

Shiro accepted the jar and inspected it, but he had no idea what it was for. "Anoo, a sample of what? Is this for a urine test?" He looked up at Madelyn, and the look on her face told him that it was not what he expected. "What's that smile for?"

"Smile? No smile, really," said Madelyn, wiping away what had been, despite her efforts, a smile. Well, more of a smirk. "No, not a urine sample. But close. Same ballpark, as it were." Reminding herself that she was a doctor and there was only so much teasing of patients that was ethically allowable, Madelyn made the effort to sober herself. "I'll need a sperm sample. If it is radiation poisoning from somewhere, I'll be able to tell from your sperm count."

Shiro's jaw hit the floor with a loud thud. Well, figuratively, as life is not the cartoon that Shiro is known to occasionally think it is. "A-a sperm sample?" he asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly. His paled face darkened, as he blushed under his dark skin. "How do I . . . oh. Is this absolutely necessary?"

"Contrary to popular opinion, I don't make up these tests to torture people with. I wouldn't ask if I didn't need to, Shiro." Madelyn kept her tone calm, business-like. "Just go down to the bathroom, take as long as you need." The devil - or possibly Alison's influence - made her add. "There's a fair selection of magazines there. Avoid Hank's Scientific Americans - unless chemistry's really exciting to you, of course..."

"~I can't work under this pressure~," Shiro muttered in Japanese. "You, uh, actually have magazines? Do you have people do this often?" Not that he was curious, but he wanted to postpone actually having to do this as long as he could. It's one thing to do this in private for one's own purposes, but an entirely different thing to have someone else know about it, much less order it done.

"Not often. But it does happen." Taking pity on the boy, Madelyn continued. "There's a lot of things that show up in the reproductive systems first - it's fairly delicate, chemically speaking. So yes, I do ask for this kind of sample. Thus the magazines. Hank tells me the good ones are on the bottom of the pile." Another grin slipped through. "Look, I'm going to check on Doug - it could take a while. How about you just leave the jar on my desk when you're done, and I'll contact you about the results?"

A short sound of disgust left Shiro's mouth before he could help it. "Being a doctor must be such a vile occupation," he commented, getting to his feet (and doing very well at not wobbling over). "If someone comes in to your office and sees a jar of . . . of this on your desk, I am taking no responsibility. Say that Dr. McCoy thought his Erlenmeyer flasks were getting too frisky or something."