272: Hypothetical Question
“Hello,” Dr. Yang said, stepping in. “Not interrupting anything, am–”
Even in the dark, he could see the Primordials against the wall staring at him. He flicked on the light. Blank wall; no one there. He turned it off; there they were again, staring at him: a slithery looking guy, dressed to the nines, a curvaceous woman with green hair so long it touched the floor, an old man with a pointy beard whose gaze was really unsettling and an absolute giant of a woman who wore a midnight dress that seemed to shift and ripple all on its own.
He turned the light on again. Only a couple hours left til the end of the shift. He forced a tired smile to his face as he approached Ever and Zoe.
“I can see you have your bags all packed,” the doctor said, gesturing to the duffle bag on the table. “Any last questions for me before you get discharged tomorrow?”
“Nope!” Zoe said far too brightly. “Just, you know, can’t wait to get out of the hospital.”
Dr. Yang chuckled as he flicked through the chart at the foot of her bed. “I know that feeling.”
“Actually,” Ever said, “hypothetically speaking, say someone was able to freeze time, if they were to stop the Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease from progressing in Zoe’s body, what part of it should they freeze?”
“Yes,” Zoe said, eyes wide, as if cottoning onto something. “Hypothetically speaking.”
Dr. Yang raised an eyebrow. “Hypothetically speaking,” he said, putting the chart back in its bracket, “this someone — Chronos I’m guessing — should stop the prion proteins in the brain from folding the wrong way. It’s a bit of a domino effect. Once they start, which they already have, the rest of the prion proteins in the brain start folding incorrectly as well. This causes brain death.”
Ever and Zoe synchronised their nods, seeming to look past the doctor towards the back wall.
“Anything else?” Dr. Yang said. The two of them shook their heads. “Well all the best,” he said. “Enjoy Greece and remember, I’ll do my best to fit you back into my schedule if you need me to.”
“You didn’t have to ask, you know,” Chronos said. “I did my research and I came to the exact same conclusion as the hypothetical suggestion from the doctor.”
The Primordials had come in and had formed a loose semi-circle around Zoe’s bed. She clutched Ever’s hand tightly, not knowing where or who to look at.
“I didn’t want to waste the opportunity,” Ever said.
“That’s fair,” Chronos replied. Sensing the end of the conversation, all the attention in the room turned towards the goddess-to-be. She swallowed, pushing her heart in her throat back down into her chest.
“How exactly are you going to stop the prions from folding in her–”
“Slow down,” Chronos corrected, sounding slightly peeved. “I can make time crawl, but I can’t completely freeze it.” Nyx had compelled the moon to double in brightness. Its light made Chronos’ face scales appear silver. “Anyway, I’m just going to do it. I can see them, I can command them and they will stop.” Chronos slowly raised an open palm, pointing it at Zoe’s head. She gazed upon it, slowly closing her eyes.