I've got you under my skin [openish to relevant med bay personnel/parents]

[notlewis]

Luis was a biologist and not a medical doctor, but without a general science laboratory he'd taken to spending most of his time hanging out in the medbay. He didn't do anything stupid like take patients or mess around with equipment that was currently hooked up to patients-- just minded his own business in the back as something of a very enthusiastic lab assistant, studying and taking notes of whatever he could apply himself to.

There was also much less Brainy here than the other lab.

Even though he wasn't a medical doctor, Luis was one of the world's foremost experts on parasitic organisms and strange things that grew inside of human bodies that didn't belong there. And this particular case was a personal favor for a friend-- the case of a 12-year-old girl with something reportedly living in her torso.

"Mucho gusto, Sherry. I'm Dr. Sera," he told her, offering a handshake. "Have a seat up on the table and let's see what we can find, okay?"

Comments

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Sherry hadn't exactly wanted to come; she had a thousand reasons why she didn't need to go to the medbay (up to and including, But I was reading a good book!) that day. Still she could be, and was polite, and took Luis' big hand in her relatively smaller one. Her handshake was rather firm for such a small girl, and her face was suitably sober. The dark marks under her eyes had faded now that she'd been able to sleep properly.

"I thought we'd already found it," she muttered and hopped up on the table, her legs swinging back and forth slightly. Sherry tried her best to not look nervous. It seemed to take her an eternity to throw the rest of her up onto the table and she laid back. She flexed her fingers nervously.

[notlewis]

"We did. But I didn't get to see last time," he told her, pulling down the sensors for the scanning device. It worked something like a very elaborate X-ray machine, complete with 3D rotatable imaging that allowed for cross-section simulation. In other words, it was the kind of machine that made Luis drool. He'd spent hours in here figuring out how it worked before and was familiar enough with its use for his own purposes.

Luis pressed a few buttons to turn the thing on, then moved the sensors down and into position. "Try not to worry, corazon. I'm going to take care of this thing for you however I can. Go ahead and lay down real quick."

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

"I'm not worried." Sherry lied. She had decided the last time that, even though they didn't hurt, she wasn't fond of the scanners. In fact, why couldn't someone else have the horrible cell-cluster-of-doom in them? Sherry sighed and laid back tentatively, her big blue eyes on Luis.

"And what's corazon?" she added, her pronunciation of the Spanish language a far cry from her "father's" butchering. Might as well entertain herself if people were going to be entertained by her... difficulties.

[notlewis]

He made a few last-minute adjustments to the scanner and then hit the button. It looked simply like beams of light shining over Sherry as the display monitor lit up and began to sketch out the image of her body.

"It means 'heart,'" Luis said. "I happen to like nicknames, hope you don't mind. Okay, I think that should do it."

The lights shut off and Luis moved over to the monitor, starting to fiddle around with the controls until he could start looking through the scan for any sign of something amiss in the girl's abdominal cavity. "There it is," he mumbled. "Well, it's definitely there. Your dad told me what we think it is, and I already had a look at your blood sample, so I'm going to take a closer look."

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

"I don't particularly like it when people I'm not related to give me nicknames," she replied honestly. "But since you know Dad, I guess it's okay." For now. "What's it look like?" she asked, curious. Sherry hadn't actually seen the scan the first time either, too disgusted by the prospect that something that wasn't normal was inside her.

Sherry liked normal even if it was a very silly thing to cling to when one's new home was basically a meatloaf flying through space.

[notlewis]

"Well, just to make it even, you can give me one too, if you want," Luis replied matter-of-factly. Honestly, he had been floored when Leon told him that this little girl was his. He hadn't pegged Leon for being father material or being with a woman in more than a puppy love sense material.

It looked like... well, like a small, fleshy, underdeveloped thing. Squinting, you could see tiny insect-like limbs and a mouth. Seriously nasty business. But it was Luis' kind of business.

"It looks like an embryo, like they said. But your blood and other tests are coming up normal so I'm guessing whatever it is, it's dormant," he informed her. How long it would remain dormant was another question entirely.

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

"I'll think about it, then," Sherry mumbled. A free nickname was a free nickname, after all. It required a certain amount of planning. However, since Sherry didn't particularly feel like angering the person who might have an answer for her little guest, she deigned to figure one out when she was well and far away from anything that could scan, poke, prod or otherwise cause her discomfort. She twitched her toes and wrinkled her nose while Luis described it.

"Well, I guess I'm glad it's just... sitting there," Sherry replied. "But that's gross."

[notlewis]

"I'll say," Luis agreed with her, cracking a bit of a smile. Behind it, though, he was deep in thought and staring at the little thing on the monitor like it had done him personal insult. The insult was in existing without Luis knowing what it was. Where it came from. What it was planning on doing in there, with its beady little undeveloped eyes.

"But the good news is, if it's just sitting there we can probably take it out," he told her. "It's not doing any harm, but it's not doing any good either."

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Those were words she wasn't sure if she were pleased or horrified to hear. The little girl laid there uncomfortably, and looked out to the waiting room where her parents were.

"And," she paused, annoyed that her voice had wavered. "And how are we going to get it out? What's going to happen to it when it comes out?" If it was dangerous, it should be destroyed. She didn't want it to worry her parents anymore.

[governmentninja]

Leon was really starting to get annoyed with how often he was forced to come here. Especially since all he could do was just sit and wait.

Not his favorite thing in the world.

He just wished so many pieces of his past wouldn't resurface on the ship. First T-Veronica reared its ugly head with Steve, then he had to have Luis checked for possible Las Plagas infection. Now he's here while Sherry gets whatever remains of the G-virus looked at, and hopefully removed from her system.

Leon leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. That one night seemed determined to follow them around no matter where they went.

"Don't worry about Sherry, Luis is good at what he does."

[letmelive]

Claire was beyond uncomfortable with this situation. She kept shifting in her chair, and if she wouldn't get crap for it she'd probably get up and pace around the waiting room. Annette had seemed so sure of the vaccine that she'd instructed Claire how to make. This shouldn't have happened. Sherry shouldn't have to deal with this.

She was quietly stewing when Leon spoke up, and she sighed, shifting again in her chair and staring at the door to the med bay.

"How do you know?" She'd picked up that it seemed like Leon was already familiar with the guy, but since he wasn't around the last time they'd been in she was assuming he was a relatively new resident of Stacy. So despite how uncomfortable she was with the situation overall she was also curious as to how Leon knew this guy was good at what he did.

[governmentninja]

Thiiiiiis was going to be a pain to explain. "He saved my ass once... even if I couldn't quite return the favor."

Which, of course, really explained nothing.

"Remember my trip to Spain in 2004?"

[letmelive]

Finally tearing her eyes away from the door, she looked over at him and arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" Just one on a long list of things she'd gotten bits and pieces about but never the whole story.

[governmentninja]

"About 99% of what happened there is classified. Which, granted, doesn't really mean much to anyone else here, but..." it still meant something to him. "You'll have to forgive me if I start to gloss over some details.

"Anyway. Long story short, a family member of a high ranking government official got kidnapped. We ended up getting a lead that the subject was in Spain, but due to... uh... we'll call it 'internal security concerns,' in combination with international politics, I was the only one they could send overseas to investigate the lead. I ended up in some backwoods village along the way, which is where all the trouble started. Turned out everyone there was infected with a parasite, something called las plagas. It was capable usurping a hosts free will if left untreated, and by the time I had arrived most everyone had become nothing more than drones, slaves to the master plaga.

"Luis grew up in the village, had left for college and other pursuits, but was asked to come back to find a cure for las plagas. Problem was that the people who were funding his research had less than noble intentions.

"I ended up stumbling upon Luis first; found him locked in a closet, of all places. But shortly after freeing him we both got captured, during which time they infected me with the parasite. Luis and I managed to get free and got separated. We bumped into each other a few more times that day, the last of which was when he brought me some drugs that, for the most part, kept the parasite from completely hijacking control of me. He also died in the process, getting impaled through the chest and bleeding out in front of me."

So, yeah. Another should be dead person is alive and well on the ship.

"Later on, I ended up stumbling across a machine he built during his research. A laser that emitted some sort of radiation that caused the parasite inside me to die off and break down, without liquefying my internal organs in the process. Because of him, I was able to get rid of the damn thing once and for all."

[letmelive]

Claire sat and listened to him explain what had happened, her eyes gradually narrowing as he talked, while she turned over what all this probably meant that Leon wasn't saying. Bioterrorism sure enough had been on a steady rise despite Umbrella's downfall, but a good deal of her own personal research for TerraSave had always been very suggestive that the Umbrella scientists that managed to escape arrest were behind a large amount of the black market dealings.

The fact that Leon of all people ran into a mind controlling parasite in rural Spain struck her as too large of a coincidence, but she didn't say anything.

Once he was finished, she leaned her head towards him slightly, tilting it to the side.

"So you trust him?" He'd probably be able to tell she was burning to ask him more about everything, but was restraining herself, for the moment.

[governmentninja]

There were a lot of things in Spain that were too large of a coincidence. But he wasn't going to say anything.

It was always a difficult act to balance, though. He wanted to tell her everything he could, without telling her anything he couldn't. He generally tended be cautious about it, but now that circumstances had changed, that approach seemed to be causing more problems than solving them.

"I wouldn't let him near Sherry if I didn't."

[letmelive]

She nodded, exhaling and turned away from him to sink a little lower in her chair and lean her head back.

"Fair enough." It wasn't really much of a question, she trusted Leon's judgment more than anyone, and he had just as much invested in Sherry as their daughter as she did.

It seemed for a moment like she was going to leave it at that, but after staring at the ceiling like it was incredibly interesting for a minute she spoke again.

"Was Umbrella involved?"

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Sherry nodded, mostly to herself, and touched the approximate spot.

Well, she knew now, so... maybe it wouldn't be so bad. If there was one thing she disliked the most, it was not knowing what was going on. Even more, she thought with a little sigh, when it's something in me. "Thank you for telling me, Doctor Sera." With Luis, and now moving a little faster than her Roxie turtle-speed, she walked out into the waiting room where her parents were.

"Who's getting what for their birthday?" she questioned.

[governmentninja]

"Your mom is getting a monkey for her next birthday," he joked. "She's always wanted a monkey."

And quickly changing subjects before Claire could hit him, he looked from Sherry to Luis. "So how'd the exam go?"

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Sherry raised both of her eyebrows at her parents, silently questioning her father's sense of humor. Her mother clearly wasn't a monkey person. Besides, she already had one and his name was Steve. Sherry decided (probably wisely, on her part) to keep that bit to herself. "Uh. Huh."

Well, at least they'd kept themselves entertained while Dr Sera examined her. "Can't leave you two alone for a moment," she murmured.

[notlewis]

"Good as it could have. I think we'll be able to take it out without too much problems. Sherry even made me swear I could do it without making it hurt, so we've got a deal there," Luis said casually, smirking about it.

When Sherry was looking the other direction, he motioned at her and then gave Leon a look that read "further discussion needed," as soon as Sherry was out of here.

[letmelive]

Leon could change the subject as quickly as he wanted, it didn't save him from the quick and not so discreet sideways kick aimed at his shin. Claire kept her eyes on Luis and Sherry, expression completely placid.

"That sounds good," she responded to Luis, smiling a little and holding an arm out for Sherry. She caught the look Luis gave Leon and glanced at her friend briefly, before her eyes settled back on the Doctor. "So we'll get this taken care of ASAP?"

[governmentninja]

Leon kept his expression reasonably neutral, though there was a very quiet grimace as he gave Claire a sideways look. He also decided to stretch his leg for a moment.

Sorry, Sherry, your parents don't behave themselves even while in front of you.

Leon looked back in time to catch the look from Luis. He gave a slight eyebrow raise, as if to say 'ooookay'. He had to wonder what Luis wanted to say to him that he didn't think he could say in front of Claire and Sherry.

[notlewis]

God, Leon and his baby mama fuckbuddyClaire were even less subtle than Luis had a tendency to be. "I think we better take care of it pretty soon, though there are a few things I want to look into before we get too far ahead of ourselves. Just a few precautions, really. Not to mention we need somebody from the medical staff to help with the surgery," he said. "But otherwise, we can get it taken care of in the next few days. Or however we tell time on this ship."

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Sherry scurried over to join Claire and gave Leon a look. He probably deserved that, so she wouldn't feel sorry for him. "Mom, as much as I'd like to stay here and listen to Dr. Sera talk about poking my insides - no offense again, Dr Sera - I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

She looked up at Leon and gave him the saddest, most suffering look she could muster, "Please? Is that alright?" Why no, she didn't hate going to medical at all, what made you think otherwise?