The four friends stood up in a rush and hurried after her. Finally, we’ll get some answers, Noah thought.
She led them down a brightly lit hallway and past a couple offices before turning into one with a placard marked Dr. Iris Jansen, M.D., Physician.
“Sit down,” she said brusquely, gesturing to the four plastic chairs that had been set up against the wall. A fan was running in the corner by the door, blowing towards the open window. Generic photographs of rolling outdoor landscapes were framed on the walls.
“First of all,” she began, “I’d like all of you to know I have sent another student who had properly scheduled a meeting with me back to their dorm so that I could speak to you four. I’m not saying this for the purpose of making you feel guilty, only so that you understand I am taking your plea for help seriously.”
They all nodded.
“Thank you for taking the time to help us, Dr. Jansen,” May said.
The doctor nodded. “You’re welcome. Now, Robert told me you don’t know what’s wrong, but that you’re convinced it poses a significant risk to yourselves and to your fellow students. When did you first start experiencing symptoms?
They all glanced at each other before Leah spoke up. “Just earlier this morning, Doctor. We came here as soon as we realized something was wrong.”
She nodded. “Have you done anything unusual in the past forty-eight hours that you can immediately think of?”
Noah kept his face neutral and fought the urge to look at his friends.
“Not really. I guess we went off campus yesterday evening, but we only went to the cemetery.”
“Oh? Were you paying your respects to someone in particular?”
Noah swallowed. “My mom.”
The doctor focused in on that like a detective sniffing out evidence. “I’m sorry for your loss. Do you mind sharing how she passed?”
Noah shook his head. “She got the Wager. She didn’t get the good outcome.”
He could see her lose interest in the subject as soon as he mentioned the Wager, clearly realizing there was no connection to their current ailment.
“I see. That is truly unfortunate.” She wrote something down on a tablet on her desk. “So, I see you are all experiencing some unusual respiratory conditions.”
All four of them were exhaling small amounts of dust with every breath, only for the dark clouds to get whisked away by the air blowing from the fan and shunted out the window.
“Yeah, but that was like the third symptom,” Leah said.
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“Let’s just focus on the smoke for now,” Dr. Jansen said. “Do any of you spend significant amounts of time in smoky environments?”
“Actually, it’s dust,” Brian and Noah said simultaneously. Leah and May nodded.
Dr. Jansen raised an eyebrow. “Is it, now? What makes you so sure? It resembles smoke to my eyes.”
They didn’t have a good answer to that, so eventually Noah just shrugged. “Nothing, really. It just feels correct.”
“Alright, then.” She wrote something else down. “My question still stands, however. “Have you been doing any cleaning? Been in a dusty area?”
Brian looked at Noah. Noah thought for a moment and concluded the mausoleum was not dusty, nope, and answered “no” without elaborating.
The doctor nodded shortly. “Have any of you ever smoked or are currently smoking?”
They all shook their heads. She made a note. “I will measure each of your oxygen levels before you leave today,” she said. “For now, let’s move on to your other symptoms. What was the first sign that something was wrong this morning?”
“I felt really light headed,” Noah said. “And my whole body had that pins-and-needles feeling, like it was asleep. Not so much anymore, though. I’ve been totally numb for about an hour now.”
The doctor looked at each of them in turn. “Is this true for the rest of you as well?”
“Yeah,” Leah said. “I can’t feel anything. I touch something, and I can see my hand touching it, but it doesn’t feel like anything is there. It’s really weird. And probably a sign that something is awfully wrong.” She looked anxiously at the doctor.
“We’ll see,” Dr. Jansen said evenly. “It sounds like you are experiencing poor blood flow. Are there any other symptoms you have taken note of since this morning?”
Noah thought about it and shook his head. “That’s everything. That I’ve noticed, at least.”
None of the others had anything else to add.
“In that case, I will take this time to retrieve the pulse oximeters to measure your blood oxygen levels. I will be back shortly. Please stay seated with your hands below your heart to prepare for the test.”
The doctor stood and strode out of the room.
“She has no idea what’s wrong with us,” Leah said after a few seconds.
“I’m getting that feeling as well,”Brian said. “Hopefully this blood oximeter thing gives her enough information to at least let her treat us, even if she doesn’t know the name of whatever we have.”
“I really hope that there’s nothing to worry about,” May said. “That would be nice.”
A few minutes later Dr. Jansen reappeared, pushing a small plastic cart ahead of her. There were a few plastic blue-and-white clips on a small tray on the cart, along with a stethoscope and a small mallet.
“I have decided it would be prudent to take the basic measurements that you would be tested for at a regular physical check-up. We will start with your heart rate. The pulse oximeter will also record your pulse, but I am interested in listening to it myself.”
The doctor knelt by Noah first, equipping the stethoscope. She placed the chest piece below his heart and held still for a few seconds. Eventually she leaned back and asked, “Are you holding your breath?”
“No,” Noah said. “Should I be?”
“Please don’t. I can hardly pick up your pulse in the first place. Kindly take a deep breath.”
Noah did so, exhaling a stream of dust.
Dr. Jansen ignored it, concentrating fully on picking up the sound of his heart. She finally nodded, wrote briefly on her tablet, and moved on to Brian next. She listened to the pulse of each of them before returning to her desk and reclining in the seat.
“I’m going to be straight with you; the heart rates you are all displaying are low enough to be adequate reason to send you immediately to a facility better equipped to keep you alive than we.”
They all sat bolt upright. “Is that what you’re going to do?” Brian asked. “Are we going to be okay?”
“The reason that I haven’t already called an ambulance is that you four should already be unconscious, yet you are all alert and conversing normally with me. That is sufficient reason for me to conclude there are abnormal factors at play that I’m unaware of. I plan to determine what those are.”