The Plague Doctor Chapter 2 (Goodbye)

(Author's Note) Well everyone Chapter two is here now and I hope everyone will enjoy it. Also, I have read the comments and have tried to fix some of my mistakes, so hopefully, there aren't more of those.

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Kenneth sat up and looked at the clock in the room; as he looked, he noticed he had only been asleep for three hours, yet he felt well-rested with a good amount of energy, more than he had had in weeks. Could this be something that Jasha did or something else?

He didn’t have time to ponder that as he looked at the things that presumably Jasha had left him. On the bed, there were both the clothes, mask, and bag Jasha had shown him, as well as a syringe and six bottles of clear liquid, one of which was empty. Looking closer, Kenneth saw that there was something written on the empty bottle, “DO NOT OPEN OR EXPOSE TO AIR WITHOUT SYRINGE.”

Kenneth was not sure what to make of that. Was that a warning or a way to mislead him? With some work to do and little time to do it, Kenneth rushed out of the door with the bag and all other things in it.

It was the middle of the night, and there were still many people working in the hospital, but not as many as when Kenneth had come to visit his son. He eventually made his way to the elevator getting in and pressing the button.

When the doors opened, Kenneth stepped out and almost ran for an empty laboratory he could study in. The second he found one, he got in and locked the door as well as blocked the windows and made sure no one could see what he was doing. He would probably sound like a mad man trying to explain what he was doing as well as what the liquid was, and if worse came to worse, he could always say it was a sailing solution or something like that.

Kenneth got ready; he had prepared the lab so he could study the cure and maybe leave the formula behind if he could. Although the chances were slim that Jasha would allow that, it would, however, be better to try and fail than to wonder what could have been done.

Kenneth grabbed the bag and opened it, pulling out one of the bottles as well as the syringe. Kenneth didn’t know how much he should believe in the magic stuff, but given how few samples he could get of this stuff with the amount in each vial, it would be best to be on the safe side.

He took the syringe and poked it through the cork on top of it, and took about half of the liquid out of it, but the second the syringe was removed from the vial, the liquid became hotter not by much, but it did turn into mist in a matter of seconds.

Kenneth was shocked by this. In all of his years, he had never seen any liquid become mist so quickly without being at a boiling point, but the liquid had barely gotten hot, only changing temperature in the slightest. Although there might be some chemical reaction in the world that would allow something like that to happen, it was far out of Kenneth's reach of knowledge of the study.

While the liquid in the vial might have turned to mist, the other half of the liquid was fine within the syringe. Well, Kenneth thought at least the message didn’t lie. With the liquid vaporizing the second it comes into contact with air, his options were limited regarding research of the drug.

What can I do if the only place where the liquid won’t vaporize is within the vial syringe and hopefully the body of the recipient? It would be almost impossible to study, especially when I only have the equipment within the hospital at my disposal. And even if I could get it to some lab that could study it within the vial and syringe, it would take too long, and I would be long gone before that.

Should I blindly trust Jasha without knowing the long-term effects of the drug? Even though I have been injected, there is no way of knowing who it would affect me in the long term or how a child would react to it. But what other choice do I have if I refuse the deal right here right now, then I would stay, but Connor? In the best-case scenario, I would watch him getting weaker and weaker until. “NO!” Kenneth screamed, tears beginning to make their way through his eyes.

I haven’t died, and I don’t feel any adverse effects at all; even if I might not be safe, it's my only option left, given the time.

With that, Kenneth grabbed the bag and made his way out to the elevator. He pressed the button and waited. As he waited for the elevator to make the right stop, small thoughts crept into his mind. What if she lied and it doesn’t do anything? What if she only used your desire to get what she wanted, your wants and needs are damned? What if-

The last thought didn’t have time to finish as the pling sound of the elevator sounded to indicate Kenneth had reached the right floor. And so he got walking as fast as he could with the bag in hand and the contents within.

And not before long, he had reached his destination, room 206. His heart pounded, and his hand was shaking as he reached for the doorknob and slowly opened it. And as he did, the final thought from the elevator came back. What if it could kill him?

As Kenneth opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of his son fully awake and looking out the window. And as Kenneth stepped inside the room, Connor's head turned and went from a look of boredom to one of happiness, “hi Kenneth.”

“Hi, Connor,” Kenneth responded almost fully automatically. “What are you doing up at this hour? Weren't you tired when I was here a few hours ago?” He said, moving inside and closing the door behind him.

Connor’s smile began to dissipate and became a frown, “does June hate you.” Connor asked, his voice full of sadness and sorrow.

Kenneth was stunned; he had never expected this question from his son, but he had always been different from most kids his age. He was always more quiet and seemed to like to talk to adults more than kids his own age; of course, he wasn’t a genius, but he always seemed more mature than an 11-year-old child should be. “Of course not, Connor, we are… are… just taking a break from one another while the world begins to heal, so don’t worry,” he said with a strained smile, knowing he lied to his son about that on some level.

“Okay,” he said, his voice sounding sorrowful as he went back to look out the window. “Umm… Connor is there a reason why you are asking,” Kenneth asked, trying not to show his own growing sadness.

“When I talked to you and June earlier today, I kept seeing her looking mad at you, and I wanted her to stop, but I didn’t want her to start yelling, so I pretended to fall asleep. And I heard everything you and June talked about before the women came in,” he said, sounding beat up about it.

There was Silence in the room as Connor went back to looking out the window and Kenneth sitting thinking about what Connor had said. “Connor, can I ask you a question,” Kenneth eventually asked.

Connors's head turned once again to look at his dad and nodded. “Do you feel like I've never been there for you, like I wasn’t there when you needed it,” Kenneth asked, his voice sounding saddened.

“Farther,” Connor said. “There have been times when you haven’t been there for me when I felt like you were not there, but I know that you are helping people. Many of the nurses had talked about even before I became sick, about how you have helped people in need.” Connor answered, his voice growing happier.

“I know that your work is important, and you help people, the old and even other children like and I've never been angry at you for that. I understood that people need help, and there has to be someone to help people, and that is just the person you are.” At that, Kenneth was stunned; he knew Connor was more mature than other kids his age, but to understand all of that. I haven’t given him enough credit as to his intelligence.

“Son, I have to say im proud of you for telling me the truth and understanding much more than I thought you would be able to,” Kenneth said with a gentle smile across his lips.

“Thanks,” with a child-like innocents more befitting his age. Kenneth then opened the bag and grabbed a vial as well as the syringe and looked at it with curiosity, and asked, “what is that?”

Kenneth froze for a second, wondering what he should tell him. If he told him, it was a cure, then he might talk to the wrong person and say his father created a cure for this pandemic, and when he is gone from this world, then people might become desperate and try to hurt his family. But there might be a way. “Umm, Connor, this is just a bit of medicine to help you feel better; I know that being inside all day without being able to do anything fun can be a bit uncomfortable, so this is just meant to help you a little.”

As Kenneth walked over to Connor's bedside with a vial and syringe in hand, he could see there was no mistrust in his eyes or facial expression. Kenneth was a bit relieved that he knew he wasn’t lying, but he couldn’t tell him the truth of what this was, so it was good. “Okay, Connor, you might feel a little pain in your shoulder, but I need you to be brave for me. Can you do that,” he said in a soft voice.

Connor seemed a bit nervous, but never less he put on a brave façade. And with that, Kenneth emptied the vial into the syringe and then carefully poked Connor’s shoulder with it. There was no show of pain in Connor, and as Kenneth was done with the injection and pulled away from the syringe, Connor said, “okay, just price the skin. I am ready now.”

At the Kenneth, let out a small chuckle, “it's over,” he said smiling.

“Really, I barely felt anything. It felt like a thin piece of metal touching my skin.”

Kenneth then began to pack his things, “Connor, I need to go away for a few hours and talk with your mom, but I promise I will be back and be with you more.” At that, Connor’s expression lightened up and became a happy one.

And with that, Kenneth quickly left the room bag in hand towards the exit of the hospital. There were still many people walking the hall of the hospital, but they didn’t stop Kenneth as he got out and found his car and began to drive towards his-

No, it was June’s and the children's home now. Although there hasn’t been any finalized divorce, both of them had agreed to live separated until the divorce was finalized, and after that, they could talk about shared custody of the kids.

The further away Kenneth drove from the hospital, the less traffic there was. It was nice and allowed Kenneth to think a bit more. Now that I’ve Connor the cure, there might be some questions about him recovering, and if that happens, June is gonna need some way to divert attention away from Connor with the cure. The last thing I want to happen is for Connor or Eva to become test subjects in order to find a cure of some sort. And although Kenneth knew that his worst fears only belonged in a Hollywood blockbuster of some kind, there still was the chance of something going wrong, and he knew that after today he wouldn’t be there to help any of them.

“I feel like I sold my soul to the devil,” Kenneth murmured into the Silence of the car as he drove through the dark streets.

The rest of the drive was rather uneventful. There were no worse thoughts than the devil one, and the drive had been a rather calm experience, all things considered, and as he arrived at the house, he saw that it had lights turned on the first floor. At least I won’t wake her from her slumber and make her madder at him than she probably was.

Kenneth knew he could be distant at times, mostly physically, and he guessed that June was just not the kind of person who could handle such things. It probably didn’t help that he would at times be in the mindset of work even when he was home.

Kenneth then walked up to the door and knocked, and before anyone could answer the door, a final thought entered Kenneth's mind. The separation and the divorce had been mostly a wakeup call for Kenneth to change his ways and focus more on his family, but shortly thereafter, the pandemic came, and Connor got sick, and then, well, it was back to the same old routine of focusing on his job and how to help Connor whatever way he could not giving a damn about himself, but Kenneth knew the last image his family would ever have of him would be a workaholic that probably went insane due to the stress of it all.

Kenneth sighed just as the door opened, and he was met by June with a somewhat surprised expression. “Kenneth, what are you doing here. Wait, did something happen to Connor,” she asked, a bit worried.

Kenneth's expression was as always as neutral as it could be as he answered, “no, he is fine, but I need to talk to you. May I come inside.”

June was a bit hesitant but allowed Kenneth inside, “so if Connor is fine, then why are you here at,” she then looked at her watch. “eleven-forty-five in the evening, and what’s with the bag you got with you, “she asked puzzled.

Kenneth sighed and looked at June with a serious expression, “can I ask you a question,” she nodded, and he took in a deep breath. “In all of the years, you have known me, have I ever lied to you.”

She took a moment to think, and after a while, she answered, “no, not that I can recall. As far as I know, you lied to me, but why are you asking me this, and why is it you are here.”

“I know this might sound crazy, but I have a cure that will protect both you and Eva.”

She stood there for a moment, processing the information, and probably understood why I asked the first question now. “But how? There has been no news of there even being the first vaccine. Do you say you’ve made a cure alone in weeks when teams of professionals barely have anything yet,” she asked, her voice filled with disbelief and a little hope.

“No,” Kenneth answered. “before today, I was no closer to making any kind of progress to even make the worst vaccine in the world, but I didn’t make it; I received it from someone,” after that, Kenneth grew silent.

“What do you mean you received the cure from someone. Did you buy some charlatans claim of a cure?”

“You wouldn’t believe even if I told you, “he answered in a low voice.

“Try me, “she responded.

“Fine,” Kenneth sighed. “After you left the hospital, I went and got some sleep, and within my dream, I met a person she said the if I do something for her she would give me a cure.” Then both of them went silent, and Kenneth went back to his neutral expression.

“I know that you never have in your life lied to me, but this sounds more like the dreams of a desperate person more than anything. I know you love Connor, and it's probably hard for you to see him in that state, but to believe a dream like you seem to do is insane,” she said with concern in her voice.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe, but that doesn’t change why im here,” Kenneth said, opening the bag and pulling out both the syringe and the rest of the vials. “These are the cure. Originally there were six, but the first was used on me while I was asleep; the second was used for, study where I learned that the liquid would vaporize if the cork is removed or if anything other than this syringe is used; to remove the liquid.”

Kenneth then placed the three remaining vials and the syringe on a table. “It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, but I know that either in a few hours or in a day, the woman will come, and I have to pay my end of the deal.”

June was unsure what to think of all of this; she knew Kenneth, but it seemed to be impossible that he had made a deal and got six vials. Wait, six, June then gasped in surprise, “Kenneth, you said you got six of these vials. One was used one you the other you used for study, but there are only three here. Where is the last one?” June asked, her very concerned.

“I used it on Connor,” came the reply barely louder than a whisper.

“You did what!?” June yelled. “You don’t even know what is inside it, and you gave it to our son!” as June yelled, Kenneth remained silent.

“Or do you even care about him? Is he nothing to you!?”

A that Kenneth had had enough, “Care... Care... You don’t even get to use that word.” Kenneth said calmly yet with more anger than June had ever heard from him. “What precisely would you have me do? Watch our son lie in the hospital and wait until he is dead; I choose what I choose because I care. Watching him lie in that bed hooked up to the machines… that sight is killing me, more than you could ever know.” Now tears were forming in Kenneth's eyes, and June looked less angry than before and more apologetic.

There was a moment of Silence. “Look, Kenneth im sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said, but you never make it easy for me to read your emotions… you are like a stone figure when it comes to showing your emotions.”

“You know I don’t like showing emotions,” Kenneth sighed.

“I know.”

Kenneth, who had now regained his composure, spoke.” listen, I don’t care if you believe me about anything I’ve said here tonight, but promise me you will keep the vials and syringe even after im gone. Use the vial and syringe on yourself and Eva once Connor has recovered.”

Both of them stood there in Silence, and June looked like she was thinking intensely about everything. She eventually sighed and said, “fine; I won’t say I believe anything you say, but I promise to keep what you gave me safe.”

A slight smile then appeared on Kenneth's face, “Thank you, June.” Kenneth was about to leave when June stopped him.

She grabbed his arm, “Don’t you think she should have one final memory of you before whatever happens to happen.” She then let go of Kenneth and took the syringe and vials, and went further into the house, leaving Kenneth.

Kenneth looked up the stairs and wondered if he should. Eva was only four; would she even remember who he was. Kenneth sighed as he walked up the stairs. It's not like it will matter in the end anyway.

As Kenneth reached the top of the stairs and looked around, he looked at the white door where his daughter's room was, and as he opened the door slowly, he was met by Eva getting out of bed. And as her eyes met, Kenneth’s pure joy could be seen on her face. “Daddy, daddy, your home,” she said as she ran up to Kenneth to hug him.

Without missing a beat, he kneeled down and held her close. At that, Kenneth couldn’t hold anything back as tears began to flow from his face, but he didn’t want her to know anything was wrong, so he held her close.

“Daddy is Conni home with you,” she asked.

At that, Kenneth snapped out of his own sorrow, “no, Eva, but he will be home soon enough.” Eva then left her father's embrace and looked him in the eyes, and by now, he had gotten his tears to stop. “You promise?” she asked.

“I promise you that he will be home soon.”

Her face then became an even more joyous one as she raised her hand and held out her pinky, “you pinky promise.”

At that, Kenneth led out a chuckle as he met Eva’s pinky with his own and made a sorta handshake, “I pinky promise.”

“Yay, yay!” She said all excitingly.

When she had come down from her excitement, she began to yawn, and her eyes became heavier, and without saying a word, he picked her up and put her to sleep. As Kenneth left the room, he took one final look at his daughter before he closed the door and tears began flowing.

With his sight somewhat obscured, Kenneth made his way carefully down the stairs and out to the car. And there he sat for a long time until the tears finally stopped. With another word, he drove without knowing where he was going. He just wanted to do something to keep his mind occurred from everything.

But Kenneth knew he needed to make one final stop before it was all over, and he would never be here again.

As soon as he could, he turned the car around and headed back to the hospital to spend some time with Connor.

When he arrived, Connor was all too happy to see his dad again, and even though it was hard, Kenneth didn’t want Connor to know something was wrong, so he just smiled as best he could as they talked for hours about anything that Connor could thing of talking about.

The conversation shifted a few times from videogames to school and then to a book he had fallen in love with; it was about a poor boy who had been abducted by a dragon because he could hear her thoughts, and then the boy became friends with a highborn boy at the palace and even the princess who had some skin diseases of some kind.

Even though the story was meant for kids, it sounded quite interesting to Kenneth. And as time marched on and hours felt like minutes, Connor began to tire, and Kenneth knew he should get some sleep.

“It was quite fun talking with you, but I think it's about time you get some sleep,” Kenneth said in a low tone.

And as Connors's eyelid began to become heavier and close, Kenneth said one final goodbye before his eye closed and sleep took him.

As Kenneth walked out of the room, he took a final look at him before leaving. And as he walked away, he himself began to feel sleepy, and with nothing better to do, he quickly found a room and let sleep take him as well.

As the world around him disappeared, a new yet familiar entered his sight, and an all too familiar figure was standing under the very same tree she stood under before he had awoken last time.

Neither really paid much attention to one another for some time, and they stood there in Silence under the pink tree.

Eventually, Jasha spoke up, “do you hate me?” she asked

This surprised Kenneth, but he didn’t let it show as he answered. “I have many negative feelings right now, but it's not like it's only your fault I feel these things. I chose to take the deal, but I didn’t know the amount of sorrow it would result in.”

“I would imagine so; to say goodbye to one's own children forever is no easy feat,” she said as she turned her attention towards Kenneth, and as he could see her eyes, they had a hint of sorrow in them.

“So is it now it happens,” Kenneth asked.

“In a short time, but before you are sent, I will give you the ability to speak with one of the races. It will make it easier for you to survive in the long run,” she said, her gaze falling back onto the field of green.

Yesterday Kenneth would have questioned Jasha how that would even be possible to do, but now he just wanted it to be over, for him to be sent and do whatever it was that he was meant to do in that other world.

Eventually, Jasha fixed her gaze on Kenneth again. “It's done. Now you can go and change the world. Hopefully, for the better,” She said, her voice hinting at optimism of some sort.

Kenneth didn’t hear what Jasha said; he was in his own thoughts, only thinking of his children and how he would never see them grow up. And even as the world once again began to fall apart into the darkness, he did nothing.

For a moment, it appeared that Jasha wanted to say something but decided not to, instead opting for Silence to fill this dream world of theirs as darkness consumes them both.

For a moment, Kenneth felt at peace in the void, he thought, but at the same time, he didn’t. He felt nothing for a time, but that changed, and suddenly he felt the earth beneath him, and the air around him, and then his eyes shot open, but his sight had somewhat changed, and when he reached up a hand to inspect, he understood why.

His hand was covered in a glove, and his face had the mask of the plague doctor from the clothes Jasha had given him. And as he regained his senses, Kenneth quickly noticed they had the full attire on.

Kenneth let out a long sigh as the final hope of all of this being a dream faded away, and the realization of it all hit him. He had to change a world or die trying literally.

With nothing better to do, Kenneth stood up looked around his surroundings. He was in a pretty well-lit cave. It had plenty of room, and most of the light was coming from a hole in sealing, and the mouth of the cave showed the outside and a lush green forest.

“Well, I guess I should better get started, although on what I have no idea on what exactly,” Kenneth sighed.

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