章 15: Poisoned

Once Rory heard the bathroom door close, she reached down to close her computer before gathering her items that had been left by the door.

She made sure everything fit snuggly in her arms before she made her way toward the bed room.

While passing the kitchen her eyes glanced at the digital clock on the stove.

It was already 11:00 pm.

Her face grew concerned.

Due to the amount of time she put into dealing with Knox, she didn't have much time to get her own self organized in the dorm.

Rory opened the door to her room to see that everything was extremely clean and tidy. It was only expected as the original Rory hadn't been to the dorm in a month.

During that time the investigators and cleaners had already long cleaned this place out.

The room itself lacked the feeling of life with white walls, grey carpet and black everything else. The only thing that showed a sign of life was a very weird 'My Chemical Romance' poster on the wall.

Rory barely looked around the room before she tossed her bag on a wooden desk tucked into a corner and turned around to close and lock the door.

She half heartedly searched the room for pajamas before getting into bed.

....

While Rory was sleeping the dorm around her stayed active during the night.

Sovereignty college normally did not let outsiders inside, but in Knox's case it was a different story.

Inside of Knox's room an old doctor hooked up a machine as black cladded people moved items into his room around him.

Their movements were disciplined and showed extreme organization. However, none of them dared to go too close to the bed except for the doctor who was setting up the machine.

The machine was a huge metallic monster and nearly took up half of the dorm room alone with multiple wires plugging into the wall.

If it was any other university instead of Sovereignty the entire school would definitely lose power.

Therefore, it took the old doctor a while to finish setting it up before he started putting medical fluids into it.

When he was finished he pushed up the glasses on his nose and started to speak to Knox in a professional manner.

"This machine should keep you stabilized while you are sleeping incase you have a relapse." The doctor pointed to a specific side of the machine as he explained to Knox what the machine does.

"If the relapse is very bad their is a breathing mechanism on the side to stop the poison from closing your lungs."

He then picked up a needle attached to one of he medical liquids. "This contains a medicine that should keep the poison at bay."

The doctor's eyes were worried as he inserted a needle into Knox's arm.

Noting the look in his eyes, Knox waved his hand. The people moving items in the room bowed before leaving and closing the door behind them.

The doctor finished what he was doing and started to pack up his materials to leave as well.

"Stay Dr. Ivanov."

Dr. Ivanov paused and looked at the bed where Knox laid.

Knox's forehead was covered with sweat and his normally handsome face was extremely pale.

Knox's pale blue eyes dimly looked at the doctor.

"You looked conflicted. What's wrong?"

The doctor bowed his head slightly, "Are you sure that it's best for you to stay here? If I were around you I would feel much more confident at keeping the poison from flaring up. Your temperature is at 38 degrees, which is the lowest the poison has ever caused it to drop. It seems like this time is worse than the times in the past."

"Impossible. In my current condition if those people attacked it's not sure if I would be able to defend myself. Also, the mafia is currently in the middle of a civil war", Knox motioned to the door the men left through. "I only have confidence in a few people in the mafia who absolutely would not betray me. To protect one of my properties I would need more than just them. The risk of my illness getting out would also be heightened."

The doctor sighed. "In the past the mafia only stayed the strongest because of family bonds. How did it deteriorate so much."

Knox didn't bother to answer his question and glanced away from the doctor to look at the machine.

"How long do you think it will take to repress the poison?"

The doctor regained his professionalism and pushed up his glasses. "The poison has been in your blood for a while, I am not sure why it is acting up so badly now. However, we should be able to repress it for some time as long as it does not ignite again during your recovery." Dr. Ivanov stated with a thick Russian accent

"How long?"

"Within seven months as long you don't over exhaust your body."

Knox frowned.

"Make it five, those people aren't stupid. If I wait too long to reappear by the time I come back out I'll have nothing left."

"Young Maste-"

The doctor was cut off coldly by Knox's glare.

"It can only be five."

The doctor conceded and lowered his head, however his eyes were pained. "I will do my best."

Knox closed his eyes in response, which was a clear dismissal to the doctor. Dr. Ivanov could only shake his head and start packing up his supplies. He knew when it came to this point, there was no chance of talking the younger master out of it.

Even if he was risking his life, he would would never slack on his duties.

Dr. Ivanov started to walk toward the door, however paused before reaching it.

"By the way young master, are you sure you don't want me to get rid of that person." His eyes motioned to the wall that separated Rory and Knox's room.

"A simple drug over dose isn't something uncommon among college students in America."

Knox opened his eyes and looked at the wall, already guessing who Dr. Ivanov was talking about. "It's not worth risking the trouble at the moment. I'll just get rid of him later."

Knox said without any emotions in his tone. To him taking a life was as easy as breathing.

Dr. Ivanov bowed. "I understand. Have a good night young master."

Dr. Ivanov walked out and closed the door behind him.