Lamia

“She’s the first?” Mona asked the Doctor.

“She is,” Dr. Brody nodded with a smile.

“And it’s safe?” Mona asked, wringing her hands together. Judith Brody M.D. had dreamed of this day since she was a child. Finally, something good could come from her obsession. The obsession she’d had ever since that monster had destroyed her family and had nearly taken her life.

“We’ve ran several tests and with her condition the board has voted that it’s umm worth any potential side effects,” Judy said.

Mona sighed, “she’ll die if we don’t try this, is that what you mean?”

No one could ever be one hundred percent sure, medical miracles did happen, but Judy didn’t feel any guilt in saying “yes” because she felt like this time the miracle had needed a little help from science. And the only way science was going to help little Emilia was if Judy could inject her with the DNA of a Greenland shark. The cell regeneration properties they’d extracted and modified could cure almost anything and would extend the life of all human beings. Eventually, anyway. You couldn’t start with a big announcement that you had the fountain of youth, some wouldn’t buy into it and others, the people in power would do all kinds of horrid things with it. This had to happen gradually. People had to see it working to cure ailments just like all the other medicine. And then when people kept living past one hundred, a healthy one hundred at that, there is no way they would complain about it. Judy knew they would live much longer than that even, they had tested the serum to the point that they knew all they could without testing it on humans. This was it, the first human test. Judy was going to use shark DNA to save Emilia’s life.

The trial would be a few weeks, but that was for the parents and hospital board. Emilia only needed one injection of the serum, but they had to make it look like it was taking lot, otherwise people might be suspicious. Emilia was literally dying and knocking on heaven’s gates. If one shot could bring her right out of it, eyebrows would be raised. Judy had to give her the serum and a cocktail of sleep aids and other things to keep her under. The color back in her face an hour after the injection was undeniable and couldn’t be helped. But that was something that only brought joy to anyone who would see her or care how she was doing. The child slept for no reason for another week at least under Judy’s attentive care. The nurses checked her vitals and took care of her like she was just like any other patient. They didn’t ask questions; they trusted Dr. Judith Brody completely and didn’t even question they medicines they were filling the six-year-old’s veins with. They were just light sleep aids and wouldn’t harm her in the least. The only unethical thing being done was the lying, the theater of her getting better slowly instead of the reality of her being one hundred percent better instantly.

Judy could hardly leave the hospital, especially Emilia’s room. Mona slept there most nights, alone. Days went by from the first injection and things seemed to be going swimmingly, pardon the pun. It was lights-out and visiting hours were over, but Dr. Judith Brody had some pull here and told the nurses to let Mona stay the night. This was a nightly thing with them, the nurses didn’t want to get into trouble for letting her stay, so they let Judy make that call for them. It wasn’t a rare thing, especially for a child patient. Most people in the medical field would do the same if they had any tiny fraction of a heart. This routine in addition to Judy spending extra time with Emilia’s sleeping and perfectly healthy body had led to a real friendship between her and Mona. Judy knew it wasn’t a good idea to get emotionally attached to a patient or their family. But this time was different, Judy would never see this patient unhealthy again. She was over forty-five, just past the cut-off age the team of scientists had figured out. She was too old for the serum herself, but Mona was only thirty-five, and after a few little white lies she would also get the serum and get to watch her daughter live longer than anyone had for a very long time. The team wasn’t sure exactly how long, at least two hundred. The aging process was slowed to a crawl and eighty was the new twenty. Judy didn’t mind that she wouldn’t be around that long as long as she could see the entire population injected. The metabolism was slowed to a crawl too, so she had essentially just solved world hunger as well.

“Mommy,” a small voice interrupted the whispered conversation between the Doctor and Mona. That wasn’t supposed to happen, the medicine should have kept her asleep, was this a side effect? Regular medicines worked different on Emilia now? That wasn’t tested because the serum was the last medicine anyone would ever actually need.

“Oh, baby,” Mona covered her mouth and stood up. Well, the look on her face was worth a few answered questions about the super quick effectiveness of the treatment wasn’t it?

“What’s that smell?” Emilia asked.

“What does it smell like honey?” Mona asked her.

“It smells delicious,” Emilia said, sniffing the air like a dog. Heightened sense of smell was a side effect but relatively harmless considering the benefits.

“I’m sure you’re starving,” Judy said, “would you like something from the cafeteria?”

“I need to find that smell,” Emilia said.

“I’ll bring you something that will make you happy, trust me,” Judy said, she knew just what the smell was that was getting to the child. This was a hospital after all.

“What would she like?” the cook at the cafeteria asked when Judy told her she wanted a special meal made for a patient who’d just woken from a ‘coma’.

“Steak, make it bloody,” Judy said.

“She’s how old?” the cook asked.

“Seven,” Judy said. The cook raised an eyebrow at her and Judy sighed, “please, she’s starving.” The cook had no authority to complain, Dr. Judith Brody ranked way higher here. She waited for the meal, bloody steak with no sides, then took it straight upstairs. She was just in time because Emilia was out of bed and walking very slowly in a circle around her mother. Mona was giggling and watching her.

“She feels good enough to play a game,” Mona told Judy.

“Uh huh,” Judy nodded and waved the steak in the air, Emilia turned in a snap and made a direct line toward the meat.

“Yes, this is the smell,” Emilia said and grabbed the meat with her hands and started going at it.

“Is that normal?” Mona asked.

“She hasn’t had solid food in so many months,” Judy nodded, “they were grilling steaks downstairs for another Doctor, and I begged them out of one for her. She must have smelled them grilling.”

“I can’t imagine going that long without eating,” Mona reluctantly agreed as she watched her seven year old devour a steak like a starving lion on a gazelle.

“More,” Emilia said or nearly growled as she finishes the steak. It didn’t take long. Mona looked at Judy nervously and shrugged.

“Would you care to go get her some more?” Judy asked Mona, trying to sound casual. She wanted to be alone with the child as soon as she could. Mona looked at her daughter wide-eyed and then at Judy with the same expression. Then the surprise in her eyes turned to a question. She wasn’t sure what to ask but she knew Judy knew something she didn’t. Her daughter was better though, clearly so that outweighed her concerns as she nodded and left the room.

“Emilia,” Judy started, but then there was a scream from the hall, it was Mona. Judy ran out and saw three other patients circling Mona. They were circling her and one had taken a bite out of her arm. Elsewhere Judy could hear the screams of other people, undoubtedly nurses and maybe some patients but something had clearly happened. Someone had given the serum to other patients, and they were attacking people. Mona looked at Judy with a knowing look. She knew, maybe not the specifics but she knew. That’s when the three patients got her at once, biting her all over.

“Get Emilia out of here!” Mona called out between her cries of pain. Judy couldn’t believe this was happening. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She rushed toward Mona to save her. But Mona cried out, “NO! Save Emilia!”

The old terror came back to Judy, the nightmares she’d had for years after watching a real shark attack and eat her mother. The way it turned to her and came for her too. Sharks aren’t supposed to like the taste of human flesh but that one somehow got the taste for it. Just like these patients. They weren’t fast but they were vicious, and most of the time the motivation is all someone needs. The real reason most people don’t attack other people is simply because they don’t want to, our own conscience is the most powerful thing to keep peace in the world. The serum seemed to have overridden that in these patients. The hunger is too much, the animal is unleashed. Judy was frozen with fear for what felt like a long time but it wasn’t that long because Mona was still alive, still yelling for her to get Emilia. Emilia was one of them but she’d had steak already. Maybe Judy could control her aggressive behavior by keeping her well fed. She was just a little girl.

Judy was finally able to shake off her paralysis enough to dart back into Emilia’s room and grab her. It wouldn’t be safe in the hospital. They came back out and Emilia screamed when she saw what was happening to her mother. The only thing Judy could think was ‘good, she still has some humanity’. Judy dragged the girl to the nearest elevator and pushed the button. The three patients behind them ate their first meal as healthy sharks as the meal’s screams got fainter and fainter. Some more patients came from the hall to the left and the elevator doors opened. Judy shoved Emilia in and dove in behind her. The doors closed right before the other patients got to them.

“Oh thank goodness,” Judy sighed and fell back against the back wall of the elevator. She closed her eyes for just a moment. Then she felt a sharp stabbing pain in her arm. She gasped and opened her eyes. Blood poured from her arm where a chunk had been taken out. She looked up at the little girl, there was the chunk of flesh in a wide toothy grin.