Dr. Erland puckered his lips. “Well. One can imagine that your body is more efficient at ridding itself of the carriers every time it comes in contact with them. So if it took twenty minutes to defeat them all this time…oh, I would think it would have taken no longer than an hour the time before that. Two at the most. Hard to say, of course, given that every disease and everybody works a little differently.”
Cinder folded her hands in her lap. It had taken a little more than an hour to walk home from the market. “What about…can it cling to, say, clothing?”
“Only briefly. The pathogens can’t survive long without a host.” He frowned at her. “Are you all right?”
She fiddled with the fingers of her gloves. Nodded. “When do we get to start saving lives?”
Dr. Erland adjusted his hat. “I’m afraid we can’t do much until I’ve had a chance to analyze your blood samples and map your DNA sequencing. But first I wanted to get a better grasp on your body makeup, in case it could affect the results.”
“Being cyborg can’t change your DNA, can it?”
“No, but there have been studies suggesting that human bodies develop different hormones, chemical imbalances, antibodies, that sort of thing, as a result of the operations. Of course, the more invasive the procedure, the more—”
“You think it has something to do with my immunity? Being cyborg?”
The doctor’s eyes glowed, giddy, unnerving Cinder. “Not exactly,” he said. “But like I said before…I do have a theory or two.”
“Were you planning on sharing any of those theories with me?”
“Oh, yes. Once I know I am correct, I plan on sharing my discovery with the world. In fact, I have had a thought about the mystery shadow on your spine. Would you mind if I tried something?” He took off the spectacles and slid them back into his pocket, beside the portscreen.
“What are you going to do?”
“Just a little experiment, nothing to worry about.”
She twisted her head as Dr. Erland walked around the table and placed the tips of his fingers on her neck, pinching the vertebrae just above her shoulders. She stiffened at the touch. His hands were warm, but she shivered anyway.
“Tell me if you feel anything…unusual.”
Cinder opened her mouth, about to announce that any human touch felt unusual, but her breath hiccupped.
Fire and pain ruptured her spine, flooding her veins.
She cried out and fell off the table, crumpling to the floor.
Chapter Fourteen
RED LIGHT PIERCED HER EYELIDS. GOING HAYWIRE, HER retina display was sending a skein of green gibberish against the backdrop of her lids. Something was wrong with her wiring—her left fingers kept twitching, pulsing uncontrollably.
“Calm down, Miss Linh. You’re perfectly all right.” This voice, calm and unsympathetic in its strange accent, was followed by one much more panicked.
“Perfectly all right? Are you crazy? What happened to her?”
Cinder groaned.
“Only a little experiment. She’s going to be fine, Your Highness. See? She’s waking up now.”
Another strangled protest before she could pry her eyes open. The lab’s whiteness would have blinded her but for the two shadows cutting through it. Her eyes focused the shapes into Dr. Erland’s wool hat and sky blue eyes, and Prince Kai with strands of black hair hanging unkempt across his brow.
As the retina display began running the basic diagnostic test for the second time that day, she shut her eyes again, faintly worried that Prince Kai would notice the green light at the base of her pupil.
At least she had her gloves on.
“Are you alive?” Kai said, pushing her mussed hair back from her forehead. His fingers felt hot and clammy against her skin before she realized that she was the one who was feverish.
Which shouldn’t have been possible. She couldn’t blush, couldn’t have a fever.
Couldn’t overheat.