Kerii sat down in the waiting room. She was anxious with curiosity, but giddy with excitement. While others sat around her waiting for test results or praying that a surgery went well, she was expecting Dr. Gerard to come back and tell her about what caused the boar, and most likely the other people and animals, to behave in such a violent manner. She could have sworn she heard him mutter something about the water that one time she helped Dr. Gerard out with the heart transplant surgery, but she wasn't quite sure. For all she knew, he could have been talking about some unrelated mysterious illness. After all, he was a doctor. He probably saw tons of patients a day. She would be far from surprised if someone showed up with a mysterious illness that didn't pertain to the one that was currently plaguing Baska.

The elf's heart skipped a beat when she saw Dr. Gerard come out of a room. Sylvie too, was watching the door like a hawk, so she jumped up when she saw him come out the doors. Their eyes met and the doctor arched an eyebrow, as if he was surprised to see the two of them there. He walked over towards the two of them, a nervous look on his face. "What are you still doing here?" he asked in a hushed whisper. Kerii and Syl looked at each other, and then back to Dr. Gerard. "Waiting, just like you said," she replied in complete innocence, still confused by his question. "I meant to wait outside of the hospital." He heaved a heavy sigh. "Look, these results are taking a while to get back. I think it would be best if you went home. It's uncomfortable waiting in this hospital and I have no idea if or when they'll be conclusive. I'll send for you if I need another sample or if I get the results, okay?" Kerii nodded her head. She understood completely. "Okay, I'll see you then. Come on, Syl." Kerii stood up and Sylvie loosely wrapped her ribbon around Kerii's wrist. Dr. Gerard went away, perhaps to visit another patient or to consult with another doctor. Clearly, if the plague or virus was as bad as Dr. Gerard made it out to be, they had ought to bring in an expert on the subject. A neurologist would be who Kerii would consult with first if she were on this case, but alas, she wasn't. Part of her wanted to ask Dr. Gerard if she could help out in any way while waiting for the results, but the other part of her knew better than to get in the way of a doctor, especially when that doctor seemed to be rather anxious or stressed. If he wanted her help, he would have requested it right then and there. Clearly, he wanted experts in the matter, and Kerii didn't blame him. If she were investigating this, she wouldn't hire any mage off the streets, even if they were part of a light guild.

WC: 511/2000

No, especially if they were part of a light guild. Not many members of light guilds, or guilds in general for that matter, were knowledgeable in neither diseases, nor viruses, not to mention plagues. She wasn't even sure many healers that were part of a guild knew a whole lot about them. Sure, they would have to know some stuff, but their healing magic took care of most of it, no matter what the ailment was or what caused it. As always, there were exceptions, but that's when you called in the expert healers or doctors. With that in mind, Kerii now really wanted to become a doctor, or at least significantly more knowledgeable in the medical field than she was at the moment. If she ever did manage to regain her healing powers, she wanted to come back with a bang. She wanted to prove to everyone that she was more than just your average healer. She wanted to have the capability to diagnose people and have the skill to perform surgeries, such as the one she helped Dr. Gerard with and finished. To this day, she still couldn't believe that he let her do that. That was probably the largest leap of faith Kerii had ever witnessed. Not only had she not performed surgery before, but she was someone who Dr. Gerard didn't even know. All he knew, was that she was a light mage dedicated to helping people out. Actually... he didn't even know if shew as a mage or not. He had never seen her perform any magic, but considering she was from a guild typically known to house mages, he probably came to the conclusion that she was. If it were a week ago, he would be right. However, now, she was magicless, and she only had Carnil to blame for it.

Kerii and Sylvie returned to their room and waited for the letter. At first, it wasn't so bad. Kerii knew that the results would take a while to become clear, but after four hours had passed without any word from the doctor, she began to grow really bored. For those past four hours, she had read a few chapters of her favorite book. She had played games with Sylvie. She had even began to play memory games with herself out of sheer boredom. Now, it felt like she was completely running out of things to do. The only thing she could think of was to let her imagination wander. She had done so very easily when she was on the train, but that was when she was in a state of complete and total rest. Believing that she was safe from Carnil, she let herself go into a blissful state. Now, she was not like that. She couldn't bring up a single thought and maintain it long enough for it to develop into a daydream before having her mind wander to Dr. Gerard and the status of the boar and the virus. All she wanted was to hear the results.

WC: 511+507=1018/2000

So, when Kerii heard a knock on her door, you could imagine her surprise. She leapt up from her bed and bolted over towards it. She partially opened it, not even realizing that the top part of the door's lock was still chained to the wall. She smiled with glee when she saw that it was the delivery boy. She was even happier when she saw that the letter wasn't bright pink, like Fernando Milano's. This envelope was white and it was written on in black ink. The handwriting was messy, but legible. It was almost as if it was written in a rush. Kerii briefly thanked the delivery boy before taking the letter and hastily ripping it open. At this point, she didn't even care how the doctor and Fernando Milano were able to deliver a letter right to her room at the inn. All she could think of was what was in the letter. The more she read, however, the more confused she became. Dr. Gerard wanted to meet her in an alleyway after sundown. Kerii looked out the window. The sun was already setting. It wouldn't be much longer before she would have to go and meet Dr. Gerard. As to why he chose to meet in such a sketchy location at such an hour, she did not know. It seemed very unlike Dr. Gerard to do such a thing. After all, he was a doctor. He was supposed to keep a solemn persona. Kerii had to wonder why he would do something so suspicious. Was the matter with the boar and the virus really that serious? Could Kerii not talk with him in his office? There was definitely something going on there and so far, Kerii didn't like the sound of it.

After sundown, Kerii went out into the cold winter night. Now she really wished he would have just asked her to meet him in his nice, warm office. But no. Instead, she had to go out into a dark, freezing alley in the middle of winter because Dr. Gerard wanted to be secretive. Upon approaching the alley, a man dressed in civilian clothes wearing a hat gestured for Kerii to follow him. She could tell it was Dr. Gerard. The man's beard and rimless glasses were unmistakably his. They retreated further into the alley. Dr. Gerard looked nervously behind the corners leading out of the alley a few times before going back into the shadows. He beckoned for Kerii to get closer. To be honest, she was quite nervous. She wasn't used to this disheveled doctor. She was used to the calm, confident doctor who instructed her what to do during the surgery. She was used to the doctor who had put so much faith into her and complimented her natural ability to work well under pressure. As a surgeon, that was an important quality. But now, Dr. Gerard seemed to exemplify the exact opposite of that. He was nervous. Perhaps, he was even a bit afraid.

WC: 1018+503=1521/2000

"I'm so glad you were able to meet me here," he said, a slight quiver in his voice. "Yeah, so, what is this-" "Did anyone follow you?" "No... why would-" "Okay, perfect. So, I was able to trace back the source of the plague to the stream that flows to form all of Baska's drinking water." A sense of panic struck Kerii. It was evident on her face. She had been drinking Baska's water, and so had Sylvie. Dr. Gerard saw this and tried to reassure her. "Oh, no, it's okay. We're still not sure why only some people have been affected by it, but chances are, since you haven't been affected yet, I don't think you will... At least I hope you don't. But anyway, I believe the boars were affected much faster than the townsfolk because they drink directly from the water, while the drinking water has to be filtered before consumption. The filtering process probably removed some quantity of the contaminates, but not enough to stop everyone from becoming as vicious as the animals. For the time being, we have been able to create an antidote from the boar's strain. We've been able to use it to cure the animals, but that's only a temporary solution. We need to stop this plague at the source. I suspect it has to do with the Cold Colliers. I've been suspicious of them ever since they came to Baska. It is a gang after all. But more so, the leader lost a few of his men in a mining accident here in Baska, one that was supposed to land his gang a good sum of jewels. Now, I've never known them to cause anything this widespread, but I wouldn't hold it past them. I want you to go to this water source, hidden deep within a cave and try to find out if the Cold Colliers are truly up to this. If they aren't, I'd like to know who is. Do you think you can handle this?" Kerii gave an assertive nod. "Good, now go. Report to me as soon as you know who's behind all of this."

So, Kerii set off in search of the water source. It was simple, really. She just traced a stream back to a cave. The whole way, she remained as stealthy as possible. In the cave, she crouched behind a rock. Shrouded in shadows, it was extremely hard to spot her. After waiting for a bit, she saw two men dump a potion of sorts into the water source. They seemed to fit the description of the Cold Colliers, all but confirming that the Cold Colliers had to have some role in the mysterious illness that plagued Baska. After making sure they left, the elf departed as well and went back to the same alley she met up with Dr. Gerard in. She reported everything she saw. It took him a few moments to process what she said before thanking Kerii and handing over her reward. Shortly afterwards, he told her not to tell a soul about what was going on. Agreeing, she left, wondering if he would need her help sometime in the future.

WC: 1521+532=2053/2000