(A/n: So I'm going to be throwing in a lot of medical mumbo jumbo that I barely know myself.😅 Sorry, but you'll have to refer to Google at one moment.)

Word count →_→ 1421 words

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He was alone. It was dark. It was cold.

Why was it so cold? Were they already in winter? That didn't make sense. They were months away from winter and yet it felt so cold.

He woke with a start. He could see sunlight seeping through the blinds and yet even with the evidence of warmth, he felt ice cold. He pulled his blankets around him.

Was this what it felt like to be Covid 19 positive?

Wasn't it a little too soon for him to be sick?

"Good morning, Alex." Came Misty's voice as she made her way into his room. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm cold." He replied, as his body shivered.

"Well, your temperature has gone up. A little too soon if you ask me, but it's nothing we can't manage." Misty said as she took out a syringe and injected the medicine into his IV. "I've injected you with an antibiotic mixed with some pain killers to manage your temperature and manage the pain. I'll be keeping an eye on the blood oxygen levels for an hour or so before the doc arrives and begins the treatment."

Alex didn't respond as he waited for the pain killers to start working so he could stop feeling so cold.

"I'll bring in breakfast. I hope you like some Muesli with yoghurt." She said with a knowing smile.

"I hate muesli, and oats, and anything grain related." He complained.

"Well, sorry. Doc says you need to have a balanced diet to boost your immune system." Misty said with an apologetic smile.

"Of course he does." Alex said feeling absolutely miserable.

Misty left for a few minutes before she came rolling in his tray to deliver his breakfast.

"I'll see you in a few." She said as she uncovered the platter and left him to eat.

"Bon Appetit." He said sarcastically as he brought a spoonful of muesli to his mouth.

Slowly, he braved the meal, finishing it all, albeit with difficulty.

Misty came back to collect the empty plates but this time she came back with Emilia who was carrying a clipboard with her this time.

"Hey, Neo. How are you doing this morning?" She asked with a friendly smile.

"As you can see, Diana. I'm wallowing in my misery eating grain like a cow." He replied with a sad smile although he was quite glad to see her.

Misty looked between, trying to understand what the hell they were talking about but decided to leave them to it when she realized she couldn't.

"I'll leave you two for now." She said, eyeing them suspiciously before she left.

Emilia waited before she threw him a breakfast burrito.

"Don't tell the warden. That thing's chucked full of egg and sausage, all things diabetes." She said with a naughty smile.

"Wow, you are a life saver. How'd you know?" He asked in awe.

"Well, I always carry snacks around. Force of habit." She said with a far away look and a fond smile. "My son Jesse is always pestering me for one."

"You have a son?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah. He's two years old. And a real sweetheart." She replied.

"You must really miss him." He commented.

"Yeah, I haven't been away from him before." She said honestly.

"And from the looks it we'll be here a while." He added.

"Exactly." She said. "But I'll be strong. For my son if not for anyone else."

"I believe you, Wonder Woman." He said with an encouraging smile.

"Now then, let's perform the routine equipment checks before Pepper Potts has to come back." She said as she proceeded to do her work.

"Ha! Good one." He laughed. "At least we don't have to deal with Barnes. He's too uptight if you ask me."

"Barnes? Who the hell is Barnes?" Emilia asked in confusion.

"You'll know when you meet him." He replied with a mischievous smile.

"If you say so." She said.

"Hey, Emilia?" He suddenly said.

"Yes?" She raised her head to face him. His eyes held a look of uncertainty as she waited for him to speak.

"Is there a chance that'll I'll make it out of here alive?" He went on. His face showed raw emotion although he immediately tried to laugh it off. "I mean, what are the odds I'll be one of the unlucky ones."

"Alex..." She began but couldn't find the words to continue.

Everyone knew that initial testing was dangerous. Chances were he would die from Doctor Rudolph's treatment if not the virus itself however she couldn't bring herself to imagine it. She couldn't explain it but after having know him for only a day, she couldn't bear the thought of him dying.

For the first time in months, her mind had not been occupied by thoughts of her ex but of this beautiful stranger.

Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him.

"Did you forget already? I said I'll keep you safe." She said cheerfully.

He gave her a half hearted smile. He knew she was just trying to cheer him up and he appreciated it. He took a bite of the breakfast burrito, savoring the taste. He had just finished it when Doctor Rudolph walked in with his team. This time, a new face came with him although it was hard to completely make out behind the suite he was wearing.

"Good morning Alex." He said before nodding in acknowledgement to Emilia. "Miss Larsson."

"Doctor Rudolph, Everything is good today. No leaks and your equipment is fully functional."

"That's a relief." He replied, his tone hinting at sarcasm almost as if she was stating the obvious.

She merely raised a brow at this, choosing rather to ignore his sarcasm.

"I shall need to look at your patient database to ensure there haven't been any security breaches." She continued. "Also, I need to have a word with your technical team with regards to maintenance issues."

"Misty shall assist you with that." Doctor Rudolph said. "Anything else, Miss Larsson?"

"No. We're good for now." She replied.

"Okay then," he said, turning his attention back to Alex. "Alex, Miss Larsson, I'd like you both to meet my partner, Doctor Eli Bossing. He's been helping me develop the treatment."

Doctor Bossing was a timid old man with years of medical practice under his belt. Unlike his partner, Doctor Bossing seemed to be a bit of a social recluse. It was quite obvious he wasn't feeling comfortable around people but he was enduring the public spotlight.

"Hello everyone." Was all he said.

"Right, I brought him along here because it's time for us to move on to the next phase." Doctor Rudolph said, moving forward with what looked like a small secured briefcase.

"This is our first clinical trial of the drug we shall be calling CovX2 for a successful treatment and cure of SARS-COV-2 or in layman's terms COVID-19 and all it's variants." Doctor Rudolph said as one of the people he was with began to write away on their clipboards.

Emilia figured that they would be documenting the entire trial. After all, she was taking down her own notes.

"This treatment will be administered in triplicate over the next nine days, one dose today. Another one in two days time and the last treatment will be administered on the ninth day." Doctor Rudolph further explained. "This treatment is designed to identify, isolate and then kill the viral cells in the system. We will now administer the first dosage."

With that, Doctor Rudolph went on to inject the solution into Alex's IV tube.

"Time of commencement of trial, 0926 hours, date 9 February 2023." He went on like a disconnected recording as he proceeded to take a look at the screens and monitors that Alex was attached to. "Subject's vitals appear to be stable. Temperature has risen two degree Celsius. Blood oxygen levels are at at 96%. No signs of silent hypoxia. Yet. We are also yet to record any and all side effects of CovX2."

After he was finished tinkering with the equipment, he turned back to Alex.

"Well, we'll be leaving you for now, Alex. You'll be taken care of, as I promised." He said to him. "I brought you a chess board."

He motioned for one of his scientists to bring a small case that encased a glass chess board.

"You can play whilst we keep an eye on you." Doctor Rudolph said as he had the board set up on the table.

With that everyone began to file out.

"Hey Emilia, will you play chess with me?" Alex asked her before she could leave.

"No promises, I suck at it." She replied with a goofy grin.

"Don't worry I'll be a gentleman and let you win." He said with a giggle.

"What, that'll be just plain mean " she pointed out. "You know what? Bring it. I might just win."