Cherry Challenge 1000.20

Cherry sat on the examination table.  She though she'd have gotten used to this sort of thing about each week.  They'd measure her, weigh her, check her pulse, blood pressure, and other vital signs.  She missed the times when it was just once a year.  She remembered a neighbor whose parents had to take him every Friday to the doctor to get a shot for his allergies.  He still sneezed and rubbed his eyes a lot.  

That made her bristle.  She wasn't scared of needles... well, not as scared as some... but she still didn't relish the idea.  She was grateful it was only a yearly thing, if that, back in the old days.  But now with all the tests, blood samples, and all, she was wondering when or if she'd ever get used to it.  

Doc Beebee came around.  “All right, Cherry,” she said, “time to draw one more blood sample.  Just the fingertip, this time.”

Cherry sighed as she stuck out her hand.  “At least we're not doing the bone marrow extraction this time.”

Doc Beebee smiled.  “Count your blessings.”  And she took a small device that sprung like a mousetrap and thumped into Cherry's finger.  And after getting one small drop of blood, she put it on a small rectangular glass.  “That's a good girl.  Now I'm just going to take this over to the microscopes and check out if anything's new.  Be right back.”  And she exited the examination room.

Cherry shifted around in her seat.  And she got a little bored.  And she felt a need to go to the restroom.  Quickly writing a sticky note saying where she went, she got up and entered the hallway.

But in passing, she overheard Doc Beebee and a couple of others talking in another room.  She knew it wasn't nice to eavesdrop, but she got curious.  Quietly stopping, she took a listen.

“I'm telling you, Dr. Benedict,” said a man with an Asian accent, “this is the most strange and unusual case I've ever seen.”

“I'm hoping you can give me some expertise in this, Dr. Zheng,” Doc Beebee said.  

“While I have had some contact with similar gigantism and acromegaly cases back in China,” Dr. Zheng said, “I fear Ms. Godwin's case defies description.  My colleagues had treated someone with abnormal growths in the pituitary gland, and this patient continued growing over seven feet tall.  She would have stood and eight feet, but suffered from severe curvature of the spine.  She was totally unable to stand up straight.”

“Well, Cherry hasn't had that problem, thankfully,” went Doc Beebee.

“Not yet, anyway,” said another man, this one with a Nordic accent.  “She hasn't had any problems normally associated with acromegaly, either.  Her voice hasn't deepened, her extremities haven't enlarged beyond normal proportions for her size, her face hasn't restructured... she's still pretty much as lovely as she was in her photographs before she started growing.  For now.”

“Do you expect that she will later on, Dr. Alder?” Dr. Zheng asked.

Dr. Alder sighed, and Cherry was pretty positive he was shaking his head.  “I don't want to say it's likely, but I can't say it's more likely it won't be.  So, Dr. Benedict, is the blood sample ready?”

“In about three, two, one,” said Doc Beebee.  And a whirring motor stopped, and Cherry heard them pull something out.  And after a few minutes, there was a grunt.  “Mmmngh.  The silicon levels are just as high as last time.”

“How the devil is she surviving?” Dr. Alder demanded.  “This much in her blood should be toxic.  She shouldn't be alive!”

“Somebody better tell her that,” Dr. Zheng quipped dryly.

“I much rather you didn't,” Doc Beebee said.  

“It's not like the strain of a giant body shouldn't give her enough concerns,” Dr. Alder said.  “Most people with gigantism like hers seldom survive that long, between the cardiovascular disease, the skeletal problems, the kidneys, diabetes...  didn't Tanya Angus pass on in her twenties from this?”

“Thirty-four,” Doc Beebee said.

“I think Yao Defen survived until 40,” said Dr. Zheng.

“And Sandy Frank lived to be 53 or so, but that alone is a miracle.  She probably would've lasted into her eighties or nineties if she had a normal sized body.”

“Why hasn't her body caved in on itself?” Dr. Alder asked.  “By all rights she should be in a wheelchair right now.”  

“How much longer before she is in one?” asked Dr. Zheng.

“How much longer before she grows a tail and a unicorn's horn?” Doc Beebee grumped.  “The situation's serious enough without adding on more worries!”

“We need to cover the worst case scenarios,” Dr. Alder said.  “Just whistling past the graveyard is asking to for trouble and hardship if we don't prepare.”

“Especially with the medical expenses mounting,” Dr. Zheng said.  “The university research subsidy can only go so far.  The bills for the needed testing alone are pushing into four figures.”

Doc Beebee sighed testily.  “Can we worry a bit less about the finances just now, gentlemen?”

“Well, again, somebody should tell her that,” Dr. Zheng commented.  “Or at least her parents.”

A few more moments silence.  Cherry strained to listen in to more.  And then something went really awry:  Doc Beebee opened the door, and bumped into Cherry's chest.  With a glance, Cherry peeked in, and saw the doctors turn around and see Cherry at the doorway, still listening.  Both had concern etched across their faces.

“Uhm,” Dr. Zheng asked hesitantly, “how long have you been standing there?”

“And how much have you heard?” pried Dr. Alder.

Cherry simply stood there.  Her lip quivered.  She began to feel very sick to her stomach.  And before anyone else could reassure her or ask any more questions, she bolted from the hall, from the doctor's office, from the medical center.  She didn't even stop to get in her car.  She just ran.

This was turning into a terrible nightmare for Cherry, and this time, to her dread, she couldn't wake up.