Chapter 37: The Blue Box

The family doctor was a stout, tired woman, and she had no patience for nerves.

"On the couch, Mr. Xiao. Shirt up. Husband, sit and stop hovering."

Shen Yan sat on the edge of the plastic chair and hovered anyway.

The gel was cold.

The screen flickered and filled with grey static.

Then a fast, strong beat filled the room.

"There," said the doctor. "Strong. Steady. Twenty-six weeks and measuring well."

Shen Yan made a small noise and gripped his knees.

Xiao Chen looked at the screen.

A curled grey shape lay there with one fist up by its face, and he could not speak.

"Do you want to know the sex?"

"No," they said together.

The doctor nodded and moved the probe.

"Good. I never like telling anyone what they can find out in July."

She wiped the gel off and set the probe in its cradle.

Then she turned the lamp and looked at his face.

She was silent for some time.

"Look at me, please. Straight at the light."

Xiao Chen looked.

She tilted her head and studied his eyes from one side, then the other.

"How long have they been like that?"

"Like what?"

"There's gold in the iris. A ring of it."

She sat back.

"It isn't the pregnancy. This is an awakening."

"A what?" asked Shen Yan.

"A wolf spirit that has been held down for a long time. When the thing holding it down goes, the spirit comes up all at once."

She frowned at Xiao Chen.

"What were you taking, before the coma?"

"Blockers. A monthly course, from the age of seventeen."

"Which brand?"

"I don't know. I was given them through my work. I took them out of a box."

"Where's the box?"

"In my chambers drawer." He stopped. "There are eleven left. I never opened the last card."

"Fetch it. Today." She said it flatly. "And Mr. Xiao, don't do it alone."

"I won't," said Xiao Chen, and Shen Yan's hand closed on his.

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