POV: Jean

I'd set Logan's monitors to beep my pager if there was any change in his condition. I had hoped that the poison's affects would be similar to strychnine, wherein the real danger to the patient comes from asphyxia. With the tracheotomy, I thought Logan would stabilize. Unfortunately, the poison he'd been exposed to was more complex than it would initially appear. I wasn't out of his room ten minutes before my pager started vibrating.

As soon as I entered the room, I could see the problem displayed on his heart monitor. He was throwing a run of PVCs. In a healthy person, an occasional Premature Ventricular Contraction is nothing to worry about. However, with a patient as sick as Logan, running several PVCs in a row is dangerous. It could push him into an unstable heart rhythm.

I administered lidocaine, IV push, and thankfully, his heart returned to a more regular rhythm. However, since I had no idea what had caused the symptom in the first place, it could happen again. I needed to research the poison and see if I could figure out how to treat him.

I returned to the main lab, passing Charles on the way but not sparing a moment to speak to him. He seemed to be more occupied by his conversation with the woman who'd caused this situation anyway.

As I walked down the hall, I could hear Scott trying to convince Rogue to get into bed. In spite of her weakened condition, she was almost spitting in anger.

"Take me back to Logan! Now, dammit!"

"No," Scott firmly answered.

"Rogue, he's stabilized," I said as I entered the room.

"Jean," Rogue said, turning to me. "I gotta be with him. Please."

I really didn't have time for this, but she was so upset, and she was still my patient. I would just have to make time. "He's still critical. He can't have any visitors.

"I could just hold his hand and talk to him," she reasoned. "It might help if he knows someone's there."

"The poison's made him extremely sensitive to external stimulation, Rogue. Do you remember how painful light and noise were to you?"

Rogue looked down and then gave a small nod.

"Right now, the best thing you can do for him is to let him rest and to get some rest yourself."

Rogue calmed down, considering my suggestion. Finally, she said, "Ok, but only if you wake me up if something happens."

"Agreed."

I turned to Scott and he nodded, helping Rogue into bed so I could take the discarded blood samples I'd collected from both Logan and Rogue to the back lab for analysis.

I was only minutes into my work when Charles knocked on the door.

"Jean, I just remembered. Our previous physician did some research into finding a cure for Venom's blood. The notes should still be on file."

"Dr. MacTaggert? I could just call her..."

"No," he interrupted, "the doctor before her. His name was Dr. Henry McCoy."

"Oh," I said, then added, "I don't believe I'm familiar with him. Do you have his phone number so I could..."

"He died," Charles said, and I could see the pain that the statement brought him. "An accident with Venom."

I expected him to elaborate, but he just sat back in his chair again with a weary sigh. He had such a forlorn expression on his face, and I could tell this Henry must have been very important to him, but to Logan, time was of the essence.

"Do you know how far he got in his research? Are there any of her blood samples still frozen?"

"Venom never let us sample her blood. She was too afraid of accidents. Henry was working from the hospital records and tissue samples of the victims we could identify. He had some theories, but in the first practical opportunity to test them, he was the patient. His files should still be located on the mainframe."

"I'll take a look. Thanks, Charles."

Speaking of Venom, I really should check on her condition before I took off all of my biohazard gear. She'd been injured enough to cause some sort of blood loss, and she might need treatment. I pulled back on the face shield I'd discarded in my work and walked back towards the quarantine rooms.

"Venom, I'm Dr. Jean Grey."

She looked up at me and from her black eyes and the dried blood on her clothes, I could guess that her nose had been broken. She was also protectively clutching her right hand in her left and I suspected an additional injury there. She didn't say anything, though.

"I'd like to treat your injuries if..."

"No!" she answered quickly.

"You're hurt. If I could just examine..."

"Stay away."

She was jumpy and nervous and I'd already seen with Logan and Rogue just how well she could defend herself. I still had no idea why she had attacked them or how she had gotten into the mansion. If I pressed her, Logan might end up without a doctor.

"Ok. I'll stay away for now, but that looks like it hurts. Could I at least get you some Ibuprofen?" It should help with the pain and reduce any swelling she was experiencing.

She nodded and added, "But stay away."

I got her one dose and some water in a plastic cup and opened the door to her room. If it was possible, she seemed to push back even further into the corner. I set down the medicine just inside the door and left, returning to the lab to see if I could find this Dr. McCoy's research.

There were actually hundreds of pages of raw data both on the computer and in the filing cabinets I hadn't cleared out on my arrival, including a partial DNA breakout of the poison. This Henry guy obviously had not counted on anyone needing his notes but him. They had random comments and half-sentences scrawled all over the pages in the hurried, chicken-scratch writing that doctors are so famous for. Scott accuses me of the same horrid penmanship, but at least I can read it.

It was taking me hours to go through it all, and most of it was undecipherable without a point of reference, but a few scribbles caught my attention. On a photocopy of Steven Ramirez's medical chart, Henry had circled, "multiple organ failure." Then he'd written out to the side, "lungs, kidneys, liver, heart... Cause? Would dialysis help? Drugs to flush poison?"

Good questions, Henry. I wish you had the answers.

It would take weeks to extract the poison's DNA from the blood samples and code it completely. Logan didn't have that long, so I chose to rely on Henry's partial mapping and hope for the best.

I started running computer models projecting from the DNA which drugs might counteract the poison. While the computer was compiling the data, I ran scans of both Logan's and Rogue's blood samples. The results were confusing and unreliable. It would seem that Logan's transference of his powers to Rogue meant that both samples were already abnormal. It was difficult to determine which abnormalities were the result of Logan's natural healing abilities and which were the result of those abilities reacting to the poison.

Even as I tried to concentrate and formulate solutions, my research kept being interrupted since I had to keep checking on Logan's condition. Why can't this school have lab technicians, nurses, and a team of doctors? Even with my telekinesis, I am only one person and can only do a few things at a time. I've asked Charles for additional staff on more than one occasion, but he just puts me off, saying physicians who can be trusted with all our secrets are hard to come by.

Logan's condition continued to deteriorate, and I wasn't finding answers quickly enough to stop it. After the first hour, Logan's foley output had decreased dramatically. His kidneys were shutting down. The liver and kidneys are the means by which the human body clears out toxins. If they aren't functioning, toxins build up in the body and kill the patient.

A little past two in the morning, I left my analysis to take yet another blood sample from Logan. His blood workup was constantly changing as a result of his most recent touching of Rogue. I had hoped that at least some of his healing abilities would kick in, but they appeared to either be dormant or permanently lost to Rogue's absorption.

Each time I walk into the quiet, dimly lit room, I am struck by the incongruous image of Logan, who had always been so full of life and energy, relying on machines for all his life functions. I try to be quiet while I take the samples so as not to harm him further. That is, if he's still conscious of the outside world. He'd fallen into a deep coma shortly after I'd transferred him to this room and besides a minor twitching in his left hand, he was completely unresponsive.

Even though I didn't dare use my voice, I still tried to contact him telepathically.

~Logan, can you hear me?~

No response.

~Logan, if you can hear me, give me a sign. Open your eyes, move your mouth, send me an emotion.~

Nothing. It was so frustrating. I wanted some sort of sign.

~Logan, if you can hear me, lay completely still except twitch your hand.~

*I don't think that counts,* a deep, familiar voice broadcast to my mind.

~Charles.~ I turned around and saw the professor sitting in the doorway.

*How is Logan? Have you made any progress?*

~He's worse, no progress, and, frankly, it's pissing me off. Charles, do you remember when I told you that I love medical mysteries?~

*Yes.*

~Well screw that. I want to know exactly how to treat this right now. I'll enjoy my mysteries later when someone's life isn't on the line.~

*I understand.* He paused for a moment and then sent, *I saw in the main room that you'd finally convinced Rogue to sleep. How is she doing?*

~Fine. Last I checked, she's recovering completely. Logan's healing ability must have counteracted the poi...~

Oh hell. I'd been going about this all wrong! My thoughts raced faster than I could hold onto them. I'd been focusing on developing an antitoxin from scratch when I had the perfect, proven serum just waiting for me out in the main lab. Rogue's blood. Logan's healing factor had to have cleared the poison out of her system. There should still be some traces of the cure in her system. That is, if I hadn't waited too long.