Quaranteam: Remote Work Ch. 04

The Quaranteam Universe is the creation of CorruptingPower, used with permission. My thanks once again also go out to the Quaranteam Writers Room for their help in planning this out... and proofing my Boob Math.

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Chapter 4: History

29 July 2020

"Yes, I need to speak to a doctor. The advice line is not equipped to deal with this, or the last three calls would have resolved it. I'm not being rude, please don't say that. My housemate just has a potentially severe medical issue and we don't want to risk an emergency room given the present... yes, I'll hold."

Bland, soft jazz began to play from Adam's phone. He scowled at it, but got control of his face again before more than a moment or two had passed. After all, Shannon needed him.

The woman in question wasn't in her favorite bean bag chair, nor dancing to an electronic beat, nor drawing. She was huddled in a corner, in tattered pajamas, still in the state of panicked disbelief that had dominated her entire being recently. That morning a couple of days ago, after Adam noticed and pointed out the change, the two of them had hoped that this was a trick of the light. Now, two days later, and even the shirt wasn't hiding the fact that her breasts had grown significantly.

She hadn't exactly brought any bras when she arrived, so when she moved so did they.

Adam was no expert on such things, but the swell visible under her shirt (when she wasn't hunched over) was in the definite handful range. He had to take care when he sat next to her to keep his hand around her shoulder and no lower. For a day and a half, she had not been in anything remotely resembling a sexy mood (despite his reassurances and deeply-hidden fantasies). This morning, she had awoken desperately horny and in need of the comfort that lovemaking could bring.

It was during this that he figured out two things. Well, three. Her breasts had definitely been growing more, easily adding another cup to her chest in roughly 36 hours. They were also ridiculously sensitive, as the scar tissue continued to peel off and the pliant skin underneath came to light once more. It went well beyond what either of them had expected, Shannon telling him later that she'd felt almost the same intensity of sensation deep under the surface and around the growing area of her breasts as she had on her nipples the first time they'd been together.

The third thing, though? All of this served as a constant reminder to her of just exactly how dangerous that growth had been last time around. Every spike of pleasure, every bounce, was a reminder that their source could kill her. It was a weight she literally could not take off.

As the hold music played from his phone, he sat beside her. Shannon practically burrowed into the crook of his arm, seeking comfort there. There weren't tears this time, those had run dry regardless of her feelings on the matter. The terrified woman was practically shaking in his arms.

Unexpectedly quickly, given the results of the last several attempts at things over the past day and a half, the hold music snapped off. "Mr. Jeffries, are you still there?"

"Yes, ma'am, you're on speaker. Shannon is with me."

"I have Dr. Amar on the line, sir. Please be brief, she is only able to take this due to a no-show and her next patient is scheduled in less than twenty minutes."

There was a click on the line, followed by another woman's voice coming out. "Please pardon Nurse Johnson, we've been run a bit ragged. She tells me that your roommate is experiencing sudden and extremely rapid breast tissue growth?"

"Yes, Doctor. Her medical history includes macromastia, for which she had a radical bilateral mastectomy eight years ago, so we felt it was urgent."

"I see. Please give me one moment to pull up records. Shannon, I need your full name, social, your last hospital or PCM, and verbal permission to do so." Shannon gave it promptly, and the hold music was back rapidly.

She looked up at Adam, a quizzical look in her eye. "That was awfully sharp and technical, your description. Did you dig into my documents?"

"Nope. Just repeated what you've told me yourself in her language. I planned to go into medicine and be a surgeon when I went to college, changed my mind after the first year when I realized what I was signing up for. Taught me a lot of the lingo."

Shannon sighed. "Thanks, AJ. It definitely got her attention, that was the fastest I've ever been taken seriously by a doc."

"Can't claim all the credit on that. By now, the doctor probably knows that anything that gets to her is by definition probably serious, and I'd been..." he stopped talking in the space between words as the hold music suddenly ceased again.

"Hello, Shannon? I have your records pulled up now and have found the chart in question. Thank you for being honest about your history and concerns, I need to ask for a couple of measurements so that I can try to figure out if this is actually urgent. Is your roommate still there?"

"I am."

"Good. Do you have a flexible tape you can measure Shannon with?"

"Already have it out, I figured you might want it." He was pulling a yellow one out of his pocket as he did so. Shannon visibly decided to not ask why he ever got one when he couldn't even be bothered to have a decent set of kitchenware, just this once.

"Alright. I need you to measure Shannon just underneath the breasts, where a bra band would sit."

"Did you want inches or centimeters?"

"Inches will work fine, I'm getting a bra size."

"Oh, you should have just said that, Doctor." He stood Shannon up and helped strip her down, quickly getting the requested measurements. "28 inches around the band, exactly 35 at the fullest part of the breast, meaning that she is presently a 32C." Shannon, for her part, was staring incredulously at him as he gave the data.

"Thank you for the quick information. What was she before the noted growth?"

"When she arrived here four days ago, she was a double or triple A. No differentiation between measurements. Like I said, radical mastectomy."

There was a moment in which tapping keys could be made out. A pause. More tapping, faster this time. "Are you absolutely sure about those measurements?"

"I didn't exactly put a tape to her when she arrived, if that's what you're asking, but I am quite sure of the current one and the fact that she had no breasts four days ago." The irritated look was back on his face, but that irritation kept itself out of his voice. Shannon found it both endearing and hilarious as she snuggled back into his arms.

"What you are describing is ten times the rate of comparable severe cases, including her own charts from 2012. If it is true, this is quite serious... wait. You said she moved in four days ago?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Okay, critical question time. Is she a standard roommate, or a Serum relocation?"

"Serum, but I don't see how that's relevant."

"The Quaranteam Serum has a dedicated team for dealing with post-inoculation reactions. I need to refer you to them. Nobody bothered to update Shannon's medical records with the fact that she got the shot."

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You can't just tell me she is having a severe case of something and then refuse to go further!"

"I can, will, and have. This is outside of my immediate expertise. They are, at least, typically quick about getting back to people, though. Is this number a good one for you to be contacted at?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Good. The only recommendation I have for you until then is to make sure she is keeping up her calorie intake. Especially fats and proteins, given what materials her body is using rapidly right now. This will help her keep it from depleting critical stores elsewhere. Now, I need to go to take my next patient, you should get a call from the Serum team within the next day or two. Have a good day, sir."

There was a click. There was silence, no hold music this time. They both took a sigh of relief. Just a bit, some progress was made. "Adam, I'm seriously debating on whether to just ask where you learned that or just letting the mystery stand."

"Sure, if you ever ask I'll tell you."

The two had a lot to do that day. The previous evening, some women had dropped off a few boxes full of Shannon's meager remaining belongings while complaining about the broken elevator. In light (but still very present) protective gear, they spoke about the Army contracting them for light pickups and deliveries and the fact that her roommate had helped them pack up. The boxes still sat unopened in the middle of the living room, where Shannon had been dancing the other day. Putting the stuff away just felt... less important. Now, though, at loose ends? With her initial panic past? Adam sighed and stood. "Anything in those I need to be careful with? Going to grab a box cutter and get to work."

"Oh! Uh, actually, yeah. At least two of them probably have books and notebooks in them, and the light one probably has most of my wires and cables."

"Got it. Safety scissors it is."

"How did you have safety scissors and measuring tape but not a blender?"

"Because I make visual aids more than I make smoothies. Come on, let's get to it." It wasn't a bad thing to insist on. She needed the distraction, and the fact that neither her former roommate nor the movers seemed to have taken particularly much care about how things got packed. Just that they got into boxes, and those boxes got to her new location.

"Okay, at least the books made it. Weber, Conrad, Butcher, Hawthorn, Ai, Eddings..."

"Druid Gunslinger? What kind of a book gets a name like that?"

"A good one, that's what! Still need to pick up book five and onward, I hear they just get better from there."

Adam scratched the back of his head. "Does Ikea even deliver these days? It sounds like you need a bookshelf." Shannon's eyes immediately got a puppy dog look he found impossible to resist. "Once we get stabilized, Shannon. Need to make sure we can eat." His phone chimed at him. It was time to get in front of the camera, his student would be on in a couple of minutes. "Alright, this is supposed to go for a half-hour. See what you actually got and what you're missing, and then we'll get to putting it all away." After making sure the tape was cut, he scampered off to prepare.

Still seated on the ground, Shannon took stock. The books were important, sure, but even more so were the two notebooks full of ideas. She needed to contribute, and they would help. Her limited selection of art supplies, cables, adapters, and organization tools. Oh, and kitchen supplies. They now had a decent whisk. And a slow cooker, and about a third of her old storage containers for the fridge. She thought for a bit about what exactly it would mean for the shopping, the little things that let them live life in peace. The small joys.

Much like Adam a couple of days prior, though, she heard another unexpected sound. One that, unlike the trucks, she could readily identify. A man's voice, crying. He was trying to keep it in, keep it quiet, but it was unmistakable that he wanted to wail. It was also unmistakable where it was coming from, given how small the place was. The bedroom, where Adam had set up to teach a student.

Slowly, softly, Shannon stood. She padded over to the door to that bedroom, the one that so recently became hers as well. Completely focused, she listened as her... boyfriend? teammate? lover?... sobbed like the world was ending. Like his heart had been torn in half, and the tears might fill the gaping hole that was left. There was no question in her mind of what she needed to do, almost without thought she was inside, Adam in her arms, leaning into her and sobbing like a lost child. She looked at the shining screens of his computer, and there saw why.

On the left was an open window of a teleconferencing program, noting that it was waiting for other guests before it could show anything. On the right, instead of his lesson plan or a slideshow, an email was opened. On it was a black ribbon, with the name "Michael Xavier Williamson" written beneath it. The email had been sent by what looked to be his mother. The student would not be making it to this tutoring session, nor any others in the future.

"He was a good kid, Shannon. Not my best student ever, needed help, but he was smart enough to realize he needed it, and brave enough to ask me. Mike was... he wanted to go to trade school, go into automotive repair. Always said he'd turn his hobby into money. Just have fun doing what he loved, go home and chill, and be happy. It was a good plan, Shannon. He had a good plan." The words flowed with the tears, as Adam remembered. Shannon cried with him, for this teenaged boy she never knew. Who she would never get to know.

They stayed there for a few minutes, ones that likely felt like hours to them, before the flow of tears slowed, then dried. Until he regained composure and control of himself. Until he could again look at his screens and resolutely close the teleconference. Until he could close the email. Until he could look at his calendar, and realize with growing dread how many of his students, how many of his kids, had been missing their appointments. Shannon could feel the pain of her jawline as she unclenched her teeth, her face as she recovered from shared tears, as he took a deep breath and began to compose an email of his own, to check with the parents of all of them. He pressed Send, and his heart broke once more.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

The horrible sound came once again from the front door. Both Adam and Shannon's heads snapped towards the noise. "No..." Adam's face and quiet voice showed his despair. "Please... not now..."

"LET ME IN, ADAM!"

Resolutely, AJ stood and took a breath. His mourning would have to wait. His feet slowly stepped towards the pounding noise, towards the living representation of almost everything that gave his life pain. Towards the bile and hatred shouting out. It wasn't clear, then, what he'd intended to do, but as he approached the door he stopped. Another sound was audible.

"WE AREN'T DONE YET!" At the end of his shouts, Gus was trailing off into deep, labored gasps for air. More than half of these devolved into hacking coughs. The pounding on the door was getting weaker, excruciatingly slowly. It seemed that Gus was wrong about one last thing.

"Gus, you are sick. Get to the hospital now. If you hurry, if you get there before you pass out, they might be able to save you."

"Shut up about that STUPID plague, Adam. Open up!" He started coughing again. Deep, painful-sounding things. The pounding on the door ceased as he struggled for breath.

Shannon walked up behind him, speaking quietly. "Adam, I have 911 on the line. They need your info to send police here."

Adam stepped away from the door and held out his hand. She gave the phone over to him. "This is Adam Jeffries. Change the dispatch, please. He is not getting into my home. What he will need is an ambulance, and they need to be ready to transport a DuoHalo victim." He quickly gave the location of the man whose voice was even now getting weaker, confirmed it, and hung up. He sighed and bowed his head. "May the Lord have mercy on his soul."

The pounding took a while to stop, the shouting fell off a bit after. Adam and Shannon sat together on the ground, taking comfort in each other's arms, until there was silence. Nothing but occasional footsteps once more. "That was a brave thing you did, Adam."

"Not brave, I don't think. Hard. Brave would have been to open that door and confront him face to face."

She squeezed him tightly. "No, that would have been stupid. Exposing yourself to that disease again just to put your face into fist range of that hateful man? Be real."

"I... I think you're right. Nothing is clear, though."

"Oh, two things are clear." She was suddenly whispering into his ear. "I am proud of you, and I'm incredibly turned on right now by that."

In a blur, he found himself flat on his back with his pants around his ankles, tangled and unable to really move too much. Shannon was suddenly astride him. He must have helped, nobody was that quick otherwise, but he found himself neither quite remembering nor quite caring who did what as she began to bounce on him. Her own pants and panties discarded to the side, her shirt failing to conceal how delightfully some new parts of her danced. He fancied he could see her breasts bounce even more than this morning, as if her growth hadn't slowed at all. Deep, deep down, he was not at all sad about this.

Her firmly toned legs and body worked to bring her smoothly up and down on him, on and on, and as he came she pressed herself down as deeply as she could. He shot into her, and her body reacted with a powerful orgasm of her own. One that he felt would have been there with or without the Serum's help.

Then again, that last part might just be a little bit of pride he let himself feel. The sex helped.

She laid her body on top of his, a warm and comforting weight, and both enjoyed the closeness. It was perhaps inevitable that his phone would choose that moment to ring, in his pocket, which was at that moment at his ankles. Shannon, for her part, was not at all interested in moving from being on top of him, nor letting him withdraw from her, which meant in turn that it took almost until it went to voicemail. He did manage to answer it, though.

"This is Adam Jeffries."

"Hello, I am Dr. Sherman, from the post-Serum team. Dr. Amar referred your case to us?" A nearly-deadpan voice from the other side of the line, this time sounding somewhat less tired than the last person he'd gotten on the line.

"Yes, thank you for calling. Sorry I almost missed it, got a bit distracted."

"I did mention I'm on the post-Serum team, sir. We're used to that." His tone was bone-dry. "I do have a few questions for you, though."

Shannon was still actively snuggling down into him, but Adam managed to find his focus, hitting a couple of buttons on his phone. "I'm putting you on speaker so that she can hear, but if it's alright by you I will still do most of the talking here. I'm a bit more used to talking to medical folks. Go right ahead, Doctor."

If the doctor thought the arrangement odd, nothing in his voice gave it away. "So, first thing, I do need for you to confirm the measurements you gave earlier, to make sure this isn't a typo."

Shannon pouted a bit, but given that it was the doctor's orders she did comply to let Adam get his tape measure again. "Okay, it is 28 inches on the bra line, and... um. She's at 35 and one-eighth inches at the fullest part."

"This is an upward change from what was recorded earlier."

"Yes. Before you ask, I am quite certain of my measurements." He suppressed a small "oof" as Shannon practically tackled him onto the bean bag chair for more cuddles. These seemed somewhat less playful than the one before. Her mood was heading south once more, and she needed the physical contact.

"No wonder Dr. Amar referred you to me," the man continued blandly, either not noticing or not caring about the random noises from Adam's end of the line. "It is obviously too early to project the need for future actions at this time."

Adam thought for a moment. Shannon didn't have to. "The only solution available last time was to take them off."

"Circumstances have changed since then, ma'am, but it is ultimately your decision. This recent growth is stemming from a known but uncommon side effect of the Serum, which can result in a healing effect. Yours did not seem to manifest itself in an expected way, but seems to be within margin of error. You may find other things on your body healing or reconstructing themselves." Adam immediately thought of the scars peeling. "Normally, this would occur overnight upon Imprinting. If it is any consolation, this data point will help other doctors in the near future. A repetition of your prior surgery may or may not be medically indicated. However, given how long the lead time is for elective surgeries such as you say you may need, I will submit your name for the first available slot. This will likely be in December, if I read my calendar right."