The infirmary was quieter than Evelyn expected. No nurse behind the desk, no other students waiting. Just the low hum of fluorescent lights and the sharp bite of antiseptic in the air. She hesitated in the doorway, then stepped inside and perched on the edge of the nearest examination table.
Before she could call out, the door opened again.
Professor Huxley entered carrying a small glass jar instead of the usual plastic tube. He closed the door behind him with a soft click, sealing them in together.
"I brought something stronger than what they keep here," he said, voice low and calm. "Raven Bud extract. The blisters on your neck, they're characteristic of a plant that is oddly similar to Moonshadow petal i suppose you remember that from my class." he asked and Evelyn choked a little. 'So the plant yesterday was not Moonshadow Petal but Raven Bud?' He ears started to ring when she heard Ryan speak.
"Even a light amount on bod can do this. It's not a normal allergic reaction. raven bud is poisonous and excessive amount can kill if it enters the blood stream."
Evelyn touched the sore spot below her collarbone. "Can Kill?" she gave a weak smile and gulped in her saliva with guilt.
"But Raven buds are deep in the forest how did you get in touch with them especially you need to get in contact with the pulp?" he asked curiously and she had no way to explain her visit to the forest yesterday.
"I was just-" she paused twisting her fingers and he saw that she was having difficulty in answering that question so he didn't push. " Did you feel anything else?" his eyes narrowed as he asked.
"Like what?" she asked clueless. "It does more than blister, though. In higher concentrations it tends to… heighten certain sensitivities, Hallucinations, Heat, Restlessness. Vivid dreams of a particular nature." His eyes stayed on her face as he spoke, clinical in tone but watchful. "Nothing dangerous if the dose is controlled. But you should know what you're dealing with."
Her stomach tightened. The dream from last night flashed behind her eyes, cold hands, a low voice, the press of a body that felt invasive and dangerous. She looked away, cheeks warming.
He unscrewed the jar. The cream inside had a faint, earthy scent that made the air feel heavier.
"Put this on quickly." he said. "Turn around. Some of the blisters are lower. You'll have trouble reaching them yourself." He sounded way to interested in applying it for her and she didn't find it odd one bit,
The privacy curtain hung beside the table, half-drawn. Evelyn hesitated, then shifted so her back faced him. She pulled the neck of her shirt down as far as modesty allowed, exposing the line of angry red patches that trailed from her neck across her shoulders and between her shoulder blades.
His fingers were cool at first when he scooped the cream. Then warmth bloomed as he smoothed it over the blister on her neck. The relief was instant coolness sinking deep, easing the burn. She exhaled slowly, shoulders dropping.
"That already feels better," she murmured.
He didn't answer right away. His hand moved lower, spreading the cream in slow, even strokes across her upper back. When his fingertips reached the space between her shoulder blades, they paused. Evelyn told herself he was simply being thorough. Still, the touch felt heavier than it should, as if his fingers were reading something beneath her skin. A quiet heat spread outward from that point, unrelated to the cream. Her pulse quickened.
The thin curtain stirred in the faint draft from the vent. It slipped half an inch, then another, before she caught the edge and tugged it back. For that brief moment the air between them felt charged, intimate in a way the small room made impossible to ignore.
Ryan's voice stayed even. "The plant can make the skin more sensitive for a day or two. If you feel… overheated, or unsettled, it's normal. The effect usually passes."
She swallowed. The warmth under her skin refused to fade. "I had a dream last night. After the... It was…"
She stopped, embarrassed at how much she had almost admitted.
His hand lifted. He wiped his fingers on a tissue and screwed the lid shut. When she turned to face him again, his expression was perfectly composed, the concerned professor once more.
"If the symptoms intensify, come find me. I know how to manage them." He offered a small, reassuring smile that didn't quite match the sharpness in his eyes. "Take care, Evelyn."
He left without waiting for a reply, the door closing softly behind him.
Evelyn sat still for a long moment, shirt still askew, skin tingling where he had touched her. The cream had cooled the blisters, but something else lingered—heat low in her belly, a restless awareness she couldn't name. She pressed her thighs together and told herself it was only the Raven Bud. Nothing more.
In the empty corridor outside, Ryan Huxley stopped a few paces from the door. He pulled out his phone and typed quickly.
He sent the message, pocketed the device, and smoothed his features back into the pleasant academic mask before anyone else could pass by.