"Welcome, Nathan, Louie, and you must be Nathan's classmate?"
"Dr. Abdel, this is my friend Jaydie Dalia," Nathan introduced us. "Jaydie, this is Dr. Aahmes Abdel."
"H-hello po..." Mr. Jaydie Dalia said softly.
"Nice to meet you." I reached out a hand to the feeble looking omega who was holding on tightly to Nathan's left arm. He does not seem to want to let go of him. I notice that he was slightly trembling. His deep amber eyes were like that of a wild animal. He is definitely in withdrawal.
"So, Doc, where's Eric?" asked Louie as they stood in front of the 70th floor hallway.
"He went downstairs to check the room we will be using." I saw Eric coming up behind him. "Here he is now."
"Did you just arrive?" he asked the small group. "The examination room downstairs just opened up. Let's talk when we get there."
"Okay, but I really don't see why I need to tag along," Louie said as we made our way to the elevators.
"There's something important we need to talk about," said Eric who looked at Nathan's friend. "It's a bit personal, actually."
"Don't worry, Tito Eric, this is someone I trust," Nathan told him.
"You're Jaydie, right?" Eric asked the young man.
"Y-yes sir..." Jaydie answered nervously.
"Well, if you guys are ready, then follow me."
We went two floors down, to the examination division, where we had the two young men change into hospital gowns. We had a bit of trouble getting Jaydie to let go of Nathan. I had to release some of my calming pheromones to ease him up.
"There is nothing to worry about, we are here to help you," I assured him. "Can you describe to me how you feel right now?" But the young man simply looked fearfully at me.
"Please excuse Mr. Dalia," Louie told us as Jaydie kept his mouth shut. "He's been through a lot. He was actually targeted by Dan after the Club A fiasco."
"What the – how the hell did he get dragged in that incident?!" Eric blurted out.
Nathan looked at his friend before speaking.
"Tito, do you remember my missing cellphone?" he asked. "Turns out, Dan took it. He called several of my acquaintances, and asked Jaydie to meet up..."
"Damn it! Are you saying this is that bastard's work as well?!"
Upon saying this, Eric touched Jaydie's shoulder and swiped his shoulder length hair to look at the dark bite mark embedded on his nape.
"P-please don't!" the young man started to shake uncontrollably. He folded upon himself, squatting on the ground, and started moaning.
"Tito Eric, stop that!" Nathan glared at him. "Jaydie, don't worry, my uncle's here to help."
"We can give him the new suppressants, it might help with the separation and pair withdrawal," I suggested. "It is safe even for pregnant omegas."
Jaydie looked up when he heard this.
"H-how did you know?" he asked.
"I already told them about it," said Nathan.
"Actually, we are still looking for the father," said Louie. "We took DNA samples from the multiple bite marks on the victim and compared them with the suspects we caught from the entrapment we did in Pasig. Unfortunately, we haven't found a match yet. Also, we would need to wait for the child to be born to get a paternity test."
"How about taking him to meet the suspects?" I suggested, "he can naturally tell who he's bonded with."
"Right, since there's a possibility that the father and the bonded mate are two different people," Eric added.
"Really, you two, would it kill you to be just a little sensitive?" Nathan complained.
"That's right, this isn't exactly the best time and place to talk about that," agreed Louie. "So, what did you call me here for anyway?"
"This is about what we discovered in Nathan's blood sample,." Eric looked at me.
"We have detected some changes in Nathan's DNA that may have greatly affected his physiology," I explained.
"What changes?" Nathan sounded worried.
"There are physical changes in your abdominopelvic cavity, which we need to check through an MRI scan," I continued, "but before that, we would need to get your blood, pheromone, urine and sperm samples to make sure you are in the best of health."
"Is this still from that overdose I went through?" he asked.
"In a way," I replied, "Also, for the certain changes I told you about."
I looked at his friend Jaydie next.
"I will require the same with you, so that I can give you a proper diagnosis. Go ahead and proceed to the comfort rooms at the end of the hall, and please try to calm yourself as well."
The two left, leaving Eric, Louie and myself in the examination room.
"So, just what happened to that bastard Dan anyway?" Eric asked his brother-in-law who shook his head and sighed.
"He's currently in solitary confinement as a high profile prisoner. His father is a senator, after all. It would take some time for the case to get resolved in our favor."
"What? Isn't there enough evidence to lock him up for life? Wasn't he even caught red handed in the entrapment?"
"We've got enough evidence to convict him, we even have video footage of his high profile clients, from politicians to military personnel, but you know how slow these cases go. In fact, it's exactly because of those high profile clients of his that the case is taking so long. It's a good thing his own father have decided to drop him."
"About Jaydie," I interrupted the two, "I noticed he doesn't seem to be bothered by Nathan's touch, even though he is traumatized and marked by a different alpha?"
"Didn't you notice his body trembling?" asked Eric.
"Yes, but he seems to be very close to Nathan."
"It's because they used to be in a relationship before Nathan met Reubert," Louie shook his head once more.
"No wonder, and it looks like he's got it bad for Nathan... Poor kid..."
"Yeah, they've got quite the complicated relationship, but now they've got each other to lean on."
"Don't tell me Nathan's been using him as a substitute to satisfy his lust?" Eric asked vulgarly.
"Of course not!" Louie frowned at him. "They are just comforting each other. Don't you remember?" he lowered his voice, "Nathan can't get it up anymore, unless he's with Reubert."
"Actually, I had no idea!" said Eric who's eyes began to bulge. "I thought that was just a joke!"
"Ha?" Louie looked flustered, "Then don't tell him I told you!"
The door to the examination room opened once more, making Louie jump.
"Here's your samples," said Nathan.
"That was fast," I said, remembering the last time we asked him for semen samples.
"Actually, I only got the urine sample," he mumbled, placing the two bottles in the table, one of which remained empty.
I handed the urine to Eric who took it aside for the pregnancy test.
"H-here's mine, Dr. Abdel..." Jaydie placed his next to Nathan's.
"Do you mind if I give you a physical examination?" I asked him.
He looked at Nathan who nodded at him, then went closer to me. I asked him to sit on the examination table and took his vitals, then I released some more calming pheromones and gently checked the mark on his nape.
He whimpered when I touched him, but no longer panicked. The mark was dark, showing a regular bond. The teeth were a bit crooked, with the top left incisor missing.
"How you feel right now?" I asked.
"N-nervous..." he replied in a soft childish voice.
"There is no reason to be. We are here to help you after all. How far are you in your pregnancy?"
"F-four weeks po..."
"For an omega, that would mean that you have already been having pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness and tenderness around your breast?"
He nodded.
"Do you mind if I check?"
He nodded once more. I gently touched his chest, noting how plump it felt.
"How long have you been having these symptoms?"
"S-since last week."
"That's just about right, since omegas develop symptoms earlier than women," I heard Louie say.
"That's right, Jaydie, you won't suffer as much as women do," Nathan added to comfort his friend,
"That is correct," I replied.
It is something he would soon know first hand.
"See? There's no need to worry, you'll just have to wait five more months if you decide to keep the baby," he added, to which his friend flinched.
"Are you planning to get an abortion?" I asked him. "I can refer you to a good doctor."
"Dr. Abdel, he's still deciding," said Louie who looked quite troubled.
"I want to get rid of it," Jaydie said. "But... my parents said doing so is a grave sin that I shouldn't even think of."
"Which god?" I asked.
"The Christian one," supplied Nathan.
"Well, it is really just a matter of preference," I told him. "If the god you venerate does not agree with you, then look somewhere else. Personally, I do not believe in a higher being that would judge me in the end of my days. I simply view them as a good model of an upright person."
"Woah, I had no idea you had such a cool ideology!" Nathan gave an amused laugh.
"In case you are not aware, abortion is allowed in Hinduism, if the mother's life is at risk," I suggested.
"But the mother in this case, is not at risk," Louie argued.
"That may be true, for this young man is strong enough to go through a healthy omega pregnancy, but would the life he is currently living not be at stake, if he is forced to bear a child which is a fruit of violence? Would that not cause him to also die in a way?"
The room fell silent. I kept my gaze on Louie who refused to break it.
"B-but, my parents would never forgive me if I get an abortion..." Jaydie said, breaking the silence.
"There are a lot of institutions that could help omegas who are in that particular situation," I told him.
"The Doc's right, you know," said Nathan, "it all depends on you. After all, you're the one giving birth to it."
"You can always send the child to an orphanage if you really don't want to keep it," Louie suggested with a sigh.
"What ever the choice is, the important thing for now is to keep your pair withdrawal symptoms at bay."
"But, how, Doc?" Nathan asked.
"There are medicines commercially available which I could prescribe to you." I took a pen and my prescription pad.
"What about that suppressant you've been giving me?" asked Nathan. "Didn't you say it was a new and improved version?"
"It is actually a new suppressant your uncle developed which is not yet available to the public..." I tried to explain.
Cool! Then we can be your guinea pigs!" Nathan piped in. "As you can see, it's working wonders on me."
I looked at Eric at the other end of the room for support. He seems to be frustrated about something.
He was pulling at his hair again.
"Prof. Antonio," I called to him, "would that be okay with you?"
Eric looked at us, a deep frown in his face, as he lifted a thin stick from one of the pregnancy kits opened in front of him.
I could clearly see the two red lines across the small window in the middle.
"Oh!" I couldn't help but yelp.
"We'll talk about that later. Let's go to the MRI first."
"Are those pregnancy kits?" Louie asked, noticing the open boxes on the table. "Did you really have to give Jaydie that many tests to make sure he's really pregnant?"
"Not Jaydie," Eric answered flatly.
"Then who..."
Louie looked at Nathan after realizing that Eric was staring at his nephew.
So did Jaydie.
"What are you looking at me for?" he laughed nervously.
"Like I said..." I took one of the sticks from Eric and handed it to him, "There had been some physical changes in your body."