Paul arrived at a room.
From the inside, loud grunts reached his ear.
Grabbing the knob, he pushed the door open and saw Gurney delivering a slash towards a dummy with ferocity.
As soon as the strike landed, Gunrey took a deep breath calming his ragged breathing.
He glanced back at the room's entrance and saw Paul walking into the room.
Turning his head back, he walked towards a table nearby and laid his short sword on it, and grabbed the towel to wipe the sweat he had accumulated.
"Training hard I see" Paul said as he walked inside shutting the door behind him.
"Yes. I must get my bones moving again, I have been static for a long enough period" Gurney said as he set the towel on the table, fully turning to look at Paul.
"Duncan told me about Mohiam and what she did." Gurney paused for a moment.
"I am sorry I was not able to be there," he said, but Paul shook his head in denial.
"Even if you were there, there was nothing you could have done Gurney."
"It was my fault..." Paul softly said.
Gurney was silent as his fist clenched tightly.
A moment of silence stretched between them before Paul spoke, "I want you to attack me Gurney." he said.
"And I won't resist."
Gurney paused for a moment, as if he didn't hear correctly.
His eyes shifted towards Paul as a small frown appeared on his face.
"Why?" Gurney asked.
Paul paused for a moment as he stared at Gurney.
'I must first understand it...'
He decided to tell Gurney what was going on partly.
"I dont know what it is, when I was fighting against Feyd, I had taken on a lot of damage, my ribs and the poison in me."
"But when I woke up... it was all gone, no damage to the ribs, no poison. That is not normal."
"I have a theory I want to test out first, and that is why I want you to attack me," Paul said.
Gurney was silent for several moments.
"How did this happen?" He finally asked.
"I don't know..." Paul lied.
He had his suspicions, but he was not ready to tell anybody about it.
"I understand," Gurney slowly said
"No weapons and no shields."
"Just attack heavy," Paul said.
Gurney nodded as he took a few steps closer to him, clenching his fist.
He hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow Paul's wishes quietly.
He threw a powerful strike towards Paul's chest.
Paul saw the fist coming and he immediately braced for impact.
Only a moment had passed.
Paul felt the fist smash against his chest, pushing him back a few steps.
He felt the air in his lungs escaping faster than he could breathe out.
The pain was half a step late as it bloomed in his chest, his ribs shaken a little.
Taking a moment, he slowly exhaled the air.
Straightening his body, he took off his shirt as he watched his chest in silence.
He shut his eyes, and his breathing slowly became uniform as he indulged his consciousness into his nerves, focusing entirely on his chest.
The pain was there, but nothing else.
He waited in silence for several moments before he felt something.
He couldn't see it. He couldn't hear it.
But he felt it.
That familiar itch.
Exactly as he remembered.
The itch moved quickly, arriving towards his chest, where it intensified on the point of impact.
It felt like hundreds of little... things clawing at that spot.
The itch, however, disappeared as soon as it came, almost as if dissolving into his body.
The pain disappeared.
Gurney watched Paul in silence.
He did not speak as he did not want to disturb Paul.
A few moments passed before Paul slowly opened his eyes and let out a breath.
"There is no bruising," Gurney pointed out, and Paul silently nodded.
Paul leaned down, grabbed his shirt, and threw it onto his body.
"Thank you Gurney" Paul said silently as he turned around and walked away, leaving Gurney behind.
As the door shut behind Paul, Gurney stood in the training room in silence for several long moments in place as if he were a statue.
Finally, he let out a sigh as his eyes glanced towards his sword resting on the table.
"That wasn't normal…" he muttered, walking to it. He tightly gripped the hilt of the short sword and walked towards the dummy.
He was silent for a few moments before he slashed towards it with ferocity.
Meanwhile.
Walking out of the training room, Paul glanced towards his chest a tight frown hung on his lips.
'This is... fucked up,' he thought to himself.
Quietly, he began walking towards Yueh.
He had to get his body checked up.
'That night, whatever that man did to me... I must know' Paul thought to himself as he quickly paced through the halls.
Arriving at the infirmary, he walked in.
The sound of the door being opened appeared, causing Yueh to turn around and notice Paul walk in and set his tools aside.
Paul stared at Yueh for a moment.
A memory appeared in his mind, a certain memory of the events that took place between him and Yueh outside of Gurney's ward after the war.
He still remmembered what Yueh had told him.
But in the end, he decided not to mention it.
"What brings you here Duke Paul?" Yueh asked, his tone was calm and professional.
"I need you to check my chest," Paul said, "It feels like there is something inside me," he said, and lay on an empty bed.
Yueh silently grabbed hold of the scanner, meanwhile Paul unbuttoned his shirt.
Yueh silently brought the scanner closer to Paul's chest and began scanning.
Quietly, he observed for several moments in the chest area, and finally, he pulled back.
"Duke Paul, there is nothing in your chest," He said.
Paul did not speak for a moment.
"Do a full body scan," Paul said, and Yueh complied.