"She retains all of her cognitive abilities," Rachel informed, "and she does not rely on a diet of raw meat or living victims. In fact, her diet seems rather normal for a girl her age."
"I like Spaghetti-O's," the girl said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the floor before her.
With a slow nod, Doctor Kavorski said, "So do I. I like them a lot. Doctor Caswell, perhaps we should get her strapped to a table and get this examination going."
Zoe tensed up, drawing her shoulders up as she shook her head.
Gently rubbing the girl's back, Rachel assured, "It's only a precaution, Zoe. We aren't going to hurt you." She looked to the sergeant and asked, "Mind giving us a hand with her?"
He glanced at the girl and stammered, "Um… Uh, you sure that's appropriate? She's just a kid."
"Under the circumstances," Doctor Kavorski insisted as he took the girl's other arm from the soldier, "I don't think it will matter. She may just unlock some of the secrets we've been looking for."
Zoe was taken to the first examination table and Rachel turned her by the arm, ordering, "Okay, let's get her undressed. Sergeant, I need you to take those handcuffs off of her and hold her while we get her prepped."
A little whimper escaped the girl and she bowed her head again as she started to cry.
Tex took her under the chin with his gloved hand and raised her eyes to his, an authoritative tone to his voice as he ordered, "Don't give us no problems, Kiddo, or no ice cream after supper."
Drawing a deep gasp, Zoe's eyes lit up and she barked, "There's ice cream?"
A little smile touched his lips and he nodded, confirming, "Three flavors of soft serve and two different kinds of cones."
"And I can have some after we eat dinner?" she pressed.
The doctors exchanged puzzled looks.
"If," Tex stressed, "you cooperate and let these doctors give you a physical."
She nodded eagerly and turned her back to him, informing, "I really like strawberry! Is there strawberry?"
He smiled again and took the keys from his pocket, inserting one into the handcuffs as he assured, "There's strawberry. That's my favorite, too."
As soon as her hands were free, she pulled them in front of her and stripped her shirt off, then she reached for the belt around her waist, unbuckling it quickly before she fumbled with the button to her shorts.
Tex looked to Doctor Caswell as the girl stripped completely, and he raised his brow.
She smiled back and shrugged. "You do have your way with the girls, Sergeant."
Once Zoe had stripped down, folded her clothing and undergarments and laid them on the instrument table, she hopped up onto the examination table and grasped the edges with both hands as she sat there and looked to Doctor Caswell. "Do you need to test my reflexes with that little hammer first? My doctor does that."
Doctor Kavorski moved the blue cover and the girl's clothing from the instrument table and advised, "Perhaps a little later. Let's get you lying flat and we'll see what we have."
"Okay," the girl complied as she lay to her back and put her feet on the other end. "This thing's cold," she complained. Laying her head down, she asked, "May I have a pillow?"
Kavorski looked to his colleague and informed, "She's cold. How long ago was she bitten?"
"Four days," Rachel confirmed as she reached to the edge of the table, underneath.
Zoe tensed up again as the two doctors, now standing on opposite sides of the table, wrapped padded restraints around her wrists and buckled them tightly. She drew a deep breath, feeling herself become afraid again as she looked to Tex with begging eyes and she asked, "Do you really have to do that?"
"It's just a precaution," Rachel assured as she and Kavorski went to the other end of the table.
Zoe felt similar restraints being wrapped around her ankles and something pulled tightly over her knees. The whole time she kept her eyes on Tex, hoping that he would intervene and not allow them to strap her down.
Doctor Kavorski had one more to put on her and her head whipped around as he took it from under the examination table. It was bigger and had two rings in the sides.
Kavorski looked to Tex and asked, "Sergeant, would you mind holding her head down?"
Horror was in the girl's eyes as she looked back to Tex, and she whimpered, her mouth quivering, and tears filled her eyes again.
The big man approached and took her jaw in his powerful hand as he looked into her eyes and countered, "I won't need to, because she's gonna be good so that she can have that ice cream later."
The promise of the ice cream distracted her from what she was doing and she raised her brow a little as she looked back at him.
He raised his brow and urged, "Right?"
She nodded in his grip and confirmed, "Right. I like strawberry."
Doctor Kavorski slipped the last cuff around her neck and buckled it, then he reached for a nylon strap that was under the table. It was adjustable with a single pull and had a clasp that he quickly connected to the collar. Moving quickly to the other side, he took another and clasped it in place, pulling it tight.
"Do we muzzle her?" Doctor Caswell asked.
"I don't think so," Sergeant Tex answered, still looking down at the girl. "She's okay now. Just do what you gotta do."
The doctors looked to each other, then Caswell informed, "Okay, Sergeant, I guess we're done with you for now. You can go and get something to eat, or whatever you military people do when you're off duty."
Panic began to well up in the girl again and she whimpered, "Don't go."
Tex raised his chin slightly and asked, "You want me to stay?"
Zoe nodded in quick motions.
He looked to Caswell and suggested, "It might make your job a little easier if she's at ease."
"I think it will be fine," Kavorski assured. "Why don't you hold her hand and talk to her while we…" His eyes narrowed and he strode to the other end of the table, looking down at her feet. "I need to gauge her reaction to something." He grabbed onto her foot with one hand and scratched the bottom of it with the other.
Zoe broke out into hysterical giggles and struggled against the bonds holding her, then she screamed in laughter, finally squealing, "Stop!"
Kavorski did, and once again he turned his eyes to his colleague. "Well, we know this one's ticklish. Make a note."
"What does that mean?" Tex asked.
Rachel answered as she scribbled in a notebook, "She isn't supposed to be. The virus should have rewritten her entire brain by now and knocked out most of her sensory nerves, but…" She shook her head. "I have a feeling we're about to prove my theory."
The examination took a long time, but Kavorski and Tex kept breaking up the tension in different ways, ways only a playful little girl could respond to.
Zoe was eventually unstrapped and allowed to get herself dressed, but they gave her hospital scrubs to dress in as they wanted to examine and then wash the clothing she had been found in. The scrubs fit her a little big, but she did not seem to mind. They were pink with cartoon designs on them and she enjoyed wearing them. With surgical booties on her feet, she combed her hand through her hair and looked up at Tex, offering a big smile as she asked, "I was good, right?"
He nodded and confirmed, "Yeah, you were good."
"What time is it?" she asked.
Kavorski checked his watch and replied, "Two minutes after six." He continued scribbling in his note pad and inquired, "Do you have somewhere to be?"
She looked down and counted on her fingers, "Six is dinner time, then I have to take my medicine, then I have to shower, and then I get to watch TV before I go to bed."
His eyes sliding to his colleague, Kavorski raised his brow and observed, "She clings to the same routine she always has. I think tomorrow we'll test her for Asperger's Syndrome and then give her a brain scan to see what's going on in there."