Jubal’s mom read the note on his phone. Then she smiled a shaky little smile and said “well, that’s what the doctor is for, honey. To find out and tell us.” She held onto the phone for a few beats too long before returning it, and tilted her face away from him while she did.

Jubal nodded, even though she wasn’t looking at him, then typed some more. Then he tapped on the table to get her attention when she didn’t take the outstretched phone, because she didn’t see it, because she was turned away and wiping at her eyes with her hand, sniffling softly.

I don’t match any of the descriptions I found. It’s scary. What if there’s something really wrong with me, aside from the transformation into a hybrid? Something the doctor won’t know to look for?

Her lips thinned and her eyes darted down and to the side. Her face grew paler, her freckles standing out more in contrast under the tear tracks she hadn’t managed to completely erase. She took a deep, slow breath, but even that shook a little.

“That’s also what the doctor is for. I’m sure there’s nothing happening to you that they haven’t seen before,” she said. “How’s the pain? Do you need more food?” She then asked, in a blatant attempt to change the subject to something that she could do something about immediately. Her eyes were wide, almost painful to look at, and shimmering with water. Her lower lip was between her teeth, and as he watched, a bit of skin ripped off of it.

It hurts less now, Jubal typed, and I’m still hungry. He didn’t say anything to indicate that he noticed her distress. He controlled his own breathing, careful not to catch his mother’s anxiety. Nothing would get done if they both panicked. Nothing productive, anyway, and the neighbors complained about the noise the last time they both freaked out.

“Where are you putting it all?” she asked with a forced laugh. Some of the tears she was holding back escaped down her cheeks. Jubal shrugged and looked away from her face, already pulling up the internet again to get back to trying to research.

Maybe he could find out what people who have just turned into hybrids should do to make themselves safer or healthier or whatever. Maybe he could find out what could go wrong or, in his case, what already did. At the very least, he could distract himself from how his mother was acting.