"I said apple
cider, not apple
juice!" Frederick snorted. "When did you last see a baby drinking apple cider???"
"Okay, but... coughing like that isn't a symptom of disease of the liver, is it
?" Nestor asked curiously. "I thought that was disease of the lung. And I will note the only to things he's done so far are screaming and coughing... that is, two things that can very easily be staged..."
“It isn’t staged.” The doctor said showing Nestor some of the charts. “See, there’s a scan of his liver...” he showed an scan of Tom’s liver which of course was a fake.
”whatever.” Kyle said rolling his eyes.
Suddenly, Nestor felt a bit awkward. He didn't entirely trust the chart; however, he couldn't think of any way to refute it. Furthermore, if Tom really was ill, then that would make his own behaviour towards him completely appalling. Still, neither Tom nor the doctor seemed as disgusted as he would expect if Tom really was gravely ill - so, he still believed it was probably fake. But he couldn't be absolutely sure...
"Umm, I'm sorry, I've just remembered I have an urgent appointment," Nestor lied, as he dashed towards the door. "Good luck... bye!"
After Nestor was gone he rolled his eyes. “As soon as he leaves I want Kyle sent in.”
As soon as Nestor left the castle again, he found Frederick and Kyle stood in silence, glaring at each other... it was clear that they'd had an argument about something.
"Looks as though Tom's faking it," Nestor announced. "The doctor said it was disease of the liver - but he was just coughing and screaming. First of all, coughing isn't a symptom I associate with disease of the liver: that's a lung symptom. Secondly, coughing and screaming are both very easily faked and staged. The doctor did then show me a scan of his liver, but... in light of what happened previously, I really don't trust it. I think there's a good chance this is just a trick to capture you."
“Dad wouldn’t do that.” Kyle said glaring at Nestor. “Stop making stuff up. I’m going in to see him.” He said firmly heading to the door.
"NO!" Nestor screamed, as he swung his tail out and wrapped it tight around Kyle's leg.
Unfortunately, this caused Kyle to trip up and bang his head on the floor, knocking him unconscious...
"Sorry, didn't mean to do that," Nestor apologised, as he picked Kyle up off the floor, and carried him towards the cart. "Guess this means he'll be unable to see his father, though..."
Anita frowned. “Are you sure that’s wise? If he’s ill he should see him...”
"Perhaps, but he's not really in a position to do that when he's unconscious, is he
?" Nestor argued, as he placed Kyle's limp body on one of the benches in the cart.
But then, he had another idea...
"Well, what this means is, he can't go in
alone," Nestor realised. "I'm happy for him to go in... as long as Frederick and my own guard carry him in - and they stay by his side
at all times."
Anita nodded. “I suppose but they might get mad about that...”