Hope and Despair

Posted on Tue Aug 4th, 2026 @ 8:12am by Cecilia Reyes M.D. & Drew Williams

1,146 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 8: Shadows Over Avalon
Location: Medical Bay and Office of Doctor Reyes
Timeline: March 22, 1992 - Afternoon

Drew was sitting at a side counter in the medical bay reading a book on disease treatment. He was looking for something, anything to treat Angela’s condition. He had read through a stack of medical books over the last hour and was on the last one when a passage he read caught his attention. The passage discussed the use of blood transfusions from a subject with high resistances to illness and disease helping in treating persons with immune deficiency. He read the passage twice and wondered if something like this could help Angela. Could the key to saving Angela be in his blood. He knew Cecilia was in her office. He picked up the phone and dialed Cecilia's extension number.

“Reyes.” Cecilia said in a dry and frank manner as she placed the phone next to her ear. She didn’t offer much more in terms of salutations, the doctor merely waited for whatever the person on the line wanted from her.

Drew was cradling the phone handset between his ear and shoulder while turning a page in the medical journal now in his hand. "I am reading an article about blood transfusions being used to help treat illnesses. I have a few questions about it that I wanted to ask you about." His voice seemed hopeful it could be a possible treatment for Angela’s condition.

“Blood transfusions to treat illness…” Reyes echoed, pausing as she attempted to interpret what Drew was describing. A moment later, recognition dawned across her face. “Oh! You mean convalescent plasma therapy.”

Cecilia glanced down at the planner on her desk before checking the clock mounted on the office wall. She had hospital rounds in thirty minutes, but the paperwork waiting for her could survive a little longer. “I've got about half an hour before I need to leave,” Dr. Reyes said. “If you'd like to stop by, I'd be happy to explain how it works.”

She occasionally welcomed an opportunity to teach, usually when she was in a good mood. If Drew was genuinely curious, she could walk him through the science behind the treatment, how it had been used against certain infectious diseases, why it sometimes helped, and just as importantly, why it wasn't a universal cure. It would make for a worthwhile lesson before she headed to the hospital tent.

Drew crossed the medical bay and wrapped twice on the office door before opening it a crack. "Just me Doctor Reyes."

“Good morning, Drew,” Cecilia greeted, closing the file in front of her before sliding it back into her desk drawer. Its review would have to wait until she had a free moment.

Drew stepped in and crossed to the desk holding the medical journal open to the page in question. His expression was optimistically hopeful as if they had already confirmed a treatment for Angela’s condition. He placed the journal in front of Cecilia and pointed to the section on blood transfusions. "Not sure I understood everything, but what I read was donors with O negative blood and a strong immune system are some of the best candidates for um that plasma therapy stuff you mentioned. Angela and I are both O negative and I haven't been sick in over four years. Not even a cold." Drew's expression grew more intense, changing from optimism to near desperation for any kind of good news.

She folded her hands atop the desk and offered him a patient smile. “You're confusing two different medical procedures, and when blood type is actually an important factor. Type O is considered the universal donor for red blood cell transfusions, but plasma therapy works differently. If you're looking at antibody-based treatments, type O doesn't inherently produce stronger or more effective antibodies against an infection. In fact, from a compatibility standpoint, type AB donors are the most versatile plasma donors because their plasma lacks anti-A and anti-B antibodies. Blood antigens and plasma antibodies are related, but they're two very different parts of the immune system.”

Seeing that he was listening, she continued before he could jump to his next conclusion.

“Take Logan, for example. He possesses the most extraordinary healing factor ever documented in a mutant, and even his plasma wouldn't cure someone with the Legacy Virus. Borrowing someone else's immune system isn't enough to reverse an illness, especially in someone who's already moribund. Convalescent plasma is a temporary therapy. At best, it gives a patient's immune system a helping hand while it learns to produce its own antibodies. Angela, and everyone else in cryostasis, have already reached the point where their immune systems failed to recover. They don't just need borrowed antibodies, they need a way to teach their own immune systems how to recognize and defeat the virus, and that's an entirely different challenge.”

Cecilia let the explanation settle for a moment before her expression softened.
“Look, I know you're desperate to save your sister. There is a whole party of people in that cryostasis ward who are deeply loved and desperately missed by their families. Believe me when I say that everyone working on this wants them back just as badly.”

“But you aren't going to stumble across a miracle cure by reading a handful of introductory biology and medical textbooks. Moira and everyone on Muir Island have dedicated their lives to this. They're physicians, virologists, immunologists, and geneticists with decades of experience, and even they haven't solved it yet. When I say developing a cure is incredibly complicated, I mean it's going to require groundbreaking research, countless failed experiments, and collaboration between some of the brightest minds in the world before we even have a chance of bringing someone back from a terminal case of the Legacy Virus.” Dr. Reyes sighed quietly as she finished her explanation, all of it felt so vast and hopeless when reviewed like this.

Drew listened to Cecilia describe the process he had found in the medical journal and state reasons for how and why it might not, and probably would not, work in this case. His excitement waned with each sentence the doctor spoke. Every time hope seemed in reach, it was stripped away by a medical fact he had not been aware of. He felt helpless, it was if some higher power was trying to balance the scales. He was gifted with a power that could save strangers, but not the ones he loved.

Drew picked up the medical journal and closed it. He tucked it under his arm and nodded at Cecilia. He turned and quietly left the office without saying a word. He returned to the counter where the other medical journals lay. He picked them up one by one and carried the stack to a bookshelf and placed each back where it belonged. He needed to clear his mind. He just wasn't sure how to do that anymore.

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