[qzar9999]

Man, that's 2 lurkers who've broken their silence to appreciate my story. I feel special. ^_^ Not that there's anything wrong with your glowing praise, Volfsbayne, but it's nice to have proof that there's more than one person still reading my story!

Here's some more plot, mostly, though a miniGTS does show up.

* * * * *

“...you'll see.”

“You're seriously sticking to this crazy story? Why won't you just admit this is some kind of bizarre joke?”

“For the last time, Will, I'm telling the truth!” Carla snapped, pulling open the door to Dr. Matthews' office and gesturing for Will to enter. “Just have a look inside and tell me there aren't a bunch of teenage Amazons in there.”

Will peered through the doorway, looking around at the waiting area. “Okay. There aren't a bunch of teenage Amazons in there.”

“What?!” Carla pushed him aside and stepped through the doorway to find the waiting area empty. Even Coach Summers and the small group of concerned parents who had accompanied the girls were nowhere to be found. “They were right here, I swear! What happened?”

Will chuckled to himself. “Babe. Give it up already.”

She shot him a meaningful look. “One. More. Remark. And I'll slap you,” she spat. She pushed open the door that led to the patient area of the building. “Maybe they're still in the exam rooms.”

Leaving Will in the waiting room, she walked down the hall, knocking on the doors of all four examination rooms before opening them, but they were all empty. Perplexed and annoyed, she opened the door to the doctor's office and looked in. “Doctor Matthews?”

He was on the phone, facing off to the side, and he held up a hand to silence her. “Yes, sir. I'll be sure to send any more cases there right away, and I'll be sure to keep you informed if I run across anything else you need to know. Yes, sir. I'll call you back if anything else comes up.” So saying, he hung up the phone and turned to her. “Hello, Carla. I hope you had a good lunch.”

“I'm sorry to bother you, Bruce. That sounded important,” she said. “Was that about the patients we've had today?”

“Yes. I was on the phone with the chief of medicine at Lakeview General.” He paused for a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts. “Due to the, uh, unusual condition of the young ladies who've visited us today, I felt that the facilities and diagnostic equipment at the hospital would be more useful for treatment. I referred the girls and their families there. If any similarly afflicted women arrive at my office, please notify me and send them along to the hospital with my recommendation, would you?” He smiled at her from behind his desk.

“Certainly, sir,” she replied. She recalled what she had wanted to ask him about earlier and hesitated for a moment, unsure about bringing it up.

After she'd stood in his doorway for a few awkward seconds, he cleared his throat. “Was there something you needed, Carla?”

“Sorry, sir. Lost in thought for a second there. I was just wondering...do you think what happened to those girls could've somehow been caused by something in the water?”

A brief flicker of something she couldn't identify crossed his face, but he quickly resumed a neutral expression. “Something in the water? What makes you say that?”

“Well, all these girls have the same problem, so it seems likely that it comes from the same source,” she said, trying to make it sound sensible without sounding like she was trying to be a smartass. “I was wondering at lunch what the three groups all had in common and I couldn't think of anything at first, but then I remembered hearing Darla Morgan say they changed right after some girls dumped a bucket of water on them as a prank. The swim team would obviously be exposed to water in the pool and when they showered before swimming, and a few of the volleyball players said their problems started right after practice on Monday—and they probably hit the showers after practice. All exposed to the water in the school's plumbing, and all in less than 24 hours,” she finished.

Bruce stared at her from behind the desk. He seemed uncertain of how to reply at first, but shortly he said, “It's an interesting theory, Carla, I'll give you that. But if that were the case, I'd expect to see more of these bizarre cases of gigantism. I'm sure a lot of students are exposed to the school's water on a daily basis—the drinking fountains, for instance.”

“The drinking water in the school has a filtration system, though,” she replied. “Maybe it catches the...whatever is causing this. It could only possibly get through in a fountain with a broken filter, and they get checked regularly.”

Again that brief flicker of emotion on his features. “Be that as it may, I don't think that's the likely culprit; it's probably something else in the school environment. And in any case those girls are now being treated by Lakeview; they'll have a much better chance at identifying the problem than I would here on my own. I'm sure if they find cause for concern they'll notify the school promptly.” At her look of concern, he sighed. “Look, if it bothers you that much, I'll be sure to pass your suspicion on to the staff at the hospital. Perhaps they can pursue that avenue of thought further.”

“Thank you, sir.” Carla turned to go, but remembered that Will was waiting up front to see the giant teenagers who now weren't here. “Um...if you don't mind...my boyfriend is here and—well, could you tell him about what's happening to these women so he doesn't think I'm crazy?”

Bruce frowned at her. “Carla. You're aware that I can't discuss anything about a patient's condition without their express consent. That would be a violation of confidentiality.” His frown deepened. “And although you aren't a doctor, you're still bound by that same principle.”

“Doctor, I didn't give out any names or any specifics or anything,” she replied nervously. “I just gave him a general idea of what's been going on. You might say I told him the symptoms of the disease without telling him who has it.”

He still looked displeased. “Nevertheless. I don't intend to share information about my patients to satisfy someone's personal curiosity. Now, if that's all, I do have some paperwork to attend to.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, crestfallen. Dammit. Now how can I prove anything to Will? She returned to the waiting room to see him leaning against the front desk, an infuriatingly smug smile on his face.

“Nobody back there?” he said. She ignored him as she stepped behind the desk and sat down. He leaned over the desk. “No Amazing Colossal Teenagers or super-sized varsity girls?”

“Will. Please. I'm having a bad enough day as it is. At this point I don't care if you don't believe me, but one more fucking snide remark and you're sleeping on the couch for a month,” she said coldly, glaring at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone walk by the glass front door of the office facing down the street, holding up his phone like he was taking pictures, a look of fascination on his face.

He looked genuinely surprised. “Whoa. Babe. Are you seriously mad at me for this?” Dimly, she was aware of some commotion in the street outside, but he drew her attention away from it when he spoke again. “I mean, I wouldn't expect you to carry a joke this far, but surely you can understand why I'm having trouble believing a word of this. Especially given your little hangup about height.” He held up his hands placatingly. “I'm sorry. Really. I'll stop teasing you about it if it's going to upset you this badly.”

Carla sighed wearily. “I get it, Will. I admit it's hard to believe. And it's not just you, this has been stressing me out all day. But I would hope that--” She was interrupted by a loud, harsh squealing of brakes in the street in front of the office. “What the hell is going on outside?”

“I'll go check it out,” Will replied. He strode purposefully to the front door and pushed it open, looking around for the source of the trouble. “What's happening?” he shouted, but a moment later he did a double-take off to his right. His jaw fell open in surprise as his eyes widened.

“Will? Honey? What is it?” Carla called from the desk. He didn't move or respond, continuing to stare open-mouthed at whatever had his attention. “Will! Hello?!” Annoyed, she stepped around the desk, but just then he began walking backward into the waiting area. She started to ask him again what the situation was, but stopped short when a giant head of red hair appeared in the top of the door frame. Two enormous hands clutched either side of the frame near the top for balance as a woman stepped through. She was so big she had to bend double to fit through the door; Will was probably staring at the incredible tits that hung down in front of her, barely restrained by what looked like sheets. When she got through the door, she couldn't stand all the way up in the waiting area. Carla realized that this was the biggest woman she'd seen yet today, larger even than Susan Knox or the swim team girls.

The enormous redhead glanced back and forth between Carla and Will, who looked like he kept trying to say something but couldn't get any words out and was still staring in shock at the giantess. Finally settling on Carla and smiling at her, she spoke. “Hi. I'm Ruby Miller. I called earlier, but you didn't believe me? I mean I guess I don't blame you, but I thought I'd come here in person to see the doctor and show you what I was talking about. I'd have been here sooner, but I couldn't fit in my car...” She glanced again at Will, slightly concerned. “Um. Is he going to be okay?”

Will finally gave up his attempt at speaking and collapsed heavily into a chair, looking dazed. “He'll be fine,” Carla said in a sugary-sweet tone, beaming at him for a moment.