Dominant Hand
At noon, Aiden returned to the Rose Prison and headed straight to the infirmary.
The conversation with Harold this morning continued to echo in his mind.
"Logically speaking, just experiencing amnesia shouldn't lead to such a change," Harold had remarked.
"You originally sent me to visit Rebecca because of this, right?" Aiden confirmed with him.
Aiden also agreed with Harold's assessment. Rebecca hadn't completely lost her memory; the subconscious of her dominant hand should still be intact... No, logically, even if that subconscious were erased, it wouldn't make sense for it to be directly replaced by another hand.
The body's memory should align with the impressions in the subconscious.
When he visited Rebecca yesterday, Aiden had sensed an extreme lack of coordination in her movements. Even pouring a cup of coffee and adding sugar seemed like a fumble.
He Initially attributing it to nerves from their recent meeting, but Aiden realized the root cause of that lack of coordination when he saw Rebecca holding the gun... was her dominant hand.
Rebecca was a rare left-hander, yet the hand instinctively reaching for the gun was her unaccustomed right hand.
Harold had evidently noticed this detail long ago and the sudden act of her wielding the gun was clearly meant for Aiden's to see.
"Because she insisted on transferring to your unit, and since you happened to visit me that day, I thought it best for you to personally observe as well," Harold stated.
"Do you have suspicions about her?" Aiden inquired.
"Yes, the influence of Priscilla on her clearly goes beyond mere amnesia. The top witches and dark magicians sometimes exceed our understanding with their techniques—that's been my experience. Though there isn't concrete evidence pointing to what occurred, it's always wise to stay vigilant," Harold admitted candidly. "I've had her resting and also stationed someone to keep an eye on her."
"You're monitoring her?" Aiden paused.
"Is there a problem with that?" Harold countered.
"No," Aiden shook his head, "it's indeed necessary."
It seemed that Harold had been keeping tabs on Rebecca all along, so when Rebecca suddenly appeared at the Rose Prison yesterday, he was well aware of it.
While noticing something amiss with Rebecca, Aiden currently had no plans to take any action regarding her.
Ultimately, Rebecca's issues were beyond his jurisdiction; they fell under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition.
Since Harold had already identified Rebecca's issues and taken measures, Aiden saw no need to intervene further; matters of expertise should be left to the professionals.
However, in this affair, the individuals behaving oddly weren't just Rebecca but also Priscilla.
The scene from yesterday where Priscilla insisted on holding his hand remained vivid in Aiden's memory.
Priscilla's behavior couldn't be entirely explained by amnesia alone.
While matters concerning Rebecca could be left entirely to the Inquisition, if it involved inmates housed in the prison, Aiden couldn't remain indifferent.
While Harold monitored Rebecca, Aiden decided to observe Priscilla.
Pushing open the door to the infirmary, the scent of medicine immediately wafted towards him.
"Chief!" Veronica, standing in the room, saluted him as soon as she saw him.
"You're on duty here," Aiden glanced around.
The prison doctor seemed to be away for a meal, leaving only one patient in the infirmary—Priscilla lying in bed. Veronica, responsible for inmate supervision, was temporarily standing in for the doctor. Today, under the full moon, she was covering the day shift just like yesterday.
"Are you here to see her?" Veronica gestured towards Priscilla sitting on the bed.
"Yes, what's in that bowl? Medicine?" Aiden's gaze shifted to the bowl in Veronica's hands.
Veronica was holding a steaming bowl filled with a viscous paste. Before saluting Aiden, she had been stirring it continuously.
"It's cornmeal porridge with eggs and milk added, for her to eat. It seems she can only manage some liquid food for now."
"She can eat now?" Aiden inquired.
"It seems they mentioned that the active bleeding has stopped. The doctor gave her some water in the morning without any issues, so the cafeteria prepared porridge for her at noon," Veronica explained. "According to the doctor, barring any surprises, she should be able to go back to the cell tomorrow."
Quite a quick recovery... Aiden thought to himself.
To have a patient with severe gastric bleeding go from being unable to eat to consuming food overnight likely required more than just hemostatic injections. The beastification drug administered by Melusine not only altered Priscilla's gastrointestinal structure but possibly also enhanced her self-healing abilities.
"How are you feeling?" Aiden approached Priscilla's bed, engaging her in conversation in an official tone.
"I'm... much better now," Priscilla sat up in bed. "Thank you..."
With lowered eyes and a soft voice, she appeared quite reserved—a stark contrast to the notorious S-rank witch she was before losing her memory.
"You haven't eaten all day. Have your meal now," Veronica offered the bowl. "Need any help?"
"Well..." Priscilla hesitated.
"If she can eat on her own, let her," Aiden interjected suddenly. "We're not the inmates' caretakers."
As Veronica approached with the bowl, Aiden felt a probing thought emerge.
"I'm mainly worried she might spill and burn herself," Veronica explained.
"It's fine, let her try," Aiden insisted.
"Alright."
Veronica handed the bowl of porridge to Priscilla. Awkwardly, Priscilla took the bowl and clumsily scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blowing on it before putting it in her mouth.
"Hey, it's spilling!" Veronica ruefully pointed out.
"Oh!" Priscilla noticed the porridge had dripped onto her clothes.
Veronica fetched a towel and handed it to her. "Quick, wipe it off."
"Sorry..." Priscilla set down the spoon, took the towel, and cleaned the stain before resuming with the spoon.
After Observing for a while, Aiden suddenly asked, "Priscilla, are you left-handed?"
"Huh?" Priscilla paused, realizing she was indeed using her left hand to hold the spoon. "Oops, I did it again..."
She then switched the spoon to her right hand and continued eating the porridge, the movement now much smoother.
As suspected... Aiden confirmed his doubts.
The conflict of dominant hands wasn't just with Rebecca; it was also evident in Priscilla.