Boom!
The reinforced metal hospital bed collapsed down the middle. Benjamin's body bent backward like a rigid bow drawn to its limit.
He had chewed the rubber mouthpiece to shreds and spat it onto the floor with a mouthful of blood. His ragged breathing no longer sounded like anything human vocal cords could produce.
"Sedatives! Increase the dose!" Sean recoiled a step and shouted at the nurse beside him.
The nurse held a syringe, but before she could approach, the newly grown flesh at Benjamin's amputated lower legs began churning violently, like boiling water.
Riiip!
His hospital gown burst apart. Benjamin's muscles swelled at a speed that defied biology. His spine cracked like a string of firecrackers, each vertebra jutting outward and piercing the skin of his back.
No blood flowed out.
The instant his skin tore, a layer of hard, fine, dark green scales pushed out from beneath it and rapidly covered his entire body.
"This isn't right..." Pete sat in his wheelchair, gripping the armrests as he stared at Benjamin.
In mere seconds, Benjamin grew to three meters tall. His facial bones protruded, his jaw elongated, and all his teeth fell out, replaced by two interlocking rows of sharp fangs. A thick tail covered in bone spurs lashed out from the base of his spine.
Bang!
The tail struck the medical equipment beside him, smashing it into a heap of scrap.
Benjamin slowly turned his head. His eyes no longer had whites, only two cold yellow irises with vertical pupils, utterly devoid of warmth.
"Monster... a monster!" the nurse screamed as she ran for the door.
Benjamin did not move. He merely crouched slightly, his nostrils twitching twice.
Sean's expression finally changed. He realized this was no medical miracle, but a genetic catastrophe completely out of control. He