Natural muscles

Matthew had been exercising for the first time in his life for the past few months, and he was finally starting to see the results for it. Losing a little bit of weight, gaining a little bit of muscle - for the most part, he felt fantastic. But lately his back and shoulders had begun to feel incredibly sore and painful. He figured it was just because he was working them out too much, so he took a week off from training. The pain, however, wasn't going away, and he decided to visit a doctor for a professional opinion.

He was in the doctor's office for much longer than he anticipated. His doctor had started off the encounter as Matthew might have expected, with the doctor feeling the muscles in his back as he laid face down on the table. But evidently the doctor had felt something he had not anticipated in Matthew's back. Matthew had to spend over an hour moving between offices and work rooms as he was x-rayed and thoroughly examined. The various doctors that looked him over all looked concerned and confused, yet not a one of them deemed to give him any information. They simply passed him on to the next professional, wanting verification of what they witnessed.

He became increasingly more frustrated with each wordless encounter, passing him off like a baton in a relay race. Each reading of x-rays, each looking over his papers, each typing furiously away on their computers and reading some kind of files that Matthew couldn't see. He wanted desperately to know what the hell was going on, and why no one would tell him anything. He had never been treated like this before.

The sixth doctor was when he snapped. He screamed to be allowed to know what was going on - to sit down with one doctor and be told what the hell was going on. All he wanted to know was how to relieve the pain in his back so that he could keep exercising. These doctors had been telling him his entire life that he needed to be more active, and now that he was trying to and coming to them for help, they were silent. It was infuriating.

The doctor sighed and slumped in his seat, losing all pretenses of professionalism as he looked at Matthew, the debate in his eyes clear as to whether or not he would forfeit any information. "Look, Matthew," he finally said quietly, "this isn't easy to explain. In fact, it really doesn't even make any sense. No one in the hospital wants to admit what we're seeing is even a possibility, much less a... a very real reality for you."

"What the hell are you talking about? Just tell me already, please!"

Another long pause as the doctor took deep breaths and glanced down at his notes. "There is a plant growing in the center of your spine," he explained, his voice notably flat. "It's extending out in four directions - two vines growing up each of your traps, and two down your lats. It appears as though it has an almost human like knowledge, and is slowly attempting to take over your system. It's hard to say how long it's been growing. Months? Years? And we don't know if there's anything we can do about it."