Mending the Pieces [Open to plot]

[Siara Brightweather]

[[ Continued from At Any Cost]]

With a loud CRACK a group of bloody and worn wizards and witches appeared in the emergency section of St. Mungos Wizarding Hospital. The mediwizards were quite used to having magical folk apparate straight into the ER, but such a large group gathered attention instantly.

Siara moved to stand protectively between Ralin and Curse's still forms. She raised her voice in a commanding tone. "I need help here! Two wizards, critical condition!"

Mediwizards swarmed over to them, but before any approached them, each person was asked the nature of their wounds, if anything was magical, etc. One approached Ralin's form and asked the nearest comrade the situation, while another approached Alex standing at Curse's side with the same question.

[[Feel free to change things, I was kind of vague to let you do what you want with the characters. If this doesn't fit where everyone was planning, let me know and I can remove it! Cheers!]]

[Alex Kameren]

Alex was holding Curse so his injured shoulder lay against Alex’s chest, helping to hold the shoulder on. As they were all pulled into the witch’s apparition spell-- how? He braced himself for more nausea as the familiar hook embedded itself in his navel and yanked.

As the group was surrounded by medical wizards Alex bent and gingerly lay his brother down, keeping a cautious hand on his shoulder, which was disconcertedly unattached. He hadn’t dared use any magic on Curse, not after the way his apparition spell failed. He couldn’t risk anything else going wrong.

The Minister was possibly the least injured of those down, but wizards swarmed around the man. Some undoubtedly merely wanted to be close to both the famous beater and the minister of Magic, but some were actually performing medical tasks. And more often then not, getting in each other’s way. Alex clamped down on Curse’s shoulder, his fingers slick with pink blood.

“This man is critically injured.” He projected his voice, loud if a little hoarse from battle. “He needs medical attention. Now!”

[Curse Kameren]

“He needs medical attention. Now!”

Among the chaos growing around the Minister, a healer raised her head towards Alex. Her eyebrows rose into her hairline as she surveyed the bloodied auror, her eyes eventually falling down to Curse. She paled slightly as the dark pink blood started to pool on the floor. She looked around, a bit panicked as she searched for someone to help her. She pulled a dark-skinned Mediwizard from the crowd around Harkness.

"It's Kameren."

"EVERYBODY STEP BACK." The thunderous voice of the mediwizard rose above the chaos, shooing people away from the Kameren brothers. First, he inspected the elder, Curse. It looked as if a part of his shoulder had been ripped off, about five centimeters deep. Though there wasn't danger of him losing his arm, his collarbone had been snapped. The mediwizard put a thin protego spell all around Kameren, including beneath him on the floor; the blood spilling from the wound now pooled inside the shield, keeping those outside safe. St. Mungo's had had to find ways around Curse's poisoned blood before.

He straightened, looking Alex Kameren up and down. "Julie?" The mediwizard turned to the nurse, who stood nervously at attention. "We need to get Curse Kameren to the ICU as soon as possible. Send some re-growth experts to him. I'll take Alex Kameren - " The mediwizard locked eyes with Alex, being similar in height " - to the poisons unit. Pull a bottle of antidote from Curse Kameren's personal stores as well, I'm sure he won't mind." The mediwizard cocked his head in the direction of the poisons unit, beckoning Alex along with him. A light shield suddenly flickered on around him as well, with a motion of the mediwizard's wand.

"You're going to have to be under 24 - hour surveillance here at the hospital for your own safety." The mediwizard clasped his hands behind his back as he lead Alex down the halls of the hospital. "Your brother's antidote will cure you, but for fear of spreading the poison you can't interact physically with others for 48 hours. You're looking a bit grey, there." With a long finger, he motioned around Alex's temples, where his black hair was fading white.

"Here." The mediwizard opened the door for Alex, letting him inside and closing the door behind him. He raised an opening on the wall along the room, where a pane of glass separated the poisoned from the healer. A gurney was against the wall in the center of the room, a potions set and a cupboard next to it. "We're going to have to burn out your veins. Sorry, but it's going to hurt." He met Alex's eyes, not wasting time belittling the procedure. He knew the Kameren's well enough to know that they didn't suffer weakness.

"If you need anything, I'm Dr. Milton Bonham. Take off any clothing with his blood on it and pile it in the far corner to be incinerated later."

[Max Kameren]

Max looked around at the chaos that erupted when the group apparated into the St. Mungo's emergency room. He took a step back for fear of being trampled under the stampede of healers massing around Minister Harkness. Max looked up at his uncle, worried. No one had paid them any mind; his father was dying, and his uncle wasn't looking very well either.

"Alex..." Max put a hand on his uncle's shoulder as Alex laid Curse on the ground. There was so much blood, and now Alex was nearly as soaked with the pink blood as Curse was. Max could see his uncle growing visibly paler as the potion began to sink in. Alex had cuts and wounds of his own, and their contact with Curse's blood all but guaranteed Alex would also be infected. His dad had invented an antidote though, right? Alex would be safe, right? Max wouldn't leave Mungo's as the last surviving Kameren, it wouldn't be fair after how hard his father and uncle fought to keep him safe.

“This man is critically injured.” Max's worried face relaxed slightly as a nurse and a mediwizard looked up with Alex's bellow. “He needs medical attention. Now!”

"EVERYBODY STEP BACK."

Max obeyed the mediwizard, looking up at the tall dark-skinned man as he examined his family members, speaking orders to the worried-looking nurse. When the mediwizard's eyes fell on the youngest Kameren, a slight smiled tweaked at his lips. Max smiled back, though it was forced with his worry. His dad and his uncle couldn't die like this, not after all they'd done. They'd been through worse danger than this, the had to persevere.

"We need to get Curse Kameren to the ICU as soon as possible. Send some re-growth experts to him. I'll take Alex Kameren - " The mediwizard locked eyes with Alex, being similar in height " - to the poisons unit. Pull a bottle of antidote from Curse Kameren's personal stores as well, I'm sure he won't mind."

Max's round eyes darted from dad to uncle as the two split ways, one in each direction. Nurse Julie pushed Curse to Intensive Care, and Alex went with Dr. Bonham to poisons. For the time being, Max chose to follow his father. He could check on Alex in a short while.

"Is he going to be alright?" Max looked worriedly up at the nurse, who sent Max a peckish glance. He remembered Julie; she was always a bit neurotic, especially around the Kameren's. She smiled slightly and nodded as she pushed a gurney with his father's shielded, levitated body on top of it. She looked at Curse as if he were some sort of monstrosity; that was something Max never liked about Julie. She looked at his father, with his bleak days in the mental ward and his many scars, as if he was some sort of Frankenstein. Curse was great, even if others didn't see it sometimes. He had saved his son and vanquished the Dark Lady, that was more than anyone else could say.

Curse was wheeled into an empty room that was soon filled with Healers, trying to stem the blood flow from Curse's disjointed shoulder. Max stayed backed against the wall as the healers scrambled, their mending and Skele-grow doing little to help the wound. They managed to slow the blood flow, but there was no reconnecting or re-growing Curse's shoulder with conventional means. Mosrael was a powerful witch, her magic was more complicated than that.

"Where's my son." Curse's eyes suddenly opened wide and he looked around at the healers, trying to sit upright but being pushed back down by the healers. "No, don't - Where's - DON'T TOUCH ME." Curse thundered, batting away the hands of the healers and pushing himself up. He looked around, delirious. "Where's my son!?" Curse's eyes suddenly rolled back as he lost consciousness again, though Max wasn't sure if it was physically or if a healer had spelled him. Either way, it frightened Max. Curse wasn't doing well, and Max didn't know how to help him. He knew someone who would, though.

"Excuse me," Max pulled on Siara Brightweather's sleeve back out in the Emergency room, looking up at her with precocious emerald eyes. "Could you send a patronus to Arianna Blackthorn, please? I think she can help dad."

[Theo Bowre]

Theo watched as a team of nurses and mediwizards took Jack Harkness from his arms, his conscience not entirely grasping the flurry of activity around him. He vaguely recalled his last moments amongst Mosrael's ruins: gathering an odd talisman from the floor, facing the ire of Curse's friends, holding his brother tightly to his chest. Siara Brightweather gave him a small gesture and then light filled the world.

It took Bowre several moments to realize where he was. A surgeon grabbed his shoulder.

"He was spelled against a wall," he remembered saying. "No, I'm fine, thank you. Please help the others. Someone needs to attend to Kameren, he's bleeding to death."

Theo was still holding on to Jack's hand when they began to work on his brother. He looked to Curse, to Alex, to Ralin. The responding glares of others told him to look elsewhere. Theo complied. Felt his chest constricting.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you."

A gentle expression. Hands grabbed his face.

"You should get some air."

Theo nodded weakly, finding hands separating him from Jack and prodding him towards the hallway. Reckony Pike's voice sounded distant, but he picked up on the barkeep's agreement of Bowre's removal. Another hand guided him to a door that lead to a balcony. Cold air reached his face. Theo's lungs burned for it. He gasped violently, bracing himself against the rail.

"I'll get someone to be with you."

"No!... I'm, I'm sorry. No thank you. I'm...I just need to be alone."

Round hazel eyes watched the man skeptically but softened in understanding.

"Please."

"I never saw you, Boon."

"Thank you."

[Ryan Harkness]

A misty dog patronus suddenly appeared on the balcony in front of Theo, the silver light throbbing with Ryan trying to hold it together. He was never good at summoning a patronus, but owls took too long.

"Theo... what the hell is going on? I'm at dad's with everyone, but we can't get ahold of you or dad and Salt isn't telling us anything. Should we be worried?"

Ryan's voice faded in and out with the dog's form, but his worry was evident. Theo Bowre had some explaining to do.

[Theo Bowre]

Few things were more recognizable to Theo than his eldest nephew's woeful patronus. The vapourous outline of the silver-lit dog ebbed in and out as Ryan Harkness's concerned voice undulated in the immediate space. Ryan's questions hit at the worst possible time. Theo was hardly able to stand, let alone face yet another confrontation on the events of the night.

Finding no chair or ledge on the balcony, Theo used the railing for support as he lowered himself on to the platform. He absently reached for an artefact in his pocket, pulling it out but paying it minimal consideration. He'd need to owl the talisman to Ryan. If there was anyone who could figure out its significance.

Bowre took an empty breath as he began his own patronus, finding his thoughts full of damning emotion. Tears sprung to his eyes as he mentally composed the message to his family. There was no way to soften it. He felt spared that they would not see him falter.

"Jack is at St. Mungos in the best of care. We are safe but there is much to discuss. Don't believe everything you hear and please stay clear of here until you hear back from me. Jack has been used and may yet account for it. Ryan, need your help. Sending an owl for you to research. Please stay away and for Merlin's sake, watch over the kids. No one leaves the Estate. I love...Miss..."

The driftwood wand fell from Theo's hand as he broke in to a fit of sobs, his head hanging low between his knees. It was simply too much for his heart to contain and while the blue whisper of his patronus began to dart across the sky, the burly beater sank in to the iron grate of the balcony floor. Moments later he would find himself reaching for the fire escape and clambering down a series of ladders. Alley shadows would consume him and before anyone would notice his departure, Theo Bowre disappeared.

[Exit Theo]

[Arianna Blackthorn]

Silence perfumed the Beauregard apartment, it's stench effecting the very soul of it's occupants. A few days ago Arianna, a disheveled bloody mess, had burst into the apartment out of breath her eyes wide with panic. Urgently words gushed out of her mouth, incoherent in her distress. Startled, Amelia and Peter rushed to her forgetting the romantic dinner they had been sharing. While it was not unusual to see Ari with messy hair and wrinkled clothes, the shaking and blood was new. Concerned, Peter stopped Ari from speaking, to check if she was hurt. Finding no injuries, he began to question his cousin. Had she killed someone? Who? Why was she covered in blood was she here for a lawyer.

After a few deep breaths, Ari pushed Peter away to capture Amelia's hands in her own. In a hoarse whisper she brought forth a mother's nightmare. Her son was kidnapped.

The next few days had been hell. Amelia had lashed out at Arianna and then belittled Curse and the wizarding world. After the initial inquisition about what had occurred, Amelia refused to look at Arianna let alone talk to her. Determined to do her part in the search for Max, Ari often left the Beauregard's to help the Black Watch research. When she could though, she'd return to Peter and Amelia's to check on them, give them updates. She had stayed with them when the watch finally uncovered the whereabouts of the mask lady. Useless in a battle, Arianna could give comfort to her muggle family and relay any magical message she would receive to them.

Amelia was ignoring the world, living in her own denial when the message came. Peter was staring off into the night imaging what it would be like if this was happening to his own yet to be born child. Restless, Ari had been trying to lose herself in history but it hadn't been working. The tension was suddenly shattered by a bright light. The voice of the headmistress permeated the room. Max had been found. only minor scratches. Curse was badly injured. Alex too, several others. For several seconds all Arianna could do was stare at the space where the patrons had been. Curse was injured. Badly. Which translated as deadly in her mind. Fears assaulted her and then irony. Of course, just when she had found a morsel of happiness, Fate had to snatch it away. Greedy bitch. Instinctively, Ari's hand reached into her pocket where she had hidden away Curse's ring. She'd found it in the rubble. During one of her restless periods she had gone back to the house to see what was savable. Not much. It would probably have to be entirely rebuilt. At least she had been able to rescue a few belongings.

Ari was roused by Peter's questions. Right, muggles had seen magic. Calmly, Arianna explained what a patrons was. She knew where Max was and would take them there. Together, they entered muggle london and journeyed to St. Mungo's. It had been a while since Ari had used the muggle entrance. Funny, she'd always used it as a child but lately she'd used wizard means.

After a battle of wits with welcome witch about admitting muggles, Arianna, Amelia and Peter entered the hospital. Black eyes roamed the room, seeking a familair face. Anyone who could tell her where Curse, or Max was. It had taken longer than she had anticipated. Siara had sent the patrons nearly an hour ago. Ari forgot all about her muggle relatives. How strange it must be for them. She just prayed they'd keep up....

Finally, Arianna turned into a waiting room filled with back watch members. Many had scratches, cuts, various wounds. Maebh Breandan was leaning against the wall favoring her injured shoulder.

"Is he alive." She demanded.

[Ralin O'Faerlun]

The world rushed by, but everything was far away, blurred and muted. Ralin struggled to sit up, but it felt like he had a massive weight on his chest, pressing him back down. Dimly he realized he had fallen amidst the rubble.

Theo. He was there. Despite Ralin's outburst, he wanted nothing more than to put his arms around his brother, tell him it wasn't his fault. Ralin knew the truth.

Reckony. Ralin cringed inwardly when he accused Theo, ordered him away. But when he tried to protest, to defend his brother, his mouth wouldn't obey. Tears leaked from his eyes, tears of physical agony, and tears of a breaking heart. His family was being torn apart, and he could do nothing to stop it. Curse's family was whole again, but Ralin's was shattered.

No...he didn't do anything.

Leave him alone!

Jack's innocent, Theo is too!

Come back!

Thoughts struggled through Ralin's mind, he felt himself slipping away, back into that dark abyss, to that grey road that led into the fog. He didn't want to die. But would Reckony or Theo be there to call him back? Was he dying again? Fear surged through Ralin. He couldn't let go, because he needed to save Theo and Jack. He knew the truth.

They were in the hospital in a flash, and Ralin was lifted onto a gurney. He saw Siara standing nearby, but Theo hung back, and the expression on the man's face broke Ralin's heart. He looked utterly lost, shattered.

Finally words burst out of him, hoarse but rising above the noise of the doctors. "NO! Leave him alone, he's innocent! Theo! Theo!"

But it was too late, before he could finish what he wanted to say, Theo had vanished.

Ralin's fevered green eyes fell on Reckony. "Reck! Don't let this happen, he's your friend too! Don't-" Coughs racked his weakening body. "Don't let her tear us apart! Please..." Ralin realized he was sobbing now, pleading. "Reck...don't...Theo needs us. Jack....needs us!"

Mediwizards swarmed around the dying boy, staunched the blood and pushed him back down. One of them raised his wand to send Ralin to sleep.

"You don't know the truth! I-" the spell hit like a pillow-encased bludger, and Ralin slumped back against the gurney, falling into an instant deep sleep. It held him over that dark pit, suspended him, but he still felt that call. His own battle was just beginning.

The mediwizard shouted to the others. "Get this boy to the ICU as well, surgery room twelve, we'll need to find a blood donor match, he's lost too much blood! Hurry or we'll lose him!"

Then they wheeled Ralin out of the room and down the hallway.

[Siara Brightweather]

Siara felt the tug at her sleeve and nodded to the young boy. "Good thinking Max, I'll send that right away. Stay close to your dad." She gave him a quick smile, and then moved to the side where she had more space. She focused on her patronus - a glowing hawk - and sent a message to Arianna.

After Curse and Ralin had been taken out of the room, Siara organized the other mediwizards to tend to the weary witches and wizards. She moved from one person to the next, using her own healing skills to mend them. First she met the eyes of Reece and Nuri, raising her wand and casting mending spells and bandages for the larger wounds.

"You two did marvelous, thank you. Any severe wounds?"

Next she found Reckony and started healing him, but her fierce golden eyes focused on him for a long moment. "We needed your leadership, thanks for bringing the Watch through this alive. Is there...anything I can do to help?" She didn't mean just his scrapes and bruises, but the wounds inside of him, the turmoil that she'd seen. But she didn't pry any further, just gave him a firm smile and moved on.

"Maebh-" she started to say, but was distracted when Arianna arrived.

"He's alive," Siara answered for the gypsy. "Bad shoulder injury, but they're working on him right now."

She saw the panic in Arianna's eyes and gripped her shoulders. "He needs you, Arianna, even if he tries to push you away. Are you up to this? Because he needs you more than ever, I think. Max and Alex do too." She pointed down a hallway. "Last room on the left, if the nurses give you any trouble, I'll handle it." The Headmistress said firmly.

[Max Kameren]

"Good thinking Max, I'll send that right away. Stay close to your dad."

Max nodded, fulfilling his duty and heading back down the hall to his father's room.

The scene in Curse's ICU didn't improve much with time. Curse was still bleeding heavily, which made it difficult for the mediwizards to work with him without endangering themselves as well. His dad looked even paler than before by the time they finally just bandaged him up. Weren't they going to do something? They couldn't just leave Curse with part of his shoulder missing. Even so, half of the healers left the room. Max overheard them discussing methods and research, but he was concerned.

"Max?"

A deep voice sounded from the doorframe to Max's back. The young wizard started before turning around. It was Dr. Bonham. He was the Dean of Medicine at St. Mungo's, as well as the great-great-great-great grandson of the hospital's namesake. Max knew him well; an accomplished healer, Dr. Bonham frequently worked with his dad on poison antidotes. Besides Elle, the good doctor was the one Curse Kameren saw most. Max turned with a forced smile, a hand still on his father's bedside. "Yeah?"

Doctor Bonham kneeled beside the bed at Max's eye level. He looked the young boy up and down; looking for any sort of harm, Max supposed. He was sure the St. Mungo's staff had heard about his kidnapping by now, if they hadn't known before the Watch apparating in. There was a bit of sadness in the doctor's dark eyes, some empathy for the troubled Kameren family. Trouble was all they knew, really. Even in good times they would struggle.

"Are you alright? You aren't hurt in any way...?"

Max shrugged. "Nope, not really. Just bumps and bruises." Max's worried young face kept a keen eye on his father's bedside; they had removed his blood-soaked jacket and shirt, and now only the bandages and the sheets on the bed were keeping his bare chest from the chill of the room. He was bleeding through his bandages already, Max saw. They would have to burn the sheets for poison too. Yet another scar for his father to carry. "Is there anything they can do for him?"

"We're working very hard, Max. Don't worry, we'll make sure he comes out of this." Dr. Bonham stood, easing Max with a warm hand on his shoulder. "It's funny, when we have tricky situations with dark magic like this, we usually tend to ask your father for help."

"Now he needs the help." Max met the doctor's eyes with a soft smile. He liked Dr. Bonham, there was something comforting about the way he talked. He supposed that was why he was such a good doctor. "Just... make sure he's safe."

"Is that an order?"

Max chuckled, the doctor pulling a wry grin from the young wizard. "Yes, that's an order."

"We'll do our very best." Dr. Bonham looked over his shoulder, out the door and down the hall. "I think you have some visitors."

Max peeked around the doorframe, his green eyes growing wide with surprise when he saw his visitors. "MUM!" He sprinted down the hall, dodging around gurneys and hospital personnel to run into his mother's arms at the end of the hall.

"Max! Oh, thank God..." Amelia fell to her knees and squeezed her son in a worried mother's embrace. He felt his mum's shoulders shake with sobs. Amelia had been a worried wreck since the attack on Curse's home when Arianna came to tell them the news. Max could feel her fear in how tight she hugged him, as if he would slip away again if she let go. "I love you so much, I was so worried..."

"I know mum, but I'm safe. Dad and Alex came and got me..." Max's voice was muffled by his mother's body as he rubbed circles on her back, trying to help his mum regain composure. It was situations like this, however, where one wondered if Amelia ever had composure to start with. Especially a five-months-pregnant Amelia. Finally she stood, Max still gripping her hand in his.

"Is he alive." Max's round green eyes fell on his aunt. He picked up the worry and fear in her, stronger than everyone else's. Max took Arianna's hand in his other one, squeezing it lightly. He noticed the diamond ring replaced on Arianna's finger, but didn't ask about it; it would be better not to bring up an argument with his mum. Now was not the time. Peter stood awkwardly to the side, but Max sent him a reassuring look. It was good he was here, especially if he wanted to be part of this family.

"He's alive," Siara answered for the gypsy. "Bad shoulder injury, but they're working on him right now."

Siara gripped Arianna by the shoulders and said something else, but Max was distracted by his mum. Tears were still running down her face, and it broke Max's heart to see her that way. "Please don't cry, mum, I'm fine I promise..." She hugged him again and Max nuzzled her back, trying not to let go of his mum and his aunt. His two mums, now if he guessed by the ring. Arianna might be his step-mum soon.

Together, the family headed down the hall to Curse's room. Dr. Bonham was gone, but his handiwork was showing in his father's newly changed bandages and some lounge chairs around the room for use to sit with Curse. The wizard himself was still unconscious, his bare, scarred chest rising and falling slowly with magically-induced sleep.

Amelia and Peter took chairs in the far corner of the room, though Max resumed his place next to Curse's bed. Amelia paled slightly at the sight of him. She had never seen him like this before; it had been years since they had been together, before Curse had been an auror. He had earned most of his scars in her absence, she had never seen the extent of his injuries.

"He fought the Dark Lady and won." Max said it simply, with a tone of admiration in his voice as he looked down at his sleeping parent. He was the greatest and most powerful wizard, his father. He would go to the ends of the earth to keep Max safe. There was no denying.

[Echo Ashaelyr]

"He certainly did. Your father's a hero." Echo put a hand on Max's shoulder and squeezed. She had arrived silently, none of them were aware she'd been standing in the back of the room for several minutes. The tall scarred woman wore a high-necked sweater with long sleeves. She had paid a price for finding Max, but she didn't want them to know. Except for Curse. She would need his help.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm not family," Echo said apologetically to those gathered, her eyes lingering on the two muggles staring at her strange face, the single golden eye, the dark burns around it. "But one of the doctors sent for me. I think I can help them treat Curse."

Echo didn't move to shake anyone's hand, but she inclined her head, introducing herself in her normal curt manner. "Echo Ashaelyr, demon hunter. Curse is my friend."

She was afraid to touch anyone, not knowing how the infection would affect them. But Curse was beyond worrying about that, so she stepped to the side of his bed before anyone could object, and then placed her normal hand over his heart, and then his head.

Using wandless magic, she cast a spell that allowed her to look at the wound from the inside, seeing the tracks of the dark magic which had torn through his shoulder, walls against healing, slowing the mending proces. It was very complex, and Echo knew they had a long way to go.

"Arianna, where is his wand? I need to see it."

[Alex Kameren]

Alex met the man’s eyes, automatically assessing him even though he was bone-weary. Something other than the past three days pulled at him, exhaustion spreading through his body like heavy fog. He fought it back, but the emptiness left by the anger and fear that had driven his search for Max was gone, leaving him no light in the darkness. After a long moment he finally relaxed his tense stance, nodding tersely at the doctor.

He didn’t know this man, but he was willing to trust him with his brother’s life. Something had been communicated between the men in their assessment, and Alex knew he could stand down his guard. Curse would be cared for.

His thoughts were becoming muddied as the doctor led him away. He looked around for Max but didn’t see him. Stumbling he turned awkwardly around in the corridor until he spotted his nephew following his father’s gurney. Satisfied for the moment, he turned back around to follow the doctor.

It was a short walk, but most of what the mediwizard said went straight over Alex’s head as he found he had to focus hard on walking in a straight line. Things were rather blurry around the edges and he saw spots. If he had been thinking as clearly as he normally did, he would have easily recognized the symptoms of the White Death. As it was, vaguely beyond the exhaustion he was puzzled.

"We're going to have to burn out your veins. Sorry, but it's going to hurt." He met Alex's eyes, not wasting time belittling the procedure. He knew the Kameren's well enough to know that they didn't suffer weakness.

"If you need anything, I'm Dr. Milton Bonham. Take off any clothing with his blood on it and pile it in the far corner to be incinerated later."

Alex found it easier to focus on the doctor’s words when he was standing still. He mumbled something that could be taken as consent and followed instructions, stripping to the skin and putting on the hospital gown that was provided. He found it too breezy in the back, but lacked the power or focus to transfigure it into something else. He lay down on his back and closed his eyes.

[Curse Kameren]

"Arianna, where is his wand? I need to see it."

"He doesn't have one." Max answered for his aunt, his round eyes glancing up at Echo. "He told me about it. Lost it in a duel when he was an auror years ago and never got a new one." Whatever it was Echo needed Curse's wand for, he hoped it wouldn't set her back too badly. There would be no finding it now, not after so much time had passed.

The bed between Echo and Max suddenly jolted as Curse's body tensed. "Where is my son?" Curse's words slurred as he fought his way back to consciousness, his emerald eyes opening wide and focussing on Echo's face above him. His face was gaunt, his perception delirious from the blood loss. Words were difficult for him. "Echo... where's - is he?"

"It's alright, dad. I'm right here." Max put a hand on Curse's good arm, smiling at his father as Curse turned his head to face him. Curse smiled back, relieved. He took Max's hand, holding it as firmly as he could in his wounded grip. There were heavy bandages on his right hand as well, as his curse had burned almost entirely through his skin.

"Are you safe? A-are you alright?"

Max nodded, smiling at his father's jubilance. He was injured, surely, but Max could see in his eyes how happy he was as well. That darkness that was in him when he fought Mosrael was gone, now he was back with his family safe and sound. "I'm fine, dad, and Aunt Ari and Mum and Peter are here too." Curse's eyes darted past Max for a moment, and his features warmed at the sight of Arianna.

His brow furrowed. He looked back at Max, concerned as something dawned on him. Someone was missing. "Alex?"

Max's face fell. "He's in the poison ward." Curse's head fell back and he closed his eyes: he knew very well what that meant. He knew exactly what poison had affected Alex. "He's going to be fine, though. They have that antidote you made, and that'll cure him. Right?" Curse nodded slowly, his chest rising and falling with deep breaths. He was trying to stay calm. He couldn't overexert himself or he would lose consciousness again.

"Max... I need you to go check on him for me." Curse squeezed Max's hand and pushed himself upward despite his ailing shoulder to kiss his son on the head. "Need you to look out for him for me." Max nodded, letting go of his dad's hand and heading for the door.

"Oi, oi - Where are you going?" Amelia stood, her brown eyes narrowing on her son as he turned to his mum. "I just lost you, I'm not doing it again."

"I'm going to check on Alex." Max's round emerald eyes stared back at his mum, his resolve just as unmoving as hers was. Coming from two stubborn parents, Max's resolve was one not to be trifled with. "You can come along if you want."

"Fine." Amelia left Arianna and Peter in the room, following closely on the heels of her son across the hospital. "Who's Alex?"

"Dad's brother. He's an auror."

"What's an auror?"

"They're like Scotland Yard, but magic." Max and his mum came to a stop in front of a hospital room with a wide window, allowing visitors to see in if the patient saw fit to pull the curtains. Being Alex, of course, the curtains were closed. Max knocked loudly on the window, calling his uncle's name. Amelia looked on, her arms crossed.

"Alex? Alex, are you alright in there?"

[Alex Kameren]

"Alex? Alex, are you alright in there?"

There was a clatter and thud as the gurney hit against the wall as Alex dismounted awkwardly. The staff apparently hadn’t seen fit to provide the poisoned with beds. Cots, even. Although his knees usually hung off the ends of cots, he would have done anything to not have to lay on the gurney. The thin cushion was cold and not at all cushiony. He felt as though fiery glass shards were traveling through his veins. He grimaced, padding tentatively across the cold floor in his bare feet. At least one nurse had taken pity and provided him sweatpants to go with the breezy hospital gown.

He knew he was drugged to high heaven, or he wouldn’t be up and about. He had the feeling most people wouldn’t anyway, but he was a bloody Kameren, and stubborn only scratched the surface.

He’d requested that the windows be shut, not wanting gawkers. He was gaunt and injured, and his hair was streaked with white. The antidote was still starting to work. He swept aside a section of curtain, grimacing at the texture of the cloth on his skin. He leaned his forehead and shoulder against the glass, a smirk tugging lightly at his lips. “I’m… heeerre.” The word was drawn out and slow, unwieldy. Tired green eyes found his nephew. As the pain meds dulled his senses his already slow, awkward speech came harder.

“You ok? How…s Curse?” He decided to go the simple route. It was best for the time being. He winced and shifted positions.