A slender hand snapped off the radio irritably, cutting off the sound of roaring beasts. "More media sensationalism. You'd think they'd learn."

Doctor Rose "Thorny" Ashara, her pale blue skin ashen from a week of hard travel and precious little sleep, began to pace the length of of the room. Habit more than kindness caused her to step over and around the numerous ketts twining around her feet, ever optimistic that this time the short humanoid would make food appear. Lost in her own thoughts, she occasionally shot guilty glances at the stairs leading down to her medical offices as she traversed the common areas of the shared apartment.

The trip to Gier had not been the vacation she'd expected, and Thorny had not slept more than a couple of hours the entire coach ride home. Other than to remove the addition of "Pox" some clever vandal had left on it, she'd been unable to bring herself to touch her "The Doctor is Out" sign on the way inside. That had been days ago, and she still hadn't changed the sign. Even the comforts of home had been unable to restore her ability to sleep.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been staring unseeing out the window when the jangling of the bell interrupted her thoughts, muted by the closed doors to both her bedroom and her office downstairs. Acting on reflex more than conscious thought, she stopped in her office long enough to don a long white lab coat before opening the front door. "I'm sorry, I'm not seeing any pa..."

The young man on the stoop nearly crushed her as he stumbled forward, pinning her against the entryway wall. His eyes darted wildly, unseeing, his features ashen. The front of his clothes were in ruin, blood and other fluids seeping between fingers clasped over his swollen abdomen. "Help me.... you have to help me."

The young man's skin glistened, sweat running down his face and dripping from his chin. Blue and green streaks began to slowly creep across his chest, spreading from the wound behind his hands. Thorny, eyes wide with shock, squirmed away from him, leaving her lab coat behind and still pinned to the wall he slumped against. "Please help me." he pleaded between choking gasps.

The sounds of the city filtered through the open door. Roars, screams, crashes, the explosion of gunshot; a busy port was never truly quiet, but Jetersborough had never sounded like a war zone before. Silently raging against her exhaustion numbed mind, the doctor fell back on instincts honed by years of practice. Her features composed into a soothing smile, she placed a cautious hand on the man's arm. "Of course. Tell me what happened."

Throat swelling before her eyes, he doubled over, choking and gagging. His hands fell away from his stomach, revealing a jagged, swollen gash. A hand scrabbled against the wall, leaving behind smears of blood made glossy with venom. The discolouration and swelling began to spread faster as he reached blindly for her.

Her bedside smile faltered as the pieces came together. "A... a leupak? But... this isn't right." Thorny struggled to recall her time in hospitals in Chimre. Surely there had been implantation patients at some point? But there was too much venom. Something was going wrong. She flinched, backing away from the outreached hand as more sounds of chaos echoed through the streets outside.

Seemingly oblivious, the young man continued to stumble towards her, gasping and pleading. He toppled to his hands and knees, retching a clear, purplish fluid. He moaned, wiping his mouth with a shaking hand and struggled to push himself upright. "L...leupak. G...gone mad..." he retched again, slumping forward.

Doctor Ashara knelt over the stricken man. Using what little protection his ruined shirt offered, she shook him back into some semblance of consciousness. Murmuring a litany of encouragement, she led him, stumbling and crawling to her operating theatre. Suddenly grateful her ever squeamish housemate, Christopher Maroch, had installed a lock, she excused herself from the room with a stammered promise of help, bolting the door behind her.

Thorny barely had time to glance at the glistening purple trail on the floor before her patient's screams chased her up the stairs, the open front door forgotten entirely. Forgoing such niceties as knocking, she burst into in Christopher's room and scrambled onto the bed. When that didn't wake him, she began to tug cruelly at his ears. "Wake up, damn you. I need help." she growled as several ketts streaked into the room, heading for the dubious shelter under the bed.

The violet skinned elf rolled over grumpily, his red eyes luminescent in the dark room. "What the hell! Thorny, what's gotten into you?"

Almost as if to answer him, the screams from below reached a new pitch and a thundering crash shook the house. Christopher gaped as the sound of the chaos outside filtered through the heavy curtains over his windows. A second crash, this time accompanied by the sound of splintering wood, shook the house again. In an uncharacteristically protective gesture, he pulled his rattled friend towards him, enfolding her in muscular arms. "What is that?" he whispered.

"Not human. Not any more." She replied, too startled to protest being held. "I need you to go get help. Someone from the Silent Rose hospital." She rubbed her eyes, adrenalin and weariness making her shake. "I don't know what's happening out there, but they would know what to do."

Another shaking crash and more splintering wood interrupted his reply. "You're coming with me." He turned her to face him. "No arguments. I'm not leaving you here with that." Plaintive, terrified mewling came from under the bed as a screaming roar echoed through the house.

Thorny began to protest when the chaos was replaced with a deafening silence. They shivered in unison, staring at each other mutely as the splintering sounds from below began again. A dull crash, less violent than the previous ones, echoed through the walls, followed by more splintering wood and then silence. Even the ketts stopped their cries, as if afraid to disturb the sudden calm.

The silence continued for what seemed like an eternity, suddenly interrupted by a musket blast. The shouting outside began anew, more confused, less panicked than before. "Close your eyes and get me some pants, will you?" Christopher asked. "I'd like to go see what happened."

"Modest? At a time like this?" Thorny shook her head in amusement and turned to comply. The borrowed, adrenaline fuelled energy faded as she slid from the bed. Nerveless legs buckling, she tumbled to the floor with an exhausted cry.

Modesty all but forgotten, he lifted her gently back onto the bed, laying her against the pillows and stroking her hair in obvious concern. "Never mind. When was the last time you slept? Stay in here where it's dark. I'll make sure it's safe."

Any protests she might have made were cut off by an enormous yawn. Against her will and better judgement, Thorny gave in to sleep. Once her exhausted twitching faded to the stillness of deep sleep, Christopher slid from the bed. After dressing quickly, he tucked her in, fetched his swords from the sheaths hanging in the wardrobe, and headed downstairs to asses the damage.

---

The sun had set several hours ago and the streets were nearly empty. Christopher had found a trashed operating theatre, a shattered door, and several broken door frames in addition to the glistening trail of bloody venom through the hall. Thorny's patient seemed to have vanished, a few scraps of his clothing trapped in the splintered frame of the front door. He had meticulously cleaned up the venom as the sun had set, carefully wrapping the soaked cleaning cloths in thick rubber to be disposed of later. After disengaging the bell, he'd settled on the stoop to wait, occasionally flicking a bit of loose wood from the ruined door frame with the tip of a sword.

Grinma made her way carefully through the silent streets, a lantern swinging from one hand and a musket leaning against her shoulder. She stopped a cautious distance from the house, not fooled by her employer's casual posture. "Ya look tired, boss."

He smiled humourlessly at the silisk woman. "So do you. How was your day, Grinma?"

"Not too bad. The forge is fine. Didn't even need ta shoot anyone. Is everyone...?"

"She's sleeping. Exhausted, but unhurt. Catch."

Grinma caught the purse easily, startled by the heaviness of it. She gave Christopher a worried look. "Ya should do the same, boss. Ya don't look s'hot."

He gave her another humourless smile. "I need a new door. Find me a carpenter and pay them whatever it takes to get them here tonight. I'll sleep when my home is safe again." he growled.

The silisk woman considered her options a moment, tucking the purse into a deep pocket and shifting her gun. Finally, she gave the elf a broad grin. "Say boss, looks like somethin' happened ta your door. Why don't ya stand guard while I look for a carpenter. Shouldn't be too much trouble ta find one willin' ta do a little paid overtime."

The violet elf laughed in spite of himself. "Sounds like a splendid plan. See if you can find a locksmith while you're at it. Frightened people do stupid things, and I want to make it a little harder to break in."

Grinma nodded and headed out, her red scales almost black in the swinging lantern light. Resuming his former sprawl, Christopher settled in to watch and wait.