The drow's eyes could hold little more disinterest than they did at that moment. It was his ears, however, bearing the most punishment of all, desperately trying to convert the drunken ramblings of his patient into a true language.

"And then....I've had these....these cramps you see. Almost feels like the liver, y'know" Sometimes it goes up to my head and....you know, that thing when your head feels like it's been squeezed..."

"You mean a headache." Or migrane, depending on who we're talking about here.

"Yeah, that's it doc....so what?s up with me?"

"Hmm, that's a tough one....your breath's enough to chase off the Watch's finest and your clothing looks like you rammed right into a Badsider brewing factory. If I had to hazard a guess.....Ohhh, I'd say its alcohol poisoning. You know, because you're drunk." The drow shook his head and scribbled down in a pad, tearing it off and tossing it to the man. "Show that to the pharmacy counter. Mild painkiller that won't react violently with the rotgut in your....gut."

The man stumbled out of the exam room without a word. For Spider, it was literally a breath of fresh air. Soon he was back to behind the front desk, adding another checkmark to the case list. That was the trouble with this sort of department. No one knew where the list would start or where it would end. The only certainty was that it'd go on as long as your shift did.

"Dr. Savaris..." Alton Lewis, one of the recently appointed residents, strode up to Spider. "Ms. Stewart is currently in post-op, the appendix removal went off without a hitch."

"Mmm hmm....keep an eye on her, none of us are mind-readers when it comes to post-op complications....actually, I'm glad that you're here." Ebony fingers grabbed a clipboard and shoved it in the resident's arms. Lewis blinked. "What's this?"

"Room 214, mother with single infant. Possible whooping cough case, and you're the first doctor freed up and in line." Lewis rolled his eyes and strode off towards the exam rooms once more. The drow in the meanwhile poured himself a cup of steaming black brew, already 3 hours past its freshness date. That's when the emergency radio whooped and crackled from the front desk.

"1090, 1090 incident, broadcasting to all emergency squads. Orphanage at 47 Palisade Lane engulfed in flames. Numerous 2nd & 3rd degree burn injuries reported. Majority of victims in transport to Riverview, 34 count. Repeat, 34 patients en route to Riverview. Over."

The trembling cup of coffee in the drow's hand almost made that count 35. In a moment, the quiver in his throat was replaced by a boisterous tone that drill sergeants wish they could match. "All staff on-hand, I want any and all rooms prepped for burn treatment! Check our stocks, if there are any rooms lacking so much as a single skin graft, correct it! This is a Code Black incident, let's move!"

Fleet walked in through Riverview's front doors. His right arm had beeped and sent a signal to his mind that a Code Black had gone out asking for help. He didn't have ask what was going on. The ambulances overflowing the ER bay and the smell of charred flesh hit his nose when he was outside. Fire of some sort. When he had walked in, his nose caught the scent of children and put the two together.

"Dear Lupis." he said softly and immediately went to the front desk seeing Dr. Savaris giving orders.

"First year Resident, Fleetian Wolf reporting in Dr. Savaris. Point me in the right direction and I will help where I can."

She was finishing up her shift when the first announcement was broadcast over the PA. She had stopped at the nurse's station finishing up her reports.

"Code Black, Emergency Room. Code Black, Emergency Room."

She finished up the report she was working on and was about to head down to see if she could turn a hand at the very least when the unit secretary got her attention.

"Dr. Uth Dravon, Dr. Savaris needs you down in ER Stat."

She nodded to that and sighed, "Which means there are children involved. Nan, can you call over to Pediatrics?"

Neonatal wouldn't be the place for victims. She had to get the ball rolling for admissions, "Tell Elise that the Code Black has pediatric cases, she'll get the unit ready."

She made her way to the Emergency Room. The scene before her was chaos at best. She looked around and called over to the attending drow. "Spider, Let me scrub in and I'll get to work."

High heels and skirts would not do. She did keep serviceable shoes with her scrubs with times like these. Once she was done, she came over to Spider. The long hair was in the hair cover, gone was the professional skirt and blouse, replaced by functional scrubs.

"Where to begin?" She deferred to Spider as this was his domain.

"Assist Dr. Wolf over in Triage for the time being." Spider's eyes didn't avert from the sink his hands were suspended in. It wasn't anything out of disrespect, but there were only so many things he could concentrate on at once. "We're going to need a serious magic touch for this one. If we try relying on supplies alone we're going to get bogged down in rushing from one supply cabinet to another, or worse, running out." He swiftly ran a towel between his fingers. "We both know that you have far more experience with children than I do. I'm sure you'll choose the best course of action. Now, excuse me.."

Spider shoved the door open with a foot to keep his hands sterile, followed by another into the operating room bearing his patient. The assisting surgical technologist wheeled the last of the required trays of instruments next to the boy's bed. One of the nurses came over to Spider and spread a surgical gown over his body, followed by the head covering and mask. The gloves marked the completion of the dressing.

"Wheel the X-ray over here. I need to confirm something before we start any more prodding." The required tool was brought bedside, a machine with a robotic arm grasping a piece of hard plastic. The sheet was manipulated over the boy's chest and took a soft yellow glow, bringing the details under the skin onto the viewscreen.

Spider watched as his suspicions was confirmed. A portion of ribcage, the 2nd and 3rd anterior bones, had been broken off from the sternum. The two pieces were also very close to the heart, and from what was visible, shorter than the remaining vertebrae.

"Dammit....get the chest cleaned. I can't get a good look without opening him up..." It was the common bane of a surgeon. With all the medical equipment on hand, some things could only be seen by the naked eye, even if it meant taking off a pound of flesh or two.

The nurses made quick work of the boy's remaining rags. The only difficult parts were over the inflicted area, where the fabric had almost melted into the skin. "Possibly a piece of debris came down on him during the fire, or could have ran into something or someone..." Chaos he couldn't begin to imagine, and of a rare kind that replaced what was happening in the ER now.

"Suction at ready....this could get nasty." With the chest serialized, the drow fingered a scalpel and drew it down the boy's right chest, making two more incisions above and below the initial cut. The H-shaped pattern allowed the skin to butterfly out and reveal the truth for all to see. The dislodged vertebrae, one each poking into the right atrium and ventricle.

"I need his blood typed ASAP and proper reserves brought in here." Red eyes tilted up to the readout. His blood pressure had gradually risen since he was first brought in. It was more than likely that the bones were interfering with blood flow. "Keep his extremities exposed but no cold compressions. Don't want his BP screwed up more than it is already."

She had watched Dr Wolf go into one of the sterile rooms and shook her head. Instead she flagged down a nurse and ascertained where the worst of the injuries were.

Her heart clinched in her chest seeing the young child fighting for his life. She went right to work on him calling for items. She set a pain block on him preferring not to work with narcotics. Her ways were of magic and healing and that is exactly what she started to do.

A mental hand reached out to the Heartstone in the courtyard and opened herself up to the energies flowing there. The ones that needed skin grafts were prepped first for the delicate surgery.

Here she had unlimited energy, but she was not able to play god only to aid in the healing process and given her patient more of a fighting chance.

She had felt the transfer more than anything else. She was tied into the heart of the clinic so to speak. As she finished cleaning from the girl she was working on she made her way over to Fleet.

She waited until the nurse was finished with her update and had stepped away before speaking.

(vq) I can shoulder the worse cases if you need a hand." She spoke softly to fleet. She was certain he could feel what she was channeling if not see it. It would take all their skill to see this disaster through. It would also take a lot of team work on many levels.

"Let all hope we don't lose any children tonight. I don't think any of us hear can bear it."

She shook her head, "No, tonight is difficult enough." She already had the haunted look that she fought to quell. "Darius should be arriving soon to help with the emotion effects of this."

She was proud of her son and hoped his love could be found soon. Still the fact he would be here to lean a hand would take more weight off the staff.

She turned back to scrub in for the next patient. New gloves and clean hand for each case would cut down on infections tremendously. Still, seeing the small form burned and hurting crushed her to her core.

Fleet walked out of the room finishing his third grafting. Boy, girl, human, non human, all looked the same burnt. In pain, in fear and needing hope. He stripped of the gloves and noted no nurse waiting for him with a clip board. He walked for the desk and looked for the next case. A nurse was behind the desk with the sought for clip board. She held up a finger to Fleet.

"Dr. Wolf. You're not allowed another surgical case without a small break first. Hospital policy."

Fleet nodded and headed for the locker room to freshen some. He was trying to get the smell of burn flesh out of his nostrils and believed it would haunt him for some days to come. Stepping into the locker room he could feel the mood of Dr. Savaris and looked over to him. He didn't have to ask. He gave an acknowledging grunt to give Dr. Savaris some warning that he was in the room, and tried to leave him some privacy.

Stripping off soot stained and blood stained surgical gown, he sat on a couch and rubbed the bridge of his muzzle. He was looking older, and he was feeling it.

Fleet listened to Spider monologue for a moment, and his voice sounded tired and old coming from the couch.

"I have lost so many before on the battlefield due to complications, but losing a child who knew no violence is never easy. Whisper Paws Clinic has seen the death of a few mothers in childbearing and quite a few children died from the Lupanecrosis Virus that swept our Den. It is never easy..."

He looked over to the door and the nurse hearing what was being said. Fleet looked to Dr. Savaris and he nodded.

"I am more than awake enough to assist you Dr. Savaris. Have pulled worse shifts in the army." Fleet got up with a very slight whir of his mechanical arm and leg, headed for the door following Spider.

He knew this was draining his mother, perhaps dangerously so. He would do what he could to help ease their pain and their fears. He remembered when on of his wing-sibs was burned by a frightened firebird. The pain and fear was something that took him a while to pull out of.

With his mother's guidance, he was able to reach for the girl's hand and hold it as he linked in to her. As a projective empath, he was able to set the pain blocks in her mind far easier than his mother. As he worked the girl became more coherent. As the pain was stopped for now, it was easy to convince her mind to allow her to sleep and heal.

No magic...

He gently broke the connection and nodded to the nurse. The child was wheeled over to the OR. Darius then turned to his mother and enveloped the healer in an embrace.

She had felt the passing of the child and was holding on barely. "Mother, you need to take a break. I'll take over for you for a few."

Fleet began to scrub in to help Dr. Savaris. He was keeping tabs on the doctor subtly. He had heard by way of nurses and rumors that Spider had quite a good deal of medical expertise from the battlefield and other places as well, more than Fleet ever had, but Fleet knew that everyone was mortal.

"We all break from distress from time to time. How you mend yourself qualifies how long you have before you break again." Fleet said under his breath softly to no one in particular.

He was thinking back on his own recent breakdown he had had that kept him on medical leave from both clinics for several weeks. Another casual glance to Spider. Fleet had confidence that Dr. Savaris has been through worse and he focused on sterilization once again.

Fleet nodded to Spider and prepped the synthetic skin for use. Gently he assisted with cleaning the remaining soot from the child's face and followed Dr. Savaris' lead. He did have a question to ask as they worked on the girls burnt face.

"Dr. Savaris, do...do you have any family of your own?"

Fleet cocked his own head listening as well with his Lupinossai senses. "I believe you're right Dr. Savaris."

He watched the grafting proceed and helped hold another strip for Spider to adhere to the girls face.

"Nothing wrong with living in an orphanage. We have one on the top level of Whisper Paws Clinic. The only reason I asked tonight was that given the nature of most of our patients here at Riverview Clinic, family ties, or having your own family with children can make things a bit difficult."

Fleet gauged the vitals read out and nodded to himself that the girl was still stable. Another strip was readied as he thought to himself. Burnt flesh was going to haunt his memories now for a long time to come. He really wanted to go home and hug Lene and make sure she was safe. He flicked his focus from inside to the tasks at hand.