A Birth day

"We're going to have to tell him," Angus said. "So, now that your decision is made, you need to slow down where Cris is concerned, just a wee bit. There is a proper order to these things. First things first. We have to take care of his immediate medical needs first. That's the top priority. So, let's get him back.

"We'll have to probably keep him at the duplex at least at first," Edward said, "because, as much as you want to be parents, you don't speak Romanian. We can get you two a Romanian language tutor who can put you through a crash course so you can learn to speak the language, starting with the words that are most likely for a seven year old to know. That's about seven thousand words. Unless you and Yulong want to hire a bilingual English and Romanian speaking nanny to help him integrate sooner while you're learning. That might be a possibility if Robert can put us onto someone he trusts.

"You're also going to need our help in explaining to him what the truth is to him, and he's going to need time to be angry and upset that we're taking him from everything he knows, and he's going to need to grieve," Angus said. "I'd rather him be angry and act out on us than on you and Yulong. I want him to take positively to you, so better than he takes his rage out on me than you. That'll give you maybe a few days to get some clothes for him, and to get him to give you some ideas about what he likes and doesn't like so you can pick toys for him and decorate a room for him. What do you think?"

Angus just looked at Edward for a moment, not saying a word. It seemed to Angus that everything that Angus had just said about slowing down had gone right in one ear and out the other with Jessie, and it made Angus really angry. For a brief moment, he wanted to slap the shit out of Jessie. They were plowing headlong into things faster than what a little boy could possibly even begin to comprehend.

And how was it that all of these people who didn't know Romanian a month or so ago, now they all knew Romanian? It wasn't a common language like Spanish or French. How was it that now everyone spoke it? Now all of a sudden Jack and Yulong both spoke it. It made no bloody sense to Angus.

And, had they forgotten that Robert already had his hands full at the moment with Sergio's son who was hemorrhaging? Sergio's son was in critical condition, and Robert had an obligation to save Sergio's son from dying before he could even begin to get to Cris.

"You need to slow down," Edward told Jessie with a slight bit more firmness. "Robert is trying to save Sergio's son from dying. Cris might need to wait just a little bit. Or did you forget?"

"We'll see you there," Angus said, standing up. He reached for Anise's hand and looked at Edward. Edward just nodded, and Angus and Anise ported out.

"Just a minute, Yulong," Robert said, still in sickbay and working with the injuries to Sergio's son. "I am not trying to be disrespectful or a damper to your good news about taking a child into your home. However, you are very fortunate that Sergio and Ana are not here right this minute because they would not be able to deal with your news, as wonderful as it seems to you. They're terrified and grief stricken that their own son may yet die. Take this other boy to your house for now if he's not critically injured and keep him there til I can get to him. I won't forget."

Edward had watched Angus leave with Anise, but he stayed to make sure that Jessie got back safely with Cris.

"Let's get home, shall we, Jessie?" Edward asked.

"He's still critical," Robert said to Yulong. "There are a lot of wounds. They're claw wounds, fortunately. I have looked as carefully as I know how and I don't see any bite marks. Still, I'll put him on a little wolfsbane as a preventative to keep him from turning at least this month. We'll have to watch him next month for certain. Jess has him on life support to keep him alive. "Over on the counter there, you'll see a jar of silver powder and a bottle of essence of dittany. Now, you must be absolutely precise. You're going to mix up more werewolf wound potion for me. Use three level measuring spoons full, and put them into the glass beaker. Add exactly an ounce and a half of the essence of dittany and stir gently, stir just one direction, not two, until the potion combines. If it's right, it'll get to look like a satiny green liquid. Show it to Jess to let her doublecheck it. She'll know straight away if its right. You'll end up with about 2 1/4 ounces of potion. Then you're going to put it on as many gauze surgical dressing pads as you can get out of it. When you get those, you can help me put them on the wounds to try to stop the bleeding. It won't replace the lost blood but if we get enough of them on the wounds, it'll eventually stop the bleeding."

Anise found herself standing in the middle of very busy, crowded street, with her hand still in Angus's.

"Where are we?" she asked him.

"Diagon Alley. Your first trip here," he said. "Are you up for some ice cream?" He pointed to a sign. Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. "I need a butterbeer and hot fudge sundae."

"What's butterbeer and what's hot fudge?" she asked.

"You truly are a deprived child," he laughed. "Come on. My treat."

"Well done," Robert said in a steady tone. "That will help. These wound here that I still am working on are wounds that I've treated repeatedly since they arrived, and they're not wanting to close. They're especially deep. If I don't get these closed, it's going to be all over for him. I've sent word to Nigel because he's been working one some new research on this silver and dittany potion to try to address these sorts of deep wounds. I'm hoping he's made some progress."

At that moment, Khaat came downstairs.

"Brian just told me about the boy," she told them. "Can I help?"

"Not right now," Robert told her. "I've got three that won't close. I still could lose him if they don't close because he's already lost so much blood."

"Do a transfer," she told him.

"No," Robert said unemotionally.

"Transfer them to me. I'm the logical person to take the wounds on..."

"I am not going to transfer them to you..." Robert began.

"Look. Look at me," she told him. She showed him the emerald green necklace. "The enchantment of this necklace prohibits me from dying from the werewolf curse."

"It keeps you from being changed to a werewolf. That's all...."

"We don't know that that's all it does. it does a lot of crazy little things. Besides. I can last a lot longer than this little boy can. It gives you a great deal more time if all you have to focus on are the last three. That frees you and Jess to bind up the ones that are closing. You can stabilize him. Nigel can tend me when he comes if you and Jess are still busy."

Robert didn't like those kinds of risky gambles. Her logic made sense but he hated the idea of risking her. He looked up at Jess. The fact was that Sergio's son was so critical, Robert knew Jess's life support was very likely all that was keeping him alive. And if Robert didn't get the bleeding stopped, even that wasn't going to hold the boy much longer.

"Jess--your opinion. It's your energies keeping him alive. Khaat's idea--she has a point. What do you think? Worth a try?" Robert asked her.

"Make more silver and dittany potion. Make a double batch. We may need it. Keep Jess's energies steady if you can," Robert said. "When I get the boy stabilized, we'll have to try to close these wounds on Khaat, but the boy comes first." He looked at Khaat. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," she told him, pulling a chair tight to the side of the bed and then sitting so Robert didn't have to reach very far. He laid his hand on the boy's worst wound and laid his other hand on Khaat's forehead. Then he closed his eyes using his energies to transfer the wound from the boy to Khaat. He felt the wound move from the boy, through him, and into her. He hated every moment of it. Then he transferred the second and the third wound.

Once the third wound transferred, he immediately felt the boy's vital signs bounce back quite a lot, honestly, because he was feeling Jess's energies pulling them back up. The boy didn't now need quite so many of Jess's energies. Khaat's energies had not started to slip much yet but she wasn't going to be able to bleed for hours either. Khaat didn't utter a syllable, but the necklace was making these wounds burn. She was used to that sensation. She'd had that before from some of James' attacks. The necklace absolutely detested werewolves, she knew.

"You okay?" Robert asked her.

"Fine, so far," she replied. "I'll tell you if I'm not."

"Jess? How are your energies? I felt them bounce back to you a bit when I transferred these 3 bad wounds from him. You still doing okay?" Robert asked her.