I own Raki the dingo, Emi-Li the echidna, and the quasi-anonymous people.
I don't own Remington or Komi-Ko.
Again, this is Alternate Universe, because it explores the notion that Komi-Ko and Remmy are siblings rather than the "dates" implied in the issues Komi appeared in.
A few days passed since Komi-Ko met her 'brother,' and his health had improved significantly.
He ate well enough on his own, and the doctors found no sign of allergies or other problems. Nor did he seem to be in much pain.
They finally agreed that it was time to disconnect the machines and send him home to his new family.
Komi-Ko and Raki watched carefully as one of the nurses came in. The nurse smiled and explained to Remington just what he was going to do.
"The IV," the nurse said, gesturing to the tubes next to him, "was giving you medicine to keep you from hurting. And keeping you fed until you could feed yourself again."
Remington nodded to indicate he understood.
"But you've grown so strong," the nurse continued, "and your..." he flicked his eyes to Komi-Ko, then back to Remington, "sister says you're not hurting, that we don't think you need it anymore." He shrugged. "And if you use it when you don't need it, that can cause problems, too. So I'm going to remove it, okay?"
Remington turned his head to look at Komi-Ko, where she watched the nurse calmly. He looked back at the nurse and nodded. "I'm ready." Maybe now he'd get to see what was under those bandages. Something had made him shy away from investigating before, but that only made him more nervous.
"Good lad," the nurse muttered. He undid the bandages on Remington's arm, watching the child's face the entire time. The boy seemed calm enough, but the nurse hadn't forgotten the problem when they'd brought him in.
The last bit of bandage was removed, exposing the needle underneath.
Remington tensed up, and the machines beeped out a rapid alarm.
—
The attending physician rushed in, saw the nurse attempting to calm the boy down, and called for a sedative.
Another nurse arrived with the syringe.
And chaos erupted.
Remington jerked away from them.
The physician ordered the two nurses to hold the child down.
The first nurse argued with the physician.
The machines beeped more rapidly.
Remington fought wildly.
"Stop it!" Komi-Ko yelled. "You're scaring him!"
"Someone get her out of here," the physician growled. He glared at Raki. "Take her and get out!"
The second nurse shoved Raki out of the way.
"But they're scaring him," Komi-Ko cried. "They're hurting him."
"Not for long," Raki growled. He began muttering under his breath and gesturing.
He could not do this before; the distraction could prove fatal within a collapsing building, and the spells required such a connection with the target that medical use was impractical.
But Remington's suffering, at present, was purely emotional, and manipulating those idiots should be simple enough. Raki could use the spells now.
"Quiet," he muttered, but the word slammed into them as if he'd shouted it. "Be still," he whispered, gesturing for them to back away.
His words, though so quiet they went unheard, carried with them the force of command. The physician and nurses found themselves moving away from the child.
"If we can't calm him down—" the physician began.
"But you aren't calming him," Raki replied. He gestured at the syringe. "You couldn't even get the IV on him without gassing him first. What makes you think waving that thing around will help?"
"I suppose you're the medical expert, now?" the physician spat. "I suppose you've spent years studying-"
"I don't need a degree to use my eyes," Raki whispered.
The dingo's calm voice chilled the nurses more than if he'd snarled.
But the physician was determined to wrest back control. He opened his mouth to argue.
Raki held up one hand to silence him, and pointed at the child, reinforcing the gesture with more magic.
The physician looked, and finally noticed where the child's attention was.
Remington's eyes darted from the syringe to the IV and back again.
His expression was one of pure terror.
The physician cursed under his breath, and put the syringe away.
One the syringe was out of sight, Remington's eyes returned to the IV and remained there. Only his terror, that kept him frozen to the spot, prevented him from ripping the needle out himself.
"Now, child," Raki said gently, "that's been in your arm for more than a week. You're not going to tell me that knowing it's there makes it more dangerous?"
"N—no, s—sir," Remington managed, and gulped.
"Smart lad," Raki said. He smiled. "The nurse told you it was giving you medicine, and feeding you. All this is true, but you don't need it anymore. He is taking it out. You want it out, don't you?"
Remington jerked his head in a motion that Raki interpreted as a nod. Raki gestured for the first nurse.
The nurse moved to Remington's side and laid his hands on the boy's arm.
Remington began to whimper.
Komi-Ko took Remington's other hand in both of hers. "It's okay," she whispered. "You're okay."
Remington felt something in his mind, something that made him turn his head away from the nurse and face Komi-Ko.
The nurse pulled at the tape holding the needle in place.
Remington gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.
After a moment, the nurse spoke up. "I could remove it easier," he said, "if you would try to relax."
Remington whimpered again, but managed to unclench his fist.
He felt the nurse pressing on his arm, then the pressure was gone. Then the pressure returned, more gently this time, almost brushing against his arm, then slightly more pressure.
But no pain. Remington kept his eyes shut tight as he waited for the pain.
Something rattled around him, then the room was quiet. But there was still no pain.
A woman chuckled. "You can open your eyes now," Emi-Li said.
"But he—" Remington began.
"Took it out and left," Raki replied.
Remington cracked one eye open to see Komi-Ko and Emi-Li smiling at him.
He opened the other eye and turned his head. A small bandage held a wad of cotton on his arm where the needle had been, but the rest was gone.
"Let's go home," Emi-Li said.
Remington looked at Komi-Ko again.
And he smiled. "Okay."
If you'll recall the remarks in Endings, New Beginnings, or Remmy's nightmare from the previous chapter, it should be evident why he's flipping out at the sight of a needle.
Hard to say whether I'll refer to it again (okay, it should come up at least once more when he's an adult).
It may not have ever come up in the comics, but then, we've never seen him in the middle of a medical procedure. And sources tell me that fear of needles is an underdiagnosed phobia that affects at least 10% of people...those that manage to seek medical treatment in spite of it, anyway.