My Fair Dragon Lady

Me: Isis should have gone to Specsavers... Ain't that right Churchill?

Churchill: Oh yes!

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"Oh Gods what is this?" Isis sighed, holding up a piece of papyrus to her nose in a vague attempt to read it in the candlelight. She Karim and Shaada were attempting to get their necks above their paperwork. A task that was always left until last because it was just their favourite thing to do ever. Isis squinted - for someone who had the power of premontion, her sight was surprisingly bad.

"You should have gone to Specsavers."

Isis frowned and looked up at her comrade. "Karim that is strange and uncalled for. I can see it."

"And I'm Mr. Congeniality." he said as Shaada's head fell back in a laugh, "And anyway, the authoress thought it was a suitably entertaining quote."

Isis looked around the paper. "Fine, now, back to what we're supposed to be doing. And I can read it!!"

"What is it?" said Shaada, not looking up from his day's trial reports, instead extending his hand to pull a nearby candle closer.

"The Infirmary is requesting higher security on their storerooms." she said, reading the hieroglyphs, "I thought they were just moaning as usual, but apparently things have been going missing. Quite important and rare things apparently. They don't know who, but they think some of the younger students could be messing around. Anyway, what's been taken isn't exactly safe to mess around with. Almost all of it has been exclusively available to the Palace with restricted access. You can't get this stuff anywhere else in the country and only Pharaoh's Court and Higher Sorcerers Physicians and Magi can access it."

"What's been taken?"

"Acromantula venom, wolfsbane, some kyten, lyfelidae fur, myrm eggs, quite a list so they say."

"I'll ask my men if they know anything. It maybe just someone taking things and forgetting to sign them out of the storeroom." said Karim.

"It could just be the students, it wouldn't be the first time. I hope that's all it is. I've sent for a complete list of stolen items and what the physicians think they could be used for, but the list is so long it's impossible to tell what might or might not be being brewed."

"Majesties?" said a pretty voice politely, knocking briefly on the door before entering. They all looked up and put their quills down.

"Kisara?" said Isis, clasping her hands together, her bracelets clinking against the table, "What may we do for you?"

"Have any of you seen Seth?" she asked, wringing her hands in her skirts.

"Has he not proposed to you yet m'lady?" Shaada chuckled.

Kisara ignored him. "It's just, I have not seen him all evening, and he's not in his study."

Isis nodded. "Yes, I told him to go to bed, he was not feeling well." she replied.

She frowned respectfully. "I've looked, he's not in his room either."

Isis suddenly looked serious. "I'll bet he's not too." she said to herself. She turned to Karim, "Was he at Drill earlier?"

Karim shook his head. "I wondered where he was, but he sometimes skips it if he has too much work."

"And he is not in his study you say?" Shaada asked.

"No."

"The last time I saw him was just before I was going up to the Refractory for dinner. I told him to go to bed, but I don't think he can have done." said Isis, clasping her chin in thought, "The only other thing I can think of, have you checked the stables. I tell him to go to bed, then he goes and rides his horse. Actually that also wouldn't be the first time..."

Kisara's face lit up. "Of course! That'll be it."

Isis hit the palm of her hand in the table and snapped her fingers. "Glad we could help dear."

Kisara held her skirts clasped in her right hand as she nimbly jogged down to the stableyard, knowing that the servants would not be best pleased if they had to clean horse poo off her dress... again... Not immediately seeing Merytaten's head pop out over the door, she went straight to the tack room, finding that Merytaten's tack was hung up, cleaned, polished, and ready for use the next day. She walked over to Merytaten's door, where her hand clasped at the bolt. Merytaten was lying on the floor, her hind legs and neck tucked around away from Kisara.

She drew back the bolt, and slid around the door, taking slow, timid steps so as not to disturb the horse. There, curled up in a foetal-like ball position, lay the young prince. His cloak was pulled around his body, and it looked like Merytaten had pulled off her own blanket and spread it over him. It wasn't that cold, surely.

"Seth?" she said, kneeling down next to him, "Are you alright?" thinking he was sleeping, she brushed his fringe out of his eyes, brushing his skin as she did so.

"Wait a minute..."

His brow was boiling hot and glistening with sweat. His breathing irratic, irregular and with a double exhalation. His eyes were not peacefully closed, but quivering sometimes, like he was having a nightmare. Merytaten nudged her, once, and the again harder and whickered.

"Seth!" she said loudly, slapping him around the face, "Seth!!"

The response was minimal. Seth was barely receptive to her voice, or her slaps. His eyes fluttered and he groaned. "Where am I?" he breathed, instantly aware of how cold he felt he felt like his limbs were going numb because of it. "It's so cold..."

"You need a physician! I have to get you to a physician..." she said, putting his arm around her neck and helping to steady him and support his weight, which was practically impossible. He tried to stand, but his legs simply wouldn't support his weight. Together, they managed to get halfway up to the Palace again, before Seth slipped out of consciousness again. She felt his arm go limp and lowered him to the ground, propping him up in her arms.

"Help!! Somebody help me!!"

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Isis was the one who heard it first. She was as blind and deaf as a bat, meaning she couldn't really see well but could hear things that went on on the other side of the building. She dropped her quill, and hurried over to the window, before running to the rope hanging from the ceiling which rang the emergency bell in the Infirmary. Shaada and Karim pulled Seth off Kisara and got one of his arms around each of their shoulders.

"What happened?" Isis demanded as Kisara pulled herself up off the ground and hurried after Karim and Shaada.

"I don't know!" she cried, "I just found him there in the stable!!"

As the physicians responding to the bell call arrived, out of breath from having sprinted from the Infirmary, Kisara heard shouts of orders to put him on a stretcher and carry him back up to the Infirmary. Once up there, they manouvered the still unconscious High Priest onto a bed, while the other physicians prepared to take blood samples to test. They made a scratch in his arm and let a small amount of blood trickle out, before bandaging it tightly with honey-lined wraps and running of to their laboratories. One placed their hand on his forehead and took his pulse and respiration rate, before examining his glands and lymph nodes. As the physician checked the lymph node Seth's the left arm, he shuddered, and brought his hand sharply around, as if to knock the physician off, but it never quite reached it's destination. He started tossing, and then murmuring, as if he were in some kind of nightmare.

"No... No..." he mumbled, moving his arms and throwing his head from side to side, "I... I lo... I lo... Don't..."

From then on, his cries could not be distinguished as words, rather as gibberish, but they got louder, and he thrashed even more, alerting the other physicians.

"Something's hurting him!!" Kisara cried, tears beginning to stream.

"Something is killing him!!" said one of the senior physicians, as he tried and failed to restrain Seth, before turning and yelling, "Fetch a waking spell! Quickly! We can't administer anything unless he is awake!!"

The other physicians scurried until one found the papyrus and took it the the senior, who snatched it and unrolled it, picking up a potion vial and uncorking it.

"Troubled blood with sleep's unease,
remove the cause of this disease.
Sleep eternal never more,
and shift this source of illness borne

to this confinement, so none shall mourn."

Kisara, Isis, Karim and Shaada watched in awe as a seemingly dark purple smoke erupted from Seth's body and made it's way, seemingly unwillingly to the potion vial, where, once in, the senior physician sealed it. Seth twitched a bit, before his eyes opened wide and he sat up, coughing, and then realising the pain in his body, clasped his hand over his stomach and grimaced, bending over double and breathing hard.

"Quick!" said the physician, pouring another concoction into a drinking goblet, "Drink this, it will relieve the pain."

Silently, Seth took the goblet with shaking hands and put it to his mouth, gulping the liquid down. Once done, he was handed yet another.

"Now this, it is a remedy, it will slowly send you back to sleep, but it will start to boost your immune system and flush out your organs. Drink."

Seth obeyed, and drank the goblet of tonic. He didn't immediately feel drowsy, but he relaxed a little as the pain relieve took effect, and then he felt himself slip back into a peaceful sleep.

The physician, who's name was Irj, looked over his patient with knowing eyes and shook his head as if the whole thing was something he would expect as a result of children messing around.

"My lord?" asked Kisara, approaching the man, "What has happened to him?"

Irj put his fingers to his chin and turned to to girl. "From my experience, I can be sure that he's been poisoned." he said, "I won't know by what until his blood content has been analysed, but I'd put money on Nwkhjet. Nasty nasty stuff. Symptomless until a day after administration, and then this happens." he said, gesturing towards Seth, "It's a very elite poison, it takes half a moontide to brew. Could someone have poisoned his food, or drink last night?"

Isis thought for a moment. "Not the food, it was all checked and tested before preparation." she said, "But someone could have spiked his wine, it was quite heavy stuff, you wouldn't be able to taste anything through it."

"But who?" said Karim, "Only Epiktetos, his wife and Prince Ptolemy were sitting at that table."

"Epiktetos..."Isis seethed under her breath, "Just wait until I get my hands on him!!"

"You won't ever get that chance, I think, but the Greçian government has some serious explaining to do." said Shaada, "They've wanted war with us for ages, but they are at such a disadvantage with us they can't. Their economy will crash. Whereas ours won't. Because, if we had to send all our men to war, most of their jobs could be done by women. The Greçians' policy on women is that they are seen, not heard and definately not working. So war is out of the question. But poison our High Priest?"

"Or..." said Isis, "Poison our prince."

Everybody looked at her as if she were mad. "What?"

"Think about it..." she retaliated, "There is the Pharaoh, and there is Seth. Seth is currently the single heir to the Throne and shall be until the Pharaoh has children. That could be for sometime yet. If an assasination attempt is made on our Pharaoh, there is no one else to take the Throne. That would be the perfect time for an invasion. High Priests are used to assasination attempts, plenty of which have succeeded. But they've killed two birds with one stone. You realise that if Seth dies, we will have to pick up the slack. We will not have time to be at war, recruiting a replacement and doing his workload, we will have no Pharaoh and no heir. And if the Greçians are further up the Romans' backsides than we think, then gentlemen, we are in a lot of trouble."

Kisara began to cry again, not able to come to the terms with the fact that Seth was, whether the physicians or he could turn it around or not, dying. Isis put her arms around the weeping girl and cuddled her in a motherly fashion.

"But how do the Greçians know that Seth is a prince? It's been hushed up for years. We are the only people who know." said Shaada, folding his arms across his chest.

"It's likely that whoever did it acted on another's instructions." said Karim, "It could have been either of the men, I doubt they would trust a woman with a task like this. But think, if they do successfully conquer us, Ptolemy will be Pharaoh. And Epiktetos will surely have something to gain."

"I should wait until his blood analysis returns." said Irj wisely, "Then we shall know exactly what happened."

"Take care of him." said Isis.

"Will he be alright?" asked Kisara.

Irj took a deep breath. "I don't know." he said, "It depends. I have to tell you - currently, the chances are that he won't make it. But he won't go down without a fight m'lady. Miracles in cases like these are few and far between."

Tears streamed. Not just from Kisara. At this news, Isis promptly began to cry, and Karim and Shaada stood with their heads low, to disguise the fact that their eyes were also watering. Irj simply looked on. Being a senior physician, he had seen many deaths, and had managed to come to terms with it years ago, and still, he did not usually deal with patients like Seth. "Both Life and Death are unfair..." he mused, "He's so young..."

"My team will find out exactly what poisoned him." he finally announced, "Then we can administer an antidote. Until then, I think it best that you all sleep."

"We can't." said Isis through sniffs.

"You must." he replied, "I have known others in your current jobs descend into depression, even die of overwork." he looked to the bed, "He would not want that for you. He would not want you to worry about him. Go to bed."

"I..." Isis began, but Karim put his hand to her arm and silenced her, leading her off to her room, while Shaada gave Seth a hopeful glance, before retiring himself. All that remained was Kisara.

Irj saw. "I thought you would want to stay." he said.

Kisara nodded. "Please..."

Irj held up the palm of his hand. "You may. Be well m'lady."

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"M'lady??" Kisara scoffed to herself as Irj excused himself, clenching her fists as she sat down in the chair at Seth's bedside, "M'lady??" she looked at him, anger boiling, "I realise now..." she said, remembering Shaada's comment about Seth not having proposed to her yet, "I was above all this before. I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. But now I'm this I can't do anything else can I?"

She pulled back the bedsheets slightly, climbing into the bed beside him and cradling him softly. "Why can't I just go. I wanted to work in a flower-seller's. That was the original idea wasn't it? I could have just left before, you would never have seen me again." she whispered, kissing his hair and closing her eyes to sleep, "So why can't I just go?"

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Karim was the one who had gone to inform Akunadin. He had thought only appropriate that the old man knew. Knocking on the door of Akunadin's chambers, Karim wringed his hands impatiently. it didn't take long for the Priest to answer. It wasn't surprising that he was still up. The Millennium Eye glinted in the light of Karim's torch, in it's usual devious style.

"Master Akunadin," said Karim, trying to be professional, "It's about Seth."

"What is about Seth?"

"He is in the Infirmary..."

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Meanwhile, Shaada had gone to inform the Pharaoh. It was a longer trek up to the Pharaoh's chambers than it was to most, but Shaada's legs seemed to be working on automatic pilot. The guards at the doors bowed respectfully and let him through, ringing the bell to inform his Majesty that he had a visitor. A few slow minutes saw the teenage Pharaoh at the door, his tunic pulled carelessly over him. He hadn't bothered to put on anything else over his nightwear. Holding a candle, he squinted in the dim light at Shaada's face, which was far from it's normal self.

"My Pharaoh..." his Priest began, "Your... High Priest..." he was going to say 'cousin', but quickly stopped himself, as he realised they were in earshot of the guards, "Is very very ill and in the Infirmary."

Atem was awake like a flash. "What?" he demanded, making the guards flinch. His eyes grew steadily wider as Shaada told him the shortened version of the story. "Right." he said, careering down the hallway, towards the Infirmary."

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Akunadin was the one who got there first. He blew down the door like a hurricane, waking a few patients on the nearer wards. He almost ran to the end room, where he saw his son, pale and weak-looking, in the arms of his "project", who was sound asleep. Akunadin's magical senses tingled at the perception of the bind between them. But... Why wasn't the girl ill? She wasn't even remotely ill-looking. Maybe she didn't drink anymore from her goblet, or maybe the poison had settled at the bottom of the goblet and she hadn't received any. And why was Seth suddenly so ill when he was previously in perfect health?

He couldn't have...

No... He couldn't have done...

Starting to panic, he shouted. "Irj!!" waking more patients, "Irj!!"

"Master Akunadin?" replied the physician, jogging down the ward.

"What has caused this?" he demanded, gesturing to his son.

Irj gave a quizzical look. "I would say Nwkhjet. But I can't say for certain, but I am pretty sure." he said, watching how Akunadin's face paled itself, "Are you alright Master Akunadin?" he asked.

Akunadin said nothing. He took a few steps closer to the bed, and looked at Seth's face. He was wearing an uncomfortable grimace, as if he was concentrating hard. He gave small jerks and jerking inhalations every so often.

He was in a lot of pain.

Akunadin couldn't take it any longer. Practically pushing Irj over, he fled the Infirmary, and his nightmare that sprung from it. He didn't even care that the Pharaoh was coming in the opposite direction, rushing past with such a force that Atem nearly spun three-hundred-and-sixty degrees on the spot.

"What do you think you're doing??" Atem yelled, but his expression changed as Akunadin did not respond. Creasing his brow as he saw his uncle disappear, he pushed his tunic further up his shoulder - it was slightly too big - and continued on his pathway. He desperately wanted to shake Seth awake, to ask him if he was alright. Well, he clearly wasn't, and so he stopped himself and let his cousin sleep. Cousins... No one would ever know. They were about as similar as chalk and cheese, the only thing they shared was their family's lean physique, bone structure and figure, and even then, Seth was stronger and towered over him by over a foot. Still Atem felt a horrible twang in his heart. He had always had a big cousin, who was like a brother. He didn't know how to live without one, and yet here he was, having to be the strong one. Shaada had mentioned Nwkhjet. If that was true, then Seth could be dead by the morning. Then he saw Kisara, her arms around him, giving him the warmth he so desperately needed.

Poor Seth. He didn't deserve this. A good kick up the backside every now and then maybe, but not this. Atem had not overheard Isis' analysis, so he didn't understand quite why anyone would try to kill Seth. However he also suspected Epiktetos or Ptolomy. Was that what his throne was worth? Even so, he could not be sure that either of those men had poisoned Seth, and he had ordered the guards to search everyone for weapons and banned substances at the gates hadn't he? How had they even gotten anything into the Palace? Unless it was an insider...

"My Pharaoh," Irj began, bowing respectfully, "The blood analysis is complete."

"What did you find?" he asked.

"It was as I had thought. Nwkhjet. Nasty poison. However - and this you might find interesting - the concentration of it was obviously not accurately measured before administered."

"What does that mean?"

"The concentration of Nwkhjet in the High Priest's blood is too low. Now, Nwkhjet works like any other kind of healing substance, how much to administer depends on the body size. The dosage he was given was not enough for a man of his size..." he explained, referring to Seth's tall physique, "The amount he has been given is enough to kill a woman of average height, like this young lady for example." he gestured towards Kisara with the palm of his hand flat, "But what confuses me," he said, "is that surely someone with the knowledge of how to brew Nwkhjet, it is after all a highly complex thing to make, would also know the correct dosage for the target." Seeing that Atem's eyes were fraught with confusion, he continued, "This however is good news. My team is preparing to administer the antidote now, and the fact that the dosage is not what is should be, there is a chance that he will live."

Atem gave a sigh of relief. "Thank the Gods."

"I say I chance." he repeated, "And only if we have caught it in time. I have to say, the average chance of survival for Nwkhjet under these circumstances is about eleven percent." he saw Atem frown again, "But having said, it is surprising that he is in as good a condition as he is. He's a fighter. I think he is one of those eleven percent."

"Please save him." the Pharaoh said, his lip shaking slightly at the thought of burying his cousin.

Irj nodded. "I will do everything I can." he assured, "We are lucky." he said, "If he had received the correct dose, he would certainly now be dead."

Atem swallowed. "Thank you."

Irj took on a more fatherly tone. "You should rest, my Pharaoh. It has been a long day."

Atem supposed he was right. "If there is any change, for the better or worse, you will have me woken?"

"Immediately."

Irj bowed again as Atem turned to go, neither of them seeing however, the gasp that escaped Seth's lips. So quiet, so small, it was only audible to the owls and dogs inhabiting the Palace. And even then only if they listened hard enough. His mouth loosely formed the word, his breath giving it life.

"Kisara..."

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The next few minutes saw the physicians come with a bottle of antidote, and another awakening spell. Kisara stirred when she felt someone clasp at her shoulder gently. A female physician whispered to her that she would have to get up. She wiped her eyes and shifted out of the bed and into the neighbouring chair. She watched as Seth weakly drank the antidote with shaking hands, and lay back on the pillows, cradling his forehead tenderly. They refilled the goblet and he drank again, whilst a hand clasped at his churning stomach.

"Damn..." said Irj, who was taking Seth's temperature, "His body temperature has dropped too much. Fetch blankets!! Hot water!! Hot food!! NOW!!"

"I thought he was getting better..." said Kisara, watching on.

The female physician who had woken her earlier looked sorry for her, and left her post, putting her stethoscope around her neck. "It is an effect of the poison." she explained, "When the body's temperature drops to 30 degrees Celcius it begins to shut down. Giving him food will warm him up from the inside, and get his gut moving again. It is a godsend that you kept him warm - he might already be gone had you not. I must fetch some food - watch him and try and keep him awake." she said, nodding and giving Kisara a friendly pat on the arm.

Kisara pulled the chair as close as she could and held his ice-cold hand.

"You're still here..." he breathed, his voice practically non-existant.

"Of course I am." she replied, "Why would I not be?"

"Thank you..." he murmured. His heart was beating so much it hurt. Wincing, he pulled the hand which held his over his arm, over his chest, and laid her palm flat over his heart. She spred her fingers out over the blue silk of his tunic and let her hand absorb the lub-dubs erupting from his body. He closed his eyes as if in momentary bliss.

"Eleven percent..." he said, half-opening his eyes.

"Lord Irj thinks you'll be fine!" she protested.

"Eleven percent is eleven percent." he said grimly.

"I can't live without you..." she whispered, stroking his still soft hair.

He chuckled. "I didn't think it possible to be so ill and yet so elated." he said, "Had I not been able to feel you there..."

"Seth..."

"I have to tell you this..." he began, his eyes beginning to water, "Or otherwise I may never get the chance..."

Unable to take this emotion any longer, Kisara swept down and kissed him fully on the lips, putting every single thing she felt into it. The rush for both of them was wild and passionate. Something that Seth had buried deep within himself was now coming to the surface. He made no attempt to stop it, he knew he hadn't the strength. As he kissed her with all his human strength, his unhuman strength began to reveal itself. Kisara felt a surge of power break free of it's bounds, and through her closed eyelids, noticed that the candles around Seth's bed had all roared into life. Things on the bedside table began to vibrate and float of their surfaces, the water in the goblet began to leave it's confinement and hovered several feet in their air, changing shape and behaving like a bubble.

They broke away silently, and he pressed his right cheek to her left, shutting his eyes tightly. "I..." he stammered, somehow finding the strength to put his arm around her, "Oh Rê I think I..." he laughed weakly, "It feels so amazing..."

She held him tighter, gripping his body and mind and soul.

"I love you..." he panted into her ear, "deeply..." she clung to him tightly, "So very deeply..."

"I love you Seth..." she replied, looking around at the floating objects and candles, which were glowing different colours every few seconds. "Are you doing that?" she asked, astounded, "Your powers..."

He sighed. "I cannot control it." he said, "I haven't been able to do something like this in a long time."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Our powers come from our emotions." he said weakly, "And my emotions, were non-existant. I felt nothing. Not ever I found my way back here. I locked it up inside me. It was just the good emotions at first." he said, "I became cruel. Then even that faded. I simulated it when I had to, it was so second nature to me that it dimmed to something I did not feel, just did. I felt nothing. And with that, my powers dimmed too. Until there was nothing left of them. I partially locked up my emotions because I didn't want the magic. Magic was the reason my family was left in tatters. When I used to live in the South Quarter, people feared me because..."

"Because your powers were so strong." she finished his sentance.

"I saw it as a way of cheating yourself. I didn't want to be feared for something I couldn't help. Branded dangerous. I wanted to be mortal. Something I could never be. So, and because I didn't want to feel the pain from my family, I sealed it all away. Not by spell or curse, but by willpower. Later, when I attempted to do magic, I couldn't. My power had all but left me. And then I didn't feel the triumph at succeeding that I had expected. I felt empty. Nothing. In denial. People asked questions." he wet his lip, "I always thought it was better to pretend to have magic than admit that you didn't have it at all."

"Oh Seth, you had a gift, not a curse." she said, "An incredible gift."

"Maybe. And if I get through..."

"You will live." she ordered, "I cannot live without you."

Slowly the floating items began to stop and lay still again on their respective surfaces. Seth put a hand to his head and groaned in pain. "I hope so." he whispered, "It hurts..."

She tried to sooth him with her voice, but began to shake him lightly when she saw his eyes begin to fall. "No..." she said, like a mother scolding her child, "The physicians told me to keep you awake."

"I can't..." he murmured, "I can't..."

"No! You mustn't!!" she said, but his eyes were still struggling to stay open, "Seth... Stay awake..."

"So tired..."

"Don't!!"

But it was no use. Seth's eyes fell closed, and the physician entering with blankets, seemingly in slow-motion, broke into a run down the ward.

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"No!!" Kisara yelled, "Seth!! Seth wake up!!"

Irj ran up to the bed and grabbed the High Priest by the shoulders, shaking him violently, making his beautiful blue eyes flutter open and his consciousness extend enough to down another goblet of some medicine mixed with hot soup. Kisara grabbed a hot wet cloth from a nearby bowl and began to mop his face down with it, desperately trying to restore his body heat. She worked over his neck, shoulders and arms as the physicians piled blankets on, one holding their fingers to his pulse, making sure his heart was still beating, another retaking his temperature - no higher. Kisara prayed that it was only the cold of the night that was keeping him so cold, and prayed even harder as she saw the Sun begin to rise through the open window.

The physician with her fingers on Seth's wrist, blinked, and pressed her fingers a little harder. The pulse was weak, but she could feel it just. She pressed harder. Seemingly confused, she the checked the jugular artery on Seth's neck, before cursing violently.

"Shit..." she murmured, before shouting "No pulse!!"

Irj put his fingers to the artery too, before placing his hands flat over Seth's chest. "Blow into his mouth when I tell you!" he bellowed.