Broken bones, the fractures from injuries, are hard to recover from. Why do our internal fights feel like physical damages that hurt too much?
- Juveria Fatima

When Kami woke up, Lord Death, Kid, and Spirit were standing in a solemn line at the foot of her bed. Their funereal expressions amused her in spite of her pain and the drugs she was on. Or maybe she found them amusing because of the drugs. That was far more likely because none of them was a barrel of laughs at the best of times. And this was far from the best of anything.

"Well, if it isn't the Father, the Son, and the Unholy Spirit," she said dryly. Her deep, honeyed voice was raspy and lacked its usual strength, but it still sent Spirit's heart soaring. That voice was the first thing he'd had noticed about her, and one of the reasons he'd fallen so hard in love with its owner.

"Thank god," he exclaimed, dashing to her side, "How are you feeling? Do you want some water? Are you in pain?"

"Of course I'm in pain! Quit fussing!' she ordered. She tried to push him away, but her hand wouldn't move. Spirit latched on to the one that did work and held it against his cheek.

"I was so worried!" The Death Scythe sniffled, and Kami felt tears on her skin.

"Can you just not?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "You always were too emotional for your own good. Besides, it's not like I'm glad to see you or anything. Cheater."

"I never thought I'd hear you call me that again!" Spirit sniffled, kissing the knuckles of the clenched fist he held.

Stein came in, looking as tired as Kami felt. She bet he had no idea that his infant daughter had spit up on his shoulder.

"You're awake," he said with a sleepy but genuine smile. Kami remembered that smile having sharp, dangerous edges to it, but they'd been blunted by love, fatherhood and years of teaching. It was a disconcerting change.

"Awake and annoyed," she replied, nodding her head at Spirit, "Can you help a girl out?"

"Okay, Spirit," Stein told his friend, "Let go. I need to look at my patient."

Spirit held on tighter, "You can't expect me to leave her side. She could have died. My beautiful, darling wife..."

"EX-wife," Stein, Kami and Lord Death said together. Spirit was suitably cowed and retreated to the foot of the bed, while Stein busied himself with taking vitals.

The patient used her newly freed arm to gesture to the heavy bandages on her other one.

"Damage report. And please tell me this is my original arm."

Stein clucked his tongue and leaned over to shine a penlight in her eyes.

"I think you're still woozy," he told her.

Kami gave him the sarcastic look she wore so well, but her smile was affectionate.

"Don't forget, I know you, Frank. I'm lucky I still have the same head I started with."

"Marie made me give that kind of thing up," Stein said solemnly.

"Seriously, though," Kami said when they got done laughing together, "How bad is it?"

"Broken collarbone," he replied, making a note of her blood pressure. It was elevated, but that was normal when she was around Spirit, "Thirty-one stitches in your right arm, and another fifty-seven in your back. Broken humerus, fractured radius, two broken fingers. The breaks are all clean, though. I didn't have to use any pins or screws."

"Sorry about that. I know you must be disappointed."

"That's okay; I got to take your spleen out to make up for it. You also have three cracked ribs and a bruised kidney on the right side."

Kami touched the steri-strips on her forehead and cheek, "What about these? Did you stitch my these up?" she sounded worried for the first time, and Stein knew she was thinking about the prominent scar he'd created across his own face.

"Don't worry, Spirit insisted on bringing in a facial reconstruction specialist from Johns Hopkins to fix those gashes."

Kami glanced over at Spirit, "Maybe I'm glad to see you again after all."

Spirit lit up like a Christmas tree, and Lord Death planted an arm across his scythe's chest to prevent him from leaping at her again.

"Do you feel like you're up to talking about what happened?" Death asked. The potent mix of grief in his voice instantly snuffed out the light mood in the room.

Kami's stomach flipped. Fuck. She'd forgotten to ask about Sophie. Damn drugs were screwing up her priorities and her professionalism. The numbers on her heartbeat and blood pressure monitors soared upward, and Stein told her to calm down.

"I'm sorry I let you down," she said, chastened.

Her boss gave a minute shake of his head, "Don't worry about it. We always knew this was a possibility and, frankly, you prevented it longer than I expected."

Kami didn't like that at all and frowned furiously.

"You expected me to fail?" she asked.

Kid had seen that I-hate-losing look on Maka's face so many times. Had kissed it away, brushing back long hair that was nearly the same color as her mother's jaw-length waves. His hard-won composure faltered, and he glanced away, blinking rapidly to fight off tears, and hoping that no one noticed.

"You've been far more successful than I hoped," Lord Death replied, " Controlling a reaper, even one as weak as Sophie, is more than most humans are capable of. Others tried and failed, as you know. Managing the situation as long as you have says a lot about your talent and dedication, and I'm very grateful."

Shame replaced Kami's anger as he spoke. By the time her boss finished, she was staring down at her blanket, pleating it with nervous fingers.

"I could have controlled it a lot longer. I...I made a mistake. A really bad one, so don't praise me too much."

Death moved past Stein and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"I was writing an email to Maka. Telling her that I don't like how close she and Kid are becoming. I know more than most people how dangerous Reapers can be. I don't want her to get caught up in that. And I want Maka to have choices. I don't want her to miss out on personal and professional opportunities because of some teenage infatuation she has. I'm afraid she's going to limit herself because of their relationship."

She leaned past Lord Death to look at Kid, who stared back haughtily, "Sorry, Kiddo, but I want more for my daughter than to see her restricted to supporting your career. Anyone you're involved with is going to have to come second in the relationship. Maka is only seventeen. She hasn't had a chance to think about her own path yet but, according to her, you guys have already started talking about marriage."

"What?!" Spirit used his last reserves of energy to fuel outrage. He opened his mouth to release it, but Kami silenced him with a wave of her hand so she could continue, "Maka's got too much potential to stay in Death City playing society wife and maybe having a baby before she's twenty."

"You mean like you did?" Kid asked snidely. Fury did a neat job of pushing other emotions aside, and it was getting ready to take him over once again. He managed to keep his expression neutral, but beneath the dismissive facade, his eyes burned like coals. His body stiffened, and his fists came out of his pockets as he took a single, threatening step toward the bed. Lord Death knew his son was struggling to contain his temper and wondered how bad it was going to be if he lost it. The addition of Kami's criticism to his already critical stress level might be the tipping point that destroyed them all. He hurriedly changed the subject, hating himself for trying to quench his son's anger with misery.

"Enough of that for now," he said, "I need to know what happened with Sophie."