Chapter 15

Promise?

"I´ll be quiet, if you agree to answer all my questions after this. Deal?"

Bunny breathed out slowly through his nose and narrowed his own eyes before replying.

"If it´ll make you shut up, then fine. Now take a deep breath, and exhale slowly."

He went back to looking through his stone, completely missing the mischievous smile on his patient's face.

. . . . . . . . . . 38 minutes later. . . . . . . . . .

"So, I don´t usually need to sleep during winter or summer since I´m busy making it snow somewhere. I do get really tired during spring and fall, though."

"When you sleep, do you use a blanket?"

"Yeah, it helps to keep me cool. Unless I´m sick or have a fever or something. Then I usually just crash in some snow, like I told you before."

"I see. And when do you get fevers?"

"Only when I´ve been somewhere hot for a long time, or get food poisoning."

"How long is a long time?"

"I don´t know. More than six hours I guess? I´ve flown over the Sahara before, and even spent the night there once or twice, but as long as I get out in time I´m fine."

"Do fires bother you?"

"Not much, unless I´m too close for a long time."

"Again Frost, how long, how close?"

"Two or three hours? And just close enough to feel hot. I´m fine if I´m sitting on the couches in the meeting room with the fire for as long as I want, but any closer and I´d have to cool off outside after a while."

Bunny took some notes and reviewed what he had written over the course of the appointment. "Anything else you can think of that I might need to know?"

Jack pondered this and shook his head. "Nope. But if I think of something, I´ll keep you posted."

Bunny hummed, his eyes still glued to his book. Jack turned his head to the other guardians with a bored look on his face.

Eventually, the doctor looked up. "Good. Now all I need is a blood sample, and we´re done."

Jack paled, eyes wide and he turned his head slowly back to the doctor. "I thought you said it wasn´t going to hurt!" he accused. Sandy chuckled in his chair silently.

"I said it probably wouldn´t. Look away if you need to, I´m sure Sandy or North would be happy to provide a distraction," said Bunny mechanically. He retrieved a vial and a needle with a tube, some swabs, and a tourniquet. Jack wiggled in his chair, and North began sweating.

"We could always do this before the next meeting, right?" asked Jack, a fake smile on his face as his icy eyes met stone green ones.

"Frost, this will take less than a minute if you cooperate. Would you like Sandy to knock you out?" asked the doctor as he organized his tools on the table.

Jack considered it for a few seconds.

". . . No, I´m good."

Sandy looked disappointed, and Bunny pulled the table closer.

"Alright then. Breathe normally, and look at those two," he said as he crouched down and tied the tourniquet. "Sandy, keep an eye on North as you talk to Frost, would you?" he asked after glancing at the large, pale Russian.

Sandy obliged, and started telling a story about spaceships and stars as Bunny found a vein.

Within forty seconds he was extracting the needle and pressing a cotton ball to the puncture.

"All done. Bend your arm—yes, like that." He placed the vial of blood in a container, lightly bandaged Jack´s arm and began cleaning up. "How do you feel? Nauseous? Dizzy?"

Jack shook his head, looking at his pale arm. "I´m good. Needles don´t bother me too much, it´s just blood that gets me sometimes."

The doctor carefully disposed of a few things in a nearby trash bin. "Thank goodness for that," he said, glancing pointedly at North. The Russian looked away and folded his arms. Sandy smiled.

Soon, Bunny had everything cleaned up and was scribbling in his book again.

"You´re planning on staying here now, yes?" he asked Jack.

North smiled proudly as the teenager nodded.

"Not all of the time, but North said I can hang out when I´m in the area."

Bunnymund hummed before turning to the Russian.

"Feed him when he´s here; he´s on the thin side-" he pointed at the guardian "—and you know I mean! Not that sugary crap you poison yourself with."

Jack looked put-out as North nodded seriously.

"Of course not!" he proclaimed. But he winked at Jack as the doctor turned to check his book one more time.

"Alright. We´re done," said Bunnymund, motioning towards the door with his head.

The other three stood up and headed for the door as he checked his pocket watch: 2:42. He followed them out and back to the meeting room where they were greeted by hot chocolate, eggnog, and for the first time, peppermint tea. The elves followed them back, posting themselves and their bandages as close to doctor as they could without getting reprimanded by North.

Once they were all seated, and taken various mugs, Jack leaned over casually toward Bunny.

"So, you said that I could ask you questions later, remember?"

Bunny looked up from stirring his tea; his good humor apparently returning.

"What do you want to know, Frost?"

Jack smiled and settled into his chair more comfortably. "Why do you use your ears instead of your hands to check for temperatures?"

Bunny smiled slightly. "It´s simple. The backs of my ears are very sensitive to temperatures and slight movements, much like your hands. My own hands can sense temperature and movement, but not half as well as a human´s," he said as he once again displayed his palm for Jack to see.

The velvety pads did indeed look very calloused, thick and tough.

"Anything else?" Bunny asked as he went back to stirring his mug of tea.

"Yeah. What´s with the enchanted rock?"

Sandy´s eyes lit up and he scooted closer to the conversation. Bunny took a sip of tea before answering.

"It´s not enchanted. It´s a rare kind of obsidian that I altered years ago. I call it an eyestone but I´m sure there´s a more appropriate name for it somewhere. There´s nothing magical about it, it´s just extremely efficient," he said as he bent down to retrieve said stone from his satchel.

"Here, take a look, but don´t drop it," he said, handing the stone to Jack. Sandy scooted closer, eyes wide with curiosity. North also looked intrigued, but that´s not surprising.

"I can´t see anything," said Jack after a minute of trying to look inside his left hand. Bunny smiled and Sandy released a breath he hadn´t known he had been holding.

"It takes practice. Try tapping it, and seal the light out with your hand as you hold it."

Jack obeyed, but with no result. Sandy was the next to eagerly try, but also to no avail.

"Like I said, it takes practice," repeated Bunnymund with a raised eyebrow and amusement written in his eyes. Sandy gave up with a frown and passed the stone to North, who was now leaning close to the others. Bunny glanced at the clock: 2:46.

Jack sent Sandy a mischievous look before turning back to his friend.

"You said you would answer all of my questions, right?" he asked casually.

Bunnymund now had a slight smirk on his furry face as he watched North tap the rock desperately. He nodded his head and hummed to the affirmative, raising his mug to take a drink.

A small smile pulled against Jack´s lips.

"Promise?" asked the teen in a joking tone.

Bunny nodded again, still not paying complete attention as he observed the Russian and began swallowing his tea. Sandy looked at his young friend with confused anticipation, then sudden understanding.

"Ok then. . . who´s Primula?"

Bunny choked, North nearly dropped the rock in surprise and Sandy was debating whether or not this was a good idea as Jack held back a chortle.

Now coughing violently, Bunny stood up and walked a few steps away, leaning forward and covering his mouth with one hand as the other pushed the mug toward the yeti holding the refreshment tray. The elves rushed to him, pulling their cargo along. North now held the rock securely with one hand as he looked from Jack and Sandy to Bunny. The three guardians exchanged glances, two unsure and one triumphant.

It took a while for Bunnymund to recover from his coughing fit. He had kept his back to the others as he gripped his own chest and tried to calm his breathing. His ears were turned back, laying against his neck.

The anticipation built steadily for all three of them as the seconds ticked on.

Bunny finally turned his head, clearing his throat repeatedly and patting his chest just below his neck. "Excuse me," is all he sputtered before pacing away in the direction of the nearest restroom. The elves were right on his heels, tearing frantically after him with their two-dozen bandages.

"I wonder what he will say," mused North to himself as the Pooka disappeared.

A satisfied grin stayed on Jack´s face as they waited for the doctor to return.

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You reviewers are the best!

Guest!: Thanks for your review! Your answer to why Bunny treats Jack differently was very helpful to me. But really, your input always is! Also, your story of getting that cap put on your teeth was TERRIFYING! Oh my, I would have cried! I have a story like that, but not nearly as good. When I got my braces off, my orthodontist let one of his college interns make the new mold of my teeth. Well, he put in way too much of that expanding paste and stuck it in my mouth, then promptly left for 15 minutes. What he didn´t know, was that the extra goo stuff had slid down my throat and was making a mold of my uvula, gagging me and making me feel like I was suffocating for fifteen minutes. When the guy finally came back and took it out, he was so impressed at the imprint and had the nerve to show it to me with an excited expression. He left right after seeing my own face wish him a painful death, and the orthodontist (the real one) came back to finish the appointment. Now, it wasn´t painful, (like yours) and he was just a college kid (not some middle-aged guy who should've known better), so I can forgive him. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and I look forward to hearing from you!

Go Outside: Hello! Thanks for your review! Bunny is all business, and it´s one of my favorite things about him. You mentioned North and Bunny disagreeing on medical treatments, and I´m very glad that you did. I haven't thought about North´s expertise Very much, but in the chapter On Five, 1, 2, 3, they do disagree about the stitches. Bunny mentions stitches and North says that he should just use superglue (which works!). I think I might go into that further later, so thanks for mentioning it. Also, I laughed at your comment of how Sandy just knocks people out to get his way. Hey thanks for your review, and I hope to hear from you again for this chapter!

What do you think?

1. What questions did you anticipate Jack asking?

2. How do you think Sandy has been feeling during the last two chapters?

3. What do you think will happen next? What will Bunny say? Any fun theories you'd like to share (about this chapter or the story in general)?

4. Do you think Jack is right to ask who Primula is?

5. Do you have any stories from your life about chocking on food?