You actually thought I was going to kill off Bernard?!? *tsk**tsk* Let's get on to the chapter, shall we? The song at the end of the chapter belongs to Avril Lavigne.

~*~*~

"Cordelia."

The girls stopped skating as Curtis approached the edge of the pond. The taller girl skated over, stopping on the edge. "Yes, Curtis?"

The elf sighed. There would be plenty of difficulty in relaying the distressing news to her - she was a wonderful girl who was a great asset to the Research and Development department. He took a deep breath and began . . .

"There was an accident at the Chemistry Lab. Bernard was there when it happened."

~*~*~

Cordelia's heart stopped when Curtis told her that her brother had been in an accident. "Is he okay? What's happened? Was it that explosion?"

"Bernard was moved to the Intensive Care Unit of the Medical Wing. If he makes it through the night, he will be all right. He was really lucky - one of the elves in the Chem Lab was able to pull him out. Isidore the overseer, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky . . ."

~FLASHBACK~

The Head Elf could feel the heat in the room burning his skin - and he knew that the flames were going to draw ever closer. The smoke was thick and choking. This was it - Santa would need to find a new Head Elf.

*Bernard!*

He could hear his name being called faintly over the roar of the flames. Figuring it to be just his imagination, he brushed it off. The only way that he knew he wasn't imagining things was the event of his wrist being gripped. His body slid across the floor and out of the door (after he was bumped against the door frame). His savior was Adam, one of the younger elves who worked in the Chemistry Lab. He, along with a couple of his friends, pulled him to safety.

Bernard could already see the Elf Fire Squad rushing towards the flame-engulfed room. He knew that they responded quickly to any and all fire calls, but it seemed like it had *just* happened.

*Get him moved to ICU for observation. If he gets through the night, he's going to be all right.*

The last person he remembered seeing was Curtis, looking onto him as he was being carried away to the Intensive Care Unit of the Medical Unit.

~END FLASHBACK~

" . . . Isidore was too close to the chemicals and died almost instantly."

The figure skater was speechless with relief. "My brother is all right?"

"He's under observation in the ICU. If he pulls through the night without any problems then he will be all right."

"Can you take me to him?"

"You'll want to get out of those skates, but I'll try to get you in."

Not wasting a split second, Cordelia launched herself up onto the snow and headed over to her things. Abby and Judy, who had also heard the same conversation followed their friend's actions. They all had their skates quickly off and were hurrying up to the workshop which, from there, they could get to the Medical Wing of Santa's Workshop.

~*~*~

Curtis, Abby, Cordelia, and Judy got into Bernard's medical room without any trouble. Inside they saw how bad the fire had hurt him. Yes, he had chemical burns and his clothes were slightly charred (not to mention his skin was blackened a bit) but aside from that the outside injuries didn't look too bad.

"He was lucky," his sister heard Curtis say to the two female elves. "Adam went back in to get him."

Judy looked over to Bernard and up to Cordelia. "I'm going to go get us some cocoa," she said. "I think we all can use a cup right now." With that, she left the room and returned a few minutes later with four large, hot, delicious cups of cocoa. After she distributed them, Abby looked to the other two elves.

"Come on," she said. "I think we'd better go take a walk."

Judy caught onto what she was trying to say. "Why?" Curtis asked. The girls looked over towards Cordelia and motioned their heads in the direction of the door. He nodded when he finally understood what was going on.

"Take as long as you need, Cordelia," Curtis said before he left with Abby and Judy.

As the door shut behind them, she could hear the beeps of the machines monitoring her unconscious brother's vital signs. Take as long as you need. Yes, she would do just that . . . she wouldn't leave his side until he awoke.

It's a damn cold night

Trying to figure out this life

Won't you take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are but I

I'm with you . . .