Hey guys, sorry this took so long, and I'm also sorry that this chapter is so slow.  I've finally got everything set for the action to start, so I should be able to make this more exciting by next chapter or the one after it.  Please don't give up on this story. 

                The reason this took so long is because I had a plot bunny or two jump into my head and not go away, so take a look for two other Evolution stories by me, "Crimson Cutie" and "Almost a Second Chance."  CC is finished, while "Almost a Second Chance" is just nicely started. 

                As well, I found a new story that every Rogue fan should read.  It's called "Save Me" and it's on my favourite's list.  In addition to that, I have become the beta-reader for say-chan, so please read her fics.

                I received a "potential Mary-Sue" alert on my last chapter and, while I can't say too much on the subject without giving away the rest of the story, I can guarantee you that Kurt will not ever end up going out with Dawn.  She's too much of a little sister type of character.

                Um...I guess you probably just want to read the story .

Disclaimer:  I can't believe that I got drugged and couldn't do my job last chapter!  Anyway, Taineyah does not own X-men, or any other Marvel character.  And forget about DC comics.  Taineyah only reads Marvel, although she occasionally watches (and likes) Smallville, which features a DC character.

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Chapter Four: Here Comes the Sun

                Kurt looked away in disgust as Dr. Heschler drew blood.  Kurt didn't like seeing blood, especially his own.  It belonged inside of him, not outside.  His wrist no longer hurt, and he admired the expertly tied splint.  The doctor, whose mutant ability was to pinpoint the exact location and nature of an injury and remove the pain caused by the injury, was still waiting for one of his orderlies to come in.  The orderly could heal broken bones in an instant, but he had other duties to attend to, to keep people from finding out that he was a mutant.

                The staff of this hospital was amazing.  There was an entire team of mutants working within the hospital, and normal humans never even noticed.  Mutants came from all over Germany to be treated, without anyone the wiser.  Of course, it helped that one of the nurses had the ability to hide anyone or anything in plain sight so that if she didn't want someone to find something, they couldn't.

                The only thing that could have helped the staff further that they didn't have was someone who could heal all diseases.  Between the bunch of them, they could instantly heal almost any injury, aside from major nerve damage, but they couldn't cure diseases except through traditional methods.

                Finally, Kurt felt the needle being withdrawn from his arm.  He looked back at Dr. Heschler, who smiled.

                "There.  As soon as my shift is over, I'll go analyse these samples."  He seemed to notice Kurt's worried glance.  "No one but myself will ever look at them.  I'm going to destroy them as soon as I'm through."

                Kurt heaved a sigh of relief, which was followed by a loud growl from his stomach.  He grinned sheepishly. 

                "I haven't eaten since breakfast," he said apologetically.

                "Well, if you follow the green arrows in the hallway, you'll get to the cafeteria.  The orderly is going to be an hour or so, so you have time to get lunch...of course, it's nearly suppertime."  Dr. Heschler put the samples into an unmarked case with an ice pack inside.  "Normally I'd have food brought to your room, but Hank asked me to keep you out of normal case files.  Apparently you're a unique individual, Herr Wagner."

                Kurt smiled.  The doctor was certainly kind and, aside from extraordinary interest with the abilities of Kurt's tail, he treated Kurt's "uniqueness" as a joke.  He hadn't even fliched when Kurt had turned off the image inducer.  The doctor carried the case of blood samples out of the room and, to the doctor's amusement, Kurt waved good-bye with his tail.

                Kurt examined his room, but as there was nothing interesting there, and he really was hungry, he left after a few minutes.  The arrows were out in the hallway, as promised, and they were impossible to miss.  He got to the cafeteria and ordered himself a tray of sausages, French fries and sauerkraut. 

                Even though it was cafeteria food, the sausages and sauerkraut were delicious.  You just can't get good sauerkraut in the States, he thought.  He ate his fill, which was, for him, a remarkably small amount of food.  He still wasn't feeling quite right.  The dizziness hadn't passed completely after his most recent fall, and he felt kind of isolated, like he was partially dreaming.

                He put his tray on top of a trash can and started wandering around the hospital.  He found a pay-phone and called the Institute to let them know how he was doing.  He couldn't use his cell-phone in case it caused a disturbance in some of the monitoring equipment.

                Rogue picked up the phone.  "Hello?" she said, her southern accent seeming a little heavier than usual.

                "Hello, Rogue."  Kurt heard her sigh.

                "Are ya all right?  Hank told us that you'd gotten hurt.  Ah was worried."

                "I'm okay.  I broke my wrist..."

                Rogue cut in.  "Oh no!  How long are ya gonna be in the cast?"

                "I von't be vearing a cast."  Kurt lowered his voice.  "Vun of the orderlies can heal broken bones almost instantly.  He's going to fix my wrist in about half an hour."

                "Ah'm so glad.  It'd kill ya ta have ta take it easy for more than a day!"  She laughed.  "Ya'd have ta cut back on yer cartwheels!"

                "I am an acrobat," Kurt said indignantly.  "I can do a cartvheel vith vun hand!"

                Rogue laughed again.  "Ah should get off this phone and go tell the others yer okay.  They're worried about ya!"

                Kurt started to say the word "good-bye," when Hank's voice came on the line. 

                "Rogue, do you mind if I speak to Kurt privately for a moment?"

                "Of course not.  Ah was just hangin' up anyway.  Bye Kurt.  I'll talk ta ya soon."

                "Good-bye, Rogue."  Kurt heard a click as she hung up the phone.

                "Kurt?"

                "Ja, Herr McCoy?"

                "Has Dr. Heschler said anything about your test results yet?"

                "Nein.  In order to keep anyvun else from seeing them, he is doing the tests vhen his shift is over.  He said that you didn't vant me to be in the regular case files."

                "I did.  I just thought that...well, I'm a little out of sync with the time in Germany, I guess.  I keep thinking that it's later than it is.  What time is it there?"

                "About noon.  I cannot see a clock."

                "Ah...I thought you were eight hours ahead of us, not six.  I'm not sure why."

                "It's all right.  I called you in the middle of the night earlier, didn't I?"

                "Yes, but don't worry about it."  Hank paused for a minute and Kurt heard crashing.  "The students woke up when the phone rang earlier and wouldn't go back to bed and I think that Evan just showered the kitchen in spikes.  I have to go survey the damage."

                Kurt smiled.  "Wiedersehen, Herr McCoy."

                "Good-bye Kurt."

                Kurt hang up slowly.  He still had twenty minutes to kill before the orderly came...  He decided to go watch TV on the set in his room.  He'd have all afternoon to explore the hospital while he was waiting for his test results.

                He couldn't find anything interesting on TV, so he channel-surfed until the orderly got there.

                "Hold out your wrist," the orderly said, with a slight Dutch accent to his German.

                Kurt did as he was told, and the orderly held his hand a few centimetres from Kurt's skin.  A white glow bathed Kurt's injured limb, so bright that Kurt couldn't look at it.  When the spots finally cleared from Kurt's vision, the orderly started untying the splint.

                "Sorry about that.  I forgot to give you sunglasses."

                Kurt laughed.  "It's okay.  My wrist feels as good as new."

                Kurt flexed it back and forth a few times.  It really was working perfectly.  There was no grating feeling of anything moving or any pain at all.

                "You still need to be careful with that wrist for about 24 hours.  The bone is mostly fixed, but it won't be completely healed until sometime tomorrow."  The orderly's face was kind.

                "Thank you very much," Kurt said.  "This is amazing."

                The orderly bowed his head, seemingly embarrassed.  "It is my gift, and it is my responsibility to use my gift to help others.  God gave me my gift so that I could help people."  The orderly looked Kurt straight in the eye.  "I hope you won't think me rude, but I have to go now.  I'm on my lunch break, and I still have to eat."

                "I'm not going to hold it against you."  Kurt smiled brightly.

                "Thank you."  The orderly hurried out, presumably heading to the cafeteria.

                Kurt had never been in a real hospital before, except on one or two occasions where he was visiting someone.  The whole building intrigued him, and he was out the door and wandering before the orderly had even rounded the corner.

                Kurt read the signs on a map on the wall and discovered that he was at the more isolated end of the children's ward.  He headed down to the more public end, looking at various toys that had been left in baskets hanging on the walls.  The kids here had it pretty good, if you didn't count their injuries and illnesses.  He'd always thought that a hospital would be a scarier, darker place than what it was.

                He was almost down into the main hallway that connected the children's ward to the rest of the hospital when he heard a cry from behind him.

                "Dämon!" a woman cried. 

                Someone was screaming about a demon?  Kurt looked down at his hands and, sure enough, his image inducer had cut out.  He glanced over his shoulder to see a couple of security guards running down the hall towards him.  Dropping to all fours, Kurt was off like a shot.

                He tried to keep his bad wrist from hitting the ground as he ran, which slowed him down.  He looked back as he turned a corner.  The guards were still chasing him.  One of the doors on the left side of the hall was open.  Praying that the room would be empty, Kurt ducked inside and closed the door. 

                It became instantly clear that the fates were working against him today as he heard a muffled voice from behind him.

                "Mein Gott!" a little girl hissed.

                Kurt whirled around and put his hands in the air, hoping that the girl would see that he wasn't trying to hurt her.  His tail stood on end, stiffly reflecting his fright at having been seen.

                "I'm not going to hurt..."  His voice trailed off in shock.

                The face peering over the edge of the blankets was familiar.  The hair was a little longer than he remembered it, the blue eyes a little duller and the face a little thinner.  Despite these changes, there was no mistaking this girl for anyone else in the world.  She'd been in too many of his dreams of late.

                "Morgen?" he said in astonishment.

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                Aside from the slowness, what did you think?  I just got over some serious writer's block that only affected this story, so I had to write now, or I would have just left this story to rot, like most of my other stories.

                And I'm really sorry about the poor quality of my writing at the moment.  It'll get better after I get used to my new job.  I'm working at a summer camp, and it was rainy today, and we had to keep 100+ kids in a very small area....Needless to say, they incited a riot that would have scared off most police officers.

Please R+R!