Chapter 16

Reiven: Nobody can!

Bloody Mary: Oh you're cruel... I like it. ^_^

Jay Kamiya: Tala's reactions are always good. :p

eyriess: Copy and paste your reviews? Why not let your mind go wild! Some of the stuff I come out with in reviews, I wonder why the author/ess's don't track me down and kill me. :p

phoenix the 1st: Bryan can be cute if he wants to be. ^_~

KuronekoHikage: Ooo. What do you have in mind? Tell me. :p

umi n secylia: I copy and paste these into html format from my full length completed fic, and some of the segments can be short, but no less important. Sorry.

russle: Is this quick enough for you? I update a lot. Too bad I can't write as fast as I update, though I just completed another fic today. Heh heh heh ^_^;;

Castles in the Sky: I guess you're just have to wait and see, won't you. :p

Curtis Zidane Ziraa: I'm Australian, so I'm not sure what's happening in Canada. As for the manga, I'm not sure what you mean by that question. Where you can buy them? Or just info on them and what happens? I buy the manga's from my local newsagency, so I know what happens. Up to Volume 11 and expected Volume 12 out soon.

Meet Aizik…

Disclaimer: See first page

The teen looked up as he heard the footsteps behind him, a small smile playing across his lips as he sat the tube back in the rack. "Been waiting for you."

Panas circled around him, Spencer and Ian taking up the other positions as the elder boy moved toward the nerd. "And whys that, Aizik?"

"Simple." Aizik pulled off the goggles, setting them on the bench as he switched off the Bunsen burner. "I got a look at the boys while I was mushing in Hayden's face, and knew that one of them would probably end up needing some med attention. Question is now, which one is it? The captain? Or Iceheart?"

Ian growled. "You sound like you want something."

"Oh no, there's nothing I need." Aizik smirked, grey eyes calculating. "I owe Iceheart anyway. I'd consider it paying my debt." He narrowed his eyes. "And judging by the way your eyes tighten every time I say it, Iceheart's the one who needs the attention."

Spencer watched him. Though he trusted Aizik, that didn't mean he had to like him. "Can you help?"

Aizik looked from one to the other, then nodded once. "I'll see what I can do. In the past, I've always noted that Bryan has a very unique genetic structure. He is, as they say, perfect, meaning he can withstand most diseases and poisons. If something's brought him down, then it's something serious indeed."

"Tala couldn't get him to wake this morning," Panas explained. "He was also running a fever, though he was fine the night before."

"Adrenaline is the purist of steroids," Aizik explained, crossing to the bookshelf at the far end of the room. "It can mask many a physical impairment, often numbing pain, exhaustion, and many other things. He may have felt fine, but was in fact not. No doubt he occurred some sort of injury during his sessions with Boris."

"Stab wound on the leg is the main one," Ian said. "He got that day one. It was how Boris was able to defeat him."

"Blood loss is a major possibility then. Starvation and malnutrition are another." Aizik found what he was looking for, pulling it from the shelf and tucking it under his arm, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Shift change time in the monitor room. It's about now they'll be breaking out a couple of drinks too, being Friday. I also heard rumour of a meeting for the guards, so now would be a good time to take me to wherever you've hidden them."

Panas narrowed his eyes, watching the younger, before straightening, moving toward the door. "Follow me."

~~~~*~~~~

Tala looked up as they entered the room, eyes taking them in and settling on Aizik for a moment, before looking back down at the teen sleeping in his arms. "He was awake a while ago. I was able to get him to eat something before he passed out again. He's almost too weak to move."

Aizik dropped his bag on the table, not even bothering to take in his surroundings before he made his way toward the bed. "Was he able to keep the food down?"

Tala nodded. "I gave him some fruit and some sugary foods, in case it's low blood sugar. He had the shakes."

"Has he had any meat?"

"The stew, meal one," Ian answered. "We haven't brought any down. Why? Do you think he needs it?"

"Red meat is a rich source of iron. Stretch him out on the bed, Tala. I'll see if I can work out what's wrong."

They watched in silence, answering any questions Aizik had, taking in the equipment the med had brought with him to test blood samples. After almost an hour, Aizik grunted, frowning. "I was right: blood loss is the major factor. And because he hasn't been given the correct foods to compensate and rebuild it, it's draining him.

"I also picked up faint traces of an infection which, my guess would be, comes from the stab wound. Washing the area with disinfectant should slow that. The other thing I noticed is an imbalance, the kind most often seen following an electrical shock of some kind."

Tala looked up sharply. "Would having a live wire dragged across your wet body be enough to cause it?"

Ian, Spencer and Panas gaped at him, Aizik taking it all in his stride. "That would do it, yes."

Ian blinked as Aizik went about mixing together a few things, flipping through his books. "Boris did what?"

Tala looked at him. "Boris did a lot of things. That was simply the latest in a long line. He wanted us to tell him something, but we didn't give him the answer he wanted, though what we did tell him was the truth."

"Sometimes its not the truth Boris wants," Panas said softly, "but rather the truth he fabricates for himself."

The others nodded their agreement, Aizik finishing his concoction and pouring it into a bottle, setting it aside.

"I don't have the proper resources to do anything about the imbalance," he said. "But I've made a little something that will rebuild Bryan's blood count as well as returning nourishment at a rate faster than any food. That in itself may help to ease the imbalance, and I suggest that you take some too, Tala. A teaspoon every two-to-three hours."

Tala nodded. "Got it."

Aizik frowned, eyes narrowing. "I'll be back down in two days. If there is no improvement by then, then there is nothing that I can do."

So this is Aizik, the local med kid and drug supplier.

Did you know: both Aizik and Panas are Russian names? Aizik is another form of Isaac, and Panas means 'immortal'.