"He'll be fine," the emergency room physician assured a worried Marion. "Just make sure he takes all of the antibiotic, and take him back to his regular doctor if he isn't better in a few days."

The normally docile Elijah had become fussy and ill-tempered, refusing to eat and crying for long periods of time at a spell. Marion had taken his temperature and discovered that he was burning up with fever, but as it was the weekend, his regular pediatrician's office had been closed, and she'd had to take him to the emergency room instead, where the not-quite-one-year-old had been diagnosed with an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics.

Marion looked tenderly into her tiny son's clear blue eyes. "I know it hurts, sweetie," she murmured. "The doctor gave you some medicine, and it's going to make you feel better really soon."

As they left the hospital, they walked past the lab, where a tall, pale, pimply-faced young man gazed intently at them. He'd done all the blood work on the Kuryakin child when he's first been seen and knew exactly what all the results were.

From the hospital, Marion took a cab the short distance to her modest apartment. As it was a nice, sunny day, she normally would have walked, but since Elijah felt so badly, she wanted to get him home as quickly as possible.

Entering the apartment, the slight blonde immediately gave her son a dose of the antibiotic followed by a bottle of milk. She rocked him to sleep and had just gotten him settled in his crib when the telephone rang. It was Illya.

"Hi! How did the fishing trip go?" she asked. Illya and Napoleon had gone fishing that morning, and as he's spent almost every moment of his free time for the past several weeks slaving over wedding preparations, Marion didn't begrudge her fiance a morning of relaxation with his former partner and best friend.

"Very well. Napoleon and I both caught more than enough to fry for a meal. How are you and our little one?"

"I had to take him to the emergency room. He was running a really high fever. They told me he has an ear infection and gave me antibiotics to give him."

"And how is he now?"

"I gave him his first dose and a bottle of milk, and he's asleep now."

"And how are you?"

"Fine. Just kind of tired. We were in the emergency room for a really long time."

"Get some rest. I will come over soon."

Marion took a nap and then freshened up in preparation for Illya's arrival. He came over later in the afternoon, bringing the fish, which he'd already cleaned and gutted.

"Hello, darling!" Marion gave him a quick hug and kiss.

"I want to see my son," he said.

Elijah had heard his father entering the apartment and awakened. When they entered the nursery, they saw that he was standing up and holding onto the bars of the crib.

"Sinochka!" Illya went to his young son and picked him up.

"Papa!" cried Elijah.

"Mama told me that you are not feeling well," Illya continued. "It will be all right. Papa has caught some nice fish, and when you are feeling better later, you can eat some for dinner this evening." He turned to Marion. "How about you, Mama? Do you feel all right?"

"I'm fine." Marion smiled bravely.

"Good. We shall all enjoy a nice evening together, then."

Kurt Holden sat in a chair beside the hospital bed of his ten-month-old son, Troy. Troy was suffering from acute renal failure and needed a kidney transplant as quickly as possible. The doctors hoped to find a compatible donor soon but, unknown to them, Kurt had an alternative source of help. As one of THRUSH's highest operatives, he had several undercover agents planted in the hospital, including one in the lab. He felt confident that a kidney would be found for his son very soon.