((Nurse Cricket usage approved by J.S. Pach))

It may have seemed like an odd request for Yin to ask Alexander not to accompany him, but he had needed it this way. On his own he had made his way to the Nurse's office. It was early when he left, the pumpkin sun not even trying to appear, but fairly warm still. Simultaneously he had wanted to run and drag his feet, needing to release his energy yet still hesitant about the procedure he was headed to. In the end he had settled into a brisk jog, his need to dispel energy far outweighing any qualms he might have.

He had known he was expected and he slipped into the office with a single perfunctory knock. By going as early as he had it had helped to avoid students coming in with issues. It was clear where he was meant to go, a long examination table with plenty of room around it. Still he had hesitated for a moment before moving towards the nurse instead. Quickly, before he could talk himself out of it, he had stepped forward to wrap his arms around his mother, giving her a hug that he needed more than she did and murmuring a quick thank you. He did not drag out the touch before he moved back and over to the table. Wings shifted away and shirt folded and settled on the floor he had pushed himself up onto the table, sitting on it and swinging his legs slowly, nervous energy humming in his veins.

The nurse had still seemed busy with something as centipedes started to accumulate around him. He let them crawl on him, careful not to squish (or eat) any of them. At her direction he laid back on the table, eyes fixed on the ceiling as his stomach worked to tie itself in knots. A hand on his arm had jerked him away from his own pessimistic thoughts and he knew that he was over thinking things. This was his mother. She was actually invested in making sure that he survived this ordeal. He turned to watch her, forcing himself to relax and simply waiting.

He had been patched up and fixed by the nurse more times than he wished to admit, but never had she needed to do anything all that extreme. Now he faced a procedure he could die from, something that the Nurse had not dealt with before. But if there was anyone he trusted it was she. And even death was more preferable than being used by the hunters. He could not put his mother or his bonded at risk, or the others that he cared about. Miss Danny. Miss Xiu-Ying. Senpai Mot. Frost. Jack. All of those he had come to care for over the years he had been at Amityville. So he nodded and held still, watching as his mother's second mouth came toward him before closing his eyes.

At first it just hurt. But he had dealt with pain before, countless injuries from spars and fights. The flesh wounds hurt but he gritted his teeth and bore it. Then the feeling changed, the pain moving to another area entirely. His core. He had known this was what would happen but it was one thing to know and another to feel it.

Pain escalated and he yelped. It hurt, worse than many of the injuries he had sustained over the years. Then something happened and he could not stifle his scream.

When he came to the Nurse was busy jotting something down on the other side of the room. She looked up almost immediately when he stirred, probably due to a centipede keeping watch on him, and soon he was being informed of what he had missed. The tag had been removed, creating a void in him. Always prepared the Nurse had patched the hole in his core, leaving him as well as could be expected. Lifting the sheet he was met with a green glow. Along his sternum was the wound itself, mostly healed but the skin still looking raw and green despite the light. There was an ache there, accompanied by an itch he knew better than to scratch.

Now that he was awake she administered a pain killer and he lay back waiting for it to take effect. She tucked him back under the sheet carefully, a hand, smoothing across his brow, and as the drugs set in, easing the ache in his chest his eyes drifted closed. There was no use in jumping up anyway, he would need to stay for observation. He could hear voices by the door, heard that he needed his rest and was not to be disturbed, and the next time he woke it was late afternoon.

This time he got up carefully, chest still sore, but he could move around well enough. It was hard to believe but he was tag free and still standing. Sure he was patched with foreign Fear and his chest glowed through his shirt (more than likely a temporary side effect according his mother), but he was alive. Alive and free.

He sat down to wait for his mother to appear and give him the final clearance to leave. A few moments passed of him just looking around the room and then he glanced down. Huh, his chest wound was glowing through his shirt. That was kind of neat actually. Well at least he was alive. Alive and free.