The Chief Medial Officer (CMO) may be a position that is meant to be temporary, but the guy was outstanding and yet, was let go in favor of someone who catered to money more. The guy they let go was a Blissian. A BLISSIAN for crying out loud!

"Blissians don't understand finances. They can't because they come from a culture that doesn't even have finances."

"Blissians are too idealist to understand that our world simply runs on money. Without it, the hospital folds and then everyone suffers."

"Blissian or not, he disregarded multiple warnings not to use certain equipment without proper clearance or certification."

These were a few of the excuses given when they let M'la go. He was a friend to everyone in the Hospital, but not everyone was his friend. It only took a half hour of silence for most of the staff to process it. Then they continued on with only an agitation about them for a few hours. Then it was as though nothing happened.

Some, however, were utterly disgusted. Two quit upon hearing the news. About a dozen made up their minds to quit, but stayed on because they had patients who needed them. One, however was already in the process of being given a "talk" about using proper methods. M'la never gave such talks. He never had to. But the new CMO, a hyena by the name of Dr. Hector Pain, was already on the job and finding people to "talk" to.

The deer he was speaking to, Dr. Neenalia Mothershed, had used some natural remedies rather than the standard drug called for. She KNEW it would work better because of her patient's specific dispositions. Among which was an allergy to the drug that nobody but Neenalia believed could be the case.

M'la hadn't left the building yet, though. It does take a few hours to pack one's things and leave... and then he sees this happening. He put his box down and began walking over.

Dr.Pain says, "Some patients claim to be allergic to drugs because they are scared. Your 'home remedy' is a clever placebo, but the patient will still need the drug. If he doesn't take it, the insurance won't cover his procedure. And that much is out of my hands.."

In reply to Timothius (msg # 1):

The deer woman sitting across the table wasn't specially thrilled by being called into this 'talk', and she made no attempts at hiding it. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her posture leaned back, with ears twitching nervous or annoyed, maybe both. Her nose wrinkled the more she heard his words.

"And the insurance won't pay when there's side effects because you make them sign some papers to avoid liability... these people are not crazy or 'hysteric', it's not their imagination, the trials for these things tend not to include minority groups into account and then incompatibilities happen. We both know this."

She was trying to explain but deep down she knew it was all for nothing; people like him were there to appease the pharmaceutical companies, he was giving her the scripted speech he's been taught to say to play everything by the book, to cover his back... but even if she guesses this is all a charade and any decission was made hours or days ago, and nothing she says will change a thing, she's not give him the luxury of remaining quiet.

Currently, as pissed as she was, she was unaware of M'la or anyone else's presence, and nervously kept fidgeting in her chair, almost like she was sitting on a pile of embers.

Outside the E.R. the ambulance pulls up and the doors are opened.  The gurney is slid out and wheeled toward the nearest available room.  The patient, a basketball sized dragon made of lava rock, is glowing a sickly green from between the cracks in his rocky skin.  "Uuugh."

As the orderlies prepare to transfer Pyrus to the operating table, the first responders warn, "Careful.  It weighs about twice as much as someone that size should."

"I'm a boy!" Pyrus objects.

"What's your name, young man?" the E.R. surgeon asks.

"Pyrus.  I'm rich.  Don't skimp."

"You must not be from around here, Pyrus.  We don't skimp on treatment depending on wealth.  Describe your symptoms."

"Huurt all over.  Especially.. tummy.  Hnnngh.  Cold.  Hard to... move.  My arms and... legs are... gunna fall off."

The nurse takes his temperature.  "Unbelievable.  Doctor?  His 'skin' is cold to the touch, but his internal temperature is... too high for our thermometer to measure.  We're going to need oven mits instead of surgical gloves!"

The doctor is flustered.  "Somebody look up this kid's species.  We have any xeonbiologists on shift?"

"Don't have... species" Pyrus groans, "I'm the... only one."

"Hoo boy.  We're gunna need someone who can think outside the box for this one.  I'll bet even M would be lost."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Wed 20 Apr 2022.

Being as M'la didn't yet enter the "talking to" area, he turned to hear about and see the dragon being brought in. He furrowed a brow. Then peaked inside where Neenalia and Hector were talking.

M'la says, "Excuse me, Dr.Pain. You have an anomaly. Small dragon." he measures with his hands to indicate the size of a human basketball. "Symptoms include cold on the outside, extremely hot on the inside. Pain all over, but concentrated on stomach. Limbs feel like they are falling off."

Dr.Pain had a raised brow at the mention of dragon. "Well there isn't much more to be said to Dr.Mothershed here, so take her and go deal with it."

M'la ear-perked at the idea Pain actually wanted him and Neena to try this. Even though technically, M'la was effectively excused from the hospital altogether. Maybe he still has some of Pain's respect? Whatever the reason, he didn't hesitate. "Right this way, Neenalia..." and headed to the dragon.

Once Neena follows M'la over to Pyrus, he immediately gets to asking all symptoms while putting gloves and mask on before checking with the nurse on Pyrus's vitals. All standard procedure, but that is all they have to go with for the time being. "Anyone look up his race?"

One doctor says, "Yes, Dr.M. He says he's the only one of his kind, but I did find a dragon race that is a close aproximation to him. Hard, rocky hide. Known as lava dragons. Sadly, that's all we have on 'em. And supposedly a myth. It would take a trip to Planet Garinooth to learn more."

M'la nods and looks to Pyrus. "Can you tell us what you last ate?"

Pain watches to make sure M'la and Neena are out of hearing range before walking to a nearby doctor. "Who brought the dragon in? I want to know the circumstances of how he was found."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:05, Thu 21 Apr 2022.

Her sour mood was palpable and likely close to saying or doing something she would regret; ever since the changes were announced she feared they would start pushing for the very same thing she disliked: corporate talk instead of what really matters in medicine. Sure, she knew that by working at a hospital she was likely gonna face this a lot more than in primary healthcare... but still made her blood boil a bit.

The puff on her cheek faded once M'la stepped in and spoke, the twitch on her ears increasing but it was a different type of twitch, one her colleagues may have seen before, when it's time for her to get to work and focus.

"Cold out, hot inside.. total body pain.." she began mumbling to herself and like she had a spring under her butt she stood up, the annoyance gone from her face.

"Sounds like we have a patient that needs our care" she still gave Dr.Pain a glance but her attention swiftly returned to M'la "on it bo- .." she was so used to saying 'boss'. Let's out a sigh and hurries.

She would put some gloves and a mask as well, giving the other doctor a nod when she hears what they have found so far and moving opposite to M'la she will begin inspecting Pyrus up close

"Hello buddy, this is Dr. M'la and i am Dr. Mothershed, we are going to need you to tell us of any allergies you may know about, and if there is any hospital or doctor that has treated you in the past so we can compare notes"

She spoke warmly and keeping her face in sight, making sure to be as expressive as possible with her eyes and ears to compensate for the facemask, wanting to be comforting. With some tools she'll try to see if she can gather a sample very very carefully not to hurt him nor burn herself. Something about that green hue felt suspicious but since she's dealing with an unknown case, she cant say for certain.

Pyrus looks embarrassed and reluctant to answer M's question about what he ate.

"Granite.  Perfectly n... normal alkali... fffeldspar granite.  A touch of...  quartz."

He makes no eye contact and even looks ashamed of himself.  Probably not telling the whole story.

To Mothershed he answers, "Shales... slates... hmgh.  mudstones... schists... and lllimestones.  They explode.  Inside me.  Never get... sssick, though."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Thu 21 Apr 2022.

"Police won't say," the doctor answers, "At least, that's what the first responders said.  But they also said they saw the cops cordoning off an area where they probably got the little guy from.  'Just following orders' and all that.  Smells of hush-hush stuff, so I told the guys they did the right thing to not ask too many questions."

M'la examines the inside of Pyrus's mouth shortly after the dragon speaks. But he's super brief so he and Neena can continue asking questions.

He puts a gentle hand on Pyrus's head and says, "We're doctors, Pyrus. We're here to help you get better. The more we know, the quicker we can do that. Even the smallest detail could help us figure out how to help you faster. So don't leave anything out, OK? I can tell you have a feeling what might have hurt you..."

He gets to trying to get things hooked up to Pyrus.

Meanwhile, Pain narrows his eyes. "Hmm..." He gets on a phone and steps aside to a quiet office. Nobody can hear what he's saying. Only that he is talking on the phone with a hand on his hip. He hangs up, pauses, and stares at the phone.

Pain exits the office, looking annoyed and heads to where Pyrus is being treated.

She took quick notes of what he tells her and will find a long sticker to write it down there as well as adding a very clear 'avoid in diet' in red marker; then folding it so she can make a bracelet out of it for him to wear, to make sure there wont be a mixup that could hurt him.

"What you say to us is confidential, you are our patient now and our only worry is to make sure you get better" She briefly pulled her mask to show a sweet smile, then continues inspecting Pyrus, her hands testing for stiffness on articulations, trying to get a feeling on what moves cause discomfort, if it's constant or it ramps up with certain actions or moves.

"If you want i can cover my ears, if you only wish to tell Dr. M'la" her thumbs were very methodical and gentle in their exploration; sure she's hoping she wont accidentally burn herself, but with anything thicker she might not get a proper feel. "But please we only want to help"

Normally, the feeling of looking into Pyrus' mouth would be like looking into the open end of a knife forge.  But today it's more like opening a kitchen oven.  There's not much in the way of anatomy to be seen.  All the flexible bits are coated in a black powdery sand made of obsidian.  No stiffness in the joints whatsoever.  In fact, waaay too much flexibility, and no sign of a skeleton underneath.  The limbs really do feel like they really could pop off with ease.  The belly region, though, is frigid to the touch and rock hard.  No sign of causing pain to the patient when touching the middle of the belly where it's coldest, but in the transition between where it's rock hard and has some give, touching there makes Pyrus cry.

"Ate.  Cursed.  Rock." the little dragon admits between his dry tears, "Dangerous.  In.  Wrong.  Hands."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:29, Fri 22 Apr 2022.

M'la stares, clearly in thought. The dragon's anatomy is... so extremely alien that forcing him to throw up probably isn't possible. Extraction would probably need to be done that very uncomfortable way. Going down the dragon's throat with tongs and pulling the stone out.

But before M'la can voice any of his thoughts, Dr. Pain enters the room and says, "Our hospital doesn't have the resources for this patient. He's going to need to be transferred. Do what you can for him, but he has 30 minutes to be out of this hospital."

M'la double-takes. "What?! 30 mi-.. why? Where are we transferring him?"

Dr.Pain says, "You're transferring him to not here. This comes from the top and is out of my hands. But can any of you honestly say you know how to help him at all using this hospital?"

M'la looks at Neenalia. "I was considering using tongs to reach in his throat physically and removing the stone. Do whatever you can, Neena, and I'll try to hold off the politics."

Pain says, "Stone?"

M'la says, "You said 30 minutes, right? Then give them 30 minutes. Meanwhile, are you here to operate or help the patient? No? Then let's you and I have a talk outside while the doctors do their work."

He opens the door for Pain and guides him out of the room.

She rubs her jaw with worry when she hears what he had to say and mentions the cursed rock. That sounded dire...

"Hm... if it's sharp inducing vomit could cut him on the way out.. perhaps even has some cuts already. We should be cautious" her words were directed towards the other doctors in the room more than Pyrus. And while she was thinking about ways to get the gastric pump to work on such a hot environment as his insides, Dr. Pain arrives to drop that bomb.

"WHAT?" she stood up with clenched teeth but thankfully M'la talked first, she would have been way less polite, which is probably not a good idea. The good doctor probably knew how heated Mothershed can get at times.

"Shit..." She huffs and paces a bit, there's no time for the pump to be jury rigged and run for the twenty minutes required... and the heat is bound to injure whoever uses the tongs...

Her ears twitch rapidly for a moment as she gets an idea, perhaps its a crazy idea, but she's full of caffeine and not a lot of time to work with.

"You" she pointed to the other doctor in the room, the one that was there when they arrived. "there's usually a firefighter first responder team around, i need you to find them and bring me gloves, run like your life depends on it" after which she lowers herself again to Pyrus height and gave him a reassuring pat on the head where she knows wont cause pain.

"Do you have gag reflex of any kind?" she would take the tongs and nervously prepare mentally for what she has to do, and really really hopes he can endure long enough for the doctor to return with a glove... she dreads the thought of doing this bare handed, but seems determined to do so if the situation gets worse.

Pyrus is super relieved that the doctors are living up to their word and keeping his secret safe.  Not that he expects any of their friends to have loose lips, but still.  The fewer who know, the better.

Briefly offended at being bossed around in his own operating room, at first the E.R. doc gives Dr. Mothershed an, "are you insane?" look.  But then his face hardens, and he gives a nod of respect before running off.  If she wants to literally risk her hide sticking her hand down the throat of a lava dragon, that's on her.  And hats off to someone willing to risk serious burns or loss of limb for a patient.

Pyrus shakes his head to her question, thinking back to the many times he's bit off more than he can chew, never once gagging.  The one thing he figures he'd gag on, a cursed stone tablet larger than his throat, he wishes he woulda.

The E.R. doc doesn't get far before he's met in the hall by a squad of firefighters.  "Oh what luck!  We've got a unique case that'll require your fireproof gloves."

"The little rock dragon?  Yeah the first responders told us the ETT melted in his mouth, so we kinda figured you'd need our gear."

"Right this way!"

He leads the lead guy into the E.R.

Firefighters enter the E.R. and one of them offers her a pair of firefighter's gloves. "Might need these if you're diving into the dragon's throat."

Dr.Vinder says, "Are those sterilized?"

Dr.Hamilton (The E.R. doc) says, "Our patient doesn't have biological anatomy. I don't think we need to worry about that at this point."

Meanwhile, Pain and M'la go to an office. M'la gives Pain a glass of water and they chat.

The clock is a menace. The "30 minute" time limit was given 5 minutes ago. It is already 25 minutes remaining.

Neenalia tucked her braid into her clothes to make sure it wont swing and accidentally catch fire, but at the same time she was focusing on things to do to keep herself from thinking about the risks of what she's going to do, not wanting fear to build up and make her doubt the choice she's made.

After preparing all the tools she may need she moved by Pyrus size again, one hand stroking his head while the other holds the tongs, occasionally glancing towards the clock; thankfully the doctor and the firefighters arrive before she feels forced to continue without protection, and a thankful sigh followed by a nervous chuckle escaped her lips.

"Oh thank goodness.. i could kiss you all right now" she reaches to take the gloves and put them on as quickly as possible.

"alright friend, open big and say 'A'..." nervously clicks the tongs and then starts diving in.

These nice people don't deserve to be involved in this, Pyrus is thinking, But it's already too late, so may as well take the gamble.

He nods first at Neenalia.  Then gulps down the pain to be as clear as he possibly can to each of the other heroes in the room, "Get out.  Now."

Pyrus is used to being able to sound intimidating, but this time his words come out sounding more like he's begging.  While he waits for the others to exit, refusing to open up for Neenalia till the room is clear, he tries to shift into a position that'll make her job less awkward aaand there goes his arm, falling off from the shoulder and landing on the floor with a clack.  Shouldn't that hurt more than it did?

"Ugh."

Dr.Hamilton puts two and two together.  Whatever it was this kid ate was probably radioactive.  VERY radioactive.  Or something just as bad.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:03, Mon 25 Apr 2022.

The firemen look at Neena. "We'll be right outside the door and listening. Yell if you need something."

They exit. Dr.Hamilton says, "I think the kid is going into some kind of shock."

He hands some clasps. Normally meant to keep a chest cavity open, but will work for keeping a mouth open. He applies it to the weakened dragon. "Sorry, kid. You can argue about us saving your life later when you aren't falling apart."

Since it's just the dragon's mouth, it is cool enough that the clamps won't be ruined.

M'la enters the room about then, putting a new pair of gloves on. He does a double-take at one of the dragon's limbs being no longer attached to the dragon and has a sad look on his face. He hurries over and begins readying some restraints, but has a pained expression looking at them. "If we restrain him, he'll yank his own limbs off.." he mutters. Then looks to Pyrus pleadingly. "Pyrus, please do your best not to move unless instructed to, OK?"

She winced when she saw the arm detach and fall to the floor, for a moment panicking but doing her best not to show signs of it outwards, as she didn't want to transmit the fear to her patient.

"Don't move and don't close your mouth no matter what..." she gives one final caress with her free hand to Pyrus head then starts sliding the tongs, and her arm, into the open mouth so she can catch the source of that sickly green light.

The experience was definitely unique and strange, unlike any other procedure she has had to do before, so everything from now on was pure improvisation, and going in blind and feeling around wasn't the best, specially if the heat starts to sink into her glove and cook (or worse) her arm. She hopes the rock will be sizeable enough to find it soon...

"p-please.. please stay with us..." she murmurs

Pyrus is satisfied that at least the firefighters left the room.  But he's taken off guard by the chest spreader being jammed in his mouth.

"Ngh!"

Instinctively he pushes to get the thing out of his mouth, but is far too weak to succeed.  And there's a good chance of losing an arm or a jaw that way.  With a glance at M'la and a sigh, Pyrus flops in surrender.  On the one hand, he wants to assure the nice people that he can just get a new arm.  On the other... this has actually never happened before, and he's not so sure.  What a nightmare!

The tongs meet resistance in a very different way than normal biology would.  It's like fishing around blindly for something solid inside a rubber ball full of tar.  There's a faint pulse like a heartbeat that occasionally nudges the glove and tongs once every couple seconds - extremely slow for a critter this size.  But the tongs don't have to search for long.  A fist sized hunk of something that feels like a rock wrapped in a ball of crushed potato chips is found right where the belly was coldest.  Grabbing it gives the distinct crunchy feeling you'd expect from grabbing something like that.  What isn't there is any spooky or foreboding sensation you might expect from touching a dark object of evil magic.  Tugging on it, though...

Pyrus experiences extreme pain.  He moans and thrashes with what little strength he has left - about the strength of a week old puppy.

M'la glances at the door expectantly. And in comes someone with a cart. M'la smiles and nods to him.

Neenalia's hands are fully protected. Those gloves are designed to withstand 1,000 degrees. A standard oven 400ish degrees is child's play for these gloves.

M'la is pulling out a bunch of granite rocks from the cart. He also has a selection of a few other kinds of rocks and even sand.

M'la caaaarefully picks up Pyrus's disembodied limb and gently sets it next to Pyrus's body in hopes that he can just... reattach without issue.

As the object moves, so too does the coloration on Pyrus. Soon, Neenalia can see a heart-shaped stone made of a polished stone so black it almost seems to suck light into itself.

Neenalia gulped, trying to remain focused and almost holding her breath. Her grip on the stone was firm but careful, making sure she doesn't tug on anything she shouldn't, specially worried since she saw the limb fall so she's specially mindful of any mistakes.

"There we go.. come on.. come on..." she rubs her chin against her shoulder to pull her facemask down, some sweat dripping from her nose and jaw. Thankfully the glove prevented her from getting burnt but she could still feel the warmth, like peeking in front of an oven.

Once the stone is finally out and held with the tongs, staring at the rock which feels like it's staring back menacingly. "w-was it this..?" she asks, her voice breaking and trembling a little big, ready to place it inside a vat of water or if the x-ray room is close enough, rush it there so it's contained better.. as soon as she gets confirmation she got the right thing.

((  Pyrus' usual glow between the joins is yellow & orange.  https://www.deviantart.com/dra...rs-Auction-404574563  ))

Dr.Hamilton had raided a storage bin for one of those lead aprons they used to make you wear for x-rays, and wraps it around the nasty black heart shaped rock.  "We should probably put this where it can't hurt anyone else."

Pyrus is all kinds of dizzy and woozy from that ordeal.  Unable to answer the question for the chest spreader left in his mouth, he stops struggling and his eyes close in relief.  Hamilton was too preoccupied with keeping the (probably) radioactive rock from killing everyone in the room to retrieve the spreader.  The socket where an arm used to be looks to be rapidly heating up, going from looking like solid black rock to red hot in just moments.

M'la goes to press the arm up against the heating arm socket, in hopes it will just... heal itself? While he holds that with one arm, he removes the mouth brace and says, "Are you still in pain?"

Most would consider a missing limb painful, but A) Nobody knows from this creature and what counts as normal. B) Pyrus isn't saying ow anymore and looks relieved. So M'la is just hoping this means the dragon will be OK.

He glances at Neenalia. "Also, I bought us some time. Dr.Pain won't be holding us to that 30 minute time limit. But we should do what we can to help things along as quickly as possible anyway, OK?"

"Oh crap, oh boy" she exclaims "yeah, good thinking Hamilton, ah.. alright taking this to the x-Ray room, you contact the authorities? This looks like it requires special waste disposal..  and uhm.. sorry for yelling earlier"

She offered an apologetic smile but rushes to place the stone, wrapped in the protective layer, inside the x-ray room, where she hopes the thick walls and dense layers of protection will contain the radiation.

Once she has washed her hands thoroughly following protocol dealing with potential radioactive or chemical hazards, she'll return to the room.

"How's.. how's our patient?" she looked for Pyrus, still concerned.

Pyrus nods.  "Yeah.  Hurts still, but doesn't feel like I'm dying anymore.  And I'm feeling better by the moment."

He watches the arm get pressed up against his socket, squints an eye concentrating on it, and it looks to fuse back to his shoulder.  "Eh I wouldn't worry so much about the other doctors so long as they're not in the know.  It's more my former colleagues I'd be worried about.  Or rather... for them."

Hamilton nods to Neenalia, "And I owe you a drink for what you just did."

He looks about ready to leave the room, but Pyrus raises his voice in a panic, "No authorities!  Imagine, for the sake of argument, that it took the smartest guy in the galaxy to realize that The Heart of Stone was just too dangerous to be trusted even in his own hands and he had it locked away with a lock that even he couldn't open lest he be tempted to ever use it.  That's how dangerous it is!  Your most untouchable protectors?  Poof.  Dead with a thought.  Guaranteed there'll be oceans of blood spilled over that blasted thing if anyone finds out about it!  Please!  Forget you ever saw it!  I'll be well enough to fly in no time, then I'll be outta your lives forever.  You're good people.  You really don't deserve this kinda trouble!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Fri 29 Apr 2022.