Mr. Romulus hisses at the voice. "Whatever Remus. How'd you know I said anything, anyhow?"

A huge man I've never seen before with great bearing saunters into the room. "I didn't. You're just that predictable, Icky." The man named Remus smirks the must infuriating smirk I've ever seen at Mr. Romulus. Once he looks at Miss Kizz, though, his whole demeanor softens, and he actually looks. . .likeable.

"How are you doing my swan?"

Miss Kizz suddenly acts very coy. "Remus stop it."

Remus swiftly moves over to her. He goes down on his knees (I'm surprised. . .his pants look REALLY expensive) and he leans forward until him and Miss Kizz are nose to nose.

"And what will you do if I don't stop, my lovely swan?"

Miss Kizz's eyes are hooded now. "You know what exactly I'll do." Miss Kizz and her mate start kissing right then and there.

I start feeling awkward the longer they kiss. To distract myself I look up at Mr. Romulus. I just about bust a gut at what I see.

Mr. Romulus clearly doesn't like what he's seeing. He's mocking Miss Kizz and her mate by pantomiming their kiss. He then proceeds to to fake his own death by gun, rope, and strangulation.

For the life of me I can't stop laughing.

"Excuse me, but what is so funny?

I try my damn hardest to stop my laughter, but I can't stop.

"I-aha-s-s-or-ahaha-I-"

"What he means to say is that your guys' display of affection is so nauseating tht he had to either cry or laugh to keep him sane."

Another wave of laughter hits me. Mr. Romulus' caustic tone for some reason makes his comment all the more funny to me.

"I would ask you to shut up, Icky, but I know that's a futile action. You never seem to be able to shut up."

I successfully quiet down my laugh to chokes and chuckles.

"That's because I don't give a flying fuck Remus."

I hear a groan. I turn to see Miss Kizz shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Oh no. Not this again."

Mr. Remus stands up quickly to his full height. He looks so dominating that it feels like the room has shrunk. "Icky, what have I been saying about cussing in front of my mate?"

My laughter has died completely at his tone.

"You've said not to, but little Anne, and Ernest aren't here. So," he shrugs," I see no problem at all."

Mr. Remus takes a threatening step towards Mr. Romulus and the tension in the air instantly thickens. Before Mr. Remus can take another step Miss Kizz stops him.

"Remus." She says in a scolding tone. "You know he's only saying that to get a rise out of you."

Mr. Romlus snorts. "What ever gave you that idea?"

Miss Kizz quickly glares at Mr. Romulus. She mouths shut up before turning her attention back to Mr. Remus. "Remus, look at me." When he doesn't she rolls her eyes, and forcefully makes him look at her. "Calm down."

A buzzing sound scares the bejeezus out of me.

"Look. See? You have work to do. You don't have time to fight with Erik. Remember you make more money than him."

"Hey!"

"You wear better suits than him."

"I wear de-"

"And you don't teach snotty nose brats."

"Hey! My kids aren't-"Mr. Romulus pauses, looks at me, then back at Miss Kizz, "Well, some of my kids aren't snotty or brats!"

I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "What was that look for?"

Mr. Romulus looks and shrugs. "What look?"

"I saw that look you gave me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I glare at him. "Mr. Rom-"

"I see your students aren't immune to your annoyances either, I see."

I look over to see Mr. Remus texting something on his phone. When he's done, he puts his phone back into is pocket. He looks up at Mr. Romulus with a smirk. "I can say with all honesty that I pity them. I only have to see you once a month at the most." He motions his head at me. "These poor bastards have to deal with you everyday." He clucks his teeth while shaking his head. "I fee such pity for them."

"Yeah, at least my personality isn't categorize as a complete asshole 99.9% of the time."

Mr. Remus mockingly put his hand on his chest. "Your comment has hurt me soo much, Icky. I think you've been hanging around high schoolers too long. Your usually biting comebacks are falling a bit flat."

"Oh, shut up Remus."

With a smirk Mr. Remus flicks his wrist. "As you wish." He turns to Miss Kizz with a tender smile. "See you later my lovely swan."

They kiss.

I jump in surprise as the feeling of ants crawling up my skin surrounds my whole body. I don't know whether to itch myself or not. The longer they kiss the more intense the feeling gets. I start scratching my arms, but the feeling still won't go away.

I feel instant relief the moment they stop kissing.

I hear Miss Kizz mumble something then see Mr. Remus nodding.

"See you later." He quickly gets up, and with one final smirk at Mr. Romulus he leaves.

At his departure I feel different. The itching has stopped, but I still feel as if something is. . .missing.

"That was the grossest thing I've seen in a really long time," Mr. Romulus says in a huff.

"That's what you said last time," Miss Kizz giggles.

"Exactly my point. You two necking gives me nightmares."

Miss Kizz laughs. "I would ask why we're still friends, but I already know."

They look at each other. Something must've gone between them, because they start laughing.

I feel really left out, but I stay quiet. Jerry and me sometimes do the exact same thing. I get it.

I hiss as my arm start stinging. I look down to see I've scratched myself a cut.

"Where did that come from?"

I look up at Mr. Romulus and gulp. "Uh. . .it's nothing. Must've scratched myself by accident or something."

"It looks like you were intentionally scratching your arm than an accident."

Miss Kizz and Mr. Romulus lean in closer scrutinizing my arm more intensely. I try hiding my arm, but Miss Kizz stops me with surprising strength.

"Why were you scratching yourself? It looks like you had a bad trip and tried scratching your skin off."

I'm slightly insulted that she insinuated I'm a druggie. But I feel she means well so I forgive her. How I know that I'm not sure either it be my sixth sense or not.

"I only started scratching when you and your mate started-" I feel embarrassed, but my face doesn't feel on fire. "Uh. . .you know. . ." I look at my bed sheets and awkwardly start scratching my head.

"You mean you started scratching, because my mate and I started kissing?"

My face definitely feels hot now. "Yeah, but-"

"Is he for some reason allergic to displays of affection?"

"No."

My head shoots up, "NO!"

Miss Kizz jumps as if startled. "Oh, okay. Good. That would be even odd for a Hybrid."

"What?" Mr. Romulus and I say at the same time.

Miss Kizz rolls her eyes and gives Mr. Romulus a drawl look. "I'm not the only one who did their homework, Erik."

I look up at Mr. Romulus and have a feeling that we said what for totally different reasons.

She turns back to me. "What you have to get is that I'm a herbologist. Don't give me that look. Herbology is a serious science that helps all that practice it correctly."

I still don't give much credit to herbology. All the articles and discussions I've heard about call herbology a crock art that basically uses the theory of 'mind over matter' to 'fix' people.

"I see you're a Flurria(1), but hear me out. The two drinks I gave you were tonics to calm down both your Were and Vamp. Do you feel more yourself since taking them?"

I'm about to say no when I realize that I do feel better and that feel like I did before my meeting with my Vamp and Were.

"Yeah," I say in surprise.

She laughs. "You're definitely a Flurrai then. What I'm getting at is that when Hybrids were common place the herbologists of the time would give the Hybrid a certain tonic to help the Hybrid communicate, and generally help the main self to stay in control. Since they either didn't write it down or I haven't read the documents yet. I had no idea how to help you but certain clues." She grins sheepishly. "I kinda used a lot of guess wok. I am so glad that they actually worked."

"I'm glad too. I've been sick enough without getting sicker." I pause then ask shyly. "Sorry if I'm being rude but aren't herbologists, like, banned from working in hospitals?"

She sighs, and pouts a little while she puts her head on her hand. "They are in most parts of the country, but there are certain hospitals like this one that allow certified herbologists to do their work." She sighs once again before turning looking at me. "And technically you aren't sick."

"Technically you're smart, but no one points out your flaws now do they?"

Mr. Romulus and Miss Kizz have a glare off.

"Um. . .I-" That's all I get as an enormous wave of nausea hits me. I only have time to grab the yellow bucket that thankfully is near me before I empty out my stomach.

"Oh. . .that's not good."

"No, it's not. Damn. Knew it was too good to be true."

"Sorry Erik. I told you there was only, like, a thirty percent chance of it working."

"I know Kizz. I know."

How can I hear them over my retching? It irritates me. I'm heaving my guts out and they're talking as if I'm not? What the hell?

I feel a soft hand on my shoulder. The hand starts to slowly make circles on my back.

"There, there John. Everything will be okay."

I'm not sure if that's the greatest thing to say to a vomiting person, but I give her points for trying. Finally after what seems like forever my stomach is empty.

"God that was horrible."

"Yeah, it was really hard to look at as well."

Miss Kizz and I both death glare Mr. Romulus. He throws up his hands.

"What? It's the truth."

"Coming from you, Erik, the truth really sucks."

He looks offended. "Harsh Kizz. Harsh." He walks over to my bed and presses a button.

"What are you doing?" Miss Kizz asks in suspicion.

"I'm calling a nurse. They should check him just in case one of your tonics went wrong."

Miss Kizz opens her mouth, but her intercepts her. "And it probably wasn't a bad tonics. Mr. Bombero is probably too much of a wuss to handle it."

I glare at him, but I'm glad I'm getting help.

It only takes a moment for a nurse to come in. "Yes?"

"Hello, Shelly. If I remember correctly my mate told me to ring you when Mr. Bombero woke up." He makes a grand gesture at me. "As you can see he's awake."

The nurse stares at Mr. Romulus with a weird look before nodding "Of course, Mr. Romulus. Thank you for informing me."

Mr. Romulus salutes her. "No problem, my dear. Should me and Mrs. Dionysus leave?"

Again this Shelly stares at Mr. Romulus with a weird . . .flustered look. After a while she shakes her head. "Uh-umm. . .yes. Yes, can you two please leave for a few minutes?"

Mr. Romulus bows his head again. "As you wish, milady."

The nurse blushes, then coughs into her hand. "Stop that, Erik. Now will you two please leave? I have a patient I need to attend to."

Mr. Romulus chuckles. He quickly grabs Miss Kizz's arm and yanks her up.

"C'mon Kizz. You heard what the lady said. We need to skedaddle." With one more salute, he and a sputtering Miss Kizz are gone.

The nurse shakes her head with mirth. "That Erik Romulus is one strange one, don't you think?"

I vigorously nod my head. "Hell yes."

The nurse laughs pleasantly at my comment. "See you've spent your fair share with him as well. Ok, John I need you to lift up your smock." At my blush she laughs good-naturedly at me. "Don't worry. You're not the first or last teenage boy I've examined. I just need to re-wrap your bandages, and check your wounds."

I nod and slowly take my smock off.

"Good." She smiles a nice, pleasant, reassuring smile at me. "See? That wasn't so bad was it?"

I shake my head and wait for her orders.

"Okay, it'll help me tremendously if you can lean forward for me." I do as she says, but I hiss in pain as I move forward. "It's okay if you can't move. I've wrapped a wound with someone lying down. Not as fast as if you were sitting up, but I can do it."

I wave her off and straighten myself out with only a slight hiss. "Go ahead. I'll be okay.

She has a slightly doubtful expression on. "If you insist." She quickly grabs some medical gloves on and starts getting gauze and other medical stuff to rewrap my wounds.

I wait patiently even though my cut is still stinging.

"This won't take long, as long as everything is healing as it should."

"What if it's not healing as it should?"

"Well, we'd have to get the pus out and scrub it down, and then get you on some antibiotics to combat the infection. Now don't you worry it sounds a whole lot messier then it really is."

I just nod, and try not to think on her words.

"Alright John can you lift up your arms up for me? It doesn't have to be all the way up, but slightly over your shoulders would be fine."

I do as I'm told and lift my hands up of my head.

"Good. Now the easy part: removing the bindings."

I nod to acknowledge her comment, but stay quiet as she undresses me. When she starts to take my bandages off me where I can see my wounds I whistle in amazement.

"Wow. The little shit did all THAT?"

She jumps in surprise, but she tries to cover it up with a sigh and smile. "Oh, yes. Your Were is one violent being if I do say so myself."

I snort as I try picturing my Were being vicious. "Nah, he's just scared of my-" I stop as I remember that Dr. Romulus said they listed my Hybrid condition as something else. What the 'else' is I don't know. Making this conversation really awkward now.

"Afraid of what?"

I whack my brain trying to find a good enough excuse. Damnit. What did they put me under? What the fuck brain? THINK!

"John?"

I shake my head and smile at her to stall for time. "Oh, sorry I blanked for second."

My hopes that she'll drop the conversation are answered as she says cheerfully, "Oh, it's okay. I find that people with KAT's are a little mind wonderful after they meet their other half."

I jump as I remember Dr. Romulus' and my fight. "Oh, yeah! I have KAT'S!"

The nurse-Shelly was it?- gives me a strange look. "I wouldn't exactly be happy for that fact John."

I blush as I notice my slip up. "Uh- I'm not excited about that. I just. . .kind of just remembered right now-hst!"

"Oh sorry! I'll try being gentler next time!"

I wave her away again. "It's okay. Just doing your-hst!-job." I clench my teeth as she puts on goop that really stinks and stings on my wound.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll be done in just a moment."

I nod just trying not to think of the pain of her touching me. Finally after what feels like an eternity she starts wrap me up again.

"Your wound seems to be healing as it should. No pus or reddening of the skin so you should be fine until my next wound dressing." With a few more wraps and tugs she has me wrapped like a snug mummy.

"All right!" She gives me a smile with a clap with her hands. "Give me a moment to clean up and I check you over okay?"

I nod my head. I grab my smock and quickly put it back on.

"Whoa, there you Were. Slow down will you? You don't want me to redress your wounds so soon do you?"

I feel embarrassed. I lower my head and shake it.

"Oh, what am I saying? Of course you're so self-conscious!"

Now that gets me attention. I bring up my head and ask, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh," she waves me off with a knowing smile. "You don't have to play coy with me John. I –heck everyone in the hospitals- knows about you and your mate!" At my blush she giggles. "Oh, I see you remember retrieving your naked mate." She giggles then moves forward as if she's telling me a secret. "I remember when my Dom. acted all haughty, and, well, dominant when he was first courting me and let me tell you, if he would have done what your mate did I would've clawed his eyes out." She doesn't see my horrified face as she smiles at me with her eyes closed. "But I bet you gave him a deserving punishment, didn't you deary?"

I can't open my mouth at the horrifying embarrassment I feel.

"Oh, don't feel embarrassed now. All mates go through that phase." She pats my leg reassuringly and winks. "It'll pass soon."

When I see Jerome I swear I'm going to kill him!

"By the way, you and your mate-," she presses her stethoscope on my shoulder, "breathe in deeply then out." I do as she says. I wonder what she was going to say as she listens to my heart or whatever stethoscopes are used for. She does the same thing to my front, and then she takes my pressure. She also checks my eyes, ears, and throat. She ends the exam by asking me if I can see my Were. I think on it, and for a second I can see an outline, but other than that nothing. I sigh, and about to tell her no when I jump in surprise which makes her ask all sorts of questions that make me dizzy.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! It was just my Were, I swear!"

She stops and looks at me curiously. "Your Were made you. . .twitch?"

I feel my eyes twitch in annoyance. "Yes. He brushed up against my leg and surprised me."

She stares at me intensely making me want to squirm. "Hmm. . .that isn't ideal but. . .but at least he's communicating with you!" She gives me an encouraging smile before clapping me gently on the knee. "We'll just have to work on you visualizing him!" She quickly gets up, and starts writing stuff in my chart, I guess. "Hmm. . .seems like everything is fine. Well," she looks over her folder and winks at me. "Maybe not your Dom. situation, but again, it will pass." She shuts the folder and puts it at the end of my bed. "Well, nice seeing you alive and kicking John. Hopefully, one day you and your Were will finally fully communicate without him scratching you to all heck." She looks at her watch with a squeak. "Oh, I've got to go! Nice meeting you!" She is about to leave when she sniffs the air and makes a very disgusted face. "What is that foul smell?"

I blush and awkwardly nod toward the yellow bucket. "Sorry, it's my puke. Mrs. Dionysus gave me some tonics and Mr. Romulus gave me something for my pain and I don't think they mixed well together. "

Shelly the nurse looks down at the bucket with a frown then sighs. "Dr. White will not like hearing that a herbologist actually gave you something, but she will be pleased that the tonics didn't work." She looks at me and blandly smiles. "I saw Mrs. Dionysus make the tonics and I know what she puts in them is nothing but good, wholesome stuff so I know that the tonics aren't going to poison you. And for the medicine you took. . ." she frowns, and she shrugs. "You don't show any signs of anything negative so we'll just monitor you until I thi- Oh for goodness sake I'm coming!" I jump as she looks at her pager in annoyance. She rolls her eyes, but she smiles brightly. "Seems I have to go now. Hopefully next time we see each other you'll be checking out. Bye."

I watch as she leaves to become curious when I hear to 'umphs' from the doorway.

"Whoa! Easy there!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. Uh-is he- uh. . um. .is he-"

I sigh, but I feel a smile. I lay down comfortably, and yell, "Stop being an idiot Jerry. I'm awake."