The Truth Is In The Blood... Or Is It?

It felt good being up and out of bed.

Though the others had wanted her to spend a little more time there
recuperating, Koda felt fine and was about to go crazy from the inactivity.
She needed to be up and working.

With C'tain still not up to par, and unable to fill in, she was needed to do
her duties and now that they had gotten her condition under control and
she'd had the best ...or maybe the worst sort of warning there was why now
to take it easier.. She felt she really needed to do what she could to
relieve the others.

Even if they were only allowing her to work half days now. Fine thing when
the chief medical officer was told when she could work. But they were only
looking out for her and now that she knew C'tain loved her some of the
stress of unknowing had eased.

Some of it. She still felt he was holding back. Afraid of things past and
not able to give to her the feelings she knew were simmering under the
surface of his emotions. 

For now she would give him time to deal with it on his own, and could only
pray he could work things out. He had to for she didn't know what she'd do
if he still decided to move on. Nothing had been said about that and she was
afraid to just assume he'd changed his mine and would stay.

Then there was still the question of Yasi. 

While she knew everything that could be done was being done to help the
girl, Koda still worried. Yasi was such a fragile thing and even though
she'd been showing signs of becoming stronger since joining with Star, Koda
knew the hurt little girl was still just under the surface of her emotion.

If only they'd let her take Ribbon and go see her. But no. she wasn't to
even try to teleport for the next few days. C'tain and Trey had both been
very adamant about that and gone as far as getting Waylene to have Aura make
it an order.

There was no way Ribbon would disobey the Queen.

It was getting late in the morning when Koda started to wonder what had
happened to Ailill. She should have been here sometime ago to begin her
lessons for the day. After taking the test Koda had made up on yesterdays
lessons. But the girl still hadn't arrived.

She was about to ask Ribbon to speak to the girls dragon when she felt her
dragons thoughts in her mind.

<My love something is very strange out here...> the purple told her and Koda
couldn't help but hear the confusion in the beasts mind link.

<<What is it love?>> she was siting up in her chair now, all attentions
focused on Ribbon's next words. The purple had never failed her yet so she
listened when Ribbon was worried. Like now.

She heard the roar seconds after Ribbon had spoke and smiled. A mating
flight. Nothing strange about that. 

<Ribbon, who's initiating a mating flight?> asked Koda.

<It's Shella, but none of the males are interested. Wait 
a minute. You better come and look, bring Waylene with you. Unless there is
something  wrong with my eyes there 
is definitely a metallic sheen to Shella!> 

But then Ribbon's next words had her up and out of her chair, snagging her
Dragon healing bag as she went.

<<Ask Aura to have Waylene meet me there!>>

"Koda wait!! What's your hurry?" C'tain called out as she was about to pass
him. She took a minute to fill him in on what Ribbon had told her.

"Have you ever heard anything like this happening before?" she asked and saw
him shake his head.

"But then I've only dealt with human healing. Ari always dealt with the
dragons around here before you came."

"Well I wish Ari was here this minute and could help maybe shed some like on
this," Koda sighed, and wondered not for the twentieth time where her old
friend had gone.

"Wait a minute," C'tain reached out and caught her arm when she had turned
to leave. "You said it was Shella out there?"

Koda Nodded her head wondering what he was thinking.

"Tina's dragon. That new girl with the strange stories to tell?"

Again Koda nodded her head and the meaning of his words began to sink in. 

"Oh... that's right," she muttered. "There was some strange things dealing
with the test I ran on them both when they'd first arrived here. Maybe this
has something to do with how things happened where they came from. Maybe I'd
better run a new set of test so see if I missed anything before. It's not
natural for male dragons to completely ignore a female shouting out a mating
challenge."

She saw the shadow come into his eyes and wished she hadn't used those
words. Some things were still a sore spot between them even now.

"Well I.. had better go check on her," Koda muttered sadly and this time
when she turned to leave, he didn't stop her.

Waylene was waiting for her when she finally arrived. The look on the
Warrenlady's face told Koda that she knew already what had happened but was
a stunned by the news as she had been herself.

"Have you any idea what's happening?" she asked the healer when she saw her.

"None at all except maybe it has to do with the fact that they come from
somewhere else," Koda shrugged and began taking things out of her bag. "I'm
going to take some blood samples and do a few test. Compare them to the ones
I took when they first arrived and see if that will tell me anything. But
other then that..." She shrugged again and set to work. 

"How was Yasi when you saw her?" Koda asked, looking back at the other woman
as she set up to retrieved the first of the needed samples. 

[Tag Kris ;) ]

Later Koda was dumbfounded and confused as she stared at the results of the
tests. They couldn't be right!!

It was nearly impossible! But she'd taken both the *now* and the *before*
samples of Shella's blood herself and knew she hadn't gotten them mixed up
with others somewhere along the way. 

But there the results were sitting right in front of her and no matter how
many times she looked at them they didn't change.

Shella was changing. Her whole being was changing and Koda wasn't sure how
it was happening. But it was. The test don't lie.

<<Ribbon love... would you please tell Aura to inform her rider that I have
the results of the test on Shella back and wish to come talk to her about
them.>>

A few minutes later Ribbon came back to her and told her the Warrenlady was
waiting for her in her apartment and could Koda please join her there.

The healer agreed and gathered up her papers making sure to keep them in the
right order then headed out to where Ribbon was waiting for her. A short
flight would be okay, it kept her from walking the distance it took to get
to Waylene's apartment. 

She arrived and found Marika waiting for her on the ledge and took her hand
as the little girl led her inside. 

"Mama said I could wait for you," she smiled up at the healer. 

"So how are you and Lemek doing now sweetie," Koda asked. she'd heard the
girl call Waylene mama and thought she knew, but wanted the little one to
tell her herself.

"We like it here. Our new mama and papa are really nice and take good care
of us," she bowed her head and peeked up at Koda before going on. "My
papa... he let us cook breakfast for him and mama yesterday and he said I
could cook for him anytime I wanted!"

Koda laughed. 

"Well maybe I'll just have to invite you over sometime and teach you how to
make something's you don't know how to make yet."

"Really! Truly?" the little girls eyes lit up. "Oh will you!! I like to cook."

"Then we'll make it a promise."

"Mama!! Guess what?" Marika ran to Waylene and climbed on the couch beside
her when the two had entered the room.

"I give up," Waylene grinned and then lifted her head and winked at Koda.
"Why don't you tell me."

"Koda said I could come to her house soon and she would teach me how to cook
so I can cook more things for you and papa!!"

"Oh.. well now that sounds like something I might enjoy," she hugged the
little one and the loving action set Koda's fear to rest. The picture she
saw before her was a loving family and she was happy things were working out.

She never saw Waylene make any overt moves or anything like that, but
seconds later Lemek got up and came to take his sisters hand.

"Why don't you and I go into the kitchen right now and make something for
our guest to eat. To show healer Koda how good a cook you are," he grinned
down at his sister and then back at his mother as he led the giggling girl
from the room.

"I can't believe the change in them," Koda signed as she watched them go.
"Being here with you seems to have done them wonders."

She took a closer look at the woman sitting across the room from her. "And
you too if the look on your face says anything. I think they've done you as
much good as you've done for them."

They talked about it for a little while then Koda reached for the file she'd
brought with her and opened it to take out the results from her tests. 

"I've never seen anything like this before," she frowned slightly as she set
them out and began to explain them to Waylene and Trak who had joined them. 

"This shouldn't in all reality be possible, but according to the test,
everything about Shella is changing."

"In what way?"

"Okay this is the test I took the first time you asked me to look at her
when they arrived... You see here how these lines are set on the paper..?...
well this is the second test I took this morning and after running her blood
thought the same test I ran the first set on... you see what I mean...the
lines are different...."

"I'm afraid I don't under stand..." Waylene frowned. "couldn't it just have
something to do with her being in heat from the mating flight?"

"Well maybe .. but the difference is just to *BIG*," the healer told her. "I
mean I've accounted for some difference because of her going into heat...
but even that wouldn't explain why her hormones levels and her cell count is
totally out of whack from the first tests I took."

She could see that the other two were still a little confused by what she
was saying and thought of a better way to explain it.

"It's like say.... we get a human and run a blood test on him. then we drain
him of all the blood in his body and replace it with someone else's and then
redo the test. The results won't be the same. There's no way they can be...
and somehow that's what's happening to Shella... she's the same on the
outside.. but her insides seem to be changing on their own and I have no
idea why this is happening."

[Tag again Kris:]

[later in Koda's apartment]

Dinner was almost ready and she expected him soon. 

She wasn't sure why, but knew he'd be needing to talk and she knew he would
be hungry. The boy was always hungry.

A knock sounded on her outer door and she had Ribbon relay the message to
his dragon for his to come on in. she didn't want to leave the sauce she was
stirring in then pan on the stove just then.

"Dinner's almost ready," she turned and grinned at him as he entered the
room. "So how was Yasi when you saw her today?"

[Tag Justin... S'an feel like talking?]

*****Submitted by: ******

Lakoda & Ribbon
Head Healer Marrid Medical Center
Marrid Warren

aka
Barbara