<div class="floatleft"><div align="center">(https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/cdc1/04s7432n614occi4g.jpg)<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Chloe Dawson<br/>  ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾  </span></span></div></div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  Mother stands and heads for the restroom … turn to Kimmie …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Okay, what you just saw was why she needed me here. She needed a, um, someone else qualified to wash away the blood from her hands. She feels like she caused this and the blood was on her hands. Literally too! Thank you for getting the water and not questioning. We are just concerned friends now, the crisis has passed for everyone except Joel. Oh Kimmie, I was so scared! I knew what I had to do but I’ve never had to before and taking on the burden to do that is terrifying. I’ll explain later. Here she comes.”</span></span><br/><br/><div class="floatright"><div align="center">(http://i68.tinypic.com/2ltaif.jpg)<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Mrs. Circe Dawson<br/>  ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾  </span></span></div></div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… she has obviously freshened up in the restroom … her presence is back … her eyes sparkle yet radiate concern … she doesn’t sit though, rather bringing a folding chair to sit across from us …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “I’m sorry Kimmie, this is not the way I’d hoped we’d meet. I apologize for telling Chloe to not bring you. I didn’t want you to see what she just did and I know she has or will explain that to you so she trusts you much more than I did until now. I’m her Mother and my brother is in deep pain and I needed someone I knew I could trust to do a horrible thing and you are an unwitting part of that.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… Mother is about to reach for Kimmie’s hands when we hear someone call for Circe Dawson … Mother stands and someone in a purple scrubs heads our way … he pulls up a chair and clears his throat …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “First of all, he’s probably going to live. The tourniquets saved him from further blood loss. He was at the extreme edge of class IV hemorrhagic shock. The paramedics said you maintained compression on his wrists, Mrs. Dawson, and that is what truly got him to where we still have someone to treat. We’re pouring blood into him as fast as we can and repairing the damage to his wrists. We have him sedated so that he can’t fight the treatment and prudent practice says we’ll have to restrain him for his own continued safety. His condition is serious but he’s out of the woods so to speak. We have a psychiatrist on call. She’d like to speak with you at your earliest convenience. The sooner we have a sense of the person we’re treating, the better we can adjust medications and bring them back to consciousness safely.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… Mother looks at the doctor and pauses for a moment …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Yes, I’ll speak with her. Sooner rather than later. I agree.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… the doctor leaves and Mother turns back to us …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like you both to stay here with me and be here when I’m done speaking with the psychiatrist. I know more about Joel background than perhaps any one of us including Elizabeth. I expect it will take me a half hour to tell the psychiatrist what I know. Then we need to go see Elizabeth and your father and decide how this has changed our plans.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  I look at Kimmie … her eyes tell me what I need to know … I take her hands and speak without looking back at Mother …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “We’ll stay, Mother. Our time is yours. We have nothing we need to … oh shoot!”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… I realize I haven’t taken care of the lab animals yet today … they’ll be up in arms soon! …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Kimmie, huge huge favor. Please Kimmie. I need you to stay here with Mother while I go take care of the lab animals. Maybe an hour and a half?”</span></span><br/><br/>‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Disclaimer</div><div class="spoiler_body">OOC: The blood ritual is totally made up. Hemorrhagic shock is a real thing, but that’s the only factual part of this story.</div></div>