Samson Carter sat quietly in the examination room that he'd been taken too after his arrival at the hospital. His chest hurt a bit and he could definitely feel the strain as he tried to breathe, but on certain levels things were starting to feel a bit better. To him that was good news, as it would mean at worst all Dymixious's tail had done to him was crack or bruise his ribs, which while he'd have to put up with some pain and discomfort, would still be something that Lycanthropic regeneration would be able to handle. The hospital staff had seemed to suspect that when he'd arrived, but wanted some X-rays to be sure. They were taken almost as soon as he arrived before he was moved to an examination room to wait on the results.
And that is what he was waiting on right now. Anxiously waiting for the X-ray results and hoping for the best. If it was just a bruise to the bone or a crack that didn't go completely through it, he'd recover fairly quickly and could return to duty. However, if the bones in his ribcage were more seriously damaged than that, there would be either the need for a longer recovery period or potentially even surgery to put all the bones in a position where they could heal more effectively. That was something he was a bit nervous over and hoped wouldn't happen.
"All this because one guy decided to run around like it was some stereotypical old west movie," Samson thought to himself, "at least Samantha and Frances weren't home... where they wouldn't be at risk of being in the crosshairs of Dymixious's little temper tantrum."
Of course, Samson didn't know that Frances HAD been home and that Samantha didn't take her wife into her meeting at City Hall. It was something that he would have made sure that Frances understood what was going on and what they were tasked to do with regard to Dymixious if he'd known she was there as what they knew about Dymixious was enough to know that the man's temperament was volatile. He didn't fully know on how he'd explain things to Frances and Samantha if he'd been wrong, and as he sat waiting for the doctor to return with the X-rays, he wasn't quite sure on how he'd explain to either Frances or his parents the injury taken after catching a werekomododragon's tail to the chest.
After a few moments a small mousy looking man came in holding a couple of sheets that he placed on a light board that then showed the X-rays that had been taken. Samson looked to them as the newly arrived doctor turned back to him with a small and optimistic smile.
"Well, Officer Carter, I'd say you faired out quite well," the doctor spoke, "from what we got with the X-rays, it would appear that the worst that you've gotten are a couple of bruised ribs."
"It still hurts a bit," Samson told him.
"And it probably will for a while," the doctor nodded, "but, things are such that in your case, Lycanthropic Regeneration will do all that we need to do. I'd suggest that you take light duty if you have to work at all for the rest of the week... but I don't think there is going to be anything more that we need to do. As all the bones appear to be in the right place and are starting to heal... if slowly."
Samson nodded as that made some sense, and was good news. It would save him having to go through major surgery or anything like that. That then brought to mind a question on the officer that Dymixious had bitten.
"Do you know on how Officer Frank is?" Samson asked.
"The one who was bitten?" the doctor responded and waited for Samson to nod, "I'm afraid I can' say for certain. He is in the system and will be getting the utmost care."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. Kathy Tucker frowned at the readouts she was given by Dr. Tora Tachibana. While Dr. Tachibana's specialty wasn't in cases such as this the battle between Dymixious and the police had drawn a lot of physicians in, including major surgery to try and save Dymixious's life and at present devising some means of curing an officer of the effects of a venomous were's bite.
"I'm not sure I can do this..." Kathy Tucker said slowly, "what this officer needs is anti-venom... and those specifically designed for the Komodo Dragon... to reinforce lycanthropic regeneration. There doesn't seem to be too much of it in the officer's system... but there is enough of it that it will have an effect..."
"Because the bite was inflicted by a were as well, I know," Tora answered, "and a request has been made to the Zoo in Seattle for a sample of their anti-venom that they keep on hand in order make sure their zoo staff is protected as part of a "pharmaceutical experiment" to see if there would be a way to improve on it... but that will still take some time to get here and will surely have some questions that come with it..."
"Like how can you improve on anti-venom?" Kathy asked.
"We don't have much choice in this," Tora replied, "If you can synthesize some anti-venom... we'd have some on hand to make sure that the officer in question recovers fully... or at least has something that can do better than just treating the symptoms and hope that lycanthropic regeneration can over power the venom's effects..."
"And if it were a normal Komodo Dragon, that might be possible," Kathy sighed, "it's the fact that it is a WERE that makes this difficult. The were-virus makes the venom even stronger... you know that. As it is in Moon Lake's medical files."
Tora nodded, though Kathy soon continued.
"But again... my lab isn't set up to actually synthesize an anti-venom... at least not in the way you're suggesting," Kathy spoke, "by the time we'd even have anything ready, the sample requested from the Seattle Zoo would have arrived by then..."
"Even, so, it wouldn't hurt to have a spare," Tora answered, "Please, Doctor Tucker..."
"And where am I to get a sample of Werekomododragon venom?" Kathy asked, "reptilian weres are rather rare and most records we have of any ever being in Moon Lake for any length of time are few and far between. And the only one that I know of that is here... is presently IN surgery after the police turned him into Swiss Cheese."
"There is another... Jade Drake," Tora spoke, "she's presently in the maternity area... waiting until she's ready to give birth. If you can get there quickly... she might be able to help you."
"You want me to bother a woman in labor!?" Kathy gasped with her hand soon resting on her own swelling middle, "transforming and providing me with a venom sample is going to be the LAST thing on her mind."
"We don't have any other choice," Tora pointed out, leaving Kath only to sigh and then nod.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The maternity ward was normally one of mixed pandemonium and pure joy as expectant mothers were brought in to safely give birth and so that their children could get their birth certificates and some of the mementos that would often become keepsakes for families. Things like foot or hand prints, or first baby blankets, and so on were what was expected to be found, and as Kathy made her way into the ward, she privately looked forward to when she and her husband would be there to welcome the child growing within her into the world. And with her husband's sister being better behaved and an adopted new member of the Tucker family, Kathy had some reason to be optimistic on that, as she was five months pregnant.
However, as she made her way into the ward, she knew that there were some measures that would need to be handled that couldn't be avoided and namely the situation that had left a Moon Lake officer bitten by a venomous were and the were that bit him in no condition to provide a sample to thus try to generate any anti-venom. Having the suspect's wife here presented some opportunity for managing what was needed, but the fact that it meant that Kathy had to intrude on her while she was in labor was not something that fully sat well with Kathy. But, as Tora had said, there wasn't much of a choice and thus she was there. When she reached the door to where Jade Drake was supposed to be, Kathy calmly knocked and waited for an answer. She was a bit surprised to find Frances Twist there with Jade, but remained calm.
"But a nurse was just here..." Jade said slowly, "and said I'm not dilated enough, yet..."
"I'm not with the staff that will be helping you through your labor," Kathy spoke, "I am Doctor Kathy Tucker and I'm with the hospital's laboratory."
"The laboratory..." Jade blinked nervously.
"In your husband's struggle with the police, he BIT one of the officers," Kathy spoke, "now that officer is a were and thus isn't at risk of transformed... but the fact that your husband is venomous... the officer is in need of specialized treatment, which the hospital has tasked to the lab..."
"Dymixious... is he?" Jade asked in a pained voice.
"As far as I know, your husband is presently in surgery," Kathy spoke, "but we need a venom sample from a Werekomododragon to treat the officer your husband bit. I know this is needlessly putting pressure on you, but if you can... it would be very helpful to us if you could transform and provide us with that venom sample."
"I'll help..." Jade said slowly and sat up in the bed the hospital had her in and closed her eyes.
With that, Jade soon began to transform, letting the beaded scales form over her skin and darken into a grayish-black color. Her fingernails soon lengthened into long hooked claws that she soon flexed as the normally soothing and welcome feeling of transforming conflicted with the present pains of labor. Thankfully none of the doctors said there was any risks related to transforming while pregnant or even in labor. In fact when her OB/GYN Doctor Harris Jones first came in after her arrival with Frances, he stated that some expectant were mothers transformed during labor as a natural means of killing the pain or aiding in the process of giving birth, and in Moon Lake's history, there had NEVER been any problem in that department.
Kathy stood by quietly with her yes focused on the transforming woman before her. Jade's muscle mass increased and she thrust her hips forward a bit as her tail began to push out from the end of her spine, privately grateful that she'd had to change into the medical goal she was in, as it felt big enough to shift with her, though when compared to Dymixious, Jade didn't grow that much in size when she changed. The transforming woman soon brought her reptilian hands to comfort her womb as her face began to push forward into the box-like muzzle of the Komodo Dragon. Once transformed, Kathy watched as Jade gave a deep breath and fell back against the pillows behind her and flicked her tongue in and out for a moment before looking to Kathy.
"I'm ready," Jade said slowly, "Hopefully what I can give you helps."
"Hopefully it does," Kathy nodded and held up a small plastic container that she would normally use to collect urine samples, but it was the best she could manage. At present the plastic lid was removed and replaced with a wax paper-like substance that was held on with a rubber band. Kathy figured that Jade's teeth would be strong enough to puncture the wax paper and let venom flow in, though she also had to privately admit that she wasn't sure it would work. Venomous snakes had their fangs on the upper jaw and literally injected venom into the victim. Venomous lizards, however, had their venom glands on the lower jaw and the venom simply was oozed into the wound. "I'm not sure on how well this would work... but if you could get as much venom as you can in there..."
Jade calmly and politely took the cup. It wasn't large and she could easily open her mouth wide enough to fit it in. With that she had every intention of working with the hospital staff, and hope that something good could come out of all of this. Dymixious was a good man, she knew that, even if his method of protecting weres didn't really work the way it used to and made the situation complicated. What she had witnessed so far demonstrated that and reminded her of how she knew that his temper could at times be problematic. She hoped that things would be fine and could ultimately make some case that her husband wasn't some sort of villain. But for now, she could only open her mouth wide and hope to get as much of her own venom into the cup as possible.