intheblanks | ➹BEEPER

[It's dislocated funny, because she had to shift to bring it back here and the shift isn't working right; it needs to be reset, like it's out of place]

Not enough to need a transfusion. I'll need to eat later.

[That's what dislocation is, but this is more than a popped knee. Those perfect legs, Saya, and he's looking at them with nothing but concern, running priorities.]

Any dizziness or loss of consciousness? [A small flare in the darkness, he clicks on a pen flashlight to check her eyes, for signs of blood around her mouth.] I need to know what happened in as much detail as possible.

No.

[Her eyes are paler than usual, but the pupils are the same size, she doesn't have a concussion. There is no blood around her mouth but when he shines the light there she opens her mouth again and quickly moves her jaw strangely, and spits out a piece of brightly colored cloth]

The clown threatened Rosella so I went to see it. It turned into a spider, like it knew -

[There's a pause and Saya takes Chase's hand and puts them on her leg. It's nothing sexual.]

We fought. I got a bite in but he did this to my leg. The shift couldn't fix it. You need to put it back in place.

Like it knew... what you were?

[He can't check the recoil in time, but his hand stays where she put it, on skin that feels warm (if too warm) and skin that seems reassuringly human (if blue-hued underneath).

Hemocyanin - he'd picked up the copper base but been put in mind of sea creatures, or aliens: forgoing the self-absorbtion of much of the human race in imagining foreign life forms with the same pathological base. Like early maps placing the maker's country in the centre of the earth. He'd thought of crabs, lobsters, the insects of the ocean, and forgotten her fear of water. The dislike of cold.]

I should get you to the hospital. [He snaps out of the thought and moves, pressing the palms of his hands down to feel their way up around the swollen joint.] This could have a fracture we won't know about.

No. No hospitals. Just pop it back in place.

[Most people think of sea creatures, because of hermit crabs, and because most people only see the ooze when they kill a spider, there's never enough blood.]

I don't worry about broken bones.

[Her hands are on his, like they can guide her leg back into place]

You haven't just over-rotated it. [Which is to say, she's making it sound too simple.] Normally we'd do that under anaesthetic.

[Which is to say he can, but it will hurt. If she were any species he could measure, he might say it would hurt too much to take.

Still, his hands measure out the job of it.]

No anesthetic. No going under.

As it is you understand that if you tell anyone, it won't end well, but I refuse to have more doctors involved. If you won't, I'll call Rudy Cooper.

Rudy Cooper would be great if you want to swap this out for a new one. I'm working on the assumption you'd like to keep the leg you've got.

[He stands and walks around her, not happy with this, but not going to assume he knows the pain threshold of a spider woman.

Then he closes the door.]

I'm going to move you into a better position, first. And I work better in an environment where no one's threatening me.

I have to make myself clear.

[She looks at him a long time]

I like you. So you know.

[She sits back, relaxed as much as she can manage]

[Lights on, he drags a chair across to the bed.]

I like you, too.

[And, leaning down, he wraps his arms around her, keeping her as close as possible for the lift. It's only a few degrees difference, but the range of movement will be important in a minute.]

[She's light, like a bird, as if her bones aren't entirely solid]

Good?

Bound to get someone in trouble.

[He checks her hip again, holding the leg still now it's less supported by the other. As confident as he can be in his own skill, he doesn't like playing this blind.]

But if you mean the position, I think so. [He bites his lip.] Want to brace yourself on something?

[He'd say hug a pillow, but.]

I won't sue.

[She puts her hands to her sides, fingers against the mattress]

Do it quickly.

[It was the liking he meant.

Nodding, he rests one knee on the seat of the chair he'd pulled across, bracing his own hands behind her thigh.]

On three. One, two- [It's the kind of thing you can't hesitate over. Snap and twist, like breaking a neck in reverse.]

[Her fingers dig into the mattress, and there's an aborted yelp - it sounds a bit like a gasp - but her leg is back in place. There's movement, like something crawling under her skin under Chase's hands, and she visibly relaxes]

Much better.

[The rippling under her skin isn't a standard aftershock. He spreads his fingers, lightening his touch but tracing that skitter of movement as far as the span of his hand. It's leaving him feeling like he should blink and look again (like nightmares he's had, to drunk to wake himself. Like catching sight of something in the darkness - but just shadows, just shadows after all)

With a slow exhale, he sits down in the chair beside her.]

It's a start. Next we should get you stitched up.

[It's a delicate face he pulls, then.]

And I can get something to wash your mouth out.

[She watches him]

All right.

[He isn't gone long, returning with a bag and a glass of wine. Water isn't going to take the taste away.

He's had a glass of his own. One won't make his hand less steady.]

So you're a woman who turns into a spider.

[She takes the glass and drinks]

Some people might say I am a spider who turns into a woman.

[Pause]

They wouldn't be correct. I'm neither, really.

[He unpacks as she speaks, preps her wounds as he does - the blue of the sterile wipes only a slightly different shade to the smears on her skin.]

You're just capable of both. What are you?

Ananasi.

[She pauses and just lets him do what he's doing]

In the most laymen of terms, I'm a werespider.

[He can probably live with being a layman in this arena.]

Is your sister Br'er Rabbit?

No, that's Anansi. He was an Ananasi.

[She seems to be relaxing even more]

My sister - Daisy - she's more like...Sobek. Since we're dealing with secrets.

[And he is a gentle worker. Careful, methodical, the light touch comes with skill.]

You're stretching my knowledge of foreign... [And there's the thing, what's the term.] myths?

She is, I suppose, a werecrocodile.

But she is more human than I could ever be.

[It seems pain softens Saya a bit, or maybe this is revenge on Daisy for sending Chase here]

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