Razor caused a wound in Harley's torso that can only be closed it won't heal. Any activity more than a normal routine, will cause the staples to pop and cause severe bleeding." Harley and I have been through so much shit together, and Razor nearly killed him because of me.My thought's interrupted as Zaeerah bursts in. "Where is he? I want to see him now!" A nurse opens the door and gestures to me. "This woman wants to see you Sir, should I-" Zaeerah quickly runs over to me. "What gives?" I say as she throws her arms around me. "Exactly what do you think you're doing?" There's a pause and a queried look falls across her face. "Master, I rush to be by you, would you send me away? Are we not betrothed?" The lines of communication have really broke down, I note as I look into sad little puppy-dog eyes. What comes next is hard for her to hear but in the end...she has to obey the clan...I'm glad I am that I don't have that issue. I sigh and give her the bad news. "First, mind your place child!" She takes a knee out of respect for my authority. "Second... I'm not your...Betrothed. The man you are to wed is on that table and he owes you his life. I will fill you in on the exact details of-" Again I'm interrupted. "Harley is up and can speak, he is heavily sedated though." I walk over with the elf in tow, as she passes the doctor he comments: "I see your cheek is doing better, come by later I want to do some scans to see if the bones have knit properly." I noticed she wasn't sporting any bruises. Doc does good work, and the hit from Moonshadow was enough to shatter her face. Guess she'll be minding herself from now on. "How you feeling?" "Whatever Doc gave me...I'll take two...I can't feel my face Hehehe. Hey, hey.....um Oh did you get that guy, um Blade or whatever? S.O.B. cut me n'nat and now I got stitches. "No we didn't get him, he gave me the slip. "His words become a drug induced haze of gibberish and I elect to let him rest, he'll have enough problems soon. "Zaeerah, come with me." "If it's all the same to you master, I would like to stay at His side." Touching, she's been raised with the Oni, every movement every word is as I remember from my days with them. She'll follow clan orders and she'll make a good wife for Harley. Her loyalty to the clan is her driving motivation, it might be a problem later if the clan and I have a conflict. For now, she seems genuine. "Stay by him until I resolve this Razor issue. At your convenience I want to talk with you about Razor, and why he backed down from you." "Yes Master, I understand." "And one more thing..." "Yes Master?" "Stop saying that, call me Obsidian or Sir if you prefer...you're one of us now, and we're not as formal as you're used to." "Yes...Sir." It's hard for me to see my friends and family hurt, my injuries just are fine but I hate seeing those I care for hurt. I rub my artificial arm while pondering the possibilities for Harley if I can't undo what Razor's sword has done. I look down and the rage begins to swell...it's not the insult of my injury that angers me; it's the fact of it. I have never been this badly injured except for when I faced Zakan. I feel stupid, sloppy, like it's my fault...I just want to kick my own ass for letting this happen and- "You're blaming yourself my 'Xenshun'nye? [Darling] This isn't t your fault, it's the result of a man's jealousy, and the will of his employer. You could not have changed this, but you can change what it does to you." She pulls me close and places my head on her chest; I hear her heart beating and feel the warmth of her jet black skin as she strokes my hair. Her soft voice soothes my core. "Do not doubt yourself that’s what Razor wants; it’ll make things easy for him. Your skills and confidence in your abilities he fears." "Thanks." Her voice is divine...if she wished...she could easily trick me. As for my earlier dilemma, Razor has a small ship and we can't follow in hyperjump but we can get a heading from before the jump so he's as good as caught.