- Daily: 1,860
- Overall: 12,641
BUT IN OTHER NEWS- this is a lovely cover. :D I <3>

The woman’s brow furrowed, and she produced something from her pocket. She was saying something, but Ethan was too focused on the scraps of copper in her hands. “Yes, those are mine! Can I have them back please? And be untied?” His voice started to falter as he realized what he was saying, but he managed to finish with a winning smile at the brown-eyed woman.
The woman said something, which he again couldn’t understand. Why hadn’t he learned to read lips? That would have been really useful if he was ever kidnapped and had his hearing stolen. Ethan tried to look as harmless and beseeching as possible. Given his situation and nature, that was very far down the pathetic-scale. The woman shook her head and pocketed the implants, and then left the room. Ethan rested his face on his knees again. Should have known that anyone walking around in this situation was not a friend. Maybe she was just talking to her boss? Yeah, right.
He sniffed again. Kidnaped, deaf and tied up. There had to be a bright side to this situation. At least she’d stopped him from choking himself, so probably she and her boss wanted him alive.
That- wasn’t really a very comforting thought.
“Good Morning, Mrs. Robertson!” Ethan batted his eyelashes at his boss.
She spun the dial on the side of the steam autoclave and didn’t bother to look at him. “It’s afternoon, you’re late, and I don’t see what’s particularly good about it.”
Ethan leaned on the counter and grinned. “Come on, I was only five minutes late and I had to change my batteries before I scrubbed in!”
“Change. Batteries.” Mrs. Robertson didn’t sound encouraging. She started loading the next cart to be sterilized.
“Yes!” He nodded enthusiastically and pulled back the hair net to show off his Cochlear Implants. “For my ears, and then the mirror was fogged, so I couldn’t see what I was doing, so it really wasn’t my fault.” He took a deep breath. “At all.”
“Why are you still talking?” She was smiling ever so slightly- but only on the side away from the teenage boy.
“Because I am attempting to earn your approval?” He looked thoughtful. “Or maybe just avert your wrath. Perhaps I shouldn’t aim too high-” He cut himself off and looked delightedly at the clipboard that was just put in his hand. “I still have a job? I have a task?”
“Yes, you have a job.” Mrs. Robertson carefully kept her face straight. “You may not have morals, work ethic or punctuality, but you have a job. Get going while you still do.”
Ethan was already heading for the surgery carts. “Ma’am, yes Ma’am! I will give my very best impression of a punctual, immoral work ethic.”
“Don’t you mean punctual moral work ethic?” Emily- an amused grandmother of three- had been listening to the work drama while loading the ultrasonic bath.
Ethan winked at her. “I’m trying to set reachable goals. Two out of three, I just might manage! But all three...” He shook his head mournfully and caught sight of his Boss. “Er, let’s see. A cart for Carpal Tunnel Release. Is this open or endoscopic?”
“Read the chart.”
“Good point!”
The other man, who was sporting a shinily new wedding ring, took off his jacket and dropped it on the floor. “Are you blind, or just suicidal?”
Ewan cracked his knuckles and sneered. “Oh, you mean the ring? You mean you’ve actually let her put you on a leash?”
“Not quite.” The man had gone very calm now, and cracked his neck with one deliberate move “Don’t you know who I am?”
“Someone who’s going to go to prison for rioting?” Ewan offered in a helpful tone.
“Maybe.” He pulled on white leather gloves. “But you should be more concerned with the fact that I’ve won the national lightweight competition for the past three years.” He put his fists up.
“Oh.” Ewan added this choice of sparring partner to the long list of things that he regretted. After a pause of a few seconds, he shrugged. “Whatever, your wife is still cheap and easy.” He backed away, keeping his eyes on the boxer.
“My wife doesn’t need to be defended.” He closed the gap. “This is just cause you need to be taught a lesson.” He snapped a punch at Ewan’s shoulder.
Ten minutes of milling later, she had managed to ascertain that this crowd seemed to have no limits, and also, as an added bonus, seemed to contain no one she knew. It did contain police on horseback though. She could see them above the crowd, directing people incomprehensibly. There was a scream to her right, “FIRE!” The crowd surged menacingly, suddenly becoming full of people taller and heavier than her. Nanami was sandwiched in between two large people, who seemed to not notice her presence as anything more than a minor irritant stopping them from betting six inches closer to their destination. She drove her elbow into the stomach of the man to her right. He made a huffing noise at her. It was safe to say, given his furious and desperate expression, that he would have said hurtful and cutting things, if he hadn’t just had the breath forcibly removed from his lungs. She drove her heel into the arch of his foot to make sure he wouldn’t comment further.