[Rainbowfox Ari]

"I can't think of anything off the top of my head..." Justin said, biting his lip in concentration.

He started to pace, back and forth, across the hall, and into the next room, then back. Thinking. He really couldn't REMEMBER what needed to be done, now that the healer was being replaced by the previous life. But he knew there was something else. Something nagging in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite grasp.

"There's one more thing... I know there is, but I... don't know what it is."

The Preluhna admitted the latter with a wince, and a cringe away, lest his lover find him stupid.

"I'm sorry! I should know!"

[SpringsSong]

Neptune looked at Justin with complete sympathy in his eyes.  "It's all right, love.  I understand..." He said.  "I'm sure it will come back to you... Let's see, we've opened the pharmacy, checked the supplies..." He thought for a moment.  Nothing was coming to his mind at the present moment...

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"That's.... all I can think of right now... Ohhh... I feel like such a dunce..."

He gave his love a pouty face, and looked down at the floor. Something was bitting at him again from the back of his mind, and he suddenly DID remember.

"Oh! We have to feed the fish in the waiting room! And erase the ER board."

He was happy now. He'd actually come up with what he'd needed to do. Had he tails at the moment, he'd probably be wagging them, despite the fact that he was most definitely feline.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The other Preluhna, Justin's twin Jordan, slipped back into the clinic early. He'd been taking care of their mutual friend Silestre. But there was something not right in the air when he headed toward his office. Something that spoke to a huge change. Had Justin regained his past life's memories? The memories that Jordan had tried so hard to suppress? It felt like it. And if that WAS the case, it would be best if he didn't run into him. After all, in their previous lives, Jordan - who went by a different name back then - had been the one to kill his lover. How they wound up as twins in this life was beyond him.

[SpringsSong]

[[Gasp!  I love those kind of stories, Arri!]]

Neptune's eyes brightened as Justin said this.  "Of course!  That makes sense!" He said, running to the emergency room and erasing the board.  His next stop was the supply room, where he found some of the fish food.  He then dashed back out to the waiting room and fed the fish, and jsut as suddenly as he had appeared there, he vanished back to the pharmacy where Justin was.

"Anything else we could possibly think of before we get out of here?" He asked.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"You could step about ten feet away from my brother if you want to keep that hand of yours." growled Jordan, moving into view from another doorway. He looked very... angry. "Justin, he's not hurting you, is he?"

Justin shook his head, and hid behind Neptune. "You're making the scary face again..."

"I don't care WHAT face I'm making. Get away from that man this instant. It's not good for you to be out of your bed this early, anyway. You KNOW your heart..."

"Is weak. Yeah. I know, Jordan. Could you let me live my OWN life here? Or do I always have to be under your wing?"

"I'd prefer the latter. But I know I can't stop you. I CAN however warn the one you're hiding behind. If you break his heart, I break YOU - understand?"

"Jordan! Be nice... He's just taking me to the falls to watch the water..."

"That better be ALL he's doing. I swear to the gods, one false move..."

"Jordaaaaaan! He's not hurting me. Can I go?"

"Not yet. I want to test this new 'friend' of yours. If he's going to be dating you, he's got to be able to take care of you."

"Jordan..."

"No ifs, ands, or buts." He turned to the Hyrdokuhna. "Alright. Your name, profession, and age. Then describe what the following are. Tachycardia, Arrythmia, and Mycardial Infarction. If you can get that - you're at least worthy enough for me to test you. There's no way in hell I'm giving Justin over to anything less than a doctor, capiche?"

[SpringsSong]

Neptune blinked as he studied Jordan, but did not move.  Why in Yepha's name did he seem familiar?  "I understand... Now, my name is Neptune.  I'm nineteen, and I... well, I don't technically have a profession--more of a stay-at-home guy, not to mention HOW many places do you know of that will hire workers possessed with demons?  As for those terms, tachycardia is an excessively rapid heartbeat, arrythmia is any sort of disturbance in the rhythm of the heartbeat, and myocardial infarction is when you have a heart attack and the heart muscles either die or become permanently damaged." He said.  Gods, why was something just nagging at the back of his mind?!

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Jordan grumbled a bit, and thought.

"Alright. IF you were to give my brother a checkup - knowing his heart's weak. What's the first thing you'd do? If he were to pass out halfway between here and the Falls, what's the first thing you'd do?"

He wasn't letting this one go without a bit of a battle. He was angry that the previous personality had resurfaced. Not only that, he KNEW this one. This was the man he'd killed before. And he'd gladly do it again to keep him away from Justin.

"After you answer those two things, listen to Justin's heart and count the rate. Tell me the rhythm. Then do the same for mine."

Yes - he was going to make him work for this. Keep him here doing useless things as long as possible.

Justin sighed, and pulled over one of the rolling chairs to sit down. This was going to take a while. Why couldn't his brother just let him have ONE DAY of freedom without running off all his friends? And Justin was more than sure that Neptune would get tired of the rigmarole, and heartbeat trivia and tests, and run off - just like the rest. It would surprise him no end if the Hydrokuhna actually did what Jordan asked. Not that he'd blame him for running. Jordan could be SCARY.

[SpringsSong]

Neptune thought for a moment.  Everything was coming back to him--including who this man was.  "Okay.  Well, if I were to give him a checkup, I'd check his heartbeat, first of all.  If he were to pass out halfway between here and Idalani, then I'd first of all check to see if his heart was still beating, and then, I'd give him CPR." He said.  He then walked over to Justin and took out a stethoscope and listened to his heart, looking at his watch.  "Hm... His heart rate's right around 100... there's a bit of a flutter every now and again, but mostly a steady rhythm." He said, and then, he walked over to Jordan and  did the same, being wary of his memories.

"You have a nice steady heart rate of 84 beats per minute, and you have a nice, steady lub-dub pattern." He said.  How long would this TAKE?!

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Jordan gritted his teeth, and turned his back, walking away without another word. Justin watched him go - a little afraid.

"You made him angry..." he said quietly. "I don't know where he's going, but we'd better get out of here while we can. He might be going to get a gun or something."

Slowly, he rose from his chair, and crossed over to Neptune, taking a hold of his arm, and squeezing his eyes tight shut. Yes, he was very much afraid of his brother. Jordan had NEVER hurt him, mind - but that didn't mean he couldn't be downright scary when he yelled or ranted about something - which he did on a semi-frequent basis. If Jordan didn't like Neptune, was he even going to let them be together? Justin didn't think so - hence the whole 'get out of here while we can' part. He didn't want to be separated...

[SpringsSong]

Neptune nodded.  "Yes... We should get out of here, and quickly.  No offense, but... your brother scares me.  Not just like from right now, but... from somewhere else..." He said, grabbing Justin's hand and moving to get out of here as fast as he could.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Justin nodded, fully understanding. HE wasn't aware of what his twin had been before this, but if Neptune knew and was afraid, he was going to take his word for it.

"Where should we go? Idalani? Won't he know to look for us there? Shouldn't we go somewhere else?" Justin asked, near frantic.

His poor little heart was pounding fit to leave his ribs, and since he was pressed up against Neptune's back - hiding from his brother - the other could probably feel it. He was more than afraid. He was terrified.

[SpringsSong]

Neptune thought for a moment.  "Let's still go on ahead to Idalani.  I'd rather go there than anywhere else, mostly because I know how to get there by heart." He said, turning around so that he could give his love a hug; holding him close.  "Nothing will happen to you so long as I'm around.  I won't let him touch you, and I'll try not to let him get near me." He whispered into his ear.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"He's coming back....." Justin whispered, and curled close to Neptune in an attempt for the older one to protect him.

Jordan was back alright, and in his hand, he held a pistol. A real one. He raised it to Neptune's eye-level, and narrowed his own eyes as he walked forward, gun still in hand and pointing.

"I killed you once. I can just as easily do it again. Only this time, it would be intentional. Now back off from Justin before I put a hole in your brain not even YOUR surgical skill would be able to fix."

[SpringsSong]

Neptune stood firmly in his place and said, "I'm not going anywhere.  I know very well that you were the one that killed me; and I fail to see how you two ended up as twins in this life.  But I will tell you this; I will not move from Justin's side ever again.  Not now that I've found him again.  As soon as I saw you walk in, I knew exactly who you were... and I owe Justin my life.  He expelled a demon from me that was controlling me, and then after that... after that, I realized who he was."  He remained firmly in his spot, not moving at all.  He wasn't going to let Jordan boss him around with intimidation.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Jordan didn't notice it, but Justin seemed to be weakening . His eyelids drooped, he sagged a bit against Neptune, and leaned against him harder than he had been before. His heart was weak, but it was racing. And he was starting to faint. Jordan hadn't lowered the gun, and still had it trained on Neptune's forehead. He didn't seem to CARE that something was seriously wrong with his twin.