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Ana woke with a start and sat up, looking around the room. She thought she had heard something. She shook Angel's shoulder, trying to wake him up. He didn't respond. Apparently he had been so exhausted by his fight that he had passed out sometime during the night.

She climbed out of bed and went uncertainly to the bedroom door. "Hello?" She peered though the gloom of the living room. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she saw a slumped form on the floor. Hurrying over, she knelt beside the body and turned it over. Gasping, she saw that it was Sanctum. He was pale from loss of blood and there was a terrible deep wound in his shoulder, but he was alive. "Oh...Sanctum."

Taking a deep breath, she reached for his shoulder, placing her hand gently over the wound. The warmth began coursing through her body, quickly intensifying into a burning sensation in her shoulder. She felt the wound begin to move beneath her hand. But....something was wrong. The pain in her shoulder intensified and she felt fresh blood flowing under her hand. She looked down and gasped in horror as she saw Sanctum's wound growing, rather than shrinking. She tried to pull her hand away, to break the connection, but a sudden searing pain transfixed her to the spot. Blood began pouring down her shoulder as a wound opened up, identical to the one on Sanctum's shoulder. And just like Sanctum's wound, it was growing. She cried out as she desperately tried to pull away, to break the seemingly endless cycle of pain as she instinctively tried to take on Sanctum's ever increasing pain. With a final cry, she managed to throw herself backwards away from Sanctum. She felt a sickening lurch as the connection was broken. The wound on her shoulder began to heal, but at an unusually slow rate. She managed to crawl back to Sanctum and look at his wound. The blood was flowing freely again and the angry gash was a little less than twice it's original length.

She looked around frantically for something to stop the bleeding. In desperation, she tore off her own shirt and pressed it tightly against the wound. Her mind spun as she tried to think of what to do. She needed help, but couldn't leave Sanc like this. She looked around the room and saw her phone, a few steps away. Staggering to her feet, she went to the phone and dialed the first person she thought of. Mieke. Mieke had been a medic. She would know what to do. She carried the phone back over to where Sanctum lay and put pressure on his wound with one hand while holding the phone to her ear with the other.

The phone began to ring and she prayed Mieke had her cell phone turned on.

Ana sighed in relief when Mieke picked up the phone and she began babbling, the panic clearly evident in her voice. "Mieke! Oh, god Mieke, There's so much blood and I just make it worse. He's bleeding, he's going to die. I can't Heal him. Mieke, what do I do?"

Ana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "S-Sanctum. I don't know how long he's been bleeding. T-there's a lot of blood on the floor. He...he...he's got a gash. On his shoulder. I-I can't tell how long it is, the flesh is all torn up around it. Maybe...two inches? It's so deep Mieke and it's bleeding so badly. I tried to Heal him, but it only made it worse." She fought back the tears in her voice.

Ana blinked and went pale. "C-cauterize..you mean burn...." She closed her eyes and felt faint for a moment. She focused on Sanctum. He was bleeding. He would die if she didn't do this. She had to help him. When she spoke, her voice was stronger and determined. "Yes. I can to this. What should I use?"

Ana nodded. "A spoon. Alright. Ok. I can get that. Gimme a minute." She put the phone down on the carpet next to Sanctum and stood. She swayed for a moment and put her hand to her head, feeling dizzy. When she moved her arm, she felt a twinge of pain in her shoulder. Dismissing it, she stumbled to the couch where Mieke had left her bag. She quickly opened it and dumped out the contents, not taking the time to search through it. She grabbed the lighter that fell out and quickly moved to the kitchen, opening the drawer and getting a spoon.

Heading back to where Sanctum was, she leaned against the wall for a moment, feeling another wave of dizziness. Once it had passed she knelt beside him and picked the phone back up. "Ok. I've got it. How do I know when it's hot enough?"

"Gauze? s**t! Gimme a sec." She stumbled to her feet once more and made her way over to where she had dumped out the bag. She grabbed the gauze and went back to Sanctum and once more knelt beside him. She didn't know if she could get back up again if her life depended on it. She picked the phone back up. "Ok. I've got it. Wish me luck."

Putting the phone down, she picked up the lighter and the spoon. She flicked the lighter and held the flame to the bowl of the spoon. She heated the spoon until it glowed red. Taking a deep breath, she looked down at Sanctum. "I'm sorry hun. I wish there was another way."

She closed her eyes, gathering her strength. Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and pressed the red hot spoon against the sides of the wound. She gagged against the smell of burning flesh, but quickly moved the spoon around the sides and surface of the wound.

The pain cut through Sanctum's unconsciousness and he bucked against it, crying out in pain. Ana put all her weight onto his chest to hold him still and made soft, comforting noises. Her hand never faltered as she cauterized his wound.

The blood slowed to a trickle and then stopped altogether. With a grunt of effort, she rolled Sanctum onto his side, checking the back of his shoulder. She let out a small curse when she saw that the wound went all the way through. She gently propped him on his side and re-heated the spoon, then repeated the cauterizing process on the back of the wound.

Once it was done, she quickly unrolled the gauze, packing it into the front and back of the wound. She tied another strip of gauze around his shoulder, pulling it tight to hold the packed gauze on.

She picked up the phone again. "Alright. It's done. The bleeding's stopped. I'm going to the infirmary to get help." Sanctum's screams had died down when she took the spoon from his shoulder. She bent down, gently placing a hand on his forehead and whispered in his ear. "I'm going to get some help dear. You'll be ok. Just hold on. I'm coming right back."

She fought against the dizziness as she stood up and headed out the door. She supported herself on the wall as she made her way to the infirmary.

Ana entered the room, barely able to stay on her feet. She led the nurse to where Sanctum lay and then gratefully sunk to the floor beside him. "I told you I'd bring help big brother." she whispered hoarsely. Her hand went to her shoulder absently. Why did it hurt like that? Had she bumped it somewhere?

Nurse Melody walked over to the young man and took the syringe out. "This may hurt but it is morphine, It will dull the pain." She stuck the needle in his shoulder and emptied it. "It should take effect immediatly."