Oh God, I was so hot. Sweating even. Then why was I shivering? "He's shivering guys. Nudge, go get him a blanket." I tried to protest as a thick heaviness settled around me, but all that escaped my lips was a soft whine. A cool hand pushed hair out of my eyes before what seemed like a sheet of ice was placed over my forehead. The place where my wings joined with my back was on fire. I'm tough, but let me tell you, this hurt like h*ll. It burned, stung, seared my nerves, hurt, and any other creative way you can put it. Fang, ever the man of common sense, suggested a doctor. Max suggested that they take me to Dr. Martinez. I agreed with Max, except for the fact that her mom was all the way in Arizona, where were we? In freaking California! So here we were, back at the begining, arguing about such a trivial thing like, say, MY LIFE! "Fang, you know we can't take him to a doctor. You know that as well as I do." Max argued. Fang sighed and put his weight on the back of the couch that I 'napped' on. "Max, do you want to lose him?" he asked. "Of course not. God, no. I couldn't lose him again." she answered, sitting at the end of the couch. "I just, I wish we could do something for him and with my mom being a whole state away...I don't know any more Fang." Fang was silent. Max sniffed and rubbed small circles between my wings, the way we all liked. When she reached the exact juncture of my wings I twitched away from her. Her hand stopped and she pulled away. "Ig' you okay?" I nodded. She continued rubbing and hit the spot again. A hiss escaped my lips and i pulled away from her. "Iggy what's wrong?" Nudge asked from in front of me. A hand found the spot again and gently probed around,Fang leaned back on the couch. "Ig' you gotta tell us what's going on." he said from behind me. "I think I can answer that." came a new voice from the doorway. Dr. Martinez. I heaved a sigh of releif, she would know what to do with whatever the h*ll it was. "Let's get him to the nearest vet so I can check him out." I felt weight on the couch shift letting me know that Max had gotten up and Fang had left. No sooner had I thought this than an arm came under my knees and around my back. "Say nothing. You do, I drop you." I tried to smile at Fang's jab but couldn't find it in me. The car ride there was bumpy, at best. But being the good little mutant freak that I was, I gritted my teeth and sucked it up. Finally the journey ended and after a whirl of voices I found myself lying on a cool table. Alarms went off and flags flew in my mind, but I knew I was safe. Machinery buzzed and we waited with baited breath for a few minutes while the picture was developed. "Alright kids. Look here, sorry Iggy, you'll have to do without the visual." Dr. Martinez said. "See where his wing meets with his shoulder?" she asked. I heard swishing hair, indicating that the flock was all nodding their heads whether they saw it or not. "Mom, that looks like-" "A micro chip."Fang finished, cutting Max off. Wonderfull."But that still doesn't explain why he's been so sick lately." Nudge said, grasping my hand. "Well from this image it looks like the lab tech did a sucky job of implanting the chip. The muscles and ligaments grew around the chip, no doubt. But they grew in all the wrong directions, causing him pain." she explained. "So in short, he's not sick, just really really hurt. You have to take good care of him. I hate to say it but he may have to learn how to fly all over again." Whaaat?! Super freaking wonderfull.