Michael headed straight to the room where Khaat was, where the healers were frantically working to save her. He entered with an air of command and determination about him, with a calmness that the situation in front of him did not have.
Brian looked at him, and realized this was not Michael. He knew Michael. Michael could posess an air of command, but this was completely different. There was something in the eyes that wasn't Michael. An air of power about this person that wasn't Michael whatsoever. Michael was nurturing with Khaat--even when he was on a mission. This man had power running all through him, and he was just too calm in the fact of the disaster in the room for it to be Michael. Brian didn't believe they could take him, even if it were Jess and Sophia and him all combined. Nor did he believe this man would let himself be taken.
But he didn't know who he was looking at. His first duty was to protect Khaat. He drew on the man, who used a burst of wandless magic, and made a wiping motion with his right hand and it simply wiped Brian's wand out of his hand. It was much like a father disarming a mere child. It had looked elementary and stupid for Brian to even try. The wand skittered over into the corner. Brian stood motionless. No one moved for a moment. Everyone froze.
Then it hit Brian as the two men stared into each other's eyes. This was Robert. He had come after all. Brian was flabbergasted. He stepped away from Khaat, yielding to him.
"Do whatever he tells you," Brian told the healers quietly.
Wand drawn, Michael moved closer, but not too close to Khaat. He saw clearly that she would die if interventions were not immediate. He accio'd a healing spell book instead and flipped open the pages. He was frustrated that he did not dare do this himself. He reached a page and motioned to Brian and pointed out a spell. It was an advanced spell to reduce traumatic shock. He pointed it to Sophia.
"Cast this spell, Soph," Brian said, laying his hand on the page to give her a moment to read the page. "He wants you to use this spell. Do it."
He saw Jess. He paused to give Soph a chance to read the spell then flipped the pages again. He found the life support spell. He pointed to Jess and pointed out the spell, hoping Jess got the message. Jess knew how to do the life support spell and knew that to do it over a prolonged period, she would have to do it in short bursts. He pointed out, specifically, the last few lines of the commentary on the spell regarding how one healer could potentially provide the spell for days by providing life support in short, intense bursts and then supplementing with careful monitoring of vital signs. He underlined the words with his wand, making them glow. Then he pointed to Jess. He looked at her, wanting to be sure she understood.
He flipped the pages again. This time to a page illustrating magical surgery for crushed joints. It listed the procedure, step by step. Stopping the bleeding, removing irrepairable crushed bone pieces and being sure the healer got them all, removing irrepairably damaged tissue and cartiledge. It showed the spells and illustrated the process step by step. It showed exactly which potions to pour into the wound. It was a difficult and meticulous procedure that would take hours.
He pointed the to the open pages of the book and pointed to Brian and then to Khaat's throat wound. It was the most life threatening of the two, even though it wasn't the largest.
Then he pointed again to Sophia and pointed to the book and to Khaat's shoulder, hoping Sophia knew he intended for her to follow the procedure with Khaat's shoulder.
He looked at them all and made a unifying gesture. They had to work together. No spell was any less important than the other, no task less important. If one of them did not do their part, Khaat would die. It was all equally important. He needed them to know that Khaat's life rested equally in their hands.
"That was my plan," Brian told him. Michael looked at Brian and nodded. He walked away from the book and opened the potions cabinet. He began putting bottles of potions on the counter. Potions they were going to need during surgery and after. But he wasn't finding the pain potion he wanted.
Brian walked up behind him. He went to draw out the bottle of the gold potion for pain. "This one?" Brian asked. Michael shook his head no. Definitely not. Michael apparated out in large curls of white smoke. Brian knew. He was going to the potions lab downstairs.
He reappeared moments later with two large, identical bottles. It was a potion Brian hadn't seen. It was a type of gold potion, Brian could see that. But it was definitely different. There were green marbled swirls and lavender ones that marbled through the gold. He put one bottle on the counter and handed one to Brian.
Brian read the label. It was a special brew of the gold potion for intractable pain in pregnant or nursing women. Brian frowned. He didn't understand. Michael stared at Brian deeply for a moment, hoping he would connect the dots. Brian seemed to be in denial about what he was being told. Michael pointed to the label on the bottle and pointed to Khaat. It took Brian a moment.
"Oh, God," Brian said softly. He was being told that he could not use the gold potion because Khaat was pregnant. That changed everything. The spells they used, the potions they used. It changed it all.
"How far along?" he asked. Michael went to a calendar on the wall and went back two months and made a circle around the best guess he had as a conception date. She was two months into it. Brian had to get a grip on this fast. He was going to be a father again. And now he wasn't just doing surgery on his wife. He was going to operate on his pregnant wife. That made it all feel like the stakes were higher yet.
Michael seemed to be still perfectly calm. He pointed to the spell book and the potions he had put in front of them. If they followed him, it would be well, he believed.
"You'll come with us?" Brian asked Michael. Michael nodded. He would accompany them to surgery, but he would keep his distance. He made a hands off gesture, though, so they knew. He would go along. But he would not touch her. The work, the choices, were up to them.
by 
