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Dewey sucked in a deep breath, the scalpel hovering over the creature. With a nod, he pressed the scalpel against its body.

Paige winced as he began to slice at it. Black liquid sprayed everywhere, landing on her back and Dewey’s skin.

“Ouch,” she shouted as smoke rose from her skin. “That burns!”

Dewey cried out, too, dropping the scalpel and tweezers as he wiped at his face, paws, and Paige’s back with the towel.

The wounded creature took shelter inside Paige’s body.

She blew out a sharp breath.

Dewey shook his head as he threw down the towel. “Okay, this is not working. We’re going to need to cover your skin and mine before we attempt this again.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine how painful this would be without the slime. That burned!”

“Even I felt it, and I’ve got scales!” Dewey said as he flitted into the air, heading for his bedroom.

He returned with several towels and a mask dangling from his paw. After carefully covering as much of Paige’s skin as he could, he donned his surgical mask and slid a pair of glasses-style eye protectors onto his horned nose, wedging them between two horns. He tugged on a pair of thick gloves before grabbing tools in both hands.

“Okay, let’s try this again,” he said, his voice muffled by the mask.

Paige blew out another breath and positioned the mirror to watch the progress. Dewey grasped hold of one of the remaining worm-like creatures with the tweezers.

With a wobble of his nose horns, he pressed the scalpel against its black flesh. “Here goes.”

Paige winced as black blood sprayed out in a steady stream while Dewey worked to cut through the thick flesh.

He grunted with effort. “Tough little bugger.”

The worm wriggled in a desperate attempt to free itself. Paige whimpered as dull pain radiated through her upper back.

“You okay?” Dewey asked as a bead of sweat formed on his brow.

“Yeah,” she answered with a clenched jaw. “Keep going. Get the little bastard.”

Dewey finished slicing through the worm on one side. It retracted its free end and tugged against the tweezers.

Dewey swung the scalpel to the other side and attempted to cut through the flesh and free a chunk of the creature. It squirmed violently until it began to slip from the tweezer’s grip.

“You’re losing him,” Paige said.

“I know, I know!” Dewey tossed the scalpel away and adjusted the tweezers.

The creature continued to fight, finally pulling itself out of his grasp and disappearing into Paige’s body.

“Damn it,” Dewey shouted.

“One left,” Paige said. “Make it count.”

Dewey flicked his gaze into the mirror. “You okay?”

Paige gave a slight nod. “It hurts, but I’m okay. Just get him.”

“I’m not going to cut this one. They’re too hard to handle. I’m just going to try to pull it free. It may hurt.”

Paige nodded again, clutching the pillow under her tightly.

Dewey adjusted the glasses and tugged the gloves up higher.