The latest news is in. My brother is feeling better, but he's still going to be in the hospital until at least the end of the week, and there will definately have to be more surgery before this is done, but he's in stable condition and is improving.

The diagnosis is acute gallstone pancreatitis - in other words, gallstones and a bunch of sludge formed in his gallbladder, some of it escaped to plug up the ducts of the liver and pancreas, and the rest plugged up the bile duct. Infection set in as a result, and has further plugged up other parts of his digestive system. From what we've learned, it does not appear that the gallbladder has perforated, as was originally feared. Barring further complications, he should be back in his apartment by the weekend, assuming the antibiotics continue working as effectively as they are now. Then, after two to three weeks of a highly restricted diet (and lots more antibiotics) he will return to the hospital for removal of the gallbladder.

This is very good news, and I thank everyone here for their prayers. They've definately helped.

Meanwhile, partially to get my mind off of things and partially to work off that big lunch I had, I went for a long walk earlier. And in the process, I ran into Antagony again. Seems she's still lurking around, searching for that heart shard. Unfortunately, I still have no idea where it is. Luckily, neither does she. Or her master Naraku. Also luckily, she couldn't act against me, since we were out by a rather busy highway at the time, and she wasn't willing to take the chance of anyone else possibly seeing her at the time. However, she did leave me with a warning: she's coming back to my house in a week, and if I don't hand over the heart shard then, only one of us is going to walk away intact. The other won't be walking anywhere, ever again.

And she meant it.

Luckily, I've already taken precautions. The Gung-Ho Guns and the rest of my live-ins are standing by, and we're stocking up on the necessary supplies. Including a few surprises. When Antagony comes back, we'll be ready for her and anyone or anything else she brings. Even her boss. And hopefully, we'll have found the heart shard by then as well. If she tries to take it from me, it'll be the last thing she ever does. No matter what.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.