Swamped

"No, Mortimer! Don't eat it!"

The wizard glances around immediately after he says it. The doctor, one of the nurses, and the person who brought the rope all come in to see the commotion.

"Oh," the wizard says. "I''m not sure what's happened, but I'm guessing my warning is a bit late. I don't suppose anyone's seen a talking lizard around?"

The person who brought the rope looks especially confused, but doesn't say anything.

"The one you were talking to before I left?" you ask. You think you remember that.

"Yes. I was trying to warn him about the beetle he was eyeing, but it seems I didn't get a chance. I hope he's all right, but it seems I might need to be more concerned about whether I am at the moment."

"Someone stung you with a needle from that spiked creature." You turn to the doctor. "Do you know where the needle is, by chance?"

"It was on the floor near where he was flailing," says the nurse. "Just picked it up when things calmed down. Didn't want anyone else stepping on it." She holds up a small jar. "I put it in here for safety."

"We might need that," you say. "As, um, evidence. But there's a lot to deal with so maybe just keep that in a safe place for now."

"There is indeed," says the doctor. "For one thing, I need to examine him." He turns to the nurse. "I don't think I'll need assistance, but be on standby just in case. Everyone else should go..." His eyes settle on you. "Although you should stick around in case he has a relapse. It should be fine, he's still tied down, but I don't want to take chances."

"Um, Ms. Patterson's going to want the rope back when you're done," Monty mutters.

"And we've got another patient who's going to want their belt," the nurse adds. "Maybe I can take care of that now."

"Oh, you must be busy. I could do it for you," Minnie interjects. She pokes you. "Hey, didn't you pull the buckle cover off that? Because you thought it might be uncomfortable for him without actually helping with the restraints? Better give it back."

Ah. She's offering to investigate for you. Well, you're not sure you have much of a choice right now. You hand over the cover, but you also make a bit of a show of it.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Probably pretty important, the wood seems a bit unusual to me." You hope the wizard can weigh in on whether it's darkwood. "Wouldn't want it to get overlooked."

The wizard does seem to take notice, but he doesn't have much of a reaction.

"Well, let's get on with this," he says. "And if any of you spots that lizard, do let me know."

Everyone except the doctor heads out. You and the nurse stay near the bed. You keep an eye out for the lizard, but you can't really actively search right now - apparently you're on guard duty.

Though maybe you can get some sense of what's going on if you talk to the nurse for a bit. She probably doesn't know about most of the weird stuff that's been happening - at least not the stuff happening outside the hospital - but maybe there's something a bit more grounded you can ask her about.