Clay was in pain, but he wasn't about to complain to anyone. They would raz and make fun of him for the entire mission. He felt like a brooding teenager again. He tried sitting upright in his hammock as it swung with every jolt and movement of the of the plane. Clay clutched his face tightly in his right hand and sat criss cross applesauce to distribute his weight for stability. The pain was familiar and reminiscent from the time his upper right wisdom tooth was impacted was he was 17. Weird too think it had already been 5 years… Now that pain is back with a vengeance in the remaining three quadrants in his mouth to the point where nothing is comfortable.
As his hammock continued to sway he was getting dizzier and dizzier. He didn't know if he was getting airsick or if they were in a rough patch of air.
"What's the matter pretty boy? Don't you need your beauty rest?" Sonny called over to him. Clay's body casted a shadow over Sonny's adjacent hammock, causing him to wake up.
Clay simply turned his head towards Sonny and smirked. "Hammock's swinging too much" He replied lightly.
"Cool okay. then get up." Sonny mumbled out, "You moving keeps waking me up" With that, Sonny awkwardly flipped to the other side and also flipped up a special finger.
"Okay okay, I'm going..." Clay tried to move his mouth as little as possible so his words sounded jumbled.
As Clay attempted to slide out of the hammock, his dizziness intensified. He somehow managed to completely flip his hammock. Clay's legs remained tangled in the hammock, but his head slammed the cold metal floor as he awkwardly hung. It feel like his head erupted, but in actuality it was just the team roaring with laughter.
"In all my years, I h-have never ever in all my years seen t-that." Blackburn almost choked on his words.
"God Clay, I thought the plane was getting shot down" Ray said as he wiped his tears away.
Everyone was still laughing and making small comments. Clay just sheepishly smiled while he pulled his legs out for the hammock. If felt like he actually knocked his teeth out of his head nd as the pain set it, he tried to breathe deeply to stop it. He felt warm liquid ooze into his mouth. He must of clamped his mouth shut when he whacked his head and punctured his swollen gums.
The only one who wasn't doubled over in laughter was the dog. Cerb hung his head low and with his tail between his legs came over to sniff Clay's face.
Picking up on Cerb's demeanor and Clay's labored breathing, Brock walked up to Clay and bent down to look him in the eyes. "You okay there Kid?" Clay nodded his head, but his smile faltered and his eyes were starting to shine with the pain. The rest of the team immediately picked up on this and headed over too.
Jason switched into a mix between his dad and boss voice, "Use your words"
Clay scowled the best he could with limited facial movement and replied "Yes Boss" But as soon as he opened his mouth and spoke all the blood came rushing out. The team gasped and Clay looked down in confusion as to how blood was suddenly all over his pants and the floor.
….. To Be Continued