Revised
Chapter 4 The Bond
He felt like he was swimming up out of a fog. He opened his eyes and found eyes looking down at him. He tried to squirm but the body attached to the eyes just held him a little tighter. The pain his body felt caused him to stop moving although his eyes did wonder. He caught site of something sticking in his arm. He furled his brow trying to identify what it was but it was hard to catch onto a thought long enough to act on anything so he dismissed the whatever it was as his eyes traveled down to his wrist. Something strange about that too. The band that was there was now gone. He could hear someone talking although he couldn't make out words. It sounded almost like the voices were coming from down a long tube. His body was shifted and something touched his arm. Something wet. It was unusual enough to catch his interest so his gaze moved to the spot of wetness in time to see a hand stick the needle part of a syringe into his arm. How curious. He thought as he once again drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up the next time the man called Lish was bent over him. He pressed something to his chest and Harry felt a warmth dig inward. It felt kind of nice but there were other feelings that weren't so nice. A pinching in his arm, an annoying beep that wouldn't stop, something stuck up his nose? He raised his hand to his face and felt it. Yep, something was stuck up his nose. He tried to bat it away but his hand was grabbed and lowered back down to the bed. He heard a door open but couldn't understand what it was, His thoughts danced around in his head and although he tried he could not focus in on any one of them. He felt like he had been cast adrift. The feeling was so unexpected and so foreign to him that it frightened him. He felt tears gather in his eyes as he tried to center himself.
Lish turned away from his young patient when the door to his room opened. Kestral entered and waited for the healer to finish examining his son.
"How is he doing Lish" He asked after the healer was finished.
Lish smiled at the worried man. "Actually he's doing even better than I had hoped. Your son is most definitely a fighter."
"I know. My daughter told me that he woke up early this morning when she was holding him and he tried to escape. Will you be taking the IV out soon or is he still in danger of becoming dehydrated?" He asked.
"As soon as we can get him to drink I can remove the IV but I'll most likely leave it in till after he's had surgery. I'll want to leave the heart monitor on him and till we can do the first surgery and he'll need to be kept on oxygen. He tried to get the oxygen clip out of his nose just a few minutes ago."
Kestral smiled at that last. "I don't blame him for that. They make you feel like you have something stuffed up your nose. It's not pleasant."
Kestral approached the bed and looked down at his son. A fierce protectiveness rose within him. Anger at the unknown person or persons responsible for his son's condition radiated out. His son locked his gaze on his father and Kestral could feel the fear and confusion the child was experiencing.
If Harry had been able to put two thoughts together and keep them together he would have never done what he did next...It was a gesture that every parent recognized and understood and every child learned at a young age. Harry raised his arms toward his father demanding without words…Hold me, comfort me. Kestral reached down and lifted his son in his arms offering the comfort that only a parent could.
When he did the bond that had been started on earth snapped into place firm and strong. The radiating magic of the bond reached out and touched every member of Kestral's family and no matter where they were or what the relationship was they knew in their hearts that Kestral had a new son. Aunts, cousins, grandparents and uncles knew that the family had grown by one. Even the baby born only a few months ago could feel her new cousin and he took a place in her heart.
But that wasn't all they felt. They also felt the anger that Kestral felt at the abusers to his son and each family member who was old enough pledged themselves to extracting vengeance for the wrong done to this child. For you see, Titans were slow to breed and children were a gift from the gods. They were made to be loved, protected and guided in life. They were never, ever made to be misused or abused and only the gods would show mercy to someone who abused one of their own…because in this one area the Titans had no mercy.
Once his father's arms closed around him the child relaxed. He felt safe, loved and protected. He felt like he had found home. His eyes drifted close and he slept a healing sleep. Safe, secure, loved.
When Harry next woke up he could think again. It was hard but he could do it if he tried. He was being held by someone, nothing unusual about that anymore he really wasn't surprised to find that father held him cuddled against his chest. He was however a bit surprised to find father asleep with him cuddled against his chest, the arms of the large man encircling the boy as he snored softly. Harry smiled slightly at the man holding him before he quietly tried to unwrap the arms that held him without waking up the man. Of course he was unsuccessful as the eyes of the man opened and studied his son. The arms tightened up slightly before they were used to steady the boy and to help him stand once his feet made contact with the floor.
Once weight was added to the decisively shaky legs they started to buckle and Harry would have crumpled to the floor if it weren't for the supporting hands holding him upright. With a low chuckle father lifted the boy and lay him back down on his bed. Harry's breath echoed harshly as if he had done a hundred sit-ups instead of just trying to stand a little bit prematurely.
Father propped the boy up and held a cup with some clear juice in it the straw conveniently close to his mouth so that all he had to do was open and suck to relieve his thirst. He would have drained the whole cup if father would not have moved it out of reach again after he had taken one long drink of the mildly tart juice. Harry looked at father with a disgruntled expression on his face as his juice was taken from him and father laughed and said something that Harry of course couldn't understand.
Once Harry's thirst was partly appeased he once again took an interest in his surroundings. The annoying beep that he remembered from before was still there. Looking around he tried to locate where the noise was coming from. When he found it he was kinda surprised to find something as technical as the monitor standing beside the bed he was laying on. He glanced around noting other equipment. Some he recognized and some he didn't. Most of it he was a little surprised to see was in some way attached to himself. Now that was strange. As much time as he had spent in the infirmary at school he had never seen anything that operated with electricity there. He was in the process of trying to trace one tube that seemed to end inside his pajama bottoms. He wanted to stick his hand under the elasticized waste band and find the end of the tube but with father sitting there he was embarrassed about doing that type of exploring. Just thinking about it caused a blush to stain his cheeks. Oh well, there were several other wires and tubes to explore that didn't lead to embarrassing places.
He reached up to his face just as the door to his room opened to admit a woman who fit his idea of normal sized or even a little on the short side. As he studied her he noticed that she had pointed ears. She walked into the room but didn't make it to the bed before father had her in his embrace. She put her arms around the tall man and rolled her eyes at Harry with a grin as the two hugged each other. Father rapidly talked to the woman for a few minutes without letting go of the hug he held her in. He then moved to the woman's side and walked her over to Harry's bed.
She studied Harry for a few moments before she grinned at him again and said in perfectly normal English. "Hi Harry."
Harry had frozen when she entered the room, his hand half way to his nose to find out what was stuffed into it. When she actually spoke to him and he understood her he dropped his hand back to his side in shock. "You speak English?" he asked her.
"Yep, I teach English as a matter of fact although at this time I have only one student and I'm not teaching him English, I'm teaching him Tallo's which is the language most commonly used here. You young man, are my student."
"Me? You're to teach me his language?" he jerked his head to indicate his father when he asked the question.
She smiled at Harry again. "Is it hard for you to call him father Harry? That's what he is you know. Titans form bonds with their families and he has bonded with you. It's unbreakable. He is your father now. As a matter of fact you now have a very large family. I'm your cousin Dreamer by the way. My adopted father is Shane, youngest brother to Uncle Kestral." She reached out and took his hand. "It will become easier as time passes."
Harry studied the woman then said, "I thought you were an elf. How can the giants adopt an elf?"
Dreamer laughed at that question. "I am an elf, a common elf to be exact and just so you know, Titans don't much care what race a child is if they find one in need. I know people that have adopted goblin children and one that adopted a mer child. Talk about some problems raising a child! But the family is managing. It's because of the love they hold for all children and because of the bond that develops in the family for its children. They make it work. Somehow no matter what problems there are they make it work."
She tweaked his thumb. "Now, let me explain what's happening to you. Your father is concerned that you are frightened because you don't really understand what's going on here." She laughed at the blush that spread across his face at being told he might be frightened. "Your heart was weakened when the reset was done so the healers have you hooked up to a heart monitor, you are also on oxygen, the needle in your arm is an I.V. and you have a catheter in you. Do you understand what each of these things are?"
Harry paled at being told that his heart had suffered some type of damage and when she finished and asked if he understood what all of the wires and tubes were he shook his head no. "I understand about the heart monitor. That's the beep right?" at her nod he continued. "The oxygen is the thing stuffed up my nose?" She nodded again. "I don't know what an I.V. or a catheter is."
"The I.V. is the thin tube in your arm. It's used to keep you hydrated and to administer medicines and antibiotics to you without you having to swallow them or to have a shot. Its common practice to have an I.V. in during surgery and for several days after as well. You had yours put in because you have been unable to drink much of anything for the past 12 days. That's how long you have been in the hospital now. The catheter is used to remove urine from your body because you have been unable to use a toilet." Her matter of fact tone in dealing with that potentially embarrassing topic was much appreciated by Harry as he tried to control his blush and discomfort at finding out what the tube was that went into his pajama bottoms.
"So the tubes and wires will stay till when?" he asked her.
"The heart monitor will stay till after you have surgery on your heart, the I.V. and oxygen will also stay till then and a bit after to make sure you are recovering ok. The catheter can be removed anytime you want."
Harry's face paled at the mention of surgery on his heart. "Cant they take me home to Madam Pomprey if I need something done to my heart. She can fix me up with magic so I don't need surgery any more."
"Harry, how much do you understand about the limitations of magic?" she asked him.
"I know that it can fix just about anything if it's treated by a good healer. Our school nurse is good at what she does. All she has to do is give you a potion or put a spell on you to fix you up. I've been hurt plenty of times and she always fixes me up." He explained to the woman.
She said something to her uncle who answered her. At his answer her face paled before she turned back to the boy. "Not this, magic can't cure this." She hesitated for a moment before she asked, "Harry, when she fixed you did she use a wand?" The boy told her that sometimes she did. Dreamer sighed, "That's something we will talk about later Harry."
Lish came back into the room with a small cup of potion. He said something to Dreamer who turned to Harry and explained, "Healer Lish has a nutritional potion for you to drink. You'll be taking one of these four times a day. They will help build up your muscle mass and build up your calcium levels. After that he wants you to sleep for a few hours then you will get some vegetable soup and some more juice." She smiled, "He is also going to take out the catheter. I'll be back in a few hours to see you."
Harry didn't want her to go because she was a source of communication between himself, his father and the healer, he also had enjoyed her company but he told her goodbye and reached for the potion that Lish held out to him. Lish supported his body so that he could take the potion without dumping it all over his face and after he was done with it (Snape needed to take lessons from whoever had made it because it didn't even taste bad) Lish pulled a screen across the lower part of his body so that Harry couldn't see what he was doing and pulled down his pajama bottoms. Harry felt a tug and a really weird feeling centered around his penis. His pajama bottoms were pulled back up and a blanket was pulled up to his waist. The screen was removed and Lish came back into view. He followed the tube back to a bag that was clipped to the bottom of a machine and the tube and bag were both removed. Lish then took the machine out of the room.
Harry didn't want to admit it but the slight activities he had engaged in this day had worn him out. He hid his mouth behind a hand as he tried to hide his yawn from his father. His father pulled the blanket up to is neck and held out the juice for him to drink again. After taking another big drink Harry felt his eyes drooping shut. He never even realized that Dreamer hadn't explained what a reset was yet so the 9 year old Harry fell asleep not understanding that more had changed about him than he knew.
When he next woke up he had to use the toilet. He was alone in the room for once so he swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand. With what should have been predictable results his legs buckled and he fell to the floor. This pulled one of the wires off his chest and the steady beeping noise turned into a long uninterrupted tone that caused three people to rush into his room in an almost panic. All three of them gathered around him and he was picked up and put back into bed. He tried to tell them that he needed to use the toilet but they of course didn't understand him. The wire he had pulled out was replaced and the beeping started up again.
Harry was trying to sit up but he was held down as the three talked excitedly. It was at this time that Dreamer and his uncle Jeris came into the room much to Harry's relief. He called to Dreamer to help him because the attention of the three was causing the boy some small amount of panic, that and he needed to use the toilet or he would soon embarrass himself.
Harry explained to Dreamer, "I need to go to the restroom Dreamer. Tell them for me please!"
Dreamer explained to the three nurses what the problem was and one of the three reached up and took off the oxygen clip from Harry's nose. The wires stuck on his chest were disconnected from the heart monitor and uncle Jeris helped Harry stand and walk to the toilet. Harry pulled down his pajama bottoms and sat down like a girl (standing to relieve himself at this time was out of the question) and Jeris turned to at least give the boy the illusion of privacy as he took care of his personal business. Harry urinated then as he was pulling up the bottoms he noticed that his pubic hair was missing. Color flared in his face. One of his hands went to his arm pit only to find that was also hairless. His face paled. Someone had shaved him…Jeris turned at the boy's distressed sound and finding his nephew looking like the color had been leached out of him he quickly scooped the boy into his arms and hurried back to the bed and gently lay the boy down.
The nurse that had remained to reattach the wires was distressed to see the upset boy. With his medical problems the pale skin tone could be caused by several problems. She hooked the heart monitor back up and reinserted the nose clip. The heart monitor was recording an elevated heart rate reminiscent of fear but not knowing what could have caused the fear she called Lish.
When Lish arrived it was to find a hysterical laughing Dreamer and a smiling Jeris. "Give. I get called in because my nurse is afraid that Harry is going into cardiac arrest and instead I find the two of you laughing like loons and Harry looking like his face is on fire." He put his hands to his hips and scowled at the two laughing people. "I'm waiting"
Dreamer gasped a few times before she was able to control herself enough to answer the healer. "I thought you had someone explain to Harry what a restart was."
"I did. They talked for a few hours the morning that Harry was admitted. Why?"
Dreamer cut her eyes over to Jeris who was practically howling with mirth before she answered Lish. "Whoever it was didn't do a very good job then. Harry thought that he would grow a few centimeters with the restart and that it would get rid of his scars and break the conduit between him and 'some evil dark lord'. Imagine his sur-surprise when hhhe used the toilet and found out that all oof of his pu-pub-pubic hair was g-gone" She couldn't help it. She started laughing as she tried to explain the problem to Lish.
"Oh Gods, he doesn't know that he's 9 years old now…Damn-it Dreamer, get a grip on yourself and explain to the boy what's going on!" Lish demanded.
Dreamer instantly stopped laughing as she saw the tears gathering in the boy's eyes. She gently gathered him up in her arms, "Harry, its ok, you're ok." She started rocking the distressed boy as she tried to comfort him. "Sssh, I'm sorry I laughed but I wasn't laughing at you. Please don't be upset."
Jeris sat down on the other side of the two and gathered both into his arms. "His parents will be here soon. You know they felt his distress and they won't let it pass, not with how sick he is." His words were prophetic as Laural rushed into the room looking as upset as her son…
After Albus checked the magical registry he found that Harry Potter was no longer listed as a student he called a meeting of the Order Of the Phoenix to explain to them what had happened and to organize a search for the boy. After all, the boy could have been taken out of the British Commonwealth instead of being killed. There was still hope.
The order was in total chaos when they found out that Harry was missing. Most knew the boy and liked him. Searches were organized and plans made for rescue if/when they found him.