Thanks to Annalisa Kjellberg, my protégée, for the review.
"[What's happening to me? Pa, where are you? Mom, stop hurting me!]"
I feel something being wrapped around me as I thrash back and forth. I feel myself being taken...somewhere.
"[Mom, where are you taking me? Pa, come find me! Please come find me! I'm scared!"
I continue to thrash back and forth all the way to wherever my destination is. When I get there, I'm still thrashing back and forth. I feel whatever's wrapped around me disappear. I start to shiver.
"[Cold. Mom, that's cold! Don't leave me here! Please don't leave me here alone! Pa, come find me! I'm cold and scared! Please come find me! I don't want to be alone!"
I'm still shivering. So cold and really scared.
Where am I? Where am I? "[Where am I?]"
Clark's P.O.V
Nori's so sick she's not even speaking English. It's been almost 10 minutes since she's spoken in that language.
At least she's stopped thrashing back and forth. But now she's shivering.
Given her temperature, that can't be good.
I'm surprised she hasn't shifted...
No, there she goes.
She's inside now though.
Pa's not home but Ma is. Thank God for small favors.
I feel Nori's forehead in an effort to see if her temperature's risen anymore. I really hope it hasn't. She still hasn't stopped shivering.
How do you take a sick otter's temperature? Not important. Getting it down, however, is.
Ma notices Nori.
"How high is her temperature?" "The last time I checked, it was 104 degrees." "That's high. We'll need to put her in an ice bath."
Why didn't I think of that?
"It's O.K Clark. You were panicked so you've nothing to be ashamed of."
She runs the cold water. It feels like an eternity before the tub's full enough. My arctic breath does the rest.
"Well done, Clark." "Thanks Ma."
I carefully put Nori inside the tub, her words ringing in my mind.
"This will make sense but I really like being in water. It feels like home to me..."
With Ma, I watch Nori. She slowly moves around the tub.
"[Where am I?]"
She's still disoriented. I think she asked where she was. I wish I knew how to say, in Otter language, that she's somewhere safe. I may know a lot of languages, even one that's pretty much dead*, but I don't know how to say anything in Otter language except for girl and brother. Neither of those two words are going to be much help to Nori.
But the ice bath is slowly helping her. Thank God.
It takes a little more than half an hour before we see Nori in her girl form. She still seems a little disoriented.
"[What happened?]"
It doesn't take much to figure out what she said.
"You got really sick so I took you here. I think you can figure out the rest."
She nods.
"I don't feel that sick anymore. I'm just really tired and..."
She looks at her fingers.
"A little bit wrinkly."
I tell her she was an otter in the tub for almost half an hour.
"That long? I'm sorry if I scared you guys. I don't want to have to scare my family."
I smile.
"You ready to come out now?"
She yawns and nods. After Ma gets a towel, Nori's about to step out. I help her. She thanks me.
As she dries herself, I notice a scar where her tail meets her skin. Nori's Mom must have tried to cut it off. I know better than to let her see me with a clenched fist.
Once she's all dry, and in some new clothes, I take her temperature. 100 degrees. She's still a little bit sick. I hear her yawn again. When I hug her, she falls asleep in my arms.
I thank Ma for everything, then carefully take Nori home. It's not long before I'm placing her on the couch.
Get well soon and have sweet dreams, Nori. That's what I want for you.
*Kryptonese
