Chapter 4

'Dying?' Barnacles repeated in a whisper. 'What's wrong with her?'

'I've checked her over thoroughly and it appears she's suffering from leukaemia.' He glanced back towards the sick bay. 'She's in the later stages so she doesn't have much time left.'

'Is there anything you can do?'

The medic shook his head. 'Not when it's as advanced as she is. All I can do is keep her comfortable and out of pain.'

He placed his hand on Peso's shoulder. 'Does she know?'

'No Captain.'

'Would you like me to tell her?'

He shook his head. 'I'll tell her tomorrow, right now she's resting and that's the best thing for her.'

'Ashima will have to be told.' Barnacles lifted his cap and ran his paw over his head then placed it back on, a habit he did when he was stressed or worried. 'Do you want to tell her?'

'Maybe you should Captain, she seems to trust you.'

He nodded as the dinner bell rang. 'Alright, I'll take care of that tomorrow. Are you coming to dinner?'

'No, I better stay with the patients. Ashima's condition has deteriorated a little and I should be with her.'

'I'll send someone up with your dinner then.'

'Thank you Captain.' Peso watched the polar bear head down the hallway and sighed, turning back to the sick bay. The door closed behind him he walked over to the bed, checking on both Ashima and Remi. The kitten was curled up next to the filly, fast asleep and he smiled sadly. The hardest thing was when a creature was sick and there being nothing he could do.

The sound of someone coughing woke Peso later that night, jolted out of his slumber. Quickly he got up from his cot across the room, flicked the light on and hurried over to the bed, the kitten gasping for air.

'Can't. Breath.'

He grabbed an oxygen mask off the wall and placed it on the kittens face then held her, helping her get her breath. Slowly the kitten calmed down, her breathing becoming normal again. 'You okay now Remi?' The kitten nodded with the mask still in her face. Even with the sound of the oxygen he could hear the kitten having trouble breathing. He placed her back on the bed beside the filly. 'You keep the mask on, okay? I'm going to grab my stethoscope to listen to your lungs.'

Remi nodded, breathing in deep. Her chest hurt, her whole body hurt. It felt like she couldn't breath, like she was drowning. She looked down at Ashima, the filly was still asleep. Why was she asleep? She placed her paw on the filly, trying to wake her. She needed her. She was scared. 'Ashima, wake up Ashima.' The filly didn't wake. She looked up at Peso walking over, wondering why Ashima wasn't waking. 'Why won't she wake up Peso?'

'She's really hurt Remi, her body has gone into repair mode to get her better faster. It's just like sleeping, only it's a deeper sleep and not easily interrupted.' He put the stethoscope to his ears and started listening to the kittens chest. 'Can you take a deep breath for me?'

'I'll try.'

It didn't sound good at all. The kittens lungs were filling up with fluid and fast. Pneumonia and multiple organ failure. The kitten was struggling to breath even with the mask. 'Okay, you can stop now.' The kitten sighed with relief and he placed the stethoscope aside. 'Do you hurt anywhere else?'

Remi nodded. 'My whole body, it hurts real bad. And I feel really hot.'

He grabbed his thermometer and checked the kittens temperature. She had a high fever but she was shivering. 'Remi, did you go under water at all?'

She nodded. 'Many times. I was on Ashima's back but the waves were very high. It was lucky we got to the island.'

'Did you breath in any water?'

'A bit. I was coughing it up all night. So was Ashima.'

Not good at all.

'Am I going to be okay?'

He looked into the kittens innocent eyes, how could he tell her she was dying and this was only going to take her life quicker? He couldn't do it. It was better to not answer the question at all. 'Snuggle up to Ashima, I've got to talk to the Captain.'

'Okay.' She yawned as she curled up under Ashima's head, the mask still on her face to help her breath. 'Night Peso.'

The penguin nodded then walked over to the radio. 'Captain, come in Captain.' He waited then called again. This time the Captain appeared. 'Sorry for waking you Captain.'

'What's wrong Peso?'

'It's Remi, it's really not good Captain-'

'I'm on my way.'

He sighed in relief as the Captain went offline and walked back to the bed with the two patients. They looked so peaceful sleeping together, the kitten curled up under the filly's head. He looked at the machine's connected to the filly, her condition had improved slightly, that was something at least. The stab wound she had behind her shoulder had been infected when they'd found her, as were the many other wounds she had. The filly was fighting, her heart rate and breathing had had a slight improvement. When would she wake though, he wasn't quite sure.

'What is it Peso?' Barnacles asked quietly as he entered the sick bay, the penguin ushering him to the other side of the room. 'What's going on?'

'Remi's taken a bad turn, she hasn't got much longer. Her body is shutting down with multiple organ failure and pneumonia.'

'Have you told her Peso?' He questioned softly, placing his paw on his shoulder.

'No. I-i just couldn't Captain.'

Barnacles nodded. 'I see.' The medic had only lost a couple patients in the couple years the Octonauts had been together but he'd never had to tell one they were dying. Both times he'd had a patient die the patient had just died while he was trying to save them. He knew how hard it was for the medic to loose a patient, especially if he had to tell them himself they were dying. 'Would you like me to tell her?'

'It should be my job Captain-'

'I know Peso. My offer stands though.'

'Thank you.'

'What do we do now?'

'We need to keep her comfortable, we need to drain the fluid from her lungs to help her breath.' He looked up at the Captain. 'Will you help me operate?'

'Of course. Just tell me what I need to do.'

'Thank you Captain. I'll go prepare.'

Barnacles took a seat beside the bed where the two patients slept, watching them. He felt sorry for them, from the information he'd been able to get from them neither of them had had an easy life. He had so many questions about them. Where did they come from? Did they have parents? How did they end up in the island-

'Captain, we're ready.' Peso exclaimed as he walked over. The polar bear nodded and stood up, the penguin placing his flipper on Remi gently. 'Wake up Remi.'

The kitten stirred, her eyes fluttering open. 'Is it morning already?'

'No, it's not morning.' He replied softly. 'Remi, I need to do a little operation on you to help you breathe better, okay?'

'Operation?'

'Your lungs are filling with fluid, mucous from inhaling the water. We're going to try and drain it so it's not so hard to breathe.'

'It's not going to hurt, is it?'

'No, you'll be asleep the whole time. It won't hurt a bit. You'll go into a really deep sleep and when you wake up it'll all be over.'

'It won't hurt?'

'Not at all.'

The kitten looked at Ashima, the filly still sleeping on then turned back to Peso. 'I'm scared.'

'It'll be alright.' Barnacles softly comforted. 'Peso knows what he's doing.'

'I want Ashima.'

'I know you do Remi but she needs to rest.' Peso replied gently. 'The Captain is here though, would you like him to hold you?'

She nodded after a moment. 'Please.'

'Up you come then.' Barnacles picked the kitten up gently, Peso heading to grab the anesthetic. 'It'll be alright.'

Peso returned with the anesthetic, swapping the masks over and turned it on. 'You'll feel really sleepy in a moment and then you'll be asleep.'

The kitten nodded, already her eyelids were getting heavy. After a little bit she couldn't stay awake any longer and she drifted off to sleep.

Barnacles felt the kitten sag, Peso nodding as he took the mask off her face. 'She's out to it.' He motioned to the table he'd set up for the operation. 'Place her down on the table.'

The Captain nodded, carrying the unconscious kitten over and gently placed her down. Remi looked peaceful but even he could hear how laboured and raspy her breathing was. 'Poor thing.' He murmered softly, stroking her cheek. He hated seeing creatures sick or in pain, especially the young ones.

'Alright-' Peso finished placing the IV line in and the kittens breathing tube down her throat. They were ready for the operation. 'Let's begin.'

It was early in the morning when the kitten finally started to stir, moaning softly as she started to come out from under the anesthetic.

'Ssssh, it's okay.' Barnacles gently soothed, the kitten held in his arms. 'Your okay.'

'W-where am I?' Her eyelids fluttered open, looking up into the face of a white polar bear. 'What h-happened?'

'Your on the Octopod, your very sick.' He replied softly. 'Peso and I had to do a little operation on you to help you breath better.'

She nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. 'I remember now.'

Peso joined them, looking at the machine the kitten was connected to. 'How are you feeling Remi?'

'A little better, I think.' She tried to smile. 'Very very tired though. Am I going to be okay?'

Peso and the Captain exchanged a look, the Captain about to speak but Peso found his voice. 'Remi, there's something I need to tell you. I'm afraid your very very sick and your not going to get better.'

The kitten thought for a moment then looked at him. 'I'm dying?'

'I'm sorry Remi.'

'It's not your fault.' The kitten said after a little while. 'I've been very sick for a long time, the doctor at the orphanage said I was sick.'

Orphanage. Barnacles felt even worse for the kitten. 'Do you have any family?'

'No. Ashima is all I have.' She looked up at the polar bear. 'Promise me you'll take care of her. She was always looking after me and the other orphans, she's never had anyone to look after her.'

He could feel himself tearing up but forced his emotions back. 'Of course I'll look after her Remi. You have my promise on my honour as an Octonaut.'

'Thank you, Mr Captain.' She looked over at the filly. 'Would you place me next to Ashima? I want to get some sleep.'

He nodded and stood up, placing her down under Ashima's head against her neck. 'There you go.'

'Thank you.'

'Sleep well.'

Barnacles and Peso left the room quietly, standing outside the room. 'You okay Peso?'

'I'm okay Captain.' He replied after a moment. 'I don't think I'll be able to go on missions with you for a couple days, I should really stay here with them.'

'Of course Peso.' He nodded then hesitated, a rather sobering question on his mind. 'How long do you think she's got?'

'Not long Captain, she might see the day out, she might not. Her system is shutting down rapidly, I've given her a heavy dosage of pain killers to help keep her calm and out of pain.' Peso sighed sadly. 'There's not much else I can do.'

'You've done your best, you know that's all we ask of you.'

'I know Captain, thank you.' He glanced back towards the sick bay. 'I just hope the two of them get to say goodbye.'

'What have we got planned for today, Captain?' Kwazii asked, doing a sholder roll as he joined the rest of the Octonauts for the morning briefing. 'An adventure in the dark depths? A swashbuckling with a sea mon-'

'Kwazii.' Barnacles interrupted and the cat became silent. He nodded a thank you then turned to the other Octonauts gathered around. 'I'm afraid we wont be doing any adventuring or swashbuckling for a couple days.'

'What's the matter Captain?' Shellington asked, frowning. 'What's going on?'

He sighed. 'I'm afraid it's not good news. One of the youngin's Peso, Kwazii and I found isn't expected to survive much longer.'

A collective gasp from the crew arose, Tunip fainting at the news.

Dasi broke the silence after a moment. 'Which one?'

'Remi, the kitten.'

'Aye, what's wrong with the little sprite?' Kwazzi questioned. 'She gave me a good run for my money yesterday.'

'Peso found out after examining her yesterday that she's in the later stages of leukemia. Last night she took a turn, developing both pneumonia and organ failure at the same time.' The crew stood in stunned silence, almost unable to believe what they were hearing. 'We don't know when she'll pass, Peso said maybe today or tomorrow but I won't be going out on any missions at the moment. I feel that I need to be there for both Peso and the two of them.'

'Of course Captain.' Inkling agreed. 'We can take care of things, don't worry.'

'Thank you. I was wondering if Kwazii and Shellington would want to finish cleaning off that beach. We don't want any creatures getting injured from the rubbish.'

'Of course Captain.'

'No worries me hearty.' Kwazii agreed. 'We'll take care of that, no problem at all.'

'Thank you.' Barnacles exclaimed again. 'The rest of you can take it easy if you want, take some time to rest. After that storm the other night I think we could all do with a little break. Anyway-' He cleared his throat. 'Thank you for coming, this meeting is dismissed.'