Chapter 2

Rescue

An agent just touched my shoulder. Perfect. I make it this far, I survive where no other did, to die of a heart attack.

Someone has a stretcher next to me. They move me, and I have to bite my tongue to keep from shouting. One of them has their hand on the cut on my foot. He can't see the blood in the dark. There's not enough contrast. My shoulders are lifted, but he still has my foot. Stop it before...

I'm in the ambulance all of a sudden. I must have passed out. Understandable, I suppose.

Oh god, I'm getting dry. My skin feels sticky and hot. The blankets underneath me scratch, and my gills crackle when I try to breathe.

I cough, and try to sit up.

Immediately an ambulance attendant is next to me. I feel hands on my shoulder, gently lying me down. I want to sit up but I don't have the energy to. Someone holds water to my mouth.

Water, blessed water. I drink quickly, and cough. I bring my hands up to my throat, and feel the jerk of the needle on my forearm, carefully injected next to the fin.

The ambulance attendant has a wet cloth, and is dripping water onto my face, shoulders and stomach, carefully avoiding my bandaged chest.

I feel the moisture coming back, and a liberal amount is dripped down the sides of my neck, moistening my gills. My breathing becomes easier, and I hear someone murmur 'good, good.'

I reach up and gently touch my chest.

I feel the monster before I hear it. The currents around me are disrupted. I turn, and am knocked backwards by the blow to my chest. I kick and swim and swim as hard as I can, anywhere, away, anywhere but here. I feel the creature's claws graze my leg and I shout in fear and pain.

"Hey, it's all right. It's all right. You're safe."

I open my eyes, and realize that the attendant is right. My touching my chest brought a memory. The blood is seeping through the bandages again. I place both my hands carefully by my side, and hold onto the sheets. I won't make the same mistake twice.

The attendant pours something on my cuts that burns like fire. I grit my teeth.

"You're brave. I've never had a patient that didn't scream with a cut that size."

I listen to the woman prattle on, not really listening. I remember a natural memory this time, not telepathic. My hand flutters unconsciously to my chest.

The nurse sees, of course, and grabs it, stopping me from hurting myself even more.

The woman clutches her head, tears pricking to corners of her eyes. I stand behind her, and pity her, reaching out to her, but she can't hear me of course. Her head hurts so much she can barely think. She has had insomnia for the past week, but she can't afford to not work. She wants to be a doctor, and she has the requirements, but not the 'experience' required from her chauvinist boss.

Another night over, she is in the back of the Other Ambulance, hitching a sneak ride with a friend, the driver, who is passing her house on the way to a maintenance appointment.

The other ambulance is painted like normal ambulances, but is different. It is seldom used, and the driver doesn't answer to the hospital boss. This makes him a favorite; he can flaunt his authority, and avenges his colleagues.

The other ambulance is called. This is the first time in months. She is in the back, and takes up the roll of the Ambulance Attendant. It should be easy.

The man who comes in isn't human, at least not in the biological sense of the word. She's frightened, but he needs help, because he's hurt. Beyond the gills and fins, she can see his muscles, and these tell her all she needs to know about the bandages. She traces her finger along his arm until she find's what she's sure is a vein. His pulse is slow and erratic. She starts first aid.

I blink twice, both lids flicking in unison on either eye. My doctor looks bemused, staring at my eyes in a way that lets me know that she is curious about them.

I blink again, and she leans closer, examining the lids.

What harm could it do?

I wink.

She bursts out a bubble of laughter, and busies herself in her medication.

The thoughts she send out are slight embarrassment, but she has the sense to realize I'm not offended. She is going to give me a dose to make me sleep, but I'm not supposed to know because my body will naturally resist. Not true, a human body would resist. I would welcome sleep right now. I ache everywhere, and the fire of the fluid still blazes in my chest. I begin to recite again, trying to take my mind off my cuts.

When I consider everything that grows,

Holds in perfection but a little moment

That this huge stage presenteth naught but shows

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment.

I sleep.