Wow, another chapter! Go me!

Chapter Sixteen: Better Late Than Never

The rest of the early morning had been emotionally and physically draining for all in the household, with the exception of the cats who had gone off to their own devices and hadn't been seen since the night before.

Lisa had, indeed, continued the previous argument with Ben and, like always, it had come out in a sort of stalemate. She couldn't understand how he could be so blasted calm about everything, especially when she raised her voice to him.

"Don't you ever get angry?!" she'd finally demanded.

There was a beat, then, "Yes. But that was a mistake, and isn't part of my ways now."

Arguing with him hadn't accomplished much except make Lisa go a little hoarse from all the shouting she'd done, and she finally just snapped "Forget it!" and retreated back to Gary's room, falling asleep beside him.

Nobody awoke until almost early afternoon when the sun finally broke through the clouds and the birds had started singing again, indicating that the storm was over at last. Gary had also recovered a little from his heart attack and was actually feeling better than he had been. He asked Lisa if he could go outside and get some air now that there wasn't any more rain.

Needing any excuse whatsoever to avoid any contact with Ben, she agreed and helped him to the porch where they sat on the swing just to the side of the front door. They watched the odd-colored birds fly overhead while more odd-colored animals scurried on the ground. This place had a thing for weird colors, if that blue deer was any indication.

The rain had soaked everything, yet the air smelled fresh and clean. There was a slight perfume of unfamiliar flowers in the air – a scent mirrored faintly on Lisa herself, now that Gary thought about it. He hadn't really noticed before. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so; the rain probably had cooled things down considerably.

"So," Gary broke the silence they'd been sitting in. "How'd it go with him?"

Bitterness filtered through the link. "Like always…we don't agree, we argue, nobody wins. He makes it worse by not even getting angry."

"I noticed you don't like him around."

She shook her head. "No, I don't. He's been a constant thorn in my side since…a long time. Time really isn't an issue when you can time travel."

"You can do that?"

Lisa nodded. "It takes a lot of planning and concentration and effort, but yeah. I have to travel. I'd go nuts if I didn't. Besides, if I didn't, I wouldn't meet people like you."

Gary smiled and rested his head against her shoulder, listening to her double heartbeat and watching a lime green dragonfly hover around the steps.

"Can you talk to bugs, too?"

"Sure, but they speak differently than other animals do. Mostly body language."

The dragonfly he'd been watching buzzed in an intricate little pattern before flying off.

"That was 'goodbye'."

Gary just nodded. He was really only half paying attention, too busy wondering just how much longer he'd have to wait before he was cured, if ever.

"I'm sure Medicus is doing his best, Gar," said Lisa, reading his mind. "The rain probably slowed things down a lot."

Suddenly, in the distance, there was the sound of hooves and creaking of wheels. It was faint to Gary, but Lisa heard it clear as a bell.

"Then again," she added, "he's been known to work miracles."

The 18-hand stallion emerged from the forest pulling his wooden cart. He cantered over to the couple, all smiles if a unicorn could smile.

"I take it you have good news," said Lisa.

The unicorn nodded. "It's been difficult, what with the rain," he said, surprising Gary by speaking perfect English. "But, yes, I have succeeded in making an antitoxin."

Gary was a little stunned from being within almost-touching distance of an actual creature of legend. An elbow in his side from Lisa snapped him out of his reverie.

"That's great news," she said. "Is it edible, or what?"

Medicus glanced from Lisa to Gary and back. "Unfortunately, this is required to be injected directly into the bloodstream for maximum effect."

"You mean," said Gary, finally speaking up, "like a needle?"

"In a way," said the stallion. "My horn also doubles as a syringe. I assure you, you won't feel anything above a pinch. I will just need your arm and for you to hold still."

Any misgivings Gary had were abolished by the need be rid of the illness and to finally feel normal again. So, he held his arm out to Medicus and looked away, not wanting to see this, no matter how confident he sounded.

Medicus turned to his cart and once again made his horn take on its needle-like appearance. He filled it with an amber-colored liquid, came back to Gary, and pierced the skin of his arm. Gary winced, but made no other movements.

"It's cold," he noted as the liquid drained from Medicus's horn.

"How long will it take to work?" Lisa asked.

Medicus removed his horn. Again, the area was bloodless. "The toxin will have been purged from his system by this evening. There may be some residual effects that could continue into tomorrow, but that's all."

Gary finally opened his eyes and examined his arm and the circular scar that had been left behind. He didn't really feel any different than he had, yet, though he was intrigued by Medicus's insistence that it would work quickly.

"Do your medicines always work that fast?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," said Medicus. "What I do to make it so is a secret, however, none of my remedies have ever failed."

"He is a miracle worker," said Lisa.

The unicorn shut his eyes in embarrassment. "I'm just very good at what I do." He turned to Gary and said, "I don't believe we've been formerly introduced. I am Medicus, the Healer of Alnilam." He made a little bow.

"Gary Hobson. Nice to meet you."

Lisa appeared to be thinking a moment, then asked, "How much of that stuff did you make?"

"Enough for Gary, plus two more dosages. Why?"

"I think it's high time I made a plan on how to get back at that mad scientist that caused this trouble in the first place."

End chapter sixteen.