VI
A few days past for them all and the days seemed to never end for any of them and one in particular. Young Jim Hawkins found, as he woke more, that his pain never truly left him and only seemed to increase by the days. The pains in the arm that was no longer there continued to itch and hurt. In his shoulder, where his nerves were binding with the wires constantly burned and itched and he was caught rubbing the bandages almost constantly. As Livesey told him, there was a reason his shoulder was well padded. The itch never left him. Even asleep he thought he felt his arm itching and sleep was something difficult to come by. He hated taking the medicine that made him sleep.
Jim being Jim though, hated all the medicine he was required to take throughout the day at specific times. During each meal time, he was required to drink the acidic, fuel tasting liquid that supposedly helped his nerves and wires connect together which may have explained the taste. There as a bottle of little pills that apparently helped his body keep the nonexistent amount of fat on him, which he was also required to take before meals. Of course, the large bottle was his sleep medication. A square bottle was filled with some sort of lubricant that would be used to get the kinks out of his arm for smooth movement and that was very comforting to him indeed. There were days when he didn't feel like eating anything and just sleeping to keep the pain away so there was a bottle of liquefied plants and oils that were the equivalent to food and it could easily be swallowed or poured into his throat while he was sleeping. A cylinder bottle was some sort of antiseptic cleanser that had to be applied to his head and arm where silver and skin came together. They did that once to his head and he nearly bit his tongue off trying not to scream from the burning sting. He was dreading the day it had to be applied to his arm. Another bottle was filled with pills that he had to take once a day that kept all sorts of diseases and illnesses at bay. Apparently, it was some sort of pill that kept him from getting sick because of the nature of his body. There was, however, one bottle admitted to his mother that he loved. It was a bottle of something that tasted like honey and smoothly coated his throat. Livesey assured him that it was not honey, but skin repair to the inside of his throat. But, of course, there was something he hated, but not as much as the antiseptic. It was a bottle of something foul tasting that he couldn't describe. Apparently, it was to help skin growth where his body needed it most. He was to drink it at night so his body could rest and repair itself.
During the times when he was awake, he found himself delightfully drawing all his attention, away from the pain that never left him, into his book that Silver got him. Treasure Planet: The Complete and Unabridged Tale of Captain Nathaniel Flint and the Loot of a Thousand Worlds. It was the book he never knew existed and devoured over and over while he was awake enough to let himself read and his head wasn't killing him. Silver nearly had a heart attack when he saw Jim highlighting sentences, marking pages, creasing page corners, and sticking notes inside the book. He had no choice but to sit beside Jim and explain the proper behavior when treating a book. "Highlighting th' words in a book is like committing a crime deserving of death by th' worst means possible an' tha' death being by a hanging". "Bending th' pages of a book is disrespectful. How would ye like ta have yerself bent an' creased?" "Stickin notes inta th' pages of a book is like stickin' a needle through yer arm bu' not goin' all th' way through".
By the end of it all, Jim's laughter was ringing through the entire third floor of the hospital. Here was John Silver, a pirate who murdered and stole and he was getting all worked up over a book. He was waving his arms back and forth and his eye was the brightest red Jim had ever seen and he was trembling with anger he was that upset. His voice was trembling and he wanted to yell at Jim more but the words were stumbling out of his mouth. In all the months they had been together every day, nothing got him more upset than a book. Jim couldn't help himself. The laughter simply spilled from him. He couldn't remember the last time he saw something that amusing. It had to have been years. And when Silver asked why he was laughing and suddenly calmed, that got him to laugh even harder. Tears were pouring from his eyes and he was grabbing his side.
Morph apparently found amusement it in as well and understood why it was funny. He made himself a miniature Silver and reenacted how the pirate was on a normal basis, cussing and grumbling, pulling out his guns in a card game, wrapping himself in treasure, stealing, raiding, pillaging, and plundering. Silver still didn't see the humor.
But, of course, after the laughter did die, Jim only understood how much worse he felt. His weak stomach was churning and the thought he was going to be sick at any second. The laughing, which caused his blood to flow and heart to beat, pounded in his shoulder and his head. He felt like his head was going to explode with every beat of his heart. Such a happy moment was completely ruined when tears trickled from his eyes because his pain doubled than what it normally was. So, once again, he found himself drinking something sweet and curling into his pillow. It was only when Jim was asleep Silver understood what he thought was so amusing. He also was torn between emotions. Since Sarah was bathing at the time, she missed out on her son's laughter, but since she was not there, she did not have to witness her son going from happy to being in severe pain.
The Mrs. Hawkins was doing much better since a few days before. She was eating and sleeping normally. Her smile was nearly always on her face when she was talking with her son and still on her lips while he was asleep. Whenever it came time for her son to take his medicine, the motherly eye and pursed lips were immediately on her face. She remained the only one who managed to get him to take his medicine and even then that was a great struggle. She was happiest simply seeing her son's eyes get huge and wide while he read his book. He was so content while reading his book sitting propped up on a pillow but not sitting up just yet. She felt she was the only one who noticed he seemed to have no knowledge about his arm because he did nothing with his arm. Every day she told him to start playing with his arm but he simply just looked at her and went back to his book. Eventually, he would have to use his arm.
First came the day Livesey had to unwrap his arm and apply the antiseptic to his arm and observe the healing of his arm. It was the three of them and Livesey in the room and early in the morning. Jim had been dreading this day for such a long time. Not only did he have to feel the burning sting, but he also would have no choice but to have the world see his arm. He personally did not want to see it, but everyone else would have to if they were to look upon him.
"Jim, you need to unbutton your tunic."
"Hm?" Jim wondered as he came out of his thoughts.
"We need to get your tunic off," replied Livesey.
"Oh," said Jim. He nodded and worked his fingers into pushing the buttons through the holes. It was always easy removing buttons, but it was a living nightmare trying to button them up with one hand. As his hand moved down his torso, he slowly realized how little fat there was on his body. He was always a little bronze, but now his skin color was a sickly, pallid white. He thought he could see the end of his ribcage, but perhaps it was just the lighting and shadows. Rather, he hoped it was just the light and shadows.
As his tunic was being eased from his body, he squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to the right. He was not going to see this. He didn't want to see it. Each layer of bandaging removed, his breath quickened and body began trembling. His stomach was queasy because of the emotions and thoughts running through his head. He felt every layer come off of his body: his chest and over his shoulder and when he felt nothing, he knew it was being removed from somewhere with no feeling. When his shoulder was exposed, he felt the atmosphere in the room darken and moods dampen.
"Good, you're healing better than I thought. It looks good," Livesey said.
"That looks good?" Sarah asked.
"Yep, that looks very good," Livesey told her.
"It looks like his skin is mutating," Sarah said.
At that, Jim's eyes snapped open. He was a teenager and being a teenager he contained and incredible amount of curiosity in him. Nothing drew the curiosity of a teenager like an injury. It was something that was utterly horrid, yet so fascinating that one simply had to see it and watch. His head slowly turned to the left like the hands on a clock, ticking at marks and stopping to note the time. After swallowing, he finally turned his eyes over to the wound.
The skin around his shoulder was red and irritated. At the point where flesh and silver met looked like raw meat that had been frozen and pulled into tiny little pieces but still maintaining the bright, blood red color. Little bumps ran around the edge; most like likely dried blood. The silver was speckled on the very edge with dark red blood. Wholly, the area was a deep red, like thick blood.
That wasn't what stole Jim's breath. His trembling fingers touched the skin and silver, his forefinger on flesh and middle finger on skin. Between his fingers was the line of dried blood and the joining point of the two objects. Those two fingers circled around his arm. All the way around he felt one thing on his same fingers, silver and flesh. His arm dropped to his side as his eyes looked at the device.
This was and is his arm. It was his arm. It was connected to his body where his arm was removed. He knew there were wires inside, but he wondered. His eyes moved down to the fingers. The silvery fingers hyper extended just like they would have if they were made of flesh, but he did not feel the movement. They clenched into a fist and again, he felt nothing. He brought his hand closer to him, and by doing so, moved his arm upward just like it would have if it was flesh. His mind was sending the messages through his nerves and where the nerves connected to wires sent the messages down to his fingers or wherever called for movement. He saw a dull reflection of his face in the palm of his hand and moved his hand one hundred eighty degrees to look at the back.
His breathing suddenly quickened and trembled as his mouth went agape. His eyes filled with tears and his forehead wrinkled in hopelessness. This was his arm. His arm fell to the bed as his eyes saw nothing but the world a great blur through his tears that each time they fell, new, moisture built up in his eyes. Before it was just some silvery hand and arm and bandaging. Now there it was right before him: flesh silver side by side.
"Jimbo, wha's wrong lad?" Silver asked.
"My arm," Jim replied but only consonants were heard and they were barely heard.
"What was that Sweetheart?" Sarah asked.
"MY ARM!" Jim screamed. "I have a mechanical arm. I don't have my real arm. It's gone. I have a mechanical arm. What are people going to think? What are they going to say? My arm is gone. This can't happen to me. I'm only fifteen. I have my whole life left to live and I have a mechanical arm. This doesn't happen to fifteen year olds. It happens to people who work, not me. I didn't do anything to deserve this. Why is it me? Did you try all possible things before cutting my arm off or do you delight in removing limbs? Huh? Is this what you like to do? Do you like to chop peoples limbs from their body? And you. You didn't do anything to help me. You should have killed Scroop after you knew he was harming me. You told me you were on my side, but you never were. You probably let him do this to me. Makings of greatness? Is this what you meant by that? I have no makings of greatness, and if I did it's gone. There is nothing great about what happened to me. Why didn't you keep me here? You hated the idea of me going to Treasure Planet anyway. You should have just made me stay here. None of this would have happened if you had just made me stay here. I have a mechanical arm." He finally slumped against the wall. His knees tucked against his chest and he buried his face in them. He wrapped his right arm around his knees.
They heard him bawling uncontrollably through his knees. His back trembled with every breath and he couldn't help but to cry out a few times. Each inhalation was through his teeth and in great quantities. Each release of breath was heavy. He eventually began coughing and choking then something suddenly came over him. As quickly as a blink of an eye, he uncurled himself and began pulling on his left arm.
Silver immediately grabbed his hand and pulled until his fingers slipped.
"This is your fault!" Jim screamed, beating on his belly. "I hate you. It's all your fault. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. It's your fault. It's all your fault." His screams became sobs and he just leaned his body against Silver, wrapping his arm around him. "I just want to be held," he whispered.
"As long as ye want," replied Silver softly. He wrapped both arms around him. "There lad. Tha's all right Jimbo. It's all right. Shh. It's all right."
Months ago, he spoke those worse to Jim after what was probably the worst night of his entire life including his life that was not yet to come. Feeling responsible for the death of another was something that was not to be lived down or forgotten. This was most likely the second worst moment in his life and he needed everyone there for him right now. He hushed him gently, cradling his small body into his warmth.
"Now ye listen ta me," he said softly, slowly pushing Jim away from his person, yet keeping a tight grasp on his arm and a hand on his cheek. "Ye still got th' makings of greatness in ye. I keep telling ye this. I see it in ye right now as I'm sitting here talking ta ye. James Pleiades Hawkins, you, y-o-u, have ta see tha' making in ye for th' greatness ta come out. Ye can't keep yerself hidden away like ye want ta do on some silly little injury tha' happened by chance. Yer not th' only one in this universe living like this. Take a peek at me. There are others out there jus' like you an' me. Ye need ta find a ship ta claim as yer own an' take tha' helm. But first, lad, ye need ta find tha' greatness in ye. I've already seen it, an' watching ye everyday get stronger an' stronger makes me see it more. Yer gonna be all right. I promise lad. It's gonna be all right." Jim shut his eyes. He sucked his lips into his mouth and nodded weakly. Silver's mechanical eye shut as he shook his head in shame. "Now, wha' kinda nod was tha'?"
A small smile widened across the lips of the teenager. He nodded much more confidently. Still not feeling better and the light bouncing all things that shimmered, his small measure of joy faded. Once again, he leaned into Silver. "I still want to be held."
Silver gave a nod and wrapped his arms around him again. He rested his jaw gently on the teenager's head. A strange urge suddenly came over him that he was unable to prevent and so he pressed his lips against Jim's hair before continuing to calm him.
"I can come back and do it later," Livesey softly whispered in his ear.
"No, do it now an' get it over with," Silver told him. "Jimbo, we need ta clean yer arm."
"No!" Jim immediately cried, clinging to Silver's body.
"He'll do it an' get it over wit' rather than ye dreading doin' it later. I'll be holding ye th' entire time if ye want. It'll be over before ye know it," said Silver.
"No, no more pain," pleaded Jim.
"Jus' a little bit more lad an' then it'll be all up to ye," Silver promised. "Now, scoot over jus' a little bit like this until yer right there. Me arm won't leave ye lad. If it hurts jus' squeeze th' life outta my arm."
"Actually here," said Livesey, handing Silver a strip of cork.
"Open up lad. Bit down on this," Silver told him, gently easing the cork into Jim's mouth.
From her quiet spot where she let her tears fall, Sarah finally moved onto the bed and scoot herself to near her son where she could caress the back of his head.
Jim's eyes were squeezed shut and buried in Silver's belly. He felt the hand across the back of his head soothingly. The arms holding him tightly was comforting and the warmth Silver gave of was more comforting. His eyes slowly eased into simply being shut and his teeth eased off of the cork a bit. He was quite comfortable and content in their arms. Two people were holding him. It was so wonderful. He felt like he was behind held by his mother and father. He remembered the days his father held him. Yes he was quite young, but he remembered them well.
A vaguely familiar burning sting shot through his bloodstream. He wanted to pull away but strong arms kept him in place. Distantly, he heard voices but couldn't make them out. All he heard was himself whining and his mind screaming. The burning felt like a literal burn around his arm. Each application of more sent further pain through him. He felt faint and sick to his stomach. His jaw was clenched to the cork and fingernails digging into metal with such a force his entire body trembled.
His eyes opened to a blurred image of Silver. He knew it was Silver because Silver was much larger than his mother and his mother did not have a golden glow. A wet, damp object pressed against his forehead. He blinked heavily, forcing his eyes to shut so the image cleared. The blue eyes looked between Silver, his mother, Livesey, and Morph.
"What?" he asked then suddenly realized they were looking down on him. He sighed. "How long was I out?"
"About a half hour," replied Sarah.
"My shoulder still burns," Jim told them, shifting uncomfortably.
"Do you want your medicine?" Livesey asked.
Jim nodded his head twice. "Uh huh."
"Good lad," whispered Silver.
"Thanks," whispered Jim.
"Fer wha'?" asked Silver.
"Being here," replied Jim.
"I'm not goin' anywhere. I have nowhere ta go anyway," said Silver.
"Here you are," Livesey told him, holding out the glass.
This time, Sarah motioned for Silver to give it to him since the two of them were the close ones at the moment and she knew her son would take it from him rather than her.
Silver tilted Jim's head and eased the liquid into his mouth. He looked to the day Jim no longer depended on this to take away the pain or make him sleep through the nightmares that were yet to come. Not depending on this medicine was one of the last steps into the healing process. When he no longer needed it, that would mean his final stage of healing was at hand and that final stage was simply to just take care of his arm and adapt. He covered the teenager with the blue blanket and watched his suddenly enhanced blue eyes fall shut.
"How many more times do we have to do that?" Sarah asked.
"At least once a week," replied Livesey.
"Then I suggest ye do it when th' lad's sleeping so he doesn't have ta go through all tha' pain over an' over again," Silver said.
"Please," requested Sarah pleadingly.
"Does he like children?" Livesey asked, his head tilted and lips formed to the left of his face. Clearly he had an idea.
"He seems to," replied Sarah.
"What do you two say to me bringing in Harry and Benji? If he doesn't mind of course," suggested Livesey.
"I don't know what good that will do. He doesn't want anyone seeing his arm," reminded Sarah.
"Tha's th' point Miss Sarah. Let th' little ones tell him wha' they think. Children say it like it is, tha' I know fer a fact. Let Jim see tha' it's not th' end of th' world. I say it be a good idea," Silver announced.
Sarah sighed. "I can't protect him forever."
"I don't think two three year old twin boys are going to break him anymore than he already is," noted Livesey.
"Don' tell him tha' yer brining yer boys. Jus' bring them in one day. If he ye tell him he'll say no. I gotta feeling he'll say no, but he does need ta see tha' it doesn't matter," said Silver.
"Agreed, and I'll let you two be alone with him. I'll return tonight to have a look at him," said Livesey.
Silver and Sarah nodded.
"Was it this bad on you?" wondered Sarah.
"Worse. Much worse," replied Silver. "I had no one but th' doctor. He has us an' he'll be just fine."
"I hope you're right," said Sarah.
Silver looked away with the same thought on his mind.
A few more days went by. Jim was seeming to recover more. His attention span was increasingly becoming longer than it was when he woke. The injury to his head was similar to a severe concussion and so he had a difficult time breathing deeply and concentrating for more than an hour on one thing. He was found more often reading quietly and not talking to anyone. He enjoyed being on his own and acting like nothing had happened. He was told he could get up and walk around a little, but he said he didn't feel like it. Apparently, he didn't feel like it for two days. And it was after that day operation twin was set it.
Like always, Jim was sitting up with his a pillow separating him from the cold wall and a book in his hand. Morph was sitting contently on his shoulder like he always enjoyed doing. He was reading the tale of Captain Nathaniel Flint again. Morph was on his shoulder contently resting his tired little mind. Jim heard Morph yawn and set the book down to pat his little head.
"Shh, Papa telled us to be quiet."
"No, not suposs'd say anything."
"And be quiet."
"No saying anything."
"Harry, Benjamin."
Jim looked toward the door where Livesey just entered.
Livesey stood in the center of two identical twin boys with red hair and hazel eyes. They looked at Jim.
The teenager sat in bed hardly breathing. He didn't like his mother and Silver seeing his arm and now he had to put up with two young children who didn't know how to keep their mouths shut. He knew how children were. The last thing he wanted was two boys telling the whole world what happened to him. He didn't need that.
"My boys have been asking about you and I thought it wouldn't be too much trouble if I brought them in to say hello. Your mother says you're good with children," said Livesey. He set his hand on the boy who was standing to the right of him. "This is Harry, he is the older one and he has a blue necklace. This is Benji and he has a green necklace. I know how to tell them apart but no one else does so they decided they would have different color necklaces because they were tired of being called the name of their brother."
"Hi," Benji said, waving his hand.
"Hewo," greeted Harry. "Papa say we no say anything."
"About what?" Jim asked quickly.
Both boys shrugged dramatically.
"We dunno," they replied in unison.
"Well, I think I'm going to let the three of you be for a little while," said Livesey, pushing them forward.
"No, you can't—I mean—I'm fine—I don't—it's just," Jim tired saying, but Livesey left anyway. He sighed and smacked his palm to his face.
"Why do that?" wondered Benji.
Jim peeked through his fingers.
Curiously, Morph floated over to the two of them. "Oo." He smiled and transformed himself into two smaller of them.
The twins looked at Morph and cried out and giggled. They chased him around the room for a moment then flopped beside Jim, one on each side.
"W'at weading?" asked Harry.
"No like book," said Benji with his tongue stuck out.
"I'm just reading about Treasure Planet," Jim told him, slowly slipping his left hand under the blanket. Realizing he just moved his left arm, he gasped and shuddered.
"Why you do that?" wondered Harry.
"Ow," Benji said, pointing at the silver in Jim's head.
Quickly, Jim pulled his bangs over the plate then lowered his head. He felt like he was going to be sick; his stomach was twisting in uncomfortable knots. No one was in there either beside him. Both the adults were away. Usually he would have enjoyed the boys' company but, this was different.
"I see," said Harry, crawling over Jim's legs to the left side and sticking his head under Jim's hair. "Cool."
"Agwee," said Benji.
Jim raised his head slowly. "What did you say?"
"Cool," replied Harry.
Benji nodded his head. "Me like."
"You like this?" wondered Jim, pointing to his head. The twins nodded. "Why?"
"No' bowing like ovher people," replied Harry.
"I no know. Jus' cool," said Benji confidently.
"Oh," replied Jim. His eyes narrowed in wonder.
"You t'ink bad?" wondered Harry.
Jim nodded. "I don't like it."
"Why?" wondered Benji.
"I just don't. It's not right," replied Jim.
"Papa say no know answer den no know problem," said Harry.
Jim looked at him as though a light bulb inside his dull head suddenly lit. "So, if I don't know what the problem is then you're telling me there is no problem?"
"Papa say so," said Harry.
"You know, he may have something there," admitted Jim. "I guess, I don't know. It's just odd and not right for a fifteen year old to have a metal plate and a mechanical arm."
"'Chanical arm?" wondered Benji.
"Yeah," said Jim quietly. He slowly pulled the blanket from his legs until a shiny hand was revealed.
Both twins clambered down the bed and got low to look at the hand. Their eyes were huge and the smiles on their face were even larger. Being the sons of a well known man in medicine, they got to see a lot of people in their young lives. Most of them were normal humans or odd beings of some alien race from faraway planets. This teenage boy was different. He had a silver head and a silver arm. That was cool. Not many people had silver for limbs.
"You really don't think it's odd or not right?" wondered Jim, color of long ago returning to his face a small smile creeping on his lips.
"Unique," said Harry. "No many people have silver arm."
"Diffwent. Papa have violet eyes an' people no caw. You have silver arm so people no caw eiver. No need caw," said Benji.
"It's still odd," said Jim.
"Still have arm," Benji said.
"No arm be weiwd," Harry said.
The twin boys looked at each other and nodded confidently.
Jim looked away from them. Why was he panicking so much anyway? He did have an arm still and no arm would perhaps have been worse. When looking at him, it would seem as though he had both normal arms. It would appear normal until someone looked at his hand and he didn't exactly think that people looked at other people's hands that often. He didn't understand why there was reason to panic and act the way he was. Sure, he would admit that he was afraid. Was that the only problem? Was he panicking and being so moody and wanting the world to leave him alone because he was afraid?
Sitting there thinking by himself and feeling the twins crawling around the bed, he realized that was the reason. He was afraid. He was afraid what people would think. He was afraid of getting used to working the mechanical arm. He was afraid what would happen to him because he was different. He was afraid his mother would have to pay more money to get a new arm for him when he was older. He was afraid that he wouldn't get used to his arm. He was afraid no one would look at him and see him and not his arm. He was afraid to tell people what happened. He was afraid to mention Treasure Planet to anyone for fear they would try to convince him or hurt him to get him to go back to Treasure Planet. He was afraid something bad would happen to him. He was afraid his mother and Silver were already looking at him differently and thinking he was a different person. He was afraid.
It took weeks and two three year old twin boys to make him realize that he was behaving the way he was because he was afraid. He was hardly afraid of anything, but even he feared things.
"Hey! What are you doing?" he cried, finally noticing that the two of them had pulled his sleeve down to see the rest of his arm.
"COOL!" both of them cried at the same time.
"I want one!" Benji announced.
"Uh huh!" agreed Harry.
Clambering over Jim's bed, they rushed out yelling for their father.
Finding that amusing for some reason, Jim began to silently laugh. Morph sat on his left shoulder contently. Not even he was bother by the fact that his friend had a mechanical arm. He still found it amusing looking at his reflection in the silver.
"Pwease Papa!"
"Want one too!"
"Human borwing. Need silver arm."
"Me too!"
Two three year old each grabbing his hand, Livesey was dragged in the room hunched over uncomfortably and nearly tripping over his feet. He looked at Jim and shrugged. Finally being released from their grasp, he stood up straight and cracked his back.
"See!" Harry and Benji cried pointing at Jim's arm.
Jim smiled at their excitement.
Livesey noticed this and couldn't help the smile of satisfaction across his face. His plan, like it usually did, was successful. "Well Mr. Hawkins do you feel better about that arm of yours?"
"No," admitted Jim. "It took to three year olds to make me realize that I'm just afraid."
"Common," said Livesey. "I've been talking with your friend Silver and he was telling me the same thing. It is a new experience for you and you it's difficult to cope with. If I recall, he once told you that his gears do come in handy."
"After they took some time getting used to," added Jim.
"True, but he has more gizmos than you. Your normal arm will take time yes, but not as long as you think as long as you start using it," Livesey told him.
"Yeah, move you arm!" said Benji.
"Pwease!" Harry pleaded.
His enthusiasm gone, Jim shook his head. It was that little fear coming to him again. What would they say? How was he supposed to explain how it felt to move his arm?
"You do need to start moving it. You're not leaving his hospital until I know the surgery was successful," Livesey told him.
"And how are you supposed to know that?" wondered Jim.
"Before you leave, you will perform a series of tests to show that your arm performs as normal as a human arm," replied Livesey.
"And if it doesn't?" asked Jim, his eyes wide and breathing heavy.
"Then all I have to do is have you take some more medicine and you'll wake up with the corrections made. I don't think there will be any corrections. Your nerves and natural human wires were extremely simple to find and tough and sturdy. You were out for two weeks after so everything had plenty of time to heal up. Just in the short amount of time you have been moving your arm I've been noticing that it is functioning normal. I won't know until you use it normally," said Livesey.
"For one, I'm right handed so I really never used my left arm much," Jim told him.
"Well, then you'll just have to change that up a bit for a while. Like all things new, you must use it in order for it to become old," said Livesey. He saw the hopelessness in Jim. "John has already told you he'll help you get through it. He's developed a list of exercises for your arm that he wants you to do every day and there are also a few mind workouts to get your head back together again. If I have to, I will have Harry and Benji spend more time with you."
"Yeah!"
"Pwease!"
Jim pulled the sleeve back over his arm. "Well, do you know where I got this?" he asked, showing the two of them a gold ring on his middle finger.
"Tweasure Pwanet," replied Benji.
"Papa telled us," said Harry.
"Do you know the legends?" wondered Jim.
"Little," said Benji and Harry nodded.
Jim smiled at the two of them. He motioned to the table beside his bed and for one of them to get the book that was sitting there. Both of them rushed for it but since Benji was right there he got it first. The front of the book was black and had a simple depiction of Treasure Planet on it in gold. He opened the cover and flipped the first page then the picture of the Etherium in blues and violets jumped from the book.
On the clearest of nights, when the winds of the Etherium were peaceful and calm, the great merchant ships with their cargos of Obturian solar crystals felt safe and secure.
Quietly, Livesey backed out of the room and motioned down the hall quickly. Both Sarah and Silver came rushing as quickly and quietly as possible. They peeked through the crack in the doorway.
Benji was sitting on his right and Harry was sitting on his left. Jim was in the middle with the book open in front of him on his lap. All three of them had smiles on their faces, especially the two little ones. Their eyes were glowing. Jim's thumb twisted the ring around his finger and his eyes were happy again.
"I told you the two of them do miracles for some of my patients," said Livesey.
"All right. I'll admit tha' ye were right," said Silver.
Sarah was leaning against the door. Tears came from her eyes when she heard Jim and the boys "Oo!" after Flint vanished without a trace. He was still in there somewhere. The two little boys did do something that she thought was not possible to do anymore. They broke some sort of shell that he had been posing for such a long time.
To their delight and surprise, Jim didn't mind that the two of them stay until it was time for their nap mid afternoon and one of the twins, Harry, was already asleep when Claire came to pick them up and Benji was barely hanging on to the world of the awake.
"Again?" asked Benji quietly and sleepily.
"No," said Jim. "You need to go home and take a nap."
"Okay," Benji said, curling against the teenager and using his right arm as his pillow.
Jim looked at him with a half smile.
"I got him," Claire said, walking on the other side of the room to pick him up off the bed and take his sleeping little body into his arms. She took Harry in the other arm. "You'll be home on time tonight then?"
"All up to him," said Livesey, pointing both fingers at Jim.
"Well, then he'll just have to be nice and cooperate, but I know teenagers don't do that," said Claire.
"I'm not denying that I don't like to cooperate, but there are occasions I'll agree," said Jim.
"Please be a good boy so my husband can come home on time tonight," requested Claire.
"All right," said Jim with a roll of his eyes.
"For the record, he likes you. He's always talking about you. You're one of the bravest patients he's ever had and he's glad you're going to be all right and so am I," said Claire. She bounced the boys in her arms. "I have the feeling we're going to be seeing more of you thanks to these little guys."
"Okay Claire, that's enough," said Livesey. He walked up to her and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll be home at a normal hour. I don't think he'll cause that much trouble tonight. Will he?"
Jim shrugged a shoulder and Morph provided a miniature of him, one that was moping and swinging his mop around. The teenager grabbed him, or at least attempted to grab him out of mid air, but little Morph liked to play with him.
The pink blob floated around his head imitating him with his arms flailing about then stuck his tongue out at him. He suddenly lost interest in him when he noticed Jim was no longer paying any attention to him. Disappointed, he returned to his normal pink shape.
"Gotcha!" Jim cried, grabbing him.
His moment of triumph ended when he realized something didn't feel right on his right hand. Morph was his usual cool temperature and soft, airy feel. Nope, it was something colder and harder. Four silvery fingers interlocked with his fleshy fingers and his fleshy thumb was on top of his silvery thumb. It was something so simple that caused him such shock and wonder. He moved his hands from Morph, still entranced that he was moving his arm.
He brought his hand close to his face so he saw his reflection in his palm. He moved his hand again, studying in the movements. The mind was an interesting thing. His head probably didn't realize that it was a mechanical arm because he was moving it as normal as he was moving his right arm. Unlike his right arm, he felt no movement in his left hand to know that it was being moved.
"It always going to feel like this?" he asked.
"I've been told you'll get used to it," said Livesey.
"Where are they?" Jim wondered.
"I told them you would probably be going home in a few days and they said they had some work to do. They told me to tell you they would be back with dinner. You were playing with my boys so they didn't think it would be an issue if they left you alone today," said Livesey.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" asked Jim.
With a nod of his head, Livesey pulled up a chair beside the bed. "Shoot."
"You're too perfect. Why are you so perfect? You graduated high school when you were sixteen and got into the medical academy and you graduated at twenty four. You have violet eyes. You have perfect twins and a perfect life," noted Jim.
"I trust you not to tell anyone this because it could ruin me completely," said Livesey. "Only Claire knows about this."
"And why are you telling me then?" wondered Jim.
"Because I feel like I'm watching myself when I was fifteen," said Livesey.
"I'm listening," said Jim.
"To begin with, my name is not David Livesey and my brother is not Tom. My name is Jacob Raines and my brother is Owen Raines. You may have heard of our father Douglas Raines," said Livesey.
"Not familiar to me," said Jim.
"Look, we didn't exactly have the money to afford anything including school," said Livesey. "My father had to steal the money for us to live and Tom and I got dragged into it half the time. He roamed the galaxy stealing and going under false identities to get the money. Right from the get go, he knew I had an incredible mind. I was smart as a book and he knew that. He wanted the two of us to have an education so we could have a future. Well, the two of us spent our school vacations stealing with him and we stole bad. The authorities didn't catch up with us until later. I was fifteen at the time and my brother was twelve. We were caught and arrested. Father was given a sentence of life in prison. Tom and I were to be separated and placed in security homes through the rest of our schooling years and have location chips surgically inserted into our bodies so they would always know where to find us.
"As you could imagine, that didn't sit too well with any of us. Father managed to conceal one knife on him and he gave it to me. He told me to get out of here and never come back. He said to change our names and give ourselves a future and never look back."
Livesey sighed and set his face in his palms. "I had a twin brother named Benjamin. He was as smart as I was and he was my identical twin. I was the younger of the two. We were exactly alike in everything. He was the one who got us out of there. The three of us fought our way out of that prison and we're the only ones to do it. We only got out because we were small enough to crawl through the air shafts. They used to not have sensors in the air shafts and then the three of us came alone.
"We thought we were out of there and safe and then Ben got shot. I knew it was a fatal wound but, I wouldn't leave him there so I got him in the ship and we left as quickly as possible. My brother died in my arms right before we could get him to a hospital. We were so close to getting him to safety and he died. I've never been complete since. I've always only been half here. An old man on the nearby planet helped us burn his body so no one could find him and claim they killed one of the Raines.
"Ben always wanted to go to Earth so Tom and I went there. He always wanted to see the legendary Caribbean Islands, especially the island of Nassau where the pirates of old reigned. Tom and I cast his ashes out into the air so he could he could fly around the islands and see them as long as the wind blew.
"My eyes weren't always violet either. They were indigo, like my mother's and that was a problem. There were wanted posters for us and descriptions that matched identically. I had to change my eyes and I knew it. There is a planet far from this galaxy. It's a medical planet where the academy is. There really is no name for it. Everyone just knows it's the medical planet. We went there and I had a risky procedure done to me. Red dye was injected into my eyes to create a violet coloring. It was unbearably painful and I was blind for a month as the dye settled. My eyes burned and stung and there was only a fifty percent chance I would get my eyesight back.
"After the bandages were removed a month later, I saw light, which meant that I would get my sight back. It was another month before I was let go. During that month, they also saw that I was medically inclined and smart as hell. I never finished high school. I became David Livesey, the youngest member of the Interstellar Medical Academy and my brother was right there with me. He did smaller programs, not the whole thing. Eventually, it was safe enough for us to travel again and I settled here.
"I try to be perfect because of what I did as a child. I stole when I didn't need to and it led to my brother's death and my father's imprisonment on Planet X-185."
"You escaped that place?" Jim cried.
"You've heard of it," noted Livesey.
"There is one way in and out and that's through dozens of key locked doors," noted Jim.
"Or through an air shaft and to a ship right there in front of you," said Livesey. "My father is still there and he's going to be until the day he dies. If anyone knew who Tom and I were, we would be sent there and executed on the spot. I try to not let my brother have died in vain. Every life I save is a piece of him resurrected. If I can save another person from dying, then he'll be proud and I wouldn't have lost him for no reason. Father said there was something great about me, something special and I would use it to do good. I have. I save people's lives every day. If someone dies under my hand, that's only after hours of me fighting and not giving up. If anyone dies under my hand, then my patient's soul gave up. Not me."
"I guess you aren't as perfect as I thought then," said Jim.
"I only try to make up for what happened," Livesey told him.
"And how does you stealing and going to prison remind you of me?" wondered Jim.
"Jim Hawkins. Come on. Everyone around Montressor knows you're always on probation and in juvenile hall," said Livesey.
"Are you serious?" Jim asked.
"Yeah," replied Livesey. "But that's not the real reason. I hear John talking about you and mentioning that you have greatness and I can see it. Only someone with a burning in those eyes has determination, but, I wonder, what that determination is for."
"A future," replied Jim.
"A reason worthy cause to fight for," agreed Livesey.
With their plans through on Montressor and simply having to do nothing more but wait for Jim to have the okay to go home, Sarah and Silver returned to the busy port in his little longboat. He docked in the usual place and was greeted as usual. He paid the fee as usual. They walked forward as usual. Sarah walked quicker than him as usual. He turned to look at the ship as usual and found something unusual. A crowd was surrounding a ship and more peoples were rushing forward to observe the scene. He told Sarah to go on ahead of him. Whenever there was a crowd gathering of this size, it was always something good and he liked the good stuff.
From past experiences, he learned to keep his distance just in case, and that was what his eye was for. Right away, he noticed the ship was banged up a bit and had seen damage. His first thought was a battle against a great army. Those were always exciting. He scanned the ship and a rush of adrenaline shot through him as he quickly turned his back to the ship. Lettering on the back spelled out one word: Legacy.
Needing his answers, he turned around again and scanned over the crowd. Most of the band of pirates he once led were all in chains and being escorted from the ship, although there was one still missing. Scroop was still roaming the universe somewhere with his treasure and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Captain Amelia and Delbert Doppler came from the ship, she with her dignity and pomp and he in his usual bumbling manner.
Knowing it was time to get out of there, Silver quickly, but not too noticeably, rushed away from there and back to the safety of the third floor of a teenage boy's room in the hospital. He usually greeted Jim and Morph, but this time he sat in the corner and on the same wall as the window, hiding himself from the outside world. He shouldn't have been there that long. Someone could have noticed him. He was already out and about there too much. If the Captain put up wanted posters of him it wouldn't be difficult to find him. People saw where he came in and out of every day.
His mind was racing with thoughts. If he was taken away, Jim would suddenly change. The lad was doing very well right now, but without him, there would be no chance of hope. He would kill himself or give up. Healing himself as a fifteen year old with a sensitive mind was going to be difficult with someone who previously went through it all already. Having to do it alone he knew would hurt him. They were too close. He had gotten too close to Jim in the past few weeks. One reason he tended to keep himself from letting his emotions get away with him was this very reason. He knew he was a wanted man and now the want being on this particular port was bad. It was very bad.
A quick plan developing in his head, he decided to take Jim and Sarah that night and make a run for it before it was too late to. They would take his medicines and be all right. Of course, if they all left, that meant Sarah and Jim would eventually be wanted as well. He couldn't just leave Jim there alone. The two of them needed each other. He was in too far with Jim to back out. He loved Jim much more than he should have and he was falling for Sarah at an unbelievably quick pace. There had to be something he could do besides—
"Are you all right?"
"Wha'?" Silver asked, startled from his thoughts.
"Are you all right?" Jim asked again. "You're sitting there sweating and biting your nails."
"Am not," Silver insisited, slowly lowering his hand from his mouth. "I'm thinking."
"You're thinking of a plan," said Jim. "I know you. What's wrong?"
"Jus' a thought tha' came over me. Not'ing ye should be worrying about. Ye have enough ta worry about," said Silver.
"Like getting this piece of silver connected to my shoulder functioning normally so I can go home and not be so afraid," suggested Jim.
Sarah brushed his cheek. "What is there to fear Sweetheart?"
"I'm just afraid of everything having to do with this arm of mine. I just don't know," said Jim.
"You've always been afraid of what people say and think, yet you don't like what people say and think and don't seem to care," noted Sarah.
"Yes, well my biggest fear is being abandoned and alone. After dad left, I got this fear of being abandoned and alone. I hate being alone and the thought of being abandoned is worse," said Jim, sudden tears coming to his eyes and not knowing why that came out of his mouth.
Forgetting his dilemma, Silver stood and sat himself beside Jim. "An' why do ye think yer going ta be abandoned?"
"I don't know. I'm just afraid of a lot right now," said Jim.
"Tell us. Get it off your mind," Sarah said.
"I'm afraid of everything to do with my arm. I'm afraid you two will abandon me or be taken from me or me be taken from you for some reason. I'm afraid to have to heal myself on my own. I'm afraid to be alone right now. I know it seems like I wanted to be alone, but after twin three year olds made me realize why I wanted to be alone so badly, I don't want to be alone until my arm is healed," Jim told them. He looked at Silver. "You better not leave me anytime soon because I can't do this without you. You're like my father and if anything happened to you right now when I need you most I don't know what I'll do."
"I'm not going anywhere. I keep telling ye this. I'm not going anywhere," Silver said, grabbing his hand and squeezing tightly. "Now, let's get yer mind off these thoughts an' start getting tha' arm of yers working."
Jim had his right hand tied to his body "just in case" as Silver said. The old Cyborg knew it was best to get that dominant hand out of the way. Since his dominant hand was his mechanical hand, it was simpler to get used to his arm. The teenager had to do everything with his left hand that night and the worst part was eating dinner. It took a frustrating hour to eat his pudding and sandwich. He couldn't tell how much pressure he had on everything and if it was enough. The spoon for his pudding was the worst. A dozen tries it took him just to grab it and then Silver made him do it over and over again so he knew about how it felt. There was a mind sense that eventually knew how much pressure was needed. He tried describing it to his mother, but that wasn't so good.
The sandwich was rather embarrassing. He had to make his own sandwich. The meats and sauces and additions were presented to him, but he had to be the one to put it together. Both a fork and spoon were used in the additions. His turkey and chicken was filled with little holes where he tried to grab it and pulled too hard. Eventually, a piece of turkey was thrown across the room because of his frustration and sent Morph flying through the air with it and spraying on the wall. Needless to say, the pink blob was grateful for the piece of food and waiting for more. After a small talk, Jim tried it again.
Sarah had to admit it was adorable watching him try to put together a sandwich. The tip of his tongue was out of his mouth and to the side of his lips as he concentrated. His eyes were fierce and determined. Every time he got another item into sandwich form, he smiled up at them then lost his smile as he realized there was more that he had to do.
After the sandwich was constructed, he had to eat it. That of course was another difficult task in itself. It required moving his elbow and wrist and fingers all at once. The thought that Silver told him to keep in mind was simply to move his arm like it was his normal arm. It was a successful though to keep. Each and every time he heard a gear and gizmo move, the sandwich nearly dropped from his fingers startled that his arm was making noises. On Silver, that was something expected, but coming from him it wasn't right. But because he was starving and needed food, he got over it quickly and shoved the sandwich into his mouth and ate.
When Silver presented him with a cup of water and a waterproof cloth, he simply sat in bed and started crying. Grabbing a cup was going to be practically impossible. He simply sat there crying as he flopped his arm on his bed over and over and said something about a "cup" and "impossible". They two adults let him get it out of his system before getting him to get a go at it. Three failed tries got him to once again cry. He couldn't do it and he felt completely hopeless. He couldn't even get a drink of water without help and he was tired and his head hurt from crying and he just wanted his arm back and after all that whining he drank some water because he was thirsty. Now because he lifted the cup and couldn't remember how, he started crying again.
Both Sarah and Silver were trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it, but they knew the poor lad was just frustrated with himself. Hiding the laughter, he held him and comforted him until getting him calm enough that he wanted to go to sleep and try again tomorrow.
Jim woke feeling much better than he was the night before. That was a rough day anyway. He ate breakfast with only one minor breakdown, as he spilled his juice all over himself and was sticky. After breakfast he felt better and sat in bed doing mind puzzles while Silver pulled at his arm to check if there were any kinks that had to be worked out of it yet. A few small gizmos had to be lubricated and overextension caused him to nearly scream since it wasn't quite healed to his flesh yet, but he mostly ignored the pulling and tugging because he really didn't feel it.
"One, one, two, three, five, eight, thirteen, twenty one, thirty four, fifty five, eighty nine, one hundred forty four, two hundred thirty three, six hundred ten, nine hundred eighty seven, and one thousand, five hundred ninety seven," he said to himself.
"Wha' was tha'?" wondered Silver.
"The Fibonacci Sequence that was thought up eons ago. It's in this little book you gave me. I had to do until it went into the thousands," said Jim.
"How is yer head from doing that?" wondered Silver.
"Fine," replied Jim.
"Mine would be in an exploded puddle on this here floor," Silver told him.
Jim laughed then suddenly cried out. "Ow, too far!"
"Sorry, lad but it's better fer someone ta do it first while yer mind is distracted then fer yerself ta do it with a good mind," said Silver.
Jim nodded his head in agreement.
"John, we may have a problem," Sarah said, immediately entering the room with a piece of paper in her hand.
Silver took the paper and it fell to the bed.
Jim read it aloud. "Wanted. John Silver for acts of piracy. Large Cyborg with mechanics on right side of body. Has golden eye. Earring in left ear. Known to have a pink Metamorphic Shapeshifter around his person. Reward: One hundred gold coins."
"I have ta get outta here," Silver told them immediately. "As long as I'm near ye two ye have association ta me and can be hanged yerselves."
"I'll come with you," Jim said suddenly.
"No!" Sarah cried. "Jim you stay here."
"Yer mother is right lad. Where I go ye cannot follow," Silver told him.
"I can't do this alone. I need you," said Jim.
"I'll come back when it's safe fer me ta do so," said Silver.
"You can hide on Montressor. We'll get there eventually and we can all leave together," said Jim.
"No, I'll let ye go so ye can have a future. I know how ye want a future. Running away with a wanted pirate will not give ye a future. Ye have ta stay here lad. It'll be all right," said Silver.
Jim shook his head as tears came to his eyes.
Rushed feet came down the hall as both Tom and Livesey ran in.
"I don't know who spilled or why, but we have a serious problem," Livesey said out of breath. "They're here for you."
Silver shut his eyes. Did it have to be here? No, it didn't. He wasn't going to have Jim watch them take him away. That was something no son of his was going to witness. Son! He just thought of Jim as he son, but he was his son practically. He was like Jim's father, and being a father that he felt he was, he stood and made to leave before they could walk in.
"Mr. Silver, don't bother."
Captain Amelia and two police officers entered the room. She looked at Jim for a moment with a look of relief and wonder then went back to her business. "Under the acts of piracy, you are hereby arrested and will further away trial that will lead to your hanging."
"No!" Jim screamed. "He's changed! He's a good man. He's innocent!"
"Mr. Hawkins, he's done more harm than good and you are just a silly boy," Amelia said. She turned to the officers and nodded her head.
Silver turned to Jim and patted his head. He grabbed his hand one more time. "Ye'll be all right lad. Promise this old Cyborg tha' ye will live an' not give up. Promise me tha' you'll find tha' greatness an' let th' world catch some of th' light coming of ye tha' day. Promise me."
"I promise," Jim said through his tears and only the consonants were completely audible. "I love you," he said.
Silver smiled and nodded his head. He pulled the boy in for one last embrace knowing it was to be there last. "I love ye too lad. I really do."
"Mr. Silver."
With a heavy sigh, Silver pushed himself out of Jim's arms and smiled noticing that the teenager did use both of his arms to clench around him. Morph flew in front of his face. "Morphy, I need ye ta keep an eye on this little pup fer me."
Morph saluted and sat on Jim's shoulder. He knew something was wrong, but he was told to stay put.
Silver looked at Sarah who stood in the center of the room looking at him in disbelief. "Sarah," he began, as he stepped forward. His efforts did not get him far.
Both his arms were grabbed and he was removed from the room. As he was walking down the hall, he heard Jim screaming his name, trying to convince them that he was innocent. The fact of the matter was that it was only a matter of time he was arrested. He wasn't innocent. He had been wanted for years. Since he was thirteen years old they had been trying to get him to hang by the end of a rope. They finally caught up to him.
It was ironic. He knew the moment he settled down they would find him and so he had to keep going. This was the very reason he travelled from galaxy to galaxy and did not let his emotions get away with him. He did let his emotions get away with him. He fell in love with a young boy and his mother. He was ready to settle down. Sarah had already put in a request for the adoption papers. He was so close to having a family. Treasure Planet was found and he swore to himself after he found it, he would settle down with that library of his and enjoy the rest of life. That was what he intended on doing and sharing the rest of his life with Jim and Sarah.
Jim once asked him if it was worth giving up a few things chasing a dream. It was worth it. It was so very much worth it. He thought if he found Treasure Planet that it would be worth it. The gold and crystals didn't matter. He found something much more worth his sacrifice. He found people he loved and a boy who needed a father. He found a family.
At the end of the hangman's noose, he knew he would die a happy man. Just for a few months of his life, since the day he lost everything when he was twelve years old, he found what he was looking for. Having a few weeks with someone he loved was worth it. The sacrifice was his life, but it was all worth it for those few treasured months with Jim Hawkins.
A note from TurtleHeart:
no worries, to be continued...