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Ow! My throat hurts again. Why does my throat always have to hurt? The blankets are warm though. For once I'm comfortable. It's so warm. Ugh, they drugged me again. I can feel it. My head hurts and my throat hurts and I feel like I weigh three times as much as I should. Hey wait—my throat hurts? I'm lying on my side. That means—
Halfway conscious but conscious enough to feel things, Jim slowly moved his right hand across the pillow it was resting on and touched his lips, feeling the soft skin pressed together normally. He felt the creases smile out of his lips. His fingers slowly moved down his lips to around his throat. His lips parted and he breathed through his mouth. The smile on his face grew. The blue eyes slowly and heavily opened.
Like he thought, he was lying on his right side with soft, warm blankets piled on top of him and tucked neatly around him. The pillow was feathery soft and he had more than one under his head. His drugged eyes were a struggle to keep open and his head pleaded for more rest. Wholly, his body was heavy, but he wanted to stay awake. He had to stay awake. From his view, no one seemed to be in the room with him so there was no reason to stay awake really. His eyes fell shut again and head slumped into the pillow and mind gave way to the fading medicine that was still in his blood just as he heard someone's voice hurriedly call his name. He thought he felt a hand press against his cheek for a second, but he would never know.
A few hours later he felt himself coming around again, much more awake. His head didn't hurt and his eyes easily opened. He was still lying on his right side wrapped in the blankets. His throat continued to feel sore. There was only one difference however.
Sitting in a chair close beside his bedside that his knees were touching the mattress, Silver was quietly snoring in his sleep. His head was tilted forward and his arms were folded across his chest. It was his "I jus' closed me eyes fer a second" look that Jim had seen more than once.
Pink suddenly shot in front of his face.
"Hi," he softly whispered, his voice sore and raspy.
Morph squealed and wrapped his cool body around Jim's neck. He nuzzled into his throat, but a bit too tightly.
"Ow!" Jim softly cried out, turning his face into the pillow more.
Frightened, Morph squealed and hid in Silver's shoulder startling the man awake with a loud snore.
"I jus' closed me eyes fer a second," Silver announced to Morph.
"I knew you'd say that," whispered Jim.
Silver's eyes widened as he looked at the teenager cocooned in his blankets. Jim was awake and smiling at him. Jim spoke. There was a smile on his lips that wasn't disrupted by anything. He was just a second too late before, but here was Jim looking up at him with those indigo eyes. Finally, he didn't look dead or cold. He looked content and happy again. Well, happier. He needed a lot more muscle and fat on those bones, which would come with time and eating. He knew he would see a true Jim Hawkins smile on the teenager's lips when they arrived back on Montressor.
Under the blankets, Jim stretched his legs out then his arm. He softly sighed contently and nuzzled into the pillows more. He knew by the nature of how well that stretch felt he was out longer than he thought and he couldn't help but to ask.
"How long was I—"
"Stop talking. No talking. Don't talk. Yer throat hurts an' ye know it lad. No talky talky," Silver told him, composing himself and showing authority over the teenager. "Ye were only out a few days. Livesey was goin' ta give ye somethin' jus' ta keep ye outta it then jus' decided ye needed ta sleep more."
Unable to contain himself any longer, Silver leaned down and pulled Jim into a tight embrace.
Too weak to wrap his arms around him completely, Jim lay between Silver's torso and his arms contently. A soft smile widened on his face.
"Don't ye ever give up like tha' again," Silver whispered.
Jim nodded his head in agreement.
Feeling the nod, Silver gave his own firm nod. He released the boy and gently laid him how he was before.
Jim opened his mouth and took a breath to speak.
"Ah! No talking!" Silver cried, pointing a metallic finger at him.
The teenager released the breath in an annoyed sigh. He drummed his fingers on the pillow with a few sounds of gizmos. Realizing he did it with his left hand, he rolled his eyes.
"Yer getting used ta it!" Silver cried happily and jumping from the chair, sending it flying backwards.
Jim once again nodded his head obviously. "If we can't talk then I'm going to get bored."
"Jimbo, ye can barely talk as it is. Listen ta yerself. Ye sound horrible," noted Silver. "Here, write it down."
He handed the teenager a pen and paper.
Jim looked at him not amused. He was lying on his right side and therefore unable to write. If he was left hand dominant then perhaps he could have wrote, but favoring his right hand and lying on his right side posed a small issue at hand.
Understanding, Silver gave a nod of his head. Slowly and carefully, he pulled the weak teenager upward with pillows against his back for comfort. A few blankets were wrapped behind him and around his front. The rest of the blankets were pulled closely to his belly. He had him sitting up enough where he could write and look around the room, only about a fourth of the way, but he knew Jim was still wearing off the medicine.
"There. More comfortable? Warm enough?" Silver asked.
The teenager nodded as he wrote on the pad. He held it out for Silver. Mom?
"Ah, she's somewhere's around here. I dunno. Women are indecisive lad," said Silver.
Jim smirked. So are you.
Silver chuckled as he nodded his head. He sat himself beside the boy and wrapped his left arm around his shoulders. He watched as Jim painfully swallowed and grabbed his throat.
Ice?
"I can get ye something," said Silver, starting to move.
Jim gasped and grabbed his arm before he let him leave the bed. His eyes were frightened and eyebrows high. His head was shaking rapidly. Tears were beginning to glisten in his blue orbs. He quickly wrote his thoughts. Don't leave me again. Every time you leave something happens. I don't want you leaving me. You won't come back.
"Yes I will lad, but since yer looking at me like tha' I won't be leaving ye for a bit," said Silver, pulling him closer into his body. He scribbled out a note, tore it off, and held it out to Morph. "Morphy, give this ta th' Livesey brothers."
Morph saluted and left the room with the paper.
Discreetly, Jim leaned his head further to the right until his cheek came in contact with a warm belly. He shut his eyes and leaned wholly to the right.
"I'm not goin' anywhere," Silver told him reassuringly. "An' if I do, I'm on a short leash. Ye owe me lad." He lifted his left tunic sleeve and pointed to his upper arm. "See, look at tha' lad. Look. At. That."
Jim looked but saw nothing. He was looking where Silver was pointing but saw nothing but flesh. Not understanding, he shrugged his shoulders and looked at him with narrow, confused eyes.
"Right there. Right there I have a location chip in me arm. They can look me up anytime they want," Silver told him.
"Sorry," Jim whispered.
"Tha's not even th' worst of it. They had ta use a needle ta get it in me arm. A needle! Do I need ta spell it out fer ya? N-E-E-D-L-E. I hate needles. Nearly passed out when I got me ear pierced when I was younger. Me father did it fer me as a birthday present an' I didn't think there were any needles involved. I be hating needles more tha' ye hate whatever it is ya hate th' most in this world," Silver told him, his eye glowing orange and voice frustrated.
Jim was smirking as he was quick at work writing. Some pirate you are. You yelled at me for creasing my own book. You've read every book known to the universe. You drink tea and dream of a huge library. You can't even act like a pirate for very long. A fifteen year old boy managed to soften your heart and you gave up treasure for him. And you hate needles. You're a horrible pirate.
"I know, I know," admitted Silver. He shuddered. "I hate needles."
So what happens when you need stitches?
Silver looked at him and did not answer that question. The scowl on his face became a smirk he shared with Jim. He gave the teenager a gentle push on the shoulders.
Footsteps approached followed by Livesey walking in the room with a bowl and a spoon. He smiled at Jim. "Well, look who's back from the dead again. I brought you some shaved ice and I added a bit of lemon and citrus juice for extra goodness both taste and health wise. Small bites."
Happily, Jim took the bowl in both hands. Seeing he was using his left hand as well, Silver and Livesey shared a look. They watched as the bowl was shifted wholly into Jim's left hand with careful concentration and a small pink tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
"Mm mm," Silver said shaking his head. "Spoon in left hand, bowl in right."
Jim simply glared at him and began eating his ice. The taste was pleasant, but the feeling going down his throat hurt. His facial expression was pained and disappointed. He quickly wrote a message. Why does it hurt more this time?
"Because you were awake for a few days and moving around. I told you if you kept moving you were going to damage your throat and I was right," said Livesey. "It'll feel better tomorrow I'm sure. You've had those things out of your throat for two days now. It's taken about two days for the medicine to wear off and I took the liberty of cleaning your shoulder for you while you were out."
How much longer do you have to keep doing that?
"Until there is a good clean seal. Basically when we don't have to bandage your shoulder. Not for a while yet," replied Livesey.
Jim slumped and sighed. He nodded his head then took a small bite of his ice. The disappointment on his face was heartbreaking. Only a moment ago he was smiling beautifully and now he was once again looking down with his sad blue eyes.
"But, in a few days you can probably go home," said Livesey, immediately brightening the teenager's face. "Once you're talking normal, I'll see what you can do with that arm of yours and, depending how well you're handling your arm, I'll let you off my hook for a week. Of course, you'll be seeing me every week because I need to satisfy the official pricks and report back to them your condition."
The joy became confusion as Jim set the spoon in his mouth and melted the ice to let it drip down his throat. What do you mean by that?
"Well, put it like this lad," began Silver. "Ye an' I have our own social workers tha' are gonna check up on us every Saturday. We get ta spend an hour wit' them talking an' discussing." He stuck his tongue out in disgust. "An' wherever we go, someone get's ta come wit' us an' watch us. I'm sorry ta say tha' yer grounded for a minimum of six months. No solar surfing at all."
Jim shrugged and nodded. I don't think you or Mom would want me doing it anyway. I don't even know if I trust myself with my arm like this. I haven't gotten used to it enough to even think about getting back on one.
"Good," both Silver and Livesey agreed.
"An' while yer resting and healing, ye get ta do all yer schoolwork. Yer ta return ta school second term with all yer work done," continued Silver.
Jim's eyes widened in fear. His breathing increased. School. The end of term was approaching if he thought correctly. It was the end of November or early December. Winter break began mid-December and ended the end of January. He had two months to get his arm in tip top condition and to try to remember what happened. Going back to school meant he had to face them all again. He had more enemies than friends. Surprisingly, he did have a few friends there who knew he was smart and knew the truth about him. They were only passing because he helped them with their work after school when he was working.
Going to school meant the story would be told. Everyone would find out that he had a social worker and was on probation. What would they say when they discovered he and Silver were together? What would they do when it spread he found Treasure Planet?
Who knows that I found Treasure Planet?
"Those close to you and the authorities. Obvious reasons, the authorities are not going to spill it," said Livesey.
Jim held up his right hand and looked at Silver begging for an answer. The gold ring glistened in the light.
"It was a gift from me. They don' have ta be asking where ye got it since it's a gift," replied Silver.
Then how am I supposed to tell them how we met?
"Ye went spacing fer a few months ta get yer character back in shape. Since ye can't remember how ye were injured, they can't be asking too much," said Silver. "Your mother an' I have been thinking about this quite closely."
It's high school. How am I supposed to show my face, literally, and walk down the hall? I look like a robot.
"Now see here Jimbo," Silver said sharply. "A small plate in yer head an' a hand is all they're gonna see. Th' twins seemed ta like it. I get th' feeling th' rest of yer classmates will too."
Jim shrugged. He wasn't sure at all how they would think of it. Perhaps they wouldn't say much. He was actually hoping he would get a bit of attention from it all. A few people might just come up to him and ask him therefore learning he's not who he used to be. Seeing that he changed on his little spacing trip may just get him a new reputation. Come to think of it, if he would just cooperate like Silver wanted him to things would be better with his social life. He was giving an honest effort to turn his life around and hopefully people would see that.
Sometime along the journey to Treasure Planet, he changed. He didn't want to be that lost little brat he once was. He had something to live for. There was a future in store for him. He may not have known what he wanted to do with his life yet, but there was enough of himself aimed at trying to have a future. If anything, he wanted to show the rest of the universe what he had become. He was a smart teenager with a secret. He found Treasure Planet. In finding that planet, he changed.
Silver changed him. He had reason to live because he was going to have a family. Finally. The adoption would still go through as long as he was good. Everything was looking a little brighter now. Silver had no choice but to stay with him and his mother seemed happier. Everyone seemed happier. He took a glance at his arm and smiled. Even if there was nothing left in his life, he would simply push forward just to get used to it. He had a lot of things to prove to himself. He had to prove he could survive the mechanical upgrades, find more friends, change his reputation, keep control, and find that greatness everyone always spoke of.
He nodded his head to himself confidently then stopped and groaned softly. Nodding with a sore throat, now that was one of his more stupid things he had done in his life. Easing the pain, he ate his now nearly liquefied flavored ice.
A note from TurtleHeart:
it's short i know, but this next part is going to be longer cuz Jim's going home. just wanted to let all of you faithful readers who have suffered like Jim that he's all right now and realizing there is a life for him. if anything wasn't explained, it'll be done in the next chapter.
and i apologize for not having updated. i just saw How to Train Your Dragon recently and fell in love. i ended up by starting a story. opps, but that's love. but, i have a few days of writing time ahead of me so i'm going to focus on the insanity that is to come with Jim's newfound situation. no more darkness for a while with plenty of laughs to come.
so, are you happier now? let me know!
Happy Readings!