Chapter Seven
Age nine, continued.
Ty has lost count of the number of days he's been here. Was it months now? And all the while he has been cooped up in this small (tiny) room. The cot took up most of the space. Through a narrow doorway there was the bathroom. The door was always locked. They didn't want him leaving.
They've poked and prodded him as much as he would like. Every inch of him was touched and examined. He's been through dozens of CAT scanners and brain tests. They all asked him to click for them so that they could continue to study him and figure out what this all meant.
Recently, he ha discovered the best way to deal with those doctors and people in masks. He simply said he couldn't do it. That's right. He lied to all the medical professors that have wanted to study him. He just couldn't do it anymore. When he clicked, the brain scans picked up movement in parts of his brain that in normal humans wouldn't be active. Vice versa when he didn't do it. The doctors were baffled.
He has seen Ma and Pa once since the doctors took him away. They were at a court house that day. When he saw his parents, he jerked free of the nurse's grasp and jumped into Ma's comforting arms before he was pulled away. They were trying to get the hospital to release him. They've been trying for months to get him back.
The doctors haven't tried touching him since Ma and Pa took them to court. The trial should be ending soon then he could leave and go back home to the subsea. He could forget about all of this and continue on with his happy little life.
A key rattled in the lock. He looked up when the door opened.
"Ty?" It was Ma.
"Ma!" he cried and jumped into her arms. He hugged her tightly like she would be ripped away from him again. He started to cry as she stroked his hair softly and kissed his head.
"You're coming home," Pa said and squeezed his shoulder. "We're all going home now."
Pa picked him up and carried him out of the hospital, away from the smell of antiseptic, away from the doctors, away from everything. Ty didn't let go of him even for one second. There was no way he was going back there.
It has been a while since he's seen his parents. Ma looks tired and Pa looks like he's aged five years. He buried his face into Pa's shirt and breathed in deeply. The smell of the ocean flooded his nose, reminding him of home.
The Trade Station was a sight for sore eyes. The smell of fish drying in the sun, people haggling for prices, and the salty smell all around them was where he belonged. Safely buckled into the Slicky, Ma's arms circled him and held him close. A sense of longing washed over him. He choked back his tears as the bubble fence came closer. Just a little longer and he would be home.
The Slicky passed through the bubble fence. Schools of fish swam past and avoided the Slicky. The kelp fields fluttered as it passed overhead. The jellyfish home glowed. Ty's heart fluttered. He pinched himself just to be sure this wasn't another dream.
The Slicky was parked in the moon pool. Ty unbuckled quickly and bounded out of the Slicky and onto the edge of the moon pool. He ran into the living room and circled around. Everything was the same. Nothing was changed, nothing was gone. He collapsed onto a couch and stared out the windows. The hum of generators and air purifiers calmed him. Ma touched his arm. He jerked at first but then saw who it was.
"I missed you," he said quietly and leaned into his mother's arms.
She kissed his cheek. "You're not going anywhere. You're safe here."
"Ma," he whispered. A cool cloth pressed against his forehead again. Maybe he caught the flu from Zoe. It has happened before. "Ma."
"How is he, Pretty?" Shade asked.
"It's been two days," he answered. "He's not getting any better. He doesn't recognize anyone anymore. He barely eats; it's hard enough to get water down his throat."
He felt someone's hand on his face. Fingers opened one sticky eye. All he could see were blurs. Was it Pa? He'd probably get Doc to make a house call and check him out.
"Pa," he whispered and turned his head from side to side.
No matter what anyone tried, the fever continued to burn through him. As soon as a cloth was placed on his forehead, it would heat up. They tried to get food down him, but it never stayed down in him for long. It would come back up a few hours later. A bucket was by his head and someone always helped him to lean over the bucket. Water wasn't as hard, but he didn't have a lot of strength left in him to choke down even a few mouthfuls.
Someone was trying to feed him some plain fish broth currently. It took too much effort to even open his eyes so he couldn't tell who was trying to feed him. The spoon pressed down on his lower lip. He responded by opening his mouth and letting the little bit of broth slip into his mouth. He swallowed and felt the spoon press down again. He turned his head to the side. The lukewarm broth spilled down his cheek. Someone cursed and flicked off the bits of broth on his cheek. The person turned his head and stuck another spoonful of broth into his mouth. He swallowed and fell asleep once more.
When he woke, people were talking around him. Who was here? Did his condition attract the attention of the entire Territory? No, he wasn't at home. His hand brushed a wall and his bed wasn't as big. If he wasn't home, where was he?
He struggled to open his eyes and try to see his surroundings. His body didn't exactly respond to him. He sent out clicks instead. It definitely wasn't home. There were double decker berths. He was on one close to the ground. Two people were talking and looking down at him, concerned, he thought.
"He has to have medical treatment," Pretty said. "I don't think any home remedies will work on him."
"I'm not bringing him Topside," Shade said, a final decision. "Or to any other doctor. They could do something to him."
"Well then where do we take him? We seem to be running low on doctors."
Shade shifted his weight from foot to foot. "We could always drop by Lottie's," he suggested. "She'll know what to do and we can fix up the Specter while he's resting."
"And not to mention the last time we showed up when she almost shot Kale." Pretty shook his head. "If it's the only way." The voices faded. They left and he slept.
The next few hours were a blur. The pattern was always the same. Wake up shivering, have someone force water down your throat, murmur something intelligibly, and go back to sleep. It was a never ending cycle between pain and hallucinations. People hovered over him, talking about things he couldn't make sense of. Doc should be coming soon and make him better. Ma's home remedies weren't working. He didn't want Doc to come, but if he wasn't seen by someone, his parents would resort to taking him to a Topside hospital. That was out of the question. No way was he going back there.
Then he was picked up. Pa must be taking him to the Slicky. No, no, no this couldn't be happening.
"Let me go," he croaked and thrashed out of Pa's grip.
"The Guppy's got some strength left in him," Hatchet said and tightened his grip. His last ounce of strength was gone. He lay limp in Hatchet's arms.
They carried him out of the Specter. Two people were arguing. He caught most of what they said.
"You have some nerve showing your face around here," a woman said. "The last time you boys were here, my house nearly sank!"
"We fixed the leak didn't we?" Shade argued. "Besides, we wouldn't have come if it weren't as important as this."
"Whatever it is, take your business elsewhere."
"Lottie, please."
The woman, Lottie, sighed. "What is it?"
"Hatchet, bring him here."
Hatchet carried Ty forward. He opened his eyes weakly and saw the face of a woman standing with her hands on her hips.'
"What did you do to him?" she asked.
"He was being nosy," Pretty answered. "What were we supposed to do?"
"You could've at least tried to take care of him!" Lottie hollered. "Bring him inside and set him down on the table. And don't touch anything while you're in there!"
"Yes, ma'am," Eel said.
Ty was set down on a table. A light was turned on overhead. The blankets were taken away, leaving him cold and shivering on the table.
"So what exactly happened?" she asked.
"Shot him with a harpoon," Shade answered simply. "Don't give me that look; you would have done the same thing. Right shoulder."
"Thanks." They stripped him of his t-shirt. Oh no, did Pa take him to the hospital? He reached out with his good hand and tried to sit up only to be pushed back down again.
"You didn't do anything to clean his wound did you?" she asked.
"Does it look like any of us are doctors? We bandaged it didn't we?"
"Yes, you did do that, but you didn't clean the wound. I wouldn't exactly call the Specter sanitary." Lottie fingered his wound and clicked her tongue. "I have to clean out the whole wound. I'll be right back just keep the boys out of my stuff."
"You heard the lady, boys," Shade said. "The Specter needs work to be done. Move it out."
With a lot of stomping, the outlaws left the room. Only Shade remained.
Lottie returned with all the tools she needed. She opened Ty's mouth and stuck something rubber into him. "Bite down on this when it hurts," she said. "Hold him up, Shade." The outlaw's arm surrounded him and held him upright. Lottie took out a spray bottle and began to spray the wound. Ty bit down on the rubber gag as the liquid stung his shoulder. She continued to spray whatever was in the bottle.
"You're lucky you brought him to me when you did," she said. "A day longer and the infection might've gone too far."
"You can heal him right?" Shade asked.
"Of course I can. I just have to flush out the entire wound and then stitch it up. He'll have to stay here for a few days though. Just so I can watch over his condition. Plan for a long visit?"
Shade shrugged. "We have some repairs to do on the Specter so we'll stay for a day or two."
"That should be good enough." She stopped spraying and took out an antiseptic swab. She washed the opening of the wound first then worked her way further into his shoulder. Ty bit down harder on the gag and gripped the side of the table.
"He's a bit young to be in your gang isn't he?" she asked.
"He's not in Seablite. He's just a kid who got a little too close for comfort. I thought he would get out of the way in time, but he didn't so now we're here. He's a pioneer's kid."
"A pioneer? Out of everybody in the ocean you had to shoot this kid. You haven't changed a bit now have you?"
"Did you want me to?"
"You wouldn't have changed anyways." The swab was jammed further into his shoulder. He bit down all the harder and dug his nails into his palm to at least get his mind off the pain in his shoulder.
"Alright, this side is clean," she announced. "You can set him down now." Shade set Ty down on his back and gave him a reassuring pat on the head.
She flushed out the other side of his arm and repeated the process with a clean swab. When all was done, she wrapped his shoulder tightly and removed the rubber gag.
"The kid's strong," she said. "Take him to the spare room. He'll be safe in there."
Shade nodded and scooped him up off the table. A large crash came from the other room then laughter. "Don't worry," Shade said quickly. "I'll deal with them."
"You better," she warned. "My patience grows thin."
Ty was carried away and set down on a soft bed. The blankets were piled on, the light was turned off. The sound of the air purifiers gave him a sense of safety. Was he home again? Well, wherever he was, he knew he was going to be okay.