Chapter 3: Dangers of a Paddle Boat

For old time's sake, I wore the dress from when I had found Remy in New Orleans. It was cranberry red and silky, stopping four inches above my knees. It was also sleeveless, perfect for the hot, summer weather. At the last minute, I grabbed a charcoal grey jacket in case it got cooler.

When Remy saw me, he dropped his head into his hands and laughed. "Dieu, dat brings up some interestin' mem'ries."

"Why do you think I picked it?" I retorted, looping one arm through his.

We left the school. "Ya aren't wearing dat stuff are ya?"

I shook my head and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. "I threw that out about a week after New Orleans. It doesn't keep."

It was only when we passed the little restaurant that I began to wonder about our destination.

"Remy?"

"C'est une seprise."

I sighed and relaxed into the soft seat. I knew that look. It meant that there was no chance of me getting any more information. At all.

He parked the car at the border of West Park and got out. "Well, what do ya think?"

I kissed him. "You're wonderful, you know that, right? Although, if I had known we were coming here, I would have dressed differently."

"Ya look très belle." he took my hand, "Ya kno' dey have boat rides here?"

I started half running down the path. Remy followed me, laughing. We paid at the dock and climbed onto one of the brightly colored paddle boats. The pedals hit me in the shins a few times before I figured out how the thing worked.

After a while were stopped paddling and just drifted on the lake. I looked around at the park. It wasn't anything truly spectacular, just some gravel paths, a few young trees, and people sitting on metal benches, but it was pretty and quiet.

Eventually, we got tired and turned the boat back toward the dock. As we were getting off, I caught part of a conversation.

"…had any sense they'd have given Stryker a medal instead of shutting him down. Really, he had some inspired ideas."

Remy tensed.

"I know! Bunch of Satan-spawned freaks. Really, just look at them. Red eyes, blue skin, fur, scales… it's not right."

I grabbed Remy's arm. "Think, what do you g-"

He brushed me off and stormed over to the two humans. "Désolé, mais, Ai heard ya talkin' 'bout mutants an' Ai thought Ai should give ya a present from some o' dem ol' Stryker favor'd."

He pulled a card.

Cursing, I started toward him but he was faster. The card flared bright magenta before exploding. Both humans were thrown backwards. One of them hit a bench with a sickening crunch.

"Remy!"

The other got back up and pulled a knife. I stared at him, dumbfounded. Who brought a knife to a park?

The knife turned pink. But instead of exploding, it jerked free of the man's grip and turned on him.

"Remy, enough."

He hesitated, then walked away, letting the knife fall.

"Hey, freak! I'm not done with you!"

We both turned in time to see the man with the knife sprinting toward us. I concentrated. Roots exploded out of the ground, rapping tight around his legs and sending the man to the ground.

He threw the knife. I don't know if it was dumb luck or if he had some kind of training, but the knife sailed toward me. I jumped out of the way. So instead of hitting me, the knife stuck Remy in the abdomen and stayed there.

No one moved.

Remy had pulled the knife out and had his hand pressed firmly over his stomach through his coat. "It ain't too bad. Just a scratch."

I pulled his hand away and forced him to sit down on one of the benches. His coat landed on the ground. blood saturated the fabric of his shirt. I pulled it out of the way.

"That... is not a scratch."

I went for a pocket before realizing that I didn't have any. "Shit, does anyone have a phone?"

No one answered.

"He's bleeding badly. I-"

"I have a phone, want me to call an ambulance?"

I smiled gratefully and took the cell phone. "No, I have some friends who would be better."

"I'll try to stop the bleeding."

It took me three tries before I punched in the number correctly. The phone only rang twice before it was picked up.

"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Zis is Kurt."

"Kurt, thank the Goddess. Remy's hurt. We're at West Park get down here fast."

"I vill be right zere." The phone buzzed. Kurt hadn't even hung up.

We didn't have long to wait before Kurt appeared in a puff of smoke. Grabbing onto me with one hand, he wrapped the other arm around Remy's shoulders and we disappeared. When we reappeared we were on a roof. From there, we teleported from rooftop to rooftop until we reached the school.

"Jean, ve need your help. Ve need a doctor. Jetzt*."

Shoes hammered the floor. Kitty, Jean, Scott, Emma, and Logan entered the entry hall and stopped dead.

"What happened?" Emma asked.

"Some Neanderthal knifed him."

Jean went into doctor mode. "Kurt, get him down to the infirmary. Now. I'll be right there."

They both left, Kurt still supporting Remy. I started pacing back and forth, biting my nails. It was a habit I thought I had broken a long time ago.

"Hey, kid. Sit down."

"I'm not a 'kid'." I snapped.

Ororo set one hand on my arm and guided me into a seat. "Want some hot chocolate?"

"I want to know how badly Remy's hurt. That knife was heading toward me. And then I moved and it hit Remy."

"Caitlyn, it's not your fault. Blame it on the guy who threw the knife." Logan said firmly.

"I know, but…" I exhaled through my nose. "I wish there was something I could do."

"You can go down and wait outside the infirmary. But that might be worse." Ororo suggested.

I got up and ran down the stairs before she could say any more. I nearly collided with Jean.

"What are you doing? How is he?"

"The knife didn't hit anything important, there's no internal bleeding. I have him sedated and I am going to get some thread from Hank that your boyfriend won't accidentally blow up."

I took a deep breath to keep from snapping at Jean. "Thanks. Mind if I wait out here?"

"No problem. You can wait with Kurt."

I joined the blue mutant. He was sitting on a metal bench holding a string of rosary beads with his head bowed.

"Herr, auf ihn schauen mit den Augen der Barmherzigkeir, können lhre heilende Hand ruhen auf ihm, kann lhr belebende Kräfte fließen in jede Zelle seines Körpers und Kraft für den Dienst in lhr Königreich. Amen*."

Hearing him praying for Remy made my stomach twist into convoluted sailor's knots.

"Jean told me he's going to be fine."

Kurt looked up. "I know. But it never hurts. Besides, if I don't, I vill start pacing. Prayer is calming."

I sat next to him and closed my eyes.

Without realizing it, I started my own prayer. "Oh Great Goddess, Mother of Mercy and Healing, send Your healing wisdom to this body, to restore its sacred balance, Thank you Great Goddess, Mother of All Life."

~OoOoO~

Jean came out of the infirmary, drying her hands on a cloth. "I finished. You can see him now, but he's still asleep."

I pushed the metal doors open and walked inside.

Remy was lying on a hospital bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, allowing me a clear view of the bandage tapped to his side. I brushed his hair out of his eyes. Seeing him sedated and bandaged was worse than seeing the blood on his clothes.

I pulled up a chair and took his hand.

"He's not going to wake up for another couple of hours." Jean called.

"Got it." I didn't move. I wasn't planning to.

It didn't actually work out that way. Ororo came down about half an hour later to tell me that dinner was ready. When I didn't go upstairs, Logan came down and threatened to drag me. I told him to go ahead and try, which he somehow managed to do without hurting me.

After dinner I went back down to the infirmary to wait. At about nine, Remy's eyes flickered open.

"Chere?"

I smiled. "Yup."

"Where de hell am Ai?"

"Infirmary. Jean patched you up. You're going to be fine. She said to give it about a month before you did any strenuous activity."

"Shoot."

I laughed.

A/N: *now, *Lord, look upon him with eyes of mercy, may your healing hand rest upon him, may your lifegiving powers flow into every cell of his body and into the depths of his soul, cleansing, purifying, restoring me to wholeness and strength for service on your Kingdom. Amen.

I know, I'm being mean to Remy. Still, it just fits. Don't shoot (or knife) me!