"Inventing the Future"
Author's Note: The 'backing track' for this chapter is "Rains Will Fall" by Kevin MacLeod. You can find it on YouTube, if you're interested. He's put out a lot of royalty-free music, and this piece sounds a lot like some of the songs in the game.
"Chapter 6: Excuse me?"
'First we have rabbits...Now we have ducks.'
They had brought Meredith to Jaming's garage for practical reasons. The metal houses on the pier were a bit too small, and both Dr. Jaming and Meredith lived in tree houses on the outskirts of the town. The garage was rather spacious, was situated on the ground, and it had a bed in a corner for when Jaming worked late and didn't feel like climbing his tree house ladder.
Jaming stood well out of the way as Dr. Dell shined a penlight into Meredith's eyes. He reflexively moved out of reach when Julia tried to reassure him with a hand on his shoulder, but she didn't seem to take offense at this.
"Her pupils are dilated, but reactive to light..." muttered the anthropomorphic duck as he clicked off the penlight and took Meredith's pulse.
"What does that mean?" asked Jaming, trying not to sound anxious.
"It's from the venom," Dr. Dell explained, lightly pinching the delicate skin on the back of Meredith's hand. The skin didn't immediately snap back as it should have, and he shook his head. "If you and Pau here hadn't found her when you did and given her that antidote drink, there would have been nothing I could do for her. As it is, she's severely dehydrated. I'll need to set up an I.V., and we'll just have to hope for the best."
This was unacceptable; Jaming wanted a more detailed answer. "But she'll be all right...won't she?"
Dr. Dell adjusted the spectacles on his bill and took a syringe from his bag. "Hopefully yes, but she's a very ill young lady. I'll give her a booster in case she has any poison lingering in her system, but the heat might be a bit of an issue."
Jaming's eyes flicked briefly to his work table, where his new air conditioner still sat in a dismantled pile under a canvas tarp. "There isn't much I can do about that at the moment. I have ice in the freezer, and a fan..."
"Y'all can borrow mine for a couple days," Donny piped up, drawing an astonished look from Jaming.
"You mean you have a working one?" he asked with a trace of indignance.
"Sure do! It's hot as hades this time of year. Now, come on, don't give me that look. When you said you wanted one to scrap for parts, I didn't think you'd care if it was busted."
Jaming shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, you're right. I apologize."
"Ah, don't worry about it. I reckon you've got good reason for snappin'. C'mon, I'll show you where it is." Donny waved for Jaming to follow him and left without waiting to see if he would.
Dr. Dell noticed Jaming's hesitation, and pointed at the doorway. "Go on, she'll be all right for now. We need to get her into some dry clothes anyway."
Julia finally spoke up, and her voice was quiet as if she felt reluctant to let it be heard. "She's about my size. I think I have something that will do."
The duck nodded. "Good, you can help me then."
Jaming blushed and left the garage while Dr. Dell and Julia were still talking, and he had walked about fifteen paces before he realized something. He clenched his fists and yelled over his shoulder. "Pau! You get out of there!"
The Moon Person zipped out of the garage, embarrassed and grumbling. "Sheesh, you think I care about seeing a human girl getting changed? Sicko!"
"You stay out of that garage until she's decent!"
Donny's air conditioner whirred quietly in one of the windows of Jaming's garage, bringing the temperature down from a sweltering 92 degrees to a more comfortable 78 degrees. It was still a bit warmer than Jaming preferred, but the place no longer felt like an oven. Long after he had sincerely thanked everyone for their help and most of them had gone home, Jaming sat in a wooden chair by Meredith's bedside.
Dr. Dell and Pau were still there, and though Jaming appreciated everything they had done, he wished they would go. He knew better than to say so, though. Dr. Dell was the only one who would know what to do if Meredith took a turn for the worse during the night, and Pau...well, Pau was Pau. The only person Jaming knew who was more stubborn than the young Moon Person was Meredith herself.
Right now, Dr. Dell sat with Pau at Jaming's work table, attempting to teach the boy how to play chess. "No, the knights don't move in diagonal lines across the board. Only the bishops and the queen can do that."
"This game is stupid." Pau folded his arms.
"Hm...maybe checkers is more your speed..."
Jaming shook his head and turned his attention back to Meredith. She hadn't opened her eyes at all since he found her in the caves, and now that they were out of that darkness he had something else to stew about. There were a couple marks on her face that he hadn't seen in the dimly-lit caves, and the anger that had swept over Jaming when he realized the bats had bitten her there was so sharp and so clear that he had to curb the urge to hit something.
Dr. Dell had assured him that the wounds wouldn't leave any scars, but for now they were impossible to miss. As if her dignity hadn't suffered enough!
'Those vile creatures bit her on the face! How dare they...'
Dr. Dell noticed his agitation and tried to offer some friendly advice. "She won't wake up any sooner if you stare at her, son. Why don't you find something to distract yourself with? Find something to work on."
"I would," Jaming replied in a rather snarky voice, "but it seems that you two have taken over my work station."
"Oh, that's all right, we'll move," Dr. Dell began to gather up the chess pieces, to which Pau, not surprisingly, offered no protest.
"No," Jaming said a little sharply, shaking his head. "Just...stay there. I'm all right."
Dr. Dell gave him a curious look, but wordlessly put away the chess board and began dealing out a game of solitaire. Pau showed no interest in the cards, either, but he seemed very interested in being a pain in Jaming's neck.
"You don't look all right to me."
Jaming reached up to adjust his monocle, but realized he wasn't wearing it and let his hand fall onto his thigh once more. "I said I'm fine."
Pau drummed his fingers on the tabletop and gave Jaming a speculative look. "You like her, don't you?"
Too preoccupied to realize exactly what Pau had asked him, Jaming looked confused but not particularly invested in the conversation. "Of course. We're friends."
"That's not what I mean."
"What do you..." Jaming's mouth suddenly became very dry, and he stared at Pau with the same expression a child might have when his parents catch him stealing candy.
"Pau, let him be." Dr. Dell said firmly.
"I can't believe you," Jaming's hands curled into fists as he looked away. "She nearly dies, and just because I show a reaction to it, you accuse me of..."
Startled, Pau leaned so far back that he nearly fell off his stool. "Whoa, hey, calm down! I'm not accusing you of anything. I mean...it's fine if you like her that way..."
Jaming shot to his feet, and for a moment Pau thought he was going to cross the room and attack him, but he only moved to the fridge to get himself something to drink. He downed a can of ginger ale in one go, suppressed a burp, and paced agitatedly as he launched into what could only be described as a tirade. "No, it isn't fine. Or, it wouldn't be fine, if there was any truth to that, but there isn't. If I was interested in a woman, do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to tell her? I mean, look at me! Even if she could get past the way I look, I have nothing to offer her. Nothing! And even if I wasn't a total failure, I don't deserve..."
Realizing that he had said entirely too much, Jaming crushed his soda can and tossed it into the bin. "But seeing as how I only view her as a friend, it's a moot point. I'm just glad she's alive; that does not automatically translate into...interest."
Dr. Dell continued to calmly play solitaire as if he hadn't heard a thing. Pau held up his hands as if in surrender, and got up from his seat.
"Okay, okay...sorry. I better go home anyway, though. It's getting late."
"Early," Dr. Dell corrected him. "It's two in the morning. Jaming, if you wouldn't mind stepping aside, I'll check her vitals once more before I go."
Jaming's heart, which was just slowing from its panicked gallop, picked up speed again. "You're leaving?"
"She hasn't come around yet, but she's improved since you brought her here. She'll make a full recovery. You saved her life, son."
Jaming glanced over at Pau, who lingered near the door, and smiled at the exasperating little guy. "I had help. I wouldn't have even known something was wrong, if he hadn't dropped by to put me in my place."
"Aw..." Pau looked down and bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "You're the one who figured it out, and I never could have carried her."
"A joint effort, then," Dr. Dell changed Meredith's I.V. bag and clapped Jaming on the arm on his way out. "Page me when she wakes up, and I'll come by to see how she is."
"Thank you, doctor. And Pau? A little discretion, if you please."
"Huh?" Pau looked confused, then realized that Jaming was talking about Pau's suspicions regarding his crush on Meredith. "Well, according to you, there's nothing to tell."
"Right."
Note: Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much. ;)