Author stuff: I love Darci. This stuff hurt to write.
Trigger warnings: A lot of medical talk on various subjects
Drawn From Stone
Chapter Nine
Dr. Lake had to be the best mother she had ever known — which wasn't saying too much, as she really didn't know her own mother, Darren's mom had kind of been a one time thing with her dad and he'd gotten custody over him, Claire's mom was, well, Claire's mom, and Mary's mother had an alcohol problem. Still, she was almost absolutely certain that if there was a definition for "best mother", Dr. Lake's picture would be there.
She finally understood how Jim came to be such a great guy.
The poor doctor — not a doctor, an attending — had bolted out of there as soon as he could. She didn't think he was well trained in dealing with people. He had that look about him.
A nurse who had passed by brought in two steaming cups. Hot chocolate, by it's sweet taste. That or coffee that had been sweetened too much with more milk than is absolutely necessary. She welcomed its warmth. It settled into her trembling fingers and helped ease away any uncertainty.
"What was it like?" she said, after she'd managed to calm down enough. She was sitting next to Dr. Lake, leaning her head against her shoulder as the woman continued to comfort her.
"What?" Dr. Lake said.
"Having a seizure?"
Dr. Lake hummed for a moment while she thought.
"I wasn't really aware of it," she said. "I was in a different place. It's sort of different with each individual case. Some people experience auras, warning signs that a seizure is about to happen and, in itself, is a miniature seizure. This could be lightheadedness or twitching or feeling nauseated. In some cases, people are able to smell certain things. There are people who have simple partial seizures, where they are aware that they are having a seizure. There are more complex cases, too, where the person doesn't remember having the seizure."
"You know a lot about this."
"Well, I am a doctor." Darci gave her a look, which Dr. Lake returned with a smile. "Jim was epileptic. I think he was… eight when he had his last seizure? Yeah, that sounds about right. Try being a single mother watching your child have a seizure on the floor of a Macy's store. That was… interesting."
"Did you feel helpless when he had them?"
"All the time. I was afraid he was going to hurt himself, or he would have one when I wasn't around. He had great friends, though. And the teachers were always good about knowing what to do." Dr. Lake pulled her in for a hug. "Your brother's going to be okay. It's scary the first few times, but you get the hang of it."
A soft knock at the door alerted them to an intruder.
"Gatik," Dr. Lake said, looking up. It was the attending who'd been talking to her before Darci had interrupted. "What's up?"
"I was actually looking for Miss Scott," he said, tapping his fingers against his clipboard. He nodded to Darci and cleared his throat. "I apologize for leaving like that earlier, but I thought you would like a bit of privacy."
"Thank you," she said.
"Anything else?" Dr. Lake said.
"Er, yes. It's about your brother, Miss Scott."
"Is he awake?" she said, shooting to her feet so quickly black took over her vision. Wasn't that supposed to mean that she had a sodium deficiency or something?
"I'm afraid," Gatik said. He looked down at his feet and cleared his throat once more. "I'm afraid he's in a coma."
He paced along the foot of the bed. Claire sat at the head of the bed, NotEnrique curled up in her lap. Her eyes followed his movements. There was a line creasing her scrunched up brow.
"Wait," Claire said, her hands stroking NotEnrique's back. Jim was pretty certain he was purring, but NotEnrique would murder him if he mentioned it. "Who?"
"The Prince of Benwick, whoever that is," Jim said, his arms flinging upwards. He held them there for a moment before threading his fingers through his hair. "Merlin thinks my dad is a prince. Of all the ridiculous… He can't be, right?"
"Well…"
Jim turned his head, jaw dropped and eyes wide.
"Jim," she said, "it might explain a few things. I mean —"
"Claire, my dad is not a prince. That would make me a… a, uh…"
"I think a prince, too."
He glared at her.
"Let's just google it."
He siddled over to her, plopping down on the bed next to her. He rested his chin on her head to see her phone's screen.
"You're heavy, you know that?"
"Yeah, yeah," he said. "What's it say?"
"The son of a prince is a prince."
"I don't like it."
"Jim…"
"Google… google Prince of Benwick."
"You have a phone, too, you know." She typed it into google anyway. It took a moment to find any answers, but Jim didn't like them.
"No," he said, hopping off the bed. "No, nope, no. Nu-uh. No way."
"I mean, it makes sense," she said. "What do you think 'du Lac' meant?"
"You mean Shrek stole that from Arthurian legend?"
"Oh, for the love of…" She sighed and deadpanned. "Yes, Jim. The directors of Shrek took that from Arthurian legend. They also stole a lot of things from Germanic fairy tales and lore. They also completely changed the original story the movie was based off. Shrek used to breathe fire, you know that?"
"But… but Lancelot? Lancelot is my dad?"
"Lancelot wasn't the only Prince of Benwick," she said, scooching over, careful not to jostle NotEnrique. She patted the newly empty space beside her.
Hesitantly, he moved to her side, lying down next to her. His head rested on her free thigh.
"How much do you know about Arthurian legend?" Claire said, stroking his head between his horns.
A pleasant tingle ran down his spine, making him curl his toes.
"Didn't Guinevere have an affair with Lancelot?" he said, looking up at her. He willed her to stroke his head again.
"Sort of? It's not even in the original lore. A lot of scholars believe it was written by a man who gifted it to his patron. She was a fan of courtly love. Or something like that. I… can't quite remember. All of my notes are back at my parents' house."
"Notes?" he said. She gave him a shy shrug and a little smile. Of course Claire would have notes. Why wouldn't she?
"What? After I found out about the whole… Trollhunting business, I did my research on Arthur and Merlin and everything. I kind of wish I'd brought the notebooks —"
"Notebooks."
"— so I could ask Merlin about some things. You know, get some of the legends and stuff straightened out. I kind of want to know what did and didn't happen. I'm pretty certain the whole affair thing was something that didn't."
Jim snorted, making her look down at him.
"What?" she said.
"You're such a nerd," he said, poking her thigh.
"Says the guy who played Dungeons and Dragons!"
"Hey, if we had asked you to join us, you would have! Remember the LARPing thing? That's just a step up from D&D."
"Oh, god."
"What?"
"You're the nerd — you called it D&D!" She jerked her legs, making him sit up and rest on one arm. Poor NotEnrique looked between the two of them and muttered something, moving to the foot of the bed. He curled up and went right back to sleep.
"You knew that when you started dating me."
"I knew that since I had a crush on you."
"You had a crush on me?" That perked him right up. A goofy grin pulled at his cheeks and his eyebrows rose.
Claire opened her mouth, as if to defend herself. She couldn't get a word out before her phone went off. It buzzed on the nightstand behind him.
He reached over and grabbed it, handing it to her.
"It's Darci," she said, frowning at the screen. She accepted the call, bringing her phone up to her ear. "Hello?"
"Claire?" Darci said. Jim tried not to listen, but it was a little difficult with his hearing slightly enhanced. "Thank god. Mary's on a date and isn't answering, Toby has his hands full, I don't really know what's up with Shanon these days – Look, I just… I need someone to talk to."
"Are you okay?" Claire sat up straighter, giving Jim a sidelong look as he brought himself closer to listen in. "You sound like you're having a panic attack."
"Sort of? I am. I really, totally am. Panicking. Panic attacking. Having a panic attack? Yeah, that thing."
"Darci, just breathe with me, okay?"
"Okay."
"Do you mind if I put you on speaker? Jim's here with me. It's just the two of us."
"Yeah," Darci said, her voice a little fluttery. "Yeah, okay."
Claire set the phone down on her knee, between her and Jim. She pressed the speaker button.
"Hey, Darci," Jim said, he gave Claire a tight-lipped smile. "Thanks again for the update. Any news?"
"Not… I haven't checked. I should go do that. Yeah. Keep myself busy. Hang on, I can ask a nurse."
"You're still at the hospital?" Claire said, her brow scrunching together again. Her frown deepened. "I thought you left, like, an hour ago."
Over the speaker, there was a beeping. Hospital machinery.
"I… I did," Darci said, "but I came back. Had to come back."
Claire turned to look at Jim, who met her eyes. He was frowning as well.
"It's, um, it's Darren."
"Is he okay?" Claire said. Her eyes flicked over to NotEnrique, her heart stuttering for a moment.
"Uh…" Jim said, raising a hand and mouth wide.
"Darren is Darci's younger brother. He plays soccer on the team Eli used to coach."
"Eli coaches soccer?"
"Yeah, during the summer," Darci said. A light but forced laugh followed after her voice. "You don't pay much attention, do you?"
"Darren?" Claire said, interrupting whatever was going on.
"He, uh — Hold on, I found a nurse." They heard Darci speak and a man following after. It was a few more minutes before Darci's voice became discernable again. "...thank you. You're mom's good to be released in the morning. It's already been approved by another doctor. They've ordered her to a seven day break. Strickler's been called and informed already. He just has to keep an eye on her and monitor her symptoms. If she looks like she's going to have another seizure, he's to call for an ambulance immediately."
"That's a relief," Jim said, letting out a breath. He lied back down, coaxing Claire to relax with him. "They still don't know what happened?"
"Like I told you earlier. The doctors didn't see any abnormalities. Toby is going with AAARRRGGHH! and the Creepslayerz with your… with James tomorrow morning, in a couple of hours, to Blinky's library. They're going to be doing some research. If they can figure out what happened to your mom, they might be able to figure out what happened to Darren –"
"What did happen to Darren?" Claire said. "You keep cutting yourself off."
Darci paused for a moment. Jim could almost hear her debating whether or not to tell them. And when she spoke, her voice was flat.
"He had a seizure," she said. "He hasn't woken up yet, so they don't want to do a scan or really move him around too much."
"Is he okay?" Claire said. "He didn't hurt himself, did he?"
"No, no. Dad and I were in the car with him. He… I don't know. First Doctor Lake, now Darren…"
"You don't think this will happen to anyone else, do you?" Claire reached out her hand to Jim. He took it, lacing their fingers together and pressing a kiss to the soft skin of her thumb.
"I don't know," Darci said. "I honestly don't know."
His phone was rapidly buzzing in his pocket, but at the moment Toby didn't really care. He was far more intrigued by the man in front of him. Who exactly was James Lake. Sr.?
A man who up and left his family for a floozie?
A man with magical powers?
Was he like Merlin or…?
Toby shook his head. He didn't want to go down that road. Another wizard on their hands couldn't be a good thing. Claire developing her own powers was more than enough.
Aja and Krel leaned over James' shoulder, a little too close for any possible comfort but the man paid them little mind. Eli and Steve flipped through some of the tomes – Eli with more interest and understanding of the Trollish language than his friend. AAARRRGGHH! seemed to brood in one corner, keeping an eye on them all.
His phone kept vibrating. Giving in, he checked the screen to see who was trying to reach him. Multiple calls and messages from Jim and Claire, though they were diminished by the amount of times Darci had tried to get ahold of him.
He quickly opened his voicemail. Her voice, shrill and wavering, curled out of the speaker. He couldn't make sense of the first few dozen or so calls, but eventually he opened a recording — this one of Dr. L.
"Toby," she said, her voice slow and calm, "I don't know everything that's going on, but Darci could really use your help right now. Her little brother," Darci's voice garbled out something in the background, "Her little brother, Darren, is in the hospital. He had a seizure and hasn't woken up. The doctors decided to state that he's in a coma. When you can, get over here. Darci could use a friend right now."
He shot up and pocketed his phone.
"I have to go," Toby said to no one in particular.
"What?" Steve said. "Abandoning us to do all the hard work while you suck face with Darci?"
"Her brother's in the hospital, Steve, and it's bad enough that she's freaking out. Dr. L. had to leave a voicemail."
"Yeah, she texted me a few times to get your attention," Mary said. "I told her that you're pretty wrapped up in something down here."
"Mary!"
"How bad?" James said, looking up from the book. Round glasses were perched at the end of his nose, making him appear much older.
"Darren's in a coma."
"She did not tell me that," Mary said, whipping out her phone and furiously tapping away at the keyboard. Aja and Krel looked over her shoulder, slightly frightened by either what they saw in the conversation or by her rapid movements. It could have been both.
"Anything happen beforehand?" James marked off the book, closing it softly as he got to his feet.
"He had a seizure, like Dr. L. — Wait, you think it's connected?"
"Magic has always worked in mysterious ways. That's why I was drawn to Arcadia Oaks. It's why I wanted to come to TrollMarket."
"Magic is involved?" Aja said, looking up and tilting her head to the side. She looked like some kind of owl, blinking as she was. A wide grin broke out across her face. "Awesome sauce! That is the right exclamation, yes?"
"Yes, Aja," Eli said with a sigh, closing his own book, "it is. If it's as bad as you say, I think it might be a job for the Creepslayerz."
"No," Toby said flatly. "It's time to call in the big guns."
"Who are the big guns?" Krel said, finding a spot to lie down on the ground. "It can't be the Trollhunter Jim. He's still on his way to New Jersey."
Toby didn't answer him. Instead he scrolled through his contacts list until he found who he was looking for. It only rang twice before the phone was picked up.
"Hello?" his Nana said, her familiar voice calming the jittery feeling that had started to broil in his stomach.
"Hey, Nana," he said. "Can you put Dictatous on?"
"Dicky? Sure, but why do you want to talk to him?"
"I'm going to need his expertise on some things."
Author stuff: Let's see how well people know Arthurian lore...