The Lost Secret of the Silver Sea

Chapter 23: A Doctor of the Sea

            “You said someone was hurt, what’s going on?” The man’s voice carried over the faint echoing of crashing waves. Hartley shook Kaelonne’s shoulder roughly to catch his attention before making a wild gesture for the man to walk over to the passenger side of the vehicle. The young royal groans irritability, pushing up himself to lay against the seat as the forensics scientist steps out of the car and walks around to greet the ‘doctor’.

            “My friend, he took an injury to the leg.” Hartley says nothing more as he opens the door and kneels down beside the half-awake Mermatian. Kaelonne wanted to nod at him but he was distracted by how strong the smell of the see was, the longing in his heart was almost as painful as his burning leg, making his eye water. Hartley ignores the fretful movements, removing the seatbelt, and gently prying Kaelonne fingers away from the death grip on his leg. His mouth felt stuffed with that thing Hartley called cotton, his hearing muffled.

            “Hart, you should have taken him to a doctor, not me!” Alister, Kaelonne recognised the voice from the box by the barricade, stressed, his knuckles white around the strap of the black now hanging towards the ground. Hartley winced and takes a step back from the car, pulling Kaelonne’s shirt up slightly to let the doctor glimpse the spreading black veins, skin red from the pain and heat.

            “I don’t think they would be able to do anything for him. You were the only one I could think off. You used to be a battlefield medic, there has to be something you can do!” The younger human pleaded with a strained voice, gripping one of Kaelonne’s hand in his own.

            “What the…’’ The biologist’s eyes widened as he saw the wound, pulling Hartley aside and kneeling down at the door for the car to get a better look. Kaelonne bit down harshly at the urge to hiss at the unknown human that dared to get so close into his personal space while he was injured.

            Alister either did not care or did not notice Kaelonne’s scowl as his hand reached out to prod at the veins on his stomach. The biologist glanced at the tattoos they were spreading over, Kaelonne immediately felt uncomfortable, wanting to question the human at the about the recognition he saw flash in his eyes, but his throat hurt too much to even groan.

            “Can you help him?” Hartley’s worried voice pulls them back to the present, his hand resting on the man’s shoulder as he tried to catch Kaelonne’s wandering gaze.

            “Bring him.” Was all Alister offered before standing up and hurrying towards a somewhat open area he’d surely just came from. Hartley growls and mutters a soft apology before grabbing Kaelonne’s legs and tugging them so that they rest on the pitch. Kaelonne does hiss this time as the human grabs one of his arms and slings it over his shoulders, painfully pulling him to his feet.

            “Come on, you’re doing great.” Hartley lets the injured limb hang between them, doing his best not to jostle it as much as he could as they attempted some sort of three-legged hopping. They follow the ‘doctor’ into an open space filled with tables and equipment, Kaelonne was once more distracted by the open sea that was in clear view this time, the waves breaking on the sandy shore holding his attention for a few seconds before Hartley leads their little hopping dance into a large room comprised mainly of glass walls.

            “What do you mean great? I’m doing fabulously.” Kaelonne couldn’t help the urge to snark back, giving a half-grin as Hartley snorts. They stumble a couple times, unsuccessfully avoiding books and papers strewn on the floor, most likely a product of the sea wind bellowing from the now open doors. Kaelonne misses most of Alister’s mutterings as he focuses one putting his weight on his one working leg.

            The biologist drops his bag on one of the cluttered desks, running a hand through his messy, tied-up salt and pepper hair, a phrase Kaelonne thought quite suited the man he barely knew, with a stressed sigh. Realising that every surface on seemed to be cluttered in some form or the other, he takes one of his hands and swipes it across the larger table, sending all the books and papers crashing to the floor.

            Hartley takes this as initiative to get him up on the table, letting him lie down and pulling up his legs to rest on the table. Kaelonne turns to watch the frazzled human with curiosity, absently noting the hand resting on his shoulder. The biologist rummages through his bag, pulling out a couple of things as he muttered under his breath, glasses tangled in a few stray strands on his head and threatening to fall at the constant movement.

            “I like your doctor so far.” Kaelonne whispered with a strained voice, thumping the back of his head on the table as Hartley leaned over him, griping his hand tightly.

            “Oh, you do, do you? I’m glad you finally approve.” Hartley turns to him with a worried grin on his face, rubbing his fingers over Kaelonne knuckles, the black veins were already crawling up his ribs when Alister joined them again.

            “It’s infected or something, can you do something about it?”

            “I almost wouldn’t have been able to if he was human.” A muted shock fell over Hartley as the biologist grabbed a syringe and a bottle, pulling out a small measure of the clear liquid. Kaelonne just clenched his jaw even more at having his suspicions proven right, glaring at doctor still prodding at his leg as though he hadn’t just sent his guests into a panic.

            “Alister, what-“ Hartley gave a ragged attempt to hide the secret, but the biologist would have none of it

            “Don’t lie to me right now, Hart.” Alister tested the syringe before cleaning a small spot on Kaelonne’s unprotected stomach, the young royal wanted to put up a fight or a protest at the very least, uncertain where the human fell in the range of danger. At this point however, it would not make any sense as the poison surely coursing through him would do the job anyway if the doctor had any ill intentions. “This’ll help with the pain, but it’ll sting at first.”

            Kaelonne growled as the needle pierced his skin, cursing humankind’s lack of any sort of natural armour not for the first time since he ended up on two legs. In any case, he could hardly feel it over the fire in his leg, but then a numbing cold spread through him. Hartley squeezed his hand in panic as he went somewhat lax with a sigh of relief. “What was-“

            “A painkiller, it’s strong but probably not strong enough for someone of your body type.” Alister moves away from the table, digging through a couple of cabinets on the one solid wall to the back that seemed to lead to another room, probably the rest of the building. “You still need a cure for that infection on your leg.”

            “Alister, how do you-“ Hartley tried to broach the elephant in the room again, but to no avail. 

            “Questions after, there’s hot water on the first table to the left right outside, get it.” Alister walked back to Kaelonne’s side, dumping his prizes next to him and sorting through them as Hartley hurries to rest the container to Kaelonne’s other side.

            “What are you going to do?” Kaelonne’s voice was a little rough, head tilted at an odd angle to keep an eye on both the biologist and the handful of stuff he scattered at his side. The doctor was helping, but it would be a warm day at the bottom of the ocean before he gave up all his control of a situation.

            “Making a poultice. You have a poisoning; this will fight it.” The older human dumped a wad of cloth into the hot water as Hartley grabbed Kaelonne’s hand again, keeping a close eye on the biologist, and keeping quiet despite the number of questions he was sure was going through his head.

            “Brace yourself, this will hurt.” Alister frowns at him as he wraps a couple of things in the warm cloth and stands over his leg.

            “Do it.” Kaelonne yelped and arched his back as Alister pressed the poultice to his leg, the world finally going black.