Chapter 65 – Crashed

Melody arrived at the library. Anne was supposed to check at the university while Kuria and Famine were looking for Serena in her apartment and her mother’s home respectively.

“Is Serena here anywhere?”

Kate, sitting at the reception desk, shook her head. “Haven’t seen her today, sorry.”

“Damn.”

“Is something wrong?”

“We wanted to meet a while ago to discuss how to proceed now that the siren resettlement is done. She didn’t arrive.”

“That’s not good. I assume everyone else is looking for her too and she isn’t responding to calls and texts?”

“Sent her a text, called her before we all split up to search. No response.”

“I am currently alone here, I would love to help but I would need to call in someone to take over for me. I mean, I could also alert the inquisitors.”

“Famine is part of our little search party.”

“That’s good then. If you need us to do anything here, just send me a note, okay?”

“I will, thank you.”

“And good luck.”

Melody just nodded slowly in response as she turned to find a quiet spot to teleport away. Before she could do so, a note appeared before her. Anne’s handwriting, two words. University clinic.

There were barely any spots to teleport to in the hospital, but Malice had found one close enough to the doctor that had called for her. Well, he had called the emergency number for the ‘treating physician’ in regard to Serena’s ‘experimental treatment’ that she kept in her purse, which had led him to the pandemonium, who had correctly alert Malice without telling the doctor anything.

“Doctor Malachowski?” Malice approached the older human doctor.

“Doctor Malinda Issious, right? Didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly.”

Malice, in her disguise as a human medical professional, smiled briefly. “We had a scheduled check-in today, I was already in town when the call came.”

“And it’s very good you were able to be here so quick. We already did some tests and got some funky numbers. We didn’t want to do anything without your input, no one was able to figure out what her treatment regime is and that paper in her purse doesn’t say anything useful.”

“If she is stable, that’s for the best.”

“She is, don’t worry. This isn’t anything crazy, she just crashed from likely stress. With her medical history, nothing surprising.”

“True. Can I see the results for everything you ran?”

“Oh yes, of course.” He handed Malice the papers he was holding.

The disguised demon took a moment to go over everything. “Looks like I need to murder someone. …verbally, of course. And not you, but that pushy professor of hers.”

“I have a feeling there is a story here.”

“A short but stupid one, yes. You should ask her when she wakes up.”

“Alright.”

“What would you have done now, if I wasn’t here?”

Malachowski shrugged. “Treat her malnourishment, get her to rest, nothing special.”

“If it’s okay, I would like to see her now.”

“Of course, in here.” He gestured to the door behind him.

Serena woke up and slowly glanced around the room. She didn’t quite remember what happened to get her here, just that she felt dizzy on her way to professor Carlile’s office. The next thing she knew was Isha almost pouncing onto her.

“Serena!”

“Isha. Hey. What happened?”

Malice answered. “According to doctor Malachowski here and the students who found you in a hallway, you just overworked yourself. We already spoke about this months ago, that when the next push in your treatment kicks in, you will need to take it easy.”

“I know… I just… I feel like I’m letting everyone down.”

“Because you don’t do enough university work?”

“It feels like they are all judging me for not going on that expedition. And then I couldn’t even be there when all the stuff with Broysc and stuff happened. And now this… I’m so sorry. I really fucked up.”

“It’s okay. I know that feeling when you just think you can’t keep up with everyone’s expectations. You need to rest for the next few days and then we can check on the progress of your treatment.”

“Did I fuck any of that up?” Serena sounded almost pleading.

“No, you haven’t. It will all be okay. You don’t need to worry about anything. I will make sure your professor knows what’s going on and won’t expect anything stupid from you. Same with the students you work with. You could also stop a few other people from worrying right now, if you would allow me to call Melody, Anne, Famine and Kuria here. They are waiting outside the hospital.”

“Please.”

After reassuring all her friends that she would be fine, Serena was discharged from the hospital later that day. She had to stay with Malice for a few days to make sure everything was truly fine but no one was expecting anything bad now. Not even the human doctors.

After a shared dinner, everyone but Isha returned to their homes for the night. The former siren had decided to stay with her friend for a while longer.

“Is it okay to ask about that treatment Malice mentioned?”

Serena nodded. “Yea, absolutely.”

“Okay… so… what are you being treated for and how does it work?”

“My body is a walking wreck. There is too much wrong to list but most things are really minor. The one big thing is that my heart is not properly grown. The left side is too small. With proper human treatment, it won’t be a problem for the near future but might be a problem eventually. It's just limiting right now and the reason why I couldn’t join the other students on a field trip.”

“That field trip being a month-long excursion out to sea.”

“Yea.”

“That’s why we met.”

“I’m glad we did and I am happy for all that but it’s also what made this magical treatment necessary. Basically, Malice made it so my body stores up a bit of energy every day and when I have enough, something gets fixed a bit. My malformed spine gets a little straighter, my allergy to seaweed a little less severe and so on. Every so often, that also does stuff to my heart and that is super draining. I can feel it when it starts pushing my heart to repair itself and it usually takes a few days for everything to be normal again. Well, not really normal but better. A little better, not much. This time, I tried to push through it and that was a really bad idea.”

“I see… at least things are getting better, right?”

“They sure are! But it will take years for everything to be fixed. Years during which I will get these episodes of exhaustion again and again.”

“But that’s worth it, isn’t it?”

“It is. It is… even if just for a short time to know what it’s like to be a normal human and not a wreck. Just to know how it feels to not live in a broken body.”

Isha hugged Serena. “I’m so sorry you had to live like that for so long. But the future will be better! And when you become a demon, it will be even more awesome!”

Serena nodded slowly. “I know. That makes it all worth it. Even if I don’t stay human for long once my body is fixed, I know the memories of that time will be worth it.”

“And every moment I can spend making the time until your body is fixed a little more bearable, is worth it too. At least to me.”

“How can you be such a good friend…”

“I suppose it’s because I want to be a good friend and this is what I think good friends are supposed to do.”

“I am eternally grateful for that. For you.”

“And I for you. Without you, we would all be in the border world, silently suffering.”

Serena shook her head. “Not because of me, because of Melody. She decided to approach me. She took me home when I was at a low point. Everyone was just kind from there, including me. I just cared about your plight… I just wanted to help.”

“And you did! We can now live in peace and without fear that our homes will ever be destroyed. We can travel an endless ocean of wonders and clean water. We can share out history with people who want to listen. All because you wanted to help after someone else helped you. You are a great person.”

“Aww, thank you. You are amazing too. Without you playing along and spreading the word, and even just being curious enough to meet us on that island, none of this would have happened.”

“Fair, but I can’t take much credit here.”

“But you need to take at least some.”

“Just because you asked nicely.” Isha chuckled. “You should get some rest soon, do you want me to cuddle you to sleep?”

“Oh yes please! Nothing better to fall asleep to than soft siren snuggles.” Serena smiled slyly.

“Onward to bed then!”