The Heart of a Fox

by T. Isilwath

  “Joanna-sama…”

  In that moment, nothing else existed, and the only thing that mattered was touching him. She reached out a shaking hand.

  “Akihiro...”

  He sobbed as he grabbed her and she managed to lift her arms high enough to hold him as he trembled.

  “Akihiro. It’s all right, Aki. It’s all right now,” she murmured in his ear.

  Dimly, she was aware that the soldiers were ordered to stand down, and she heard the shuffling of booted feet, but she was too engrossed in the feel of shivering Akihiro’s body to pay much attention. She was glad when he finally pulled away because the pain was coming back en force. He seemed to sense this and moved to steady her so she wouldn’t fall back to the mattress.

  “Joanna-sama, please. You mustn’t try too hard. You’ve been very sick.”

  ‘Sick? More like dying,’ she reasoned, looking around. She was in a tent full of medical equipment, most of which was attached to her in some way.

  “Where am I?” she asked in Japanese.

  “In a medicine tent your people put up after they found you.”

  ‘And the soldiers are part of the military contingency. Okay, I get it.’

  Her eyes fell on the only other person still in the tent with them: a middle-aged man in a white physician’s coat. He was watching them both with interest, and part of her did not like the open questions in his eyes.

  “Joanna Tindall, I presume,” he said formally with just a hint of a smile.

  She would have raked back her hair, but the IVs made her arm ache.

  “Yes,” she answered, the English word feeling unnatural on her tongue.

  “Well it’s good to know you’re the only American stranded here,” the doctor joked. “I’m Doctor Haskell. I’m part of the rescue team that was sent to find you.”

  She swallowed hard and nodded, taking a deep breath. Akihiro was still beside her, and she could feel the warmth of his body heat. She was starting to sag from the effort of sitting up, and he moved behind her, supporting her without any need for her to tell him. The solid strength of his body gave her courage, and she looked steadily at the doctor.

  “You know when I am then,” she said leadingly.

  Dr. Haskell cocked his head from side to side and pursed his lips. “Sort of.

  We don’t have the exact date, but estimates place you in the early 1500’s, give or take a decade or two.”

  She sighed, glad that she had been mostly accurate about how far into the past she’d been flung.

  “I’d figured as much. Do they know what happened?”

  “The engineers are working on it. The last I heard, they weren’t sure.”

  “How did you find me then?”

  “We were able to get a fix on your GPS transmitter through the Quantum Gate and tracked the signal here.”

  She let out a short, mirthless laugh. “I’m glad it actually worked. There were days I wanted to toss the damn thing down a well.”

  “I can imagine, but it looks like we arrived just in time.” She cast a nervous glance at Akihiro. Their eyes met, and there was something in the expression on his face that told her she’d come as close to death as she had ever been. She couldn’t remember what had actually happened though; everything was a kind of hazy blur in her mind. Her last clear memory was of Akihiro telling her that he was leaving to look for the maitake mushrooms.

  ‘He was leaving, and I… I was running away to die alone…’ she recalled with a small gasp.

  She looked at Akihiro again, this time with a little fear, and the expression on his face darkened. She swallowed, reading those amber-brown eyes as they reflected pain and irritation. She flushed and dropped her gaze.

  “So it would seem,” she admitted softly.

  She fell silent as she pulled on the threads of her memories, trying to remember what happened afterward.

  ‘I… Kaemon gave me a boat and I… I tried to go downstream, but something happened and I… The boat. The boat capsized in the rapids. I thought I was going to drown but I made it to shore. Then I… I went up a stream until I found a cave behind a waterfall… and I… I went inside to die.’

  The details came back in a rush: her fear, the cold of the water, her exhaustion and pain, her absolute certainty that she had reached the end.

  ‘I was sick… I knew my blood sugar was out of control…’

  “How bad was it?” she blurted suddenly.

  Dr. Haskell sighed. “Bad enough. When you got here your blood glucose level was 621, and you were in full blown NKHS.”

  “NKHS… NKHS,” she repeated. She ought to know what that meant…

  “Nonketotic hyperosmolar syndrome,” the doctor supplied.

  “Oh. But… but that affects the Type 2s,” she said distractedly.

  The doctor nodded. “It does, but it can affect the Type 1 diabetics like you, under the right circumstances.”

  “So that’s why I never registered any ketones. I didn’t have them.”

  “Exactly.”

  Her mind was reeling, trying to process. She knew what the potential consequences of ketosis were, but she was unfamiliar with the aftereffects of its non-ketotic sister.

  “So what… What now?” she asked.

  “Now we get you stabilized enough to go back through the Quantum Gate.

  From there you will be taken to the naval hospital in Yokosuka where we will run more tests and determine the exact extent of the damage.”

  “The naval hospital? But I’m not military.”

  “The armed forces are taking an interest in your case. Until we know how and why the Gate malfunctioned, and any effects time travel may have had on you, you will be under military supervision.”

  “I see,” she said, processing.

  Akihiro shifted behind her, and she became acutely aware of his presence.

  She knew he was listening, and he probably understood at least half of what was being said, but she wasn’t sure how much she wanted him to know. She’d been trying to protect him from the reality, and the horror, of her disease, and now it was all right there staring them both in the face.

  “What do you know?” she questioned carefully, looking at the doctor.

  “Preliminary blood tests show damage to your kidneys, but your heart seems fine. We’ll know more once we get you back to Yokosuka and can run some more detailed tests.”

  She nodded and licked her suddenly dry lips. “I need to see an ophthalmologist. I have floaters,” she admitted.

  “That can definitely be arranged,” Dr. Haskell agreed.

  “Thank you.”

  “For now, let’s get you settled and get some food into you. I’ll send in my colleague, Nurse Grey. She’ll remove your catheter and the IVs. Then we’ll send in a meal. How does that sound?”

  She nodded. “That sounds fine.”

  The doctor cast a nervous glance at Akihiro, and she reached back to touch her fox on the wrist.

  “Your friend…”

  “Akihiro is fine, but I’ll send him out if you can assure me that no harm will come to him.”

  “I’ll make sure the guards know that he’s not to be detained or accosted in any way,” the doctor promised.

  She nodded and turned to Akihiro, switching to Japanese as she spoke,

  “Akihiro, they are going to be giving me medicine and helping me for a little while. I need you to go out and wait for me. I’ll call you when I can see you again, okay?”

  She could see the war of emotions on his face. It was plain that he did not trust these strangers, and he didn’t want to leave her side.

  “I’ll be all right,” she assured him. “They can make me better.” He lowered his eyes, huffing softly. “I do not wish to leave you, Joanna-sama,” he whispered.

  “I promise that everything will be fine.”

  His eyes begged her to reconsider, but she held her ground, and she felt more than saw his surrender when he looked away, his shoulders slumping. She tried t
o reassure him with a gentle touch as she smiled at him and switched to Tsalagi. She didn’t know if the doctor could speak Japanese, but she was fairly certain that he couldn’t speak Cherokee.

  “Go out and wait for me. Do not let the men catch you,” she warned in Tsalagi. “I will be fine here, but you must protect yourself. As soon as it is safe, I will call for you. Understood?”

  She saw him bite his lip and worried he’d balk again, but then he nodded.

  “As you wish, Joanna-sama.”

  He moved out from behind her, and she stroked his arm comfortingly as he slid off the bed.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you soon,” she told him, trying to sound cheerful.

  “Soldier,” the doctor called, and a man with an automatic rifle entered.

  “Yes, sir?” the man replied.

  “This… man is leaving. Tell the others to leave him be. He is to have un-limited access to this tent and safe passage through the camp,” Dr. Haskell ordered, although his pause before he called Akihiro a man did not go unnoticed.

  The solider looked at Akihiro, then to her and the doctor. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Thank you…” he read the soldier’s name badge, “Private Holmes.” She watched as Akihiro gave her a final glance then slipped out of the tent, giving the soldier as wide a berth as he could. From there he must have bolted because the feel of him at the back of her neck quickly faded.

  “Your companion is an… interesting young man,” Dr. Haskell commented shrewdly.

  The tone of his voice made cold chills run down her spine, and she tried to think of something to say that might explain Akihiro’s unusual appearance.

  “He’s an Eta,” she lied smoothly. “An outcast. He is forced to wear the habit of an animal in order to signify his disgrace and low status.” The man arched an eyebrow at her in amusement. “Really? I thought he looked remarkably like a kitsune.”

  She froze, and she wondered if the doctor could read the sudden terror on her face. Her heart had started to pound, but she willed it to slow because she was still hooked up to the heart monitor, and he was sure to notice. She was struggling to think of something to say when he smiled at her and winked.

  “But they are creatures of myth and legend, are they not?” She was marginally relieved, but still fearful for Akihiro’s safety.

  “Exactly,” she cautiously agreed.

  They met eyes and silent messages passed between them, but she wasn’t sure if they understood each other. If he was after Akihiro, then he had to know that she would do everything she could to protect her fox.

  ‘I have to warn him. I have to tell him to run. If they catch him…’

  “Well. Enough for now. I’ll call in Nurse Grey and we’ll get things started,” the doctor said lightly, breaking eye contact.

  He turned and walked out of the tent as if nothing at all was amiss. She watched him go with her hands clenched tightly into the blankets.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Dr. Haskell kept his promise and a female nurse came in shortly after he left. Joanna thought she looked nice enough with her brown hair and kind face.

  “I’m Nancy Grey, but you can call me Nurse Nancy. Pretty much everyone here does,” the woman said cheerfully.

  “Hi. I’m Joanna,” she replied.

  “Dr. Haskell has given the go ahead for us to take out your catheter, so if you’re okay with that, I’ll remove it now.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Okay. Just lay back and I’ll get to work.”

  She did as ordered and let herself recline. It took less than two minutes for the nurse to remove it, then she went on to take the IVs out of Joanna’s arms.

  “We don’t need these anymore, do we?” the woman commented.

  “No,” she agreed, her voice steadier than she was actually feeling.

  “Are you in any pain?”

  “No, not really. Just… weak and kinda out of it,” she lied. The last thing she needed was for them to dope her on pain meds.

  The doctor nodded. “I’m not surprised. It’ll take a while for you to feel yourself again.”

  ‘Feel myself again? Is that even possible?’ she wondered.

  “I guess so,” she replied weakly.

  Nurse Nancy covered her back up and adjusted the head of her bed until she was at an inclined position.

  “We’ll just check your blood glucose and make sure it’s behaving. Then I’ll bring in some lunch.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, although she wasn’t really hungry. ‘I wonder how long it’s been…’

  “What day is it?” she asked as the nurse was checking her blood sugar.

  “Blood glucose is 114. That’s good. And it’s October 22nd.”

  ‘October 22nd. The last day I remember is October 16th. It’s been six days.

  He kept me alive for six days. Oh God, Akihiro, you must have been crazy with grief.’

  The nurse seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil, and she tried to smile when the woman looked at her.

  “Thanks.”

  She watched as the woman pulled a small vial of insulin from her white coat and drew some into a tuberculin syringe she also carried.

  “And we’ll just give you some fast-acting insulin to keep your blood sugar levels where they ought to be,” the nurse stated. “Then lunch.”

  Joanna was well used to such things and automatically pulled back the sheet to bare her thigh. The prick of the tiny needle was minuscule, but she flinched slightly all the same.

  “I’ll be right back with some food for you,” Nurse Nancy said, dumping the used syringe, needle and all, into a red biohazard container.

  “Okay.”

  Nurse Nancy left and she was glad to be alone.

  ‘Six days. Oh God. Akihiro…’

  For a moment, she felt desolate. When had he found her? How had he found her? She shook her head. She shouldn’t be surprised. She knew him better than anyone. She had known that he would have stopped at nothing.

  ‘Still… how did he know I’d gone up the tributary and dragged myself behind the waterfall?’

  It was a mystery that would stay a mystery until she had the chance to talk to her fox. Nurse Nancy came back in with lunch, snagging a bedside tray table and wheeling it over.

  “There. We knew your medical history so we came prepared,” the nurse said with some small pride, placing the meal tray on the tray table.

  Joanna looked at the simple meal of broth-based soup, half a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, diet soda, and the ubiquitous bane of all diabetic children: sugar-free jell-o. She almost started to laugh, but feared it might give way to the growing hysteria simmering just under the surface.

  “What is it?” the nurse asked, obviously sensing something was amiss.

  “The jell-o. I’ve always hated it.”

  “Hated jell-o? How can anyone hate jell-o?”

  “Eat enough of something and you learn to hate it. My mom gave it to me with almost every meal.”

  “Familiarity breeds contempt?” the woman commented wryly.

  “Exactly. I devised very wild and creative ways of disposing of the stuff.”

  “Few of which impressed your mother, I’m sure.”

  She chuckled. “No, they didn’t, but I often scored points for originality.”

  “Well, you won’t have to think up any creative ways of getting rid of it here. If you don’t want it, don’t eat it.”

  She peeled open the container and used her spoon to pull out a bite.

  “The joys of being an adult. I no longer have to eat what’s served to me.

  But I’ll eat it anyway because I probably need the nourishment. I won’t drink the diet soda though. Never could get it past my nose. Water will do fine.” The nurse laughed and poured her a cup of water from a pitcher. “Okay, water it is then.”

  She commenced eating the soup and sandwich while the nurse watched, and she was confused as to why the woman was still there. Anticipation hung heavi
ly in the tent, and she wondered when the storm would break.

  “So when do you think we’ll be going back?” she asked between bites.

  “Tomorrow morning probably. Doctor Haskell wants to make sure you’re stable enough to go through the Gate.”

  She nodded and took a sip of her water to hide her wince of pain. ‘Less than a day before I go home… and leave Akihiro behind.’ The thought lanced through her like a sharp blade.

  “Your medical records state that you were outfitted with a combined glucometer/insulin pump, but it wasn’t on you when we found you. Do you know where it is?” Nurse Nancy asked carefully.

  “I’m not sure. I… took it off when I ran out of insulin. I lost track of it when I got sick. Akihiro probably knows where it is.”

  “Akihiro. Your… strange friend. Will we be seeing him again soon?” The warning alarms went off in her head, and she had to clamp down on the panic she felt. Thankfully, the heart monitor had been removed so her elevated heart rate wasn’t noticeable.

  “Probably,” she admitted carefully.

  “That’s good. I know Dr. Haskell wanted to talk to him.” She swallowed carefully and managed a nod. “I don’t know… he’s very shy.” ‘And if you think I’m going to let you get your hooks into him, you’ve got another thing coming.’

  “He didn’t seem shy when he carried you to us last night, and certainly not when he jumped out from underneath the bed and started growling at us,” the woman pointed out reasonably.

  She almost choked on the spoonful of soup she’d been eating. “He’s very protective of me,” she answered after she had swallowed and wiped her mouth.

  “Now that I can believe.”

  The conversation soured her appetite, and she pushed the meal tray away a little more violently than she had intended.

  “I’m full.”

  “But you hardly ate anything…”

  “I’ve been subsisting on mostly fish, barley and mushrooms for the past five months. Food like this just makes me ill,” she explained, washing the taste of ashes down her throat with the water.