by Dale Furse
The woman nodded. ‘To varying degrees.’
‘Can I go in?’
‘No. Our Shahs is having a worse day than usual today. We have increased her sedation. She sometimes tries to harm, not only us, but herself. Mer-petrale will show you out when you have seen enough,’ she said, and left with a pile of files in her arms.
Nell put her hand on the glass window. Shahs was the only other being like her and she wanted to speak to her. Several minutes passed while she watched the patient, but Shahs continued to stare at the door. At least she had stopped that weird rocking thing. Her white nightdress hung from her shoulders and by the look of her arms and legs, Nell guessed there wasn’t much body under the clothing. She had never seen anybody so skinny.
Shahs turned her eyes back towards the window. Nell caught her breath. Perhaps once beautiful, the woman’s face was now drawn and her skin had a yellow tinge. Nell wanted to look away but she kept her gaze still. Empty, almond-shaped eyes stared back at Nell. She wished she could see something in the hollow depths ... anything. Rubbing an itch on the side of her nose, she blinked. Huh? Something behind Shahs’ green, vacant gaze – a glint of hope – now gone. Shahs turned her head away, rocked backwards and forwards once more in time to her own silent music.
‘I want to stay here for a while longer,’ Nell said to the others.
‘I’ll wait outside the restoration,’ Mekie said. ‘She scares me.’
Nell frowned. ‘She can’t hurt you, dummy. She’s behind a locked door.’
Sam shook his head at Mekie. ‘Girl, everything scares you,’ he said.
Mekie poked her tongue at him, spun on her heels and left. ‘That’s attractive.’ He gave a wave to her retreating figure.
‘I’ll go with Mekie,’ Kale said, joining them with a folder under his arm. He hurried after her.
‘Whatever,’ Nell threw over her shoulder. She didn’t have time to mend hurt feelings. ‘Do you think I could go into her room for one tiny minute? I’ll be really, really careful. I promise.’ she said.
The young doctor’s eyes darkened as if she was worried.
‘Nell’s okay,’ Sam said with a wink as he stepped closer to Mer-petrale. ‘I promise, she won’t hurt the patient and we can have a chat.’
She said, ‘Perhaps.’
Taking that as a yes, Nell said, ‘Thanks.’ She tugged at Mer-petrale’s arm.
‘Settle down,’ Sam said. ‘You look like all your Christmases have come at once.’
Mer-petrale shook Nell off and gazed through the window into Shahs’ room.
‘She does seem calm enough,’ Mer-petrale said. ‘Go around to the door and I’ll let you in, but I have to shut it behind you.’
Nell dashed around the corner and waited so close to the door that it moved her clothes when it opened. As soon as she entered the room, the door whooshed shut behind her. Shahs didn’t move a muscle when Nell scraped a chair across the floor and sat in front of the woman.
‘They can’t be feeding you,’ Nell said, and lightly touched her fingers on Shahs’ scrawny forearm. The woman still didn’t move, but Nell was convinced she saw something behind her eyes this time. She grasped the skinny arm in her hand and gazed into Shahs’ calf-like eyes. Through the thick fog filling Shahs’ mind, Nell sensed a gentle soul.
You’re not dangerous are you? It wasn’t as if Shahs didn’t want to reply, she couldn’t. ‘Why are the doctors, um, physicians doing this to you?’ Still no reply. Nell sighed. ‘I hope you can hear me.’ Hang on. Shahs needed a clear head if they were ever going to communicate. ‘You have to stop taking the medication.’
Shahs’ eyes appeared to focus. ‘But you have to pretend to take it.’ Nell spoke, unsure if Shahs could hear her. ‘And you must act like you always do. Even rock every now and then.’
Nell sat back and gazed at her. The door flew open. Nell jumped to her feet. The Corl nurse crashed into the room and, as if on cue, Shahs began to rock hard and fast.
‘What are you doing?’ the nurse demanded, her skin darkening to a cold stormy grey. ‘Do you want to be killed?’ She regarded Shahs. ‘Now look what you’ve done.’ She grabbed Nell’s arm and hauled her along with her. Nell could have easily pushed her aside but she let the nurse take her out of the room. If there was something rotten going on, the Corl would be in on it. The nurse tweaked a device on her belt to lock the door.
Sam and Mer-petrale hurried around into the hall. ‘Get out. Get out all of you,’ the nurse yelled at them before hurrying down the hall and turning left and out of sight.
‘Whoa, she was mad, wasn’t she?’ Sam said to no one in particular.
‘I hope I haven’t landed you in trouble,’ Nell said to Mer-petrale.
‘No. I’ll come up with a plausible explanation.’
‘Out,’ the Corl nurse growled, appearing out of nowhere before the trio. She carried a small tray in one hand and tweaked the device on her belt with the other. Shahs’ door flew open and the nurse stepped over the threshold.
Nell noted a small cup with yellow tablets and another with some grey syrupy mixture. She ran around to the window. It was still open. How was Shahs going to pretend to take that? Tablets would be easy, but the liquid was another matter. The nurse turned her back to Shahs as she placed the tray on the small sideboard. Shahs turned her head toward Nell, blinked her eyes then turned back to the door and resumed rocking.
Nell smiled. She needn’t have worried. Shahs knew what to do.
‘We had better go,’ Mer-petrale said, closing the window.
‘I know I could help her, if I had more time.’
‘I can’t allow you in there ever again.’
Nell looked at Sam, widened her eyes and pouted. ‘Never?’
‘Kale and Mekie are waiting for us outside so we’ll talk about this later,’ Sam said to Nell with a wink. He grinned at Mer-petrale, took her hand and walked with her to the front entrance. ‘How about you and me go to a café?’
‘Alone?’ she asked, moving closer to him.
Nell grinned at Sam’s back. Sometimes his looks came in handy.
‘If that’s okay?’ said Sam.
‘I will sign out for the day.’ Mer-petrale beamed and hurried down the corridor.
‘I’ll wait out front for you,’ he called after her.
‘You scoundrel,’ Nell said, as they walked through the entrance doors.
At her remark, Mekie jerked her head in their direction. Sam grinned as Kale leapt and landed on his hands in front of them. He pushed from the ground and swung to his feet in the best acrobatic move Nell had seen.
‘I was showing Mekie how agile Corls are,’ Kale stammered.
‘I didn’t know you were,’ Nell said. ‘That was fantastic.’
‘Let’s see it again,’ Sam said.
Kale looked at the ground as if he was looking for something. ‘We’d better go,’ he said, and clicked his teeth together to call the Krolls.
Nell gazed at Kale. Was he embarrassed that we saw his agility?
‘Not me,’ Sam said. ‘I have a date.’
‘A date?’ Mekie said. ‘What do you mean, you have a date?’
It had been so long since Nell had heard Mekie whine, she had forgotten what a pain her cousin could be.
‘Who would want to go out with you?’ Mekie sneered, mounting her Kroll.
‘Mer-petrale would,’ Sam said, puffing out his chest.
Mekie stiffened and Kale looked relieved the attention was diverted from him as he climbed onto his mount.
Floating alongside Sam, Mekie snarled, ‘Really?’ She flicked her hair and it fell forward brushing his face. He backed away as if her mane had stung him. Or was it the sweet scent of summer flowers Mekie wore, Nell wondered. Mekie looked pleased with his reaction. ‘Sometimes things are not what they seem,’ she said and touched her Kroll’s neck. ‘Go.’
Kale grimaced at Nell and Sam before following her.
Sam frowned. ‘What was that supposed to mean?’<
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‘Don’t ask me. Every time I think I’ve figured her out she confuses me all over again,’ Nell said, as she unfurled her wings. ‘I like Mer-petrale but we don’t know her, so take my twai and be careful.’ She hovered until he nodded then winged away.
Mekie was putting her communicator back in her pocket when Nell caught up. ‘Who was that?’ Nell asked.
‘Mother’s working all night again and we have to stay at Tish’s house.’
‘Does she work this hard all the time?’
‘She has done so lately. I spend more time at Tish and Kandar’s house than at home.’
Mekie turned away, but Nell had already seen the wet in her eyes. ‘Maybe it’s only for a short while and then everything will be back to normal,’ Nell said.
‘I hope you’re right.’
Nell hoped so too. She wanted to spend more of her time with her aunt. ‘Hang on,’ Nell said as Mekie started forward. ‘We better let Sam know where we’ll be. Give me your twai.’
CHAPTER NINE
SAM RETURNED TO KANDAR’S HOUSE WELL AFTER DINNER. ‘I’m back,’ he said to everyone in the room.
Nell almost dropped the small sculpture of a Kroll she had been inspecting. ‘It’s about time.’
‘How did you get in?’ Mekie asked from the armchair, not looking up from her book.
‘Tish let me in. What’s up with her? She nearly bit my head off. Didn’t you tell her I’d be late?’ Sam asked Nell.
‘She’s upset because she hasn’t heard from Kandar or Dad. I told her they were fine and that I would know if anything had happened to Dad but I don’t think she believes me. I’m not even sure if I’m right.’ Nell pulled Sam onto the sofa. ‘Did you get around Mer-petrale?’ Nell had to see if Shahs was better before she did anything else.
‘No worries, we can go again tomorrow.’
‘Great. Isn’t that great, Mekie?’
‘Hmmm.’
If Mekie wanted to pretend to be engrossed in her novel, Nell thought the girl should have turned a page every now and then.
Sam leaned over and pulled the book down from her face. ‘What’s your problem?’
‘Nothing,’ she said, and gave him a cold look. ‘I was reading that.’ She yanked the book from under his hand and continued to read.
Standing over her, he opened his mouth to say something but then seemed to think again. ‘Have it your own way.’ He shrugged and faced Nell. ‘We’ll have to go early; Mer-petrale wants us to be there before change of shift.’
***
Sam tried to make conversation with Tish over breakfast. ‘I’m starting to get used to the short nights here although I wish the days were longer,’ he said.
Tish grunted an answer then disappeared back into the kitchen.
‘Bloody hell,’ Sam said. ‘I’m starting to think she doesn’t like me.’
‘No,’ Kale said from his seat. ‘Mother is angry at Father. He still hasn’t contacted her but when he does, he’ll wish he hadn’t.’ Kale’s lipless mouth went crooked.
‘I thought Corl men were the head of their households,’ Nell said, and gave up searching the table for the Vegemite. Tish mustn’t have been in the mood to make toast. She had only used the simulator for their breakfast.
‘Not in this house,’ Kale said, his mouth still crooked. ‘Mother always has her own way.’
‘I’m glad,’ Mekie said, looking at Sam. ‘No Phib male would dare expect a woman to pander to his ego.’
‘And no Human male would let a woman walk all over him,’ Sam said, eating the last of the simulated bacon.
Mekie pushed her chair back and threw her napkin on the table. ‘I’m going shopping,’ she said. ‘Do you want to come with me, Kale?’
Sam kept eating.
Kale swallowed the food in his mouth before he spoke. ‘I would like to, but,’ he turned to Nell, ‘I have to stay with Nell.’
‘Oh, for Pete’s sake. Tanat was being overprotective,’ Nell said, seizing her chance. She didn’t want anyone acting like her bodyguard. ‘I’m not going to get into any trouble. If you want to go with Mekie, go. Sam and I’ll be fine and besides, we’ll probably be back before you.’
Kale bit his bottom lip with his needle-sharp teeth.
Nell smiled. He was teetering. The trading corridors would be empty by that evening. The traders stayed for one week in four and Kale spent all that time talking with the many beings from other planets about their home worlds. Although he had gone to Linque with them, he hated missing even one day.
‘You will go straight there and back again?’ he asked, including Sam in his line of sight.
‘Of course,’ Nell said.
‘Sure,’ Sam said.
‘I think then, I will go with Mekie.’
‘That’s settled.’ Sam jumped up, grabbed Nell’s hand and pulled her out of the room.
***
At the restoration, Mer-petrale once again escorted Nell and Sam to Shahs’ room. Nell was disappointed to find the same nurse waiting for them.
‘You should not have brought her back,’ she said to Mer-petrale, cocking her head at Nell.
Her cloudy grey skin hadn’t deepened into storm-cloud grey like it had the last time Nell saw her. Thank goodness she was in a better mood this time.
‘She wanted to be sure Shahs was all right after yesterday,’ Mer-petrale said in convincing tones.
‘Yes,’ Nell said. ‘I’m so sorry about yesterday. I hope I didn’t set Shahs’ treatment back.’
‘It appears you have, young lady.’ The nurse hit the button on the desk with one hand and waved toward the wall with the other. ‘Look for yourself.’
Shahs sat on the side of the bed rocking and staring straight ahead.
‘She’s been doing that all morning,’ the nurse said.
Nell’s shoulders slumped. ‘Please, be all right,’ she whispered close to the window, trying to stop her tears with her hands. She turned to Sam.
He rubbed Nell’s shoulder and moved to the side so he could peer past her into the room. When he turned back, he looked as defeated as Nell felt.
The nurse picked up some boards off the desk. ‘I have to deliver these charts and I expect you to be gone when I return.’ She shot them all a cold look.
Nell nodded because she was sure if she tried to speak, she would croak.
‘No worries,’ Sam said.
‘Make sure they are,’ the nurse said to Mer-petrale.
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Mer-petrale said, and bowed her head when the nurse passed.
Nell gazed at Shahs as she pressed her forehead to the glass window. Shahs slowed her rocking for a split second, the smallest hint of a smile appeared on the patient’s lips. Nell’s heart leapt into her throat. Pure joy rose in her and a wide smile spread over her face. Oops. She could have slapped herself. She couldn’t let anyone know what she and Shahs were up to. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the elation back down and by the time she turned around, she looked as devastated as she had before. ‘Can I have a moment by myself?’ Nell asked Mer-petrale.
Sam’s eyes widened, but shooting her a knowing look, he followed her lead. He took Mer-petrale’s hand. ‘Yeah, sure,’ he said solemnly. ‘We’ll wait for you out front.’ The physician hesitated. He tugged on her hand. ‘Come on. You can tell me more about your studies.’ Her feet didn’t move. ‘It’s not as if she can do anything. Anyway, that nurse’ll be back in a minute.’ He gave her his most winning smile. Nell held her breath until the girl answered.
‘All right,’ she said, her tone full of doubt. She moved to the desk and pressed a red button in the middle of the panel.
Dropping her shoulders, Nell looked as dejected as she could until they were out of sight. She studied the desk. Mer-petrale opened the door the first time after Nell was out of sight. She didn’t see which button was used but guessed the one Mer-petrale had just pressed locked the entire panel.
She wheeled around to the window. Shahs had stopped rocking and she face
d Nell. Her eyes weren’t empty anymore; they were full of hope. She winked and Nell couldn’t stop a laugh escaping her throat. Clamping a hand on her mouth, she jerked her head around to make certain nobody had heard her. First, a sigh of relief at being alone, then a frown as she wondered what she should do now. But after seeing the hope in Shahs’ eyes, she knew she had to do something. ‘I’ll help you,’ she mouthed, then put her finger up to her mouth.
Shahs nodded, returned to staring at the back of the door and resumed her rocking.
Unable to stop her smile from widening, Nell half skipped down the hallway but contained her happiness and changed her gait to a jog. She slowed to a walk as she passed through the front doors and stopped. She didn’t want to tell Mer-petrale about Shahs, but who else would be able to help them? First, she had to get to know the trainee better. She erased all emotions from her face.
Sam grinned as Nell joined him and Mer-petrale, ‘You right, Nell?’ he said, his grin fading.
‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ She turned to Mer-petrale. ‘Do you think what they’re doing to Shahs is right?’
‘What do you mean?’ she said.
‘How they’re drugging her so much, no one could get through to her.’
Her eyes darkened. ‘I have my concerns about that, but I can’t do anything until I gain my title of Physician.’
Nell pressed on. ‘What if they stop her medication and she is as coherent as you and me? What if she says she didn’t kill Kandar and Nadar’s mother?’
Mer-petrale didn’t answer immediately and Nell had to stop Sam from saying anything with a quick shake of her head. ‘You are right to ask such questions,’ Mer-petrale continued. ‘And I have been remiss not to do so. I wonder what would happen if Shahs did stop all medication. It’s an experiment I would enjoy undertaking.’
Nell smiled. ‘What if I told you I knew a way to make that happen?’ A hint of excitement flashed in the girl’s eyes. Giving another quick shake of her head, Nell narrowed her eyes at Sam. He shut his gaping mouth and frowned at her. ‘Would you tell anyone else?’