Lost Change

Chapter 30

"It was definitely wise to keep the window blocked while his leg was in the cast. I'll send you the video; he was determined to get to the window the moment he woke up. I'm sure he would have fallen and hurt himself even worse if he had tried it with the cast on." There was a pause before the voice continued thoughtfully. "Maybe I should get some kind of ramp for him to walk on."

I rested on top of the cage and stared at the Kymari. She was on the phone with Senica, talking about me. I wasn't that interested in the conversation.

The cage had still been open after I had finished off the berries. The Kymari had seemed distracted, so I had scurried back out. It had been a huge challenge to get onto the top of the cage with a hurt leg, and without being able to use my wings I had only barely managed it, but I had managed it. That was the important thing. Now I had a slightly better view of the room.

The room looked pretty much the same from this angle.

Still, it felt better being outside the cage. If something - or someone - tried to get at me, I had more options now.

"That's good news. And a good idea. Make sure to keep him from overexerting the leg; the bone may be healed, but the muscles still have some work left. His ribs are also a concern. Try to limit him to only an hour of exercise each day for now, and let me know if he seems to be in too much pain. His body is built for flying, not walking, so too much running may lead to problems for him."

The Kymari nodded and tapped away at her tablet. I craned my neck around to look at the couch she was sitting on. It was fairly flush against the floor - it was doubtful I could fit underneath it. Probably not a viable hiding place.

"He still had some bruising in the scan, but otherwise his internal organs all look healthy. Keep an eye out for blood or any lack of appetite just in case, but I don't see anything too concerning."

More tapping. I eyed the end table opposite my corner. It might make for useful cover; the table itself was made of something clear, like glass, but it would still be hard for a larger creature to reach behind if I squeezed in between it and the wall. Though the casts on my wings might make that difficult. I could also try hiding behind the lamp instead, though that would require jumping up to the table, and that distance felt like too much of a leap to comfortably manage without the aid of my wings.

"Call me if anything changes, but otherwise I think you should be okay to schedule another check up with the local doctor in ten days. He's out of the worst of it, so it should be routine visits for a while."

I glanced at the end table underneath me. It was just as easy to see through... though the heat lamp behind the cage might be good for hiding behind. It felt too obvious though, like it would be the first place to look for me at.

Which... might actually make it a pretty good hiding place.

"There is something else I need to tell you." The tapping stopped, and I saw the Kymari glance towards the device on the table. She was looking away...

"Yes?"

"Elder Naishi has been asking about you. It is not unusual for one of the Elders to take an interest any time a fire lizard is discovered with an injury, but this was more than that. She had a lot of questions about you in particular, and about how others have been acting when you bring him in."

The Kymari was completely focused on the conversation now. Her breathing seemed to pick up slightly, and I could tell she was nervous... but she wasn't paying me the slightest bit of attention. I carefully moved towards the back of the cage, doing my best to keep quiet as I inched closer to the heat lamp.

"I... see. Did she say anything?"

"No. Just questions. But I thought you should know; you might have a visitor coming by sometime soon to see you and our patient."

I leaned carefully over the side of the cage, and dropped down to the table, squeezing into the narrow gap left behind the heat lamp. I hummed to myself in satisfaction - I was out of sight of most of the room from here, and I felt nice and warm. And I could also finally see where the lamp plugged into the wall at.

I spent a moment studying that connection. It seemed to have the same basic parts as the electrical connections I had spent most of my human life working on, but they were arranged in a much different manner. The ground seemed to be located at the top for some reason, and it looked like the plug was designed to hold in place with magnets rather than something that would actually plug into the wall, which made me wonder if it really even needed a ground in the first place...

"Thank you. I'll make sure to-" I turned my attention back to the Kymari at the sound of her sharp intake of breath, and her panicked shuffling on the couch. "Where did he go?"

There was silence for a moment, then I heard her speak up again from near the bedroom hallway. "Thank you Senica. I'll call you if anything changes."

There was an amused tone from the 'phone'. "Good luck, Minna." There was a click, and the room went quiet.

Footsteps went down the hallway to the bedroom. They wandered around for far longer than I thought made sense - maybe there were more rooms back there than just the bedroom? - but finally came back to the living room. I gave up my inspection of the power outlet and shifted to squeeze into the gap on the far side of the lamp, staying out of view as the Kymari walked quickly towards the kitchen.

I chirped in amusement as I heard her search through the kitchen. Okay, maybe this is a good hiding place after all...

The sound of footsteps moved into the other hallway and I heard the sounds of searching continue. I peeked out from around the lamp to make sure the room was empty. Once I was sure the coast was clear I jumped back up on top of the cage and arranged myself into the same exact stretched out resting position I had been in before.

"Where did he get to..." The Kymari walked back into the living room and froze, staring back at me.

I blinked slowly, then chirped questioningly at her.

The Kymari sighed and went back to the couch, never taking her eyes off me. "One month. Just have to handle this for one month."

Thirty days.  I stared back at her for a little longer, then twisted my neck to nibble at an itchy spot just above the cast.  I'll be counting the sunrises.