Starfish

36.2

Ardus sat with Athe while Tura took blood samples from Boda and other Dreen waiting to be evaluated or treated. Ardus watched Athe's throat flicker yellow and white as Tura wrapped an elastic band around Boda's upper arm, found a vein and attached a collection tube to the needle. "I'm surprised you're not the one taking the samples," Athe said, grinning tightly at Ardus.

"I did not think you would take kindly to me sticking needles into Boda."

"I thought you'd come storming in like you did Nia's office, demanding blood and holding us all down until you got it."

Ardus winced. "I admit I was not in my right frame of mind at the time."

"You? Right frame of mind? Since when do you have one of those?" Athe grinned, but Ardus could see behind the cheerful veneer. 

Ardus shifted on the clinic stool before pulling it toward the Dreen he had raised as his own. He sat shoulder-to-shoulder with him, wondering if Athe was thinking about the night they had lost Timam. I have been selfish, worrying about getting Nina back while Athe worries he may lose Boda forever. If Nina was right about the algae bloom there was a chance she could still come back, but if Boda's condition worsened and he succumbed to this paralysis there would be no happy reunion, no sigh of relief – even as advanced as Dreen medicine might be, it still had its limits.

"Apa," Athe said, turning towards Ardus, but his eyes were far away, "I know I haven't always been a good son – I was rotten to you in the beginning, I was mad at you for soaking up all of Ama's attention, but when she died I saw how much it hurt you-"

Ardus put a hand up, his webbed fingers splayed. "Water under the hull, Athe. You were just a boy, you did not understand."

"You're right, I didn't. But I do now, and I... I'm..." Athe swallowed, the bright pores on his throat dimming. "I'm afraid, Apa. You know what Boda is to me, I'm worried that-"

"Boda is otherwise healthy and strong," Ardus assured him. "If Nina is correct in her hypothesis, this paralysis may only have a temporary effect on him. If not, then he will manage. Other Dreen have lost the use of their limbs and lived long, happy lives in spite of it."

"Sure... but what if he gets worse?"

"Between the care he is receiving and the effort Nia is making to identify the cause, the chances of his condition getting worse is low." He knew Athe was afraid of losing Boda the same way he had lost his mother. Ardus had regrets of his own, nothing uncommon but painful nonetheless – he'd wanted to grow old with her, continue working together until their twilight years a century in the future, watch the little cove up north change with the seasons and the decades. Ardus had spent years after Timam's death wandering through a fog of unreality, his mind slowly working through the administrative monotony of running the department, attending meetings, editing publications and occasionally developing a new interest or rediscovering an old one. He'd been floating on a current, letting it take him wherever it willed. Until Nina had arrived, and suddenly Ardus had found himself tossed ashore like a sand-skimmer after a storm.

Nina... Where was she? What was she doing? Was she safe? Ardus knew the tiny human woman would do the sensible thing and keep herself as safe as she could but he didn't trust the other humans, especially not Martin O'Connell. The sight of Nina's little fist connecting with the man's nose and the wet crunch as it crumpled against her knuckles had sent Ardus to a place of deep, heated pride – that was his Nina, his bright little starfish who was as fearless and fierce as the elusive deep-sea leviathan that shared her name. Ardus twitched – someone was speaking to him. "Pardon?"

"I have what I need," Tura said again, holding up a small container. It held vials of blood samples packed in cold gel. "We need to get these back to the laboratory as soon as possible."