Half and Half

Chapter Thirty Eight

The next day came before Harriet was ready. Thankfully, her brother hadn't moved much during the night so there hadn't been much risk in worsening the injury. Now, she just needed to get him to the hospital to confirm there truly wasn't anything to worry about and for that, she needed Lord Hades' help.

Sliding out of bed, Harriet crept out of her room and made her way to CJ's bedroom. Their father had proven one thing last night, that reason had no place in his life when it came to his 'disciplines'. And the last thing Harriet wanted was CJ alone by herself today.

"Harri?" CJ asked, already awake as Harriet opened her door.

"Hey Ceej," Harriet said with a small smile.

"Where's Harry? Papa didn't hurt him too badly did he?" CJ asked.

Harriet paused. "How did you...?"

"I...I wanted to make sure Harry was okay," CJ said, looking down at her blanket. "I know he hates me but...he's still my brother. He's still crew. So...so I snuck out of my room to make sure he wasn't getting hurt by what was happening downstairs last night. I got back to my room before you got upstairs though."

Harriet sighed. "We'll talk about that later but for right now, I need you to go and spend the day on the ship, okay?"

"Which one?" CJ asked. "I mean, I know we spend all our time on The Lost Revenge but you've got your ship too."

"...Make sure you've got at least Ryan, Brooke, and Abby with you if you go to The Scattered Dreams. Otherwise, I want you on the Lost Revenge okay CJ?"

"Okay Harriet," CJ nodded. "Aren't...aren't you going to the ship too though?"

Harriet shook her head. "I'm going with Harry to make sure he doesn't overwork himself today and maybe get him to the hospital so he can get himself looked over and we can make sure he's okay," she said. Now that she knew her sister was aware of what happened to Harry, there was no reason to lie to her little sister.

"So papa did hurt him," CJ said.

"...Yeah," Harriet sighed. "He did."

"Is it bad?"

"If I can get our brother to go to the new hospital, they can tell us if it's bad. But right now he's being stubborn."

"Not exactly anything new there," CJ said with a small smile.

Harriet returned the smile before gently kissing CJ on the top of her head. "Listen, I'm going to be with Harry today because you and I both know he's going to try to pretend he's fine unless I don't. I need you to stay with the crew understand? I know you and Ryan especially don't like it when we 'baby' you but Harry gets the same treatment...and even Sammy and I don't get full freedom in the crew."

"It's different though," CJ said with a small sigh.

"CJ, listen to me okay?" Harriet said and looked CJ straight in the eye. "I know we always say you look exactly like mom with the exception of your hair and eyes and I know you can defend yourself with a sword if needed but you're in no way skilled enough to go against our father. That's no fault of yours, it's just a fact. No seven year old could best a pirate captain in a fight. And I know our father has never gone after one of us girls before but after last night, I need to act like I don't know what his next move will be."

CJ nodded before getting out of bed and grabbing a small bag. "Is it safe to assume we won't be coming back?"

"If Lord Hades has his way, I'd say that's a very safe assumption," Harriet nodded.

"Okay," CJ said before pausing. "I'll...I'll pack one for you and Harry too Harriet. You've spent too much time here, you know Harry's going to try to sneak out if you're not watching him."