Her Royal Madness

Her Royal Madness Part 9

"That's pretty much what I saw. It was freaky. Your whole body was spazzing out, drool was dripping out of your mouth, and your eyes rolled back in their sockets. Even for you, it was weird. Then you went completely blank and collapsed in a heap on your desk. Did you know your head bounces when it hits a wood surface?" 

"I'm glad my pain amuses you so much. Do you also like the color of the bump on my forehead?" 

"Yeah, it's real pretty. You should tie your hair back so it doesn't hide the bruise. Anyway, I told you to quit goofing around and get up. You didn't answer, so I lifted your head and shook you a little bit. Nothing. I couldn't wake you up. I was starting to get a little worried, so I went and got Dad. 

"Dad took one look at you and totally freaked out. He told me to put you in your bed while he tried to think. He calmed down a little bit and then looked you over. He made sure all your arms and legs could move and opened your eyes. All I could see was the white part. Then he looked in your mouth to see if you'd swallowed your tongue or something. The whole time he was muttering a bunch of stuff to himself. I don't even remember what he said. Half of it-I couldn't hear and the rest didn't make much sense. 

"Then he pulled the chair over beside your bed and sat down. He looked about ready to fall apart. He was totally white and pretty shaky. He put his face down into his hands for a couple minutes and then looked up and said 'Well, she's alive but barely. Now what on earth were you two doing?'" 

I hadn't realized quite how upset Daddy had been. Good thing I was unconscious all that time. 

"Henry. Was I really that bad?" I said quietly. 

"Well...yeah. At first I thought you were dead. Before I got Dad, I checked and couldn't feel a pulse on your wrist, so I checked your neck. It was barely there, maybe 30 or 35 and real weak. Your skin was cold and clammy. It looked like you were a goner. I was making plans to turn your bedroom into a weight room, but I guess its better you pulled through. I might have missed you." 

"You're all heart, Henry. Thanks for your concern." 

"Don't mention it." 

"So, anyway, Dad wanted to know what was going on, and from the look on his face, I didn't dare leave out any details. I told him everything from the time you started hearing them voices in your head, right up to when we were playing with the dice." 

"Hmm, do you think we should have told Daddy about that before things got out of hand?" 

"Dunno," Henry shrugged. "I sure didn't like telling him the other night. The more I told him, the more upset he got. By the time I finished, I thought he was going to explode. He started yelling at me about being stupid and irresponsible and why didn't we tell him sooner. I've never seen him like that before." 

That was true. Daddy never lost his temper or raised his voice. Not even the time he had to go get Henry from school for throwing a firecracker into the girl's bathroom. 

"He eventually calmed down and then told me to sit down and watch you while he went and got some stuff. I had strict orders to call him if you even moved a muscle. About half an hour later he came back upstairs with a full IV bag and stand. I never knew Dad had any medical training but he stuck that needle in your arm like he'd been doing it all his life. He was still muttering to himself, things like 'glucose' and 'restore electrolytes'. Then he took off again." Henry paused for a minute to take another bite of his apple. 

"He took off?" I asked. 

"It sounded like he went up to the attic and turned on his ham radio." 

"Wait a minute. If he was really as upset as you said, what was he doing on his radio? He never uses it anymore." In fact, it was over a year since it had been turned on. The whole setup was locked in a cabinet in the attic. We had never been allowed to touch it or even look at it. 

"I know, weird, huh. It gets weirder. Do you know if Dad can speak Russian?" 

"What?" 

"Or maybe it was Chinese. I don't know, but it was real quiet in the house and Dad's voice got a little loud. He was speaking some strange language and he seemed pretty upset. You know, I think there's something Dad's not telling us about." 

"Your powers of observation never fail to amaze me. I've been wondering about Daddy for quite a while. Whenever I ask him what his job is, he always gives some vague evasive answer about being a free-lance consultant. But who does he consult to and about what?" 

"Don't look at me," Henry replied. "Whenever I ask about his work, he just asks me about football or something and I forget all about it." 

"Something else has been bugging me since the other night and I just figured out what it is. When I first woke up, Daddy didn't have any trouble believing what I had done with the dice or the voices I've been hearing. He just said it was dangerous for an untrained mind. It was like he expected it to happen someday but wasn't ready for it." 

"Yeah, I know what you mean. He was the same way with me. Hey, maybe he's some kind of spy or something."