Tetrology Of The Sea - Book 1: From The Sea 🪼✔

Six

Some weeks went by and the amount of children's shows that Ruth was watching was really crowding into her usual routine. She always took a walk along the beach at night but had company instead. Usually Travis was good about the walk but sometimes he wanted to run into the sea and Ruth would have to get on to him for running away.
One day as they were sitting on the couch, Travis looked up at Ruth.
"Mommy? Why can't I go in the water?"
Ruth thought about it and decided that she should tell him about what he was.
"Well, because you're from a different place. You're from the sea somehow and whenever you get wet, your feet turn into a tail. It's best if you don't get wet or at least not stay in it a long time."
"So I can't take a bath?"
"You can take one as long as you don't stay in there for a long time. When you start to see your legs look different then you should get out and dry your legs off."
Travis looked where the ocean was next to the house.
"I can't play on the beach?"
Ruth shook her head. "Not unless it's just in the sand."
He sighed. "I like the water, Mommy."
"I know you do, sweetheart, but unless you're just with Mommy and Josh then you can't let people see you like that. They might hurt you or do other bad things to you. I don't want that to happen, okay?"
He nodded and snuggled in the crook of her arm on the couch as Ruth took the remote.
"That's enough of Clifford the Dog. I'm watching a big person's movie, alright?"
"Okay."

A couple of nights went by when Ruth woke to the sound of moaning and crying. She sat up and listened, making sure it wasn't her imagination. The sound continued and she grabbed up her robe and headed off to find the source of the noise. She went to Travis' room first and found it was louder in there. She opened the door and saw that Travis was writhing in bed. Ruth walked in and sat on the edge, touching him on the shoulder.
"Travis? Wake up, honey... Are you alright?"
Travis moaned again and turned to her, opening his eyes. His face was sheen with sweat, his sandy blonde hair sticking to his forehead. Ruth touched his face and felt a fever. He seemed to be holding his stomach as well.
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
"My tummy hurts..."
"Do you think you need to throw up?"
"No... it just hurts."
Ruth touched his stomach and he made a small cry of pain.
"I think my sludge is bad." He said with a sad expression. "I don't wanna take it out."
Ruth got up to go to the phone but stopped at the door.
"Travis, if the sludge is hurting you, we have to take it out, okay? If you're going to die because of it, then it needs to go away."
She called Josh and he came and got them to take to the hospital.

"I told you that that stuff needed to be removed." Josh said a little curtly on the way to the hospital. "It's probably gotten infected."
"I wanted the decision to be made by Travis."
"He's a minor, Ruth, and minors are that way because they don't have full responsibility for their own person. That's why parents are there, to make decisions for their children."
Ruth crossed her arms as she looked in the back seat at her little boy, looking terribly sick and his eyes full of pain. She knew that Josh was right but the man had a way of talking with her a little too harshly and now that she had Travis to worry about, the harshness was not what she really needed.
"I don't need your smart ass remarks. I just need you to make him feel better and if it has to do with the sludge, then get it out of him."
Josh nodded and pulled into the hospital. He got out and grabbed Travis up, walking with him into the hospital. He took him back and looked at Ruth.
"I have a good friend that is working tonight that will probably be able to do the surgery on him. I trust him with everything so don't be alarmed. Here, take Travis and let me see if he's in another surgery or not."
Ruth took Travis into her arms and sat in the waiting room.
Travis buried his face into his mother's neck and Ruth kissed his head softly.
"Don't you worry, baby. I'll make sure that you're going to be without pain soon."
Joshua walked back into the room with another older man and gestured with his hand.
"Dr. Humphrey this is my friend Ruth Bagery and her new adopted son, Travis."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am." The doctor said. "Joshua tells me that we might need to operate on your little boy here?"
"Did Josh tell you anything about him?"
"He told me that he was different and that I should do a little examination first. Let's see what we need to look at."
Ruth carried Travis as they walked back to a room and Dr. Humphrey sat down.
"What's his full name?"
"Uh, Travis Everest Bagery."
The doctor clicked around and Josh went around to look in the files. He pointed to the screen and said, "There's the MRI that I did and a picture of the strange substance that I gathered from his stomach. Do you see how this looks almost like a pouch of some sort?"
"Yes, yes I see. And this is from that pouch? You didn't think to operate sooner?" Dr. Humphrey said, sending a disapproving look at Josh.
"No, because of the pouch I had a little bit of speculation. I sent it to a friend of mine and found out what it was."
"Which was?"
"You'd never believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
"Ruth, you wanna explain?"
Ruth sighed and squirmed in the chair a little.
"I found him on the beach some weeks back. He isn't fully human; when he stays in the water too long his legs turn into what looks like the tail of a seahorse. In that regards, Josh and I looked up some things on seahorse and found that male seahorses have a pouch that they use to carry their babies. When we pulled the sludge from the pouch, Josh said that his ichthyologist friend tested it and it was a soupy concoction of well, seahorse eggs."
Dr. Humphrey looked at her with skepticism but Josh nodded.
"I saw it for myself, Dr. Humphrey. She's telling the truth and my friend asked where I got the great specimens for him to look at. I told Ms. Bagery that it would be best to get the sludge out of there but she insisted that Travis be allowed to make that decision."
"A mistake on my part... Please, doctor, I just want my boy to be well again."
Dr. Humphrey sighed and steepled his fingers together.
"You say you think this 'sludge' is infected now? I will have to draw a specimen to determine if that's the case. Take him to an exam room and I will get a sample."
Josh nodded and took Travis from Ruth, who was told to wait in the office.
After what seemed like forever, Josh came back.
"He's going to remove the sludge from Travis. He pulled up the syringe and that creamy yellow was no longer yellow. It was a thick jade green with some bits of black in it from staying in there for this long. It was seeping into Travis's stomach and that's what made him sick. He's going to start the operation immediately."
"Can- can't I see him?"
Josh nodded and let Ruth to where Travis was being wheeled away.
"Mommy? Mommy, I'm scared... Mommy?"
"I'm here, sweetie. Here I am..."
"Sludge is bad..."
"Yes, baby, it is now. I'm sorry..."
"I don't wanna go."
"I know but you'll feel much better when you come back, okay? Mommy will be waiting for you."
They walked faster and Ruth watched as Travis went in with Dr. Humphrey and Josh passed her.
"I'll be helping so don't you worry."
She nodded and then leaned on the wall, her heart thumping loudly against her chest in fear.