Aquata Cove Chapter 77: Anguish
"Do you even have a permit?" Harold said.
"Yeah, I got one." Adam said as he takes out his wallet and pulls it out, "I'll be right back, we're only parked one level."
"I don't know, man," Harold said, "Aren't you supposed to have someone with you when you don't have a license?"
"I'll be right back," Adam dismissed, "It's literally 5 seconds away. You guys wait here, I wanna surprise you all." He jested.
"Ugh, I'm too tired to argue." Harold said, "Your ticket, your problem."
"Gee, thanks," Adam playfully punched him before he walked off.
"Fuck, my head..." Jamal groaned.
Adam turns around the corner, digging in his jacket for his keys -- he has a key for Yuri's and Jamal's car, always just in case. "Damn, it's hot tonight," He mumbled as he takes his jacket off, whipping his head as the metal jingle echoes in the car-filled structure.
"~Baby, I wanna ~I wanna dance, dance ~All night~" Adam sings lowly, "~And I wanna, I wanna get, get ~My life~" He chuckles as he locates Jamal's car, "~And I'm gonna, I'm gonna get lost ~In the lights ~Turn up, I'm the wizard I pronounce you to-"
-CLANGANG-
"Ah!" Adam jumped as he whips around to the sound of a metallic clang. He laughed as he sees some guy had dropped his crowbar, before turning back to approach Jamal's vehicle.
-Click/BEEPBEEP-
"Hey there." Says a different voice. Adam turns around, and sees a couple of people walking towards him. He spots a shorter person just tying a black bandana around their mouth.
"Um... Can I help you?" Adam asked as he looked to the up coming strangers. His eyes spot the crowbar that was dropped,
"We got something we need to talk to you about." Said he, behind a bandana. Adam doesn't recognize him at all, voice or otherwise.
"What's this about?" Adam asked, as they are starting to get too close.
"Come'er, we need to talk." The stranger said as his voice darkened, grabbing Adam's wrist and yanking him away.
"Stop! Let go of me!" Adam puts a vice grip on the other's wrist, and pulls it off. He shoves him back, only to be pushed from behind with harsh strength, forcing him forward.
"Ow! Fu-" Adam scraps his hands before he's pulled up.
"Hahaha, damn, maaan~" Nick drooled as he fondled Jamal's chest, "You fuckin haawwt. You wanna fuck me and my boyfriend~?" "I AM yo bo, man" Jamal snickered, "You drunk as hell." "... You think Adam's ok?" Harold asked, "He's been gone for a while now. I think maybe, 10, 15 minutes?" "Ah shit, really?" Jamal asked, "I hadn't noticed. He prolly havin trouble backing out or something. He's kinda clumsy in MY car." "Wanna go check on him?" Harold asked, "I never remember where we park. I'll look after Nick for you." "Aight." Jamal lets Nick slomp down onto the pavement, and trots forward. He enters the parking structure, picking up a noise or two. "Yo Adam! You `round?" He called out. Jamal walks along car by car, and turned around the point, hearing some scuffling and noises. His eyes catch several people around, and looks. "Oh shit!" A couple of people is beating someone up! Two people are holding someone by both arms, while another person takes hard swings at the person with a crowbar, with one last person holding a small bucket. The bound person grunts and irks, squirming harshly against two of the captors. He breaks free, and takes a swing at the guy on the left, only to get the side of his head banged in a quick jab to the jaw. The figure staggers before his arm is yanked back up "Hey! What's goin on?!" One of the people bashes the stomach with the bar, causing the victim to lurch forward. "HEY!" "Shit, man!" Says one of them. The beaten man yanks his right arm away, letting out a loud, muffled squeal of pain as he doubles over. KUNG!! A fast swing shot onto the side of the head of the victim, before his head droops downward, limb, held up only by his left by the other holder. Jamal's eyes widen as he recognizes the injured figure, "FUCKIN LET GO OF HIM!!!" He sprinted as he yells. "Ah fuck, GO!" One of the assailants muttered. Another one dropped the can they were holding, thus flooding the area with bright pink paint. A wide paintbrush is dropped as they started to run off. The figure was dropped onto the pavement, motionless. Jamal raced to the four attackers, "GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!!" He roared. One of the masked men turned around, brandishing the crowbar, and swiped at Jamal's face. Jamal's hand catches the bar with precision, and yanked it backward, topping the man over, and then jamming his fist to his throat! "GLKK!" The man choked, before Jamal caught sight of another one of the bandits. "FAAAAHHH!" Jamal yelled as he yanks the crowbar, and strikes the hook-shape into under the mask's knees. "MOTHERFU-" Before he could yell, Jamal strikes again at his knees, a lot, LOT harder this time! -KGGK- "AAAHHHHH!" The man screams in pain as he topples over, clutching his knee! Jamal whipped back down, the crowbar flying out of his hand, which quickly evolved into a fist, and clocked the man right in the jaw! "HNNH! HNNH! HNNH!" Jamal punches him over and over, forcing his fist into that face as hard as he could, until he stopped moving. He looked over, but he can't see the other two men anymore, "Fuck!" He pants as he gets up, one attacker squirming in agony, and the other unconscious. Jamal looks over to the third figure on the ground, next to the growing puddle of paint. Adam doesn't move. His head lies dormant as his clothing is battered with rips and fat streaks of pink paint, with a big, garish triangle still wet on his shirt. His jacket is gone, blood can be seen from many rips and puncture along his body. His right arm appears crooked, and several fingers are discolored, along with a dark red gash on his left knee. "No, oh God no," Jamal whimpered as he ran back to him, and dropped to his knees. His face half covered in blood, Adam lies there, his eyes closed and swollen, a slab of dark metal color covering the lower half of his face, pressing on pink-saturated stubble, branded with black sharpie words [FAGGOT]. "Fuck, shit, don't do this, fuck, please don't fuckin do this!" Jamal croaked as he tucks his arm under Adam, moving him limbly as he hastily removes the duct tape off of Adam's mouth, sobbing as the thick, attacked tape yanks at Adam's bruised jaws, before a small revolute of paint and saliva pours from his lips. "SOMEONE FUCKIN HEEELLPP!" Jamal yelled out at the top of his lungs, crying out in hysteria as too many options and thoughts collide in his head all at once as he holds Adam in his arms. "SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!! HELP ME!!!" Jamal yelled out. "What the hell's going on?!" Comes a random stranger. A woman in looks, and covers her mouth as she sees the spectacle, "Oh my God! What happened?!" "Please!" Jamal sobbed, wheezing in dramatic mayhem, his insides going insane, "Help me! Please!" === Merrick stands in icy horror in the hall. There he is... In a bed of the E.R. Several surgeons are standing around him, all of them covered in paper masks, hats, and robes... Just like the ones at the Agency... "Several nights ago..." Yuri said, her eyes down-cast and half lidded as she stands adjacent to Merrick, "A report of an attack was messaged to me. I'm not even qualified to be here, but the drivers of the ambulance knew Adam is my roommate..." Her voice is weak, clearly full of emptiness, "There were nice enough to inform me and help anyway I can... But fact is I'm useless..." "What... The fuck..." Merrick managed to say, his stomach feeling like a crashing reef, "Who... What..." His throat feels so jagged. "I couldn't get a full story from Jamal..." She said, still showing nothing in her tone, "Adam has been in critical care for almost 4 days... Jamal was with him in the ambulance... He almost started a fight when they wouldn't let him into the E.R... He waited for 3 days in front of the door, he's barely eaten, hardly even moved... I barely got him to go home an hour ago before you came back..." "Tell me..." Merrick's voice cracked as his eyes start to burn, "Tell me now, please..." "The best I've been told is... Adam was attacked by 2 or more people..." Yuri covers her eyes as her voice starts to tremble, "Merrick, please don't make me say it..." "Yuri..." Merrick's chest begins to feel tight and sharp. He needs to tell her... Merrick's hand flinches as he attempts to figure out how to reach for her. His fingers can't seem to figure out how to move... His whole arm in fact, seems to have turned into nothingness... His mind is unable to begin to locate any words... "Hhh..." Yuri sighed as she bows her head. He deserves to know, even if it brings her to tears. "The attackers snuck up on... During a..." Yuri's words seem to echo the more she goes on. "... House paint... Th-They..." Her voice trembles, "They made him... Gotten into his wounds..." The more she talks, the dizzier Merrick gets, he can't make any sense at all. Merrick's insides begin to crack and shatter, looking through the window of the doors, and glimpsing a face with a pair of black and purple circles where his eyes are supposed to be, "Glllk... Hhnngh..." Suddenly, his stomach turns into a pool of glass shards. "Yu... ri..." Merrick's throat closes up as he immediately begins to feel darkness grip his sight. "I'm sorry, Merrick, I-I can't... Please don't ask me, I can't right now..." "Ghh!" Merrick hacked as he topples down. Yuri takes her hand from her eyes, and gasps as she sees the merman cringing on the floor. "Oh my God!" She goes to her knees next to him, seeing him twitch horribly as his fist clenches and yanks the left side of his shirt. "HGHH! HGHH! HGHH!" Merrick rasps repeatedly as his chest feels like it's stabbing itself with invisible knives. His eyes see nothing but flaring lights converging with blaring shadows as images of Adam's distorted body over and over again, twisting and turning into a horrible spiral. "Merrick stay with me!" Yuri handles him firmly, checking his pulse as he writhes with sharp, internal agony, "Oh my God, someone get a trolley! He's having an attack!!" She called out. She knows exactly what to get, but she needs to stay right here to oversee his spiraling situation. "HURRY!! And get a respirator, stat!" She yelled to the rushing medics. "Uhggnnn... Gkk... Hhhhh..." Merrick's whole body tenses as he feels himself unable to think, unable to breathe. Everything is going numb except that he knows he can feel himself shaking and twitching, while Yuri's voice, along with so many others are echoing endlessly. He can also feel shoes stomping around him, countless others possibly crowding around him. Every sound blurs out as he is rolled on his back, his eyes glazed over as a clear mask is placed over his mouth. Everything is fading... Everything... Is nothing..."You know, you hear about it... Once or twice... One of your... Gay friends talks about it from a gay TV show you've never heard about... He uh..." Harold said, blinking as he rubs an inner corner of his eye, "He fawns over how upsetting a bombshell that happens to one of the characters, and you just half listen..."
He lies there, wearing nothing but his boxershorts, his hands interlaced with each other, while his bare back feels the smooth texture of Belinda's coiling, serpentine body. "A-And you see... something like it in the news or Facebook... And you feel some sympathy towards the victims when you see the damage..." He idly talks, listening to the rain pouring and tapping on his window. "And... You just ignore it and never pay it more thought than that, and you just forget about it, and... But... You never imagine... It would ever happen... To someone you've known for years... It's just... Oh my God, you know..." He sighs as he rubs his face with his hands.
"I still do not understand it..." Belinda says sadly, her white and peach colored arms over Harold's chest. "What could Adam have done to bring such harm to himself?" She honestly feels confused by this unfortunate turn of events, "For as long as I have known him, he has been nothing but a kind, helpful, protective human. He could never hurt anyone... Why would anyone..."
"It's called a Hate Crime, honey..." Harold answered somberly,
"A hate crime?" She asked, "What does that mean... And how do you know?"
"There are a, TON of hate crimes everywhere with humans, Belinda. Black people, gays, Muslims, all over, human history is soaked in it. With ADAM's case... They just wrote it all over him... This has been going on for decades -- centuries, even -- not just with gay people..." He strokes one of her arms, "There is a lot of people who hate a lot more people who are different for what they are... So they go out of their way to break the law and sensibility just to beat down the kind of guy they can't stand to look at..."
"Is this because of the human god?"
"Sort of, something like that... At least in this case... The bible, and church, and all that stuff... I've never been religious, and that's pretty much the only reason the gays have always been beaten down."
"This `religion'... Is it not supposed to be about peace?" She asked with confound eyes, "What is peaceful, about fighting a man to the brink of death? I have always thought of Adam being allured by males to be strange, but he is one of the best humans I can ever know."
"Nothing, Belinda... Nothing..." Harold huffs as he rubs his eyes. "God, I can only imagine how heartbroken Merrick is... I caught Yuri at the hospital a couple of days after it happened, and she was so damn terrified on what she was going to tell him..."
"I should have been there..." Belinda said, "I could have protected him..."
"We all could have..." Harold said, "Why didn't I go with him when we were leaving... He only had a driver's permit, he needed someone with him... I'm such a fucking idiot..." Belinda hissed in despair, her insides churning with helplessness, "Can't you go in there an heal him?" Harold asked.
"I have tried..." She said, "I have tried going to him without being seen, but I know I am being watched everywhere. A-And..." Her voice shutters, "I do not know how to mend the kind of broken that Adam is now. I would not even know where to begin or how to heal him, even if I was a Noita..."
"Can any Noita heal him? Adam told me that he's on good terms with Merrick's Mom, and then that other pod Merrick goes to, they have a Noita, don't they?"
"It would not go well, even if we do convince a Noita to help. Surrounded by humans, always being watched by human camera-eyes... And even then, I am not sure one could do him so much help... On the day I have heard that Adam was attacked, I immediately came to Atarah for her help..."
"Who?" "She is someone who helps merfolk, far away." Belinda continued, "She gave me a mixture of different elements and plants that she claims should be very good for Adam's health... But I still cannot reach him..."
"Shit..." Harold sighed, "Belinda... I don-"
"Aaahhheeee!" Comes an electric scream. Both of them jump and look at the baby-moniter on the nightstand.
"Theodore!" Belinda gasped as her body immediately recedes and transforms, reverting to her human form before she quickly gets up, wearing a comfortable lace negligée.
"Mommy!! Mommyyy!" She rushed out of their bedroom and into a smaller room with several infantile toys and items around, and to a cradle.
"I am here, I am here." Belinda hastily says as she bends over the crib, and puts her arms onto the crying toddler. Theodore cries freely as he clutched onto his mother. "Shhhh, it's ok, it's ok, honey, it's alright..."
"Hey, what's the matter, little buddy?" Harold softly asked as he walks in too, tying on a bathrobe, "What's the problem, Theo?"
"The lightning. It is probably terrifying him." Belinda says, "Hush, baby..." She cooed gently, carefully rocking him as their child gasped and sobbed, "We are here, you're safe..."
*Beep... Beep... Beep...* "Nnhhh..." Merrick groaned as he slowly wakes up to a slow beeping; there isn't any part of his body that doesn't feel heavy with soreness, as if he had just swam across the ocean without so much as a break. His blurry eyes make out a small white ceiling. He can feel that he is on a bed... Going by the immediate sense, he guesses he is still in the hospital... He can't tell there is a small needle in his hand, connected to an I.V. drip. He also notices his shirt is missing, but he doesn't care, never does. "Merrick?? Are you awake??" Yuri's voice asked in a worried tone, "Answer me, please." Merrick groans as a fuzzy Asian doctor focuses into view, standing beside him with both hands on the railing of the bed. "I... I'm awake..." Merrick barely managed to whisper; his throat feels like sandpaper. His eyes hurt. A lot. And so does his chest... He feels a deep, pounding hurt wallowing in his upper region. He can feel... And see his own heartbeat; each pound is like wide-spread ache in his body, "Yuri..." Immediately, his eyes start to flood and his voice cracks, "Yuri, what happened..." "You fell down..." Yuri said sadly, "And you couldn't get up, your heart just-" "Nnno." Merrick barely finds the strength to throw his head back and forth, "What... Happened..." Yuri takes a deep breath as see rubs her thumbs over her eyes. "He..." Yuri bowed forward as a tear managed to drip from her eyes "He was attacked..." Her voice trembles, both in emotional struggle, and fear out of telling the one who needs to know the most, "H-He was bashed, Merrick." Yuri sniffled as she finally confessed with a straight answer, "He's been in a coma for 4 days, and..." She shakes her head, "We don't even know if he's going to make it." She sobbed as least as she could. Merrick's eyes clench as his face distorts with sadness as he begins to choke. His hands go to his face as his lungs take in agonizingly sharp shutters. "Merrick, i'M so soRRy..." Yuri cried with him. Merrick rolled onto his side as he starts to break down, his cries muffled behind his hands as his stomach turns into a poisoned pit of misery. "I was only gone for a we-ek..." Merrick sobbed, "What happened... What happened... What did he do..." Yuri walks around, and goes to hug him. "What did he dooo?" Merrick squealed weakly as his face buries into her coat as he continues to cry, "Why him..." Merrick wept as long, painful gasps made out his voice, "Why him... What did he do..." "I don't know... I'm sorry..."Jamal sits at the bar in the Waltz. Soft, trickling music twinkle in the background as his eyes keep a stone stare into his beer bottle. As much as much he wants to get shit-faced right now... It's like anything he drinks or eats just tastes like dust or something... Half a beer, and he feels like sinking through the floor, and just disappearing.
"~Notice meeeeeee~" Sings a dainty, woman singing on stage, surrounded by pale and blue lights, "~Take my haaaa~aand~" She glistens with silver sequins and a short skirt around her chest and waist. "~Why are weeee ~Strangers wheee~een~" She takes a breath as she draws her fists to herself, "~Our love is strooooonng ~Why carry on without me?~" She sings as she holds her hand up, as if reaching forward.
Jamal sniffs before tilting his bottle up, and taking a drink. "Thought I'd find you here." Nick says from behind. Jamal doesn't move, not even to look. His lover sits right next to him, and scoots right beside him.
"..." Jamal sips some more tasteless alcohol. Nick's eyes see how his hand trembles as it lets go of the bottle. He puts his arm up on his shoulder, hugging him partially. "It's my fault..." He finally said.
"I knew you were gonna say that." Nick said.
"It is..." Jamal speaks in a low tone, slightly shuddering his voice as his eyes glaze over, trying to suppress the sadness killing him inside. "I put him that bed... It's all my fuckin fault..." Jamal's eye starts to drip out a tear.
"No, it's not, Jay-Jay..." Nick said.
"Who throws a fuckin party 3 weeks after a proposal..." Jamal drinks the last of his beer. He feels dizzy... He just wants to be numb to everything right now... "Fuckin bachelor parties don't happen that soon, I'm a fuckin idiot..."
"~I make belieeeeve~" The singer hymns softly, "~That you are heeerrre ~It's the only way ~I see cleeeaaar ~What have I doooone ~You seem to move on easy ~Every time I try ~To fly~ I fall without my wings ~I feel so smaaall ~I guess I need you baby~"
"It's not your fault, ok...?" Nick persisted gently, "You were the one who saved him before he..." He sighed, unable to say what might have happened. "We always like to party. It's what we do to get loose."
"I-I just... I knew he liked Wizard of Oz and shit, I thought he would like it..." Jamal whimpered as his voice thickened, "I didn't even think about Merrick bein there... If I just wadn't so fuckin... Shit..." He winces as he gasps and chokes in despair.
"It's ok, baby..." Nick hushed, "It's ok, it's ok..."
"~Every time I try ~To fly~ I fall without my wings ~I feel so smaaall ~I guess I need you baby~" A few other dancers drape in, wearing thin scarves and veils, "~And every time I see you ~In my dre~eaams ~I see your face ~You're haunting me ~I guess I need you baby~" The singer closes her eyes as she gently feels herself, as if to show loneliness "~At night I praaaay ~That soon your faaace ~Will fade awaaa~aay~"
"What about you, though?" Jamal asked, once he managed to stifle himself down a little, "Ain't you ever scared of gettin the shit beat outta you for bein gay...?"
Nick shrugged as he shook his head a little, "Already got my ass kicked."
"What?" Jamal turns his head to look at him.
"Came out when I was like, 15, maybe 16. Middle School, man." He said, "Got fucked with a lot back then. Hell, my Uncle Fernando try to school me hard behind my Mama's back when he was told. Haven't heard from him since."
"And you ain't scared fo shit." Jamal says.
"Didn't say that." Nick replied. "I think about that alla time. I'm careful nuff, and I can defend myself when I have to."
"~I may have made it rain ~Please forgive meeee ~My weakness caused you paaiin~" The singer puts her hand on her chest, turning her head, and holding her hand up, "~And this song's my sorrrryyyy~"
"Well... Nick... I'm sorry..." Jamal bows his head until his chin touches the bar, "I don't think you and I need to be... Anymore... Ya know..."
"Wait, what??" Nick doubles back for a sec.
"I-I-I'm not... I'm not, see... I can't do anything anymore, as far as we go..."
"What are you talkin bout, man?"
"I'm... I don't wanna fuck anymore..." Jamal whimpers, "An' I know what you like, so... Just go on. No hard feelings and allat shit, just... Don't think bout me, just go on like you usually do..."
"Wait, wait a sec, man." Nick said as he gives a hurtful look, "Are you seriously gonna fuckin-"
"Last time something like this happened," Jamal said, his breathing becoming erratic, "I yelled at you, I even hit you..." He sniffed, "So just... I wanna leave on a good note on you... I ain't gonna be any good fo you, so you should go ahead and forget this..." He huffed as he covered his eyes.
After a while of trying not to sob, Jamal feels a pair of arms around him, and he can feel Nick rest his face between his shoulders.
"It's ok, Jay..." Nick muttered, his own eyes moistening, "I don't wanna go anywhere... I don't wanna ditch you for some stupid shit... I love you, Papi..." He tucks his arm under, and hugs him from behind, which felt slightly awkward because of the of the height difference.
"~And every time I try, to fly ~I faaall without my wings ~I feel so small ~I guess I need you baby ~And every time I see you, in my dreeaams ~I see your face ~You're haunting me ~I guess I need you baby~"
The calm song trickles slowly to its end. Jamal sniffles and whimpers as his left arm is now wrapped around a slender Latino, while Nick has his head against Jamal's chest.
Merrick feels himself tremble very slightly as he is once again on his feet. He takes deep, uneasy breaths as he watches through a window in a smaller room, with Adam connected to so many machines, tubes and needles in his skin. Several fingers bound in splints, his head wrapped in white bandage, and his face barely recognizable. His's right hand grasps onto the pole of the I.V. drip, while his left arm hangs beside him. His stance is very rigged, unable to keep a straight posture at all, hunched forward, with one leg bent, and the other shaking as it supports his weight. His eyes so pink and swollen, they're almost red, both from the immense crying and the stress his body is currently undergoing. He shouldn't even be up right now... Yuri keeps telling him that he needs to go home and sleep... Or at least that's what she WOULD say, if she could talk herself, but she can't begin to tell him what he should be doing right now. Part of him still can't accept this... His heart feels like it wants to weigh him down to the ground as if it was made of solid iron. The more he looks at this picture, the more his chest stings. "OH MY GOD!! WHERE IS HE?!" Comes a frantic, female voice. Merrick gasped and jumped as he turns, and sees a certain, unwelcoming fangirl sprinting down the hall. "Excuse me, ma'am!" Says Dennis as he chases after her, Merrick stands there, speechless as she comes too close to him. "Nnhh!" Merrick grunts as she races by him, and incidentally knocks Merrick aside, "Ahh, fffuck!" "Ah, what the heck?!" Dennis says as he dashes over to Merrick, "A-Are you alright sir??" "I-I'm fine..." Merrick feebly says. Dennis tucks his arms under Merrick's and starts to pick him up. "Ma'am, I'm gonna have to ask you to lea-" "Let me in! He needs me!" Jessica exclaims, grabbing and pulling at the locked handle. She cries as the door is rattled, "Don't just stand there!" She says as Dennis helps Merrick to his feet, "He needs our help!" "Miss, there's nothing you can do!" Dennis tells her loud and firmly, "Mr Bryant is in a very delicate condition right now! No one but the surgeons can touch him right now!" "If you would just let me see him, I know I can help!" Jessica says in desperation, "I need to be by his side! Please, I can pray for him to-" "Stop..." Merrick finally says, "Just stop..." His chest feels a deeper pit as his hand grasps the pole of the I.V. He pants as he looks up at her, "If your God could make him walk as easy as that, we wouldn't have to listen to you, would we?" "You." Jessica says with a look of hurt and anger, "How dare you..." Tears of anger seep from her eyes, "YOU are the one who did this." She takes a few steps forward, "You DID this to HIM." She stammers as her emotions escalated. "What are you even talking about, you crazy fanatic??" Merrick groans, "This has nothing to do with you anyhow..." "How dare you..." Jessica huffs as she's barely a foot away from him, "You turned him into this... You caused him to get hurt..." Merrick's eyes lock onto hers as a fiery surge of hatred raced in his blood, "And you know it... You're the one who-" In a blink, Merrick's fist jets, and grabs onto her blouse and sweater. Jessica squeaks as his thump punches into her shoulder with his fist clenched around the fabric. "I am going to say this nice... And once..." Merrick said weakly, growling underneath. His red and blue eyes leer up at her, "If I have to hear... One more sound of your stupid, blind, ignorant nonsense for just one more second..." His throat is so sore... He can't even muster up a proper threat. He clenches his teeth as his grip starts to tighten into a vice. "Ow!" Jessica attempts to pull his hand off, "Let go! Let go of me!" She starts to descend as Merrick's grip gets tighter and tighter. "AAWWOO! Let go!!" She almost screams as her shoulder starts to burn like crazy. "Merrick!" Merrick releases her with a shove, just as he lets himself fall back, finding himself landing onto a wheelchair. "What happened here?" Yuri asks from behind the wheelchair. "This visitor ran over here before we had a chance to-" "I'll tell you what happened," Jessica huffed, looking hysterical, "This man attacked me, right here, when I was just trying to see Adam in his time of need!" "That's not true!" Dennis said, "Doctor, this woman came running in here, she knocked HIM on the floor, and tried to barge into the patient's room." "This is not-" Jessica tries over and over to talk over Dennis. "AND! AND he tried to tell her to stop, and she started advancing on him, an-" "He doesn't have a right to be here!" Jessica raises her voice, "I need to be in there-" "You don't have any clearance! You needed-" Both of them keep arguing, turning into a battle of pointless circles. Just when Merrick's throat is begining to rattle, he suddenly feels a wave from behind him. "ALIGHT, STOP! BOTH OF YOU!" Yuri yelled, instantly silencing both people. After a few seconds, she turns to Jessica, calm as she can be, "Alright then, I've heard enough. You," She pointed to Jessica, "You need to leave, right now." She said with a snap and pointed her thumb to the hall way. "Me?!" Jessica exclaims in disbelief, "How am I not allowed, but he-" "Mr Piscien here is under a great deal of stress, and is currently in shock. He has also recently experienced cardio-vascular attack, and you are agitating him as a patient, and you are in danger of obstructing the recovery of another." "I understand that, but I really need to-" "Family and Personnel only, ma'am, final word." Yuri cut her off, "You are currently causing a disturbance, and you need to leave." "Please, just try to understand-" "Are you going to leave, or am I going to have you escorted?" Yuri crosses her arms. "You can visit when Adam is deemed fit to receive attention. Right now, you are violating hospital rules." Jessica huffs in emotion as she has nothing to say, seeing only a few options. She opens her mouth to talk, but cannot find the words to rebuttal. Finally, Jessica steps up to them. "You do everything you can for him." She whimpered indignantly. "That's why he's here." Yuri replies with cold eyes, before Jessica turns around, and storms out. "Um..." Dennis stood there, awkwardly, "Th-Thanks, I... Yuri..." Merrick sits there in a daze, his face bowed down. The fingers on his right hand twitch a little, still feeling the pressure of crushing Jessica's shoulder... He was going to do it... He really was going to injure her... Merrick lets out a shaky sigh as he covers his eyes with that same hand. "Alright, come on." Yuri turns the wheelchair, and starts to move, "Merrick, I need you to rest-" "Stop..." He mumbled. She halted just as told. "Merrick?" Merrick puts his hands onto the arm rests of the wheelchair, and grunts weakly as pushes himself up out of it. "Merrick, don't. You need to take it easy." She carefully grabs onto his arm, but he ignores her. Merrick's hand holds onto the I.V. pole as he gets back on his feet. "Mer-rick." Yuri nags. "That chair is for someone who is injured, who can't even walk." Merrick says stubborn, "Growing up, my Father taught me a Triton should never be weak... What kind of person am I supposed to be... Pushed around in wheels because I'm sad?" He growls. "Oh for God's sa- Don't give me that Be-A-Man nonsense." Yuri says, "I got enough of that from Jamal. Merrick, sit back down," She walks around to him, "Come on, just-" "JUST!" Merrick raised a hand, causing her to step back, "Just... Leave me, ok..." "This way, ma'am, sir..." Says a different voice. Merrick looks up, and winces as he sees Donna and Luther stride in. "Merrick!" Donna rushes over to him, before her eyes catch the window of the room. She gasped as she covered her mouth, "Oh no..." Her eyes immediately moisten with tears, "A-Ada..." She whimpers. "Oh my God..." Luther hushed in disbelief, seeing his son in a bed, wrapped in bandages and connected to too many machines. "I thought you were in Washington by now..." Merrick muttered, "How did you get back so fast..." "We got a call from Adam's coworker," Luther said as his wife begins to sob, "We didn't even leave the airport until we got another ticket back to here." "... Thank you for coming back, for his sake..." Merrick says in a low tone before his face distorting, moving to cover his hand over his face. "Merrick," Donna whined as she comes to him, and putting her arms around him. "Oh Merrick," She squealed in emotion as she hugged him tightly. "My God..." Luther muttered, his insides feeling solid and heavy. Fearful thoughts lingered and dragged through his mind as he looks at him... So injured... So close to... Luther stepped away, and turned to Yuri, "How bad is he... Really..." "We are still in the process of detoxing him, and further surgery is ill-advised at this time." Yuri answered, "Honestly, it's not looking good at all..." "Detoxing him, what does that mean?" Luther asked, "Di-Did he do any drugs or something?" "No. When he was attacked, it seems he was forced to swallow some house paint." Yuri said. "Jesus Christ..." Luther huffed. "And they painted him, and some of it has gotten into a few gashes and cuts." Yuri said, "We don't know how he's survived this long, but his body has been suffering some poisoning, aside from everything else." "What... What can be done, at this point??" Luther asked, "How- How, i-is there anything more you can do?? And what do you mean before? How can you NOT be operating on him?" "Just to start with, Adam still needs a full transfusion." She wrings her hands as she reported to him, "He's been living off the bare minimum this far, but if we don't replace anymore of his blood, he's not going to last." "Th-Then give him some blood! What- What're just-" "Mr Bryant, we ARE trying!" Yuri rose up sad, "But Adam has an uncommon blood-type, and we've given him all we can, we're still waiting for the order." "Luh... Luu..." Donna broke out, turning from Merrick, her eyes flooding down, "Luther." "I got it, right here," Luther rolled up his sleeve, and held his arm out, "Adam has the exact blood type as me, I can give him some. Take all he needs." "A-A-And I have O Negative" Donna wept, "I-I can-" "Alright, ok, then I need you both to come with me then, and we'll get things started," She said as she led Luther away. "Mr Bryant, we may just need your blood, but we can keep your wife's blood aside for further treatment." "I-I'll be right back, sweetie," Donna cried before giving Merrick's cheek a kiss, "I'll be back, I promise." With that, she trotted away from the merman. Merrick huffed and cried as he leans on the wall, sniffling and sobbing.Belinda rocks back and forth, holding her calming baby, dozing in her arms as she slowly moves backward, and gently shifting forward. Harold sighs as he holds a hot mug of berry tea at the table.
"Belinda... I'm not really sure what we should do right now."
"Hm?"
"I don't know, just... We're supposed to go back to New York next week, but... I can't just take off now. I wanna make sure Adam makes it or something..."
"To be honest, I do not want to leave the islands either." She said, "I do not know if Adam is going to live or die, but I feel like I would be making a mistake if we leave."
"I mean... Hell, Adam's always been there for me when I needed him... Always had my back when you and I weren't getting along, once in a while, he took the heat from Captain when I screwed up, and I was working at the Fish House longer than he has... Seriously, who does that..." He scoffed, "Not sure I'd be willing to put up with that."
"He performed at our wedding when the music people did not come..." Belinda says, "He always gave me tips to keep myself hidden, and found ways to hide me, even covered me when water fell on me..."
"And God knows he's a good babysitter when we're in town..." Harold shook his head, "I can't leave him behind, Belinda, I... I don't want to..."
"I never told you of this, but I never liked to live in the New York anyhow..." Belinda said, "There is too much noise there, and we never have so much money... It just seems like too much chaos in one place to be."
"Still, not like I want to live in Hawaii forever." Harold said, "I still wanna be somewhere else."
"We can decide later." Belinda says as she gets up.
"Here, I'll tuck him in." Harold said, going to his wife and carefully taking the baby from her hands. "Hey, little buddy." Harold said as he carried his son, "There we go, all better now... That's a big boooy" He says softly, turning to the hallway, and walking to the small bedroom.
"Should I even bother with my old spot?" Belinda ponders as she walks to the dripping window. "I still need to give Adam those mixtures Atarah gave me... Hm..."
The doctors come into Adam's room, masked, with a couple of pouches of blood, getting ready to operate for his delicate procedure. Yuri peers to the hall with them; she doesn't think it'd be wise for Merrick to see this... She steps out from the others, and looks out... Merrick is nowhere. She goes to see the I.V. pole, to find the plastic bag mostly empty, before seeing Donna striding over, "Ah- Mrs Bryant, please-" "Yuri, please, just let me-" She said, "I know I can't do anything, but I need to be with him, please." "I'd really rather you wait with Luther. We're doing everything we can, ok? We'll let you know when you can see him." "O-Ok..." Donna nods as she sniffled, "H-Have you seen Merrick?" "No, he was gone when we came here-" "Doctor Umiyama," Called one of the other doctors. "Coming!" She turns back to Donna, "I have to go, everything's going to be fine." She almost gives a hug, but stopped when she realized she is in her operating gown and gloves. "Alright, alright... Do everything to save him, please..." Donna begs softly as Yuri turns, and comes back to the others. She cries as she holds her hands to her lips. Tears run from her eyes as she sees Adam there, being injected with a needle, while the other doctors prepared for the transfusion. Yuri comes in with them, attending to some of the chemicals and instruments. "Hoh my baby..." She cried as they begin around her son, "My beautiful baby boy..." She chokes as she makes herself watch them carefully operate, "What have they done to my baby..."The rain is still pouring down. All through the way, Merrick walks the whole way, his eyes to the road as the wind whips all around him. He used to love the rain, partly because Adam loved it too...
At this point, Merrick truly cannot tell if he is even sobbing anymore. His face is stoic, but it's not like he can tell if his tears have stopped, or if the rain is just washing the sparkling fluid away. He can already feel himself fade away as he went...
Now he can understand what that mermaid from Syrinx's pod most have felt... Sort of. According to Syrinx, she lose her mate and child to the Ghost Whale... Humans say that you don't know how precious something is until you lose it. At this point, Merrick has lost Adam more than once, and never did he ever take him for granted since that Red Moon... So why are the Waves of Fate so determined to tare them apart? How many times must they be taken away from each other before it stops?
Part of him wants to find the men who did this to Adam... The ones who tore him apart and beat him to a pulp... But the other part just... Wants to abandon everything...
But then, what would be the point, right? Bringing them to justice. If Merrick has learned one thing in his time with humans and learning of the news, of the world, the balance, of the empire of amorality in this chaotic society, it's this:
Evil thrives, and good survives.
Is that what it really comes down to? Adam is barely clinging to dear life by a thread, and the ones who were responsible for destroying him are free to bash another gay man another day. Is there truly no justice in the human world? A man who does no harm to anyone gets punished simply because someone evil felt it on a whim?
At least in the ocean, justice is certain, never questioned. At least that's what Kaiken always stated.
"... Ah?" Before Merrick even realized it, he has arrived at his house. He didn't even notice passing through the driftwood fence. The rain hasn't even relented the whole time he walked from the hospital; he is completely drenched. His dreary eyes move down to the doorknob.
Moments pass by, and Merrick finds himself standing cold and naked in the bedroom, staring at the bed. He is so tired... So hallow...
The scale necklace around his neck finally expired into a transparent disk. Blue metallic sheens reveal onto his humanoid body as he stands there, until he moves forward, climbing into bed.
As soon as he lies down, he instantly breathes in Adam's smell. His lower lip trembles as Merrick's face folds into extreme anguish. His eyes clench as he whines thickly into the pillows, tears welling in his eyes as breaks down all over again.
"Ahhhhh-ahgh-ahgh... HHHH ahhgghhh..." He sobs freely as his hand grips the blanket, his being spiraling in sadness as the tragedy strikes him hard, all alone.
"Ghhahhhghh... I should have stayed in bed..." He cries, curling tighter in bed as he remembers that light pec on the lips Adam gave him before he escorted Arnaav to the ocean, "I should have come back to bed..." He gasped and tensed, burying his face into the pillow, shaking and jerking into it as his sounds of hurt becomes muffled.