20. Bactine

 

Daniel heard the words. Somehow they left him as cold has his ice-covered body was.

"It looks that keeping you in ice is slowing down the process, sir." The doctor looked at him. "I am sorry, sir, you asked for this information."

Daniel hoped he nodded. "I know. What are my chances?"

"We are not certain."

"Let me in, you runt, I know him! And I'm here on business!"

Daniel's heart jumped. Seconds later it did so again: Rhonda's face appeared in his view.

"Gods, you look like crap," she greeted him. Her face was hard. She started to push ice to the side and examined Daniel.

Daniel waited for her to say something, but she remained silent during the time she was looking him over.

"I need to talk to people, Daniel. I'll be back soon. I promise." Rhonda looked at him, this time in an emotional way he had never thought possible for her. She touched his forehead, then she left, taking the doctor with her.

The nurse started packing the ice onto him again, and the lights faded.

-=-=-

"Daniel? Daniel, can you hear me? Give him some more. Daniel?"

He crawled out of the grey fog. "I hear you." Slowly his eyesight came back. "Hey, you."

Rhonda stood watching him. "Hey yourself. I heard what a mess you got yourself in. You never grow up, do you? Playing pirate and going for a swim."

"Seems that's needed to get you back here," he tried to grin. There was no feedback from his face whether the attempt had succeeded.

"You're an idiot. Daniel, I need to talk to you and please listen carefully. It's getting harder to keep you awake."

At least she did not say 'alive', Daniel thought.

"We think to know what is happening to you, Daniel. Your friends from the boat said-"

"Ship" Daniel said.

"What? Oh, stop that. Your friends from the... ship said that you all were sprayed by something that made everyone sneeze. I assume you sealed yourself from it, because I found some of that stuff inside your Bactine parts, or what is remaining of them. It looks as if that stuff combined with the ocean water here is severely..."

"Daniel? Are you with us?"

"What? Oh. Yes." Daniel had not noticed that he had been unconscious again.

"Damn that stuff," Rhonda said. "I'll have to be quick. The stuff of the pirates and the ocean water degrades and finally dissolves the Bactine. We have to operate on you or you'll die. We can't take you back to the star base for a new Bactine transplant. It is too far away, and also it's never been done before. Daniel... stay with us... We are going to operate on you..."

-=-=-

There was pain. Not a deep and screaming pain, but a dull and throbbing one. It was everywhere. Daniel groaned softly and wished he hadn't. It triggered some more pain, in his throat.

"Mr. Zacharias? Are you awake? Try and move a finger, sir, if you can hear me. Don't try to speak, that will be too painful."

"Okay." Argh, she was right. He moved a finger.

"That is wonderful, Mr. Zacharias. Very good. Now, just relax. I am going to remove the covers and put more oil on your body, sir. It will help the recovery."

While Daniel still was working on the meaning of her words, he felt a rush of cool air flowing over him.

"Keep your eyes closed, sir, please. I will start with your face." Gentle, soft hands and fingers touched his face, and a warm slick sensation spread over his face. The dull pain seemed to yield to whatever it was the woman did.

Slowly and skilfully she worked his whole face, his shoulders and his chest, down to his abdomen. "I am now going to oil your private area, sir. Don't worry, I will be gentle."

Daniel, halfway dozing, wondered about her remark. His genitals had disappeared as he had been put inside the Bactine body and-... His mind froze for a moment as the feelings that rushed up to his brain told him something that could not be. Then another sensation, one he had not had for a long time, told him something else.

"Oh," the woman said. "Not to worry, sir, that happens at times.."

Daniel had an erection. The impossibility of this puzzled him so much that he did not even felt how the woman oiled his legs and covered him again. She said something.

"What? I beg your pardon... I did not hear you."

"You will be feeling better soon, sir. I'm taking my leave now, another nurse will come to sit with you."

She left, leaving Daniel in wonder. She returned again also, to oil him again.

"How are you feeling today, Mr. Zacharias?"

"Much better already, thank you, miss." Daniel could speak again without pain. Also most of the pain in his body had gone, save the odd tweak and throb.

"Very good, sir. I shall be oiling you again, and after that we will see if you can sit up." As she was oiling him, this time without the embarrassing situation, she told him that there had been people asking for him. "Alas, you are not allowed visitors yet, but they said they will return as soon as they may see you."

"I wonder, miss, if you can tell me what has happened to me?" Daniel asked. He had asked the other nurses too, but they had simply said they could not tell him.

"The medical team, assisted by the rather unladylike woman doctor have removed the material that was your other body, sir, and you have been restored in Glandrine. Do you know what Glandrine is?"

Glandrine. "Yes. Some people sort of explained it to me. Uhm. Thank you." Glandrine. "So they used Glandrine to fix me?"

"Yes, sir." She pulled the covers over him. "Now, do you think you want to try and sit up?"

Daniel was all in favour. He had been on his back forever, and bored out of his mind by the white ceiling. As she helped him up, his body screamed from all pores, but he was sitting. Such a relief.

"That was quite good, sir," the nurse smiled. She put a small mountain of pillows behind his back. "You can lean back now. Careful, sir."

Cold fire ran over his back for a moment as he sunk into the pillows, then it felt all good.

"You must be hungry, sir. I'll see that a tray of food is brought to you." Quickly she left the room.

Daniel looked at the dresser against the wall opposite him. Then he looked in the large mirror that hung over it. He scared himself. His face was black and blue, as if a herd of cows had taken a stroll over it. He pulled the cover down, to discover that his whole body was in that shape. And he stared at the penis.

A knock on the door made him cover himself again, quickly. A nurse carrying an insanely large tray came in. "Good afternoon, Mr. Zacharias. We heard you would fancy some food. Here is a starter for you. Do let us know if you are in need of something. You only have to pull the cord here by your bed."

He had the tray, which had short legs, on his bed in an instant. The nurse had left before he could respond. The smell of food made him forget that. He attacked it.

-=-=-

A gentle knock on the door. "Mr. Zacharias?" a nurse asked as she opened the door. "Ah... you are awake. Do you think you can see some visitors, sir?"

After three days of nurses, Daniel could certainly do with some other company. He was glad that most of the bruised colours on his new skin had gone away. He was a strange shade of blue still, but the nurses and the doctor had assured him that would settle itself once he was up and moving about.

To his surprise, Ulaman, Xandree and Draiky came in.

The three kept a respecting distance to him, something he did not understand, until Xandree explained that the nurses had told them to do so. "We should not chance to touch you, as your skin is healing."

They told him that the repairs on the Pricosine were going well. "In a few days we will be taking her out for a test again. And you are supposed to stay in bed for that, Daniel," said Ulaman.

"The doctor said you will be fine, Daniel. And you will be fit to sail with us again." Draiky sounded very happy about that, and Daniel was glad to hear it. He missed the ship already.

"The Seigner asked me to tell you he is very sorry about what happened, Daniel. He is very busy, so he could not come to visit you. He does regret that," Ulaman also told him.

Daniel told the visitors what he had learnt about his mishap. They all nodded, probably not understanding everything, but he felt that they had to know at least. They had done all they could to pull him through.

Their visit was short, but Daniel felt good about them having come to see him. It meant a lot to them.

"Next time I want to see you on the ship again, my friend," said Ulaman.

When he was alone again, Daniel felt better than he had done in days.

The next morning, a doctor came to see him and this time the man had time to talk to Daniel.

"I am sure you are wondering about many things, Mr. Zacharias." He got that right.

Daniel learnt that Rhonda and the local surgeons had worked on him for many hours. "The knowledge of the anatomy of a person that your doctor Flower possesses is amazing." In turn, they had surprised Rhonda by reengineering Daniel's genitals, something that the doctor was especially proud of.

"I am very grateful for that, doctor," Daniel said.

"It was our privilege to be of service, sir," the man brushed all praise away. "Most of your physique that is under the skin has remained intact, so your strength should be close to what it was. Doctor Flower also asked us to inform you that the air pockets in your limbs are still present, but you cannot use them to breathe through anymore. Concessions had to be made."

Daniel understood that. He was very sharply aware that he could have been dead without ever having know it. "Doctor... How was it possible that you could reach Rhon- doctor Flower so quickly?"

"She was on the planet, so that was easy. Do you have any more questions? You should rest now." The man got up.

Daniel's head was in turmoil. "She was still on the planet? Uhm, no, I'm... I have no more questions. Thank you, doctor."

The patient kept wondering about Rhonda for the rest of the day...

 

The next morning a nurse came in, holding a rattling box. "Mr. Zacharias, it sounds as if someone is trying to reach you."

"Thank you, nurse," Daniel said, and opened the device. The call was from Tomlin Barker.

"Daniel, man-" Tomlin fell silent as he saw Daniel's face. "Good grief, man, what happened to you?"

Daniel gave him the nutshell version of recent events, which was enough for Tomlin to drop what he was doing and rush over to the hospital.

"Holy fucking shit, Daniel," Tomlin said after fighting his way past a few stern nurses, "you look like crap!"

Daniel grinned. It was long ago that he had heard such language and it was surprisingly refreshing. "And a good day to you too, Seigner Barker," he joked. "Please don't make me laugh, that still hurts."

Tomlin pulled up a chair. "Now tell me again. You were not really making sense on the box. You said pirates?"

Daniel nodded and told him the longer version.

His friend stared at him. "And they brought you here for that kind of fun, right? Aren't you the lucky one." Tomlin shook his head. "And when are you leaving?"

Daniel shrugged carefully. "I don't know. They have not told me when I am released from this place. I'd love to get out on the ship again, but I know it's not time for me yet."

"The ship." Tomlin got to his feet and paced the room while keeping his eyes on Daniel. "The ship? You got all ripped up, wrapped up in that Glandrine stuff they have here, you're obviously still in plenty of pain, and you want to get your hiney back on that boat?" He stopped his pacing. "Are you out of your bloody mind? If it were up to me I'd get the next carriage to Embarcado and hightail it out of here."

"Perhaps. But it is not up to you, Tomlin." Daniel grimaced as he reached for his glass of water. "It's up to me, and I want to get back to the ship."

Tomlin grinned and calmed down. The talk became more peaceful. When he had to leave again, he said: "Let me know when you get home again, Daniel. I'll come and pick you up. You should meet my family."

Daniel promised he would to that and thanked his old friend for coming by. He really was pleased with the visit.

Two days of getting up and exercising later the nurses told him that he was declared well and fit, and that by the afternoon he was allowed to return home. After lunch, someone delivered a package, which turned out to be a brand new set of clothes. The card attached stated that it was a gift from Seigner Clelem Dandra ko Galem. He got dressed, surprised about the gift as well as his, once again, new body. He did not understand why someone went through such effort to keep him alive.

There was a modest knock on the door.

"Please come in."

Daniel almost fell back on the bed when he saw Gaguran Slindris enter. "Mr. Zacharias. Ah. I see the attire that the Seigner sent over is satisfactory. He has asked me to see to it that you reach your home in safety. Are you ready to leave?"

Daniel had nothing to take along but his ring and his hydger. The things he had been wearing when the problems began had been torn from him in the hospital. "I am ready, sir. And I do appreciate the concern from the Seigner and you."

"The Seigner was very worried, Mr. Zacharias."

That statement told Daniel something.

As he followed Gaguran out the room, there were several of the nurses waiting in the hall. They had been taking care of him and wished him all the best in regaining his health again. Daniel thanked them and promised to look after himself.

Outside, a carriage was already waiting, so the two men could get in and ride off quickly. The journey to Daniel's building passed mostly in silence, as Gaguran did not respond to most of Daniel's remarks. If he did it was with a nod or a single word.

"Do take care, Mr. Zacharias." The mouse said it as a formality, not as something he had actually put his heart in.

Daniel nodded and then watched the carriage roll off. He went into his apartment, sat on a chair and stared out the window. He wondered where Rhonda was. And why she had left without saying goodbye.