CHAPTER SIX
Castor
FORTY-TWO DAYS LEFT
I woke screaming, a stabbing pain playing connect-the-dots with my nervous system. The helical parasite traveled through my body. Heavy curtains blocked out most of the sun, the blue current under my skin the only peep of light in my dim bedroom.
Helical disease.
There was no denying it.
‘Aw, fu–’ I clasped my hand over my mouth.
Light weaved through my body. How could something so beautiful feel like death?
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t hear the knock or the soft creak of the door as the nurse arrived.
Our eyes met and his jaw dropped. The disease crackled up my neck, making its presence undeniable.
‘Please.’ I pulled the covers around me. What was the nurse’s name again? Jim? George? No. ‘Jorge! Jorge, my man – don’t say anyth–’
‘Mr Fox!’ my man, Jorge, called out. ‘Someone! Help!’
I groaned, not only in pain but at the sound of my family descending on me.
It was almost comedic. First, Grandfather stopped in the doorway, his face falling, wrinkles deepening.
Next, Jacinta nearly crashed into him, and then Gemma.
The three of them pressed side by side just beyond the threshold of my room.
I straightened, unsure of what to do next.
‘You could at least give me a minute to get dressed.’ I tried to cut the palpable tension with humor, but no one budged.
Grandfather’s eyes unfocused, soft flashes of blue reflecting in his reading glasses.
Jacinta stifled a sob. Eventually Gemma moved – hesitant at first – then, in a blink, she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me.
The affection shocked me. I couldn’t remember the last time we hugged, but I sank into it.
Jacinta joined, pushing my hair out of my eyes, while Grandfather shouted orders to the nurse.
‘Your entire body is warm,’ Jacinta said, pressing the back of her hand to my forehead. ‘The heat is coming off you in waves.’
‘I’m fine. It doesn’t –’ I flinched before the next word came out, doubling over as the disease flared. I wheezed. ‘Maybe it hurts a little.’
‘A little?’ said Gemma. ‘You need to take this seriously for once.’
‘I always take things seriously,’ I countered. It was a lie.
Jacinta fumbled with her solisPhone, navigating through her apps to FaceStream. Within a few rings, we were staring down at someone nearly identical to me, just years older.
‘Pop?’
The emotions hit me hard, a sucker punch to the gut.
Pop never answered – at least, not for me.
My parents never married, and Pop never stayed still long enough for me to ever consider staying with him.
He traveled constantly for his work in ocean sciences, always in a different time zone.
Texts and voice notes were easier, but not the same.
I’d gotten used to it. Used to not seeing the man I idolized.
Used to not spotting him in the crowd at competitions – the man who taught me how to surf.
He was the reason Jaiden and I met – he was the one who’d take me down the coastline to catch waves away from Northend’s beaches and Jacinta’s social circles.
Down there, the water was full of surfers with secondhand boards and skin burned with sun scars, light brown patches freckled across their bodies.
People who couldn’t afford wetsuits or high SPF.
It didn’t take long for Jacinta to figure it out, but it didn’t matter.
Pop moved on to the next city before she could raise her voice.
The last time I’d stared at Pop was just like this, via FaceStream after high school graduation three months ago.
Samuel Castillo smiled through the screen – until he saw the helical disease crackling beneath my skin.
His eyes darted over me, his grin faltering.
His gaze flicked to my mom, and he and Jacinta shared an expression that was far too easy to read.
I rolled my eyes. ‘You are all acting like I’m dying. It’s not degenerative, not terminal. It just hurts.’
‘Jorge! Where is that pain medication?’ Grandfather shouted down the hall. I’d almost forgotten he was there. He was standing apart from the rest of us, pacing, refusing to meet my eyes and pointedly ignoring Pop on the holoscreen. Great. This was becoming a memorable family reunion.
‘How are you feeling, Cas?’ Pop asked. ‘You look …’
Like a parasitic disease had awoken inside me and latched on to my nervous system? ‘I’m fine. Really. All I need is to get back in the water. How about you? Did you go to Salina Cruz over the weekend?’
A sly smile crossed his face. ‘I got in a few waves before flying into Puerto Vallarta.’
I pushed through the next jolt of pain with a steel grin.
As much as Jacinta hated how surfing pulled me away from family obligations, it was how she and Pop had met – Pop teaching classes to the spoiled teens of Crestview during his days off from his job at the MidCity Aquarium.
The money from those lessons had put him through night school.
I always wondered if that was why she pushed me away from the sport – a constant reminder of Pop.
‘Do you think you could …’ I cleared my throat. ‘Maybe you could swing by next month for the AB Cup? It’d be cool if you made it.’
I choked up a little, a mix of the attention and the pain.
Like I said, I wasn’t dying, but being surrounded by everyone, with Pop’s face hovering on the holoscreen, it’d been a while since I’d been in a room with this many feelings.
My family wasn’t the hugs-and-kisses type.
We were more the flash-a-black-card-buy-a-car-to-say-I-love-you type.
‘That’s a big event for you, isn’t it? I’m a little tied up, though. Unless you need me there?’ His gaze flitted between Jacinta and Grandfather. Grandfather huffed.
I slumped in bed. I didn’t want Pop to come because I’d asked. I wanted him to want to be there. I wanted him to come to the Surf Cup because he wanted to see his son qualify for the Challenger Series.
‘Nah, I’m good.’
‘Damn right you are. You’ll place first with ease.
’ Pop winked in Jacinta’s direction, and she walked over to the draped windows, taking away Pop’s presence without a backward glance.
A flash of blue at my fingertips made me stiffen, and Grandfather stormed from the room, cursing more than I’d heard from the old man in a long while.
‘I’m OK!’ I yelled after him.
‘No, you’re not. You shouldn’t be going through this.
’ Gemma squeezed my hand. ‘It looked like we were close to putting helical disease behind us. New cases were down. We thought it was dying out until a few months ago. Now cases are multiplying. And to top everything off, you have it? How is this possible, with everything our family’s done?
We were untouched. It almost felt by design. ’
I caught one tear falling as she turned her back. At this rate, the Foxes were primed to receive a Best Ensemble Performance award if our lives ever became a reality show.
‘It really isn’t that serious,’ I muttered. ‘Helical disease isn’t going to kill me. This is why I didn’t want to mention it. You’re all overreacting. Grandfather will probably try to sue the sun.’
‘Calm down. I wouldn’t sue. Curse it, maybe.
’ Grandfather had returned with the nurse – my man, Jorge – trailing behind, syringe in hand.
‘You’re right. We’re overreacting. Our name doesn’t make us immune to disease.
It could be lying dormant inside any one of us.
But we’re Foxes. We’re prepared for this. ’
Jorge’s cold hand touched my arm, and I tried to relax as he injected a dose of pain medication directly into my bloodstream. Coolness rivered through my veins, but the ache of the blue current still hovered beneath my skin. I clenched my fist.
‘What is that? Morphine?’
‘That isn’t strong enough,’ said Jorge. ‘It’s hydromorphone.’
I paled. The addiction rates for hydromorphone were high.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Grandfather. ‘You won’t need it for long.’ He frowned. ‘I do wonder what brought this on now. Was it your crash?’
I didn’t answer. The disease was what caused the crash.
‘I can still feel the pain.’ I said, diverting the topic.
‘Helical disease isn’t like other pain you’ve experienced.
’ Grandfather squeezed my shoulder. ‘Even our best medicines can’t fully take it away.
It’s obvious you’re predisposed to experience this disease more acutely than others.
We need to start the Freedom System process.
You have too much to offer this world to carry this disease – too much potential.
You’ll need to give it away. And quickly. ’
I knew the purpose of the Freedom System. I’d seen its success, but I’d never imagined how excruciating the pain was for those without the tolerance.
‘I agree with Grandfather. We need to start the process now,’ said Gemma. ‘I’ll put a call into the office and get the paperwork started. You can be my first patient for the new Pain Giver Comfort program I developed. Meditation, stretches, clean diets, all-natural brews.’
‘That sounds like more of that wet flower tea you brought by earlier.’ I eyed the cup on my nightstand.
Grandfather clapped his hands together. ‘Perfect. Let’s reach out to Dr Janus.
We’ll handle this quietly, so that means no sharing this with your friends.
After, we can consider a discreet announcement.
Or not,’ he added quickly, sensing I was ready to protest. ‘Get some rest, grandson,’ he directed, and left the room.
Jacinta walked over, her solisPhone now dark. ‘If you’re going to make it to the Surf Cup, you need to let the nurse tend to you until we find you a match. Unfortunately, you have the rarest blood type, so it’ll likely take a few days.’