Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BLAKE
Seeing Morgan half shifted in a ditch was probably the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen. Not just because he was partially shifted, but because he was one of my best friends. Losing him would be like losing a limb.
The first thing we learned when we began our training to go on land was how to quickly shed our clothes.
A hesitation can cost a triton part or all of their tail.
We had heard stories and seen pictures of our kind shifting through clothing, but seeing it up close was so much worse than anything I'd seen before.
Morgan's pants were part of his tail now. The connective tissue had forced its way through to reach the other side. It was a traumatic injury that was going to need surgery and possibly amputation.
My own tail hurt thinking about the pain he had felt before passing out. I'd gotten my tail stuck in a door once and almost lost my lunch.
With Morgan between us, it took us just under five minutes to travel the twenty miles to the city entrance. We passed through the wards and swam down into the city.
The city was part of the ninety-five percent of the ocean floor that had never been explored. Seeing the ocean on a map or globe didn't do its vastness any justice. People forgot that land only made up twenty-nine percent of the Earth's surface.
Our home was essentially a massive cavern that was approximately one hundred square miles. Stone buildings and houses spread across the seafloor and pockets of bioluminescence gave the city light.
In the center was the castle built from gold, which was the tallest building with spires that glistened like diamonds.
The hospital was near the other side of the city, close to the entrance for the land facility. The city was a lot like a regular land city except there were no cars and the entire cavern could be utilized.
We swam into the hospital and the front desk clerk took one look at Morgan and yelled for the doctors. We placed him on a gurney and they floated him back to a room with grim expressions.
The protocol was to go to the city's hospital first and, if needed, he'd be transported to the land facility where a few trusted human doctors worked along-side our kind.
I sat down, exhausted from swimming so fast while carrying close to two hundred pounds of dead weight.
"He might lose his fin." I put my head back against the rock wall and sighed, sending bubbles up in front of me. "He might even lose his legs."
"Don't think like that." Jax was swimming back and forth and his shoulders were drawn in from worry.
"I'm being realistic." I saw what being overly optimistic did to him when his mom got sick and then again with his sister. It's like he ignored the cold hard truth in favor of miracles and then the world came crashing down on him.
A nurse came out with a grim expression. "We're transferring him to the land facility for surgery as soon as transport is available. They're better equipped to deal with this injury. You did all the right things to prevent him from losing his tail completely."
"We can take him." Jax started swimming toward the doors and the nurse rushed in front of him.
"He's in bad shape and he wouldn't want you to see him like that, I'm sure. I suggest you boys go home and get some rest. We contacted your father and he will meet us there." She swam through the doors and left Jax staring after her.
I swam to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off and swam to the exit without a word. As soon as we were out, Bubba came from nearby and nuzzled up to Jax. He must have sensed Jax's anxiety.
I looked around for Cecilia and didn't see her anywhere. I clicked a few times to call her and waited. She was probably sleeping at home. I smiled as I spotted her darting down the path toward me.
She slammed into me and we tumbled until I smacked into the side of a building. I hugged her to me. "Cecilia, I've told you a million times to slow down."
She nuzzled against me and then made a whimpering noise as Jax and Bubba approached. Cecilia had been around Bubba plenty of times, but like any seal, she was leery of whether she would be a meal.
"Hey girl." Jax opened his arms and she swam to him.
She was on the smaller side, but that's what I loved most about her. She was small but mighty. Never underestimate a seal. One bite can cause a world of damage to an unsuspecting threat.
"I wish she'd come stay with us, but my parents don't want to risk it with the humans." I petted her between her eyes and they shut in bliss.
"They're safer out here... at least they were until the oil spill." Jax clenched his fists. "We didn't even get to make the bastard suffer."
"Maybe it's for the best that things worked out the way they did." I looked up toward the exit.
"You should go check on Riley. I'll go with Morgan." Jax gave Bubba a quick pat and he swam off. "We need to find out why he crashed."
I nodded and we hugged before I swam toward land.