Page 40 of Away in a Tentacle Lair
I'm not sure where I am, but I stop fighting the hands that are trying to stop me from taking off the mask.
Why would I need a mask if I'm not underwater?
“Good boy, Kai. Relax.” It’s Leo’s voice so I let the hands guide my arms down to the bed.
I'm in bed. I run my hands across the cotton sheets and frown.
“You're in the hospital, Kai; you were shot,” Dad mutters from somewhere close by. “We're going to leave you here for as long as possible, but we must get you out before sunset.”
“Right, sunset.” Leo's shaky voice reluctantly agrees.
I'm sure it's not a problem. They can move my arm-length body into a bucket of water, and no one would bat an eye. Leo would be surprised to see how small I can squeeze when needed.
“Kai, can you open your eyes, please?” Leo sounds more broken by the minute, and I can't bear it.
“L…”
“That's it, wake up; I know you can do it.”
Was there ever any doubt?
I try my eyes again, and the dark images are still there. I blink rapidly and slowly, and the images clear into faces—not just Dad and Leo, but also Alice and Nicholas. I'm sure everyone else is here, too, just further back.
“How soon is night?” They all need to get home.
“Kai. You were shot. They had to operate.” Leo squeezes my hand. “They had to remove your spleen.”
“Oh.” That would be the organ that made it possible to hold my breath for longer than most people. “Well…” it's better to be alive, but my throat constricts before the words get out.
“It's time to go, Kai.” Dad starts disconnecting cables from me while I gawp like a fish. Leo offers me his hands, which I take, trying to find a smile. I've clearly misunderstood what he's doing as my legs are swung around. Pain is… well, it's there, but it's not registering as pain. Whatever painkillers are flowing through my body are working.
“Ow it…” It hurts but doesn't hurt; it just feels like it should.
“Just let us do all the hard work.” Frank puts my feet on the floor, but I don't even feel anything under my feet.
“Oh dear,” I giggle. “This isn't real.”
It can't be real when my insides are on fire, burning with a painless agony. The pain is there, but my mind is refusing to accept it. It gets better after I'm manhandled into a wheelchair and covered in a blanket. It's getting late; at some point, half my family will turn into octopus, and the other half will have to carry us out.
On the way out, I do a lot of long blinking, and I lose time with every blink. Leo's hand stays firmly in mine, the one constant in the journey. The wheelchair becomes the car, and the car becomes Leo's arms.
We’re home, but no one is relaxing. It will be fine when I can shift and sleep in my tank.
Just as I think I might make it to the safety of my night tank, there's a booming knock on the door. Red and blue lights swirl through the window, identifying the callers as the police.
“Go,” Dad orders, “don't let them find him.”
Only Granddad's direct dependents stay with me and Leo, heading down rather than up.
We have more time going this way. The police won't start the search in the basement. They were searching for me. Am I that important?
Nicholas leads the way through the secret doorway and into the cave.
“Welcome to tentacle lair,” Nicholas introduces the sandy bay. “This is where our ancestors smuggled our bounty onto the land.”
“Wait, so you are pirates?” Leo chuckles, the sounds vibrating through my body. “Not mafia?”
“Mafia is a word that describes a family that commits crimes. Our only crime is being related to men who didn't care about the sea.” Frank defends us valiantly.
