The Maidening Ceremony

Chapter Seventeen - Scene 1

           

Joseph directed me to a space in the border which had been used more often by the hunters, so it was easier for us to pass through.  It took a little longer to travel there through the open sea, but he knew he did not have the strength to help get us through the border where we left.  Once inside, I laid him on a flat rock at the entrance of an empty cave and tore across the Community to find Dr. Damien.

Merpeople stared as I sped past, but no one stopped me or offered to help.  When I reached Dr. Damien's cave, he was not there, only Viola was.

"So, Millicent, word has gotten out.  You disrespected the Elders and choose to leave the Council."

"I do not have time for this.  I need the doctor right away."

"Just like you needed information on Finley?  Did you find him?"

"Joseph is dying!  He was attacked by a shark and he is bleeding to death.  I need the doctor now!"

"Dr. Damien is attending another patient right now.  I will help Joseph."

"Not you."

"My training is complete."

"But you do not care."

"What difference does it make if I care or not?  I am competent.  And right now, I am the only option.  Where is Joseph?"

"I will take you to him."

She followed me to the edge of the Community, where I had left him, making snide comments along the way.  "I see you have lost your wrap.  No wonder you and Arilya get along so well, you are both red-tailed freaks.  You are definitely soft, like her.  All this talk about caring.  Ugh.  I could vomit."

I let her talk, my brain was too busy to register what she was saying worrying over Joseph and feeling guilty I had not found Finley for Arilya.

We reached the cave, Joseph was still there, but his eyes were closed and his hands had fallen to his sides, no longer clutching the wound.  My drape was seeped in blood and I feared the worst.

Viola went straight to work.  She undid the wrap and examined the wound, then applied fresh seaweed to bandage it.  She worked quickly, very efficiently, and when she was done she instructed me to grab hold of his tail.  "We need to get him to the patient caves.  I need to stitch the wound and cannot do it here.  He did not lose any organs, so as long as I can ensure he does not lose any more blood, he will be fine."

I did as I was told and together we struggled to swim him back to the doctors' caves.  More staring as we passed and more commentary.  The Community did not seem bothered by the fact that Joseph was severely injured, but they found a lot to say about me.

"Is her tail red?"

"Have you ever seen her without a drape?  Who knew she was hiding that?"

"It does not surprise me.  I always said she was strange."

"Another red tail?  Is this becoming an epidemic?"

"Maybe it is just blood."

And so on, and so on.  But I did not care.  Joseph's life was more important than being teased or bullied, so I spent all of my energy getting him to safety.

We finally made it and Viola guided us to a bed of kelp in the center of the cave.  Gently, we laid him down and she got back to work, removing the seaweed bandages and preparing a bone needle with black hair to close the wound.  I floated near Joseph's head, holding his hand and whispering that everything would be okay.

"Done!" Viola said.  Looking down, I saw she had finished the stitches and covered the area in more strips of seaweed.  "He should be fine, but it may be a while before he wakes up.  I will go and inform the Council of his condition."

"Were they worried about him?"

"What do you mean?"

"When they realized he was gone – that he had left the Community."

"I do not think anyone noticed."

Of course they did not.  When will I learn?

Viola left, I stayed by Joseph's side.  He had done an amazing thing for me and he had gotten hurt.  I felt terrible, but also a little relieved.  I had let myself believe for so long that because the merpeople could not feel love they were automatically bad.  But that was a ridiculous way of thinking.  Even Viola, with her snarky comments and selfish attitude had the ability to heal, the desire to help (even if she did not call it that).

"Mills!" Arilya swam into the cave, looking frantic.  "Is it Finley?  Is he okay?"  She rushed to the bed, but looking down and seeing Joseph instead of Finley, she lost it.  She slumped onto the floor, head curled into her tail, sobbing.  "I thought... Everyone said you brought an injured merman here."

I left Joseph's side, swimming around the bed to comfort her.  " I am sorry.  We tried to find him, but we were attacked.  Joseph was bitten, I had to bring him back."  I put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into me, still sobbing.

"I understand."

I rocked her gently, the way my mother had when I was a young girl, and eventually her sobs and hiccups died down.

"I am so worried about him."

"I know you are.  But he is strong, and a good hunter.  We have to hope for the best."

She nodded meekly. "Who is that?" pointing to Joseph. "Is he an Elder?"

"Yes. Joseph. He went with me; he offered to help me find Finley."

           

"That was nice of him.  I hope he is going to be okay."

"So do I."

"They announced the Ceremony.  It is going to happen very soon.  They said they would send a messenger around when it was time for the merphen to get ready.  I do not want to, Mills.  What if they pair me with someone other than Finley?  What if Finley does not make it back?"

"Shh.  Shhh.  Calm down, calm down.  There is no use worrying over it right now.  They may have paired you with Finley.  I did my best to convince them to pair the other merphen in your class with each other so only you and Finley were left.  Let us hope it worked."

Arilya shook her head, but said nothing, and a few minutes later, Dr. Damien swam in.  "Viola told me we had another patient.  Elder Joseph, is it?  How was he injured?"

"We left the Community to search for one of the merphen in the Maidening Class and a shark attacked us.  Joseph diverted it away from me and it got a piece of him."

"What happened to the shark?" Arilya asked.

"I killed him."

"What!"

"Joseph gave me a spear to protect myself with.  I killed the shark with it when Joseph lost his weapon."

"How did you get back here?" Dr. Damien asked, glancing at my tail.  He was polite enough not to mention its color, but I knew what he was thinking, How did that red tail not attract a swarm of sharks to you when you were swimming back?

"Honestly, I do not know, but nothing approached or attached us as we swam back."

"You are very lucky."  Dr. Damien lifted the corner of the seaweed patch on Joseph's stomach.  "It looks like Viola did an excellent job with the stitches."  He placed a new patch and felt Joseph's wrist.  "His pulse is very strong.  You got him back in time."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Arilya, you may want to go into the next cave over.  There is a patient there who has been asking for you."

"What?!  Who?  Is it Finley?  What happened to him?"

"Go ahead and ask him yourself."

But Arilya was gone beforethe doctor could finish speaking, fleeing to the next cave as fast as her tailwould carry her there.