Claxton 2: The Curse of Poseidon

Chapter 22: Tracey?

        Back at Coutarine Island, Alice and her family members were stuck on it for the night. Even though they had their boat back, like the ocean around the island Tracey was on, it was way too rough for sailing or boating, unless you were a mermaid, merman, or Merfairy. At least the family came prepared in case they were ever stranded. They gave the magical beings their space because they knew they needed to take care of Ash. After a few stable hours, he started slipping in and out of consciousness again. There definitely was something more than a concussion going on with him. Dr. Snugglekins found that out. Another arrow of guilt stabbed Makenna's heart. Why did she let the moon turn her into a monster like this? How would she explain to Merlin that Tracey had sailed beyond the reef again? Why was it always her fault? She needed a change – a metamorphosis that would turn her into a better person, and a metamorphosis that would help her feel like she deserved the Merfairy transformation. Right now, she didn't think she did.

The orange rays of sunset washed over Coutarine Island, and a warm breeze tickled the treetops. Makenna Delling felt mighty comfortable when she stepped back into Merlin's camp without any humans following her. It luckily hadn't been destroyed during the storm, but there were a few branches and leaves in the sand. Dr. Snugglekins, Merlin, and Selene helped Ash back over to the hammock in the shade where Harmony waited. She looked very upset that she had failed to keep him still. The three adults gently set Ash down in the hammock, and Dr. Snugglekins immediately got to work on him. Selene tossed a blanket over him and sat down in a chair on his right side.

She took his hand and patted it, "You're doing great, Ash." Makenna almost didn't want to watch. The guilt was killing her. Just how badly hurt was Ash? That was up to Dr. Snugglekins.

He took the young man's shoulder and gave it a small shake, "Ash, open your eyes for me." Ash didn't. He was too tired to open his eyes. Dr. Snugglekins continued to shake his shoulder, "Ash. Ash, can you squeeze your master's fingers for me?" He grew worried when Ash didn't respond. He didn't squeeze Selene's fingers. The doctor tried again, "Squeeze your master's fingers for me, kid." This time around Ash did respond. His squeeze was weak, but it was still a squeeze. Selene and Dr. Snugglekins sighed a breath of relief when he did this. "Good boy," said Dr. Snugglekins, "Can you open your eyes for me now?" Ash still didn't. He could not open his eyes no matter how hard he tried. Dr. Snugglekins finally was given no other choice. He used his fingers to pull up Ash's eyelids and shone a penlight in his pupils, "Yep, he definitely has a concussion. His pupils are dilated." Makenna lightly screamed and started to chew on her nails which changed from blue to black. Black was a sign of fear. Dr. Snugglekins let Ash's eyelids go and next placed his palm to his forehead, "He has a bit of a temperature too. I don't think the concussion is causing it though."

"Then what is?" Selene nervously asked. She moved her hand up to Ash's arm and comfortably rubbed it.

Dr. Snugglekins removed his hand and explained in a calm voice, "It looks to me he's used a lot of magic today. He's gone into magetical shock."

"Magetical shock?!" Makenna gasped. This happened to Tracey too. Magetical shock happened when a fairy used up a lot of magic. Magic was a lot like blood. A fairy died if they lost too much of it. Loss of magic came from many different scenarios: wounds, spells, and even when they performed a spell themselves. Fairies had to be very careful about it – magetical shock could happen at any time. It was most common in underage fairies though because they couldn't use as much magic as adult fairies. For the most part though, the disease could be treated without going to the hospital – fairies had the technology to cure it. However, the technology was required to be provided by a doctor. Now two of Makenna's friends had gone into magetical shock. Was she next? Just the thought of that horrified her even more.

Dr. Snugglekins rubbed his nose and faced Selene and Merlin, explaining, "This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to put him on artificial magic for the night so his magic level can return to base level and clean the wound on his head. In the morning, I'll come back and see how he did during the night. Does that sound good?"