May I Enjoy My Life Entry 22

Entry 27 Day 58

Being the most popular man on the planet should come with some perks, right? I mean, I guess we get the swanky new executive suite to stay in, but come on! I was hoping that my newfound status as the world’s most wanted man would mean that I got like, free drinks and stuff. Well, I suppose I could get free drinks, but the getting of them would be…problematic. 

So far, this has just been a colossal headache. 

After Sussurro and I moved in, it was back to the hospital. We had two new guards as well, both of whom were familiar faces. 

“Hi hi!” the new guard said as she bounced into the hallway. She had blond hair and bunny ears, along with a combat vest and black Rhodes Island fatigues, with a heavy crossbow slung on her back and a sword at her hip. “I’m Kroos! Me and the captain are your new bodyguards, Mr. Bones!” 

“Sergeant Fang, of Combat Operations,” the blue-haired horse girl said, shooting Kroos an annoyed look. “I’m just a non-com, not an officer.” She was more heavily armored than Kroos, and interestingly, didn’t have a spear, similarly boasting a crossbow and sword, though she also had a shield slung on her back. Her hair was long and her face more mature, so this had to be Fang the Fire Sharpened to go with Kroos the Keen Glint. 

“Well, you’ll always be the Captain to me!” Kroos said cheerily. “Right then, that’s introductions out of the way. We’ll be guarding you so poor Exusia and Texas can have a wee break!”

“Correct, Beagle and Lava will also be taking shifts. You’ll have protection around the clock,” Fang agreed. 

“Pleasure to meet you,” I said, shaking both their hands. Kroos and Sussurro actually hugged, chatting about various times they’d teamed up in the past. “I met Lava’s sister in Leithanian, actually.”

“Yes, she mentioned that. I miss Hibiscus, we trained together back when we were fresh-faced recruits,” Fang said with a nod. “For the most part, just ignore us, Dr. Bones. We’re here to keep you safe, so just pretend we’re furniture.”

“I don’t think James is capable of that, Wanda,” Sussurro said with a sad smile, giving Fang a hug in turn. “He’s going to start treating you like family if I know him.”

“Well, I mean, we’re going to be around together a lot, and I get the feeling they ain’t gonna let me socialize much, so…guess I sort of want to be friends?” I said, giving Fang and Kroos an awkward smile. 

“That’s perfect! We can be proper mates,” Kroos said with a laugh. “I’m Tony, by the way, short for Antonia. Last name is Whitlock, actually, not Kroos.”

“Really? Where’s Kroos come from then?” I asked curiously

She leaned in and said in a stage whisper, “It’s because I’m mad for football. Adolf Kroos is one of the best players of the game, ever! I had a massive crush on him when I joined, you know, so they decided that was my name!” 

“I’m Wanda Iskrańska,” Fang admitted, looking mildly uncomfortable. “No one calls me that anymore.”

“We call her Fang because her bark is worse than her bite, but her bite’s plenty fierce!” Kroos said, reaching up to pull Fang’s mouth into a grin.

“Oh stop that,” Fang said, batting Kroos away, but smiling fondly. 

I just hoped this meant that Beagle wasn’t KIA like the Arknights community had worried about. Seemed like she was still alive here, at least. 

“You don’t worry your head about a thing, Dr. Sussurro,” Kroos said, nodding soberly. “We’ll keep your man out of trouble, and no mistake.” She eyed me, her eyes opening a fraction from their usual squint, and her tone turning sober. “We’ve heard what you can do, Sir. It’s worth more than our lives to keep you safe. So friends we may become, but understand why we’re here.”

“Hopefully, things will stay safe here on the Island. But push comes to shove, you’re the priority,” Fang told me. 

I swallowed, feeling slightly ill. “Is it…is it really that bad?”

“Not currently, no. But it’s already common knowledge that you have the cure for oripathy. I heard you ran into an Emperor’s Blade in Ursus. We have to prepare for the idea that another, or a similar force, could threaten you. Even here,” Fang said, and Kroos nodded grimly. 

“Oh, and no curing us. You try that, and I have Exusiai’s permission to shoot you in the behind!” Kroos said brightly. “She says it’s highly motivating to you.”

“I don’t just try and cure everyone I see,” I grumbled.

“That’s not what I heard,” Fang said, eyeing me sharply. “I heard you cured the first sick kid you met, gave yourself stage 2, then immediately tried to cure Dr. Sussuro and only stopped because Dr. Gavial threatened to suplex you through a table.”

“I, what!? That’s not- where did you even HEAR that?!” I sputtered, but Kroos was nodding. 

“Then you cured Texas, as soon as you heard she’d contracted oripathy, from saving your life by dueling the Black Queen. And when you heard that Sussurro’s dear friend Ying was dying, you instantly cured her, too.”

“I, er, well…” I coughed and noted that Sussurro was blushing as well. 

“It’s alright, love!” Kroos said, patting Sussurro on the back. “We’ll keep him safe! And you from doing anything too daft, either.”

“We’re both fully trained doctors, thank you,” Sussurro huffed, though she was still blushing. 

“Mmm, I think you’re letting your heart gallop away with your brains again, just like it did for Steward and Chiave! Though honestly, I didn’t think you’d find one taller than Chiave. Are you really an alien, Bones? You don’t look like one. I’d thought they’d be little green men…”

“Kroos, we were told NOT to probe for ‘weird alien knowledge’ and that if we heard any we’d have to file a report! Are you trying to give us more work!?” Fang spluttered.

“Right, sorry! Don’t know where my mind’s been! Consider these lips sealed! Let’s get you to work, Bones. Need to burn off that oripathy somehow!” 

Great. That secret was out too. Though with chatterboxes like Kroos around I don’t see how anyone could complain that I was a security risk. 

We got to the hospital and started on rounds, and I glanced at Sussurro as we examined charts to pick out who I was healing today. “You dated Chiave?”

She blushed and glanced up at me. “Look, I was young, just arrived at Rhodes Island. And here’s this tall, handsome vulpo from my homeland who tries to pick me up! I was head over heels for him for a very brief time, until that mascalzone left on a mission for two weeks and came back with a new girlfriend!” 

She took a deep breath. “It…it took me years to get over that one. Steward lasted much longer. Almost a year. But…but I could see he had a thing for Merry. And, well…I just…I realized I wasn’t in love with him, just…codependent. Myrtle had set us up, and, well…I wanted a boyfriend, badly.”

Murderous rage lanced through me. I was still stuck on Chiave two-timing Sussurro. “That mother fucker.”

“James, it’s been years. I just…I have a tendency to jump into these things too quickly,” Sussurro admitted. “And, well, you saving me…I don’t quite believe in love at first sight, but from the moment I met you, I knew you were a man who would give everything to help others. I just…I hoped you’d be loyal, too. And I think you will be.”

“I’ve never cheated on anyone, though I have had people cheat on me,” I admitted. “Mostly though…uh, you know my Adhaerente pede oris?”

She nodded, and I sighed. “Well…let’s just say I’ve blabbed a few things that really soured relationships. I… I think I’m getting better, but…”

Shit, was there some dark secret about Sussurro that if I told it, it would ruin everything forever?

Turns out, there was a dark secret, though the jury is still out on that “ruin everything forever.” Shit. 

Since curing Rope, or well, at least stabilizing her, I’d needed Sussurro to be my hands, and occasionally, my eye. I couldn’t make incisions anymore or perform any kind of surgery. My right hand wasn’t good for much; I couldn’t even wipe my ass with it anymore, having lost basically all manual dexterity and gaining heavy tremors. I kept dropping my fork at meals, and was having to learn how to do everything from eat to write with my left hand. Fortunately, as a doctor, I’m expected to have terrible handwriting anyway, and at least now I have an excuse. 

The real kicker was the lack of depth perception. I kept running into things and missing when I reached for stuff. Despite my levels continuing to drop, there was no sign of my vision returning or the tremors improving. I’d talked with Sussuro about it, and she’d tried to heal me. Unfortunately…I can’t use my arts on myself. No idea why, most people can, but I can’t. Sussuro’s arts are pretty good, but there’s little that they could do for permanent oripathy injury like this. 

So, Sussurro cut, and I healed. We started in the ER and fixed up broken bones, lacerations, burns, you name it. Rhodes Island is a city, but it’s also a major industrial hub. There weren’t any combat casualties, but when you have thousands of workers around heavy machinery, occasional accidents happen. Not to mention the normal, everyday stuff. There was one really stupid one, though.

“Let me get this straight,” I said to the two idiots lying in beds next to one another. “You both got major contusions on your heads, and mild concussions…from office chair racing?”

“Well, I had to defend my title,” Logos said, doing his best to look serious, but mostly looking like a goddamn idiot. “We may have gotten a little…over enthusiastic.”

“Look, he started it!” Surtr said, pointing at Logos. “He used his arts first!” 

“How could you accuse me of such a thing! Such is strictly prohibited by the rules! No, Surtr, you are the one who-”

“Hey, guess what? I don’t care. Haven’t you idiots heard of OSHA?” I demanded. 

They both blinked at me stupidly. Partly because I’d just blurted weird alien knowledge again, partly from those concussions. 

“Occupational Safety and Health Administration? No? Ugh, if there isn’t a version of OSHA here, I’m talking to Kal and Ami about setting one up,” I grumbled. 

“No need, this is not the first time these idiots have been caught doing this. Or injured,” Sussurro said grimly from where she was examining Mudrock, who didn’t have a contusion or concussion, it would turn out. Probably because her head is so damn hard. Or because she was wearing a helmet. Apparently, she’d been racing in full armor. 

I turned back to them. “I’m tempted to just let you suffer.”

“Such would be the wages of our own folly,” Logos sighed. 

“Aw, come on, Bones! It was, uh, training! And team building!” Surtr said, and batted her eyelashes at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but this is the one time I’m healing office chair-related shenanigans.”

I healed the two morons and sent them on their way. Though I couldn’t help grinning as they left. 

“What are you smiling about? Please tell me you’re not thinking of joining those stupid races. We get at least one injury a month from them,” Sussuro said with a sigh. 

“Huh? Oh, no. There’s just a lot of stupid memes about Logos being the office chair racing champion that I guess are factually true,” I mused. “Does Doktah ever participate?”

Sussurro rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. There’s also a betting pool. It’s a serious problem in my opinion, but apparently it ‘boosts morale’ so we haven’t cracked down on it too hard. One time, Gavial went to go get them to knock it off, only to get dragged in and come back with a broken clavicle.”

“She didn’t.” 

“Oh, she did. She even challenged Logos for the championship.”

“Damn skippy I did! Woulda won too if my wheels hadn’t given out!” 

We both turned to find a grinning Gavial leaning on the door frame. “I take it you healed those brainiacs and sent them back to the track?”

“No, we very sensibly told them to knock it off,” I snorted. Then hesitated. “You…you know when they do meets?”

“JAMES!” Sussurro huffed, and aimed a kick at me, only to miss because she’d started laughing too hard to connect. 

“Every Tuesday and Thursday at 2100 hours, Wednesdays at 1300,” Kroos supplied helpfully.

“You are not helping, Tony,” Sussurro snorted. “James, you are ABSOLUTELY not to join in for two reasons.”

“Which are?” I asked curiously. 

“First, you’ll be sleeping on the couch if you do, and second, the risk is far too great for you to risk actual injury,” Sussurro said firmly. 

“Harsh,” Gavial chuckled, but she sobered. “She’s right, kid. You’re too important to go do a dumbass thing like that and risk your neck. Anyways, you two go take a break.”

“Really? We’ve still got hours left in our shift,” I said, glancing at my watch.

“Yeah, and you’ve just about cleared out the trauma ward. Leave some medicine for the rest of us! More seriously, Lucia, make this idiot take a break and check him. He doesn’t need another arts overdose.”

Well, it turned out I was pushing towards arts overdose, so they made me go lie down and take a nap. Interestingly, Lucia decided that meant SHE needed to lie down and take a nap. Which I didn’t mind even slightly. Even if she did lay down on top of me.

Oh, don’t get excited, we weren’t stripping out of our scrubs or anything, I mostly just held her. She’s not exactly made of feathers, but it felt comforting to have her pressed atop me. 

“You think I’ll ever get my hand back?” I asked, as Lucia was holding it, running her fingers up and down my palm and around my lesions. Maybe it’s a little gross, but it was extremely soothing for her to do. 

“We can have Folinic look at it, she specializes in hand surgery,” she told me, then kissed the back of it and pressed it to her cheek. “But no. Not unless we find someone else who can do what you do.”

“And since Kal has only heard of one person who can do it in 13,000 years, that seems unlikely,” I said. I moved my arm and pulled Sussurro a little closer. She wiped away a couple of tears from my eyes, then pressed her cheek to mine. 

“I’m sorry, James. I never should have asked you to cure Ying. It’s my-”

“No,” I said firmly, placing my left finger against her lips. “No. I chose to do that. I don’t regret saving her, even for a moment. Even if I never get my eye or full use of my hand back, it was worth it. I can’t save everyone. But…have you heard the starfish story?”

Sussurro shook her head, then lay down with her head on my chest as I laid it out.

“Once, there was a great storm on the coast. It kicked up horrible waves, and hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of starfish were ripped off the rocks where they live, and cast onto the rocks and sand, where they were doomed to die. They’re uh, little invertebrates that have five or six limbs, cling to rocks, live in tide pools and stuff.”

“Ah, so that’s just your word for a starscale. We have them in Palermo.” 

“Probably. Anyway, a man was walking along the beach, and saw the many starfish, starscales, who were slowly dying in the early morning sun. He shrugged, feeling bad for the animals, but knowing there was nothing he could do to save them all. After a few minutes of walking, he found a young boy. The boy was bending down, picking up the starscales, one or two at a time, and tossing them back into the waves.”

“‘Boy,’ the man said, ‘Don’t you know you’ll never save them all? There are thousands, perhaps millions of starscales on the beach.’ The boy looked up at the man, and shrugged. ‘I know I’ll never save them all, but I have to do something.’ The man shook his head at the child’s folly. ‘You won’t even save a fraction of a percent, a statistical anomaly! What you’re doing doesn’t matter.’ The boy threw his starscale back into the water, then bent and picked up another, which he held up to the man. ‘It matters to this one.’” 

Sussurro shifted on my chest, burying her face there, her body shaking slightly. I realized she was crying, and stroked her hair. 

“Yes. That’s what we are,” she said after a minute or so, her voice slightly muffled by my chest. “We’re that boy. Throwing starscales back in.”

“Not quite,” I said, and she looked up at me with red puffy eyes. I grinned at her. “We’re the idiots who think we can figure out a way to save all the starscales, and stop the storm from ever killing them again.”

She blinked away her tears, and smiled at me before kissing me, her lips a bit salty, but I suppose mine were too. “You’re an idiot, James McCoy. You’re just lucky I’m the same kind of idiot.”

After that, I really did doze off for a while, as did Sussurro. When we finally roused ourselves, there were more rounds to complete. I can’t cure everything. For one thing, diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi elude me completely. Oripathy I can treat, but bacteria? Yeah, I’ve tried, but I got nothing. Oddly, cancer IS something I can help with, though I have to be careful and intentional about it. Somehow, I can identify the cancerous cells, and that they diverge from the proper…blueprint, I guess is the right term? But it’s very, very challenging to get rid of them even if I do regrow the tissue that’s affected after cutting it out.

“Looks like you’ll be spending time in oncology if you keep the trauma ward cleared out,” Sussurro told me after a very messy procedure where we treated some moderate melanoma. She’d cut away a great deal of skin, which I’d healed up right after.

“Well, that’s good, right? Means we’re keeping ahead of things,” I said with a grimace. 

After that, we knocked off. There was a new movie playing at the theater, a Siracusian melodrama with a heavy dosage of romance that Sussurro desperately wanted to see. It had subtitles in Victorian, and was about the very last sort of movie I would ever want to watch. That said, it was also the sort of movie you watch with your girl so you can get laid that night. Not that we were having bedroom problems, but, well, it would be good to see Sussurro relax and enjoy herself. And who knows? Maybe Siracusian romances are better than what I’m used to.

Then I found out it was a musical. I think I must be falling in love with Sussurro, because I hate musicals. This one wasn’t so bad as long as we were holding hands, though. 

Halfway through, I had to go to the little boys' room, and excused myself quietly, leaving Sussurro curled up with a bucket of, all things, peanuts. Yeah, they don’t serve popcorn, but rather peanut puffs at the movies here. Basically, peanut-flavored Cheetos. I’d never seen such a thing in my life, but they were really tasty. 

Kroos followed me; she and Fang were sitting to either side of us, and I whispered to her I was going to the bathroom.

“Sure, love! I’ll be right there with you,” she told me. 

I sighed, but nodded. Sure enough, Kroos did follow me into the bathroom, though not into the stall. A couple of guys gave her odd looks, but she just grinned at them and fingered her sword. They didn’t say anything, though a couple seemed to recognize me despite my cunning disguise of fake dog ears and a tail. 

“I’m going to get some more drinks and snacks,” I told Kroos as I washed my hands. “You want anything?”

“Wouldn’t say no to some caramel carrys!” Kroos told me brightly. Those were, ugh, carrot and caramel flavored Mike and Ike, basically. Gross. But, I guess she is a bunny girl. 

I got in line, fumbling slightly with my wallet as I did. Things were pricey as ever at the theater, even in Rhodes Island, but I had the money for it. 

“Hey, handsome. What’s a guy like you doing here all alone?” 

I blinked, then turned around to see a stunningly attractive caprinae woman. I mean, like, supermodel good looking. She had small, curled sheep horns sticking up from long, silky black hair, with violet eyes. Her top showed off a generous amount of cleavage, and she was a D cup, with an hourglass figure and legs for days. She was giving me that bedroom eyes look, and my brain short-circuited there for a second. I mean, yeah, I was dating Sussurro, but Jesus. I had never had a woman even remotely this good-looking come on to me before. Look, Sussurro is the most beautiful woman in the world in my eyes, but…hot damn. This woman could have had a job as a model at any agency, ever. 

“I, uh, snacks,” I said, lamely pointing to the menu where bored-looking teens were filling up sodas and buckets of peanut puffs. 

“Mmm. You look like quite the snack yourself,” the woman said, licking her lips in a very enticing fashion. “You wanna…find somewhere to eat me? Or just let me snack on you?”

I shook my head quickly. “Uh, look, this is very flattering, but I’m dating someone. Sorry.”

I turned back around, or at least tried to. She put a hand on my arm, then leaned up and whispered, “She doesn’t have to know.”

Alright, now I was mad. Consent matters a lot to me. How I was raised. No means no and all that. So that was pissing me off. The other thing that I really hate? Infidelity. My family had its issues, but you know one thing I never wondered about? If mom and dad had ever cheated on one another, even once. They had drilled into my head from an early age that you are NEVER disloyal to those you love. You never lie, you never cheat, and you don’t ever put yourself into a situation where that would be tempting. 

“I said, no, lady! I’m taken!” I huffed, moving her hand away. 

Suddenly, the sexy smoke show vanished, and desperation filled her eyes as she grabbed at me. “Please! Just, anything you want! You don’t want sex? I have money! You want a slave? I’ll be it! Just, please, you can cure me, you-”

“Love, you’ve got about half a second to get your hands off him before I cut them off,” Kroos said. She’d come up behind the woman without me even noticing. All the cheer was out of her voice, and her eyes were wide open. She had her machete out, and it wasn’t against the woman’s hands. It was against her neck. 

Ignoring that, the woman whirled. “Back off, bitch! Just because he healed you doesn’t mean he can’t-” She screamed. Kroos jammed some sort of electric stun stick into the woman’s gut without blinking, then slugged her in the chin with the hilt of the sword and kicked her to the side. 

“Right, everyone, please stay away. Hate to have to kill you,” Kroos said, her tone mild, but her look pure death. She pointed her machete around, and there were shouts and screams as people backed up, fast.

“JAMES!” 

I spun about to see Sussurro, holding a crossbow and sprinting barefoot, she’d worn heels that she’d clearly kicked off, running towards me, Fang beside her with bare steel in her hands. 

Fang glanced at the woman, who was groaning and twitching on the floor, the smell of burned fabric and flesh wafting off her. “Right. We’re leaving. Now.”

I felt horribly ill. This was just supposed to be a quiet date, where I was hidden. Safe. 

“But, but she was just-”

“Bones, now,” Kroos ordered, motioning me towards the door as she looked around for further threats. 

I didn’t argue further, and Sussurro grabbed a hold of me as Fang cleared the way, shield on one arm, sword in the other. We were back on the executive level in minutes, having used an emergency override on the elevator. The ride back was tense and silent. Kroos and Fang were both clearly ready for extreme violence, and Sussurro didn’t seem far behind them. When the elevator opened, Texas and Exusiai met us. Texas was topless in boxers, Exusia had on a t-shirt and not much else. Both had their weapons ready. Apparently, they’d been sleeping. 

“Clear,” Fang told them, and they both nodded, but didn’t relax much. They took me back to our room. 

“Right, sorry, loves. But I think date nights are over,” Kroos told us. “We’ll talk with Blaze, but…”

“Yeah. I get it,” I said, feeling defeated. And trying desperately not to look at how underdressed Texas and Exusiai were. Neither seemed even slightly bothered by it, but I was. 

“You two get dressed, we’ll keep watch,” Fang said as the door slid shut.

I stumbled into the living room, but I didn’t even make it to the couch before I slid to the ground, trembling. Sussurro still had the crossbow, which she set to the said, hugging me tightly. She didn’t say anything, just held on as I had a panic attack. 

At last, my breathing calmed, and I opened my eyes. I was gripping Sussurro like a lifeline. “I…I think I’ll be alright.”

She nodded, and we went over to the kitchen table, where I poured two glasses of wine. Well, I tried. My hand was shaking too much. Sussurro took the bottle and poured it herself. We both took a long sip, then I told her what had happened. I left out the part about the nameless woman being a total smokeshow, but I think Sussurro picked up on it anyway.

“I just…I never imagined…she was offering herself to me, to cure her,” I said, feeling utterly disgusted. I was a bit worried Sussurro would be angry, and she was. She’s the jealous type, I’m not that dumb, but to my shock, she wasn’t mad at me. 

“That puttana! Offering herself like that! Shameless slut,” Sussurro spat, then took an angry swig of her wine. 

“I, I told her no, she just-” I began, but Sussurro shook her head. 

“I’m not mad at you, James. I saw her, even on the ground like that, she was a beauty. You didn’t even take a second look at her, did you?”

“Well, I mean, I did look twice, but whatever physical beauty she had didn’t cover up the ugly,” I said, making a face, and Sussurro nodded. “I just…she just…she wanted me…”

A lot of the anger drained out of Sussurro’s face, and she put her hand over mine. 

“James. You…you’re going to keep getting offers like that. Whatever you want. And I mean…whatever. Sex, money, power, a way home-”

“I am home!” I snapped, now feeling angry myself.

Sussurro blinked at me, and I forced myself to calm down. “I, sorry. Look, you’re home, now. You and Rhodes Island. Not…not Earth. I’m not the first young man to abandon his home country to-”

And then Sussurro had her arms and legs wrapped about me and was kissing me fiercely. After that…well, we knocked over the wine, but we didn’t bother to clean it up until much later. 

“We really are going too fast,” Sussurro said as we lay on the tile of the kitchen floor under the table, running her fingers through my chest hair. 

“Maybe. Don’t really care,” I said, stroking her tail, which she had wrapped about me possessively. 

“There will be more like her. Or mothers with sick children, or young boys like Andrey who will beg you for themselves, for their fathers, for anyone,” Sussurro said quietly. “It’s not going to stop. It’s going to get worse.”

“I..” I felt tears in my eyes. “Yeah.”

“So. I want you to make me a promise, James,” she said, climbing on top of me to look down at my face. 

I nodded. “Anything.” Look, when a beautiful and naked woman who you just made love to just ask that, there’s really only one response. 

“From now on, anyone you cure…you do it only if I give the OK. Or, if I’m incapacitated…Exusiai.”

I blinked. Exusiai? Really? “Uh, ok. Yeah, I promise.”

“Good.” She kissed me. Then lay down, pillowing her soft ears on my forearm. “I just…I can’t lose you, James. My heart would fail.”

“I…I’ll try not to ever break your heart,” I swore. 

Little did I know…Shit. Maybe relationships weren’t meant to be built on spur of the moment passion.