Merman Boyfriend: Ty (special preview)

The sun was so painfully hot and the sand grated against my body as if it were trying to peel it away. I could barely breathe, I couldn’t move at all, I just laid there while the sun continued to beat down upon me. I can’t remember how I got here, I have vague flashes of faces and voices in the back of my mind. I’m so weak. Why am I here?

“Daddy!” The voice screams out in horror.

Am I Daddy? What’s a daddy?

“Echo, go get your mother.” Another voice, perhaps that’s Daddy. “It’s alright now. I’m going to help you. Poor thing. My god, you’re sick.” Something cold touches my face. “We’re going to get you help. Ruby! Get Haytham and a few others to help me carry him.”

“I’ll be right back!”

I take in a slow, painful breath that feels as though I am breathing sand down my throat. I then feel relief come over me as this Daddy pours water over top of me. The relief is so sudden and so welcome, I start to cry, but I am still too weak to lift my arms to cover my face.

“My name is Authaire,” Daddy says. “I’m going to get you help, my home is stationed nearby. I have a very good doctor on staff, he’ll be able to take care of you. You’re lucky we found you.”

I blink a few times, seeing more than the blinding white light of the sun. Above me I see a man with very pale skin and short red hair. He smiles reassuringly at me while pressing a damp cloth to my face.

I can’t remember why I am here, I so wish to tell him. I feel like it is important. I have to remember. I don’t know who, or where, but someone is waiting on me to come back. Someone I can’t remember, but someone very important to me.

I wake to the sound of voices. There is no more sun scorching me, no sand rubbing away my flesh. Instead, everything is dark and there is something soft and silky around me. I breathe in and something feels strange with my body. I don’t feel quite right.

“For the time being, this will help stop the spread of the infection. I’m working on getting the cure, but it’s old, and not too many books on merfolk health are around anymore.”

“Just do what you can, I’m sure he’ll understand when he comes to. My only concern is that, if he has it, what if there are others infected?” I recognize the voice as the man from before.

“That’s probably the case. But this causes memory loss, so it may take time for him to remember. He may have been so close to the shore, hoping to find help. We won’t know until he has had some time to recover.”

I move back what’s covering me, and rather than seeing my tail, I see two strange sticks jutting out from my torso. A strangled cry leaves my voice and suddenly, there is a light and two men standing beside my bed.

“It’s alright! You’re fine!” Daddy says comfortingly. “Just a small spell.”

My screams turn to coughs and the second man hurriedly fetches me a glass. Inside the water is cold, but it has a strange taste to it. I breathe deeply after gulping all of it down, and I hold my hands over my chest.

“What have you done to me?” I whisper.

“You’re very sick, and I had to use this spell in order to treat you. It’ll stop the disease from spreading, and it’ll give me time to whip up a cure for you.” The second man is tall with dark, rich skin. He looks down on me with golden eyes. “I’m Dr. Haytham, and I’m going to see you get better.”

My body still feels weak but I am able to lift my hands to my face. “I was sick?”

Haytham sits beside the bed I am on. “It’s an old disease, one that had plagued the merfolk to near extinction. There is a cure, though, but I am having a hard time tracking down accounts of it. This disease will affect your memory, but it is important for you to tell me anything at all you remember in case any more of your kind have become ill as well.”

“I don’t-” I struggle to bring up anything. I can recall images more than I can anything else. I see faces and places, I see small hands reaching out to me. I shake my head and clasp my hands around my face. “I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.”

“It’s okay,” Daddy says. “Haytham said in a few days, things should start coming back to you.”

“Hopefully by then, Puck will have found something for me,” Haytham sighs. “You look strong, though. You should be able to recover quickly with some rest and a few good meals.”

“Thank you,” I murmur. 

“Is there anything you need right now?” Daddy asks. “Ask for it and we can get it for you.”