15. How does it feel being a fellow inmate?

FIFTEEN

How does it feel being a fellow inmate?

Friday, May 11, 2057

Hospital Quarter, Precinct 153

Cauldron City, Nebraska.

Between adrenaline, the poison, the antidote, and remnants of the tranquilizer, I took a non-optional nap sometime between leaving the hospital in Precinct 169 and arriving in Precinct 153. I missed the entire intake process. According to the nearby monitoring machine, I’d lost Thursday as well.

A tired Dr. Erik puttered around the room, and once he spotted me watching him, he crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot. I wondered which of my sins had ticked the black unicorn off.

Then I realized he wore civilian clothes rather than his doctor’s coat. “How does it feel being a fellow inmate?”

“Irritating,” he replied. “Two fifty on a Harley only rated for one fifteen, Lovell?”

Right. I’d played with more than a little magic blitzing across Cauldron City to reach the hospital. “Personally, I thought it wasn’t bad for my first time on a bike.”

He cracked a grin at me, came over, and checked my equipment. “They tossed me in with you because they don’t want me working yet but I can do some good in here. You had quite the drug cocktail problem, and you made a mess of our ER upon arrival. In good news, you never went critical, but the staff dealt with you in serious condition for the first six hours of your stay. We’ve learned a lot about drug interplay with the antidote thanks to you, though.”

Damn. “I’m sure pulling out all my focal stones didn’t help my case any.”

“We forgave you for that before you stepped foot into the ER,” he admitted, snagging a chair and pulling it over. “There were fifteen total deaths, and there was nothing anyone could have done for any of them. They were all patients. We think these bastards are running out of their main toxin batch; the dosages were lower in Precinct 169.”

I’d take anything I could get, and while losing fifteen hurt and would bother me, I could accept I’d saved many more. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had better days, but I should be back to work tomorrow on a reduced shift. The wife bounced back and is already working the floor. Most of the foals are already up and causing me trouble, but Gloria will be in for a week. She had complications. She’s healing, but we can’t afford the resources to hurry her along, so she’s recovering naturally.”

“And Jace? ”

“Jace is next door, and last I heard, he was kicking the walls because we made him shift and put his bracelet on. He would like to go home to his books and his dragoness. We had to kick the dragoness out because she kept shifting and snapping at the staff. He should release at the same time you do, perhaps a day later. Once you go over your checks and make sure you’re clear of the worst of it, we’ll be moving you to his room so you two can complain bitterly about being sidelined due to various acts of heroics.” The black unicorn reached over and ruffled my hair. “Good work. I’m glad to see that training you’ve been struggling through paid off. The paramedics watched you handle the needles and determined you had your job under control, which let them handle the rest of the work.”

“How many people were hit?”

“Here or in Precinct 169?”

“Both.”

“We both had most of our staff hit, but we had more casualties. We lost three staff late yesterday from complications. Precinct 169 only lost patients. It was ugly for a bit. The group targeted us unicorns first, and they used higher dosages on us. We suspect they had profiled people based on species. Jace took a triple dose, but it turns out unicorns go down fast but have a natural resilience to this toxin. Had he been any other species, he’d be dead right now.”

A thump and a squeal from next door indicated that Dr. Erik hadn’t been joking about the white unicorn being cranky. I sighed, shaking my head at the display of temper. “Is that wall going to make it?”

“We reinforce those rooms when we have unicorns. He’s probably protesting his latest treatment, which admittedly hurts like hell. I had a round yesterday, and I told my organs they needed to behave so I wouldn’t get a second round. After he woke up, he’s been dealing with three treatments a day, and he’s finally feeling better enough to put up a fight.”

I attempted to sit up to earn a scolding from Dr. Erik, who made use of the bed controls. “You don’t get to do jack shit until after you’re cleared, boy. Someone needs to have a look at your organs to make sure you didn’t do any permanent harm to yourself.”

Worrywart doctor. “Have you seen Paul and Miranda?”

“They’ve been around visiting you and Jace. More Jace than you, as visiting someone sleeping off sedation, poisoning, and adrenal fatigue is as boring as it gets. They’ll be back in a few hours, as they have to take care of the birds and your puppy.” Dr. Erik heaved a sigh and pressed the call button for a nurse. “You’re not going to like the next hour of your life. They’ve been giving everyone at least one treatment, and it hurts like hell.”

“And they couldn’t do it while I was still knocked out?” I complained. “You doctors are mean.”

Dr. Erik laughed. “I suggested they take pity on you, but apparently, they like asking their victims if things feel better while they’re working. For the record, I told them no, there was nothing better about having hot pokers inserted into my internal organs. If they aren’t taking pity on me, they won’t be taking pity on you.”

“I better survive this,” I muttered.

“You’ll be fine. It’s just a little pain.”

Friday, May 11, 2057

Hospital Quarter, Precinct 153

Cauldron City, Nebraska.

As Dr. Erik wasn’t the one who had to deal with me, he laughed through the entirety of my tests, critiquing my escape attempts and praising me when I proved enough of a handful his wife came to help. Hiding behind Mrs. Dr. Erik might save me—or escort me faster to my next torture session. The woman laughed, turned around, and hugged me. “It’s good to see you back on your feet. Now that they’ve run you around, how are you feeling?”

“If I let them get their hands on me, they’ll take a hot poker to my insides again,” I complained, hugging her back. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty all right all things considered. How far did you get with him?”

“We just have to check his lungs.”

Mrs. Dr. Erik chuckled, seized my earlobe, and dragged me back to the bed, snapping her fingers until I did as she wanted. “Five minutes, and only the first twenty seconds are going to hurt, and it’s going to feel like somebody knocked the wind out of you. Once they’re done, I’ll march you over to the punk’s room and set you loose with him.”

As though somehow sensing someone talked shit about him, the punk in question squealed and kicked the wall a few times .

I laughed at the white unicorn’s display of temper. “What has him so riled up?”

“He wants his books, he has his bracelet on, he isn’t allowed to have pineapple, coconut, or mango, and if we could bring his black dragoness back, he would be at least a little happier. The ponies are always like this, especially when their parents aren’t around to make them walk the straight and narrow. His parents are working in Precinct 169 right now. You were coming as they were going, and we had the staff to deal with you, although you coded us for a little while. We’d just gotten off codes when you turned the corner in the wrong direction.” Mrs. Dr. Erik took hold of my chin and turned my head from side to side while shining her pen in my face. “Your eyes aren’t dilating properly. What’s going on with that, Mika?”

“It’s the remnants of the tranquilizer interacting with the antidote,” one of the nurses reported. “We’re monitoring, but it has improved over the past hour, so we didn’t call you in.”

“Give him a punch in the lungs, and I’ll monitor his biologics,” Mrs. Dr. Erik ordered.

Sure enough, whatever the black unicorns did involved knocking the breath right out of me. While I floundered, they did whatever was needed to make certain my lungs would function properly. After a few minutes, Mrs. Dr. Erik patted my shoulder. “I’ll check on you in a few hours, and if you’ve improved, I’ll set you free tonight. The pony isn’t leaving tonight, and if he’s lucky, he might go home tomorrow, but that’s looking sketchy as it is. I’ll walk you over. Erik, if you can behave yourself, you can go get your coat and make yourself useful. Gloria’s trying to kick her walls down. They’ve put her bracelet on because she wants to help.”

“I’ll go tame the beast,” Dr. Erik promised, and he excused himself to go visit his filly and contain her.

Unicorns amused me.

“All right, Lovell. Let’s get you on the move. Expect to be nuzzled into submission, as we did tell the spunky little pony next door you’re his neighbor. Once you’re settled over there, I’ll notify your captain he can come pay you a visit and that he’s your ticket out of this joint. You’re a desk jockey until further notice, but I’ll come visit you daily until you’re cleared.” Mrs. Dr. Erik kissed my cheek. “You did great work, and don’t let that mean old opal tell you otherwise.”

I kissed her cheek in return. “Thanks, and make sure you get the rest you need, too.”

“It takes a lot more than some poison to knock this old mare down. And don’t you be telling my grumpy husband this, we only kept him locked in with you so he could handle monitoring you. He would otherwise worry himself into a setback.”

That I could believe. “At what stage do I get real clothes?”

Mrs. Dr. Erik pointed at a small bag near the door. “You can change now if you’d like. I had your suit cleaned, that way you’re presentable when your captain comes calling.”

“Thanks.”

I took the quickest shower of my life before changing into real clothes, discovering the bag also contained my wallet, my phone, my stones, the sheet of fingerprints, and the papers for my new motorcycle. The short walk to the room next door tired me, warning me I would have a few rough weeks ahead of me. Mrs. Dr. Erik opened the door to Jace’s room, and before I had a chance to even peek inside, she barked, “Behave! Bad pony.”

Curiosity got the better of me, and I peered around the black unicorn to discover Jace rolling around on the floor and kicking his hooves, snorting while snapping his teeth at the bracelet barring him from transforming.

Aware Jace loved the curry comb, I grabbed one from the rack hanging by the door, stepped inside, and tapped my foot, staring down at my fellow detective. I waved the brush at him. “You’re trouble.”

Jace snorted again, rolled, and got to his hooves. He bucked, and clumps of his coat took flight.

“Ah. You’re itchy.” Mrs. Dr. Erik sighed. “Be gentle with Lovell, Jace. He’s still got some recovering ahead of him, and he just got his treatment for the toxin. He’ll be fine, but you get to make sure he stays in here. Have him groom the shedding fur out of your coat. No trouble out of either of you. Do not make me come back in here and correct you both.”

I recognized a foe I could not defeat, and I snapped her a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

“If you’re good, I’ll bring you both a snack. And no, Jace, you may not have any pineapple. It would win right now. You don’t get any joy until your stomach finishes healing.”

Jace used his sad pony eyes on the other unicorn without any success. Mrs. Dr. Erik closed the door behind her. “You can’t be feeling too badly if you’re bucking around like that,” I commented, and I picked the white unicorn’s neck as my first target. Fur billowed up from his coat, and Jace stretched out his head and flapped his lips. I recognized the behavior as pure equine bliss and relief. “You must be itching out of your mind. ”

“Understatement,” he replied. “My skin itches. My insides itch. I itch .”

Poor Jace. “I can’t do anything about your insides itching, but I can help with the grooming at least. No good deed goes unpunished, right?”

“That’s another understatement. I honestly don’t remember anything after the second dart. I’ve been told I was up for two minutes after the third dart hit, and I even managed to kill one of the bastards.”

I rewarded him with a patting on his shoulder. “Good job. Did the captain tear strips out of you yet?”

“I got an earful yesterday. Apparently, I need work fighting while a unicorn, as I only killed one.”

I could always trust a dragon to take things too far. “He should have been praising you for not kicking the bucket on us.”

“I should be saying the same about you. I can’t say I can claim credit for coding an entire hospital before. Of course, they were short staffed. They had a downed officer in their ER and no other staff for the next emergency.”

Rolling my eyes, I attacked his coat, leaving piles of fur on the floor in my wake. The white underneath had a silvery gleam to it. “Are you supposed to be metallic under all this fluff?”

Jace swung his head around to get a look at his shoulder. “At least I’ll be pretty while itching. It happens. I’ll probably bleed magic again, and it can make our coats extra shiny.”

As he’d brought his head in range, I rubbed the comb between his eyes, discovering even his face was shedding. Jace sighed his relief and kept still while I worked at dislodging the clumping fur. “I’d be kicking, too, if my face itched.”

“The organs itching is even worse. At least I can rub my face against the walls or use my hoof. Rolling can’t reach all the spots. When my lungs start up, I cough until I throw up. Unlike mundane equines, we unicorns can puke, and it’s miserable. Worse, in the first stages of recovery, I kept throwing up things nobody should throw up.”

“Like parts of your stomach?” I guessed.

“Yep.”

I took my time with his face, and once I determined I’d conquered all the shedding fur, I resumed taking care of his neck. Rather than leave him half itching, I went back and forth, kicking the shed fur out of the way on each pass. “I pulled off two fifty on a Harley.”

“I heard. Once Captain Farthan tore into me for daring to be in critical for even a minute, he went on a tirade over how you may have taken his request a little too seriously. Then to dare be sleeping so he couldn’t scold you? He about lost his shit when he found out you were in serious condition due to a drug interaction.” Jace reached over and bumped me with his nose. “I’ll miss you if he kills you for that stunt.”

I laughed, petted the unicorn, and said, “I’ll do my best to survive his wrath. I should score a few points for delivering the antidote and the location of Mercy’s primary lab. I know where it is, and I even know how to get into it.”

“He’s going to like that. And your kidnapper?”

“Let’s just say one of the underground organizations has taken offense to Mercy.”

The unicorn’s ears turned back. “And this is the same group responsible for bringing out that red dragon and the antidote?”

“Yep.”

“The captain isn’t going to like that.”

“You can kick and stab him if he doesn’t like it more than is tolerable.”

That got Jace’s ears pricking forward. “A little unhappy is okay, but I will be happy to stomp and stab if he gives you too much trouble.”

While I filled him in on the investigation, I groomed his coat, leaving mounds of shed fur on the floor and all over my suit. I was finishing his rump when someone knocked. Mrs. Dr. Erik poked her head in. “It has been deceptively—what the fuck ?”

I burst into laughter and kicked some of Jace’s shed fur her way. “He was itching his way to insanity, Mrs. Dr. Erik. He doesn’t have a scratching pole in here.”

She came in, and I discovered that Paul, Miranda, and Captain Farthan waited behind her. The black unicorn captured Jace’s nose in her hands and gave him a kiss. “You poor baby. I’ll see if I can get you something for the itching. Did shedding all that out help some?”

Jace whinnied and nuzzled the woman. “Some. My lungs are the only thing not itching right now.”

“I’ll get a bag so you can gather all that fluff up. It’s soft, so you can have it spun. The rest of you can come in, but you get to help clean this mess up.”

Paul headed my way, and I placed the curry comb on Jace’s back so I could reassure the elephant with a hug. “This is a good reminder that we shouldn’t mix and match our substances, even accidentally. ”

Captain Farthan sighed. “You two are going to give me gray hairs and a heart attack.”

Miranda came over, and I gave her the same treatment as Paul before I reclaimed my curry comb and resumed taming the white unicorn. “Next time, should there be one, I’ll make sure to wear gloves when administering antidotes. I can’t say I’m sorry for driving without the appropriate license or speeding on my new bike.”

“You’ve earned motorcycle driving classes with that stunt. I have you booked into the next session, which opens in two weeks. Your new ride is parked at the station, and once you have your proper license, you can use it for work if you’d like. I don’t have a bike you can use right now, but the commissioner already approved using your personal vehicle in this case. Do I want to know who gave it to you and why?”

“No for who, but yes to why. We have a friend in the underground, and she wants us to know about her, so she issued an invitation. I’ve dubbed her Angel Underground. As far as I’m aware, she hit the airport so we’d know she had resources and skill. I’m not sure why she picked me as the one receiving said invitation, but she’s nice enough and on our side. She gave me my new bike for ten dollars and a bag full of antidotes, so I’m not interested in pressing charges.”

Captain Farthan heaved the sort of sigh that promised I tested his sanity and patience. “All right. We’ll have to do a complete questioning when you’re allowed to come back to work.”

“You can have him tomorrow, but only in a desk jockey position,” Mrs. Dr. Erik said, and she prowled around Jace. “He’s doing better than I expected. It’s a lot of work freeing the ponies from an out of season shed. I’d rather he be at the station where someone can monitor him for complications. If the pony keeps improving at his current rate, he’ll be kicked out of my hospital tomorrow evening. Where is the dragoness?”

“Her grandpappy took her on errands.” The opal dragon bowed his head. “The errand involves acquiring firearms and teaching her how to use them.”

I foresaw chaos. “Jace, I’ll help train her how to use firearms if you help with my motorcycle and interception lessons.”

“Deal.” Jace lifted up a hoof and regarded it with his ears twisted back. “Mrs. Dr. Erik, can I have my booties back, please? Even my hooves hurt.”

Mrs. Dr. Erik shook her head and sighed. “I’ll go find a set of your booties, but if I bring your booties, you will stop kicking my walls.”

According to the white unicorn’s usage of his sad pony eyes, the black unicorn had broken his fragile heart. “Fine, I’ll stop kicking the walls.” He hesitated. “At least between treatments. I’m not responsible for anything that happens during them.”

“Good enough. I’d be asking a bit much for you to stop reacting during the treatments. They hurt like hell.” The woman gave Jace’s nose another kiss. “Play nice with your friends while I’m gone, and I’ll get you a blankie and your ball.”

He lifted his head and pricked his ears forward. “My ball?”

“Your momma brought it over before she headed off to Precinct 169, so you can bounce off it to your heart’s content, and if you bumble into the wall, we’ll look the other way.”

After Jace was released back into the wilds, I’d tease the unicorn over his ball. In the meantime, I’d side with him. “I wish I had a bouncy ball. All I got was a hard time.”

“Bouncy balls are the best. You can visit mine once I escape from here, and you can experience the true joy in life. You can bounce, too, Paul, but only if you’re human. You’d break my ball when an elephant. If you want to break a ball, get your own.”

Miranda grinned. “Can I have a turn with it?”

“You can, but you’ll have to pet Mamma Mia in exchange.”

The cadet giggled at that. “I can handle that. I’ll bring her a bone and try to earn her love.”

“I’m sure you won’t have a problem with that. She only gives those who are scared of her a hard time.”

“All of you behave. I’ll be back soon with the discharge papers to get you out of here tonight, Lovell. No trouble,” Mrs. Dr. Erik ordered before leaving.

“I haven’t been causing any trouble,” I informed our captain in a solemn tone.

“I’ll allow it this once, but only because you took the trouble that came calling, whipped it into shape, and proved you can, when the situation demands, speed. However, we have questions on how you made a Harley go two fifty.”

“A lot of magic,” I replied, aware the bike had been modded to go faster. “I’m pretty sure part of the reason I had so many issues involved adrenaline and overusing my magic. I knew I was courting trouble on my way to the hospital. ”

Captain Farthan waved off my words. “In this case, I care about the results. You kept the death count as low as possible, and the medical staff in Precinct 169 is bouncing back a lot faster than they did here. Dr. Erik suspects your magicker skills went rogue on you. While your trick with the bike was impressive, he found someone who can do similar, and it isn’t as bad of a drain as he thought—still a drain, but you weren’t doing anything particularly dangerous. However, the trick is fairly specialized, and the magicker we spoke with confirmed you aren’t part of the circles that knows how to work that trick.”

“I needed to dodge a bunch of law enforcement, so I made a road. It turned out the road made my motorcycle go faster, so I used the trick again but I improved it. In good news for me, the cop that caught up with me first recognized me.”

“I know. I heard. Dispatch had a field day. You’re escaping the notification issue. Mrs. Dr. Erik swore vengeance if we glittered or cheese sprayed you. You saved one of her best friends, so you’re her favorite person today.”

That explained a lot. “There were still deaths.”

“And there was nothing you could do for any of them. I’ll book you in for therapy once I get back to the station. Also, the only reason you’re coming into the station tomorrow is because Mrs. Dr. Erik wants you supervised. Otherwise, I’d have you home for a week under medical leave to recover. Miranda, you’re responsible for making certain he doesn’t overdo it. Have him play with his new wives and try to use his brain. Paul, you’re his feet unless he’s going to play with the coffee roaster. If he wants to play with the coffee roaster, you’re to handle lifting the bags and moving the beans. If Mrs. Dr. Erik doesn’t off me for endangering her patient, she’ll let Dr. Erik work his nerves out on me.”

Paul shot the captain a salute before busying himself herding Jace’s fluff to a corner so it could be picked up.

“The coffee roaster is ready?” I resumed brushing Jace, marveling at how much fluff continued to come out of his coat.

“It was installed yesterday, and some coffee fanatic with experience using the machine roasted up five hundred pounds of beans with a warning the first six batches would be off because of how new the machine is. Nobody complained about anything weird with their coffee. There are new coffee machines on all floors because the fanatic saw what we had and pitched a fit. I was corrected, and he called in an order for appropriate machines. The new machines make coffee. That’s all I can say about them.”

“They’re good machines,” Paul informed me with a grin. “You’ll like them. But there are plenty of raw beans for you to play with, and roasting the beans looks like a lot more fun than filing reports.”

“Roasting beans is far superior to filing reports.” I gave Jace a final pass, patted his shoulder, and said, “I think I’ve gotten as much of that fluff out as I can. Better?”

“Much. It isn’t stopping the internal itches, but I’ll take whatever I can get at this stage.”

Mrs. Dr. Erik returned with several garbage bags, a big red bouncy ball with a handle attached, and a set of medical boots in a silvery white material. “All right, Detective Lovell. I’m setting you free. I’m giving the poor pony here your snack in exchange for an early escape, and you don’t even need to help finish cleaning up this mess. Jace, as I’m a generous dictator, I’ve decided your snack will be a test of coconut water. If you handle the coconut water without vomiting, you might even get some coconut cream with dinner.”

Jace pranced in place, swishing his tail and bobbing his head.

“Ponies get excited when their favorite treats are brought out along with the ball,” Mrs. Dr. Erik informed me, and she gave me another hug on her way by. “Lovell, your parents are in the lobby, and I had the nurse downstairs ask them to wait for you there. Your discharge papers have a list of symptoms to watch for, and if you experience any of them, give my cell a call.”

“Good luck, Jace. May you have good fortune with your coconut water, and may the doctors determine you get to escape this joint sooner than later,” I said, waving to the white unicorn before heading for the door.

Fools who waited ended up roped into staying longer.

Rather than enjoy a direct escape, Dr. Erik waited outside with his daughter, who accompanied him as a unicorn and had been haltered. He thrust her lead line into my hands. “I’ll go over the paperwork, you contain this menace.”

I grinned at Dr. Erik calling his beloved filly a menace, and I rubbed Gloria’s nose. “And how are you feeling?”

“Not as good as you,” she complained. “My lungs didn’t handle the poisoning well, so I’m showing symptoms of asthma plus some equine issues. Normal horses don’t have strong lungs. Their bodies adapted to a specialized form of breathing. Unicorns have special muscles that allow us to do things like hold our breath. Right now, I’m breathing more like a mundane horse, which is a bad thing for us. ”

I would take her word for it, and I rubbed her brow, knowing how much unicorns liked attention. “And since you’re having trouble breathing, your daddy is freaking out.”

“He sure is.”

Dr. Erik glanced up from the papers he looked over and cleared his throat. “I’m standing right here, filly.”

I wondered if unicorns operated like human parents. Determined to find out, I said, “I hear you can contain overprotective parents if you fake coughs at well-timed intervals. The trick is making them hover on your schedule rather than theirs.” I considered the line I held. “I’d try to bust you out of here, but I know better than to bust people with respiratory problems out. Sorry, Gloria.”

“At least one of you has some common sense,” Dr. Erik muttered.

“I’ll cope with captivity, albeit poorly. Unicorns make the worst patients. We do the healing, damn it!” Gloria swished her tail and lifted a hoof. “He won’t take my bracelet off until I can make it across the hospital without wheezing.”

“How far did you make it this time?”

“About four rooms,” she admitted, hanging her head with her ears twisting back. While she pawed at the floor, she settled with clicks of her hoof rather than stomping. “He’s reminding me that there is a valid reason I can’t leave.”

“This looks in order,” Dr. Erik announced, and he smacked me with the sheets before handing them over and stealing his daughter’s lead back. “Take them downstairs to the discharge nurse, sign them, and get out of my hospital.”

I grinned, hugged the grumpy black unicorn, and did as told, waving as I headed for the elevator. “Feel better, Gloria. ”

“You, too.”

Downstairs, I discovered Mrs. Dr. Erik had lied a little. While my parents were present, so was the rest of my family, which consisted of numerous members of both sides beyond my siblings. Shaking my head over the insanity, I went to the nurses’ station, signed where she told me to, and received a receipt for my stay, which had been zeroed out.

They hadn’t even bothered pinging my insurance for payments.

Later, I’d review every line to find out what they had needed to do to keep me breathing when I’d arrived at their ER.

Before I could fold the sheets, my captain claimed the lot, including the sheet of fingerprints. “If you want to fold your paperwork when you’re home, that’s up to you, but I’ll carry it for the meantime. Good luck with the mob. I might even become saddened if you were to be defeated at their many hands.”

“Thanks, sir.”

“Anytime.”