A Birth day

"You worry too much," Angus told Ruby, yawning. "I'm knackered. Let me sleep a little."

"Where is he?" Michael asked calmly, shouldering the med bag.

"This way," Marcus said. "Aria, put that fire out now, please. It's done its job." Marcus led Michael into the little place they'd established a camp of sorts. He went over and sat down on the sand on the other side of Angus.

"What'd you do? Buggar up that shoulder again?"

"Wasn't me this time," Angus yawned as Michael took the bandage of the wound.

"Well, that's pretty," Michael said, seeing the big piece of glass sticking out of Angus's shoulder. "Robert," Michael radioed. "We have all four. Looks like three are in pretty good shape. Angus is going to need your help. He's taken a mammoth piece of plate glass in his bad shoulder." He described Angus's symptoms and was able to give Robert some general vital signs. Robert directed Michael to give Angus a couple of muggle medications from the med bag and urged that they calmly move him back first and then move the other three back.

Marcus and Michael managed to help get Angus to the first dinghy, and they sent Sam and Victor in the dinghy to row Angus back.

"Stay steady. No heroics. Just row the damned boat back. Understand?" Michael told them. The boys nodded, ready for the trip back."

"Do you need us to come back?" Sam asked.

"Not unless I radio for you. Do what you can to help your dad if Robert will let you," Michael said. "Good work, Lads, both of you." The boys set out to take their boat back. "You three got all your toys gathered up?" Michael asked Marcus, Ruby, and Aria. "If you're ready to leave this paradise, we've got one boat for each of you."

When Sam and Victor's boat approached, the crew brought the dinghy up alongside of the ship.

"Jack, come lend a hand," Edward called, climbing down into the dinghy to try to help Angus stand up. "He's not going to be able to climb up unless he can do it one handed." The crew threw down a line and Edward tied it around Angus's waist.

"I'm not dead yet. I'll manage," Angus sighed. It took him a lot of maneuvering, but with some work he was able to slowly start to climb one handed. It depended on him staying balanced, and that was harder than ever because of the traumatic shock he was struggling against.

"Thanks, Jack," Angus said.

"Michael said he'd radio us if he needed us," Sam said. "We don't have to go back. The rest are okay, and they're coming back in the other dinghies."

"Jesus," Robert frowned seeing the horrifically huge piece of glass in Angus's shoulder. He went over to him as Jack helped him to a seat. "You're a mess. How are you even conscious?" Robert asked.

"I didn't have time for that crap," Angus said, sitting, trying to catch his breath.

"You do realize most people don't see that in those terms, right?" Robert sat beside Angus and started taking his own vital signs. "I'm going to have to extract this surgically. I can't just take it out."

"I don't care what you do as long as you let me sleep," Angus told him.

"Well, you're going to get to do that shortly while I see to this. You're a mess. Where'd the glass come from?"

"Um...I don't know if I figured that out. Maybe the window in the door of the wheelhouse. The dash was probably safety glass," he said, as Edward came and sat on the other side of Angus. Edward looked at the wound and then looked at Robert, who was looking quite serious indeed.

"If there's plate glass in any of the windows on any of my ships, they're going into dry dock until they're overhauled--period. Oh, Robert, there's a medic on this crew," Edward said. "Her name is Sonya. I sent her down to sickbay to set you up there."

"There's a sickbay on this one?" Angus asked.

"Yes. There is. This ship is far bigger than you realize, Lad," Edward replied.

"I didn't really notice," Angus admitted.

"Yes, well, you were preoccupied. You're forgiven."

"Ruby's going to be panicky," Angus told Edward.

"Can't be helped, I suppose," Edward said. "We have to do first things first. Robert, we just got a radio message from the charter office. They say Lee arrived there, and he's waiting for us to return. He says he brought your Hannukah gift. Look, if you're going to lie, at least make it plausible, would you?"

"Good. That'll be a relief," Robert said. "I'll have him work on his excuses."

"You know the rest of us don't know why he's here," Edward said.

"Yeah. I know. Classified for a little while," Robert said, brushing Edward off. "I'm going tend this first."

"I'll help you get him downstairs."

"Thank you. Angus, let's get this taken care of," Robert told him, getting him to his feet. Robert and Edward could feel how little strength Angus had left. They took him down to the sickbay where a young woman with sandy blonde hair, dressed in the same all white uniform as the rest of the crew, was there, and she seemed to be setting out equipment, most of which were things Angus had never seen before. This looked an awful lot like muggle medicine, but Angus knew Robert hated muggle medicine and thought it was barbaric.

Edward and Robert helped Angus onto the gurney, and Robert picked up a pair of scissors.

"Oh, and Edward," Robert said, "just so you all know, this is just going to take a bit more time than usual to do it this way. It just simply isn't as fast as we're used to. That doesn't mean there's something to worry about."

"Understood," Edward said. "I'll go up and talk to the others and then come back down. There's a cabin right across the hall that I can wait in."

"I can bring you news when he's finished," the medic offered Edward.

"Let her bring that to you on deck," Robert said. "The others might want some showers or some food or something. Tend to them if you can while I'm tied up here."

"Okay," Edward said. He turned and went back on deck.

Marcus chose Evan's boat so that Michael could remain as one of the last boats to leave. He got into the boat, but he and Evan chose to sit and wait until Ruby and Aria were safely on their dinghies and on their way to the yacht as well.

"I am a bit concerned," Marcus said quietly. "He was covering a lot for Ruby's benefit. She's a lot stronger than she used to be, but she still can fall back into her old habits from time to time, and so he sometimes covers and is very closed about things. If it had been just he and I, that would have likely gone down differently, not necessarily better, but differently. I'd have a lot better knowledge on how he really was, but he's concealing just about everything but what little he can't possibly hide."

When the boat anchored, Marcus climbed up the ladder onto the deck, and he watched Aria go for a shower. Marcus found an empty cabin on his own for his own quick shower and clean clothes, and then he really wanted to find some firewhiskey and have himself a drink..

When Ruby got to the sickbay, Edward was sitting in the cabin across the hall, with the door open.

"You can't go in there, Ruby," Edward called to her. "Robert's working on removing that big piece of glass, and he needs conditions as sterile as he can get them. You might as well get your gear and freshen up. He's going to be a bit. None of us have any magic right now, so he has to do this surgery with muggle medicine, and he's already warned me it's going to take longer because muggles can't do anything instantly. So go get your shower, and I'll wait for any news."

"Second deck salon," Edward told her. "There's a bar there. A steward should be there shortly or you can help yourself.

"Thanks, Jack," Marcus said. "So much for Angus's relaxing day at sea. I'd sure like to know who took us out. Angus said something about seeing a frigate before we went down--like an old-fashioned pirate frigate. I didn't get a chance to talk with him in depth, but, honestly, that sounds like something out of an old muggle movie. That's not the half of it, though. Our magic doesn't work, none of the four of us. Wands don't work, medallions don't work, nothing. You guys haven't had anything hinky happen, have you?"

Simone made her way down below and found Edward as close as he could get to the sickbay, and she went in to sit with him.

"No word yet?"

"No, entirely too soon," Edward said.

"How do these muggle things go?"

"Time consuming, painful, much longer recovery period because they can't hasten anything along. Robert would have had to use muggle anaesthesia, and that will have Angus surely in bed for at least 24 hours because he's never had muggle medicines. His system will be very sensitive to them."

"So, what are you planning? You going to leave him on the ship?"

"I'll have to talk to Robert first. If Robert wants him close to sickbay, then that's what we'll do. If he's okay with us taking him back to the house, we'll do that, but I haven't outruled the possibility that we might have to take this ship to get home to England. I just don't know yet. The only thing I do know is that if Robert intends to take him to St. Mungo's, Angus is going to give him all kinds of hell about it."

"Well, I see no point in that, not when we have a fully functioning sickbay at Brian's and at Robert's farm," Simone said.

"We don't have one here at the house but if I need to convert a room, believe me, I'll have it done before we dock," Edward replied.

"Don't stress so," Simone told Ruby, returning her hug. "Robert's with him, and even without his magic, Robert can handle this. It's just one more repair on that buggared up shoulder. And no one knows the damage already in his shoulder better than Robert does."

"Get your drink and your shower, Ruby," Edward said. "You've got loads of time. These things take a lot longer when its done muggle style because there's no means to hurry them along. Besides, if you get your drink and a shower, it'll pass some of waiting time. I'm guessing you could have a couple of hours or better before we hear anything. I had a witch on this ship who was born muggle. She's had the training as a muggle medic, so she's assisting him. That could help move it all just a wee bit, but you also know Robert. He'll do it right and won't be rushed, and that's what you want. Besides, even when its done, Angus isn't going to be awake for a little. He's never had muggle anaesthesia before."

"Maurice did once," Simone said. "Zonked him out for several hours."

"It does tend to do that. I'll be glad when we all get our energies back, that's for sure," Edward said. There was a rumble from down in the hull, and it almost made Simone jump. "Calm," Edward said. "Big ship engines can make noise this far below deck. The ship's engines are starting up. We'll be getting underway to go back home to port. You might hear a rumble down here, but you probably won't feel much movement, though. This ship is designed to be smooth unless the weather gets really severe."

"Wasn't me," Marcus said to Aria. "When I woke up, we were all on the beach under that rocky ledge. I'm guessing our rescue goes to Angus. When he wakes, I'm betting there's a bit of a story there."