“Painkiller, antibiotics, the works.”

He picks up the store cleaned and cut fish by its tailfin in confusion pulling one of the pills out of the inside. “This will make me feel better?” 

I forget to nod or acknowledge him just waiting. Again I notice just how bad off he looks, he has a stubborn expression but everything else is signaling the need for help. 

'Labored breathing, not being able to hold up his head all the way, little tremors in his arms tensing and sweating from the pain not to mention eating any of that fish at all.' He bites into the fish and then wrinkles his “nose” a little. 'I'm not sure if that orifice was technically a nose or more of a bump to make him look more human.'

I note as I relax a little bit. ‘Just wanting to survive, not fond of pain either.’ 

The siren pauses and looks at me, taking this as a sign to continue I open the lid to the medical toolkit I’d brought with me. All the medical equipment I’d need to help a wounded seal, dolphin, shark, or in this case a siren. I stare making him uncomfortable, staring back. 

“Why are you suddenly interested in helping me?” He snaps sounding out of breath he pants a few times, eyes looking around and flashing with fear, “You literally told me I’d better hope I never get wounded because if I came to you for help you might consider letting me die.”

“Might.” I repeat. “And you didn’t come to me, I came back.”

He lowers his eyes and they harden, “You also told me that if one of my species tried to kill you…and I did.” He tenses a little and I note the strength of the muscles as they move under torn skin. “It’s your oppertunity to try to kill me.”

“While we’re talking about what we’ve said I’ll remind you again. I’m a marine biologist and veterinarian.” I point to myself then him, “You’re a wounded, marine animal.”

He sneers a little bit not understanding what I’m trying to say.

“I can’t help myself.” I smirk as that expression of insecurity returns to the sirens face. “Besides you’ve been given orders not to kill me so we have a temporary truce.”

"I know you are a Healer but humans are tricky, the first thing they learn to do is lie." His eyes seem to tell stories that age him a little. "I will give you a chance to tell the truth."

"Can you not sense my intentions?"

"I sense sickness." He says so softly I feel like he saw right into my days at the lab. The long buried memories start to bubble and I look away. 

"I'm healthy so I have no idea what you're talking about."

He snorts, "A Healer who can't even tell when they're ill, why would I let you treat me?"

“You can either let me examine you now or I can wait until you inevitably pass out.” I say finally.

He goes quiet even letting me start treating his tail, while he tries to think of something. I admire the species differentiation between him and the mercreature. The sirens scales are darker with sharper fins and spines on his back giving more of a predatory species. I bet they made it harder for anything to attack him from above. Maybe he’s an ambush predator. But if so they his coloration should be swapped. 

“Hm.” I murmur and he looks at me.

I move to the next spot and he flinches away.

“Are you going to try to lock me up, imprison me? I’m still a threat!” He bares his teeth. 

“Do you want me to?” I ask feigning innocence, smiling when it has its desired effect.

He jerks back in disgust, “No of course not.” He shakes his head but I see the medicine is starting to help. He looks at the fish realizing this as well, before consuming more of it. 

Honestly I did think briefly about chaining him up but then I imagined him getting found and torn apart by a shark and changed my mind. Just because they avoided these waters doesn't mean they couldn’t make it into this area.

“I don’t understand, you are actively healing me, making me stronger.” He mutters around bites of fish. Avoid my eyes and tensing like I’d suddenly realize the folly and attempt to put him down.

“Veterinarian.” I gesture to myself as though it needed any more explaining.

“I may be ordered to kill you again! They’re only observing you for now.” He goes to grab my hand to stop me but actually hesitates looking afraid but not of me. “I can’t promise that… I…” He says not lifting his head. “I have to follow orders, if I’m told to go after you or one of the people around you I cannot disobey.” He growls, “And you're making it less enjoyable.”

I look at him wildly intrigued with his kinds version of the “justice” system or at least who ordered the sirens around. I scoot closer with the box and lean towards his ever illusive tail. Its spines raise in a warning. 

“Well then I guess it’s not your fault,” I murmur as I start treating a rather nasty gash. 

He slowly relaxes or at least in comparison to how coiled he was to strike before. Then curls around me. Watching my hands suspiciously and occasionally hissing from under his crossed arms.

I find a weird bloody spot like a puncture wound and he panics when I get near it.

“What are you?! Don’t touch me.” he jerks upwards grabbing my arms immediately collapsing. I lift my hands looking at him, he’s shaking as he tries to move and I realize just how bad his condition is. Him messing with me in the water earlier must have taken up a lot of his strength and exhausted him. He barely has enough energy to raise his head now, nonetheless swipe me with his claws. 

“Shush.” I look at him closer, taking in not just his physical but mental and emotional state. I practically have him in my lap and he doesn't seem to have the energy to move. I test how heavy he is and he tightens having his tail press up against my back and pushing me forward a little. I'm not going anywhere and he's still got both of my arms though I could free those easily if I wanted to. I listen to the pained breathing and let him feel in control until his racing heart slows. 

The siren tightens a little again and I have a flash of what it must feel like to be caught by a giant snake. At full strength his eel like body might be an actual threat I should take more seriously, especially if he has the instincts to constrict. 

Struggling a little he looks up. Eyes bloodshot and struggling to stay open have flashes of fear behind them. He’s terrified of falling asleep around me but he can’t force himself to stay awake much longer. ‘Unlike fish do mercreatures need long hours of sleep? Like humans?’ 

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” I assure and move my arms a little so he slowly releases them.

He narrows his eyes looking at me as tears flood his vision, ‘It’s not because he cares about my act of goodwill. I’m making him owe me or something and this is hard on his pride, I guess correctly as he goes to speak. 

“I can’t accept this.” He grits his teeth in frustration. “I’m still going to kill you.”

I shove the last of the fish in his mouth, “I already told you it’s fine. Eat.”

The outrage that flashes is immediately drowned by hunger so he gives up going limp to focus on finishing the fish slowly and watching me prepare whatever it was that I had with me. I go back to messing with the wound one on the front and one in the back, ‘Was he impaled all the way through?’ He muffles his cries, occasionally arching his back and spines with pain yelling as I wash, disinfect, and treat the puncture wounds. He makes it a bit difficult the way he has curled around me. Keeping close contact I assume for comfort.

He gasps in pain and spits at me, “You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”

I pause and then making a dressing put it over the wound which I see from his expression immediately soothes it. 

“I meant I wasn’t going to hurt you unnecessarily, or out of malice.” I explain deadpan. 

I move slowly twisting within his curled up tail to reach his upper body. Now back on the cave floor he shakes silently. I subtly mix more painkillers into the medicine. ‘But it's probably rage,’ I realize.

He whimpers and coughs covering his lower half of the face with his arms again as I attempt to treat a bite. From a seal. There’s lots of bites in different stages of repair. ‘Probably the selkies.’ I examine the scars seeing as there are shark-like bites, maybe orca as well. I frown and wonder if the higher up were similar to those. I shudder at the thought of mercreatures similar to orcas.

“When we first met I injured your gills.”

“I remember.” Snark is quick to come back into his voice. He unconsciously moves his hand to cover them.

“Are they healed now?”

“Yes?” 

‘So the siren is able to heal much faster than the mercreature. Not only that but the healing has a limit since it seems to slow down all the way if not completely.’

“Good.” I say and moving his hand press down on his skin below the gills lightly, watching the healthy red gills spread a little. His eyes widen and his pupils dilate a little.

‘The Selkies must have known this and that’s why they hounded him for days, no sleep, no food.’ I pause, ‘How would they feel about me undoing all their hard work? What all has he done to them?’

I shake my head focusing on my work again, ‘A few old scars slashing through the skin show that gills are often aimed for.’

“Why am I so tired?” He moans rolling to the side a little bit eyes struggling to stay open. “You drugged me to sleep.” He tenses, eyes wide and slowly understanding of what’s happening creeps into them. 

I nod yes.

Lifting himself off the ground he tries to drag himself away and looks back to quote me sarcastically, “Painkiller, antibiotics, the works.” 

“I’m just letting you sleep.”

He tightens in a ball whimpering, ‘why was he foolish enough to trust me in the first place.’ Even though his eyes are closed I can see that he’s still struggling to fight the drugs a whimper escapes his mouth. “Please.” He starts crying. “Wait.” 

"It's okay." I try to soothe.

“You are supposed to be a healer?!”

“I am yes.”

“You are a healer you can’t…there’s laws.” He says weakly as he slowly loses consciousness.

I’m starting to guess that he’s not talking about me anymore.  I narrow my eyes a bit.

I try to help but he struggles a little writhing, “Stop it hurts…I can’t…I can’t take anymore pain, please stop.” 

I stop sitting back to look at the wounds on him, ‘Scars from multiple missions, fear of being hurt worse than gills being torn.’ I press my glasses against my face leaning forward to think about all the information. So obviously the “men” in charge use violence and fear tactics. 

My flight or fight response kicks in as vibrations reach my eardrums. I find my eyes searching the dark corners of the cave and then after a heart pounding minute the noise stops and I whirl around, ‘what the?’ I look for the source of the noise, almost hoping it isn’t who I was thinking. Seeing nothing, I force myself to slowly look down at the siren.

When he finally succumbs fully to the drug I disassociate planning to process that later but first I have a job to finish. I return to treating his wounds. The sound of his breathing and heart make me worry he's having nightmares. I clean up the supplies and look at him. All the wounds clean and with some waterproof coverings. 

He’s too deep under now to have nightmares or at least he’s not tossing from them. I pick him up carefully and place him back into the shallows making sure that his gills are working correctly before standing and staring at the soft flowing fins, spines lifting and lowering slightly, the almost human face...  'If that was him I’m a lot less sure of my chances at survival.' 

I grab my stuff and pack it quickly leaving the cave as my neck still tingles. I wipe sweat from my brow and hurry up the steep and sandy path a lot faster than I should in sandals. I can still feel the vibrations almost like the rocks all shifting and moving around me right before a cave in. It felt like imminent death. 

That’s what I get for interfering with the selkies and siren’s world and laws. I should have left it alone but- I stop abruptly. That was also amazing. I look back and shiver a little. I haven’t felt fear like that since the first time I scuba dived and a shark swam right towards me. I haven’t felt emotions like that since, well, being younger. 

I mess with my face only to find my facial hair is growing back. I have a flash back to how I felt that same fear and excitement when I first started working at one of the top most renowned marine biologist labs.

I only worked for about 3 or 4 months before another company swooped me up. I mess with my medical toolkit. I wish I could go back and deny that job or actually work under the radar. I smile tensely. They overworked me for years and any time I started getting burnt out or disgruntled they’d use tricks to get me to stay. Sometimes bribery, sometimes blackmail. The blackmail was the least effective after years of hell in those labs. 

They’d throw women and men at me paid to act like a friend and flirt and I’d subtly ask them questions about marine biology and for help with certain procedures. It worked at first. I'd quickly learn they were fakes. But it got harder and harder to tell as time went on or heck they probably had all of us blackmailed and bribed.

In the end I wanted nothing from their advances. All they did was make me distrust all the people who worked there, scientists, veterinarians, interns. Only the seals could keep my secrets. 

I make it up to the house and smile as Honey is playing in the water. I go get her because there’s no way I’m letting her stink up the house smelling like dead fish and seaweed. 

As I’m washing her using the outside set-up specifically for this situation. I find my mind slipping back to the lab. ‘I haven’t thought about it this much in a while.’ I had a close group of friends at first. We were all extremely talented. I know a few of them created new medicines and methods to do our jobs. I remember working on important things as well but I’ve mostly blocked them out.

One by one they got moved to other facilities, to deal with the stress we all turned to vices, one committed, overwhelmed by the increased work schedule and choosing freedom over the blackmail inevitably used against them. I turned to alcohol and a few other things but I didn’t really like not being able to work so I always stayed just self aware enough I wouldn’t have to worry about overthinking things.