(Racket: I think I broke Snowman, oops.)

Callem-

The next day I decided to walk to the hospital alone. I thought that it wouldn't be too bad, but even after driving places with Parker for so long, I still didn't understand distance very well. I left in the early morning, before the sun was barely visible, but didn't arrive until it was well overhead. 

My mistake. Perhaps he will pick me up later. 

Not that I minded walking back, really, but I might not get back before he did and I wouldn't want him to worry when I wasn't there to greet him. I always greeted him when he got home from work, even the days I decided to go swim in the ocean. Missing seeing his smile when he walked through the door and saw me wasn't something I wanted to ever happen. 

Stepping inside the too-cold building, my nose wrinkled at the strong smells and I quickly headed for the elevator. It seemed that everyone who worked in the building on the floors I traveled knew me already, because, while they stopped most of the humans coming through the doors, not a single one even motioned toward me as I moved. They could have been afraid of me, too, but I did try my best not to be mean. 

Stepping into the elevator, I pressed the button to close the doors, then leaned back against the wall with a tired sigh. I had been up most of my evenings after Parker had fallen asleep thinking about what Ocar had said about Micah. I didn't want to believe that he deserved the torture he was surely getting under Hice, but I didn't know the man at all. He could very well be as evil as Ocar said. 

Or there could be something else. 

As the floors passed, I began to hear something over the quiet music playing in the elevator. By the time I got to Fri's floor, I knew that it was Hice. If he was singing again on the roof, which only made sense, then Micah must be here.

Worry twisted my stomach as I stepped off the elevator and went to Fri's room. I was just stepping into the room when someone walked over. He appeared to be a doctor, judging by the blue clothing he was wearing and the mask pushed up above his eyes. 

"Hello." I said, unsure what he wanted with me. 

The man gave me a tired smile and reached over to slide the door to the room shut, then turned to face me. "Hello, my name is Dr. Hugh. You must be one of his friends? I believe your name is Callem?" He asked, making me only slightly surprised. Everyone seemed to pay attention mers when we went out. 

"Yes, that's me." I said, darting a glance sideways to Fri's room before returning my attention to him. "Can I help you with something?" 

I didn't think I could. Mainly, because he was a doctor and I knew nothing about bodies besides how good it felt to be inside of Parker's. My face immediately went red at the thought, drawing an odd look from the doctor before he cleared his throat and spoke. "I just wanted to ask if you knew the doctor who has been treating your friend, Micah?" 

Oh. 

"Yes, I know him." 

It wasn't a lie. I did technically know him. Just not well, or really, at all. Except for what other people have told me and the few times I'd been around him. 

"Thank god. Please, try to get through to him. He's been working nonstop,  and I'm extremely worried that he's going to get very sick, very soon, if he doesn't stop and take a break." 

He's overworking himself? 

It didn't take me more than a moment to realize why Micah was going nonstop. 

Hice. 

Anger welled in my belly as I nodded at the man."I'll talk with him." 

He gave a relieved sigh and thanked me before turning on his heels and running back down the hall, likely needing to be somewhere and only having had a few moments to talk.

I thought about going into the room and talking to Micah, but when I pulled the door open and looked inside, I knew that it would be meaningless. He was slouched in the chair closest to Fri's bed, his black-rimmed eyes checking the monitors, then Fri's wrist. He paused for a few moments, then went back to the monitors and wrote some things down. 

His eyes look dead. 

He, himself, didn't look good, either. Besides the black around his eyes, his hair was a mess, like it hadn't been washed in a long while. His clothing was wrinkled and stained, and his skin was far more pale than I remember it being. 

I need to talk to Hice. 

Without wasting more time, I slid the door shut and hurried back to the elevator. Taking that up to the top floor, I then headed up the steps to the roof. The lock was broken, though it looked like it had been recently replaced with a new one. 

They'll need another new one now. 

It would have been funny to me if I wasn't so worried about this terrible situation. Once outside, I took a calming breath and headed for Hice. He was right where I expected him to be, but this time he was standing instead of sitting as he looked out over the human city. 

"Hice." I called over the wind whipping around us. 

His song took a moment to come to an end, then he slowly turned until our eyes met. The look he gave me was cold, but I wouldn't expect anything else from him. 

"Hello, Hice. I came to speak with you about Micah." 

His eyebrows drew down into a scowl and he turned his back to me again. "There is nothing to talk about." 

Nothing? Micah is half dead downstairs and you care so little for him that you would let him die, even helping the only person you care for as hard as he can? 

"We must talk about Micah." I restated, adding more determination to my voice as I walked closer, stopping just a few feet away. 

When Hice didn't respond, I bit my lower lip and narrowed my eyes on his back. He wore a thin, sleeveless, red and white striped shirt and a pair of loose red shorts. He would be able to slip out of them easily if he ever wanted to shift. 

"Be gone, dolphin." He eventually growled as he glared at me over his shoulder. 

The wind whipped his light hair around with force, but he didn't seem bothered by the stinging I felt on my own face from the tips of my hair. 

"I will not leave until I know why you are hurting him so much. He will die, Hice." 

That seemed to get his attention, because he turned back to face me, a half-smirk on his face. "And that matters to me, how?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. 

I was surprised by his response. "Surely you understand that he is doing everything he can to help Fri. He may be the only one who can do anything." 

Hice laughed loudly at my words, confusing me. 

"Oh yes. He is helping him, but there are other doctors, Callem. And all of them will do whatever I tell them to. Micah might know more about mers, but he has also told several of the doctors how to treat him and is writing down everything he does. I know he will die soon without rest, and I don't care in the least." 

My head hurt thinking about how someone could be so horrible. Mers weren't know for being nice, and my brother was a good example, but he rarely killed people without cause, and now that he knew that there would be consequences for doing so, he's stopped completely. 

Yet Hice is willing to let Micah die because he can. 

I had no doubt in my mind that he would allow all of the other doctors to die, too. Surely they would figure out that something was off and possibly find out that Hice was behind it, but how many people would have to die before that outcome? 

I don't like this at all. 

"Please, just let him rest. Please stop singing to him for a few days." 

Hice snarled abruptly and before I could consider reacting, his fist was slamming into the side of my face. I stumbled, but managed to remain on my feet. With a shake of my head, I steadied myself and looked up just in time to see claws coming at me. I ducked just in time and saw a few threads of my hair fall past my eyes, sliced by Hice's swift attack. 

"Stop!" I growled, though I didn't expect him to and stumbled backward so that I could react when he came at me again. 

When he lunged forward and slashed at my chest, I ducked away, then responded with my own claws. I caught him in the jaw, but he took the hit intentionally to get closer to me. My back hit the ground hard with his next attack, the hot cement burning into my skin through my thin shirt. 

"I will only warn you one more time, Callem! Leave me be! Micah will die whether it is by my song or his own misfortune, so go fret over some other worthless human! This one's life is over soon either way!" 

  What does he mean? 

"What do you mean, his own misfortune?" I asked. 

His claws holding the front of my shirt began to scrape against my skin, but I held still, needing to get answers while he was focusing on me. 

"He is dying anyways, what does it matter if I kill him sooner than his disease does?" Hice growled, baring his teeth as he spoke. Blood ran from his left cheek, but he ignored it as it dotted my own face. 

Wait. He is sick? He didn't look sick when he brought Hice that medicine the first time I saw him. 

"He does not look sick, besides being too tired." I replied, my voice serious as I narrowed my own eyes on his glaring ones. 

"Because he's been doing the director's dirty work, and getting paid damn well for it. He was the demon of Cal-Waves when it came to mers. Whatever the director wanted done, he'd do it. Not because he wanted to, oh no, he hated it... but he's dying and he needed that money. He told me, when I was still a captive there, that he'd rather kill himself than keep doing what he was doing to us, but I suppose he's just as selfish as all the other humans. He couldn't do it, and he just kept being the director's pawn until you and your little group of human friends took down most of that facility." 

Most? 

"Don't give me that look, Callem. You know as well as I do that you can never manage to kill an entire school of fish, no matter how hungry you are. There are more of those people. The director, for one, never even went to jail. He's still calling the shots, so you better watch your own tail instead of worrying about a dead human walking." 

When I didn't reply he got off of me and stepped back a few feet. "Now get out of here, dolphin. And don't come back." 

I sat up, wiping his blood from my face as best I could before standing. There were so many questions I still had about this situation, but I knew that I wouldn't find the answers to them here. Without another word, I headed back inside and down the stairs to the elevator. At first, I hit the door to the first floor, but when I heard Hice start his song up again, I knew that I wouldn't be able to just leave. 

Pushing the number for Fri's floor, I waited only another moment before the doors opened and I hurried out. The same doctor that had spoken with me before was walking past and stopped, looking at me with surprise. 

"I scratched myself a bit." I said as I wiped at my cheek a bit more. 

Most of the blood must have wiped away, because he narrowed his eyes but slowly nodded. Probably letting me go with that answer because I have no injury there. 

Either way, I made my way to Fri's room and stepped inside. Micah was still sitting by the bed, but he looked about ready to pass out. Or he's being woken up by Hice's song. The man was clearly struggling and I decided right then that I wasn't going to leave him here. He likely needed to be in a hospital if what Hice said about his disease was true, but he couldn't stay here. Not with Hice directly above him, commanding him to work nonstop without a care about his health. 

There was a quiet sound behind me and I glanced back for just a moment, noting the doctor from before. Well, now I can't knock Micah out. As soon as I thought about those words, I realized that I actually could. Or at least, I could try to. I wasn't sure how strong my song would be compared to Hice's, or if it would even affect Micah at all, but I had to try. 

Taking a moment to gather myself, I let my thoughts calm until all I could hear in my mind was the song I needed to sing. I then let it slowly slip from my lips in a quiet, consistent hum. I didn't like singing for anyone besides Parker, but I knew that he would be proud if I could find a way to help Micah. Even with everything the doctor had done, I couldn't see Parker being so upset with him that he'd wish for him to stay here and suffer under Hice. 

It took nearly ten minutes for me to see any signs that my song might be working over Hice's. Micah kept up his habitual movements, but every few seconds his head drooped and it looked like he might just fall asleep, only to wake again a moment later. 

Fifteen more minutes of strict concentration and Micah finally began to tilt in his chair. Before he could fall over, however, I stepped forward and scooped him up into my arms. The action seemed to be the final push I needed to take over in Micah's mind, because he passed out completely at that very moment, a quiet snore coming from him as I carefully got him settled against my chest. 

Once I was sure he would be okay, I turned, only to see the doctor from before still there, his mouth open in surprise. He said nothing as I approached, but when I moved to step out the door, he didn't move so that I could walk past. 

"I... are you going to take care of him? He really should be admitted here." The man stuttered, unsure of how to handle the situation, I was sure. 

When I offered him a small smile, he seemed to relax a small amount. 

"I'm sorry, but I do not think that he will be safe here for some time. He has written down everything needed in order to take care of my young friend. Will you see to it that the doctors all look at those notes and are very careful with Fri?" I asked. 

The man slowly nodded, then fished a hand into his coat and pulled out some money and offered it to me. "Use this to take a hospital shuttle car back to where you live. It should get you anywhere within town." 

I took the money, careful to shift Micah's weight so that he remained comfortable at the same time. 

"Thank you." I said before turning toward the elevator. 

"I'll also accompany you outside. No one will let you walk out of here with someone looking like that, and with the bit of blood on your face, without someone with you." 

I hadn't thought about that, since I never got bothered coming and going, but what he said made sense. When we got to the bottom floor, we walked calmly to the exit. Someone did indeed stop us, but the man with me waved them off. The person seemed confused, but did let us go after a quick hushed conversation. Once outside, I took in a deep breath to clear my head. 

"The shuttles are right over there." The doctor pointed just down the walkway. I nodded, but for some reason, my eyes rose, drawn to the roof.

Hice stared down at me, his normally light grey eyes as black as the darkening clouds of the storm building behind him. Beside me, I noticed the doctor follow my gaze. 

"That's who's doing it, isn't it?" He asked. He didn't seem mad or surprised, like I thought he might. 

I nodded and he sighed. 

"Do not go near him. He's dangerous." I said as I looked over to meet the doctor's eyes. 

He nodded and ran a hand through his messy brown hair. "He's another mer. I remember seeing his picture on the news. He's the bad one, right?" 

"Yes. Keep your wits about you is all I can say. If you send people after him, he will only kill them." 

The man blew out a stressed breath and nodded. "I have no doubt that he'll be targeting me now, since I'm helping you take away his target, so I guess I'll have to do my best to keep him from doing whatever he's done with him, to me." 

I just nodded. Even if I explained what Hice could do, it wouldn't help the man. I would return to the hospital when I could, but Micah needed help now, and that was what I would get him. 

"Thank you," I said before heading toward the shuttle cars he spoke of. I silently wished him the best, but my hopes were not high. Hice would not let this situation go unpunished. I just hoped that he didn't kill the man for simply being a good person.