Callem- 

It took a lot of arguing from Parker, and one snarl from Hice, to keep Oliver from taking Fri to the hospital. I didn't like the too-clean white place either, but Fri didn't look well, at all. His face had gone white and his breathing had gotten very slow. 

Oliver hovered around him like a fly would a dead fish floating on the surf, but there was little more he seemed to be able to do for him. When he finally appeared to realize that, he turned toward Hice and I, as we were the only two left in the room. His expression hurt my heart, but I didn't know how to help. I'd asked, but staying out of the way was always the answer I received, so I did just that. 

I'm thankfully very good at it, or I would have been tripping Oliver as much as Hice has. 

"I just don't know what else to do. I called one of my researchers to go over the samples I took, but I can't think of what could be causing something like this." 

The stress on his face was something I'd hoped wouldn't return after he'd met with Ocar earlier, yet it was clearly back. He ran his fingers through his hair, then stifled a yawn before trying to shake the exhaustion from his mind. 

"Oliver, you should get some rest." I said when he just heaved a tired sigh and leaned against the nearby wall. 

His eyes rose to meet mine, but even with the exhaustion building in his gaze, there was still clear determination.

"There's got to be something that's causing these strange symptoms." He mumbled after covering his mouth to try and hide another yawn. 

My eyes wandered to Hice as Oliver returned to pacing. The mer was stoic, as usual, but something else was there. I wasn't the best at reading emotions, or spelling most of them, but something was off about him. Right as I was thinking about asking him about it, he glanced toward me, our eyes meeting. His narrowed, as they always did when not looking at Fri, but then he looked away and sighed.

"Hice, can we talk?" I asked, taking my chance.

His eyes cut back to me and I could feel his normal aggressive tension slowly beginning to return. "No." 

I expected his response, but curiosity and the need to want to try and help made me step closer to him. He tensed and lifted his lip just enough to show me a few of his teeth in warning, but I just ignored the gesture and offered him a careful smile. 

"Is your arm feeling any better?" I tried, wanting to keep away from the topics he was less likely to talk about. 

He remained silent for a moment, sparing Oliver a look before returning his attention to me. 

"It's fine." 

Oliver had treated the injury, put in a few stitches, then wrapped it with a bandage. There were several old scars in the same area, almost overlapping, that were visible, too, but no one had dared to point them out. 

Licking my lips, I nervously glanced over at Oliver, then back to Hice. "Can we talk?" I asked again, taking a step toward the hallway and nodding in the direction of the pool. I had noticed he'd been scratching his skin off and on randomly, and hoped he'd take the chance to soak and I'd be able to speak to him a little more openly without anyone else around. 

After a few more minutes of silence Hice rolled his shoulders and silently walked out of the room. I waited a moment before following him out to the pool. He was already in the water by the time I got the door shut, his dorsal fin calmly cutting through the surface as he swam lazily beneath it. 

Since he'd removed his shorts to shift, I decided to do the same. I also couldn't completely trust him and preferred my tail when swimming. The water was warm as I slid in, my lower body changing as it got wet. I swam in place for a few moments as Hice circled around me. His actions made me grin. Parker had showed me a movie called Jaws, and it was quite funny to see Hice copying the fake shark in the film. 

When he surfaced in front of me, he seemed a bit more relaxed and just began calmly treading water. "Do you have any idea what is wrong with Fri?" I asked. The question, I knew, wasn't likely to get a positive answer, but I just felt like Hice was hiding something that needed to come out. 

He replied as his eyes narrowed on me. "No."

"Okay. What caused that injury on your arm? And the ones before it that are now scars?" I asked. 

His lips turned down into a frown and he began slowly swimming backward. I let him go but didn't look away from his wary eyes. When Hice got to the far edge of the pool, he let his back rest against the wall and sighed. 

"A scalpel." He muttered, his lips just barely brushing the top of the water as he sank down a little bit. 

But that's what Parker and Oliver use at work. I think. 

"The small sharp knives humans use to cut skin...?" I asked hesitantly. The idea of being cut open by one of those did not appeal to me in the least. They always made cutting through a living, or usually dead animal, seem way too easy. The few times I'd watched Oliver or Parker do it, my stomach turned and I almost threw up. 

"Yes." Hice replied before ducking underneath the surface. 

His fin rose above the waterline a moment later as he began doing laps around the pool. I let him swim, glad to at least be getting answers, even if they are taking a while. When he surfaced a few minutes later by the opposite end, I moved to the middle of the pool and held onto a wall so that I could at least be within range to hear him. 

"Why did you let someone cut you?" 

Hice snorted and swam forward slowly. "No one cuts me." 

Then... he did it to himself? But why? 

"Enough with your questions. They're best left unanswered, Callem." He stated before heading toward the ladder to get out. 

I wanted to know more, but just looking at his movements and how he barely bothered to keep his head above water, it was clear that he was reaching his limit and needed to rest. Reluctantly, I followed after him but paused by the ladder when I heard the lanai door open. When I looked over, my lips pursed as I tried to remember the person stepping outside beside Parker and Jayson. I couldn't place him in my memory. 

Immediately, I stalked over to Parker and put myself between him and the man. He smelled clean, like Parker's work and the Cal-Waves building did. I didn't like it. 

"Hello, Hice." The young man said, nodding his head slightly as he spoke. 

I didn't like the way he looked. He had on a too-big sweatshirt, as if he were trying to hide his clothing underneath in a hurry. His pants looked formal, like what Parker and Oliver wore to work. His hair had clearly been styled, but not enough to keep it from being mussed by the end of the day. It was shaggy now, and a deep brown. 

Parker always told me not to judge people when I first meet them, but as I narrowed my eyes on his dark brown ones, I couldn't find myself able to see the man in a positive way. 

"You... um, you left this." The young man mumbled as he walked over to Hice, who had just finished pulling on his shorts, and  held up a small plastic bag. 

Hice was nearly snarling at the man as he approached, but when the bag was held out, he snatched it immediately and seemed to calm down just as quickly as his eyes bore down on the small white bag. 

I wonder what's in it. It seems light. 

"You should not have come here, Mica." 

The warning in Hice's voice was clear, but Mica just shrugged and hunched his shoulders. "Sorry, I just... wanted to bring that." 

Hice drew in a deep breath and blew it out as a sigh as he ran his hand through his wet hair, making it stick up a bit on one side. He then stepped forward and grabbed the man's wrist, pulling him quickly back through the home and out the front door. We followed until the threshold of the home, then waited and listened. I also took that moment to tug my own shorts back on. 

"Don't come back here again." Hice hissed, shoving Mica toward a small silver car parked by the road. 

Mica stumbled toward his car, turning when he stopped near the driver's door. He looked upset, but not angry, like Hice. He almost looked like he had given up, or was upset that he couldn't find something to say in return.

Why is it so important that he leave? And what did he bring? 

I stared at the bag clenched in Hice's hand as the mer snarled, then turned and stalked back into the house. Mica lifted his gaze to mine for just a brief moment before turning and sliding into his car. He was gone a moment later, leaving me to turn, only to realize that Hice had gone into the room Fri was resting in. 

I suppose I should leave him be. 

I still wanted answers, now more than ever, but pressing him right now wouldn't do either of us any good. So, I turned to Parker and grabbed his hand. He smiled sleepily and tugged me over to fall on the sofa. Something was on the television but I ignored it and gathered Parker up in my arms.  Some rest would do us all good. Hopefully Hice would be in a better mood in the morning and want to finish talking... or he'd likely just be normal uncooperative Hice. Either way, I would try to get more information from him tomorrow.