It had been a few days since they had gotten back from the island and what a nightmare that had been. Remembering all of the details of that journey made him wince more so than the giant needle being withdrawn from his back. He hadn’t meant for it all to go sideways go sideways so quickly. When would he learn?
Armed with swords and magic, Maia and Oogie had gone in search of the Oracle’s box in the deepest parts of the ocean under the Isle of Tartarus. The swim down had been quite scenic and pleasant with the assistance of Maia’s breathing and swimming spells, but after that, fighting a sea monster and crawling through vertical sea caves with the danger of plunging to their deaths at any time too much for even him to handle. In the end, they managed to retrieve the box and deliver it to the Oracle. She had been very displeased that the item inside the box was actually long gone, and had taken it out on them, nearly burning Maia alive and shredding Oogie to ribbons from head to toe. But as quickly as she had attacked them, she stopped. Her demeanor changed almost instantly, like she had become a different person, and she gave Oogie what she had promised him: a palm-sized piece of magical amber with a strange looking insect frozen inside. Oogie was in no condition to complain and accepted it.
The Oracle then put them on a small boat pulled by giant sea snakes and sent them out of the caves, back to the beach. Almost immediately, he sent Iso a distress message and hoped the other man would receive it soon. Oogie spent the night in the beachhouse with an unconscious Maia, trying to keep her wounds clean and her burning fever down. He didn’t have a hand for healing, not usually needing it himself, but he was proficient enough with triage care to keep her alive. The next day, Iso’s ship came into view and they began their trip back. Oogie didn’t sleep the whole time, merely sitting by Maia’s side and watching her fitful sleep. She woke up sometimes for a few minutes, her eyes unfocused and her usually-musical voice scratchy and rough. Oogie would simply smooth her hair down and tell her to go back to sleep with a soft smile. He couldn’t put into words how much it was killing him to watch her suffer like this and it filled him with an ugly mix of shame and overwhelming guilt.
It wasn’t until they were safely back at headquarters that Oogie finally allowed himself to be separated from his siren. Dr. Holiday was more furious than he had ever seen her, and that was certainly saying something. She had berated Oogie before hurrying of to tend to Maia, who hadn’t been awake for more than an hour in total the last few days. He had refused to be looked at until Maia had been stabilized, and a good ten or so hours later, the doctor finally turned to him and began looking him over. Unlike the other healers in HQ, she wasn’t afraid to scold the bone man harshly, stabbing him with needles probably a little too hard and threatening him quite openly.
After that, Oogie had been on his feet almost immediately. He could barrel through the fatigue, and there was no pain to speak of, just the nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right with his body. He’d tried to go back to work, but it appeared that Dr. Holiday’s orders superseded his own, and Rohan, Grisha, and Vulcan had refused to let him do more than a few hours of work before shooing him away. He was covered pretty much head to toe in bandage, and not even his suits could hide it. On more than one occasion, Dr. Holiday had even burst into his office and ordered him back to bed.
It was always difficult for Oogie to sit still in the infirmary. He didn’t enjoy being fussed over, even though the way Dr. Holiday did it was about as far from fussing as he could imagine. He was currently back in the infirmary for his most recent check up. He didn’t even wince as another large needle was inserted into his spine, somewhere in the lower part of his back. His deadened nerves barely stirred as it pierced his skin and cool liquid traveled up his spine to spread out at the base of his bald head. The doctor often remarked that he was both her best and worst patient, as he never needed any anesthetic potion. But at the same time, the vital medical question “Where does it hurt” was always met with unhelpful answer of “Nowhere”.
“You have no one to blame but yourself if you pass out in front of the new recruits, sir,” the doctor said to him, peeling back his bandages and rubbing a bizarre pink slave over his mostly healed wounds.
The bone man waved. “As I have told you many times, this is nothing.”
She frowned, looking him over. “Your physical wounds are healing quite quickly, sir, thanks to all my hard work. But it’ll mean nothing if you don’t take care of your magical injuries. I’ve done my best with those but you need to rest. How many hours have you slept today?”
“I haven’t.”
“Exactly.” She got up from her chair and went to wash her hands in the sink nearby. “You’ve got a problem, sir, you’re too much of a workaholic. That’s why I am ordering you to take a fucking vacation, take the week off. I know you. If you stay here, you’ll just keep trying to get work done. Go away already. Rohan can handle it. And take Maia with you.”
It was unusual for Oogie to take orders from someone else. True, he could easily fire the doctor right here for her impudence, but he wouldn’t have hired her if she didn’t have that personality. And… he knew she was right. The magical damage to his soul and mind was probably far from healed, he could feel it, and there weren’t many ways to get around that. And most importantly, he owed Maia. Merlin knew he owed Maia for this.
After leaving the infirmary, Oogie returned to the room he was staying in. It was within headquarters on the personnel level. He pushed the door open and saw Maia sleeping on the bed, where he had left her two hours ago. The doctor had allowed Oogie to move her to his room and out of the infirmary. He didn’t think she wanted to be scrutinized when she woke up, which should be pretty soon. He hadn’t spoken to her since they had gotten back (possibly on purpose), though the doctor told him she was healing up quickly.
Oogie stepped quietly around the bed and went to the shower, the medicinal scent of the strange salve still clinging to his body. He washed up and wrapped a towel around his inked waist before walking out, finding his siren awake. Without thinking, he moved toward her, his heart clenching ever so slightly as he tried to figure out how she would react to seeing him again after so long. She grabbed him hard and pulled him close, before hitting him hard in the chest and berating him.
That stung.
“I’m sorry, my love,” he said, not yet reaching out to touch her. He wasn’t sure it was welcome and he wouldn’t blame her. “You are right, you do not deserve it. And I do not deserve you. I am sorry for dragging you into this and allowing you to be injured because of me. There is…no excuse for my behavior. It was selfish, and I am sorry.” How many times would he apologize? Well, how many times could he apologize? He wasn’t sure. He just couldn’t bear the thought that he had finally done the unforgivable and she might leave him. His heart might break if she did, and Oogie wouldn’t allow it.
He reached out hesitantly, placing a skeletal hand on the side of her smooth freckled cheek and rubbing his thumb just beneath her lower lip. Those lovely blue eyes would be the death of him. “If it is not too late, I would like to make it up to you. We can go away. Anywhere you want. Just tell me and we will go there, just the two of us. No work this time, I swear on my life.”
