Living With Complications

Chapter 17

"What am I supposed to do?" Percy shivered as he waited with his father on the boat.

"Well once we get the turtle on the boat, we'll inspect it for any wounds. The call said the turtle got a hold of a straw into it's nasal passage, which we will remove."

Percy wore his thickest clothes, but the January wind was biting at his skin. Technically he wasn't the one in the water, he really shouldn't be complaining.

Poseidon brought both Percy and Triton to the rescue call. It wasn't unusual for Triton to tag along, since he basically tags along to every rescue. Percy on the other hand hasn't been on a rescue call since he has moved to New York.

It's been four days since the olive incident, and their father hasn't let them out of his sight. This was their first day back to the aquarium, as they were stuck at home the last three days.

Percy wouldn't have minded so much for being pulled into the rescue if he could remain inside of the boat's cabin where it's warm.

Triton resurfaced with a splash, but was holding the turtle in between his hands. He hurriedly put the turtle on the boat, before beelining to the boat's cabin.

"Alright so this is where we check the turtle. You see on the turtle's right fin there's tracker?"

Percy nodded, waiting for whatever lesson his father was going to spew.

"That means we have rescued this turtle before.
Which is why we were able to find the location pretty quickly."

Poseidon flipped the turtle over to examine the underneath of the shell, "It appears it's just the straw for being the only affliction. Hand me a pair of pliers."

Percy stretched from his crouching position and walked over to where they kept the tools and medical supplies at. He grabbed the pliers and handed it to his father.

"You want to grip the turtle firmly with one hand. The turtle will probably resist as we slide the slide out, it's essential for a firm grip on the turtle. With the pliers you're going to clamp it down on the end of the straw, like so" Poseidon said as he demonstrated.

"Then start to gently pull it, you don't want the straw to break if you pull too fast."

Poseidon started to pull. The turtle tried to retreat to it's shell, but the straw prevented it to do so. It took about ten seconds of slightly pulling before the straw came out in one piece.

"Now that's done, and the turtle doesn't have any further injuries, we will release it. Put that straw into the bin."

Percy got up and did what he was bided, while Poseidon released the turtle back into the ocean.

"Now this is the part where we go inside, and get away from this wretched weather."

Poseidon took off towards the cabin with Percy trailing behind.

"Is there any calls you don't take? Or is there a point where it isn't worth the catch?" Percy grumbled after entering the warmth of the boat cabin.

"There's always worth, son. But we usually don't go to the ones that are small, or can be release back into the wild right after capture during the winter season. The reason why we answered this one, is because the turtle was spotted to have a tracker."

Percy shivered in response, rubbing his hands up and down his arms trying to regain some warmth.

"Why are you complaining? It isn't like you went into the water" Triton sneered. He sat on one of the chairs by the window, and was wrapped in a blanket.

Triton grabbed his water bottle but before he drank, he inspected the water. Probably searching to see if there's any olives, Percy thought with an eye roll.