The Iron Man [Serial]

Breathe

I could not hear properly. It felt-- sounded as if my own blood was flowing into my ears. Murphy was lying back on the sand, eyes half-lidded. He didn't move. I knew there were others near, but I did not see them, not really. I touched Murphy's hand, his chest, and there was nothing from him.

There was shouting. English. Maybe Italiano.

There were hands touching Murphy's face, his neck, his chest. "A light!" Ken called.

Someone-- Miranda held a watch cover near Murphy's mouth. I could see her face, down near the sand. She wasn't looking at me.

"I'll get Raphael," Valentine said. Sand flew.

"Here!" A small penlight came in fumbling hands. Hedone said, "Sorry."

"No," Miranda said. I read the movement of her lips. "Someone needs to breathe for him."

Ken shone the small light at Murphy's face. He didn't look right. "Blue," I said. Ken put his fingers into Murphy's mouth and I reached, only to feel an arm brace against my chest.

"No," Sina said. She shouldn't be so close. Her whole body seemed pressed against my side. She had her hands on me. Pushing me.  "Julien," she said, mouth right at my ear.

I realized I was the one pushing.

Miranda used her scissors to cut the scarf from Murphy's collar.

"Anything necessary for life," Sina said. Ken knelt beside Murphy, one hand on his nose, another on his jaw. He bowed and put his mouth on Murphy. "We let them. If it is necessary, it will be all right."

"What could be the cause?" Nikola asked, "Given his color and our proximity to the water, drowning would seem likely, however the young man's clothes are dry."

"Does it matter?" Miranda asked, "if a baby is blue in their crib, it still shows they need air."

"Sarasvati help me, if someone has done this to him."

Ken lifted his head, then shifted his hand to again touch Murphy's neck and chest.

"If he cannot do it, we will avenge him," Sina said.

"Was there lightening this evening?" Nikola asked.

"Quiet, please," Ken said. And then, after a silence, "I am barely getting a pulse."

Sina spoke a prayer, her forehead pressed to my shoulder, while at the same time, Angelo asked, "Would your friend want prayers?"

 Sina lifted her head. "No baptisms!"

I lifted a hand to pat her back.

Sina drew a breath, then spoke again. "But pray. Murphy would want it."

I drew a small scarf from my pocket, left-handed, and offered it to Sina.

I felt a shadow over me as some arrived from the direction of the hotel to stand above those crouched and kneeling. "Should we not move the gentleman to somewhere more comfortable?" I did not recognize the man who spoke, but he was flanked by uniformed porters.

I recognized Valentines's voice, "Sir, here, I will speak with you."

Just a moment later, Apollo, the medical officer of the Zephyr, arrived and knelt at Sina's other side. "I'm a physician," he said. He switched on a light fastened to his glasses. "Doctor Raphael Laurus. May I be of help?"

"Yes," Ken said, "I'm Mercantile trained in basic aide and emergency resuscitation. Mr. Murphy is non-responsive. Found not breathing. Lips blue. Pulse weak. Resuscitating breaths  given. Mouth and airway clear."

"He has evidently not drown," Nikola added, "and it is unknown whether there was lightening; there would usually be a burn if it were electrical shock."

Raphael leaned over Murphy. He touched a thumb to Murphy's eyelid. "Pupils are contracted to a pinpoint. Is anyone here friend or family?"

Miranda gestured back towards Sina and me.

Raphael turned, his light shining in my eyes, which made me blink and squint. "Does he take anything?"

"Pardon?"

"Jade, I need to know. Does he take anything? Absinthe, Laudanum? Something else?"

"Na na. No. He doesn't even drink. It's not halal or something." Sina hugged me and I did not know if it was because I had said something wrong or right.

Raphael turned away. "Maybe he met someone in the area."

"No," I said, but Raphael did not seem to listen. "I would like to take him aboard out ship, I have equipment and facilities there." He turned to Sina and I, "I will do what I can...."

Sina dabbed the cloth to her face, then nodded.

"Jade, would you--" Raphael started.

"No," Valentine interrupted, "Sorry, but I need Jade with me just now."

"Angelo," Miranda said, "Please help the doctor move Mr. Murphy. Estasi, go with them. I will come for you at their ship."

Sina and I stood, and I stepped away, just enough to allow Angelo room to come through. "I will stay right beside him," Sina said, "until you come join us."

I nodded, still processing that Valentine had some need for me here and that I could not simply go with Murphy.

"You have to be strong and clever," Sina said, "It will be bad for all of us if our mission is incomplete."

"Ha" The mission. I saw Angelo and Raphael lift Murphy between them. The strangers in the crowd were dispersing.  Valentine was there. Nikola and Hedone waited, as did Ken and Miranda. I heard Estasi call for Sina.

Sina spoke again, at a whisper this time, "Julien, Murphy gave you the numbers. You need to send to Cloud. Tell Cloud Murphy is incapacitated, I am with you, and you are doing everything that is necessary. Say it like that." She rushed away to catch-up with those carrying Murphy.

"Mr Tesla," I said, "I apologize for all this, please allow Hedone to escort you inside. Hedone, perhaps a meal, and then see that our guest has everything he needs for travel."

"I can see we are in haste,"Nikola said, "Have the porters fetch us box dinners, and move my equipment to the Zephyr."

"I'll take care of it, Jade, don't worry," Hedone promised.

I gave a nod to Hedone, then approached Ken and Miranda.

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I felt like, with this and the last chapter, I should have included the typical "Will Murphy be all right? Do you think he will pull through?" invitations for feedback. But, no one seriously believes potentially killing off the main character's love interest is more than a device to increase dramatic tension and force realization of attachment? Right?

Actually, this bit interprets one of my previous Rory's Story Cubes rolls. So, the question(s) I might ask myself as a reader is: Which dice determine which event and can the photos of dice rolls reveal spoilers for future chapters? Or, to be even more spoilery: Which song will Karan thus be near-compelled to include as media for a future chapter?

The media for this chapter is the video for Sam Smith's Writing's on the Wall. Apparently my brother-in-law Benjamin Kitchens was cinematographer for it, but I picked the media for its mood, and it followed a Bond theme leitmotif from last chapter. Lyrically, some of it relates to Julien's sense of past loss and realization of growing attachment. I read that Sam Smith told NPR that he and writing partner Jimmy Napes "literally wrote the song in like, 20 to 30 minutes."

Also, even though this is alternate history, similar to our timeline CPR as we have it had not yet been invented, but there were various recommended or proposed techniques on how patients' breathing and/or circulation could be restored.