Perspectives

Chapter 56

Kalen fidgeted restlessly. He now stood on the opposite side of the island counter from where Piper was being treated by Devon. 

After analyzing Piper's injuries with a medical scanner, Devon had determined that she was suffering from one rib that had broken and two that had cracked, of course in addition to a countless number of bruises all over her body. 

Piper now lay flat on her back on top of a cloth Devon had set out for her. Meanwhile, Devon was measuring out a minuscule dosage of an osteosanol tablet on a kitchen scale. "Are you sure it won't be too strong?" Kalen questioned Devon for the second time. Kalen had been too afraid of the potential side effects to even provide Piper with basic pain medication after she'd fallen from his shoulder. Osteosanol was much more complex than a simple pain reliever, and Kalen worried about what could happen if Piper was overdosed on it. 

Not looking up from his current task, Devon shook his head. "I've done the calculations, so long as I get the dosage exactly right..." He trailed off as he used a laser cutter to further reduce the near infinitesimal piece of the pill.

Using a pair of tweezers, Devon picked up the freshly cut chunk of osteosanol and placed it on the kitchen scale to test the weight. A satisfied smile spread across his face. "Perfect." He stated.

"Devon dear, you ought to explain to Piper what osteosanol does." Celia put in gently. 

Piper had slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position to catch the now appropriately sized pill that Devon had dropped into her hands. She seemed grateful that Celia had spoken up, likely having wanted to ask about it herself. 

"Right, of course." Devon said quickly, setting the tweezers aside before lowering himself in front of the counter to be closer to Piper's eye level. "Osteosanol is a medication that, in simple terms, accelerates the body's natural bone reparation process." He explained. 

As far as Kalen was aware, osteosanol wasn't a common household drug. It was usually something prescribed by a physician, though it wasn't surprising that the Bradfords may have had some leftover from a previous injury one of them had sustained. 

"Normally an injury of this nature would take around six weeks to heal." Devon continued. "However with a dosage of osteosanol every four hours, you should be back to normal in a week." 

While Devon had been explaining, Celia had fetched a tiny doll's cup from the dish drying rack beside the sink. Now filled with a droplet of water, Celia carefully handed it to Piper. 

"While you take that, I'll measure out a dose of extra strength pain medication for you." Devon told Piper with an encouraging smile before turning to shuffle through his bin of supplies. 

Piper scrutinized the pill in her hand uncertainly. She turned to Kalen as if to ask his opinion on the matter. As nervous as it made him to give Piper medicine never before been tested on humans, he couldn't deny how beneficial it would be to her if it worked, and Devon seemed fairly confident in his calculations afterall. Devon was likely one of the sharpest men Kalen knew, not to mention one of the kindest. Devon would never be going through with it if he thought it likely Piper would be in any kind of danger. 

Kalen's shrug of "why not" seemed enough to convince Piper, as she then popped the osteosanol into her mouth and swiftly downed it with a swig of water. Kalen stared at her, as if half expecting her to suddenly burst into flames or something equally as horrific. She gave Kalen a shrug of her own. 

"Alright, this should ease the pain." Devon announced before dropping a new freshly reduced pill into Piper's hand. 

Not hesitating an instant this time, Piper immediately tossed the pill into her mouth, followed by a hurried sip of water. It was clear she was eager for the pain relief to kick in. Kalen couldn't blame her, she had suffered a heinous amount of abuse at Rothgard's hands. 

"I'll start measuring out a week's worth of dosages of each." Devon told Piper with a soft smile. 

The sensation of a gentle hand wrapping around Kalen's upper arm startled him slightly, though he quickly relaxed when he saw it belonged to Celia. "Kalen and I are going to fetch you some more comfortable clothes." She informed Piper warmly as she began to tug Kalen towards the stairs. 

Though Kalen sluggishly followed Celia, his gaze remained stuck on Piper. He found himself not wanting her out of his sight, or outside arm's reach for that matter. After everything she had gone through he just wanted to know and ensure that she was safe. Knowing that she would be just fine with Devon nearby was the only thing that prevented Kalen from insisting upon staying put. 

Kalen followed Celia out of the kitchen and up another set of stairs to a guest bedroom. He had a feeling there was more to this than simply gathering clothes for Piper, an intuition that was quickly confirmed. "What happened?" Celia demanded, her light blue eyes boring holes into him. 

Seeing no point in beating around the bush, Kalen began to explain everything that had happened since he went to the meet with Commander Dawcett. Despite looking very much like she wanted to interject, Celia remained silent throughout the whole thing. When Kalen finally finished, she wore an expression of incredulity on her face. "I cannot believe you allowed the Pervicacious to abduct the head of the Sovereign Council!" She exclaimed, a petite hand clutching at her chest. 

"I know it will have its consequences, but I don't regret it." Kalen responded firmly. "It was the only way to save Piper." 

Celia paused, as though trying to carefully formulate her response in her mind. After a moment she gave a short nod of understanding. "Kalen, I don't blame you for what you did." She began. "Lord Rothgard was clearly a twisted man to have inflicted such injuries on Piper, and I am pleased he is no longer in a position of power." She folded her hands together in front of her. "What concerns me is the fact that an insurgent group has committed what can only be considered a revolutionary act against the Sovereign Council." 

It was true that Kalen didn't fully trust the Pervicacious, however he knew that their intentions were well founded at the very least. The Sovereign Council had become nigh on tyrannical in recent years, especially with Rothgard at the helm. It was something that had taken meeting Piper for Kalen to notice. "With Rothgard gone there's a chance the council can be better." Kalen told Celia. "The Pervicacious won't act out if we don't give them a reason to." 

Celia raised a single light eyebrow. She didn't seem convinced. "And besides, the only reason they were able to pull it off tonight was because they had inside help from me." Kalen assured her. 

Celia maintained her hard stare for a moment longer before relenting with a sigh. "There's nothing to be done about it now anyways, I'm just glad Piper's alright." She then turned to the beside table. On top of the table was what Kalen assumed had served as a makeshift bed for Piper. Beside the miniature bed was an assortment of tiny doll's clothes. 

"I know she prefers trousers," Celia started, "but what do you think she would prefer for a top?" She asked without looking up from sifting through the tiny clothes. 

Kalen shrugged, "What makes you think I would know?" 

A soft laugh escaped Celia. "Well you know her better than me or Devon, don't you?" At this Kalen instantly felt his cheeks flush slightly red. While Celia's assumption seemed innocent enough, there something about the way she'd said it that left Kalen feeling flustered.

Unfortunately Celia didn't miss Kalen's reddened face when she glanced over her shoulder. A wide grin spread on her face and she gave an amused laugh as she turned back to sorting through the clothes. "The way you behave, one might think you have feelings for her." She commented airily. 

Much to Kalen's dismay, his face turned an even more vibrant shade of red at Celia's words. "I...I don't--" He stammered. 

"It's alright, you don't have to explain yourself to me." Celia assured him. "So long as you recognize your own feelings." She added. 

Before Kalen could fully process what she had said, she whipped around, holding up a different blouse in each hand. One was navy blue with a large bow at the center of the neckline. The other was crimson and had a more simple design aside from the lace lining the ends of the sleeves. Recalling the simple red and black plaid shirt Piper had first shown up wearing, Kalen pointed to the crimson blouse. 

Celia gave a satisfied nod before quickly gathering up a pair of trousers and some shoes. "Let's not keep her waiting, shall we?" She trilled as she glided out the door.