His Translator

His Translator Part 5

     Boss fell down a cliff? Does he even have a chance to survive that? Burt thought after being filled in on the story. He could only imagine how painful that was for Henry. Burt sat alongside Reginald, RHM, and Ellie as they waited outside the medical ward. It had been several hours, and they still hadn't heard anything about his condition yet. 

They waited, anticipating how bad the damage was until finally a doctor emerged with an explanation. Ellie immediately asked "Is Henry okay? Can we see him?" "You may. Come with me, I will explain his condition." They all awkwardly shuffled into the room to see Henry. To everyone's relief, he was alive, although he had clearly seen better days.

"The chief has sustained a number of injuries, so I'll start with the lesser ones then move up to the more severe ones, alright?" 

Everyone nodded.

"To start off, he's heavily bruised, that will heal with time. He has some gashes that we have stitched up, he will recover from those as well. He has a concussion that we will be monitoring, and finally… "

 The doctor took a deep breath before she walked to her desk to pick up a small stack of papers, presenting them to the group. Upon closer inspection, it was clear they were x-rays. 

"As you can see on these x-ray photos, his spine had broken. We couldn't fix it, so we had to.. Replace it using cybernetics. Much like we did with you, Right. So, overall, Henry Stickmin will make a full recovery. He's lucky you brought him here when you did, he probably wouldn't have made it if you brought him in any later."

 Holy sh*t. We could've lost him just like that? Burt thought, he looked at Henry. His bruised, beaten face. Clearly some of those marks weren't from the fall. Who would go so far against one man? Burt's heart sank slightly. He thought about the scars Henry showed him. Looks like you'll be adding some scars to that list boss. Burt inquired internally. 

If this had happened a year ago, Burt wouldn't have cared that much, but he was getting to know Henry. He cared what happened to him. He wanted to talk to him. He wanted to see him. He just wanted to spend time with Henry and get to know him more. Burt's train of thought was interrupted by Ellie's voice. 

 "Poor Henry… I hope he'll adjust well to his metal spine..." Ellie's voice was laced with a mix of pity and awkwardness.

"We should find a way to thank him for his help!" Reginald remarked, RHM hummed in agreement. 

"Maybe we should by giving him a "get well soon" cake." Ellie suggested. 

Burt paid her little mind as he walked to the side of Henry's bed, observing the unconscious man. It felt weird seeing him like this, his usually silly and welcoming demeanor was absent. He just looked so tired and hurt. Then suddenly, he began to stir, a groan of pain escaping his throat. Burt's eyes widened slightly, a bit of excitement bubbling in his chest. Henry blinked his eyes open. "Hey boss, good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" Burt asked quietly, he was sure to keep his tone gentle not wanting to overwhelm the pained man. Henry remained quiet as he made eye contact with Burt through half closed eyes. Ellie and the others turned towards Henry's direction after hearing Burt speak. Ellie walked to Henry's other side, eager to talk to him. "I'd give you a hug if your body wasn't riddled with injuries." Ellie semi jokingly declared. "Henry! Goodness, you have us quite a scare!" Reginald remarked, a mix of excitement and nerves in his voice. " 'Ello Henry. 'Ow are you feeling?" Right's voice interjected, a serious tone prominent in his words. Henry drowsy looked around, he seemed to notice they were there but he wasn't responding. He seemed out of it like he could see them but their words weren't getting through to him. It made sense, he did have a concussion after all, not to mention he also just had surgery.  Burt decided to try another approach, sign language. Burt slowly waved his hand in front of Henry's face, gaining his attention. Burt signed slowly, keeping the messages simple as to not overwhelm Henry. 'How are you?' Burt asked, not sure if Henry could really understand him at the moment. To his surprise, Henry signed back. Albeit slowly, 'Hurts' Henry replied. 'I bet it did' Burt commented.

 "What's he saying?" Ellie asked. "He's just saying he's in pain. I'll translate as we talk so you guys can follow." Burt replied. 

 'We were worried about you' Burt mentioned, speaking out loud while he and Henry conversed in sign. 'Can't feel inside back' Henry signed. "They had to remove your spine." Henry immediately had a look of panic, quickly signing 'They stole my bones!?' "Your spine was broken, they gave you a new one." Burt said in attempts to calm Henry, realizing that Henry was probably still slightly loopy from pain meds. "Boss, calm down. They gave you a new spine. You will be fine."

'So they didn't steal my skeleton?' 

"No boss, they didn't steal your skeleton."

'Ok good. I like my skeleton.' 

Burt and the others chuckled. 

"Skeletons are good to have." Burt replied, deciding to humor Henry a bit.

The group continued to spend time with Henry until he fell asleep again. 

The group finally left to let Henry rest, parting ways. Ellie took charge while Henry recovered. Reginald and Right decided to enjoy being reunited without interruption, and Burt went to get some work done. They would all visit Henry again the next day, hopefully by then he'd be less loopy.

To be continued...