Charlie lands on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge, dropping Master Mind behind him, and runs to Joy. The rope that ties him to the big robot stops him in the middle. Without thinking, he whirls around, cuts it with a knife that just appears in his hand, and keeps running. The knife disappears. 

“Joy! Joy! Are you alive?” 

“Charlie, I’m okay. I’m okay.” But her face is paler than usual and sweaty. 

“When I saw you get shot…” he looks her over and starts to cry. 

She grabs his hand. “Charlie. Charlie. I’m okay.” Her voice is weak and she’s in pain, yet she’s trying to make him feel better. What is this girl made of?

Charlie shakes his head and throws her hand away as well. He’s not listening. He’s in pain. 

“I’ll help you, Joy,” he says. 

He puts his hand on the tourniquet and closes his eyes. He starts to hum music. 

“What’s he doing?” Sandra whispers to Justin. 

Madelyn, standing on two legs - it’s so strange to see her with legs, and just standing - looks down at Joy, eyes wide open, and waits. She is clearly hoping it works. 

Charlie hums. “I can heal you, Joy. I’m a Dreamer.” 

He continues to hum. 

“Ow,” Joy says. Charlie continues. 

“Ow! Ow!” she raises her voice, but Charlie continues. “OWWW!” she punches Charlie on the jaw. 

Charlie falls down. 

“I said stop! Why didn’t you listen to me!?” she yells at him.

Charlie rises. “Did it work?” 

“It didn’t work! It hurts more now! Why didn’t you listen to me?!” 

He looks down. “I really thought I could do it by imagining it.” 

“Guys. Everyone,” Sandra says. “What she needs is to heal. She needs time. If there was blood, she could probably have used blood. For now, she’s low on blood. She needs to lie down and heal and let her body produce more blood, which is something the body does slowly.” 

“I’m sorry, Joy,” Charlie says meekly. 

“I’m sorry I had to hit you,” Joy tells him. “Does it hurt?” 

Justin is looking down at Joy and can’t move. “Is she going to live, Sandra?” 

Sandra smiles. “It looks like she’s going to live. But--” Sandra vanishes. 

“Oops,” Justin says. Sandra returns to exactly where she was a second ago. “You were saying?” 

“But you have to keep her from moving. She has to eat and drink. And you have to watch to see if she’s feverish or if the wound is infected. Okay?” 

Justin nods and Sandra vanishes. 

Justin sighs. “All right,” he says. “All right. All right.” 

He’s clearly light-headed. I go to him and lead him to the wheel. “Justin, pilot us back home. Okay?” 

He nods. “Okay, Dad. Thank you.” 

(To be continued…)

—Told by Grampa Walt