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Letter to my mentor, Dr Solsun.

Dear Thaddeus,

     I sincerely hope this letter finds you well. Arnold and I managed to not die in our crossing to New Babbage, as he had predicted. Of course, I had promised when we left to write to you as soon as possible, but things have been somewhat odd here for the past two and a half months… You know how Arnold sleepwalks, and I’ve been tending actual patients here, Thaddeus! Actual people that I can help… Though in very small amounts and I have yet to be paid for a session, but I think it only fair to point out that none of these people I was helping had come for sessions…I think I might be getting a bit ahead of myself here, but you know me. That’s always the case.
     I’ve been having those dreams about him again, Thaddeus. You know the ones I mean. I see him reaching for me and his last words before I wake are, “I love you Mad-ness. I really do.” With that and everything that’s been happening here, Thad, I’m truly exhausted and I’m afraid that if I have to deal with anything too big I may just crush underneath its weight. I’ve been having my dreams again, Arnold was struck by lightning (don’t ask, I’m sure he’d rather tell you how he managed this himself…) and I’ve been tending to him with the help of a Doctor Kristos Sonnerstein. Not to worry, Thaddeus, I’m not his type. It won’t be like it was when he and I met in your class… Kristos and I are friends now and sometimes business associates. He and I work for a Mister Blackberry Harvey at Wilde Hospital in Babbage proper, I believe.
     Mr Harvey has been very kind to us. He’s given me my own office and he’s made Arnold what amounts to Head Nurse. He’s a very good person (or should I say rabbit?) and he’s always got something positive to say. I am glad that he employs us, again not for very much pay, but you always did say it’s not the price tag that tells the smile on your face what it’s worth. We’ve met many other characters since being here, Thad. Some of which you would love (Or love to sit and talk with just for fun.) Yang, Dr Obelensky, and Mr Underby are just a few of these deep and fascinating peoples that make up the place you’ve sent us to. I just wish you would tell me who it is you know in Babbage and how you got us that ship ride here… But you’re allowed some secrets, just as we are.
     I do miss home sometimes, Thaddeus, and I can admit that at times when I look out of the windows of my office and see nothing but fish, I think of how much I miss home. How much I miss the cottage, the university, the library you made me study in, my parents’ ancestral home… and I miss the flat that he and I shared before the… the… I’m sorry Thaddeus. I know it’s childish to not say it, to not give the event the name that aptly describes it, but I just can’t. I never could bring myself to accept it much, but here, I am slowly – Very slowly indeed – am starting to admit to myself what really happened that night… And how it really was none of my fault. But, try to tell that to my aching heart.
     I do have some friends here (Mrs Pearse and Miss Yoshikawa being chief among them.)I enjoy some days here, just sitting in the CocoaJava cafe, or taking copius notes in my office… But then there are times, like some few days ago, that I sit next to Arnold in the sick room downstairs and all I can think of is how tired I am (in mental, physical and emotional senses) and how sometimes I wished that we’d never followed what you said and came here… None of this would have happened at home. But, being the dire situation we were in, it was necessary to leave home and make a new start here. I simply wish that Arnold realized just how much I need him to function. He’s been such a part of my life, both at home and here, that if he should get himself into real danger and die… what would I do? I can’t go home, I know that now. And I couldn’t get myself together here without him to gently (and as you remember, sometimes NOT so gently) remind me to do the little things that barely register as needing to be done for me.
     Thaddeus, I hope to hear from you soon and I truly hope that this letter finds you safe and well. Perhaps I should go downstairs and see if Arnold wishes to add anything… Then again, I should more than likely let him sleep. He needs it. We (that is to say, Kristos and I) have only given him a small amount of morphine that once to make it easier for him to sleep… he hasn’t needed it since. Please, write back as soon as you can. I would love to know how Julia and Nietsche are faring as well, and perhaps you and I can keep up this correspondence for a while. It would be nice to get letters from home every so often.

                                                                                                                      Sincerely yours,

                                                                                                                         Maddox

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