Chapter 5 Section five

When Johnny woke up, he found himself lying on a low bed in the room.The room was very clean, with white walls all around.An electric fan spun above his head, and light filtered through the curtains into the room.The furnishings in the room are simple: a rattan chair, a small table, a chest of drawers and a washbasin.Even without the smell of disinfectant, Johnny realized immediately that he was lying in a hospital room. He sat up from the bed, and immediately screamed in pain, from head to toe, his whole body seemed to be on fire.He looked down at his body, and saw that the skin all over his body was blood red, and large areas of skin were peeling off.The doctor had evidently shown him that the most scorched places were covered with white ointment.

Johnny didn't want to move any more, at least not for a while.When he fell back on the bed and lay down, he couldn't help letting out another groan of pain.At this time, the door opened.A tall woman entered the room.Her arms are as thick as sleepers, and her whole figure is enlarged in proportion.She looks like she weighs at least 250 pounds, but she's not obese—she's just tall. "Ah, young man," she said. "Why are you yelling so loudly? I've never seen him yelling like this when his skin peels off a little." Just when Johnny was about to lose his temper, the big woman smiled sincerely and cheerfully on her chocolate-colored face.He forced a smile helplessly as an answer, and obediently asked her to take his temperature and pulse.

"Now," she said, taking out the thermometer, "I'm going to try to put you to sleep. When you wake up, the pain will go away. But before I put you to bed, you have to give me your home address, Then I can call and tell your family." Johnny, in spite of his sunbaked skin, tensed at the tall woman's words.Now that he had survived the ordeal, he didn't want the next ship to send him home. "I don't have a home," he said. "No one needs me to bring any message." The nurse raised her eyebrows high in surprise. "Hmph!" she said, with evident suspicion in her voice. "So, I'll put you to sleep right away." "

"Wait a minute," Johnny begged. "Please tell me, where am I? Is this Australia?" The nurse answered him unhurriedly as she poured a colorless liquid medicine into a measuring cup. "Yes, and no," she said. "This is Australia, but it's 100 miles from the mainland. You're on a small island in the Great Barrier Reef. You're lucky to be here. Well, drink this, it doesn't taste too bad." Johnny made a face, but the nurse was telling the truth, the potion wasn't too bad, and he swallowed it in one gulp and asked another question. "What's the name of this place?"

The tall nurse giggled like thunder. "You should know," she said.The medicine must have worked very quickly, and Johnny barely heard the nurse's answer before losing consciousness again. "Our place is called 'Dolphin Island'." When Johnny awoke the second time, his hands and feet were clumsy, but the sun-burning pain was gone, and half his skin was pain free.Over the next few days, he shed a layer of skin like a snake. The big nurse told Johnny that her name was Tessie and she was from Tonga.Tessie looked delighted to see Johnny gobble his hearty breakfast.This breakfast consists of eggs, tinned meat and a variety of tropical fruits.After breakfast, Johnny felt full of energy, and was eager to get up and go outside to see the scenery of the island.

"Don't worry," said Nurse Tessie. "You've got plenty of time." She brought a big bag of clothes and picked out Johnny's well-fitting shorts and shirt. "Try these, what's the size? Put on this hat again. Go out and put on your hat before you get a tan. Or you're going to be back here again. I'm sorry if you come again .” "I'll make sure I don't forget my hat," Johnny promised.He knew it would never do good to make the nurse angry. She put two fingers in her mouth, and blew a sharp whistle, at which a little girl came into the room.

"This is your dolphin baby, Anne," said the nurse. "Take him to the office—the Doctor is waiting." Johnny followed the little girl.Along the way are crushed corals, dazzling in the hot sun.They walked around in the shade.Those trees looked like oaks, except that the leaves were several times larger than oak leaves.Johnny couldn't help being a little disappointed: he'd always expected a tropical island to be full of palm trees. At this time, the path came to an end, and there was a large open space ahead.Johnny saw before him a group of one-story concrete houses; the houses were connected by shaded passages.There are several houses with large windows, through which you can see the people working inside; some houses have no windows, and it looks like a computer room, because you can see all kinds of pipes and cables leading into the house.

Johnny followed the little guide up the steps and into the main building.As he walked through the window, he found the staff inside staring at him curiously.It didn't come as a surprise to Johnny, because the way he got to the island was indeed a bit odd.Sometimes he couldn't help wondering if he was dreaming—he secretly boarded the "Santa Ana" and was sent to this island by dolphins—all this was too wonderful to believe.Is this island really called Dolphin Island as Nurse Tessie said?This kind of coincidence is really too mysterious! His little guide was visibly embarrassed, perhaps out of awe.She took Johnny to the door that said "Dr. Keith - Deputy Director" and left.Johnny knocked on the door, waited a moment, and heard a voice inside say, "Come in."He opened the door and walked into a large air-conditioned office.Having just endured the heat outside, he felt a refreshing coolness as soon as he entered the room, which was very pleasant.

Dr. Keith is in his forties and looks like a college professor.Although he sat behind the desk, Johnny found that he was particularly tall, even a little ugly, and he was also the first white man Johnny saw on this small island. The doctor pointed to a chair with a wave of his finger, and said in a slightly nasal voice, "Please sit down, child." Johnny didn't like being called "the boy" or the Doctor's Australian accent.It was his first time talking to an Australian.But he was very polite. He said "thank you" and sat back, waiting to see what the Doctor would do with him next.

The situation was completely unexpected. "You'd better tell us," said Dr. Keith, "after the Santa Ana wreck—your condition." Johnny stared at the Doctor dumbfounded—it was all over!He had some plans, although not quite mature.But now all plans are in vain!But at least he hoped he could pretend for a while, that the seaman had lost his memory after being wrecked.But if they knew he got on the Santa Ana they must know where he got on.Then, no doubt, they would send him home at once. He decided he couldn't just give in without making any effort. "I've never heard of a 'Santa'—whatever it's called," he replied, with an air of ignorance.

"Be smart, kid. The way you came to this island is quite unique. Naturally, we contacted the Coast Guard to see if there was any shipwreck. They told us about the hovercraft 'Santa Ana' Wrecked about 100 miles east of us and sank into the sea. The crew of the ship has arrived in the port of Brisbane, Australia. They also told us that the entire crew, including a cat on board, arrived safely. "In this way, we originally thought that you would not be on the 'Santa-Anna'. But then, we suddenly had an idea and thought that you might have secretly boarded that hovercraft. The next thing is relatively simple .We checked the places the spaceship passed along the way and contacted the police in various places." The doctor paused, picked up a pipe made from the root of a heather plant in southern Europe from the table, and carefully admired it. stood up as if he was seeing the pipe for the first time.Only then did Johnny realize that Dr. Keith was playing tricks on him, which made him dislike him even more. "There are many, many children who have run away from their families. You must be surprised?" the doctor continued in his annoying nasal voice. "It took us hours to figure out who you were - and of course I have to tell you that your Aunt Martha didn't seem too pleased when we called to tell her. So I don't blame you for running away home." Maybe Dr. Keith isn't all that bad. "I'm already here, what are you going to do with me?" Johnny asked.To his surprise, he found that his own voice trembled a little too.Disappointment and frustration nearly brought him to tears. "At the moment, we can't do anything to you," said the doctor.This remark gave Johnny instant hope again. "Our ship is on the mainland of Australia and we're coming back tomorrow. We won't be back to the mainland until a week later. So, you can stay here for another 8 days." 8 days!His luck has not yet run out. Anything can happen in 8 days - he can make things work in his favor for 8 days. For the next half hour, Johnny described how the hovercraft crashed into the sea, met dolphins, and was escorted to the island by them.Dr. Keith asked and recorded.Nothing Johnny described seemed to surprise Dr. Keith.After Johnny finished speaking, the doctor took out a stack of photos from a drawer.These are pictures of dolphins.Johnny knew for the first time that there are so many kinds of dolphins. "Do you still recognize your dolphin friend who escorted you?" asked the doctor. "I'll try it," Johnny said, flipping through the pictures.He quickly identified two or three species of dolphins. Dr. Keith is very pleased with the photos he has picked out. "tell him. "It must be one of them." Then he asked Johnny a very strange question. "Have any dolphins talked to you?" At first, Johnny thought, the Doctor must be kidding him.But he found that Dr. Keith was very serious and never joking. "They made all kinds of noises - squeaks, hisses and wahs - but I couldn't understand anything." "Is there such a sound?" asked the doctor.He pressed a button on his desk, and instantly from the loudspeaker next to the office there was a creaking sound like a rusty door on its hinges.A succession of sounds followed that reminded Johnny of an old gasoline engine cranking up, and finally he heard "Good morning, Dr. Keith" greeting, clear and unmistakable. The words speak much faster than a human being, but they are very clear.And, as soon as Johnny heard the greeting, he knew it wasn't a parrot parrot, and that the animal that made the greeting knew exactly what it meant. "You're surprised," the Doctor chuckled. "Dolphins can talk, have you ever heard of it before?" Johnny shook his head. "We've known for half a century that dolphins have their own language, and that it's a very complex language. We've been trying to learn their language—and at the same time, we're trying to teach them to speak simple English. A lot of progress has been made. This is due to various technological devices invented and manufactured by Professor Kazan. You can meet him when he returns from the mainland. He would love to hear about your experience. Now, I have to find someone to come take care of you." Dr. Keith pressed another knob, and the answer came from the intercom loudspeaker. "This is the school, what's the matter, Doctor?" "Any older kids available right now?" "Mick's free—he'd love to do something." "Okay—tell him to come to my office." Johnny sighed.On such a remote island, children cannot escape the confinement of the school.