This story came about after watching A Hard Day's Knight back in October 2008. I just had to fill in the missing scene. :o) This is a one shot story. I haven't written anything in years, but this plot bunny grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and shook me. :o)
Disclaimer: I do not own Knight Rider. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. :o)
*************************************
Faith
by LisaRosa
"Mike!!" Sarah yelled into his ear, desperate for him to wake up. "Carrie?" She glanced up at the woman who was checking Mike's pulse at his wrist and neck.
"His pulse is very weak," the FBI agent answered, her face filled with worry and concern. "I need an ambulance here, now!" She yelled to the men around them. One man immediately was on his cell phone.
"Sarah, I can barely register his pulse," Kitt spoke up. Sarah looked at the console for a moment, then up at the readings on the screen above it. The readings indicating a heartbeat were few and far between. "If the paramedics do not reach him soon – "
"I know, Kitt," Sarah interrupted, her voice breaking. "What if I wasn't in time?" She held Mike's hand close to her, tears starting to run down her cheeks. The different ways she may have made a mistake with the antidote played over and over again in her thoughts.
"Sarah, don't give up on Mike," Carrie laid a hand her arm. "He wouldn't give up on you. You did everything you could for him."
Sarah nodded, trying to hold back the tears. "Kitt, how far away is the ambulance?" she asked, glancing around, and listening for the distant sounds of sirens.
"They are coming into the garage now," the car replied, a hint of impatience and worry in his response. For the first time, Sarah wondered if her and her father's creation had gained some kind of emotion. Suddenly she heard the sirens grow very close.
"They're here, Mike," She whispered into his ear. "You have to hang on, all right?" She kissed his forehead more tears running down her face. "You owe me a dance, remember?"
****************************
Hours later, Sarah sat by Mike's hospital bed. The ICU room was dark except for the light coming from the hallway and the moon outside the window. Her eyes turned toward her friend in the bed, and then glanced at the ventilator breathing for him. Despite the antidote, Mike had flat lined once again in the ambulance. She had been terrified as she watched, trying to shrink into the wall to give the paramedics room to save Mike's life. Once his heart had started beating again, Mike had woken briefly, muttering her name before falling unconscious again. Sarah rubbed at her eyes as if the motion would erase the memory.
"Sarah, honey?" called a whispered voice from the door. She quickly looked up, and saw her father standing in the doorway. Glancing at Mike once again, she stood, walked out into the hallway, and into her father's arms. "How is he?"
"He's stable now, but in a coma," she answered, laying her head on her father's shoulder. "Did Torres call you?"
"Yes, I got here as fast as I could." He kissed the top of her head, and gently pushed her away from him so he could look at her. "Alex told me that you and Kitt saved Mike's life."
"I don't know about that, at least on my part," she said quietly, tears forming in her eyes. "The doctor said the antidote may not have got to him in time. There may be damage to his central nervous system. They just won't know until he wakes up... If he wakes up." Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes with her fingers. "I may have saved his life only to leave him like this." She gestured toward Mike's room.
Doctor Graiman took his daughter into his arms again. "Mike is a strong young man, you know that. He'll wake up." Sarah could tell by the tone of his voice that he was trying to convince himself of that hope as well as her.
"Someone needs to find his father, he should know." She pulled away from her father again, trying to pull herself together.
"It's already been done," Doctor Graiman put his arm around Sarah's shoulders as they walked back to Mike's room. "He's on his way."
Sarah nodded, sitting on the side of Mike's bed, taking his hand in hers. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again. "Did you know that Mike still has feelings for me?"
"I suspected, but I didn't want to interfere. What did he say?" Her father sat himself in the chair next to the bed.
"Right before his heart had stopped the first time," she answered, staring at Mike's face. "I was trying to rendezvous with him and Kitt when he contacted me. He said that he should have told Torres to shove the mission, that we should have been at Lindsey's wedding... and that he loves me." Sarah had to stop a moment to calm herself before going on. "Right after he said it, his heart stopped and Kitt said he was dead." Her last word was spoken in a whisper.
Charles sighed, shaking his head. "He thought they would be his last words. What will you do?"
What was there for her to do? Sarah reached up to Mike to brush a few hairs away from his closed eyes. "It's so complicated."
"How so?" Her father turned in the chair to lean his arms on the bed rail.
As Sarah was about to answer, the alarm on the heart monitor went off. Both of them quickly moved away from the bed as a code team rushed in. Father and daughter were pushed out of the room.
"What's going on?" Sarah demanded from a nurse running into the room, her heart in her throat.
"We will tell you as soon as we can. Please go to the waiting room down the hall." The nurse closed the door.
"Come on, Sarah, let's do as she says." Charles gently led his reluctant daughter to the waiting room just outside of ICU.
It was nearly a half hour before a doctor came in to find them. "He's stable again, but still critical," the man in green scrubs and a white lab coat informed them.
"What happened?" Sarah watched the doctor's face closely, searching for any sign of bad news.
"His heart started beating erratically, out of sync," he explained, sitting down in a chair in front of them. "It's to be expected considering he's already coded twice from what I read in his chart. We've given him medication to help with that."
"What are his chances?" Charles questioned the doctor, bracing for any awful news by holding Sarah close once again.
"If he wakes up, we'll know more. Right now I can't give you a firm diagnosis." The doctor looked down at his hands for a moment before raising his eyes to them again. "I've been told that his father has been informed."
"Yes, he should be here any time now." Sarah felt there was something the doctor was not telling them. "What is it you're keeping from us?"
"Nothing I haven't told you already. It's just in matters such as these, it's best to have family present in case a quick decision needs to be made." The doctor stood and held out his hand which Charles shook. "You can go back in and see him now but I'm going to have to limit it to a half hour at a time and only two visitors at a time."
"Thank you," Sarah said, walking over to a window. The doctor nodded his head then left the room.
"Sarah?" Walking toward his daughter, Charles could see the stunned expression on her face. "Mike is fighting this."
"Is he?" Turning to her father, she wrapped her arms around herself. "Where's Kitt?"
"He's outside in the parking ramp. I drove him here when he insisted on coming with me." He smiled slightly. "He's really learning, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is. I even tried to teach him about having faith." Tears started to run down her face again. "If Mike dies, how will it affect him?"
"I don't know. " Doctor Graiman sighed. "He talked about having faith, thinking positively. Right now, he's an innocent despite all his programming. I'm not sure what impact Mike's death would have on him, and I don't want to know."
"Dad, could you stay with Mike while I have a talk with Kitt?" Sarah rubbed her eyes again then met her father's eyes. "I need a break if nothing else."
"Sure, Honey." Charles briefly hugged his daughter close then let her go. Sarah gave him a slight smile before leaving the room.
*******
A black Shelby Mustang silently sat in the moonlight at the top of the parking ramp, waiting and watching. Sarah sighed in relief when she finally spotted Kitt, having forgotten to ask her father where in the ramp the AI was parked.
"Hi, Kitt, could you let me in?" She laid a hand on his roof.
"Hello, Sarah," Kitt responded, opening the driver side door. Sarah climbed in and closed the door. "How is Michael?"
"Not so good," she answered, feeling the fear of losing Mike clutch at her heart. "Kitt, can you hack into the computer in the hospital. I want to see if the Doctor has been telling us the truth about Mike's condition."
"I have already done so." Kitt brought up Mike's electronic medical chart on the screen. "His condition is considered grave."
Before letting her fear for Mike overwhelm her, Sarah had to ask, "Who else asked you to find this chart?"
"No one. I was concerned," the AI answered promptly. Sarah's mouth fell open, making her forget the awful situation in the hospital for a moment.
"Kitt, how long have you been feeling emotions?" This was something Sarah had not prepared for. There had been rumors that the original Kitt had developed emotions, but she had thought it had just been wishful thinking on the older Michael Knight and her father's parts. Emotions were supposed to be impossible for computers, even AIs.
"Not long after meeting you and Mike," he answered, in, if Sarah was not mistaken, a sheepish tone.
"This is incredible," she said, in awe, then she remembered what Kitt had said about Mike and the fear was back. "Kitt, what else did Mike's chart say?"
"They do not expect him to wake from the coma." The AI went silent. Sarah let the tears fall again until she was sobbing. She laid her head on the steering wheel of the car and hugged herself. Mike was going to die.
"Sarah, you once told me to have faith," Kitt reminded her. "Should we not continue to have faith?"
Sarah swallowed hard before sitting up and looking at the console. Kitt was right. Why was she so ready to give up? "Yes, Kitt, we should have faith."
****
Charles was again sitting in the waiting room after having visited Mike for the allowed half hour. Mike was like a son to him, and to possibly lose a child was more heart wrenching then he could bear. He sighed, rested his elbows on his knees, and put his head in his hands.
"Charles, is everything all right? How is Mike?" asked a man from the door way. When Doctor Graiman lifted his head, he saw the elder Michael Knight standing there, his face full of worry and fear.
"He's still in a coma, but he's stable." Charles stood and held out his hand to Michael. "It's good to see you again, but I wish it wasn't in such dire circumstances."
"Same here, Charles." Michael shook his hand then took a deep breath. "Which room is he in?"
"Third room on the right," Charles answered, standing. "I'll come with you. They've restricted his visitors to two people for half an hour at a time."
As they neared the room, they heard a voice from inside. Looking in they saw Sarah softly talking to the comatose Mike, urging him to wake up. "You can do this, Mike. I need to you to wake up."
"Sarah, Mike's father is here to see him," Charles informed his daughter. She stood from her sitting position on the side of the bed, and rubbed at her eyes before giving Michael a small smile.
"I'm glad you're here." She shook his hand when he offered it, then turned to her father as Michael walked into the room to stand by Mike's bed. Father and daughter walked down the hall again to the waiting room, which was thankfully still empty. "Dad, I spoke with Kitt. He hacked into Mike's electronic chart ... They're not expecting him to wake up."
"Sarah, not expecting him to wake up doesn't mean they've given up all hope." Charles put his hands on Sarah's shoulders. Her eyes drifted down to the floor, her arms folded in front of her. "Why don't you go home and rest, or at least back to the SSC." Doctor Graiman knew what her immediate answer would be and he was not disappointed.
"I can't leave Mike." She shook her head over and over, backing away from him. "What if something happened and I wasn't here... to..."
"All right." Charles could not fault his daughter's reasons for staying. "Why don't you rest on the couch and I'll get us some coffee?"
"Thanks," she answered, giving him a brief hug before sitting down.
Charles looked at his daughter for a moment before leaving the room.
*****
Two days later, Mike still had not come out of the coma, and their hope was dwindling that he would ever wake up. Sarah was in with Mike once again, Mike's father standing on the other side of the bed. Charles was in the waiting room again, talking on his cell phone to the SSC.
"Alex, I don't think that would be a good idea." Doctor Graiman gazed out the window toward the parking lot below.
"Why not? He would have the best of care right here in the SSC. All the latest medical technology, private nurses…" Alex's voice sounded persuasive. Charles sighed, finally giving in.
"I'll speak with his father and let you know, Alex."
"Michael Knight is still there?" Alex now sounded a little disgusted.
"He has every right to be here, Alex!" Charles started to raise his voice to argue, but then quieted down when a nurse poked her head in the door, glaring at him before leaving again. "How would you feel if it was your own child lying in that bed?"
"I'm sorry, you're right, of course," Alex apologized, placating Charles. "If he agrees, let me know and I'll make all the arrangements to have Mike moved." The line disconnected and Charles closed his phone before placing it back in his jacket pocket. He knew for a fact that the elder Michael was not going to like this one bit, but in a way it would be better for Mike to have private care. Maybe there was something that could be done for Mike that could not be done in a hospital. He walked back down the hall, glancing through the door way to motion for Michael to come out to join him.
"Let's talk somewhere we won't disturb anyone," Doctor Graiman suggested, walking down the hall again, and out of the ICU all together.
"What is it, Charles?" Michael looked at him suspiciously, as they stepped out onto a patio filled with flowers and greenery.
"Alex Torres wants to move Mike to the SSC where he can get private care," The older man said quickly before Michael could interrupt.
"No," was Michael's immediate answer. He paced away and came back, his arms folded in front of him. "I don't trust Torres."
"I know you don't, but Alex suggested that we could bring in the best doctors that might be able to bring Mike out of this coma," Charles pleaded with Michael, his hand out in placation. "If there is nothing else that can be done for Mike, Sarah and I will make sure he's well taken care of."
Michael turned away, remaining silent until his unsteady voice answered, "He's my only son, Charles..."
"It's never easy seeing your child hurt." Charles placed a hand on Michael's arm as he moved closer to him. "Give him this chance, Michael. Please."
After a long moment, Michael nodded and took a deep breath before facing the other man again. "When will he be moved?"
"Tomorrow or the next day. I'll need to inform Alex that you've given your permission." Charles sympathized with the man. If it had been Sarah in that bed, he knew he would do everything he could to protect her.
****
The next morning, Mike was moved to the SSC where a team of medical personnel was waiting for him along with the rest of Mike's friends and father. Michael moved closer as they unloaded his son from the ambulance. One paramedic was pushing air into Mike's lungs while two others pushed the gurney out of the SSC and into the main hallway. Michael, Sarah, and her father walked behind them, the stress of the past few days showing on their faces. The doctors at the hospital had protested over their patient being moved, but eventually gave in to the logic that there was nothing more they could do for him anymore. Private care was better.
After seeing Mike settled, his father sat in a chair by his bed, oblivious to the others leaving the room.
"Dad, I'm going to my pod to get a few hours of sleep," Sarah said, giving her father a brief hug. "If anything changes..."
"You'll be the first to know," he finished her sentence for her. "Get some sleep."
Exhausted, Sarah waved goodbye then walked down the hall and out of site. Charles sighed, shook his head at the whole situation, then walked down the hall to Torres' office. He knocked on the door and stepped in when Alex invited him in.
"All right, Alex, what's this about? Why were you so eager to get Mike here?" Charles knew there was more to it than Alex's concern for Mike.
"I spoke with the doctor we consulted when Mike was in Iraq." Torres leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in front of him. "There's a chance that Mike's coma may be linked to what was done to him in Iraq, the reason for his missing memories."
"How? That was years ago, and you said he was fine, that the only side effect was the memory loss..." Charles was getting angrier by the moment.
"Yes, it was, but we have no idea how it would react to the chemicals in the poison." Torres stood, walking around the desk to face Charles.
The elder man shook his head in disbelief, and paced away then back again. "So what do you propose to do about it? Whatever it is, you need to hurry. Mike could be dying!" he yelled, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.
"We'll do everything we can, Charles." Alex sighed, sitting on the edge of the desk. "We'll need Mike's pod empty of visitors by this evening."
Despite that he had known Alex Torres for years; Charles still did not trust the man completely. Something was going through that man's head that he knew he would not like in the least bit.
"Don't do anything that could jeopardize Mike's life more than it is already." The scientist glared at Alex. "I'll see if I can get Michael out of here for a few hours, but Sarah is staying in her own pod tonight."
"We'll keep an eye out for her." The agency man sat back down at his desk, picking up the phone.
Charles felt a sense of foreboding as he turned to walk out the office door. Despite all of Torres' reassurances, Charles knew Mike was in more danger than before.
****
"By stimulating his dream pattern, there's a chance it will either wake him or do more harm," the physician said, his voice uneasy and cautious.
"Yes, Doctor Morgan, I'm aware of the consequences, but we need him." Alex leaned back in his chair; speaking on the phone to the one man he hoped could help.
"Then I'll be there within an hour." Morgan paused, and took a breath before speaking again. "If the man does die, I will not be held responsible."
"Don't worry, Doctor. No one knows." Alex hung up the phone, and gazed across the room, letting his thoughts wander for moment. Was he doing the right thing? Despite Mike's recklessness, Alex did like the kid and had thought that by wiping his memory of KARR it would be helping Mike. He knew Mike had been having trouble coping with what KARR had done to those seven men he had killed. What he had done had been for Mike's own good. Taking a deep breath, Torres resumed reading paperwork.
****
Sarah woke some hours later, and after dressing in clean clothes, walked down the hallway toward Mike's pod. Every part of her needed to check on him, to make sure he was still with them. As she neared the door, she could hear two men talking inside. One she knew to be Torres, but the other was unfamiliar to her.
"I'm asking again if you feel this is necessary," said the stranger, his voice muffled through the door.
"Yes, it's our only hope of bringing him out of this. Just do it," Alex answered in a soft but commanding voice.
Sarah started to reach for the handle on the door, but then stopped when she heard someone coming down the hall. She ducked into a recessed alcove in the hall, watching to see who was walking toward Mike's Pod. The man, dressed in scrubs, coming around the corner carried a syringe in one hand and small vial in the other. He knocked lightly on the door which opened for him. Sarah watched him walk into the room before coming forward again to listen in on the conversation inside.
"I'll monitor him the rest of the night," Torres informed the stranger. Sarah heard footsteps move closer to the door, and quickly ducked into the same alcove she had before.
"Be sure you do. This could go either way." The man, who appeared to be a doctor and the medic Sarah had seen before walked out of the room with Torres close behind. Sighing in relief they were gone, she walked quietly into Mike's pod and sat in the chair beside him. Taking his hand, Sarah watched Mike closely.
"What did he give you?" she wondered aloud, searching the IV's that were hanging above the bed as if they would tell her. 'What was Torres doing to Mike?' she thought. The machine still breathing for Mike hissed again in a rhythmic pattern. She pondered the words Torres had said to the doctor. Was it an experimental drug that could be considered dangerous, or something else? Before she could go on, the door to the pod opened.
"Sarah?" Her father and Michael walked in, concern written on their faces. "Is everything all right?"
"Nothing has changed." She stood and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing with Torres. "Dad, did Alex tell you he was going to give Mike an experimental drug to try and bring him out of this?"
"He mentioned something about contacting a specialist," her father answered, not looking at his daughter.
"What specialist?" Michael's eyes narrowed, moving closer to his son.
"A doctor who specializes in these types of cases," he answered, moving toward the door. Sarah could not help but notice that her father was not telling them everything. After a few moments, she let go of her suspicious feeling, trusting her father.
"Take care of Mike, I'll go talk to Alex. Michael, if you need anything, Sarah will help you." Charles exited the pod.
After the door closed, Michael stared at it for awhile before turning back to Sarah. "Do you trust this Alex Torres?"
"I haven't known him that long, but I do trust my father," Sarah responded, sitting on the edge of the bed while Michael took the chair. "If he says that Alex was requesting a specialist, then that's what he did."
"But you're not completely sure about that," Michael speculated, glancing at his son.
"There are secrets that he and my father both have." Sarah fought the nagging doubt creeping up inside her. She had to trust her father. "I know they wouldn't intentionally hurt Mike."
"And you're sure about that?" Michael gave her a stare that seemed to be trying to read the truth in her eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure." Of that she was completely sure. For her father, Mike was like a son to him. As for Alex, he had let her leave the SSC to help Mike earlier.
Michael sighed, but still not completely relaxed. Just as she was about to say something, Mike's head turned a little, his eyes moving beneath the lids.
"Mike?" Sarah moved closer, taking his hand. "You're safe, Mike. You're back at the SSC." Michael remained silent but watchful.
Mike's eyes snapped open and he choked on the tube down his trachea. Sarah immediately went to the intercom system and called for help. "It's okay, Mike, just relax, you're okay." She smoothed his hair back away from his forehead. His eyes immediately met hers, fear making them open wide. "Calm down, Mike, you're okay." She said again. Medics walked in just then, ushering Michael and Sarah out of the pod.
"What happened?" Alex asked as he and Charles ran up to them.
"He's awake!" Sarah felt like she could fly at that moment. Relieved, her father hugged her close.
"Thank God..." Charles met Alex's eyes. "You're specialist worked, Alex."
"I'll be sure to convey that to him." Alex gave everyone a slight smile then walked back toward his office.
****
A few hours later, Michael was once again sitting beside his son's bed, talking, catching up on times they missed. Even if their conversation was not an easy one, it was at least a beginning at healing the rift between them.
"So, whatever happened to your Kitt?" Mike asked, leaning back on the pillows propping him up in bed.
"He's in a newer model TransAm," Michael answered with a fond smile when thinking about his long time friend. "Bonnie, she's an old friend, has upgraded him to modern standards, but he still prefers the same model shell."
"Have you talked with my car?" Mike asked proudly.
"Yes, and he's taking after you and your mother." Michael laughed then sobered. "She would be so proud of you, son."
"I don't know about that..." Mike shifted his eyes down to the blanket covering him, picking at the threads. Michael reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort the younger man.
"You've done so much to help others," Michael said softly, trying to look his son in the eyes. "Don't sell yourself short."
Mike took a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "Do you know why I took your name when they faked my death?" Michael shook his head, remembering the grief when he had learned of his son's death, and the call from Charles that reassured him that his son was very much alive.
"Because it was then I realized what you had gone through in becoming Michael Knight, the sacrifices you made to help others." Mike finally raised his eyes to meet his father's. "I knew then that I was proud to be your son."
Michael was speechless at first then rose from the chair to gather his son into a gentle hug, remembering that he was still recovering from being poisoned. "Thank you," he whispered. When he sat back down in the chair, he realized both he and Mike had tears in their eyes. Michael had to chuckle. "If my Kitt knew about this, I would never hear the end of it."
"That bad, huh?" Mike laughed softly.
"Just wait until your friend starts coming back at you with an attitude." Mike returned the laugh, and set back in the chair relaxing for the first time since he had arrived at the SSC.
"How come you didn't bring him with you?" Mike asked more out of curiosity.
"Oh, he's with me," Michael smiled. "Up in the parking lot above. Kitt won't come down here. All this new technology makes him feel out dated. I think he's in communication with your friend though. Comparing notes probably."
"Oh no," Mike groaned. "Kitt has a bad habit of invading a person's privacy. He'll probably tell your Kitt everything about me."
"You mean everything about you and Sarah?" Michael had to laugh at the look on his son's face. "I wouldn't mind hearing about the girl that my son is dating."
"We're not dating. We're--," Mike said automatically, settling down in the pillows.
"Just friends," Michael finished, standing from the chair. "Yeah, so I've heard." He looked down at Mike for a moment. "I shouldn't have kept you awake so long. You need rest to recover."
"I'll be fine," Mike reassured him, his eyes drooping. "Thanks for being here..." His voice drifted off as his eyes closed in sleep. Michael, unable to resist, pulled the blankets a little higher over Mike.
"Good night, my son."
Michael walked out into the silent corridor, taking a deep breath before sitting down in one of the chairs.
"Are you all right, Michael?" Came a familiar voice from his watch.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Kitt." He stood again, walking down the hall. "How was your talk with Kitt Jr.?"
"He has a lot to learn, but with your son teaching him, he will be a son I am proud to know..." Kitt's voice held affection in it. "I just hope he doesn't learn any bad habits from your son. The things I've heard – "
"Give the kid a break, Kitt." Michael laughed, smiling as he paused by an office door. "They're perfect for each other and will take care of each other, of that I'm sure."
*******
For the next few days, Mike worked hard at recovering his strength with the help of the medics and Sarah.
"Come on, Mike, just one more lift and we'll call it quits," Sarah encouraged him through the weight training. "If you finish this, we'll go to the beach tomorrow. Torres is giving us the day off."
"You're kidding me, Sarah," Mike lifted the weights one more time before setting it back on the stands. "Torres giving us the day off is like saying hell froze over." He wiped his face with the towel wrapped around his neck.
"I'm not kidding." She sat on the bench in front of him. "He is being generous, so don't question it."
"I wonder what got into him." Mike stood, following Sarah toward the showers.
"He said something about a father bear." She laughed, putting an arm around his waist.
"Dad." Mike concluded, laughed, and hugged her closer.
******************
Author's Note: Thank you for reading and please review. The idea of Torres bringing in the specialist came from the note with the video on the Knight Rider page on . Just go into the Knight Industries page and click on Alex Torres' profile then on Video. It's the second one down.
LR