I felt bad leaving this story where it was as a oneshot, so I decided to continue it into a three part fic. I hope you enjoy!


Jimmy had managed to get them to the hospital in barely over thirteen minutes, and they had just almost made it.

Almost.

Chris' heart had given out right when they had landed the Tortuga. Luckily the medical team on standby managed to restart it within a few minutes, and then immediately took him back before Martin got a chance to say a few words to Chris. It didn't make Martin feel any better, however; if anything, it made him feel worse knowing how grave the situation really was.

He had felt like his own heart stopped while he watched them revive Chris. It wasn't a sight he'd be able to forget any time soon.

After that, Martin had changed into a clean set of clothes after Koki reminded him he was still wearing the bloodstained ones from earlier. No wonder he had been getting strange and worried looks from the rest of the waiting room when they walked in.

That now left him with nothing to do but wait.

Martin stared down the door to the rest of the hospital with his arms crossed, bouncing his leg impatiently. He had already given an overview of what happened to the nurse, then processed Chris' IDs and filled out practically a book of paperwork since they were from out of the country shortly after arriving, but no one had given him any updates since then.

"It's been over two hours, Aviva," Martin said, checking the time on his creature pod. Only seven minutes had passed since the last time he checked, making the time feel like it was dragging along. "Why's it taking so long?"

"I'm sure Chris is going to be fine," Aviva reassured him, putting down the magazine she had been flipping through and turning to face the blond. "He took a pretty bad hit and lost a lot of blood. There could be internal damage they need to fix."

He let out a frustrated sigh. Her words only made his stomach knot up in worry. "I know, it's just..." he trailed off as he remembered what had happened just hours ago, balling his hands into fists and pressing them against his head. "It was such a close call. I'm worried about Chris."

"I know you are," Koki said, who was sitting on the other side of him. "But Chris is strong. I've seen him bounce back from a fear of heights in less than a day. I'll bet you in less than a week he'll be getting on all our nerves wanting to go try out a new creature power."

Martin already knew that if Chris did manage to survive all of this without major complications, it would be weeks before he'd allow him to return to creature adventuring. This time it was just too close of a call.

"And the local police already took the two poachers in custody," Aviva added, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. It's a good thing it's taking a while, Martin. It means Chris is still alive and fighting."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He forced a smile, but in the back of his mind he felt doubt. Of course it was easy for the crew to say Chris was going to get better. They hadn't been there like he had, watching him quickly bleed out. They hadn't been there watching Chris desperately try and get his arm to work again. And they weren't there for those first few terrifying moments when Martin thought Chris had been shot dead.

Martin checked his creature pod again with a sigh. Four minutes. And he had thought time dragged while out earlier in the African Savannah.

Two time checks later Jimmy walked in, carrying a small bag of bagels and some drinks from the local market. Martin gratefully took the water, not realizing how thirsty he was until he downed half the bottle, but turned down the food despite the glares he received from the girls. Right now he felt too overwhelmed to even think about eating.

"I don't know why you don't want to eat," Jimmy said, between a bite of his own bagel. "Eating always makes me feel better."

Koki ended up forcing Martin to eat at least one bagel in the end, although it didn't do anything to ease the knot that was his stomach.

Hour three and eight time checks later, the local police stopped by to get a statement from the crew and update them on events so far. From what the two poachers had confessed, one bullet was meant for each of them in order to take them out and get to the elephants. But the first bullet hit was the one that only grazed Chris' head, and the second one was a misfire intended to hit Martin, but instead hit Chris again in the shoulder after the elephants got spooked.

Now not only was Martin feeling guilty about potentially paralyzing Chris' arm, he felt even worse that he could not have even spared what Chris had (and still is) gone through by taking his own bullet that was meant for him.

"You had no control over that and you know it," Aviva scolded him before he even got a chance to say anything. "You guys shouldn't have been shot at in the first place. It's no one's fault but theirs."

"But-"

"But nothing, MK," Aviva continued. "If it wasn't for you, we probably wouldn't be here right now waiting. You saved Chris' life out there. I'm sure it won't be much longer."

The waiting was starting to make him feel insane. Martin's anxiety only continued to rise when he started seeing families get called back for patients who had arrived after Chris. In the back of his mind, he knew they most likely only had minor ailments compared to his brother who had practically died, but that was hard to remember when he still hadn't gotten any word, good or bad.

Was no news really good news? The uncertainty was eating him alive.


"How's my brother?" Martin asked when they were finally able to visit Chris after just under four hours, unable to take his eyes off his brother who was thankfully still breathing and still had both arms. "Is he going to be okay?"

Chris looked uncomfortable, even while unconscious; his mouth was set in a deep frown and his forehead was creased despite the drugs they had most likely gave him. Someone had changed out his original dirty clothes, cleaned him up, and dressed him in a light blue hospital gown, which only made him look even paler than he already was. If it wasn't for the current situation, Martin would have found it funny Chris was, for once in his life, wearing his own signature color instead of green.

"It was touch and go there for a while. We just moved him from Post Op," the Doctor (Belewa? He wasn't paying much attention when they introduced) explained. Martin glanced over at her as she spoke, but kept his gaze on Chris. "Mr. Kratt already lost a lot of blood when he arrived, and was deep in shock when we got him back to the surgical unit. He coded again during the operation, but we got his heart started again without a hitch.

"The bullet in his shoulder skimmed across his subclavian artery and snapped his clavicle in two from the impact, and the bone then compressed several nerves in his arm. Mr. Kratt's incredibly lucky the bullet wasn't any closer to that artery."

Martin paled as the doctor explained what had happened. That was a lot of damage that came from such a small bullet. "How was the surgery?" he asked, wringing his hands together. Four hours was an awfully long time, especially without even getting an update that Chris was in surgery.

"We were able to suture his artery to stop the bleeding, then we connected the bone back together. We'll keep Mr. Kratt monitored for any long term complications with his nervous system. He may experience some permanent weakness or numbness, or his arm could even be fully paralyzed, but it's too early to tell until we can test it. The hospital has a physical therapist on site that I can book for Mr. Kratt when he recovers."

While Martin could not be thankful enough that Chris survived all of this, and would stand by his brother no matter what happened, he felt crushed that Chris could still potentially lose the use of his arm; after all, that was all Chris had been able to focus on the entire time. Climbing was his life, something that meant a lot to him, and Martin knew Chris would be devastated if he wasn't able to climb and adventure anymore.

But, one thing was more important than anything else to Martin, and that was Chris' life itself.

"Chris is alive, that's all that matters," Martin finally resolved. "We can figure something out later."

"Of course," Aviva agreed. "I'm sure I can come up with some kind of invention to help Chris, so you might still be able to go creature adventuring like usual. But like she said, we don't even know what's going to happen until it does."

"His vital signs are still lower than I'd like, so we'll keep Mr. Kratt under close observation for the next several days while he heals," Dr. Belewa continued. "Right now he's on IV for fluids and a blood transfusion to try and bring them back up.

"I'll have a nurse come back in an hour to check on him and give him another dose of painkillers," Dr. Belewa said, handing Martin the call button. "If you need anything, just press this and someone will be here. Hopefully Mr. Kratt should be waking up sometime tomorrow."

Once the doctor closed the door behind her, Martin sank down in the chair closest to the head of the bed. Now that he knew Chris was alive after several hours of what if, it felt like a heavy weight was lifted off of his chest. He felt tired after everything they dealt with, although Martin already knew there would be no way he'd be able to get much sleep tonight.

"See? What did I tell you?" Koki said, sitting down in the chair next to him. "He'll be up and begging to get outta here before you know it. Chris is way too stubborn to stay down too long."

Martin only hoped Chris kept with his usual habit of waking up early.


If there was anything Martin could depend on, it was their dumb Kratt luck running out like usual.

"There's been a... complication."

Martin's head sharply turned towards the doctor as soon as he heard her words, watching as she entered the room. "A Complication?" he hesitated, glancing over to look at Chris for a moment before facing her again with a frown. Hearing a doctor say something was wrong at four in the morning was definitely not good news. "What's going on? What's wrong with my brother?"

Dr. Belewa looked down at her clipboard, causing Martin to bite his lip in worry as he his mind whirled with every potential complication he could think of. What could have possibly gone wrong? The day before Martin thought Chris was going to be fine, and now he was worried all over again.

"The resident nurse advised me his wound got infected," Dr. Belewa explained. "With these types of injuries, infections can be common, especially since this one is deep with two points of entry. We've been monitoring it for the past several hours, but unfortunately his latest blood work doesn't look good."

Martin ran a nervous hand through his hair. Just as soon as he thought Chris was finally going to be okay, this happens. "What do you mean? So is Chris going to be okay?" he questioned again, his mouth dry. "Is there anything you can give to help him? Like some medicine?"

"Right now he's on a strong antibiotic, but it's not working as quickly as we were hoping. With the injury so close to that artery, we're worried it could potentially spread to his bloodstream and become septic," she continued. "And it's looking like it could be more of a matter of when instead of if. Unfortunately we're too small of a hospital for such specialized care, so we might need to have Mr. Kratt transported to a larger one that's equipped to handle his care if it comes to that."

"Is there anything I can do to help Chris?" he asked. He felt helpless, unable to do anything except sit beside Chris and, again, wait.

"Just continue to be with him," Dr. Belewa said. "I find that patients who are surrounded by friends and family seem to do better and are less stressed. I think they just have a way of knowing they're there with them."

She didn't have to tell him twice.

"In the meantime we'll monitor his condition through the next couple days and see how it progresses. As soon as we find out if the infection spreads, we'll arrange for a transport. And Mr. Kratt?" She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Don't forget to take care of yourself too. You look like you could use some rest."

Martin had probably a combined two hours of sleep total since he had been at the hospital, broken up into light naps when he didn't even realize he fell asleep. He hadn't checked himself in the mirror since yesterday morning, but he knew he had to be an awful sight to look at right now.

The rest of crew was currently back at the Tortuga sleeping, as only immediate family was allowed after hours, but Martin couldn't bring himself to leave Chris' side to catch up on his own.

"I will," He said with a nod, even though he already knew it was most likely going to end up being a lie. He couldn't rest now, not when Chris needed him.

The door closed behind the doctor with a click, leaving Martin alone with the sound of quiet beeping of the machines and his own thoughts. And he thought this whole situation couldn't get any worse. Being careful to avoid the IV line, Martin pulled Chris' good hand into his own and brought it to his forehead. His skin felt clammy from the already developing fever, and it was unnerving how limp his hand was in his grip.

Chris looked even more haggard than when he first saw him. Martin knew fighting the infection on top of healing such a major injury had to be taking a toll on his body. He squeezed tighter on his hand as if he could give his own strength to his brother by willpower alone.

Pulling out his creature pod, Martin dialed the number for the Tortuga. He had almost forgotten to let them know what was going on. "C'mon, pick up..." he muttered impatiently as he stared at the paw print in the middle of the screen.

"Martin? It's four in the morning," Aviva answered after several rings, her voice sounding tired after just being woken up as she rubbed her eyes. Realization dawned on her seconds later, however, as she realized there could only be one reason why he was calling at this hour. "What's going on? Did something happen to Chris?"

He suddenly felt guilty for waking her up, but at the moment he had to talk to someone about it. "Aviva, Chris, he's...he's got an infection," Martin said as he suddenly choked up, running a hand down his face to calm himself. "The doctor said it's probably going to spread and they might have to move Chris to another hospital. I don't know what to do."

"Oh, poprecito. Did she say it was going to happen for sure?" Aviva asked.

"She said it was looking more like when it was going to happen. The antibiotics aren't working, so I think they're already preparing for it. They're gonna keep an eye out in case it gets worse either way. I hope it doesn't, though."

"I hope it doesn't either, for Chris' sake," Aviva said, before her face suddenly grew determined and gave the elder Kratt a smile. "But don't worry Martin, Chris will pull through this, I know it. We all will, okay? We're the Wild Kratts! Koki, Jimmy and I'll be there seven AM sharp to see you guys. We can talk more about it then.

"And get some sleep, okay? You'll need it for tomorrow, and you look horrible. What do you think Chris would do if he saw you right now?"

Guess he was right about the way he looked. Martin went red from embarrassment; he'd have to take a shower before the crew showed up in the morning, otherwise he wouldn't hear the end of it from Koki. "Knowing Chris, he'd probably take a picture. You're right, I'll get some sleep. Thanks Aviva, see you guys in the morning," Martin said, before ending the call.

Folding his arms on the bed, Martin rested his head on them as a pillow and resolved to at least try to get a couple of hours sleep before the rest of the crew showed up. After all, Aviva was right; he wasn't doing Chris any good if he wasn't rested enough to be there for his brother when he needed him.