Hey guys. Been a few days. Thanks for all your comments! Please R&R and read my A/N at the bottom! :)
As soon as Anne was out the door of the medical bus, all three Masons were on their feet awaiting the report.
"Anne. Is he—" Tom asked quietly.
"Ben's not so good. Right now though, he's okay. He's asleep. He's also in a lot of pain. He also has a high fever. Those stitches could very easily burst. And the fact that he's lost a lot of blood already, his wound reopening wouldn't be good. But they've been holding up so far," Anne replied
"Okay. What else?" Hal questioned.
"Well, like I said about the stitches. If they're even strained just a little too much, they could break leading to more bleeding. Ben was lucky, though. The mech bullets didn't hit anything important. There's no internal bleeding, so that's good. Just don't stress him out. He still has a lot of healing to do. Let him rest. If something goes wrong, and Ben needs medical attention, just call me. I be over there," she told the Mason family as she pointed a few yards away.
"Thanks, Anne," Tom said.
Dr. Glass nodded, and left the medical bus to give them some privacy. The remaining Masons exchanged glances, and then walked inside. What they saw, didn't delight them. In fact, it caused them to groan internally.
Ben.
He was pale, and sweating a bit. He was under blankets, yet still shivering. As they came closer, they could tell that his breathing was very shallow. He was taking uneven breaths, and straining to get a deep one in. His eyebrows were scrunched up in pain, and every time he shifted, he grunted.
Overall, he didn't look so good.
The Masons each took a seat by Ben's cot. Tom and Hal both held one of Ben's hands, while Matt just sat there and looked at Ben with tears in his eyes. He hated it when this happened. When someone got hurt. Because when someone gets hurt, there's always the chance that…that they…that they don't make it. Matt didn't want to admit it, but it was true. And he couldn't let it happen to Ben. No, not Ben. Not his older brother. He had to get through this.
"Oh, Ben," Hal whispered. "You really are an idiot."
"What happened, Hal?" Tom asked.
Hal sighed. "We were all fighting skitters, right? Well the last mech must have targeted me, and Ben had to have seen it. Apparently he ran over and…and took the bullets for me. I turned around and he was falling. He was bleeding a lot, too. Oh God! This is all my fault," Hal cried out as tears welled up in his eyes. He wiped his free hand over his distressed features, and tried to take deep steady breaths.
"Hal. This is not your fault," Tom said patting his oldest son on the shoulder.
"But Ben—"
"Will be fine. He's gonna pull through, and it's going to be alright."
Hal nodded, but the look in his eyes told the whole story. He still blamed himself, and he wished that it was him lying down in the cot. Ben shouldn't be here. He should be awake, and happy. If anyone was supposed to be here, it was Hal. Hal was supposed to be killed by those mech bullets. Now Ben was lying down unconscious, his life slowly deteriorating. He was here for Hal. Because of him.
A few minutes later, the two oldest Masons could feel their eyes drooping. They had stayed awake for hours waiting for news concerning Ben.
"Hal, get some sleep," Tom directed.
"Nah, I'm fine. You should sleep," Hal protested exhaustingly.
"No. Seriously, Hal."
Apparently, Hal was too tired to argue anymore, and slumped back in his chair, his hand still in Ben's. Matt on the other hand, wasn't as tired. He watched as his father slowly slipped away into sleep as well.
And then there were two. One was unconscious, but still. Two.
Matt began to feel very lonely, and depressed. He started whispering to Ben even though he knew he couldn't hear him.
"Hey, Ben," he said. "We, uh, we all miss you. Please wake up. Please? You have to be okay. You have to." As Matt spoke, tears started to form in his eyes, and he sat back in his chair and cried silently as to not wake Hal and his father.
When he stopped after a few minutes, he leaned back in and put his face to Ben's. He was only nine, but he could still tell something was wrong. He couldn't feel any hot breaths. Couldn't hear them. He leaned down and gingerly placed his head onto his brother's stomach.
It was silent, and unmoving.
"Dad! Dad, wake up!" Matt yelled.
Tom awoke with a start. "Matt! What's wrong, Matt?" he asked.
"Ben! I think something's happened!"
Mr. Mason leaned down to check Ben over. That's when he realized the problem. He stuck two fingers on his son's neck, and gasped at his result. "Hal! Wake up!" Tom cried.
"Dad!" Hal's eyes flew open as he spoke.
"Hal, go get Anne," Tom ordered, keeping his eyes on Ben, and placing his hands over his chest.
"Why?"
"It's Ben."
"What about Ben?"
Tom picked up his head, looked his Hal in the eyes, and said, "He's not breathing."
Hope that was an okay cliffhanger. ;) Please leave reviews!
So I've decided on a slow, painful recovery. Personally, I was pretty happy. I really didn't want to kill off my baby! :( But I thought it would be nice to give you guys a choice. Is a slow, painful recovery okay for you guys?
Just a heads up: this story might end up becoming something other than what I had planned. There will still be a lot about Ben's recovery, but I may put something extra in the story. If I did, would you guys be okay with that?
So I put a lot of question and confirmations in here for you guys. Tell me what you thought in a PM or a review! Thanks! Until next time! :D
