ACK! Yes, I know I've been slacking off lately…Ok, so I've been slacking off a lot. Well, here we go. I've got my Oatmeal Cream Pie, my Bohemian Rhapsody in my CD player, so I'm ready to rock! Cracks knuckles Let's go!

~ I dedicate this chapter to Ottercub. She was the first one to review any of my fics, and she's been there this whole time, giving me motivation to write by locking poor Kaeera in the closet. She's been going thru a tough time now, so I just wanted to show my appreciation. Thanks so much! ^_^ ~

Orphan

Chapter 3

            Nosedive burst through the doors of the Anaheim General Hospital, Mallory close on his heels. "Oh," said a nearby nurse. "You must be here for Mr. Wildwing."

            "Is he ok?" shrieked Nosedive. The other Ducks finally caught up.

            "Please, come with me," said the nurse. "He's in a coma now, but the doctors are pretty sure he's going to be alright. Please keep your voices down, though." The entered a small room.

            Wildwing was propped up against a pillow. His usually white feathers had lost some of their brightness and shine. He was covered in bruises, cuts, and bandages, and his arm was in a cast. He was connected to tubes silently giving him medication. There was an oxygen tube in his beak. The heart monitor weakly beeped.

            A lump welled up in Nosedive's throat as he approached his brother. "Wing…" he managed to squeak. The others hung back in the doorway. "It's ok now, Wing. I'm here…" He took his brother's bandaged hand. "Everything's gonna be fine." He swallowed hard.

            "A couple came across him early this morning in the rubble of a collapsed building. Brought him here just in time, too. I don't know what happened to him, but let's just say, he's been upgraded from 'defiantly not' to a 'maybe so'." The Nurse's tone softened. "We've done everything we could for him. Now it's all up to him…"

            "Thank you," said Mallory softly. The nurse nodded her head and left the room. Nosedive pulled up a chair and sat down next to his brother's bed, never letting go of his hand. Duke motioned for the others to exit the room and talk with the nurse. Grin stayed outside the door, just because the Ducks couldn't trust Dive's emotional state at the moment.

            Tanya was looking at the floor. The specks of color in the tile had such a unique patter. Red, blue, green. All swirling around in no theme. As if someone merely sprinkled small flecks as they danced.

She took a deep breath. Why was it the hospitals always had that distinct smell? The smell of cleanliness and sterility. The starched bed sheets, the clean table-tops, the pressed curtains. Tanya shuddered. The smell of silence. The smell of pain and death. She hated the way hospitals smelled. Even the ones back on Puckworld smelled this way. Just an evil presence floating around one's nose. Stars, how she hated it's cruel torture.

            "Tanya…you ok?" Tanya jumped at Duke's voice.

            "Oh…yea. Just…thinking."

            "What about?"

            Tanya sighed glancing around the room. Nosedive had fallen asleep around an hour ago. He was sitting in the chair leaning onto Wildwing's bed, his head resting on his arms. Duke was reclined in an armchair in the corner, putting down his magazine. Mallory and Grin had left to go to the cafeteria a while back in hopes to escape the eerie silence of the room. Tanya was in another armchair at the other end of the room. A lavender one, to match her jumpsuit. She seemed to match with the room's lavender and sea-green color scheme…

            "Tanya?"

            She snapped up. "Oh! Sorry…"

            "Are you sure you're all right?" Duke raised an eyebrow in concern.

Tanya shrugged. "I guess I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"Care to let some of it out?" Duke said softly.

Tanya remained silent for a moment. "Did you know that Nosedive never considered himself an orphan all these years because he had Wildwing to look after him?" Duke shook his head. "Well, he doesn't. But today in the infirmary he told me he was now. He said he didn't have anyone to take care of him…"

"Nosedive said that?!?"

"Yup. Shocking, isn't it?" Duke nodded.

"I feel so bad! I mean, Wing was alive, and we left him behind! Then we said all of those horrible things we said to him! Wildwing was counting on us to save him, and we left him for dead! Nosedive was counting on me, too! I failed them! I mean…we failed him." Tanya grabbed a tissue.

Duke sat in silence for a few moments. "I know…" he said finally. "I was thinking that, too. How to fill Wildwing's void."

"Really?" said Tanya. "So was I! I mean…" Her tone softened. "I mean, not to replace him, of course, but to try to look after Dive like Wing always did. To fill in for him, or something…Does that make any sense?"

Duke smiled. "Of course it does. And I know the rest of the team feels the same way. At least, I think so. But Tanya, remember, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for what happened, ok? It's not your fault. I suppose the blame rests on all of us." Tanya sniffled. "It's ok. Wing's back, so everything's ok now."

"But…he might not stay…" Tanya mumbled. They both turned to watch their sleeping in silence.

"Hey! You're the Mighty Ducks!"

Mallory and Duke turned around to see a woman come trotting through the hallway.. Nothing gets past you, lady…Mallory thought sarcastically as the woman tossed a lock of her red over her shoulder.

"Can we help you?" asked Duke politely.

"Yes, well…maybe. You see, my son is a huge hockey fan, and he's in a coma, and…"

Mallory sighed. "…And you were wondering if we'd take our precious time and talk to him, right?" The woman bit back in surprise.

"Mallory!" Duke shouted. "I'm sorry, ma'am. It's been a long day, so our team is a tad testy. But we'd be happy to talk to him, Miss…"

"Oh! How rude of me! My name is Linda Marshall. My son's name is Jeff. And this would mean so much to him. He loves hockey, especially the Mighty Ducks," Linda explained.

"We'd be happy to, wouldn't we, Mallory?" Duke said. Mallory sighed.

"Yes, we would," she said reluctantly. "But not for long, we shouldn't leave Wing for long!"

"You are never satisfied, are you?" Duke said with a smile. "Sure, Ms. Marshall, we'd be happy to. C'mon, Mal."

"What's his name, Jeff?" whispered Mallory.

"Someone wasn't paying attention…" said Duke. Mallory shot him a glare. She looked down at the red-headed kid who was fast asleep in his bed. She sighed.

"Hi Jeff," she said, trying very hard to be cheerful. "It's Mallory McMallard, from the Mighty Ducks."

"And I'm Duke L'Orange. How are you?"

"What do you mean 'How are you'? He's in a coma!" Mallory whispered.

"Mal, please, just talk to him!" Duke whispered back. Mallory rolled her eyes.

"Oh ok!" She raised her voice. "So, um, you're a hockey fan?"

"I have an idea," said Duke. "Let's autograph something!"

"Like what, brainiac?"

Linda spoke up. "Well, we have one of his jerseys here…" She reached into a bag and pulled out a jersey. It was a Mighty Ducks jersey that had been purchased at a concession stand at the Pond. "Will this work?"

"Perfect!" said Duke. After a few minutes of searching for a marker, he laid the shirt on a table and scrawled hi signature. He still couldn't understand why a signature was so important to humans, but he shrugged it off. Mallory took the marker and signed the shirt. Duke handed it back to Linda. Smiling, she laid it on her sleeping son.

"Here ya go, Jeff," said Duke. "We'll be back later with the rest of our teammates."

"Speaking of teammates…" said Mallory. "We should get back and check up on Wing…"

Duke sighed. "You're right…" He ruffled Jeff's hair. "We'll be back soon, ok Jeff?"

The sleeping child made no reply.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," said Mallory impatiently.

"Y'know Mal, you really some sleep. You're way too cranky." Duke said.

"Shut up, L'Orange, or I will personally see to it that you will be incapable of sleeping for a long time."

Duke didn't even want to wonder how she we go about doing that. He shook Linda's hand and exited the room with the grouchy red-head.

Nosedive stirred as Tanya poked him. "Wha?"

"We really need to get back to the Pond now. But we'll come back, don't worry," said Tanya, trying to smile. They had been at the hospital all night, and no telling what had happened at their headquarters during that time.

Nosedive shook his head. "I'm staying here."

"Nosedive…" Tanya began tiredly.

"I'm staying here," he repeated. "What happens if he wakes up? Alone? Forget it, I'm not going anywhere."

Tanya sighed. "Oh, alright. Grin, you keep an eye on him. We'll come back later today." Grin silently nodded. The others left the room.

Nosedive laid his head back down on the bed. "You're not going to wake up alone…" he whispered to his brother. "Not as long as I'm here."

TO BE CONTINUED…