Hi guys! Once again I'm totally blown away from the response this fic has gotten. You are all amazing!
This chapter literally made me sad to write :( I hope it reads as well as it portrayed in my head.
The second seizure, caused Jane's body to start violently expelling everything inside of it. The vomiting and diarrhea caused wicked stomach cramps, that had Jane curled over in the bed, groaning in pain. The nurses had had to open her saline bag wide open, to try and get on top of the dehydration. They had removed the feeding tube out of her nose, the violent retching had tried to force it out back through her mouth and there was a danger of her choking.
Kurt felt useless, wanting to take her pain away, but only being able to offer soothing words of comfort. He rubbed her back as a fresh wave of cramps overcame her, forcing her whole body to tense with pain. She squeezed her eyes shut moaning. She took sharp breath in.
"Bowl." she murmured, breathing heavily. Kurt grabbed the nearby emesis basin, helping her aim in the right direction as the blindness had caused a few accidents. He pulled her hair off of her face and rubbed soothing circles between her shoulder blades, as heaves wracked her frail body.
"It's alright, ssh, it's alright." he murmured, rubbing her back. "Just try and breathe." He felt his own face contort in pain, not able to keep the tears from silently spilling over.
The third seizure came on hard and fast. Jane was unconscious for hours after. When she did finally wake, she realised she was completely paralyzed from the waist down.
"Shhh." Kurt hushed into her ear as she sobbed into his shoulder. She had long given up on trying to be brave. Her body was dying from the inside out and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Kurt started murmuring the old Afrikaans lullaby he had heard her hum on nights when she was sad.
They were running out of time.
During the fourth seizure, Jane stopped breathing.
The doctors had managed to intubate her when the shaking had stopped enough to let them work. She stayed unconscious after that. Her body too exhausted to wake up.
A few hours later, Jane's original doctor came into the room, where Kurt still had not moved from her bedside.
"Kurt…" she said taking a seat. "Kurt I'm sorry to say that Jane has slipped into a coma."
Kurt clenched his teeth.
It had been over two days and Rich still hadn't heard anything from his brother. They were out of leads. Out of options.
He couldn't bring himself to reply to the doctor, so opted for nodding instead. She placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Kurt." she said sadly before leaving the room.
Kurt looked at his wife, who was more machine than body at this point. She wouldn't survive long on life support. The hissing of air being pushed into her lungs was enough to send him into a fresh wave of grief.
"Please don't die." he whispered, brushing her hair off of her forehead. "Please keep fighting." He put his head in her lap, mindful not to knock and tubes or wiring and closed his eyes. "Please Janey… I'm not ready to lose you."
It was 4:30 in the morning when Rich's phone finally rang. He quickly wiped the sleep from his face, and shook Patterson, she had fallen asleep at her desk.
"Mathew." he said, already having tracked and programmed his number into his phone. "Please tell me you have good news." Rich almost begged, turning his phone on speaker phone so Patterson could listen in.
"I've managed to track down some cells." he replied, cutting straight to the point.
Rich and Patterson shared an excited look.
"But-" Mathew continued before Rich could cut him off. "There's only one vial and they're asking for thirteen million."
Patterson felt her heart sink. There was no way they could afford that.
"Done." Rich replied. Patterson looked at him incredulously. "How do I know they're the real thing?" he asked, skeptical as ever.
"Because I'm your brother." Mathew replied. "When have I ever steered you wrong?"
Rich chuckled.
"Well there was that time in Vegas, Mexico, Australia…" he said counting on his fingers.
"Ok, ok then, when have I ever steered you wrong when it truly matters?" Mathew asked cutting him off.
Rich thought for a second.
"Well never… but you'll forgive me if I would like a little more proof. I know a scientist who would be able to identify them. Can I bring her along to confirm?"
Mathew sighed.
"I dont see why that would be a problem, but the seller would want some kind of insurance. Half now, half upon collection."
"Done." Rich said again.
"Good. I'll send you the time and place." And with that he hung up.
Patterson reached out and smacked him on the arm.
"Where the hell are you going to get thirteen million dollars from?" she hissed.
"You just leave that to me." he said tapping his nose excitedly. This was their best shot at saving Jane and he couldn't contain his anticipation. "Call Roga." he said checking his phone when it buzzed with an address. He wants to meet in an hour."
Patterson nodded, still skeptical of where he was going to get that kind of money from.
An hour later, Patterson, Rich and Mathew, were crammed into the back of a van, while Roga inspected the stem cells.
"These are Stanton Cells alright." Roga said smiling. "Where are the rest?" she asked curiously.
"The rest?" Mathew asked confused. "No the deal was one vial."
Roga's face fell. "I really don't know if one vial is going to be enough."
Rich's eyes widened, his voice going high pitched. "You said find Stanton Cells… we found Stanton Cells… you never said how much we would need!"
Roga put her hands up in surrender.
"I'm sorry if I didn't specify that…"
"Will you still try?" Patterson asked quietly.
"Of course I will." she said softly. "I just don't know if it will be enough to reverse the damage the ZIP has already caused."
"We have to try!" Rich exclaimed.
"So we have a deal?" Mathew asked.
"I'll wire you the second half of the money now." Rich said pulling out his cell phone. Patterson looked over at him frowning, still unsure where he got that much money from.
Mathew clapped his brother on the back.
"Once the transfer is complete, you guys are free to take the cells."
"Thank you Mathew." Rich said sincerely.
Mathew nodded back at his brother. His phone dinged, indicating the transfer was done.
"All yours my friends." Mathew said.
"I'll get these ready for transfer." Roga said eagerly. She wasn't sure whether there would be enough or not, but it was better than nothing. They might be able to save Jane's brain… they might be able to reverse the damage completely. She really hoped it was enough.
Mathew left into the night. Patterson and Rich got out of the van to give Roga room to work properly.
"So are you gonna tell me how you paid for that?" Patterson started.
Rich shrugged, an unidentifiable smile on his face.
"What did you rob an underground bank or something?"
RIich shook his head.
"No… I had a little money left over from my coin days…"
"A little money? Really." she scoffed.
"Yeah… ah… thirteen million to be exact."
Patterson's eyes widened and Rich shrugged her off.
"So this is what it feels like to live as an average man?" he asked.
Patterson's eyes filled with tears, she walked forward and pulled him into a hug.
"After what you just did… I will never think of you as average again." she said softly.
"Ahhh… stop you're making me blush." he said patting her on the back.
"Shall we go and synthesise a cure?" Roga asked, emerging from the van with what looked like a coffee canister.
Patterson recovered her emotions, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Let's do this."
Kurt woke to his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out, running a hand roughly over his face.
"This is Weller." he answered automatically, not worrying to look at the caller ID.
"Kurt, it's Patterson."
"Please tell me you have good news." he replied solemnly.
"Well, we've managed to track down one vial of Stanton Cells." she replied. "Doctor Roga is trying to synthesize the cure now."
"Well, that's great!" he exclaimed. "But what do you mean trying?" Kurt asked, not missing a beat.
"Well when Roga synthesized the cure the first time… she had five vials of the cells. This time she only has one..."
"Ok… well what does that mean?"
Patterson sighed, hating the be the bearer of bad news.
"It means we don't know for sure whether there will be enough to fully reverse the ZIP poisoning."
Kurt felt his heart sink. They were so close to saving Jane, but there was still no absolution that she would come out of this unscathed. She could be paralysed, or blind for the rest of her life. Kurt knew that she wouldn't be able to live that way.
"Do what you can." Was all he could think to reply. "How long does it take?"
"Doctor Roga said it takes forty-eight hours." Patterson said quietly, knowing Jane might not have that long.
"Thank you Patterson." Kurt replied softly, thinking the same thing.
They disconnected the call and Kurt turned back to his wife.
"Not long now, my love." he whispered. "You just hold on a little while longer." He brought the back of her hand up to his mouth, kissing it softly.
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!
