Chapter 7

They arrived at the HUB in record time and as they landed emergency medical personnel ran towards the plane. As the cargo door opened the silence that had occupied the team since Ward hit the ground was broken. In what seemed like seconds Ward's body was being carried out and Simmons was shouting instructions that bordered on orders. Simmons had been in constant contact with the medical personnel on the ground and they had known what to anticipate, but Simmons panicked state did nothing to reassure the team that Ward would ever be the same again.

Skye stood at the entrance to the lab not able to move. She watched the scene unfold in the same state she had been in for for last few hours- disbelief. Everyone thought she was in shock but she was simply trying not to allow the anger to take over. She was trying to keep her mind still- blocking all the questions that she wanted to scream into the universe- the first of which being- why? Coulson came up behind and she jumped as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"They're going to do everything they can Skye and I've asked them to give us constant updates." Before Skye even realized it she was walking with Coulson towards the Critical Care Unit.

They arrived to find what seemed like too many people hovering over Ward. Sensors were being placed on his chest, monitors were being set up and the doctors, in one corner of the room, were engaged in a discussion analyzing some of Simmons preliminary findings and new results that they were being handed. It was absolute chaos to any outsider.

Skye wanted to step into the room, hold his hand. She took a step forward but stopped when the door swung open and Sabrina stepped through, a panicked look on her face.

"What happened?" Tears were rolling down her face now at the sight of him. Coulson pulled her aside to explain what had happened.

Can I sit with him" asked Sabrina in a whisper. The doctor nodded and she stepped into the room and took Ward's hand. Skye didn't know what to do with herself- another woman was holding his hand.

Moments later she could vaguely hear Coulson talking to her about Sabrina but she couldn't even answer him. She knew that Ward was in good hands and she had to believe that he would fight whatever was putting him in this state but all she could do was walk away. She needed to be alone, to think, to analyze, to yell and scream. She had just allowed herself to admit to herself and to him her true feelings and now he could be... She couldn't even allow her mind to drift to the possibility that he might not... Tears rolled down her face as she finally reached her bunk, closed the door and allowed the wealth of emotions to escape her body. She sobbed until it felt like she had no more tears.

"The next 24 hours will be critical Coulson, we've managed to stabilize him but he'll need to fight- there's nothing more we can do for him because we don't really know what's wrong. His vitals are all over the place".

"What do you mean you don't know what's wrong with him?"

"The weapon that caused this isn't working so it's difficult for us to say exactly... We know it's a form of radiation but like no other we've come across. It's messed with his core and as such we're in a guessing game of sorts. We're trying what we think is best but we really don't know." The doctor looked beaten.

"FitzSimmons are working on establishing what the weapon's purpose was. They have the weapon and I'm sure they are doing everything they can- they haven't rested since this all began."

"Let's hope we'll get the information we need to know."

Sabrina hadn't left Ward's side. It had been 24 hours since they had arrived at the HUB and Ward's condition had remained stable overnight. Sabrina was asleep in the chair beside Ward's bed, she was startled when, without warning, Ward sat up straight in bed, his eyes open wide- "Skye- where's Skye!" were the panicked words that escaped his mouth. Sabrina stood up shocked and then the alarms started to sound as his body crashed back to the bed and began to convulse. "He's crashing again!" a nurse yelled and the room filled with doctors trying to resuscitate him once more. The news that Ward had crashed again travelled fast. Coulson ran to Skye's bunk wanting to tell her in person but she was gone.

For 2 days Coulson was updated on Ward's condition. He had crashed another 3 times since Skye had disappeared and the question that was now being asked was at what point should they just stop and let him go. The doctors still couldn't explain his condition and FitzSimmons were still perplexed by the weapon which seemed to be neither head or tails. To top it all off Skye had disappeared off the planet. Coulson feared the worst after watching the security footage and seeing the moments before Ward's collapse. This may just have pushed her over the edge. He had tried to locate her and the plane she had left with with but his attempts failed and he knew that if Skye didn't want to be found she wouldn't be.

Coulson was in the lab watching FitzSimmons work, hoping for something that would help when he saw Skye in the distance walking toward the plane. As she approached he saw that her body was beaten, fresh wounds on her face and hands were visible even from a distance- fresh blood still visible on her chin under a pretty nasty gash in her lip. Coulson immediately ran to meet her.

Her eyes were dark and tired and Coulson gave her a look of pure concern as she handed him a flash drive.

"Give it to FitzSimmons- quickly." The moment it left her hands she collapsed to the ground, the exhaustion finally taking over.

Coulson ran back with a bottle of water and crouched beside her.

"Where the hell have you been!"

"We needed to know what the weapon was- I heard your conversation with the doctor and so I went to get it."

"You're incredibly stupid to have gone alone Skye!" His tone was serious and authoritative.

"You should have told me- we could have gone with you!"

She just looked up at him and in one look he knew everything she would have said aloud.

"It was an exceptional circumstance." She finally said with a slight smile which lasted a fraction of a second as they were interrupted when Coulson was informed that Ward was once again crashing. Skye stood in her weakened state determined to see him.

Sabrina was standing in the corridor when Skye entered the Critical Care Unit. Their eyes met and Skye instantly looked away almost ashamed of her feelings with the other woman in the same room. She continued down the hallway

"He always yelled out your name in his sleep you know."

Skye stopped dead in her tracks. "What?"

"I don't think he's ever had a night, when we were together, without a nightmare and although he never talked about you- I understood. He was haunted by whatever happened between you two. I honestly thought you were a ghost."

Skye turned to look at her.

"He was never mine, I knew that. I knew the day you walked back into his life that I would lose him. I never really had him."

"I..." Skye couldn't think...

"That day in the Mess- when he saw you- there was a spark in his eyes that I had never seen. When I called him- I knew by the sound of his voice and then he told me about you and I knew that you were the one whose name he shouted in his sleep."

Skye had tears rolling down her face. It was too much. Sabrina confessing all this to her.

"I'm sorry Sabrina- I never..."

"It's not... It's not your fault." Sabrina interrupted her trying to give Skye an out. She didn't lose Ward to Skye.

"I don't know if he's going to make it Skye, so I wanted you to know. He yelled out your name again before he crashed."

With a look that clearly thanked Sabrina Skye turned and ran to Ward's room as quickly as her legs would carry her. She stopped dead in her tracks to see the doctors all standing watching him not moving, all the alarms still sounding.

Coulson entered the room seconds behind her.

"Do something!" Skye yelled at the doctors and nurses who were standing, watching, not doing!

Coulson touched her arm and in a very calm voice he told how many times he had crashed in the last 2 days, how they had had to make a decision as to what was best for Ward at this point and they had decided that if he crashed again they would simply try to make him comfortable.

"You have to help him Coulson- tell them to do something!" Coulson simply looked at her in the way he always had.

"We don't want him to suffer Skye and we don't know how to help him beyond what we've already done".

Skye walked over to Ward. She put her head down to his chest hoping to hear the sound of air in his lungs, the sound of his heart beating in his chest. The nurses slowly started to turn off the machines and the room grew deathly quiet. Skye heard nothing. Tears rolled down her checks as her heart contracted painfully. "Please Ward, I love you." Silence remained.

"Move Skye!" Fitz yelled and she moved away from Ward's body due to the shock of Fitz's scream in the silent moment just as Fitz activated the weapon and hit Ward once again.

"What the hell are you doing!" Skye yelled.

"It's in the data you brought Skye- we think it'll reverse the effects-"

"You think!" Skye yelled not really knowing what else to do.

"Well it's his only shot and his prognosis wasn't great 10 seconds ago so let's see what this does shall we before we yell at me." Fitz watched Ward intently for any sign of life.

Skye held her breath along with Coulson and Simmons.

Seconds felt like hours.

Skye walked over to Ward's still motionless body. She had had a glimmer of hope but it was fading fast. She once again put her head to Ward's chest. She took a deep breath wanting to remember his smell and the feel of his skin on hers.

"Say it again" it took her a moment to register the voice. It felt so real.

She felt a pressure on her head and realized that her hair was gently being stroked.

"Say it again." He asked again.

Then she heard it, faint but it was there, his heartbeat.

She opened her eyes slowly. If she was dreaming she didn't want to wake.

His eyes were open and looking into hers. She didn't dare move a muscle until he asked her once again. "Say it again Skye-"

She smiled what felt like the biggest smile of her life as she lifted her head from his chest.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear.

The doctors quickly crowded them and Skye moved away allowing them to do their work.