Blowhole appeared in the doorway a few minutes later. "What?" he growled.
The blood on his face had been wiped off, but his arm was hanging limply on his side. He hadn't fixed that yet. Kowalski wasn't worried about Blowhole. Personally he wanted Blowhole to get eaten by a lion or shark or shot by a terrorist. It wasn't like him to wish such violence upon his enemies, even at their worst. But he was severely angered towards Blowhole for doing this. Not only for beating and electrocuting Skipper. But for injuring Private and his mental health, and locking them in a small room with no windows and only a small light bulb to light the room. He felt like he was in some kind of prison. "Skipper needs to go to the hospital," He stated.
"No," Blowhole replied unemotionally.
"But if he doesn't go he could die," Kowalski said desperately.
"He can wait."
"He could have internal bleeding," Kowalski replied, desperately trying to get Skipper some type of help.
"Then his internals can bleed."
"But he's gonna die," Kowalski shouted.
"Then he can die," Blowhole replied.
Kowalski didn't know what else to say. Blowhole was going to let Skipper die, he wasn't going to help Skipper at all. Kowalski's stomach was rotting. What was he going to do if Skipper died? Skipper couldn't die. He was the one who always made things better, no matter how bad they were. Kowalski would have to take his place if Skipper died. But he couldn't do that. He wasn't strong enough, or clever, or strong willed, or focused as Skipper. He needed Skipper. They all needed him, but he wasn't there for them right now. Now when they really needed him, when Private needed him to tell him everything was going to be ok, and Rico needed him to keep his sanity. Kowalski needed him too. He was a friend, a brother. He was Skipper. Kowalski didn't think he could live without Skipper.
Kowalski looked up at Blowhole. "You should go to the hospital for your arm," he stated solemnly, "Even the most advanced technology can't beat a professional." He turned and walked back to the bed.
"Is there anything else?" Blowhole hissed.
Kowalski stared down at Skipper. There was still dried blood on his face. That should be wiped off at least. "Yeah, can I have some water?" He asked. He knew Blowhole wouldn't give him water if he knew it would be used for Skipper. He obviously didn't want to help Skipper in any way, shape, or form. Kowalski would have to make the best with what he had, and he didn't have a lot.
Blowhole left, and brought back a cup of water. He disabled the electrified wall and placed the cup inside. He then turned the wall back on.
Kowalski went to the cup, grabbing a blanket off the floor as he went. He brought the cup and blanket back to the bed. He slowly dipped the corner of the blanket in the water and cleaned the blood off of Skipper's face. Skipper could be dying and all he could do was clean him up. Kowalski was overwhelmed with fear, stress, and sadness. Skipper was dying, right in front of him. Kowalski couldn't do anything for him. At least he'll die clean right?
After all the blood was gone Kowalski started to clean the open wounds caused by electrocution. Skipper had a lot of them covering his arms, so that is where he started. The rotting feeling in his stomach didn't go away. Skipper was in danger of death if he wasn't dead already. Kowalski's eyes began to sting. A few seconds later tears flowed down his cheeks, his lip quivered, and his throat began to feel sore, he started to shake as well. But he didn't stop cleaning the wounds. With slow shaky hands, Kowalski continues to wipe the burnt skin away from the wounds, to prevent infection. Hoping. Wishing, Praying for Skipper to live and be ok. For them to get away from Blowhole. For them to find a way back to the zoo.
Mostly for Skipper to open his eyes. Open. Open, please. He said over and over again in his head. He started to think that Skipper wasn't going to wake up. Ever. The tears came endlessly now, the pain in his stomach intensified, and his throat was very sore. He would do anything just to make Skipper open his eyes.
Blowhole watched this. How carefully Kowalski was wiping the blackness away from Skippers wounds. How Kowalski's lip quivered, and hands vibrated. He saw sparkles from the light hitting the tears rolling down Kowalski's face. He never saw the scientist cry before. Not with tears. Kowalski was usually pretty calm. Private was the emotional one. Watching Kowalski only made Blowhole realize how close they were, Kowalski and Skipper. They always seemed the farthest away from each other. They were complete opposites. Kowalski was a brainiac, Skipper liked action, Kowalski over evaluated things, Skipper liked things simple, Kowalski was a planner, and Skipper was a make-it-up-as-we-go guy. They were completely different. Yet…the two of them would probably risk their lives faster for each other than anyone else.
He really couldn't have Skipper die anyway. It would be bad for his image. He disabled the electric wall and walked inside the room.
Kowalski sensed Blowhole enter. "What do you want?" He said angrily through his cracked voice. He looked up, lip still quivering, tears running like rivers down his face, and glared at Blowhole. "Come to watch him die?" He hissed. "Go away, if you're not going to help him then go away."
Blowhole walked out of the room, he did not know how to deal with an emotional Kowalski. When he was out of ear shot of Kowalski, he took out his cell phone and dialed 911.
Kowalski put the cup down and threw the blanket on the floor. He pushed the hair out of Skippers face and placed his hand on Skipper's neck. There was still a pulse, but for how much longer would it be there? Probably not long. Skipper still hadn't moved, or opened his eyes. Kowalski hadn't been able to stop the tears, or the pain in his stomach and throat. Uneven breathing joined him though. He couldn't control it. And he couldn't do anything to help it. He felt un explainable sadness and sorrow. He felt so devastated, because they deserved better. Not all four of them. Skipper and Private. Private was about to go insane, and Skipper was going to die. He himself didn't think he could handle it anymore, the sorrow.
He was thinking about how much longer Skipper had when he heard it. A helicopter. But why would there be a helicopter? It was so loud, why was it so loud? What was a helicopter doing in the city? There were very few helicopters in the city. It was rare to see them in this part of the city anyway. Even so, it was very loud. It was flying low. But why? Kowalski wiped the tears from his face and looked up, even though all he saw was the ceiling. It was getting louder, though. The noise of the helicopter was getting louder, it was getting closer to the mansion. Kowalski didn't know why. Not until he heard a thump noise. Did the helicopter land on the mansion? Kowalski got up and looked around, he still couldn't stop his quivering lip and uneven breath. He walked to the doorway. "Bl-Blowhole?" He called confused. His vice was still cracked.
Nothing happened. The helicopter noise didn't get any louder and nothing moved in the rest of the house. Nothing that Kowalski could see. He walked nervously back to Skipper and sat down on the bed. He stared at the doorway. He felt scared, though he didn't really know what he was afraid of. He placed his hand on Skipper's neck, his pulse was still there. Skipper was still alive. Was it the helicopter? Is that what he was afraid of? Why the helicopter was there?
"He's in there," Someone said worried.
It was Blowhole. Kowalski recognized the voice. He never heard Blowhole sound so concerned. He was amazed…until he realized it was just an act. Blowhole was pretending to be a good father. But that didn't matter, Skipper was going to get help now. Whether it was for image or not, Blowhole had called 911 and now Skipper was going to live.
Two men came in with a stretcher. Kowalski instinctively turned around and clung to Skipper. He still didn't really know if he could trust these guys, and he didn't want to leave Skipper. He wanted to make sure Skipper got into in ER. He felt them remove Private and Rico, and he felt them grab onto him. But they couldn't remove him. Kowalski wasn't going to let go of Skipper.
"Come on kid," One of the men said softly. He was young and had a smooth voice, "We want to help your brother. He needs our help and we can't take you with us."
Kowalski shook his head, not letting go. He knew what Private felt like when he was told to let go Skipper. He didn't want to let go. Only instead of it being for himself, it was for Skipper. These guys could be posers like Blowhole. They could be accomplices. Kowalski didn't want to just give Skipper to them. What if they just caused Skipper more harm?
"Kowalski stop acting like a child," Blowhole demanded.
Kowalski thought for a second. He technically was a child. He lifted his head up. "I am a child!" He shouted. Tears came back to his eyes. He wasn't letting go.
"We'll have to take them both then," The other man said. He was older and had a rough sounding voice. "We can tear them apart at the hospital. Came on."
Kowalski didn't move. He didn't try to keep them away either. He let them pick him and Skipper up and put them on the stretcher. He felt straps tighten around him and then the stretcher began to move. He didn't think of anything. He could feel Skipper's heartbeat so he focused on that. Making sure it was still there. He didn't pay attention to anything else.
The next time he came back to reality he was in a white room… and Blowhole was pulling him off Skipper. Kowalski still didn't want to let go of Skipper. He just didn't want to not know what was happening to him. He used all his strength to stay clung to his brother. Blowhole couldn't pull him off. He didn't think anyone could. Then he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. And everything went black.
Blowhole Picked Kowalski up off of Skipper and nodded to the doctors. They took Skipper down a hallway and disappeared. He carried Kowalski into the waiting room and sat down. He sat Kowalski in his lap and wrapped his arms around him. He wanted to throw up. Pretend, Blowhole, just pretend. People will leave you alone if you act the part. It's just in public. He took a deep breath. This was not part of the plan. He reposition Kowalski so the scientist was curled into his chest, making them look like a regular, happy family that was waiting for someone to come out of surgery. And also trapping Kowalski. Kowalski would know exactly where he was when he woke up, and he would be trapped there. Blowhole wasn't as sick as Kowalski would be. So, in a way, it was worth it.
Kowalski's glasses were falling off, so Blowhole took them and put them in his pocket. He realized something then. He was still wearing his lab coat. He looked like he just stepped out of the lab. So much for blending in, people would know exactly who he was now. He was the youngest scientist in Manhattan, literally. That and he was one of the smartest scientists in Manhattan. Many people knew who he was. They thought he was one of the smartest men in the world. Stupid humans. He was the smartest being in the world. Well, except Martin. But he didn't want to think about Martin. He preferred to think about Kowalski's reaction when the scientist woke up. How amusing it will be.
He looked down at Kowalski. Kowalski looked kind of… peaceful, calm. More so than he had been in the last two days. It made the thought of how sick and green his face would be later much more amusing than it already was.
He realized something while he was sitting there in the waiting room with Kowalski… Kowalski wasn't wearing pants. He was in his boxers.
Gasp. What will happen when the two scientists are alone? Hmmm. And what will happen if Kowalski doesn't have pants? O.o R&R pwease
