Previously... Jamie is dying, but he is still breathing. The guardians got out of Pitch's grasp again.
"He's steady." North said. He had just finished bandaging up Jamie. He would be OK. " But there is a complication." He continued.
"What is it?" Rosie asked, holding her husbands hand in a death grip.
"There is a possibility that he'll fall into a coma." It felt like all the air in the room had been sucked out. A coma? "If he does fall into a coma, it is unlikely he'll ever wake up."
Jack took the news surprisingly well. He paced around the room several times, then came to an abrupt halt facing the wall. He spun around, facing the others.
"We can't let that happen."
"Someones stating the obvious." Bunny's voice sounded from beside Jamie. He was sitting beside him in a grouchy, tired heap.
"Shut up, kangaroo." Jack muttered, more to himself than to Bunny. It's almost like Pitch didn't mean to actually kill us, he just wanted us weakened and distracted.
"Well, it is time for us to be doing our jobs." North said, clapping his hands.
"I'm just gonna wait here for a bit." Jack said.
XXX
Tooth and Jack were watching Jamie. Jack hadn't left his side since they found him.
"Tooth?" Jack asked.
"Yeah?"
"D'you think he's going to make it?"
"Of course!" Tooth gasped. There was no doubt in her mind. Jamie was strong. He would be OK.
"Lets say he does go into a coma... What then? It sounds cold... But he is old. Do we let him slip away, or do we do everything we can to keep him alive?"
"We try to keep him alive, for Rosie. Without hope, she can't help anyone. If he wants to slip away after, we let him. If he can heal, then that's even better." Tooth's words were cool like steel, but Jack saw the logic behind them.
"I just don't want him to suffer. It's just, if there is any alternative..." Neither of them noticed Rosie who had appeared silently in the doorway.
"I don't want false hope." She said. Jack and Tooth both started, turning around like children caught with their hand in the cookie tin. "I don't let my emotions get in the way of my work. If all your worried about is me being able to help, then you don't need to worry. On the other hand, I can't believe how cold you've gotten. The old Jack, the old Tooth, they never would of suggested keeping someone alive just so they're job could be a little bit easier." They stared at Rosie.
"Rosie, that's no-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses! I used to think that you were so great, Frost, saving your sister, but now I see you for who you really are. The only reason you saved her was because you didn't want to have to look your parents and neighbours in the eye and say you watched her drown. The man in moon mistook your cowardice for courage, and now, now I hope everyone see's just how weak you really are. You only help people when you have something to gain from it!"
"Rosie, stop!" Tooth implored.
"And you, Tooth. All that nonsense about helping kids, and preserving their best memory's, for all that, when I needed you the most, where were you? To busy to notice one scared little girl. You're no better than him."
"Rosie, we don't want Jamie to die!"
"Yes you do! It's what you always wanted, you were jealous of everything that he had that you didn't. You said it yourself, Frost. In your sleep, when you were supposed to be protecting me, you said 'I'm lonely.' You were obviously jealous that Jamie had a family and you don't!"
"Didn't... I was thinking about before."
"Oh, that's right. Mr. I'm so lonely FROST, who gets to mess up just because he was lonely. Well guess what? So was I, and if I messed up during the war, people would die!" Her voice dropped down to a deadly whisper. "I'm not going to mess up this time. Jamie's not gonna die." A look of horror slowly came over her face. "What did I just say? I'm so sorry, Jack! I didn't mean any of it! I don't know what came over me..." She called after Jack, but he had been steadily backing away for her entire rant, then he had taken off down the hall.
XXX
Is that how she see's me? Is that who I am? Am I a coward? But I want Jamie to stay alive! What set that off?
"What did I just say? I'm so sorry, Jack! I didn't mean any of it!" Rosie called after him.
Ya right.
XXX
"I am worried about Rosie. She is not mentally stable. Worry over Jamie is getting to her, I think." North was saying at the same time as Rosie was ranting to Jack.
"She'll be fine, I think, as soon as she accepts everything." Bunny said.
"Nevertheless, I worry. She has changed, and Jamie has changed even more. But Jamie... He always seemed to accept the inevitable, while Rosie just keeps fighting."
None of them had seen Sandy slip out of the room on silent feet.
OK, well that started as a filler chapter while I figure out whats going on... Then it turned into that? (Throws hands up in air.) And if it makes you feel any better about how long it's been taking me to post, I got a 96% on my french test! So, I'm getting a bit tired of Rosie and am thinking of getting rid of her... OK, brain-dump over!
