Lunick slowly awoke from his sleep. It had been a few hours since he, Spenser, Leilani, Plusle, and Minun were teleported to check Solana in with the doctors in the hospital.
He had been sleeping for a little over an hour in the waiting room, waiting for any response by the doctors about how Solana was doing.
Minun was sleeping on his lap and Plusle was also asleep in the chair next to him. He looked around the room to see that almost everyone had made it out of the cave safely, sleeping silently in their chairs. He saw Spenser leaning against the wall. He appeared to be the only one not nodding off, but then again, considering the day they had, sleep would be the farthest thing from his mind.
A tall man with feathery blue hair stepped into the waiting room. He had on a white lab coat and a clipboard in hand.
Lunick gently picked up Minun and put him on the seat beside him, slightly awakening the little mouse.
"Sorry buddy."
Minun gave a weak smile before stretching and hopping on his ranger's shoulder. Plusle had wakened up as well, hopping into Lunick's arms before he approached the man.
Spenser joined him, which only confirmed that he hadn't been sleeping like the others.
"Hi…are you the two rangers who checked in a patient by the name of…Solana Tsuki?"
"Yeah, that's us."
"Where's…um…"
"The doctor?" the man said, cutting Spenser off, "That would be me."
Lunick and Spenser look slightly surprised. The man just smiles knowingly.
"You were expecting to see Nurse Joy, I see. I'm Doctor Jared Joy. I'm Fall City's Nurse Joy's son."
Lunick nods his head in understanding.
"How is she?" Spenser asked, concern etched in his features.
Jared sighs.
"Well, she's not good. She's not responding well to any of the treatments. She isn't performing as well as she should be. Her heart rate is extremely fast. Her breathing is very, very, shallow…She's in stage three of hypothermia."
Lunick's heart began to race.
"Stage three of hypothermia?" Spenser asked as he grew more concerned.
"Yes. In warmer-blooded organisms, core body temperature is maintained near a constant level through biologic homeostasis. But, when the body is exposed to cold, its internal mechanisms may be unable to replenish the heat that is being lost to the organism's surroundings. The normal body temperature for us human beings ranges from 36.6° Celsius to 37.0° Celsius, which is 97.9° Fahrenheit to 98.6° Fahrenheit…um…we doctors divide hypothermia into three stages of severity. In the first stage, our body temperature drops by1 to 2° Celsius, 1.8 to 3.6° Fahrenheit. Mild shivering will occur, hands become numb, vision becomes impaired, and our breathing becomes quick and shallow…victims to this will usually feel sick to their stomach and very tired. They will experience a warm sensation, as if they have recovered, but they are in fact heading into Stage 2.
"Stage 2, is where our body temperature drops 2 to 4° Celsius, 3.8 to 7.6° Fahrenheit. In this stage, the shivering becomes more violent. Muscle mis-coordination becomes apparent. Movements are slow and labored, accompanied by a stumbling pace and mild confusion, even though the victim may appear alert…um…the body begins focusing its remaining resources on keeping the vital organs warm. The victim becomes pale. Lips, ears, fingers and toes may become blue.
"Stage 3, which is what your friend is in, is the most deadly and the hardest to treat. That's where our body temperature drops approximately 32° Celsius, 89.6 ° Fahrenheit. By now, the shivering has probably stopped and difficulty speaking, sluggish thinking, and amnesia start to appear. Um…the inability to use hands and stumbling is also usually present. Cellular metabolic processes shut down. Anything below 30° Celsius, 86° Fahrenheit is almost impossible to cure. The exposed skin becomes blue and puffy, muscle coordination becomes very poor, walking becomes almost impossible, and the victim exhibits incoherent/irrational behavior. Pulse and respiration rates decrease significantly, but fast heart rates can still occur. Major organs fail. Clinical death comes into play. And because of decreased cellular activity in stage 3 hypothermia, the body will actually take longer to undergo brain death.
"Solana, the girl that you checked in…is unconscious. She's not breathing. We are manually pumping air into her lungs. She may have to be put on life support if we resuscitate. And I'm telling you right now, things do not look like they're going our way."
Lunick's face was completely stained with tears. He couldn't believe how close he was to losing his best friend…his secret crush.
"I need to know now…should we resuscitate? Cause I'm telling you she's only getting worse as time passes by."
Spenser looked as though he was trying to hold back his own tears. He was about to open his mouth to speak when Lunick cut him off.
"YES! You have to save her!"
Jared furrowed his brow at the young boy's response.
"I'm sorry, these decisions are usually left to the parents or guardian."
"I'm her Area Leader. I'm her current guardian while she's under my care," Spenser cut in.
"Okay, well you make the call. Should we resuscitate?"
"You do everything you can for her!" Lunick nearly screamed at the doctor.
He looked towards Spenser, his eyes asking the question.
"You heard my ranger."
Jared slowly nodded his head before going back in the surgical room.
Lunick shivered as his breathing became heavy. He walked over to the glass window where Solana was being kept, looking at the nurses pile many heating pads around her waist while applying electrical shockwaves to her stomach and brain.
He shook his head as Plusle pressed herself against the glass so she could get a better look and Minun jumped down by Plusle to do the same.
Spenser approached him, looking inside the room as well.
"It's my fault."
Spenser looked down towards Lunick. His gaze was hard as he continued to stare inside.
"It's my fault. I started that rockfall. When we were in cave, Solana and I were fighting. We were jumping against walls and behind boulders when a Mamoswine launched its Hyperbeam and Ancient Power at us. The attacks must've echoed off the walls, the sound causing vibrations, which caused the rocks to come loose. And the added on noise from the rocks crashing into the ground, caused the walls to cave in…Solana said it was unstable…and I picked a fight with her…and now we may lose her forever."
Spenser saw the loose tears flowing from Lunick's eyes. It pained him to see him this way.
"Lunick, this is not your fault."
"You know, when were fighting…the last thing I said was 'you weren't doing much of anything when that Mamoswine was staring you in the face. I've just about had it.' Now, she's not doing much of anything…and I don't know if she ever will…and she's just about had it…"
Spenser was on the verge of tears himself as he saw his ranger breakdown right in front of him.
"I'm so sorry, Solana…I'm so…so…sorry…"
"Lunick…listen to me. It was not you're…"
"Yes it is, Leader! Yes it is my fault! I put Solana in danger when we were in the cave! And I couldn't even go back and save her because I left my equipment at the base like an idiot!"
He punched the wall, startling both Plusle and Minun.
"Solana was always prepared for anything…I failed her…I always used to say, 'I got your back', but when the time came…and she needed me the most…I…I couldn't…"
"Lunick…if Solana…when Solana survives this…and she wakes up…I want you to talk to her. She knows this was not your fault…I know it too…Plusle, Minun…everyone knows this is not your fault."
Plusle and Minun nod their heads in agreement.
"You did what you had to do, Lunick. You did your best."
"My best obviously isn't enough if Solana's back there fighting for her life."
Spenser sighed. He wasn't getting through to him. And he probably wouldn't until Lunick saw for himself that Solana was okay.
Five hours…five hours Solana had been back there and no response from the doctor. Lunick just had to keep reassuring himself that everything was okay.
Solana's a strong girl. She can pull through this! I know she can!
Jared came back into the waiting room, his clipboard still in his hands.
Lunick and Spenser approached him once more.
"How is she?"
Again, Jared smiled.
"Well…we are getting some response this time…but it's not enough. She is breathing on her own…but it's very, very, very shallow. Some color returned to her face…but…what we need in order to save her and know that she can still pull through this…is a blood transfusion."
"Blood transfusion?" Spenser asked.
"Yes. Her blood isn't circulating like it should. Because she has hypothermia, we're going to need an extremely large donation to get the blood flowing again."
"Well…what kind of blood do you need?"
"Her charts indicate that she is blood type O+. We need someone with that same blood type or who is O- in order to make this work."
Spenser sighed.
"My blood type is A+."
"That won't work. We need someone with blood type O. And we need it within the next hour or so otherwise the patient will go into critical condition and lapse into a coma. Saving her will be near impossible after that."
Spenser exhales loudly as he turns to face the rangers in the waiting room.
"Okay, guys. Solana needs a blood transfusion. Is there anybody here with blood type O?"
"My blood type is B," Leilani said from her seat.
"Mine is AB+," Murph said as he raised his hand.
Spenser turned to Aria with a raised eyebrow.
"What? I can't do it! My blood type is AB-!"
Spenser sighed.
"I know Joel's is A-…I think Elita's is B+…I'm not sure what Cameron's is but it's not O. I know that."
Jared sighed.
"If she's to get the transfusion, it needs to begin within the next hour."
Spenser cringed. Lunick looked back and forth between the two men.
"My blood type is O."
The doctor didn't look that convinced.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"We can't do the transfusion unless you're absolutely sure."
"Yes! My blood type is O-! I have both antibodies in my blood! I can donate to anybody who needs it!"
Jared stared at Lunick for a while before sighing.
"Alright. Come with me," he said as he walked back to the surgical room.
Lunick sighed, and then followed him. It was then that he noticed Plusle and Minun were following him as well.
"No you two. You guys have to stay here."
"Pla Plah?"
Minun patted Plusle on the shoulder before turning to his human and giving him a firm nod.
Lunick nodded back, walking back towards the waiting doctor as he explained what was going to happen.
"Okay, you're going to be put into a room to lie down on a bed. The nurses will draw blood from you from an 18-gauge needle and it will go into a sterilized plastic bag. It's bigger than the butterfly needle and it will draw the blood directly into the bag instead of a BD tube. Because it's a larger needle, some bleeding might occur. Since we don't already have this blood type in our blood bank, we're going to have to move fast because we still need to check the purity of your blood so that we're sure the patient doesn't become contaminated. We still have to process the blood and refrigerate it to prevent bacterial growth and to slow cellular metabolism, but since we don't have as much time as we usually do, we're going to use our pokemon to freeze your blood, so we can move through this process as quickly as possible. The transfusion must begin within 30 minutes after the blood has been taken out of controlled storage. If you feel light-headed during the process, you must let our nurses know. This will take about ten to fifteen minutes to complete."
Lunick didn't even hear what the doctor was saying. All he was focused on was the teal-haired girl who needed this transfusion to save her life.
After about 45 minutes, Lunick came back into the waiting room, a gauze bandage wrapped around his left arm.
Spenser, Leilani, Plusle, and Minun were at his side in an instant.
"How'd it go?"
"It was…okay. I mean, I had to try to distract myself from the huge needle they put in my arm."
"Why do you have that bandage wrapped around your arm? Don't they usually just give you a band-aid or something," Leilani said, pointing at the long gauze wrapped several times around his arm.
"I got this because I bled more than I should have when they took the needle out. That's probably because the first couple times they couldn't draw any blood. They had to keep moving the needle around. That's why it was so painful."
Leilani cringed.
"Did they say what they were going to do?" Spenser asked, concern still in his voice.
"They said they were gonna get some of the pokemon to freeze my blood. That usually takes two to three days by refrigerator, but because Solana is in such dire need of it, they're getting their pokemon to do that instead. Then they're gonna analyze it and cleanse it…then transfer it over to Solana," he said as he walked back over to the glass window, looking at Solana. Plusle and Minun joined him.
Spenser sighed as he looked down at his watch.
"We can't stay here much longer. We have to get back to close the bases. I'm sure those rangers monitoring them want to go home."
Leilani stretched a couple times before yawning. Spenser noticed this and smiled.
"Leilani, why don't you go tell everyone they can go home. Lunick and I will call and tell them how Solana is doing in the morning."
"Okay," she said with another yawn as she went to go tell everyone what he said.
Spenser smiled slightly as he walked back over to Lunick, who was still staring at Solana.
"I'm not going."
"She's going to be fine, Lunick," Spenser tried to reassure him.
"I'm not going. I'm staying here with her."
Spenser sighed.
"I'll stay here a little longer, Lunick. I have to get back to the base."
"You can. You can go, Leader. I'm choosing to stay here. I'm not gonna leave until I know how well she's doing," Lunick said as he looked back up towards his role model.
Spenser smiled weakly as looked back up through the glass to view Solana. A nurse and her Chansey had just come into the room, sticking an IV in her arm.
"Call me when you're done and tell me how she's doing."
Lunick looked back up at him.
"I will."
Slightly smiling, Spenser patted Lunick on the back before looking back at Solana for the last time and heading out of the front door.
She was going to be fine. He knew she was.
Snoring slightly, Lunick had again dozed off while waiting for Doctor Jared to come back with news about Solana. It wasn't until he felt something move on his lap that he had awakened.
He saw Minun peering up at him, looking him in his eyes.
"Did I fall asleep?" he said rubbing his eyes, blinking soon afterwards.
"Mai Mai."
Covering his mouth, Lunick gave a soft yawn.
"Man…how long have we been here?"
Minun pointed to the wall clock which showed the time 3:15 on it.
"Seven hours?"
Minun nodded his head.
Lunick sighed. He saw Plusle with her face pressed against the glass wall where her human was being kept.
"How long has she been over there?"
"Mai Mai."
"Since Spenser left, huh?"
Again Minun nodded his head.
Just then, a nurse came into the waiting room. Lunick, Minun, and Plusle ran up to her.
"How is she?"
A huge smile appeared on the nurse's face.
"Solana's fine. The transfusion was a complete success. She's being observed tonight but we still may need to keep her a couple weeks just to be sure."
"So she's gonna be fine?"
The nurse chuckled slightly.
"Yes, she's going to be fine. She's breathing on her own, her pulse is strong. Her heatbeat's still a little fast but she's fine overall. She's being monitored just to be sure."
All three of them let out a relieved sigh.
"If you'd like, I can take you to her room…"
"Yes, that'd be great, thank you."
Lunick followed the nurse around a few hallways and to the room.
"I'm afraid that she's still asleep. We put her under anesthesia just to be sure she didn't wake up in during the transfusion. You may go on in, but she'll probably be asleep for the next couple of hours."
"Okay. Thanks again."
The nurse smiled and walked off. Lunick walked into the room and took a seat. Plusle hopped up on the bed, looking Solana over before cuddling right beside her.
He noticed two lone figures outside looking at Solana through the window. He recognized them as the Mew and Celebi who had brought him there in the first place, which, he knew, if it wasn't for them, Solana may not have pulled through like she did.
Once it realized they were spotted, the Celebi began tugging on the Mew like it had the previous night. After a few tugs, the Mew looked at Solana one more time, before giving Lunick a small smile and flying off.
Lunick didn't know whether or not they'd be staying, and if they were, how long was anybody's guess. Not that that mattered to Lunick right now. At the moment, all his thoughts were on the girl sleeping on the bed in the room.
Solana dlooked like she was sleeping soundly despite all the things the hospital had done. Her uniform was in a small plastic bag under the bed, her body now clothed in a patient's gown. Beside the bed, an IV bag hung, attached to a tube that ran from the bag down into one of Solana's arms. Lunick didn't know if that was the same bag that the nurse put in her arm or if that one was new. Guessing by the amount of liquid the bag, it was probably a fresh one.
Lunick moved his seat up to the bedside and looked at her face. She looked so peaceful. So relaxed. Lunick could feel his face heat up as he continued to look at her beautiful face. She had the face of an angel, or at least, that's how Lunick saw it.
He placed his hand on top of Solana's and grasped it lightly. He could hear her slow and steady breathing. It was a calming sound. He smiled as he felt the warmth of her hand in his.
"Hey 'Lana," he said, knowing fully well that she couldn't hear him. Nevertheless, he wanted to speak to her as if she were awake.
"The nurse told me the transfusion was a success. And I'm so glad it was. I don't know what I'd do if you didn't make it. I consider myself so lucky to have such a good friend like you around. That time, when I was trapped in the Jungle Relic and you came and saved me…I felt so bad that I ruined your vacation. But, I guess now I can repay you by giving you your own vacation after you get out of this hospital. And when you get out, I'll do my best to help you whenever I can. But I just wanna say that you'll never know how happy I am to be back with you again."
Lunick frowned slightly.
"I know…some people consider you weak, 'Lana. But to me, you've always been strong and willful. The way you're able to think quickly and move swiftly when you're in the field…I mean I wish I could do that! You're an amazing person Solana. And…I just want you know, that even though I failed you this time, I won't ever let it happen again. Know that from here on out, I'll always be watching over you because…I'm your guardian and you're my angel."
Leaning over towards her, Lunick gingerly kissed Solana on the forehead.
At this time, Doctor Jared had walked passed room, stopping when he heard that last part. He saw Lunick holding his patient's hand and a small smile appeared on his face when he saw him kiss the girl on her forehead. He knew he was going to be breaking a couple rules for what he was about to say.
"If you want, I can get one of my nurses to fix up that bed over there and you could sleep over here for the night?"
Lunick smiled at hearing that.
"Really?"
Jared nodded his head.
"Usually we only do that with a parent or guardian if the patient's under eighteen, and even so, they're only allowed to sleep on the chair. But, seeing as how you two are really close, and there are plenty of other beds should we get any late night calls, I might be lenient enough to let you spend the night, though, this will only be for tonight."
"Yes, thank you. I accept."
Jared smiled slightly before recording something on his clipboard.
"I'll be sure to tell the nurse to leave the curtain open in case you want to check on your girlfriend sometime during the night," he said before continuing on his way to wherever he was going before he stopped.
Lunick's smile slowly turned into a frown when he realized the doctor misunderstood his relationship with Solana as just a close friendship rather than a boyfriend.
"Wait, I'm not…I mean, we're not…" but he found that he was talking to himself since the doctor had already left.
He blinked a couple times, glancing down at Solana before smiling weakly. It wasn't so much that he felt it was bad to be in a relationship with Solana. In fact, it excited him thoroughly just thinking about the two of them being a couple. It was just…they weren't really in a relationship. He didn't want anyone to misunderstand their friendship for a dating couple. At least, until they got to that stage…if they got to that stage.
After a few minutes, the nurse came in and prepared the bed for Lunick, reminding him that he could only stay for one night. Lunick nodded his head and said thank you once more before she walked out of the room.
He glanced back at Solana, gently moving a few strands of hair that was covering her face and sliding them behind her ear.
Carefully lifting the sleeping Minun off of his lap, Lunick stole one last glance at Solana before making his way over to the other bed and settling in for the night.
Plusle yawned a few times before looking back at her human. Solana almost seemed to smile when Lunick kissed her. But then again, Plusle could be hallucinating. She was tired. It did occur to her, however, that this was the second time a kissed was shared between the two, the first being back at the base when Solana kissed him on the cheek. She wondered if there was going to be a time when they would share an actual kiss. The ones that humans did when they got married or the ones they did on an anniversary. But then again, they were just friends. Nobody said they would be anything more.
Yawning again, Plusle settled back in on the bed, curling up in a tiny ball right next to Solana's face.
If Lunick was indeed her guardian, then fate may have something planned for the two of them that they themselves didn't even know.
A/N: Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this little chappy(only not so little, lol) I had to do A LOT of research just to make sure I was completely accurate with the prognosis. Solana and Lunick's blood types I got from bulbapedia. They're really blood type O. Whether it's positive or negative, I don't know, but for the sake of this story, I made Lunick negative and Solana positive. Everybody else I just made up since I didn't know their actual blood type.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it! Next chapter should be posted soon!
