This timeline in this chapter moves quite fast, so I apologize if it's all over the place. I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter, so hopefully it turned out ok.
There was a light knock on the door to Jane's room. Kurt looked up, expecting to see Allie, but saw Reade standing in the doorway. Kurt felt a mix of emotions course through him, both anger and relief at seeing his best friend.
Reade entered the room, with his hands up in surrender. "Kurt-" he started before he was cut off.
"Where have you been?" Kurt ground out, from Jane's side. Avery was still sitting on the other side of the bed, though she had fallen asleep an hour ago.
Reade took in the scene in front of him. He really hadn't expected it to be this bad when he got here, but here was Jane, literally on her deathbed, the life support the only thing keeping her alive. He sighed.
"I've been trying to help Zapata." he said shifting.
The anger bubbled up inside Kurt again.
"So you're telling me, that while my wife has been dying, you've been helping a fugitive? One that you let go?"
Reade stayed silent, having promised Zapata that the mission would only stay between the two of them. He was already beginning to regret that decision.
"Kurt… she was taken by the CIA." he said, choosing his words carefully. "I was just trying to help get her out of their blacksite."
Kurt sniffed, knowing he would have done the same thing.
"Well you're here now." he muttered. Now was not the time to push his family away. It's not what Jane would want, and it was definitely more energy than he could handle right now.
"How is she?" Reade asked, taking a spare seat beside Kurt.
"Not good." Kurt murmured.
"I got a call from Patterson." Reade said. "Along with a lot of other missed calls" he added apologetically. "She said they were working on the cure?"
Kurt nodded.
"She just has to hold on until then." he said, looking up at his wife, her chest rising and falling with the mechanical whir of the machines. "And then we fill need to wait to find out if it will even work."
Reade reached out and clapped him on the shoulder.
"It will work."
Kurt hung his head. "You know I'm finding it really hard to stay positive." he muttered, his voice cracking. "Seeing how far she's deteriorated in such a short time… it makes it hard to see how she will even come back from this."
"You just have to keep faith." a voice said from the doorway.
"Allie." Kurt breathed, standing and almost falling into her arms. Now that she was here he felt like didn't have to be brave. She pulled him into a tight hug, one hand coming up to cup the back of his neck. After a few moments, she pulled back, taking in her surroundings.
"Any change?" she asked.
Kurt shook his head.
"They're just trying to keep her comfortable… and alive." he added for measure.
Allie nodded, removing her jacket.
"So what's the plan from here?"
Kurt smiled softly, the corner of his mouth raising slightly. Allie had always been the one to need a plan.
"We wait until Rich and Patterson get here with the cure… then we wait to see if it works."
Allie nodded.
"Ok… well until then…" she scrunching up her nose. "When was the last time you had a shower?"
Kurt frowned at her, then raised his eyebrows when he couldn't answer her.
"That's what I thought." Allie replied, her nose still scrunched. "Go and have a shower. I'll order food for everyone." she all but ordered.
"Yes ma'am." Kurt said, before hesitating, looking back at Jane. He hadn't left her side in days, apart from bathroom breaks and the occasional meal.
"She's not going anywhere Kurt." Allie said softly. "I'll look after her while you're gone."
"Thank you." he said sincerely, before leaving the room.
Allie sighed, sinking into the chair Kurt had just vacated.
"How about I go and order the food." Reade offered. "Give you a moment alone with her."
Allie smiled gratefully. Reade got up, leaving Allie alone in the room with Jane, minus the still sleeping Avery.
She reached out, taking the other woman by the hand.
"Come on Jane." she whispered. "I need you to be ok." She closed her eyes, the room falling silent, minus the mechanical whir of the life support. She opened her eyes, squeezing Jane's hand. "Come on Jane, you're so strong. Kurt needs you." Allie urged, though she knew she would get no response.
Rather than sit in silence, Allie took it upon herself to tell Jane stories about Bethany.
Kurt returned sometime later, hearing the tail end of one of the stories.
"...and she really misses her Mamma Jane."
Kurt stood in the doorway, looking at the two woman he loved most. He was lucky to have them both in his life, no matter how long that was for.
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The rest of the day both dragged and flew by. Before they knew it, Rich, Patterson and Doctor Roga were standing in the doorway.
"Do you have it?" Kurt asked desperately.
Roga smiled, entering the room with three small saline bags.
He sunk back into his seat, unable to process the fact that the key to saving Jane's life, was finally in the same room.
"How does it work?" Avery asked.
"These are slow release infusions." Roga said, stepping into the room. "The first lot will take a couple of hours to administer. The second and third lot will be pushed through in half hour intervals after that."
"How long will it take… before we know?" Kurt asked quietly.
"We will know something by the morning." Roga replied, walking forward to set up the first infusion.
The whole room watched as the first few drops of medicine entered Jane's body. It was going to be a long night.
Around midnight a nurse who Kurt hadn't seen before entered the room. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief.
"Visiting hours are well and truly over!" she exclaimed. "You all need to get out now!"
Before she could continue, Kurt, Reade, Allie and Patterson were all flashing their badges at her, while Avery, Rich and Roga turned their noses up defiantly.
The nurse huffed, before storming out of the room.
The group shared a look, before dissolving into a fit of laughter. It was the first time in days that any of them had truly laughed. The atmosphere in the room was light, but there was still an underlying uncertainty.
About two in the morning, Avery spoke up, exclaiming "Look!" She was pointing at Jane's monitor, where her temperature had dropped to 100.
"This is a good sign." Roga said smiling.
She was glad the others had let her stay after the third infusion had been administered. She was invested in this, as much scientifically as personally. This woman… these people had saved her life. She so desperately wanted to save Jane's.
By about five am, everyone in the room had fallen asleep, spread about the chairs, and the floor. They were woken by the sound of alarms blaring and the sound choking and gagging.
"What happened?" Kurt growled, as a doctor and a few nurses came running into the room.
The group moved out of the way, letting the medical professionals work.
Roga smiled again.
"Why are you smiling?" Kurt exclaimed gruffly.
"She's fighting the tube." Patterson whispered, tears forming in her eyes.
They watched as the doctor disconnected the breathing tube and lay the bed flat. In one swift moment, he pulled the tube free of Jane's throat. The alarms quietened and the choking stopped.
"She's breathing on her own." Avery said, sobbing.
The doctor checked her vitals, opting to put a nasal cannula in to help her with her oxygen intake.
Over the next few hours, Jane's vitals began to stabilize, her blood pressure, temperature and heart rate all returning to a more normal range.
Doctor Thompson entered the room, taking in the large group of people standing vigil around her patient's bedside.
"I'm going to take her for some tests." the doctor told them. "I would like to perform an MRI to see what kind of changes have taken place in her brain."
Kurt nodded his approval, stepping aside to allow the orderly to prep her for transport. Once she was wheeled out of the door, the group sat in a companionable silence, waiting for her return.
After about fifteen minutes, Kurt turned to Roga.
"You're happy with the progress she has made so far?" he asked after hesitating.
Roga nodded.
"It's working even faster than I had imagined." She smiled, then hesitated. "Though I don't know what she is going to be like when she wakes up, how much of the rest of the damage will be reversed." she sighed, hating to be the bearer of potentially bad news. But she didn't want to give them false hope.
Kurt nodded, already prepared for that answer. He looked around the room, full of people he and Jane loved. Whatever obstacles they would have to face, at least they had a strong support network. They would face their hurdles together.
Not too much longer to go :) as always I would love to hear what you thought.
