10th November 2013 Sunday

Day 314

It's been a while since I left it on a cliff hanger (if said last chapter could be considered a cliff hanger) and it's been pretty hectic trying to plan out these next few chapters. All I can say is you'll get a hefty dose of main story chapters for a while.

Writer's club tomorrow, so I'll probably work on a few future chapters at the meeting.

Disclaimer: It's really bugging me how I have to think of something new to say here every day. Don't own it.

The paramedics had arrived promptly, and one by one they began loading every patient in to the multiple hover ambulances they had arrived in. Jane was standing on the sidelines, watching in worry at the sight of the team members, some motionless on their stretchers.

"Mommy, we're going in to the ambulance!" Winston threw his hands up in the air from his seat on a stretcher. Max was sitting opposite him, cross-legged and with a huge smile on his face. The children weren't hurt; after all, they had been strapped in to their seats just before the impact. The mother smiled and kissed her son on the head as they moved past together.

Dex walked over to his wife, placing his hands behind his back as he thoughtfully inspected the damage of the habitat.

"This is going to take a lot of work," he mused, more so to himself than to Jane. He raised an eyebrow at his wife's scoffing noise.

"Typical, the habitat always comes first for a dedicated entomologist," she said with a bit of a laugh, handing Sammy over to her husband. He frowned as he turned back to look at the ship, damaged beyond repair.

"You're right, I should be more considerate," responded the leader, hugging his daughter close to his chest. Another stretcher moved past, holding a semi-conscious Tung on it. He pulled a forced smile and casually saluted his superiors, before cringing in pain. Dex glanced over at his wife, bouncing his daughter. "I'm so glad you weren't on the ship."

"How did it happen?" she asked, watching as a sleeping Bream moved toward the ambulance.

"I don't think Zap was paying attention," he answered, distractedly playing with his daughter's hands. "We've had accidents, but not as serious as this. The ship is totalled."

"Zap and Jenny were sitting in the front seats, weren't they?" she asked, cringing in worry as she spied the ambulance drivers placing breathing apparatuses on to the pilot and the engineer. She could see Dex nodding his head from the corner of her eye.

"I think they were having an argument, I couldn't tell," he said, handing Sammy back. He nodded to the vehicles. "I'm going to go with them; they said they wanted to check me over just in case."

"I'll come with you," Jane said hurriedly, moving with him into one of the ambulances. "There's no way I could stay here without worrying about all of you."

Once again, the hospital was eerily quiet with sickly white walls and a repetitive ticking sound coming from down the hall. Dex was seated next to Jane, wringing his hands together tightly as they patiently waited for any news. Bream was now awake and sitting next to Tung, her head hanging low in sadness. Max, Winston and Sammy were all standing on the ground, pretty much mumbling to each other in what appeared to be some made up language.

The bruising had started to set in, spreading a few purple spots on the leader's forehead. Max had a large band-aid resting above his eyebrow, and Tung was pulling his new arm cast up to his nose.

"How is it?" Dex questioned, asking more of whether or not his arm hurt. Of course, the tracker's answer didn't surprise him.

"It's already starting to smell," he replied with a grin, looking at it with satisfaction. "Oh yeah!"

A doctor exited one of the rooms in front of them and bent down to Dex, whispering in his ear.

"Ok, thank you," he replied once the man had stopped speaking. "Tell us if there is any improvement."

The man nodded before walking away, leaving the rest of the team swamping their leader for answers. He was just about to explain it to them, when they heard a loud ruckus coming from the other door in front of them.

Zap stormed out of the room with an angered expression, chased by panicking doctors.

"Just back off, I'm fine!" he shouted to them, to which they immediately obliged. Knowing his medical history, the hospital crew didn't want to aggravate him further.

As soon as he saw his father, Max spread his wings and leapt up in to the pilot's arms, smiling brightly. Zap's angry face quickly melted at the sight.

"Daddy!"

"Hey dude, wow, you got a doozy right there," he said, tracing the band-aid with his thumb. The little bug boy placed his hands on the pilot's cheeks.

"So do you," he said with a quiver in his voice, turning his dad's head from side to side as he inspected the multiple cuts, scrapes and bruises that littered the bug boy's face and arms. He shied away bashfully; the rest of the crew watching intently at the odd sight.

"Yeah," he said, looking in the other direction. His gaze moved over the team who were seated in a row, giving the pilot looks of sympathy. His brow furrowed when he only counted four people sitting down. "Where's Jenny?"

Everyone looked to Dex, so that's where Zap's eyes landed too. The leader sighed as he glanced to his left and his right, meeting the gaze of everyone before his eyes fell to his hands in his lap.

"She's in that room, but you can't go in yet," he replied quickly, noticing the pilot edging his foot in the direction of his pointed finger. "She…she hasn't woken up yet."

R&R!