Chapter 12 – Alive
Ouch!
That's the very first thing that comes to mind as I wake up. The next one is "What the hell happened?". Further questions are postponed by a surprised yelp coming from my right. It takes no little effort to turn my head around and look. My eye doesn't seem to cooperate. I'm welcomed by the wonderful sight of a well shaped ass, clad in a nurse uniform, just in front of my face. Well Hel-lo Beautiful! Nice way to wake up, save for the headache.
That sight is stolen away from me as the brown haired owner turns around to look at me. I find myself staring in a couple of surprised green eyes belonging to a cute, young nurse in her early twenties, with brown curly hairs. Well! The front side as nothing to envy to the back side. I'd really like to make her acquaintance, but she bolts out of the door screaming "DOCTOR!" at the top of her lungs. Keep it down lady. My head is killing me.
Where the hell am I anyway? An hospital, that much is obvious. How did I end in here? What's the last thing I remember?
Name? Ron Stoppable. Check!
Favorite food? Naco. Check!
Best buddy? Rufus. Check!
Family? Mom, Dad, Kim. Fuck!
Now I remember. The Prom, The Diablos, Eric. Owww! My head. How long ago was that anyway? What day is it? I should look around for clues.
Hmm. Standard hospital furniture, no personal belongings lying around so I shouldn't have been here for too long. A vase of flower on the nightstand on my left, and nothing else.
Suddenly my attention is drawn to a particular on my bed. My left arm. Or the lack of it.
...
Oh well! I kinda abused it that night so I guess I can't really complain.
...
LIKE HELL I CAN'T COMPLAIN! IT WAS MY ARM! I HAD IT SINCE BIRTH! I WAS FOND OF IT. ARRRRGH! MY ARM! GIVE ME BACK MY ARM!
...
Ok. I'm all better now. No really, I'm ok. I expected this development when I pulled that switch out of the wall. Well the perks of being crazy is that you can overlook the big stuff for the small stuff.
I'm hungry. When was the last time I ate something solid? A guy saves the world and can't even have a Naco? Life's unfair.
My whole inner tantrum didn't last even a minute. Just the time needed for the nurse to come back with a doctor in tow. This woman reminds me of MrsDrP. She must be younger though. Late thirties is my guess. Shoulder length black hairs, a little taller than me when standing, slender, brown eyes that looks like she didn't sleep too well in the past week. Overall a good looking woman.
"Mr. Stoppable?" her voice is a little surprised but it's just a moment. The surprise quickly leaves space to a professional demeanor.
"Yeah?"
"How are you feeling Mr. Stoppable?" Hmm. Tricky question.
"To be honest, I feel like I've been electrocuted a couple of time and beaten mercilessly by a gang of Synthodrones. Add to that the fact that my arm and potentially an eye are missing. Not a good feeling." She's taken aback by my humor but soon her lips smirk a little.
"That's a pretty accurate diagnosis Mr. Stoppable. Ever considered a career in the medical field?" She covered the distance from the door to my bed and she's now looking at some equipment. Something attached to me I guess. "Well then, your memory seems to be all right. We can exclude brain damages. Of course we should run more test later on." I'm not sure. Some people might disagree with your diagnosis Doc. And they are all in my head.
"Well that's a good news isn't it?"
"Sure it is. Especially since you have been in a coma for the past ten years."
WHAT!
/WHAT!/
"WHAT?"
"Just kidding. It has been only two weeks." Uh. My mouth is moving without a sound. "Oh look. The heart spiked up properly. That was the part that worried us more."
"And your idea of a proper check it to give me a scare? Are you trying to kill me?" This… This… This bitch!
"No. I don't' think I can kill you that easily. And besides we should have run some test of this type later on. That saved us quite some time." I don't have a reply to that.
"Ah, I'm too tired to argue with you. Would you mind filling me in on my condition doctor…?"
"Stevenson. Alice Stevenson. Pleased to meet you Mr. Stoppable."
"It's Ron."
"Excuse me?"
"Call me Ron. Mr. Stoppable is my father." She smiles at that.
"Sure thing Ron. But only if you call me Doc or Alice. Deal?"
"Deal! So about my conditions?"
"Right. First and foremost you died two weeks ago." I think my eye blinked four time in a second. Is she messing with me again. "I'm serious. When we brought you here, around an hour later of your battle in that gym, your heart wasn't beating. You were dead on all accounts. It was just a stroke of luck that we noticed something odd about you." Whoa this is heavy.
"What do you mean?"
"When your body err… you were laid in the morgue a janitor heard you breath while he was cleaning. Of course when he told us we thought he had simply imagined things, but it prompted us to check." I stare with a 'go on' look. "When we checked up on you again we discovered that your heart was still beating. Like three times a minute. Not nearly enough to keep you alive, but it still kept going. So we started running a lots of test on you, trying to figure out what exactly happened and why your body did not seem to give up. Tell me Ron, do you know what this is?" She lends me a piece of folded paper that she kept in her pocket. On the white surface, drawn with pencils is the familiar outline of a snowflake.
"Legacy?" My hand run to my neck where it was last time I've bothered to check only to find nothing. "Where is it? What has it to do with anything?" I don't understand where this is going. Alice rubs her eyes trying to find a proper answer.
"That's what we are trying to figure out ourselves, Ron. As for where it is…" She snaps her finger in an elegant manner, she must be used to give orders. The nurse passes her a white envelope which she opens smoothly and gives the content to me. What I'm holding now is clearly a radiography. A radiography of an heart. My heart. Oh. Oh. Oh SHIT!
There it is. Tightly embedded on the surface of my heart lies the familiar outline of the synthetic entity called Legacy. I can't help but feel a sense of constriction on my chest. I look back to Alice probably pale as a ghost. "W-what? H-how?"
"Sigh. We don't know. The only thing we can tell you is that this thing has kept you alive in conditions where death would have been a certain outcome. This thing has kept your heart beating slow enough to avoid a major blood loss, while its cells invaded your bloodstream carrying oxygen to the vital parts of your body, avoiding organ failures. For what we can see it's acting like a virus reproducing in your body but it's not harming you in any way. No, it's repairing you. You had massive internal bleedings. Treating them with surgery would have been almost impossible, and it would have required a long time before you could wake up. Let us not speak of the possible damage to your mind due to the lack of oxygen. I have no idea of what this thing nature is but it's making sure that you live, Ron. At least it's not a threat."
Oh. W-was this planned all along?
"We would like you to carry our children..."
THEY MEANT IT LITERALLY! Legion you son of a…. Grrrrr. Ok. Ok. Calm down.
"Ron?" Alice voice snap me back to her. "I understand this must be unsettling but try to remain calm. As of now that thing acted in your best interest so we think that you shouldn't fear about its intentions." Right that make sense. Doesn't make things any less creepy but it works. I must try to find out more about this whole stuff before freaking out.
"OK. I can see your point. Can you tell me something more about it?" She nods.
"We tried to examine it but every sample we took from your blood decades too quickly to perform any kind of advanced test. Prehaps we could know more by taking a sample from the core but we aren't sure of what effects it might have on you, so we avoided doing that." Thank you very much Doc. "Other tests showed us that this thing, Legacy you said, repaired every fresh wound your body couldn't make fast enough to allow you to live. We helped with blood transfusions which improved the rate it worked and kept you fed with nutrients. This little thing is a factory and it's working full time to keep you healthy, but not fast enough to compromise the stability of your system. It's acting like it's part of your immune system. White cells won't attack it like it has always been part of your body." In a sense it is. It came from my own blood. Oh. So it was really planned all along. "That's about all we know about it. Would you mind telling us something more?"
"Sure, but it might take a while. Could I have something to eat first? My stomach feels like a bottomless pit." She smiles.
"Sure. Tell you what. I'll have something delivered from the kitchen. You rest while I call your family and Dr. Director. She was eager to talk to you. Ah, no good, you shouldn't over exert right now. I'll tell Dr. Director to drop by tomorrow. She waited two weeks and she can wait some more. The same goes for me of course. Emily, please make sure that Ron has everything he needs." The nurse, Emily, nods. "Later Ron." And she leaves from the room.
"Uhmm. Mr. Stoppable?" I turn to look at Emily. "Is there something you would like to eat?"
"You don't think I could have a Naco, do you? I know it's not a standard hospital food but.." She smiles and tilts her head to the left a little.
"Sure! You're right, it's not a standard meal here but I'm sure we can make an exception. I'll call the kitchen immediately. I'll be back in a minute."
And here I am, alone with my thoughts. A lot of things to digest all together. I let my mind wander on the night of the Prom.
…
Kim. I can't help but wonder how is she. Bah. Why can't I get her out of my head? Tara. Las thing I remember she was unhurt. I certainly hope so. Bonnie. Bonnie? Ok she kinda surprise me that night. Vivian? Crap. I left her at Bueno Nacho HQ. I hope that they gave Olly back to her.
…
The Blade. Oh fuck. She disappeared from Yamanouchi. I must call and tell them where she is.
…
But where is she? Crap. I left her at the gym. She is probably in GJs' care. Will they give her back to me? What if… Oh. Why do I even bother?
I stretch my hand forward as I did that night. Right there in the corner of my mind…
"I'm here."
"KYAAA!"
Uh-oh. On the door Emily is standing with her hands on the chest. What? Oops. The room has darkened and is filled with blue light while the red mist is swirling around. What the hell was I thinking? I release the 'hold' on the Blade and the room goes back to normal.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare you." She looks at me startled.
"T-that was you? What was that?" Well done. You got her all curious.
"Yes that was me. And I can't tell you about it. Part because it's a secret and part because I don't know exactly myself. Sorry. Please keep quiet about it, ok?" She looks at me without answering. "Please?" still a moment of silence before..
"Ok. But are you sure it's all right? With your condition and everything?" Oh. Didn't think about that. I should avoid calling the sword if not necessary. I'm not sure of what's going on about me and the world right now. Keeping low should be the smartest idea.
"Yeah it's ok. And thanks." She shakes her head.
"No problem. Just don't do anything that could compromise your health, will you? You almost died already and I didn't even…" She's hesitating. "Never mind. I'll keep your secret Mr. Stoppable. Whatever it is. Beside I'm not sure what anybody will think, If I were to tell that your room was shining blue with a red mist swirling around." Eh. she's right. They will probably throw her with the nutcases. /Can I have her as a roommate? Woooh. Think about all the games we could do together./
"Thanks. And call me Ron too will you? Emily right?" I extend my hand and she grabs it with hers.
"Right. Pleased to meet you, Ron." A small hand but a firm handshake.
"Pleasure is all mine. So about my lunch, uh, dinner maybe, any luck with that Naco?"
"Yeah. It should be delivered here in a few minutes and.."
"RONNIE!" before I can possibly react I find myself crushed into a familiar hug. "Oh, Ronnie. I'm so glad! I'm so glad."
"Ghu! Mom! Oxygen issues!" she release her hold on me.
"Oh. Oh Dear. I'm so sorry, Ron. But… But… *SNIFF* I'm so glad!" There we go again. I don't have the heart to push her away. Poor mom, I must have given her a lot of worries. And that being dead stuff must have been at the top of it. On the door I can see the tired figure of my father looking at us. Another person I scared with that night stunts.
"I'm sorry Mom, Dad. I didn't mean to scare you." My mother is pratically wailing on my shoulder, but my father look calm as I've never seen him. He reach my bed and puts his hand on my left shoulder, the one mom isn't soaking in tears.
"That's all right, son. You did what you felt was right and we couldn't be more proud than this. Only..." he swallows. I can see that he's holding back the tears. "..Next time just don't give us such a scare, will you?"
"I promise that I will try my best." My answer doens't make him any more relaxed but surely more proud.
"An honest answer. You've grown, Ron." I guess I did.
"Next time? NEXT TIME?" Mom switched from happy tears to angered banshee. Not good. "There is not going to be a next time. Hasn't he been through enough? What kind of ordeal shold he face next? Isn't he hurt already? All because of that... that.. tramp?" Whoa! Hold on a second!
"Uh.. Mom?" No use. She's biting dads' head off.
"An arm. An eye. It's not a bruise. What else will he lose for that girl sake?"
"ENOUGH!" I won't take any of this.
"R-Ron?"
"What has Kim to do with anything? Huh? Do you realize what you are saying? This wounds, they... they are mine." That's right! Fuck Kimberly. She has no part in this. "It was me and me alone. Not Kim, not Drakken nor Shego. Not even that balloon of goo Eric. This wounds... They are mine and mine alone. Both my merit and my fault. The price and the reward for my actions. Don't look... down on me!"
This little tirade left me breathless and my parents speechless. I'm too weak for this shit. Agh. My vision is going blurry. Slumping back is the only thing I can do.
"B-but Ron..." her voice is low but mine is even more.
"N-no buts... It was... my choice. All along. Now and before. If... if Kim is at fault certainly is not for my wounds." Right. It's not about her. "This... is not her fault. It's mine. Even... if her lack of trust hurts even more than this... I'm the sole responsible for..." Blackness.
When I open my eyes err.. eye again I'm staring into the stern glare of Alice.
"Haven't I told you not to overexert yourself, Ron?" I nod. "And please do tell, which part of throwing a tantrum classifies as a relaxing activity?" Boy, she's pissed. And she's scary too.
"Uh... I'm s-sorry?" She smiles sweetly before whispering in my ears. "You'd better be. Or else I'll finish the job you started, you hear?" I can only swallow and nod. "Good boy." And she pats my head before turning around. "He's ok now. Please avoid to excite him too much." My parents are just outside of the room with clear worry in their eyes. She must have thrown them out when she came in. She whisper something to my parents as well as she leaves the room. I can see them pale considerably.
"That's one scary woman, son." Don't I know it.
"Yeah, she is. Uh. Sorry about that. I gave you a scare once more." It's my mother again to tale the wheel of the conversation.
"I'm the one who should apologize, Ron. It's.. It's just that we were so scared, we thought we had lost you and...and...*SNIFF*..and I had to take it out on someone." back again in a sitting position I bring her into the best hug I can give with one arm only. I let her cry again on my shoulder. Poor mom. I can only imagine what kind of ordeal I've put her through in all those years with Kim. Yet both of them never tried to hold me back. Somebody might mistake their behavior as uncaring but I know better now. They were probably the only persons to believe that I could take care of myself in any circumstances, even when I didn't believe so myself.
"Mom, Dad. Once again I'm sorry. I've realized just now that I must have given you a lot of grief over the years. Thanks for never holding me back. I appreciate it. More than you can ever imagine." My mother pushes herself back to stare into my eye. A small smile adorning her lips.
"My, my. You really did grow." And she hugs me again, this time without tears. Once more dad places his hand on my shoulder with a look of respect that I've never saw in his eyes. We just stay there. No one saying anything, simply basking in this closeness we never shared before.
I'm not sure which path I'm going to walk from now on, but for the price I've paid so far I've already found something extremely important. Something worth ten times the price. Things are looking up. For one thing, I'm still alive.
Author note: Wew. Could you believe that this was the hardest chapter to write so far? Honestly, no action at all. And it will be so for the most part of this arc if not all.
So... any comment about this one? I never woke up from a coma (luckily) and I'm not sure of what would, could or should happen. Did you like the Legacy twist? We've just begun trust me.
Did you like Ron confrontation with his parents? Overall I feel like I've pushed to many thing on this chapter like I've made it in a rush. I hope it's just my imagination.
On a more personal note, I'm sorry for the long wait. The global financial crisis finally hit my backwatered town and the company I work for. A few heads rolled already and those who remained went into a 'survival of the fittest' modality. We basically are at each other throats. That doesn't leave you in the mood to write, does it? No worries, I'm a resourceful man and even if I lose this job I've got a plan already. Crawling into a corner and cry like a baby. No. Not that one. That's for when my girlfriend dumps me. Just kidding.
I should be back on this story with a steady pace but not as quick as before, not for the lack of time but because I'm trying to make interactions more realistic, it takes more then 'kick-puch-fight'. Keep reading.
Some people pointed out that Eric was more talk than action. I hope that I've made clear that his role beside distracting Kim was the same as the King in a chess game: to control the other pieces. Plus he was programmed by Drakken. A person whose ego gets in the way more often than not. What could you expect from his creation? An unlogged user asked me about the spear form of the Blade. Uh uh uh. What can I say? Keep reading. There is more to the Blade than just shape-shifting, but please remind that this story is not a crossover.
Someone said that it's going to be hard to overcome the current level of this story. Is that a challenge? You're on!
PS: thanks for every review, support and even critics. Keep 'em coming.