Title-Pain in the Side
Summary- The one where Jack has an appendicitis and needs to be fixed.
Characters- Jack Frost, Sandman, North, Bunnymund, Tooth
Rating-T
Request By- Water Girl
"I hate summer," said Jack as he landed in Australia, his feet instantly frosting a small portion of the ground. "Why couldn't Tooth just get him herself?"
Jack found the secret entrance to the Warren and dove in, flying unsteadily until he hit more sunlight. There he landed, leaning against his staff and panting, before surveying the peaceful surroundings.
"Oi!" yelled Jack, doing his best to imitate Bunny's accent. "Kangaroo, Tooth wants everyone to meet at her palace. Something about a dinner or I don't really know, she just said to get you."
"Well tell her that she can come get me herself if she insists on dragging me out there."
"I would but-damn I really hate summer-she told me to get your furry ass there one way or another."
"What's with the sudden need to curse?" asked Bunny, hopping into view.
Jack clutched his side, leaning heavily on his staff as he did.
"Frostbite?" said Bunny, approaching Jack an increasingly brisk pace. "You alright mate?"
"I'm fine," panted Jack, sinking to his knees. "Damn it, just the heat. I told Tooth I didn't want to fly to Australia during the summer. Everything wants to kill you here, especially the heat."
"Jack, what's going on?" asked Bunny, running up to the panting boy.
"I don't know," said Jack, teeth clenched. "It's not normally this bad. I'll get a headache, maybe worse, but never like this."
"Okay, where does it hurt?" said Bunny calmly.
"Side. Damn it! I'm fine, I swear, it's been going on all day, let's just go to Tooth's and find out what she wants."
"Just sit down for a minute and shut up," snapped Bunny, forcing Jack to stay on the ground. "Now, tell me exactly what hurts and when it started."
"I can't do both, either I shut up or I talk to you. Damn!"
"Alright, that's it," said Bunny, picking up Jack. "I'm making the executive decision that we are going to Tooth's to find Sandy so we can get you help."
"Bunny, set me down," said Jack. "I'm not a baby, I can walk."
"You're a right pain, you know that?"
"A pain in my side," said Jack, chuckling before it turned into a groan.
"Shut up," said Bunny fondly before rushing to Tooth's palace.
At Tooth Palace Bunny set Jack on a couch and left in search of Tooth and Sandy and anyone else who could help.
"I hate summer," whimpered Jack, curling into the fetal position. "It's too hot. It makes me sick. Literally."
Suddenly there was more noise in the room, too much noise for Jack, so used to silence and the wind, that he had to cover his ears and shut his eyes, as if that would help.
"But what's wrong with him?" asked Tooth.
"He says his side hurts," responded Bunny. "And he's running a fever."
"But spirit's don't get sick," boomed North.
"Make it stop," said Jack, removing his hands from his ears to wrap around his stomach. "Make it stop!"
"Alright, alright," cooed Tooth, smoothing Jack's hair down. "Where does it hurt?"
"Go away," moaned Jack. "Leave me to die. Or melt. It's too damn hot here!"
"To the sleigh!" yelled North.
North tucked Jack under his arm and led the way to the sleigh, his large boots eating making the distance disappear. They all piled into the sleigh and Jack promptly curled up on the floorboard. North hopped into the drivers seat and snapped the reins. Tooth flew ahead while Sandy and Bunny picked a seat.
"Come on, Frostbite, let's get off the ground and into a seat," said Bunny, his mind off the sleigh ride and on the pained teenager. He picked Jack off the ground and pulled him onto the seat next to him.
"No," whimpered Jack.
"Jack, we think it's your appendix," said Bunny, petting Jack's hair soothingly. "We're going to North's now where it's nice and cold and we'll fix you right up, sound good?"
Jack groaned and leaned into the touch, eyes closed. Bunny nodded to Sandy and the golden man knocked Jack out with dream sand.
At the Pole, North carried Jack down the many halls to his infirmary where they stopped, each one uncertain of how to proceed. Jack was immortal, he wasn't supposed to get sick, they only ever had to stitch immortals up, never take bits out of their bodies.
"We can't just keep staring at him," said Tooth at last, fluttering forward with her normal cloud of fairies. "Girls, let's get to work. We need to sterilize the area, I'm going to need hypoallergenic stitches, a scalpel, and-"
"Tooth, what are you doing?" asked North.
"Fixing him!" snapped Tooth, glaring at the larger man with a ferocity that reminded North of how she was in battle. "Now go get me the things I need or I'm throwing you out. Sandy, monitor his vitals, make sure he stays asleep."
Sandy saluted her like he would a general before dropping down to sit by Jack's head.
The ordered chaos and quick instructions from Tooth had them opening Jack up and removing the vestigial organ in short order. Then they closed the wound, cleaned the area, bandaged him, and just had to wait for the fever to recede. They gathered chairs and watched their youngest member as if he were the most interesting show on the planet.
"Frostbite's a bit of a drama queen when he's sick, isn't he?" said Bunny at last, amusement clear in his voice. "I mean, he told us to leave him there to die; liked we'd actually do that."
"How would he know that?" said Tooth quietly, her eyes locked on Jack's pale face. "We would have left him to die before."
"Yeah, but we wouldn't now," said North bracingly. "That's the best we can offer him."
"But we would have now as well if I hadn't sent him to fetch Bunny," said Tooth, her wings fluttering in agitation. "We wouldn't have known otherwise and he wouldn't have told us. Why? Because we never cared in the past."
"We can't just fix that overnight," snapped North. "What do you suggest we do? We can't force him to trust us."
Sandy knocked both Tooth and North out with his dream sand before their arguing could wake Jack.
"Thanks Sandy," yawned Bunny. "Go do your job, I'll watch them. Jack will be fine now. He'll be up and making a mess five minutes after he wakes up."
Sandy made a face that said 'Really? He'll be better by then?'
"No," chuckled Bunny, shifting to get more comfortable in his seat. "But I doubt that'll stop him."
Sandy laughed silently before drifting out the window, leaving a golden trail of sand behind him that wrapped around Bunny and put the Pooka to sleep; Sandy decided that the yeti's could keep watch over them for the night. Phil, after all, had grown rather attached to the winter spirit.
*Ta-da! Here is the second chapter of the day! You are welcome...unless you didn't like it, in which case, you are welcome anyway!
Oh, right, and number two from the last note (I remembered!) I decided that the person who gets the 153rd review gets to have their request pushed to the front of the line. That can mean a request they have already made or one their wish to make. And it's the 153rd review because I like that number and I feel like people overlook odd numbers.
So yeah, until next time. Always-Ari