Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed.

I got a couple questions about where this story was going to end. If I ended it where I initially planned (at least after I got it outlined out properly), there would be one or two more chapters after this one. However, stopping there leaves several loose ends that I'd like to tie up. So while I'm not sure whether I'll end this story in the next couple of chapters and start a new one or just keep Broken People going, the general storyline will probably continue for awhile.

He was not a healer. He was certainly not a Sky Person healer. But Jake was still gasping, and shaking him hadn't helped at all, and Tsu'tey was starting to think that he was going to have to leave and find someone who did know what to do. Except that that would mean either leaving Jake alone, which seemed like a very bad idea, or picking him up and taking him along, which with the tubes and wires attached to him didn't seem any better, but…no. Wait. He could call the healers. There had been a device to do so in his room when he'd been injured, so surely there was one in—

"Move!"

Tsu'tey hadn't even had time to do more than lift his head to look for the device when Carla—who was not precisely large, even for a Sky Person—nearly knocked him over in her haste to reach Jake. She jammed something into his arm and then grabbed a clear cup-like object with tubes attached off the side of one of the machines and shoved it over his mouth and nose. "Jake, calm down. Nice, slow breaths, remember?" She twisted to scowl at Tsu'tey. Why are you staring at me like an idiot? Get him sitting upright! Being hunched over like that isn't helping anything!"

Shifting Jake fully upright required only a light push on his part, and after an indeterminable amount of time, Jake's breathing finally began to slow again.

Jake reached up a moment later and pushed the cup away. "Damn it. I am really getting sick of that."

"Join the crowd," someone muttered from behind Tsu'tey, and he twisted to find that Max had entered with Carla while his mother and Norm waited out in the hall.

"What were you trying to do?" Carla demanded. "I told you not to exert yourself."

"I wasn't. I just going to go to the cafeteria and get some food. This is the first time in like three days that I've actually felt hungry."

She shook her head. "I'll bring you something if you think you can keep it down, but you are not leaving this room. You're going to sit there and try not to set this damn alarm," she pulled something off her belt and waved it before tucking it back into place, "off again. I swear you've scared a decade off my life in the last two days."

Jake didn't look at all happy at that pronouncement, but he didn't argue. Which didn't make Tsu'tey feel any better. From what he'd seen before, Jake should have fought that, and if he wasn't... At least after another few careful breaths Jake did manage to pull himself back against the wall, taking his weight off Tsu'tey's hand, without another choking fit.

"I'll be back in a few minutes with dinner," Carla said after a moment.

Jake's glare didn't lessen, but he still didn't object, either.

For his part, Tsu'tey didn't like the idea of leaving Jake alone, but the others were going, and presumably the device on Carla's belt had been what had alerted her to Jake's trouble and would do so again if anything else happened. "I'll come back later."

Jake barely acknowledged his words, and he stepped back into the corridor with a frown and then turned, hurrying to catch up with his mother and the others. Norm was to the back of the group, and after he'd caught up, Tsu'tey matched his pace. /What's wrong with him? Why was he choking? Carla said Jake's blood was poisoning him, not that he couldn't breathe./

"He wasn't really choking, he was hyperventilating. It's one of the symptoms of sepsis, and when it happens, the issue isn't that he's not getting enough air, it's that his blood chemistry has been alt—" Norm must have seen Tsu'tey's expression because he broke off with a shake of his head. /Sorry, I'm guessing you don't want all the technical stuff, right?/

/No./ If he had, he would have gone with his mother and Max earlier. He just wanted a simple explanation for why Jake had been choking. Or hyper-venillating. Or whatever it was he'd been doing.

/What happened is a symptom of the blood poisoning, like I said before. His blood is…going bad./

From his expression those weren't exactly the words he wanted, but Tsu'tey doubted that he'd understand if Norm used the words he did want, so he didn't press for details.

/That was probably the third or fourth time it's happened,/ Norm continued, /the second time I've seen it, and it's scary as hell every time. Oxygen and extra medicine help, but not enough./

There wasn't much that Tsu'tey could say to that, so he remained silent as they collected their meals—which fortunately included fresh fruit and jerky for himself and his mother—and took seats around the table.

"I'm going to take a plate to Jake," Carla said as she set her tray down on the table. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Conversation was muted as they ate…Tsu'tey didn't have much to say, and the conversation full of medical and healing terminology going on between Max and his mother that wasn't of any real interest to him. He tried asking Norm a few questions about the Rumut he'd been working with, but Norm's concentration was clearly elsewhere, and honestly Tsu'tey wasn't sure that he'd have been able to focus on any answers Norm gave anyway.

Carla's return was heralded by the sound of a mostly-full tray being slammed down on one of the back counter tops, and she shoved the plates on it back into one of the cold units without saying anything.

"What's wrong?" Max asked.

"Three bites, and he couldn't keep it down." She dropped down at the table and poked at the food on her tray. "And it was harder than it should have been for him to grab the trash can, too."

"It's not the end of the world," Max said after a minute. "He's on the nutrient IV for a reason. He'll be okay for another day."

"He's fading too fast. He can pretend as much as he wants, but..." She shook her head. /You're sure you'll be able to do this ceremony tomorrow?/

The question was directed at Tsu'tey, and he nodded. /The clan will arrive at the Tree of Souls tomorrow afternoon, and we can also make the flight in one day. There are preparations to make, but Mo'at understands the urgency./

/Good./

He looked at the remains of his food—for lack of anything to speak about, he'd eaten quickly—and then pushed himself away from the table and tucked his crutch back under his arm. /I am going back to see Jake./

/He's probably not in the mood for company right now,/ Carla warned.

Tsu'tey shrugged. Jake had visited him many times when Tsu'tey hadn't wanted to see anyone; he saw no issue in doing the same in reverse. When he reached Jake's room, he could hear faint sounds emanating from inside, and he tapped lightly on the door. "Jake?" No response, and he opened the door. "Jake?"

Jake was lying on his back on his bed, and he looked at Tsu'tey for a moment before rolling onto his side and turning his face to the wall, putting his back to Tsu'tey.

Tsu'tey decided that that was as much of an invitation as he was going to get and moved into the room, taking a seat on the other bed. "This is Sky Person music?" The sound was clearly not made by anyone singing, nor was it accompanied by anyone singing as Na'vi music normally was, but he didn't think that it could be anything else. It sounded strange, but not entirely unpleasant.

Jake didn't respond for a few minutes, still facing away from Tsu'tey and then, "You aren't going away, are you?"

"No. Tell me about the music."

"I don't know, it's some orchestra somewhere."

"Why are you listening to it if you don't know what it is?"

"Because it's what came on when I pulled up Tommy's playlist."

"Play…."

Jake sighed and rolled himself back over to face Tsu'tey. "This is payback for me not leaving you alone before, isn't it?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Everybody involved with the Avatar program was allocated a couple terabytes of computer space to load whatever they wanted for downtime entertainment. Vids, music, books, that kind of thing, so they wouldn't go crazy with nothing to do. Like I told you, I got pulled in kind of late, so I didn't have time to upload much of anything, but they never deleted what Tommy put in, and he picked a stupid password—at least for someone who grew up with him—so…." He shrugged.

Tsu'tey considered for a moment. "There is more music than this? Can you make it play something with singing?"

"You are ready?" Tsu'tey asked as Carla allowed him back into the room. The tubes and wires were no longer attached to Jake, replaced with small packs attached to the inside of each elbow, and he gave Tsu'tey a quick grin.

"As I'll ever be." Jake stretched, pulling the projector from the shelf beside his bed and then unhooking the metal jewelry from around his neck and wrapping it around the box quickly before holding the whole thing out towards Tsu'tey. "Can you hold on to these for me until the transfer is done? I don't want to chance losing them."

"I will." He had no idea why Jake would want to keep such pathetic jewelry, but it was no trouble to carry it, and he tucked the whole thing into his carry pouch.

Jake started to drag himself towards his wheelchair, but after the events of yesterday, Tsu'tey wasn't about to wait for him to start breathing wrong again, and picked him up and dropped him into it before he could object.

"I can do that myself."

"You couldn't yesterday. And you have to be alive when we get to the Tree of Souls if you want to make the transfer. It would be stupid to die now."

Jake scowled but didn't say anything else as he took a deep—slow—breath and then wheeled himself out of the room. Where Norm was waiting, and he promptly caught the handles on Jake's wheelchair and began to push him along.

"Carla wanted to grab something else from medical, but she said you aren't supposed to exert yourself," he said quickly. "And Tsu'tey still has to use his crutch."

Jake muttered something that Tsu'tey couldn't make out, which was probably just as well, but with Norm's assistance the three of them made their way to the hanger.

"All right, you've got your antibiotic packs on," Carla said, pulling her mask on as she hurried up to them. "And Atanva has the emergency injectors. I assume you're flying with Tsu'tey?"

Jake nodded.

"All right. Tsu'tey, see this?" She held up a plastic cup with an odd fixture on the base. "If he starts hyperventilating again, mask comes off, this goes over his mouth and nose, and press this button here. Then get the mask back on and land so Atanva can do the rest. Got it?"

"I can—"

"No, you can't," she interrupted. Jake glared at her, but Tsu'tey nodded in understanding and took the device. If what happened yesterday happened again, Jake wouldn't be able to deal with it himself, no matter how much he might want to. "I will remember."

"All right, then." She stepped back beside Norm as Denan and Sessis dove in for landings. "Have a good flight. And, Jake, radio as soon as you can."

That got a nod from Jake. "Will do. Max. Norm."

Both of them nodded in return, and Norm gave a polite farewell from the group to Tsu'tey and his mother as well.

Tsu'tey returned his words as his mother sent Sessis skyward, making Tsaheylu with Denan and swinging Jake onto her shoulders. Less than a day of flying, and Jake would be in a whole body again.