I've decided to make this the last chapter. My personal life has been extremely busy and chaotic the last few years, and I don't want to come to a place where I continue writing and get stuck again like I did before. I've wrapped up most of the loose ends to at least make it a conclusion and end it, and if I ever do decide I want to write more I can slip in an epilogue chapter.
This has been a great ride, and I absolutely love this community. Thank you guys so much for sticking with me during this long journey, and I hope you love this story as much as I do. I started writing to give this fandom some quality angsty fics that were much needed, and I hope I did it justice!
Once at the hospital, Martin had crashed hard.
After spending days of searching, Martin had downed a granola bar that Jimmy had practically forced him to eat, gave a brief statement to the medical team, and promptly fell asleep within ten minutes of landing in the closest chair. He hadn't even bothered to change into a clean pair of clothes.
The sheer intensity of continuously checking on Chris, willing him to hold on just a little bit longer until they finally made it to the waiting ambulance, had sapped the last reserves of his adrenaline. Every hitch of breath, every bump, and every twitch had left Martin on edge with anxiety, worrying that this was it.
"Blood pressure's at 68 over 42, can't get a good reading on his pulse."
"Start him on O negative and set him up on an antibiotic and saline drip."
In the flurry of activity around him, Martin had felt lost, helpless as the emergency team hooked Chris up with several wires, IVs, and an oxygen mask. Koki was beside him, talking to him with a concerned expression as she tugged on his arm to lead him back towards Jimmy and Aviva, but Martin barely paid attention.
"Blood pressure's falling, we need to move him now!"
"C'mon Martin, they're going to take good care of Chris. Let's step out of the way and look you over, okay?"
It wasn't until they arrived at the hospital and got confirmation that Chris was in critical condition but still clinging to life, that he let himself relax. If only a little bit.
They had just made it, barely in time.
Martin awoke four hours later feeling no better than before.
His joints were stiff from the uncomfortable position in the chair as he sat up and stretched. The early morning sun had just risen above the horizon, bathing the room in pale light. Despite being one of the larger hospitals in the area, there were only a few patients in the waiting area.
Looking around for his team, he spotted Jimmy and Aviva nearby, stretched out across their chairs, fast asleep. Koki was nearby but awake, typing away at her laptop. Several papers and photos were scattered on the chairs surrounding her; Martin recognized several of the animals in the photos from ones he had seen last night.
No news is good news, right? That was what their father had told them growing up, but right now it did little to ease his worries.
Martin quickly ducked into the restroom and changed out of the clothes his friends had left out for him, wincing when he caught sight of his haggard reflection. Making a mental note to take a long hot shower as soon as he got back to the Tortuga, he washed off as much of the dirt visible on his skin as he could before heading back to the waiting room.
"Morning, Martin!" Koki gave him a small wave when she saw the older brother. "How are you feeling?"
The truth? Tired, sore, and still stressed out of his mind. The granola bar from hours before had made the knots in his stomach even worse, leaving him nauseous. But his friends had enough to worry about, so he offered him a small smile as he sat down in an empty chair nearby.
"I'm hanging in there," Martin said. "The nap helped out, guess I didn't realize how tired I was. Thanks for bring me some extra clothes."
"No real news about Chris yet," Koki answered before he had a chance to ask. "A nurse came by about an hour ago to let us know they got his blood pressure stabilized. He's stable at the moment, but he's weak and fighting a bad infection. They're taking good care of him."
Martin frowned. "You should've woken me up."
Koki met him with her own glare of worry, making Martin back down a little bit. He couldn't be mad at his friends for caring about his well being. "You needed to rest, Martin. You looked like you were about to collapse on your feet at any moment when Aviva brought you here. Someone's gotta take take care of you." She then looked down to his bandaged knuckles, her frown twitching with a suppressed laugh. "I caught a glimpse of their faces when the police brought them in. Nice hit, MK."
Flushing from embarrassment, Martin unconsciously covered his right hand with his left. Usually he tried to avoid violence whenever possible, favoring a more peaceful approach. He had punched them without much thought, the only thing on his mind at the time was that they were a danger to Chris and that he had to protect him.
Guess I don't know my own strength.
Martin picked up one of the papers laid out, smiling fondly as he saw a photo of Fizz reunited with his family attached to it. "Looks like the gorillas are back home now?"
"A few of the rangers brought them back this morning. Other than being hungry and cooped up too long, they're perfectly fine."
Martin then remembered the mother gorilla from last night, depressed as she had looked around for her child. "Is there any news about Fluff?"
"Nothing concrete yet, but the police think they've found a lead in Thailand that looks promising. Seems like those two have shipped a lot of animals there recently. Who knows? Maybe we can find some more animals that we can save."
That at least made him feel a little better.
"I've also been researching some of the other animals the park rangers found in that cabin," Koki continued to explain. "Most of them have been caged for a while and are sick, so the park's nursing them back to health. Once they're ready to go, we can start moving them back to their natural habitats."
Leaning across her shoulder, Martin looked at the map she had been working on. He mostly remembered the gorillas, but the map showed the dozens of other animals the traffickers had captured: hyenas, foxes, lemurs, as well as several young wild cats.
"That's great, that means after-"
"Martin Kratt? Can I speak with you for a few moments?"
Martin gazed down at the pair of mugshots with a cold stare.
Hector Novak and Tomas Petrovic. Two dangerous criminals that were wanted across several countries in Africa for kidnapping, trafficking, and murder. Their hard glares stared accusingly at his own, dark eyes devoid of any emotion except contempt, as if saying 'we'll be back to finish the job'. Identical bruises covered most of their swollen face from when he had attacked them last night. He then gave a wry smile as he noticed faded scratches on their faces as well; Chris was stubborn and a fighter.
"Mr. Kratt?"
Shaking his head to clear it, Martin flipped the pictures over so he didn't have to look at them. "Oh. Right, of course." He ran a hand over his eyes that had started to burn. After running on several days of sheer adrenaline and less than six hours of sleep combined, he was still exhausted. The nap his body forced him to take in the waiting room only left him groggy and stiff.
But Interpol was involved now, and he doubted he'd get any sleep right now anyway. Not when Chris was still in critical condition, and work still had to be done.
With a shaky sigh, Martin had explained everything that had happened that night. Coming across the cabin, finding the animals, saving Chris, and then the long trek back. Several times he had to pause to compose himself, the fresh and raw memories of seeing his little brother suffering without being able to help overwhelming him.
"Your brother is incredibly lucky. These two are responsible for at least forty murders over the past decade, and those are just the ones we know about. The Congolese government believes they're responsible for at least a hundred," the officer explained. "They're all the same story as Christopher's. Someone crosses paths with one of them at the wrong time, they think he's a threat. They interrogate him, kill him, and dump his body."
Martin shuddered at the thought, flashes of the memories from last night playing back in his mind.
"They were going to kill him too. When I finally found Chris, he... I think it was Tomas, had a gun pointed at his head, about to shoot him."
With a small smile, the officer closed the laptop he had been taking notes on, and collected the photos back in his bag. "Well Mr. Kratt, with the amount of evidence we've been able to collect, along with your and Miss Corvocado's statement, I think they'll be no issue when they go to trial. You and your team won't have to ever see these guys again."
At least that's one thing less to worry about.
After finishing up with the officer, Martin came back in the waiting room to find all three of his friends awake and speaking with a doctor.
"-can't go over the specifics, I would need to speak with Mr. Kratt's immediate family-"
"I'm right here," Martin said with a wave as he came over. "I'm his older brother Martin, I'm listed as the emergency contact on his paperwork. You can talk to me."
The doctor appeared haggard and worn as he led the three of them to a nearby empty room and gestured them to sit down. His scrubs were clean, but Martin eyed the specks of dried blood on his wrists that he had forgotten to wash off.
"How is he?" Martin asked as soon as they were all in a chair.
"He just came out of surgery about an hour ago, we're setting him up in a room right now in the ICU so we can monitor him closely," the doctor explained. "It was touch and go for a while. His physical injuries should heal no problem, although some of them might leave scars. He has a few broken ribs, as well as several bones in his right hand. There was too much damage to splint them, so our surgeon had to reset them in surgery with metal plates and wire."
Martin sunk his head into his hands as the doctor continued to list off the injuries Chris was battling. Bruised kidneys, pneumonia, deep wounds, attempted strangulation... Images flashed through his mind, picturing the horrific tortures Chris' kidnappers had subjected him to. His heart constricted painfully, feeling the torment and pain Chris had suffered through. Seeing the aftereffects of his severely beaten body was one thing, but actually starting to piece it together was enough fuel for his nightmares for a lifetime. Guilt creeped back into his mind as he was faced with the reminder once again that this was his fault for making that bet.
Jimmy gently elbowed his side, giving him a concerned expression that wordlessly asked are you okay?
"The blood loss and trauma over several days caused his body to begin shutting down and go into shock," the doctor continued. "We've given him a few blood transfusions and got him stabilized. So far his blood pressure is staying level, we'll continue to monitor to see if he'll need another one."
"Is... Is Chris going to be okay?" Martin managed to ask.
"His numbers are holding steady so far. A few of his wounds have been infected for a few days, and he's incredibly lucky that the infection didn't get into his bloodstream. Right now he's on a strong antibiotic to fight it. I think if they stay stable over the next few days, Mr. Kratt should have a good chance of pulling through."
The ICU was more somber compared to the bright and lively rest of the hospital, filled with patients fighting for their lives. Relatives remained huddled together, speaking in hushed tones amongst each other or to hospital staff about their loved ones. Visits were restricted to family only; Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy headed back out to the waiting room, leaving Martin with the promise to update them as soon as he could.
Chris looked better since the last time Martin had seen him, barely clinging to life, although his appearance was still rough. The nurses had changed him out of his dirty clothes and cleaned the dirt from his skin. His face was still pale, cheeks flushed with fever, but his skin now lacked the blue tinge from before.
Martin then focused on the faint beeping from the heart monitor while watching the soft rise and fall of his brother's chest, taking comfort in that his brother was alive. His heart rate and breathing were regular now, and the blood pressure written on the sign above looked promising.
Shooting his friends a quick message, Martin pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.
"Hey bro, how're you feeling?"
He hadn't expected a response, the doctor mentioned he might not wake up for a while as the heavier drugs worked through his system, but his heart still sank a bit when Chris didn't move. After seven long days, Martin just wanted to hear his voice again, hear that his brother was going to be okay.
"I'm glad to have you back," he continued as he took his unbroken hand into his own, mindful of the IV taped in place. "I'm... I'm sorry it took me so long to find you. This whole thing was my fault, I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm supposed to be the big brother, but you always have to tell me to stay alert and pay attention. And you were-"
"M-Mar'tn? Wh-"
Martin jumped up at the sound of Chris' weak voice, which was immediately cut off by a raspy cough. "Easy Chris, don't move," Martin said, carefully settling Chris down when he tried to sit up. Chris hissed in pain at the movement, the broken ribs causing pain to flare in his chest. "Just relax, you're gonna hurt yourself."
Squeezing his eyes shut as he grit his teeth, he breathed through the pain, and then tried again. "Mar'tn, w-where..."
"You're in the hospital, we got here early this morning," he explained. "The doctors are doing everything they can, you're going to be just fine. We're both okay! See?" Martin flexed his bandaged hand with a grin when Chris looked down at them, ignoring the pain as the movement pulled on his bruised knuckles. "Why don't you just rest up some more?"
Chris shook his head. His eyes were glossy from the lingering fever and haze of morphine, but they were focused on Martin. "What hap'n?"
"Chris, I don't think..."
Martin debated trying to force him to rest, but Chris would only push him until he got an answer, putting additional strain on his healing body.
"I found you in the woods last night. They were about-" Martin then decided to change the subject, not wanting to stress Chris out any more than he was. "I found you, just in time. Koki, Aviva, and Jimmy are okay too, and so are the animals. They're working to bring them to their homes soon. We even have a lead on Fluff!"
Instead of a smile from the good news, however, Chris furrowed his brow. "S' not... Not your fa'lt, bro."
Martin grimaced; either Chris overheard him earlier, or his brother could read him like a book. Likely both, he's always known what I was thinking. "Look, Chris, we can talk about this later-"
"Martin." Chris interrupted, his voice weak but firm. "Not your fa'lt. You... You saved all those an'mals. You saved me."
"I know, but if I didn't make the bet, I would've never left you out by yourself. Those guys were professional criminals, they had weapons and guns. You always tell me you can take care of yourself, and I know you can, but creature powers can't stop a bullet."
"You were h-headed back an'way," Chris said, waving off his protests. "I was st'pid too. T-They j'mped me."
Martin opened his mouth to argue that he couldn't have known he would be jumped before closing it. Chris had turned his words against him, and he did have a point. If he had been there, the traffickers might have simply killed them immediately, or kidnapped them both. It had taken the combined effort of Martin and the team to get Chris back safely – without that, Chris wouldn't be alive and talking to him right now, he would be dead.
Martin was pulled out of his thoughts when a trembling hand gripped his wrist. "Hey. You did good. Th'nks, bro."
It didn't completely absolve the guilt that still kept his stomach tied in knots, but it at least made Martin feel better that Chris didn't blame him. And over time, with the help of his friends and brother, that knot would loosen every day.
When Martin saw his brother blink sluggishly, struggling to stay awake, he pulled the blanket a little higher. "Go ahead and get some sleep, Chris," Martin said with a small smile. "I'll be here when you wake up, okay?"
They still had a long road ahead of them, but for right now, they were okay.