A/N: Sorry for the delay (again)! I've been busy (again)… but I loved your reviews! This time, to save space, I'm not going to be thanking you all individually with messages, so I'll just give you an immense "THANK YOU!" And Ep02-50 is bugging me… Matt is not going to be an astronaut. He is gonna be a rock star. And TK and Kari are meant to be together. My warped mind doesn't really care what Saban says.
Dedication: All of you people who reviewed- this one's for you! I'm not going to write out your names because that would take at least a day, and I don't want to delay this part any longer than necessary!
Disclaimer: I am branching out in my disclaimers! =-) As Xing says, "Writing is an international language". Therefore, this disclaimer is brought to you in *drumroll* Yiddish! (helpfully donated by Juli Comando- reviewer extraordinare! Sorry I couldn't get this out before Passover, Juli!) En li Bumblebee Digimon hayom, lo haya lah Etmol, vi lo yihiyeh lah machar (ani choshevet). Mivean? Rough Translation: Digimon doesn't belong to Bumblebee today. It wasn't hers yesterday. And it won't be hers tomorrow. (I think) Comprehend?
Awakenings 04: The Darkest Hour
"The darkest hour is just before dawn…"
"what i learned i rejected but i believe again
i will suffer the consequences of this inquisition
if i jump in this fountain will i be forgiven?"
-Alanis Morissette, Forgiven
"An accident?" Matt's voice was groggy, as if he didn't comprehend what she was saying. "What kind of accident?"
Kari could feel her throat becoming choked up and a solitary tear trickled down her cheek. "A car accident, Matt. TK ran out of my house and he was crossing the street, and he was hit by a drunk driver."
She could picture Matt sitting straight up in bed, throwing off the blankets and pacing around his bedroom on his cordless phone. "Shit, Kari, when did this happen?"
"About," Kari sniffled. "Ten o'clock. Give or take."
Kari heard Matt swallow. "How… how bad is it?"
Kari started to cry. "It's pretty bad, Matt. You should probably get here as soon as possible."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at home now. I'm skipping class tomorrow to go down to the hospital."
"What…" she heard Matt blow his nose. "What made him leave in such a hurry that he would get in the way of a car?"
Kari dried her eyes. "It's a long story, Matt. And I'll tell you eventually, but I can't right now. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up.
Matt sat in his bed, still shocked at the sudden turn of events. A few hours ago, he had looked forward to seeing Kari and TK, singing, all that stuff. But now he'd see his little brother, yes, but in a hospital bed. And Kari would be different. She always was when someone close to her was hurt.
Matt would bet money that he knew what Kari's long story was. If TK had done what Matt had advised him to do… And by the way Kari was acting now…
Score one for you, little bro, thought Matt grimly.
And then Matt broke down and cried.
*
Julie woke up at the hospital, in a room used specifically for sleeping doctors. She moaned and rubbed her eyes, peering at her watch in the semi-darkness. The digital display blinked back at her. 3:18. She tossed her feet over the side of the bed and stood up. She looked at her surroundings and instantly grinned. There was Jon; asleep in one of the leather chairs, hair all messed up. And as soon as she saw the tall doctor with the dark hair, her mind conjured up a picture of the blonde man who had gone upstairs.
Philip Kelsey wasn't quite as handsome as Jon was, but (although she felt as if she was betraying Jon by thinking it) he was kind of nice… And it wasn't as if Jon thought of her as anything but a student… But she didn't like Jon like that… did she?
Julie heard a pounding on the door. "Julie? Jon? Wake up!" It was the voice of Dr. Nichols, sounding just as chipper at 3 a.m. as he did at 3 in the afternoon.
Julie groaned and slid her white coat back over her shoulders. She shook Jon to wake him up, and then she left the room.
"What is it?" she asked Dr. Nichols when she arrived at the reception desk.
"Trauma case coming in. We need both you and Jon to work on it."
"Another? What is it this time?"
"Car crash."
"Seriously? But we just finished that one about an hour ago, and…"
"Julie, this one is going to be nasty. He was driving drunk."'
"So call the police!"
"They've already been called. Plus, the police are the ones who found the car. It was near the river, smashed into a tree. He was still in it."
"Do you think there's any connection between this and the guy that got hit by a car earlier? Remember, the one with Malignant Hyperthermia?"
Dr. Nichols sighed. "Julie, the car was the same description- little and red. The license numbers came up the same. They think this kid hit the boy earlier."
"Kid?"
"He was only seventeen."
"Seventeen?! What do you mean seventeen?!"
"He was driving drunk at seventeen. He's probably going to die, and we still aren't sure if the guy upstairs in the ICU is going to live. Which means that if this kid lives, he's up for at least attempted murder. Plus alcohol possession by a minor."
"When will he get here?"
"Five minutes, maybe? I'm not sure. Now go wake up Jon; he probably isn't listening to me."
Julie followed instructions, and within minutes, she could hear the ambulance sirens.
Jon was tired, she could tell just by looking at him. But nevertheless, he was still the first person outside to receive the patient. Julie followed him out to the ambulance lot.
Julie could tell that this patient was in a worse predicament than the boy that he had almost killed just from watching the doctors' reactions. The gurney was brought out faster, the boy was loaded on faster…
There was much more blood. So much blood… Julie was amazed that the boy was still alive, from the amount of the substance on the stretcher. The crew had worked to bandage the patient, but the liquid still seeped out of his body.
"Julie," Jon called. "Go and make sure that the trauma room is open."
So Julie ran in. Sure enough, the room was open for the incoming patient. Within seconds, the patient was wheeled in and monitored. Julie knew that the patient had been given CPR and other methods of resuscitation on the ambulance ride to the hospital, but it didn't appear to have made a difference. The patient was still steadily losing blood and didn't look like he would make it.
Jon yelled for her to call the blood bank, so she did. Luckily, the ambulance staff had taken the patient's vitals; there was no time for that now. It only took her a few minutes to call for the 4 units of blood, but when she reentered the room a drastic change was evident.
Jon was calling for the paddles to shock the boy's heart. Apparently, the patient's heart had gone into de-fib.
Julie watched helplessly from the doorway as Jon, his hands covered in blood, recharged the paddles and tried to shock the boy's heart into restarting.
But all of a sudden, Jon stopped the process. He called for a nurse.
And then in a voice that sounded strangled and sad, he said "Time of death, 3:42".
*
Kari lay in bed, tossing and turning. She didn't want to fall asleep… she knew that if she did, she would have the nightmares… Kari knew that she would have to watch TK fall in front of the car, hear the crunch of the bones as his limp body slapped against the pavement…
Nightmares. Kari hadn't thought about her childhood nightmares for years… Especially the one from high school…
That nightmare had always woken her up sweating, crying, breathing heavily… And Tai had always come in with a glass of water and sat with her, and they had talked about it, and he had stayed up until she had felt safe enough to go to sleep…
But where was Tai during this real-life nightmare?
She wanted to hear her brother's voice, to hear him tell her that it would be okay, that TK would be fine.
But now, when she needed Tai most, she couldn't talk to him. Because not even Tai knew whether everything would be okay.
A tear ran down her cheek. Would she be able to wake up after this nightmare?
Or would her entire life be shattered?
*
Julie woke up at six in the morning. She didn't have the early shift, but she wanted to run upstairs to check on the patient from the night before. Last night, the people in the ICU told her that they would move him to a private room, so he could have visitors. Julie hoped they had moved him already, because she knew that his girlfriend (at least she thought that the girl from last night was his girlfriend) would be there to stay with him.
She arrived on the fifth floor and stopped at the desk. "Hi, I'm Julie Connolley, from the ER, and…"
"Oh, yes," said the receptionist. "Dr. O'Neill called up this morning and said that you'd probably be up. Are you here for the patient with Malignant Hyperthermia?"
"Yes, I am, thanks."
"He's in room 510. Down the hall and to the left. He's mighty popular this morning- you're his second visitor!"
Julie thanked the woman, and walked down the hallway. She reached the open door, and entered.
Sure enough, the brown haired girl was there. What was her name? Kari, that was it.
The girl looked up, and saw Julie enter. "Hello again," she said.
"Hi. Kari, right?"
"Yeah. And you're Julie."
"Yup. How are you this morning?"
Julie saw the look of sadness in Kari's eyes. "As well as I can be, I guess."
"Are you his girlfriend?"
"Who, TK's?"
"Yeah. Him."
"No, not really… Yes, no, I don't know… Can you ask another question?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. Are any of TK's relatives coming up?"
"Yes, his brother Matt is on his way. He'll be here in about an hour."
Julie looked at the boy on the hospital bed. All the traces of blood had been cleaned off his face, but a huge purple bruise stretched up his cheek and a deep scratch extended across his forehead. She remembered that his leg had been shattered… had that been repaired yet?
"How could I have let this happen?"
Julie looked at Kari. "What do you mean?"
"This is all my fault."
"Your fault?"
"I go to college in this town… so does TK."
"I go to med school here, at the university."
"You go to our school then. Anyhow, TK and I were getting together to study for a Shakespeare test. We've been best friends since we were eight. And when we were there…" Kari sniffled and Julie handed her a box of tissues. "Thanks. But he… he told me he loved me. And I was so stupid. I told him that I couldn't promise him anything. And he had to go, so he left. And he was so busy, so lost in thought, that he walked in front of that car. And I saw it… He just fell to the pavement. And that's when I realized it. I had lied to my best friend. I told him that I didn't love him… when I think that I've loved him for practically forever. And now I might not get a chance to tell him…" Kari wiped her eyes. "I've been crying all night, as you can probably tell."
Julie smiled. "But there's been research… supposedly, it assists coma patients if they can hear the voices of people they love. And supposedly, they can hear it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. This is a private room, you know. You can probably bring in pictures and stuff… hang them up, you know? It might help him heal, and help you heal too."
"I can do that?" Kari wiped her eyes. You wouldn't believe how much that would help."
"Yeah. And Kari? Tell him. TK can hear you."
"Thanks. Thanks a lot."
"Anyway, I have to go. I may come up on my lunch break, I don't know. But has anyone been in to take him up to surgery?"
"I don't think so. Why?"
"His leg was shattered. It'll need to be fixed by surgery soon. I don't know how much I can do, but I'll try to get him up soon."
"Thanks, Julie. I'll see you soon, I guess."
"Yeah. I'll come back later."
Julie left the room and walked back to the reception desk. She saw Jon there, filling out papers. "Hi Jon," she said. "What are you doing up here?"
Jon smiled at her. "Filling out two sets of incredibly interesting papers. Want to help?"
"Yeah, sure. What are they for?"
"Patient forms, charts, all that stuff."
Julie grabbed one stack. It was mainly charts and hospital forms- she saw the name at the top. Takeru Takaishi. "Hey Jon? Is Takeru Takaishi the guy we had downstairs last night?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I was talking to his best friend this morning. They call him TK for short."
"Really."
"But Jon? Could you do me a really big favor?"
"Depends. If it involves beating Philip Kelsey with an incredibly heavy object, then of course I'll do it. But otherwise, I've got to think about it."
The receptionist snorted. Dr. Kelsey and Dr. O'Neill were known throughout the hospital for their incredible rivalry and their numerous fights.
Julie smiled. "Actually, it does involve Dr. Kelsey."
"Suddenly I'm not feeling so good about your chances at getting me to do this favor… Unless, of course, it involves the aforementioned heavy object…"
"Jon, could you please just let me have Philip's extension number?"
"What do you want to talk to that self-centered, conceited, annoying… I could say much more, but I'm choosing to be a gentleman."
"Jon, please. I want to see if he'll do the surgery on TK's leg."
"Why?"
"Because he's the best surgeon at this hospital! And I really want to see this guy make it out all right."
"You know that he still might not make it, right?"
"Yes, but…"
"I don't want to see you get too attached to this patient, and then see him die."
"But Jon, I…"
Jon sighed. "Are you absolutely positive that you want me to do this?"
"Yes?"
"You know that he'll hold it over my head for three years or so? You know, two favors in one week?"
"But if I ask him to do it…"
"Will it make a difference? Maybe. But I don't want you to have to talk to him."
"I thought he was okay, to tell you the truth. I don't see why you guys are so awful to each other…"
"I'm trying to protect you, and look what happens…"
"Please, Jon. Just this once…"
"All right… he's at extension 12. And you can ask him for whatever else you need."
"Thanks Jon. Thanks a ton."
"No biggie. Now go run off and ask Dr. Kelsey for your favor…"
"See you later, Jon…" Julie left, grinning at him.
The receptionist looked at Dr. Jonathan O'Neill with raised eyebrows. "What's this? Dr. O'Neill actually volunteering to give someone Phil's extension without a fight?"
"Oh, be quiet. You know that he's moderately passable at surgery…"
"You like her, don't you."
"I do not! This is something she wants to do, and as long as I don't need to talk to Philip…"
"You seriously do!"
"I give up. You receptionists, always harassing us…"
"You so like her. Now get back to the ER and go rescue people."
Jon grinned. "Will do, ma'am."
The receptionist grinned at him. "You like her, though."
"I do not. Now I refuse to put up with this any longer. I'm leaving."
The receptionist grinned at the retreating doctor. Men, she thought. Can't accept what is obvious to the rest of us…
*
"Hello, Dr. Philip Kelsey speaking."
"Hello, Dr. Kelsey? This is Julie Connolley. We met last night, do you remember?"
"How could I forget? What do you need?"
"Well, I have this huge favor to ask you, and Jon gave me this number, but I had to beg it out of him, and…"
"Jon gave you this number? I must say, I'm flattered to think that the incredibly great ER resident is thinking of lowly me…"
"Oh, stop it. Anyway, do you remember the patient from last night with malignant hyperthermia?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."
"Well, his leg was shattered. And he needs to have it fixed… and I was wondering if you could do it?"
"Anything for you, my dear. When do you want it done?"
"Whenever you have time. So does that mean you'll do it?"
"Of course! I can make it today, at about noon, if that's okay."
"Sure, he's in room 510. Just let the receptionist know that you'll be doing it, and she'll get him up to you."
"Who's handling the case? Misako? Chen? Orika?"
"Actually, Jon's going to keep a handle on it. But I think Misako is handling all the arrangements in case of an emergency."
"All right, I'll talk to Misako. But could you tell the superior being casually known as Dr. Jonathan O'Neill that I'm taking the case?"
"Of course. So, I'll see you later, then?"
"Yes. And what are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing, really. Why?"
"Would you care to accompany me to dinner?"
"Sure! What time?"
"Seven o'clock sound good?"
"Okay. See you then."
"Goodbye, Julie."
"Bye Dr. Kelsey."
*
Matt arrived in room 510 at around ten o'clock, his eyes red-rimmed and his hair a mess.
"Holy shit, Kari, everything's falling apart…"
"What do you mean, Matt?"
"First Tai and Sora, and now TK…"
"What do you mean, Matt?
"You mean you don't know what happened?"
"No. Why?"
"Well, I don't know if I should tell you this, but…"
"What is it, Matt?"
"Tai and Sora got in a huge fight last night, and…"
"Oh no! Matt, have they…?"
"Yeah, Kari. They broke up. And now they won't talk to or about each other."
To Be Continued…
A/N: Thanks for reading… Only two or so parts left… But then there's a companion series to 'Awakenings'. It's going to be called 'The Road Unknown' and it will continue right where this series leaves off. After 'The Road Unknown' comes another series, this time drawing the focus away from Kari and putting it on another person… Part 05 is in the works, maybe next week or so? Anyway, review, if you please!
E-mail the authoress at bee824@yahoo.com! Bumblebee loves to hear from you!