Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers or anything Power Rangers related! If I did then God help Alpha 5. I would have taken him apart!
Thank you's: Same as last chapter and thank you to Shawn and Sara for reviewing...my only two reviews! Thanks to a certain doctor who shall remain nameless for giving me a base for Dr. Johnson.
Author's Note: If you read this please review it! I'd really apperciate feedback because this took me forever to write and means a lot to me. I want to hear what people think of it!
Chapter 2
One Month Later
The Truth Comes Out
"Have you noticed something different about Jason in the last few weeks?" Adam asked from where he and Rocky were watching Tommy and Jason spar.
"Tommy is definitely taking it easy on Jason right now." Rocky replied, watching the two of them.
"Tommy keeps avoiding Jason's chest. It's like he thinks he'll hurt Jase if he hits him there, even lightly." Adam observed.
They watched as the two friends sparred in their usual friendly manner but it was easy to notice that Jason's skill level wasn't nearly the same as before. He was slower, weaker and just generally more worn out.
'Jason is out of breath already. He's getting weaker too fast.' Tommy sighed inwardly knowing that soon even short sparring sessions would be too much for Jason. 'I knew this would come up but why this soon?'
Since the day he told Tommy Jason had been trying hard not to let any weakness show in front of anyone else. But it was taking a toll on him and after two weeks Jason had to settle for just barely keeping up with his friends now he had to settle for less than that. One day Jason had looked in the mirror and noticed the bags under his eyes: the pain was keeping him awake at night now. He knew he would be on medication for it soon. The next day he noticed how pale his skin was, the next day how his body was becoming less and less muscular until there was hardly any definition at all. He was getting so much thinner, too...Jason knew he was dying but hated the fact that he would die so helpless.
Tommy was usually the one to stop a sparring match or stop another activity when he noticed Jason was pushing his limits. Tommy understood and respected the reasons Jason didn't want to let the others know yet. But he also knew Jason would have to tell them soon as he was only getting weaker as the days went on. It was getting noticeable.
About two minutes later Tommy knew it was time to call it quits, "I'm thirsty, Jase. Let's go join Rocky and Adam."
"Fine by me." Jason replied shooting Tommy a grateful glance.
"You didn't spar for long." Adam commented when Jason and Tommy joined them.
"Nah, I'm hungry." Tommy answered a little too quickly. Adam exchanged a glance with Rocky as if saying 'Something is up.' But they didn't push for answers.
"I thought that was Rocky's line." Adam put in getting a laugh even from Rocky. The others didn't realize how grateful Jason was that they didn't push for answers.
'Not yet, just a few more days of normal life. That's all I want.' Jason thought to himself as the others dung into the food in front of them. Jason hardly had any appetite now, eating usually made him feel nauseous and more and more often made him throw up. He managed to eat a little so no one would say anything but paid the price of feeling quite queasy. Tommy gave him a worried glance but didn't say anything; he wouldn't say anything when they were in front of the others.
As they began to get back to work Jason knew something was wrong. It started out as just a twinge, nothing unusual, it had happened before. "Pain is to be expected," his doctor had said, "when the cancer is so far advanced." But it didn't go away in a few seconds like it always had before. The pain grew and grew and grew. Jason felt his breath get caught in his throat as almost searing pain shot through him.
Jason's face paled and he doubled over in pain. He could barely breath and his heart felt as if it were going to race out of his chest. Jason grabbed onto the counter desperately trying to steady himself but collapsed to the floor. Tommy, Rocky and Adam immediately dropped what they were going and rushed to the side of their former teammate. Tommy was the first to reach him.
"Jason! Talk to me, bro. What's wrong?" Tommy gingerly turned Jason over onto his side to make it more easy for him to breath. Jason was struggling to do just that, his lungs felt as if they were on fire. It was all he could do not to cry out from the pain.
"...it...hurts..." Jason gasped, his vision blurring badly so he could barely make out the concerned face of his friends above him.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Adam yelled. One of the students was the one to run to the phone and dial 911.
"Hold on, Jase. Help is coming." Tommy said trying not to panic himself. He managed to maintain his calm by reminding himself it would do Jason no go for him to lose it.
"...can't...breath..." Jason said desperate for air that just wouldn't make it's way into his lungs.
"Just try to relax, it will make breathing easier." Adam suggested now kneeling beside Jason as Rocky kept everyone from crowding around. Jason could only manage to draw in shallow, rasping breaths as it was. He didn't need a large crowd to make things more hectic.
"Come on, Jason. You gotta breath." Rocky whispered as he kept students and staff back so his ailing friend had room. Relief rushed everyone when the sounds of the ambulance came into hearing range.
"You'll be okay now, Jason." Adam reassured him, gently touching Jason's arm. Tommy wished that could be true but knew Jason was far from alright.
The paramedics rushed onto the scene with a stretcher as someone had gone outside to direct them in. They worked very quickly to secure Jason to the stretcher.
"...Tommy...tell...them..." Jason rasped before the oxygen mask was pulled over his face. He was swallowed by the sea of tubes and monitors as the ambulance rushed away, its sirens blaring down the street.
"Tell us what, Tommy?" Adam asked as the siren bellowed down the next street on it's way to the hospital. Tommy sighed before turning to two of his business partners.
"Jason has lung cancer." Tommy answered slowly. "He's dying."
"Oh, my God." Adam whispered.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Rocky demanded, sounding more hurt than angry.
"Jason didn't want me to. He wanted to live as normally as possible for as long as he could." Tommy replied. "No one else, expect his parents, know."
"You guys head to the hospital," Julia, one of the part time teachers, said. "I'll take care of things here, okay?"
"Thanks, Julia. We'll call you when we find out what's going on." Tommy told her just before he, Rocky, and Adam got into their cars and started to the hospital.
The three of them slowly walked into the emergency ward. No one spoke, Adam and Rocky were still stunned from the news of Jason's terminal illness and Tommy was distraught over Jason being in so much pain. 'If it's like this already what will it be like at the end?' Tommy thought. He remembered his promise not abandon Jason no matter how bad it got. Tommy silently vowed that he would keep that promise come hell or high water.
"Excuse me, Miss. Do you know where we can find a Jason Lee Scott?" Adam asked the nurse at the desk. She typed something into her computer before answering.
"He's been moved to the oncology ICU for observation. Take the elevator to the second floor and take a right." She replied quickly before turning away to deal with something else.
"Thank you." Adam replied even though the nurse was too busy dealing with something else to acknowledge. him
Tommy wished the elevator would move faster when they were in it, and then that the hall wasn't so long when they were almost running down it. A doctor walked from out of door just as they arrived at the area marked ICU. He looked up at the teens as they approached.
"Can I help you?" He asked as Tommy stopped in front of him.
"Our friend just arrived here by ambulance. His names is Jason Lee Scott." Tommy answered quickly.
"Yes, the advanced cancer patient." The doctor replied too casually. Tommy suddenly had the urge to punch something, or maybe the doctor in front of him, very hard.
"Is Jason alright?" Rocky asked softly.
"Do you know when Mr. Scott's parents will be arriving?" The doctor asked ignoring the question.
"No. They live in New York so they'll have to fly here." Tommy answered quickly. "Please, can you tell us what's happened to him? How is he?"
The doctor looked at the young men in front of him for a few moments before replying, "As you may be aware, Mr. Scott has extensive small cell lung cancer. His case has advanced more quickly than usual and is continuing to invade his body at a fast speed. He collapsed because he was over working himself."
"After a five minute spar and lunch?" Rocky asked in shock.
"As I aforementioned, the cancer has spread quicker than we assumed. The cancer now covers both lungs, most of his heart and is spreading to his other organs. Since he was very fit and healthy otherwise we assumed he would make four or five months, more than most patients, but unfortunately that will not be the case." The doctor replied.
"Is there anything that can be done?" Adam asked quickly.
"I'm afraid not. The cancer is too far advanced to operate, as it has been from the beginning, and any other option would only make Mr. Scott weaker than he already is." The doctor replied.
"Can we see him?" Tommy asked quietly still absorbing this new news.
"Yes. However he may be slightly groggy as he was given a dose of morphine to stop the pain." The doctor answered. "And I would suggest going in only one at a time as too many people may overwhelm him."
Tommy went in first and almost gasped out loud at what he saw. Jason looked so fragile lying on the hospital bed with more tubes and monitors hooked up to most of his body. It was even worse than when he had had to give up the Gold Ranger powers, that was the last time Tommy could remember Jason looking close to what he looked like now.
A breathing tube was stuck down his throat and oxygen tubes ran into his nose to make sure he got enough air into his ailing lungs. 'He's so pale.' Tommy thought as he sat at Jason's bedside. 'What's going to happen now?'
Jason opened his eyes slowly as Tommy took his hand. Jason did indeed look slightly dazed from the pain killers. This was the first time he had been heavily drugged to take away the pain. Jason didn't like the feeling; it made him realize how out of control this was.
"Hey, Jase." Tommy said softly noticing Jason was awake. "You gave us a scare back at the Dojo." Jason tried to speak but the breathing tube prevented it. It only made his throat ache more than it already did.
"Don't try to talk. The doctors will take that tube out soon but you still need it right now." Tommy said quickly. Jason looked crestfallen at the fact he needed the tube to breath properly. "Relax, it's only because you pushed yourself too hard. You've got to take it easy from now on, okay?"
Jason felt tears come to his eyes. Everything was going to be different, just like he had known. But Jason saw how concerned Tommy was and nodded weakly to show he understood.
"I told the others what's happening." Tommy told him. "I know you don't want things to be any different, so I told them that as well. The doctors called you're parents; they said they would be here by tonight." Tommy could see how scared Jason was but that he was trying to keep up a brave front for everyone, himself included.
"Adam and Rocky want to see you as well," Tommy mentioned. Jason closed his eyes and a tear streamed down his face as he slowly shook his head. Seeing them now was just too much. He couldn't even speak to them to explain why he had kept everything from them.
"You don't want to see them?" Tommy asked. Jason nodded but pointed weakly to the breathing tube.
"You don't want them to see you like this?" Tommy echoed. Jason nodded slowly, his eyes filling with tears once more. "Alright, I'm sure they'll understand. Once the breathing tube comes out will you see them?" Jason nodded again.
Jason wanted more than anything to be able to speak to Tommy and the rest of his friends at that moment. He gestured to the breathing tube and then to Tommy's watch trying to ask when it would be taken out.
"I don't know when they're taking it out, Jase." Tommy replied, understanding what Jason was trying to ask. "I only know that it should be out before your parents get here."
"Mr. Oliver, I'm going to have to ask you to leave so we can run some tests." A doctor said from the doorway.
"Alright." Tommy said over his shoulder before turning back to Jason for a few moments. "I'll be back as soon as they let me, okay?" Jason nodded slightly, not wanting Tommy to leave but knowing the doctor wouldn't let him stay. Tommy squeezed Jason's hand quickly before going.
"Now if you'll just lie still, Mr. Scott, I can run the tests quickly and we can see about taking that tube out." The doctor said. "I'm Dr. Johnson, by the way and I'll be taking care of your case from now on so come to me if there's a problem."
Jason was not fond of having tests run on him but he endured it. They was no use putting up a protest and Jason didn't have the strength to argue. It seemed to take forever before Dr. Johnson was done poking and prodding him, or at least that's how Jason saw it. Even in his current mood Jason could see Dr. Johnson was a caring and good natured person as well as a good doctor. Jason was secretly relieved that Dr. Johnson would be taking care of his matters from now on. He had been afraid of getting a fussy doctor who was sure to make him stay in the hospital for the rest of his shortened life.
"Alright, Mr. Scott. I can take the breathing tube out now as your tests show you should be able to breath on your own. I'm going to count to three and I want you to exhale as hard as you can. You may lose your breath for a few minutes or start to cough but that's normal and I may put an oxygen mask on you, but if you don't need it I won't." Jason nodded to show he understood and prepared himself.
"One, two, three!" Dr. Johnson said at the same time as pulling the tube out.
Jason was winded for a few seconds and coughed violently, gasping for breath. It felt as if all the air had been sucked from his lungs and his throat burned. But the air quickly returned, especially after the oxygen mask was placed over his mouth.
"Are you alright, Mr. Scott?" Dr. Johnson asked. Jason nodded slowly feeling oxygen flood his weak lungs. It was an almost overwhelming feeling, and not a good one.
"It's Jason, if that's okay with you." Jason rasped his throat hurting from the tube. Dr. Johnson smiled faintly.
"Alright then, Jason. Would you like me to let your friend back in?" Dr. Johnson asked. Jason again nodded wanting to save his voice to talk to his friends and parents.
"Don't take the oxygen mask off for long and try to speak in moderate amounts." Dr. Johnson warned. Jason nodded in understanding.
Jason closed his eyes briefly but opened them quickly as Tommy entered the room. Tommy resumed his seat at Jason's bedside and didn't speak for a few seconds but held Jason's hand in his own. Jason was just glad Tommy was back, it made him feel safer to have him there.
"You're father called from the plane. They land in about half and hour." Tommy told Jason breaking the silence.
"I haven't spoken to my father since I left the Peace Conference. He didn't want me to leave." Jason whispered in a hoarse voice. "I shouldn't have stopped speaking to him for so long."
"I don't think that matters to him anymore." Tommy said gently. To his surprised Jason let out a raspy, bitter laugh.
"Yeah, it's amazing how cancer brings families together." Jason knew his words stunned Tommy but not as much as they stung at his own heart. Tommy had no answer for that. Jason immediately felt guilty.
"I'm sorry, Tommy. I didn't mean anything by that. It's just..." Jason trailed off. "I don't want to be speaking to my parents again because I'm dying. I wanted to do it on my own terms. I missed them but I didn't want to be 'reunited' because I'm dying. I should have called them before."
"It's alright, Jase. I understand and I'm sure your parents will too." Tommy said softly.
"I don't want things to end like this," Jason sighed. "I don't want to die yet. There's too much I still want to accomplish and now I'll never get to," Jason started to cough. His throat was aching and he knew he should lay off talking for awhile but Jason couldn't help it. He wanted to talk to Tommy...it comforted him more than Jason could explain.
"Save your strength, Jase." Tommy said gently. "Your doctor told me you should take it easy on your throat for awhile."
"I know..." Jason rasped. His eyes were full of such grief Tommy could hardly bare to look into them. Very gently, so not to upset the monitors Jason was hooked up on, Tommy embraced his friend. It wasn't long before Tommy felt Jason's hot tears on his shoulder.
Jason had soon cried himself to sleep. Tommy felt his own tears on his cheeks. 'Why? why?! WHY!!!??' Tommy yelled inwardly, Jason was his best friend, losing him slowly was tearing Tommy apart inside. But Tommy would rather die than let Jason go though this alone.
Thank you's: Same as last chapter and thank you to Shawn and Sara for reviewing...my only two reviews! Thanks to a certain doctor who shall remain nameless for giving me a base for Dr. Johnson.
Author's Note: If you read this please review it! I'd really apperciate feedback because this took me forever to write and means a lot to me. I want to hear what people think of it!
Chapter 2
One Month Later
The Truth Comes Out
"Have you noticed something different about Jason in the last few weeks?" Adam asked from where he and Rocky were watching Tommy and Jason spar.
"Tommy is definitely taking it easy on Jason right now." Rocky replied, watching the two of them.
"Tommy keeps avoiding Jason's chest. It's like he thinks he'll hurt Jase if he hits him there, even lightly." Adam observed.
They watched as the two friends sparred in their usual friendly manner but it was easy to notice that Jason's skill level wasn't nearly the same as before. He was slower, weaker and just generally more worn out.
'Jason is out of breath already. He's getting weaker too fast.' Tommy sighed inwardly knowing that soon even short sparring sessions would be too much for Jason. 'I knew this would come up but why this soon?'
Since the day he told Tommy Jason had been trying hard not to let any weakness show in front of anyone else. But it was taking a toll on him and after two weeks Jason had to settle for just barely keeping up with his friends now he had to settle for less than that. One day Jason had looked in the mirror and noticed the bags under his eyes: the pain was keeping him awake at night now. He knew he would be on medication for it soon. The next day he noticed how pale his skin was, the next day how his body was becoming less and less muscular until there was hardly any definition at all. He was getting so much thinner, too...Jason knew he was dying but hated the fact that he would die so helpless.
Tommy was usually the one to stop a sparring match or stop another activity when he noticed Jason was pushing his limits. Tommy understood and respected the reasons Jason didn't want to let the others know yet. But he also knew Jason would have to tell them soon as he was only getting weaker as the days went on. It was getting noticeable.
About two minutes later Tommy knew it was time to call it quits, "I'm thirsty, Jase. Let's go join Rocky and Adam."
"Fine by me." Jason replied shooting Tommy a grateful glance.
"You didn't spar for long." Adam commented when Jason and Tommy joined them.
"Nah, I'm hungry." Tommy answered a little too quickly. Adam exchanged a glance with Rocky as if saying 'Something is up.' But they didn't push for answers.
"I thought that was Rocky's line." Adam put in getting a laugh even from Rocky. The others didn't realize how grateful Jason was that they didn't push for answers.
'Not yet, just a few more days of normal life. That's all I want.' Jason thought to himself as the others dung into the food in front of them. Jason hardly had any appetite now, eating usually made him feel nauseous and more and more often made him throw up. He managed to eat a little so no one would say anything but paid the price of feeling quite queasy. Tommy gave him a worried glance but didn't say anything; he wouldn't say anything when they were in front of the others.
As they began to get back to work Jason knew something was wrong. It started out as just a twinge, nothing unusual, it had happened before. "Pain is to be expected," his doctor had said, "when the cancer is so far advanced." But it didn't go away in a few seconds like it always had before. The pain grew and grew and grew. Jason felt his breath get caught in his throat as almost searing pain shot through him.
Jason's face paled and he doubled over in pain. He could barely breath and his heart felt as if it were going to race out of his chest. Jason grabbed onto the counter desperately trying to steady himself but collapsed to the floor. Tommy, Rocky and Adam immediately dropped what they were going and rushed to the side of their former teammate. Tommy was the first to reach him.
"Jason! Talk to me, bro. What's wrong?" Tommy gingerly turned Jason over onto his side to make it more easy for him to breath. Jason was struggling to do just that, his lungs felt as if they were on fire. It was all he could do not to cry out from the pain.
"...it...hurts..." Jason gasped, his vision blurring badly so he could barely make out the concerned face of his friends above him.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Adam yelled. One of the students was the one to run to the phone and dial 911.
"Hold on, Jase. Help is coming." Tommy said trying not to panic himself. He managed to maintain his calm by reminding himself it would do Jason no go for him to lose it.
"...can't...breath..." Jason said desperate for air that just wouldn't make it's way into his lungs.
"Just try to relax, it will make breathing easier." Adam suggested now kneeling beside Jason as Rocky kept everyone from crowding around. Jason could only manage to draw in shallow, rasping breaths as it was. He didn't need a large crowd to make things more hectic.
"Come on, Jason. You gotta breath." Rocky whispered as he kept students and staff back so his ailing friend had room. Relief rushed everyone when the sounds of the ambulance came into hearing range.
"You'll be okay now, Jason." Adam reassured him, gently touching Jason's arm. Tommy wished that could be true but knew Jason was far from alright.
The paramedics rushed onto the scene with a stretcher as someone had gone outside to direct them in. They worked very quickly to secure Jason to the stretcher.
"...Tommy...tell...them..." Jason rasped before the oxygen mask was pulled over his face. He was swallowed by the sea of tubes and monitors as the ambulance rushed away, its sirens blaring down the street.
"Tell us what, Tommy?" Adam asked as the siren bellowed down the next street on it's way to the hospital. Tommy sighed before turning to two of his business partners.
"Jason has lung cancer." Tommy answered slowly. "He's dying."
"Oh, my God." Adam whispered.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Rocky demanded, sounding more hurt than angry.
"Jason didn't want me to. He wanted to live as normally as possible for as long as he could." Tommy replied. "No one else, expect his parents, know."
"You guys head to the hospital," Julia, one of the part time teachers, said. "I'll take care of things here, okay?"
"Thanks, Julia. We'll call you when we find out what's going on." Tommy told her just before he, Rocky, and Adam got into their cars and started to the hospital.
The three of them slowly walked into the emergency ward. No one spoke, Adam and Rocky were still stunned from the news of Jason's terminal illness and Tommy was distraught over Jason being in so much pain. 'If it's like this already what will it be like at the end?' Tommy thought. He remembered his promise not abandon Jason no matter how bad it got. Tommy silently vowed that he would keep that promise come hell or high water.
"Excuse me, Miss. Do you know where we can find a Jason Lee Scott?" Adam asked the nurse at the desk. She typed something into her computer before answering.
"He's been moved to the oncology ICU for observation. Take the elevator to the second floor and take a right." She replied quickly before turning away to deal with something else.
"Thank you." Adam replied even though the nurse was too busy dealing with something else to acknowledge. him
Tommy wished the elevator would move faster when they were in it, and then that the hall wasn't so long when they were almost running down it. A doctor walked from out of door just as they arrived at the area marked ICU. He looked up at the teens as they approached.
"Can I help you?" He asked as Tommy stopped in front of him.
"Our friend just arrived here by ambulance. His names is Jason Lee Scott." Tommy answered quickly.
"Yes, the advanced cancer patient." The doctor replied too casually. Tommy suddenly had the urge to punch something, or maybe the doctor in front of him, very hard.
"Is Jason alright?" Rocky asked softly.
"Do you know when Mr. Scott's parents will be arriving?" The doctor asked ignoring the question.
"No. They live in New York so they'll have to fly here." Tommy answered quickly. "Please, can you tell us what's happened to him? How is he?"
The doctor looked at the young men in front of him for a few moments before replying, "As you may be aware, Mr. Scott has extensive small cell lung cancer. His case has advanced more quickly than usual and is continuing to invade his body at a fast speed. He collapsed because he was over working himself."
"After a five minute spar and lunch?" Rocky asked in shock.
"As I aforementioned, the cancer has spread quicker than we assumed. The cancer now covers both lungs, most of his heart and is spreading to his other organs. Since he was very fit and healthy otherwise we assumed he would make four or five months, more than most patients, but unfortunately that will not be the case." The doctor replied.
"Is there anything that can be done?" Adam asked quickly.
"I'm afraid not. The cancer is too far advanced to operate, as it has been from the beginning, and any other option would only make Mr. Scott weaker than he already is." The doctor replied.
"Can we see him?" Tommy asked quietly still absorbing this new news.
"Yes. However he may be slightly groggy as he was given a dose of morphine to stop the pain." The doctor answered. "And I would suggest going in only one at a time as too many people may overwhelm him."
Tommy went in first and almost gasped out loud at what he saw. Jason looked so fragile lying on the hospital bed with more tubes and monitors hooked up to most of his body. It was even worse than when he had had to give up the Gold Ranger powers, that was the last time Tommy could remember Jason looking close to what he looked like now.
A breathing tube was stuck down his throat and oxygen tubes ran into his nose to make sure he got enough air into his ailing lungs. 'He's so pale.' Tommy thought as he sat at Jason's bedside. 'What's going to happen now?'
Jason opened his eyes slowly as Tommy took his hand. Jason did indeed look slightly dazed from the pain killers. This was the first time he had been heavily drugged to take away the pain. Jason didn't like the feeling; it made him realize how out of control this was.
"Hey, Jase." Tommy said softly noticing Jason was awake. "You gave us a scare back at the Dojo." Jason tried to speak but the breathing tube prevented it. It only made his throat ache more than it already did.
"Don't try to talk. The doctors will take that tube out soon but you still need it right now." Tommy said quickly. Jason looked crestfallen at the fact he needed the tube to breath properly. "Relax, it's only because you pushed yourself too hard. You've got to take it easy from now on, okay?"
Jason felt tears come to his eyes. Everything was going to be different, just like he had known. But Jason saw how concerned Tommy was and nodded weakly to show he understood.
"I told the others what's happening." Tommy told him. "I know you don't want things to be any different, so I told them that as well. The doctors called you're parents; they said they would be here by tonight." Tommy could see how scared Jason was but that he was trying to keep up a brave front for everyone, himself included.
"Adam and Rocky want to see you as well," Tommy mentioned. Jason closed his eyes and a tear streamed down his face as he slowly shook his head. Seeing them now was just too much. He couldn't even speak to them to explain why he had kept everything from them.
"You don't want to see them?" Tommy asked. Jason nodded but pointed weakly to the breathing tube.
"You don't want them to see you like this?" Tommy echoed. Jason nodded slowly, his eyes filling with tears once more. "Alright, I'm sure they'll understand. Once the breathing tube comes out will you see them?" Jason nodded again.
Jason wanted more than anything to be able to speak to Tommy and the rest of his friends at that moment. He gestured to the breathing tube and then to Tommy's watch trying to ask when it would be taken out.
"I don't know when they're taking it out, Jase." Tommy replied, understanding what Jason was trying to ask. "I only know that it should be out before your parents get here."
"Mr. Oliver, I'm going to have to ask you to leave so we can run some tests." A doctor said from the doorway.
"Alright." Tommy said over his shoulder before turning back to Jason for a few moments. "I'll be back as soon as they let me, okay?" Jason nodded slightly, not wanting Tommy to leave but knowing the doctor wouldn't let him stay. Tommy squeezed Jason's hand quickly before going.
"Now if you'll just lie still, Mr. Scott, I can run the tests quickly and we can see about taking that tube out." The doctor said. "I'm Dr. Johnson, by the way and I'll be taking care of your case from now on so come to me if there's a problem."
Jason was not fond of having tests run on him but he endured it. They was no use putting up a protest and Jason didn't have the strength to argue. It seemed to take forever before Dr. Johnson was done poking and prodding him, or at least that's how Jason saw it. Even in his current mood Jason could see Dr. Johnson was a caring and good natured person as well as a good doctor. Jason was secretly relieved that Dr. Johnson would be taking care of his matters from now on. He had been afraid of getting a fussy doctor who was sure to make him stay in the hospital for the rest of his shortened life.
"Alright, Mr. Scott. I can take the breathing tube out now as your tests show you should be able to breath on your own. I'm going to count to three and I want you to exhale as hard as you can. You may lose your breath for a few minutes or start to cough but that's normal and I may put an oxygen mask on you, but if you don't need it I won't." Jason nodded to show he understood and prepared himself.
"One, two, three!" Dr. Johnson said at the same time as pulling the tube out.
Jason was winded for a few seconds and coughed violently, gasping for breath. It felt as if all the air had been sucked from his lungs and his throat burned. But the air quickly returned, especially after the oxygen mask was placed over his mouth.
"Are you alright, Mr. Scott?" Dr. Johnson asked. Jason nodded slowly feeling oxygen flood his weak lungs. It was an almost overwhelming feeling, and not a good one.
"It's Jason, if that's okay with you." Jason rasped his throat hurting from the tube. Dr. Johnson smiled faintly.
"Alright then, Jason. Would you like me to let your friend back in?" Dr. Johnson asked. Jason again nodded wanting to save his voice to talk to his friends and parents.
"Don't take the oxygen mask off for long and try to speak in moderate amounts." Dr. Johnson warned. Jason nodded in understanding.
Jason closed his eyes briefly but opened them quickly as Tommy entered the room. Tommy resumed his seat at Jason's bedside and didn't speak for a few seconds but held Jason's hand in his own. Jason was just glad Tommy was back, it made him feel safer to have him there.
"You're father called from the plane. They land in about half and hour." Tommy told Jason breaking the silence.
"I haven't spoken to my father since I left the Peace Conference. He didn't want me to leave." Jason whispered in a hoarse voice. "I shouldn't have stopped speaking to him for so long."
"I don't think that matters to him anymore." Tommy said gently. To his surprised Jason let out a raspy, bitter laugh.
"Yeah, it's amazing how cancer brings families together." Jason knew his words stunned Tommy but not as much as they stung at his own heart. Tommy had no answer for that. Jason immediately felt guilty.
"I'm sorry, Tommy. I didn't mean anything by that. It's just..." Jason trailed off. "I don't want to be speaking to my parents again because I'm dying. I wanted to do it on my own terms. I missed them but I didn't want to be 'reunited' because I'm dying. I should have called them before."
"It's alright, Jase. I understand and I'm sure your parents will too." Tommy said softly.
"I don't want things to end like this," Jason sighed. "I don't want to die yet. There's too much I still want to accomplish and now I'll never get to," Jason started to cough. His throat was aching and he knew he should lay off talking for awhile but Jason couldn't help it. He wanted to talk to Tommy...it comforted him more than Jason could explain.
"Save your strength, Jase." Tommy said gently. "Your doctor told me you should take it easy on your throat for awhile."
"I know..." Jason rasped. His eyes were full of such grief Tommy could hardly bare to look into them. Very gently, so not to upset the monitors Jason was hooked up on, Tommy embraced his friend. It wasn't long before Tommy felt Jason's hot tears on his shoulder.
Jason had soon cried himself to sleep. Tommy felt his own tears on his cheeks. 'Why? why?! WHY!!!??' Tommy yelled inwardly, Jason was his best friend, losing him slowly was tearing Tommy apart inside. But Tommy would rather die than let Jason go though this alone.
