Disclaimers in Part One; yes, I know I'm lazy. You want to read more story, or have me write lengthy notes? – That's what I thought. *grins* Sorry about the delay, but I was on vacation. Anyway, please give me feedback? Pretty please?
Brother, My Brother
Part 6: A Timely Rescue?
David and Tommy reached the lookout point out of breath and more than a little the worse for wear, but as David had promised, the view was definitely worth it. They sank to the ground, panting and gulping down the contents of their canteens thirstily, all the while gazing admiringly out at the magnificent scenery. Brownish-yellow sand and rocks as far as the eye could see, at first glance arid and lifeless, but a closer look showed moss and sparse shrubbery, the quick flit of a small rodent from rock to rock, birds of prey circling high in a cloudless blue sky. The desert, a lifeless wasteland? Hardly that.
Letting his eyes sweep to the horizon, Tommy was filled with awe at the vastness, a sight only paralleled by being far out on the ocean, or taking his Zord into space. The line between earth and sky was blurred, hazy with heat shimmers, and only added to the impression of immensity. At his back, the solid rock of the mountainside literally grounded him, and he knew that he only needed to turn around and see the Sierra rise high into the sky.
"This is awesome, David," he murmured. "Thanks for showing this to me." Somehow, nature's glory made him want to keep his voice down, as if any loud noise would spoil its impact on his senses and mind.
"You're welcome, Tommy," David replied, pleased that his brother obviously shared his own appreciation of what lay before them. "I'm glad you're here."
Tommy smiled warmly, then a troubled expression entered his eyes. "I just wish Jason didn't have to leave; I'm sure he'd have loved seeing this as much as I do."
Instinctively, David withdrew, only just checking any overt motion. *Damn him, does he have to intrude even when he's not even present?* But something gave him away, despite his best effort. His younger brother's face fell, grew wary, even slightly desperate.
"Dave? What's up? I know you and Jason both told me you were okay, but I'd have to be more dense than Bulk and Skull not to notice that something's not right between the two of you." He rubbed the back of his neck, as he was wont to do when agitated. "What I can't figure out, though, is what is wrong, and why. Don't you like Jason?"
It sounded like a little boy's plea, even Tommy noticed that, but didn't much care. He turned what Tanya liked to call his 'lost-puppy-dog-look' on David, willing him to deny his growing suspicion. David squirmed inwardly under that look, and to his shame felt his face grow hot. He glanced quickly aside, but too late. Alarmed, Tommy reached out and gripped his brother's arm.
"Tell me what's wrong, David. Please! I need to know!"
Sighing, David closed his eyes. *So much for keeping Tommy out of this. Okay, maybe it's just as well.* Setting his mouth in a grim line, he looked back up.
"You're right, Tommy – all is not well. I'm sorry, but … I would have preferred if we had come here alone from the start."
Bewildered, Tommy sat back, the spectacular desert view forgotten. "What? But why?"
"Because I wanted this experience to bring us closer, I guess," David explained. "I mean, we're brothers, yeah, but we barely know each other … now that you're no longer in school, you have hardly any time for me …"
"David, between racing for Uncle John and being a Ranger, I hardly have time for anybody, family, friends or otherwise," Tommy said reasonably. "You don't want to know what this is doing to my social life, either; I'm only glad Kat's on the team with me, or I'd be as single as Rocky!" His attempt at levity failed, however.
"Yes. And now that you can take a little time off to spend with me, you decide to bring someone else along – an outsider!"
Tommy actually flinched, both at the unexpected sharpness of David's tone, and at his choice of words.
"What do you mean, an outsider? Jase is no outsider, he's my best friend! You know that!"
David blushed slightly. "He's not family," he muttered sullenly, staring at his feet. It sounded weak, even to his own ears. Why couldn't Tommy understand?
Tommy shook his head, not seeing the point at all. "Maybe not, but I've sure wished often enough he were," he said, trying for calm. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that things might be even worse than he'd begun to suspect – that there was some kind of clash between his brother and his Bro, the two people closest to him next to his parents.
*Aren't you forgetting someone?* a voice in his head asked.
*Kim* his foolish heart answered softly, only to be overshadowed by his conscience.
*Of course, Kat! Duh.*
If a heart could snort, Tommy's would have. He ignored it. Not for the first time.
"Dave … I'd hoped I'd made it clear to you, and if I haven't, I'm sorry, but Jason is as close to me as any member of my family – Mom and Dad, you … he was the first person ever who accepted me right from the start, no conditions, nothing, just offered me his friendship. Man, I tried to kill him when I was Rita's Green Ranger! Jason never, ever held that against me. Actually, he was the first of the original team who held out his hand to me. Literally." Tommy smiled briefly at the memory; that moment on the beach was embedded in his very soul and would stay there for the rest of his life.
"Yeah, yeah, the guy's a saint," David muttered, not quite keeping the sneer out of his voice. He was surprised when Tommy ignored it and just laughed.
"A saint? Jason? Hardly. He can outstubborn a mule, and trust me, you do not want to be in the same country with him when he loses his temper!"
Having caught flashes of it in the fire blazing in the dark eyes only this morning, David could well believe that. But he'd also seen the determination with which Jason could put a lid on said temper. Knowing that he, on the other hand, had pretty much completely lost control over himself did nothing to improve David's mood. Quite the contrary. But Tommy wasn't finished yet.
"Anyway, I'm not gonna give him up; no matter what, I'll always have time and room for him, no matter where I am or who I'm with. Get used to it." Realizing belatedly that such a peremptory statement might not be very diplomatic, he grinned a bit wryly.
"Sorry; didn't mean that quite the way it sounded. But it's true," he shrugged. "What is wrong between the two of you, anyway? Just a general personality clash, or is it just that you don't know him very well yet?"
The other was silent for a long minute. At last, David spoke. "I … I don't know." He couldn't very well admit that he was jealous of Jason, could he? Tommy would probably just laugh at him, tell him he was being an idiot or something – and that would make things even worse.
The one thing David couldn't bear was having someone look down on him one way or another. It didn't matter if it was by verbal insult, laughter behind his back (or to his face) or just if he was made to look stupid or incompetent. It always made him feel humiliated, like the one and only time the brothers had sparred – being bested by his younger brother had been bad enough, Ranger expertise or not, but Tommy didn't have to make it look so easy, did he? And with his Ranger friends watching, too … there had been no other way for him than to run out, as far away as possible before he'd be ridiculed. His pride demanded it.
Trying to find halfway rational reasons for his resentment of Jason, besides his jealousy, David started to explain that he felt that Jason was showing up his shortcomings at every opportunity. His lack of worldliness, for want of a better term, his comparatively lesser education … even his living circumstances. He could – barely! – accept the differences between his own life and Tommy's; not that he begrudged him having been adopted by a reasonably well-off family or anything, but he was human enough and young enough to covet some of the things which Tommy and Jason took for granted and which were pretty much out of his reach unless he worked for them himself, for various reasons. Not all of which had to do with money.
David knew he was fumbling for the right words. Somehow, putting his vague feelings into concise sentences was harder than he imagined it to be, and made them seem rather insignificant, truth be told. And yet he struggled on. David wasn't at all sure whether he was making any sense – the increasingly puzzled look in Tommy's eyes as he listened seemed to indicate otherwise – but that was hardly surprising; his jumbled emotions didn't make much sense to himself anymore, either. *I always thought of myself as rather open-minded; why can't I be so where Jason is concerned?* David grimaced, still searching for a way to put his state of mind into something at least vaguely resembling coherency. *I … I don't like feeling like this – so mean and petty and jealous!*
"I think you've got it all skewed, David," Tommy murmured, rather disturbed by these revelations. He'd never experienced that kind of resentment of another himself, even at his most lonely, and was having trouble wrapping his mind around the concept. And it bothered him a lot that his own brother should feel like this, especially towards his best friend.
"First of all, you don't have 'shortcomings', the way you think you do. You just grew up under totally different circumstances than we did." Tommy would never know how much that simple 'we' hurt David – it seemed to separate them far more than anything else. But Tommy wasn't finished yet. "Second, Jase isn't like that at all; he'd never look down on anybody, for whatever reason. Especially when there is none. You see, when I first moved here, he …" Tommy never got to finish his sentence. He was interrupted by a chirping sound David had only heard a few times before.
"Oh shit," Tommy muttered disgustedly, and activated his communicator.
"Yes, Zordon?"
"Tommy, Divatox is attacking Angel Grove. Your presence is needed here." Even over the tiny device, the Rangers' mentor's voice was booming, deep and authoritative.
"Be right with you. Alpha, alert the others!"
"Ai-yi-yi, Tommy! They're already on the way!"
All business now, the Red Turbo Ranger jumped to his feet, all else taking second place behind his duty.
"I've got to go," he said tersely, shifting seamlessly into the Rangers' leader's role. "Come on, I can teleport you at least down the mountain," he explained, reaching for David's arm. Before the other had time to protest, there was a dizzying rush of sensation, a brief blackness, and the brothers rematerialized not just at the foot of the peak it had taken them well over an hour to scale, but a good distance away, back where they'd come from. Tommy released his brother, took a step, then hesitated and turned once more towards David.
"Listen … we need to talk about this some more, but when I come back, okay? Will you be okay from here on?"
"Yeah, sure. You go and kick that pirate chick's butt," David said, smiling feebly.
"Will do." Tommy reached into his back pocket for his Turbo Key. Before he morphed, though, he looked seriously at David. He was reluctant to ask this of his brother, but concern for his best friend won out. "Dave? Promise me one thing?"
"What?" David wondered at the strange and sudden urgency in Tommy's voice.
"Look out for Jase while I'm gone? I know you may not really want to, after what you've just told me, but the bad guys have too often tried to get at us through our friends and families … and he's really not quite up to snuff …"
Grudgingly, David conceded the point. How could he not, after what happened to him with King Mondo? That didn't mean he had to like it, though. But Tommy's eyes begged him to understand, offering his brother a trust that couldn't be refused.
"Sure, don't worry."
"Thanks."
His communicator beeped again. "Tommy, haul your butt down here! NOW!!!" Unmistakeably Tanya's irritated voice, punctuated by sounds that could only mean his team was already in the midst of trashing a bunch of Piranhatrons.
Cursing under his breath, Tommy fell into stance and summoned his morpher.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" He didn't even wait for an answer.
"Shift into Turbo!"
In a flash of crimson light, he disappeared, leaving a bemused and still rather grouchy David behind, to make the mile-long hike back to camp on his own. Grumbling about the worst timing ever for being interrupted, the young man started to walk.
~*~
"AURGH!"
Jason cried out more from the surprise than actual pain; he'd sustained more painful injuries as a Ranger, not to mention a few domestic accidents involving paring knives or opened cans. However, as soon as his brain got over the first shock, he saw the ropy shape slithering away quickly, and fear set in.
Along with a burning sensation radiating outward from the twin puncture wounds just above his ankle.
"Oh shit," he groaned, steadying himself against the rock. The pain was already intense, and seemed to intensify with every breath he took – and was it his imagination, or was his leg beginning to swell already? Jason wasn't sure; he'd read about snakebites and their symptoms way back when he first started going on hikes, but poisonous snakes really were rare in California; it just wasn't something he'd been overly concerned with, to tell the truth. If it had been scorpions … but he had chanced upon that rarity, he had to be concerned, or he might … die. Through the pain and increasing confusion – another by-product of the venom coursing through his blood, Jason dimly remembered – he desperately tried to think.
*Snakebite! Okay, what do I do … note the time …* Jason looked at his watch, but it was dubious if he'd be able to remember the position of the hands. Sometime after 1 pm, he thought. It would have to suffice. *Type of snake … I think I heard a rattle … didn't I? … Shit … I need antivenom – fast!*
He looked up the hillside, towards their tent, hoping that either Tommy or David had remembered to pack the remedy. He knew he shouldn't move, should stay as still as possible, but he also needed to get up there, look through their packs … fighting down incipient panic, he took a couple of stumbling steps. The pain in his leg got impossibly worse, and he winced. Gritting his teeth, Jason moved uphill, even though his imagination had shifted into hyperdrive, showing him images of how the poison was moving through his veins, infesting his bloodstream with every excruciating step he managed.
Somehow, he made it to the tent, sweating and cursing all the way.
But once the tent was almost within his reach, Jason found to his horror that he couldn't – COULD NOT – go on. Only two more steps, three at the most, and it was no use. Nausea set in, worse than any ever caused by losing the Gold Power, his skin was clammy with shock, and his stomach heaved as bile rose in his throat. Too weakened already both by his exertion and the poison to fight it, Jason lost his sparse lunch there and then until he was retching pitifully, sinking first to his knees, then slowly all the way to the ground, where he curled up in a foetal position. His eyes were watering as he tried to hold his throbbing leg. Even with blackness encroaching on him, spots dancing before his eyes, he could feel that the area around the snakebite was swollen and puffy … and it was spreading.
*I don't want to die! Not like this … not all alone!*
He lifted his head, the action causing him to gag again; what little he could see of the desert was just that – deserted. Nevertheless, the human spirit wouldn't give up so easily. Mustering what little strength he had left, Jason called for help.
To whom, he didn't know, nor cared; he'd have been grateful for Lord Zedd's company right now, all things considered. He just knew that he didn't want to be by himself, helpless, hurt … possibly dying.
"Help! Tommy! David … anybody … somebody help me …"
The deep voice grew weaker with every word. And it died off completely when Jason lost consciousness.
~*~
It was less than a mile to the campsite from where Tommy had dropped him off, so David took his time getting there; after all, he had no burning desire to play babysitter to Jason. At least that's how he thought of the request Tommy had made of him. Hadn't he heard a single word his brother had told him? For if he had, how could he still ask David to look out for Jason?
*It's not fair,* David groused as he ambled along, kicking up loose gravel every now and then. He cursed as he stubbed his toe on a larger stone which was embedded in the soil. *Is EVERYTHING against me? Why can't Tommy see my side? Why the HELL is Jason the one for whom he is so concerned?* Although, he had to admit it wasn't entirely without cause – less so after Divatox already had had Jason in her clutches once. The new Bad Girl in town sure sounded like someone who'd hold a grudge. So, David would honor his promise.
*Nobody says I have to like it, though.*
The heat was getting to him, so David quickened his pace some; he still didn't want to spend more time than he absolutely had to alone with Jason, but the prospect of fresh water and a little shade, plus a chance to really rest after their earlier climb, was too enticing. *And Tommy has NOT asked me to entertain him. If I don't want to, I don't have to talk to Jason at all.* Slightly cheered, David trudged on, reaching the foot of their hillock soon after. He paused at the base, letting the breeze wafting downhill lift his long hair in welcome relief, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Only the easy scramble uphill separated him from their camp … and Jason.
Grimacing, David started up the barely-visible path, only to stop again after a few steps. Was it his imagination, or had someone just called for help? He listened intently for several seconds, but could detect no sound aside from the wind rustling in the sparse bushes, or the sand shifting under his feet. He shrugged, not really concerned. There was no danger out here, and besides, Jason could damn well take care of himself, lack of stamina or not. A sudden flash of memory took David back to the cave in which Mondo had imprisoned him, though, and caused goosebumps to break out over his skin. What if Tommy's fears were real, after all, and the Space Pirate was going after Jason?
*If this Divatox chick really is out for Jason's hide, what can –I- do to stop her, anyway?* David tried to assuage his suddenly clamouring conscience, but sped up anyway. *I don't even have a communicator to call the Rangers!* But he knew he was just procrastinating. He might not be able to fight a monster, but his assistance – if it really was an attack by the current batch of cannon fodder – might mean the difference for Jason between being captured and holding out long enough until Tommy returned.
*Shit.*
With a last grumble, David topped the rise, prepared to do battle … only to find the area deserted. Nobody was in sight, not even Jason.
"What the heck?!" Clearly, there was no attack in progress, nor were there any signs of a struggle having taken place recently. He'd fully expected Jason to rest in the tent's shade, if he weren't fighting Piranhatrons hands and nails. Then again, the sun hadn't passed zenith all that long ago, and it was possible that the former Ranger had looked for shadow closer to the well. But a look down the slope showed just rocks and moss, the only movement coming from a small lizard which was scurrying into a particularly sunny spot.
"Where is he, anyway?"
Shaking his head in puzzlement and slight annoyance at having wasted some perfectly good worrying for nothing, David waited for his adrenaline rush to subside, then slowly rounded the tent. What he saw there stopped him right in his tracks, then sent him into frantic activity.
Jason was lying on the bare ground, obviously unconscious, curled up just out of reach of the tent flap. One arm was outstretched as if he were trying to reach the zipper – and the reason for that was quite apparent as David took in all of his prone form. His right leg was swollen to half again its usual size from the ankle upward to the knee, straining his pants leg at the seams and everything pointed to the fact that the oedema was still spreading. Sinking to his knees beside the prone body, carefully avoiding the spot of vomitus, David turned Jason carefully onto his back. Looking him over, David saw what he'd feared – twin puncture wounds, grossly discoloured, right above the edge of Jason's sock. A drop of blood had congealed on each already.
"Snakebite! Oh damn!"
David knew enough about the local fauna to be pretty certain about the type of snake that had bitten Jason; it could only be a certain species of rattlesnake common to the western USA. They were rare in California, but not unheard of. He had the appropriate antivenom packed. The big question was, how much time had passed since the bite? There was a 90-minute time limit in which the remedy would be effective at all, or it would be too late to save Jason. David didn't think it had been that long ago; his heartbeat was still reasonably strong and regular, but … The only person who could – hopefully! – answer that was Jason himself; to do that, he needed to be conscious.
*First things first!*
Hastily, David went for his backpack. The first-aid kit was tucked into one of the outside pockets for easy access. He grabbed the special insulating container for the antidote and hurried back to Jason, all enmity forgotten in the face of this emergency. Next, he reached for one of the canteens, noting with silent relief that they'd been filled since morning – probably Jason's work. In falling, he'd obviously knocked one over – half of its contents had spilled, testified by the still-damp patch on the ground.
*Good thing he's thought that far …*
Pouring a measure of water onto a piece of bandage from the first-aid kit, David cleaned the punctures, then wetted Jason's face, all the while calling his name, trying to wake him up again.
"Wake up, Jason! Come on, don't be such a stubborn cuss. I need your help here! Wake up, damn you! JASON!"
David knew he was yelling, but didn't care; he lifted his unconscious companion, then dragged him towards the back of the tent where a little shade provided welcome relief from the scorching heat. Next, he propped Jason up into a half-sitting position, elevated his leg on a hastily-snatched backpack as far as he dared, prepared a tourniquet and did all he could think of, his brain racing as his hands acted as if on autopilot. When he still got no reaction from Jason, he slapped him lightly.
"Wake UP!!!"
He was rewarded with a faint moan. Jason moved his head marginally to escape the stinging slaps, but only received yet another slap. More relieved than he thought he'd be, David redoubled his efforts.
"That's it, come on …"
Clawing his way back to consciousness, Jason fluttered his eyelids in a brave attempt to open them. When he finally succeeded, he immediately became aware of the burning ache in his leg, and he groaned, instinctively reaching for his ankle, the source of the pain. David caught the wandering hand.
"No, you can't touch the bite."
The voice was familiar and yet wasn't; frowning, Jason squinted to make his blurry vision focus. He saw a tanned face framed with long dark locks hovering over him, and sighed softly.
"T-tommy," he mumbled indistinctly. "Knew … you'd come. Hel … he'p muhhh…"
David couldn't help but marvel at the simple trust evident in those few words, accompanied as they were by a noticeable relaxing of the tensed muscles. He realized Jason must've mistaken him for his brother, dazed and semi-conscious as he was. It cracked some of the hard shell he'd formed around his heart – seemed the relationship between Tommy and Jason was as close as Tommy had claimed, or Jason wouldn't react the way he was doing.
"Sorry, no," he murmured, fumbling for the snake kit. With quick movements, he removed Jason's shoe and sock. No sense in restricting him any more than absolutely necessary. Already, the elasticised edge of the white stocking had left a deep ridge in the swollen tissue around Jason's ankle.
Jason jerked out of his painful haze when he felt someone touching his foot.
"Hurts," he complained weakly.
"I can imagine, but there's no way around it," David replied in a no-nonsense voice. "Now hold still!"
Finally, it registered on Jason's fogged mind that it wasn't Tommy ministering to him. The voice was similar, but not quite the light tenor he was used to; nor was the touch of the skilled hands at all familiar. Making a supreme effort, he opened his eyes fully and waited for his sight to clear. Sure enough, there was long brown hair, but it was straighter than Tommy's, the shoulders in the plaid shirt were muscular but broader … oh.
"D-david," he stammered, recognizing the person shoving him against a handy rock at last; gagging as another wave of nausea hit him. He swallowed the rising bile with difficulty, knowing he had nothing left to give. "Where … where's …"
"Tommy had to teleport out; some kind of Ranger emergency," David explained, opening the emergency kit and picking up a hypodermic needle. "Good thing he brought me down the peak with him, or I would've been too late."
"… What?"
David stopped whatever he was doing and looked at Jason. "Do you remember what happened?"
Jason briefly closed his eyes. Why was it so hard to think all of a sudden? And why was David being almost nice to him? But an explanation was needed; the effort of giving it actually helped him focus, Jason found, much to his surprise. "I … I think so," he muttered. "I went to get water … ate a little … I was sitting halfway down the bluff, just thinking about stuff … tossing stones … then I got up … " the deep voice, now thready and weak, trailed off as memory set in.
"There … there was a snake … it bit me!"
"It sure did. Probably some kind of rattler. It's why you're feeling so rotten now."
Well, duh. Jason had figured that one out all by himself. Nevertheless, he was grateful for the lack of hostility both in David's voice and demeanor. As lousy as he was feeling, he couldn't handle a second round of their early-morning quarrel. Thinking about his mishap, though, brought the pain back to Jason's consciousness with a vengeance. Instinctively, he tried to reach for his lower calf, only to find his hand once more restrained in a firm grip.
"Oh no, you don't."
"Wanna know …" Jason muttered rebelliously, glaring at David, who grinned briefly, humourlessly.
"I just bet you do. But you mustn't move – no more than absolutely necessary, anyway. It'll speed the flow of the poison. Bad enough you came up here," David went on, letting go. "But if you have to know, the bite itself is discoloured, your leg looks as if it belongs to a baby elephant, and you generally look like shit. Wanna know more?"
"No. Thanks a lot," Jason replied ungraciously. The world around him was again gyrating worse than a group of breakdancers on speed, and try as he might, he couldn't get rid of the urge to vomit. Heavy eyelids drifted shut again even as he retched.
"My pleasure." Only, strangely, it wasn't, not anymore. How had that happened? He'd thought he would like seeing Jason miserable, or in pain. Now that his earlier wish was coming to pass, though, David found he didn't. He refused to look at his suddenly changed feelings too closely. There was work to be done.
"Okay, I need you to concentrate for a minute, alright? Jason?" He spoke the other's name sharply, fearing he'd lapse into unconsciousness again. "Jason!"
"Yeth," Jason winced, yanked back from the brink of oblivion. What was it David wanted? Oh. Concentrate. Yeah, he could do that. Maybe. "What!"
"Do you have any idea how long ago it's been that the snake got you?"
Jason tried to think. "Dunno," he had to admit. "Not long, I think … what time is it?"
David spared a glance at the position of the sun, then checked it against the length of what little shadow there was. "Quarter to two, or thereabouts."
What had his watch shown? Jason wasn't sure. "Think it was … after one. Not s-sure."
"Hmmm." Reflecting on how he'd found Jason, David was inclined to accept the estimate. The water dripping from the overturned canteen hadn't fully evaporated yet when he'd arrived; a process that wouldn't take long in the current heat.
"Okay, I think we're on time then," he declared, forcing a cheerfulness into his voice he didn't really, feel. It wouldn't quite be a lie – yet. "I'll give you the antivenom now, okay?" He'd selected a vial and loaded it into the hypo. Showing the gleaming needle to Jason, he went on. "This may hurt a bit." He ripped up Jason's pants leg, to expose his thigh.
"Can't be worse than what it's like now," Jason panted, grimacing as another wave of pain washed over him, radiating upwards from his lower right leg. His insides were starting to coil in some kind of cramp, worse than the nausea. On top of things, his heart was racing so much it hurt his ribs. He eyed the hypo distastefully. "Man, I hate needles! I just hope you know what you're doing with that thing," he grumbled between gasps.
"Trust me," David said without thinking, too busy using a disposable alcohol-soaked swab to wipe Jason's skin at the back of his knee, the only place he could think of to find a vein. He positioned the tip against the bluish line, but stopped when Jason spoke quietly.
"Guess what? I do."
Surprised, David looked over his shoulder, meeting the pain-glazed dark eyes fixed on his face.
"Why?"
"You're Tommy's brother," Jason said simply, as if that explained everything. It stunned David momentarily. Before he could react one way or another, Jason sank back with another moan. "Just get it over with!"
"Sure," David murmured, confused. Why would Jason trust him just like this, when he hadn't given him reason to? Certainly their fight this morning wasn't exactly motivating … but thinking about all that would have to wait. Time was of the essence, and he was wasting it, big time. His hands were steady, though, as he pushed the tip of the needle into the muscular flesh. Carefully depressing the plunger, he watched the clear liquid enter Jason's bloodstream. When the vial was empty, he withdrew the hypodermic, swabbed the area again and quickly put a band-aid over the small puncture. No sense in courting infection from a secondary source.
"If the description of this is correct, you ought to be feeling better in a short while," David said gruffly. "Hopefully, you'll be able to hold out long enough for Tommy to come back and teleport you to the car. It's gonna be a close call as it is."
"Yeah," Jason sighed, well aware of the restrictions Zordon had placed on the use of their Powers. 'Never use them for personal gain.' He hoped Tommy would be able to bend the rules this once, just a little, anyway, seeing as it was an emergency. Maybe Zordon wouldn't mind … The rules were made for a reason, and Jason had always adhered to them religiously, but he really didn't want to die yet. The lengthy car ride was going to be tough enough as it was.
"Knowing Tommy, he'll try to break the landspeed record," he joked feebly. "Better prepare yourself for one hell of a tri-"
He never could complete the sentence. A sudden rush of unbearable heat constricted his throat, and he arched upwards, crying out inarticulately in pain. Sweat broke out all over his body, and yet Jason's face turned pasty-white under his tan. David tried to hold him down, to stop the thrashing-about that was following, and found to his dismay that Jason's skin was cold and clammy to his touch. That, however, was quickly replaced by a feverish flush.
"Oh SHIT!"
Even inexperienced in most medical matters as he was, David was aware of the symptoms of anaphylactic shock. It seemed as if Jason was allergic to the antivenom. In his weakened condition, coupled with the effects the fast-spreading poison on his system, it looked as if time had just run out on Jason Scott.
To Be Continued …