Brother, My Brother
Chapter 8: A Long Night's Journey
"Tommy …!" Kat's voice was choked with emotion as she instinctively took a step forward as if to separate the two, but found herself restrained by a hand on her wrist.
"Don't."
She turned and lifted tear-filled blue eyes to Billy's compassionate ones.
"Why not!" she demanded, her wounded feelings and confusion obvious in her whole stance.
"Because right now, you can't help Tommy," Billy replied, keeping his voice low and soothing – both for Katherine's sake as for Tommy's. Carefully, he let go of Kat, hoping she wouldn't rush
forward at once. To his relief, she stayed where she was, giving him a hurt look.
"And she can?" Kat wanted to know, jerking her head in a derisive little gesture at Kimberly, who had led Tommy to the row of seats. She'd sat down when he sank to his knees and buried his face in her lap, stroking the bent head tenderly as he continued to shudder in pain. "She left him, with a 'Dear John' letter, too! You know, you were there!"
"Yes," Billy sighed. Did he ever remember! "But still, Kat … I don't think that anyone else can help Tommy now – except maybe Jason, and he's the reason Tommy is having this breakdown in the first place." He stalled Kat's next comment with a tiny headshake. "Trust me on this. I strongly doubt that any person but one of us 'originals' can get through to Tommy now, and neither Trini, Zack nor I have ever had the same emotional connection with him as Kim has had."
"But we're supposed to be a couple! I offered to help him first, and h-he fobbed m-me off," Kat sniffled, the expression in her eyes turning slightly mutinous. The next words broke out of her heart with the force of a flash flood. "Kim broke his heart with that letter! With no warning at all; you've seen how much that hurt him. I did my best to help Tommy get over her, I thought I had when we started dating; and now he not only pushes me aside, but runs to her as soon as she shows her face. What right has she? Why should I let Kim take what should be my place?!?" Kat knew she sounded bitter, but didn't care; this was her right. Wasn't it?
Zack stepped closer, his dark eyes warm. He liked the pretty dancer, and it was making him very uncomfortable to see her so upset. But he also knew that Tommy hadn't acted consciously, just reacted – both to Kim's sudden appearance, and his own need.
"Because you weren't there, Kat," he said gently, touching her arm in a gesture meant to comfort. "I'm sorry, but I have to go with Billy on this one. I know you were teammates with Jase last, but he and I shared a dorm room for almost two years in Geneva; trust me, during that time I learned more than I ever wanted to know about how close those two are!" He essayed a tiny grin which was not returned. Not that he was surprised. "I think that, if Tommy had been a girl, Jase would've gotten a serious case of love at first sight, it was like that for him. And I'm pretty sure it was the same for Tommy. Those two … yeah, they had their problems at first, and Rita tried more than once to use them to break up the team, but in the end they cared too much about each other to ever let it affect them for long." He shrugged. "Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, Kim was there when Jason and Tommy became friends; she's seen it all, plus she's already seen Tommy at his lowest once before, when he lost the Green Ranger Powers for good. I guess opening up before her comes kinda naturally for him. No offense to you," Zack hastened to add.
"It is not a reflection on the depth of caring you two share," Billy added. "Just an instinctive, involuntary reaction to extreme stress. I've only caught a glimpse of Tommy when I arrived, but knowing him, I feel safe to guess he's been in his strong-leader mode until now, hasn't he? Afraid to show his emotions in case somebody would think him weak."
"I think he was more afraid to let go and be unable to stop," Tanya murmured, recalling the little scene right after Tommy had emerged from Jason's room. "Remember? He said he couldn't let you help him, that he needed to keep it together …"
"Just like when Zedd had Kim's Power Coin in his clutches, kidnapped her and was trying to drain her life force," Rocky piped up, only to be silenced by an absolutely furious glare and kick against his shin from Adam.
"Ow! What?" Bewildered, Rocky stared at his best friend, then belatedly remembered how Kimberly had come to lose her Coin in the first place. "Oh. Um, sorry," he mumbled, shame-faced at Kat's sudden guilty blush and averted look. That had been her doing, while she was under Rita's spell. The lingering guilt and current unhappiness made her eyes brim with tears.
Drawing a deep breath, Billy decided that it'd be better to move things along – for Kat, for Tommy, and most of all for Jason, who needed the remedy he'd brought. He gave Katherine a brief hug; an action that was sufficiently uncharacteristic for him to make her look up again.
"Kat … if you really care about Tommy, does it matter who can give him the comfort he needs right now? Isn't it more important that he gets it?"
Kat thought that over for a minute. She didn't like to admit it, but Billy had a point. Resentfully, she glanced towards the seats, where Kim was patting the muscular back soothingly. Tommy was still clinging to Kimberly's slender frame, hiding his face and breathing hard, but at least the nerve-wracking sobs had stopped. It seemed as if Kim was helping him – and quite honestly, nothing too intimate was taking place between the former couple. And yet, Kat couldn't help wish that it was her, not the petite gymnast, who was comforting him.
"I … I guess you're right," she conceded reluctantly at last. "Still …"
"We understand, Kat," Tanya murmured, hugging her friend. "Come on, let's go outside for a minute, shall we? When we come back, maybe Tommy will have calmed down, and then you can be there for him."
Kat hated to go. She didn't want to leave Tommy alone with Kimberly, out of her sight, but …
"Trust him, Kat," Billy advised softly. "Tommy is an honorable man; he will not betray you – as much as he couldn't abandon Jason right now. You know him well enough to be aware of that."
"Yes," Katherine sighed. They were all right about this, but at least no-one had demanded of her to accept the situation gracefully. And it would be a relief to pour out her hurt into her best friend's ear, out of hearing of the guys. *Oh well.* Dragging her feet, she allowed Tanya to guide her down the corridor, to a small alcove which had a balcony attached; they could get some much-needed fresh air there.
Adam, Rocky, Zack and Billy watched the girls leave, all of them heaving a huge – if silent – sigh of relief that the emotional atmosphere was getting back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be while one of their own was still in critical condition, anyway. That thought recalled Billy to his self-appointed task. Clearing his throat a bit awkwardly, he turned to Adam.
"Could you please alert Justin and call him here? We need to formulate a plan of action if he is to present Jason's doctors with the remedy I've brought. And persuade them to try it in the first place. I've already cleared the necessary things with Zordon – like teleporting here, and involving the Rangers even further."
"Sure thing, Billy."
The four young men retired to a quiet, unobserved corner, and Adam activated his communicator.
~*~
David had watched the scene with wide eyes, his and Sam Trueheart's presence apparently quite forgotten by the past and present Rangers. Which was actually to his liking; it had given him a chance to compose himself from reliving the previous day as he'd told his story. Plus, he'd gained a rather fascinating insight into his brother's recent history. Sure, he'd heard a mention of 'Kimberly' here and there the few times he'd hung out with the gang, and each time he'd seen the shutters go down in Tommy's eyes, but he'd accepted the terse explanation given – 'my/his ex-girlfriend' – rather at face value. He'd just assumed the relationship had ended somewhat badly and that Tommy was perfectly happy now with Kat.
Apparently not so.
But now was not the time to investigate his brother's love life. Instead, he needed to confront his own feelings about the depth of Tommy's concern for Jason. Because if anything was able to convince him that Tommy felt strongly about his best friend, it was the way he'd wept for him when someone truly close to him showed up.
David looked at his foster father. He'd noticed Sam's disappointment as he'd confessed to his jealousy, and it made him feel even worse. If that was possible.
"It's my fault he's in there, isn't it?" he asked, hoping that in this, at least, Sam would exonerate him at least a little, the way Jason's mother and his friends had.
The old man took his time answering. His wise old eyes were warm yet a little sad when he did.
"No, David, it's not." David was about to slump in relief, when Sam went on. "Not in the sense at least that you did anything wrong after the snake bit Jason. His being allergic to the antivenom was something truly unforeseeable. But, you should have checked the area more carefully; it was your neglect that is at least partially responsible for his current condition. You knew better. I'm very disappointed in you."
David hung his head, blushing. He'd known Sam wasn't going to yell at him or punish him, but right now, he would almost prefer that rather than know he'd fallen short of Sam's expectations of him.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"It is not I you should be saying that to, son," Sam admonished gently.
"I know. I will," David promised, knowing his foster father was correct. "To Jason, if – no, when! – he makes it. And to Tommy." That would be harder still. Because it meant having to admit that he'd thought his brother had lied to him when he'd said that he was happy, ecstatic even, of finally having found part of his biological family. Or that he believed Tommy incapable of caring for more than one person, that he had halfway expected him to desert a friend for someone else's sake. Even if that someone was Tommy's own brother. Out of that thought arose another question.
"Sam … how can Tommy care so much about Jason, anyway? I mean, they've only known each other a pretty short time, all things considered. They were even separated for nearly a couple of years! And yet he acts as if …" David's voice trailed off as he realized what he'd been about to say.
"… as if they were brothers, just as you are," Sam completed the sentence for his son. The older man nodded in confirmation, letting his expression grew distant as he looked inward to things only he could see.
"From what I have seen and heard, the young Falcon is indeed a brother to the young Eagle. They may have hatched in different nests, but they are of the same breed, belong to the same element. Soaring the skies, each free and unbound … yet united in Purpose and Spirit."
David listened to Sam's musings, as always slightly awed when the old Shaman grew mystical on him. "What do you mean?" he whispered.
Sam turned towards his tall foster son and smiled. "It means Tommy chose Jason as his brother, before he even knew you existed. As Jason chose him. You are brothers in the flesh, by birth; they are brothers in Spirit, by choice. It may not be to your liking, but it is a fact. David … if you ever want to have such a true bond with Tommy, you'll have to learn to accept that."
"I know," David said miserably. He could see his dreams about sharing everything with Tommy, as brothers should in his mind, dissolve right before his eyes. He hadn't even had developed a close relationship with Tommy yet, and already it was being taken away from him. That hurt. Sam sensed his turmoil, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he got up from his seat. His old bones weren't meant to sit in uncomfortable hospital chairs for hours.
"Just think about this, son: A bond between two brothers need not be exclusive. A third one may be integrated in due time. And it is never a one-way street. For anyone."
With that, Sam reached for his walking stick and went off, leaving a rather bemused David behind.
~*~
The Blue Turbo Ranger's appearance in a stream of azure light caused quite a stir among the nurses, especially when he asked to talk to 'the injured young man's' doctor. It had been decided on Billy's suggestion that the Rangers officially shouldn't know Jason's identity, but had chosen to monitor the situation out of simple human interest, since they'd already been involved in his rescue.
"Yes, Blue Ranger," the physician spoke up as soon as he'd answered his urgent page. "I'm Dr. Jenkins. What can I do for you?"
Justin, unrecognisable in his morphed form, cleared his throat. *I hope I'll get this right!*
"We have followed developments here with your patient," he explained, continuing quickly to forestall any questions about the where, why and how. "And we've learned that there are complications?"
"Yes," Jenkins replied, casting a worried glance at the IC room door behind which Jason lay, hooked up to all sorts of machinery to keep him stable. He knew he ought not discuss things with a stranger, doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, but this was the Blue Ranger, and since the Red Ranger had brought Jason in … *What the heck. I'm at my wits' end, anyway.* "We can keep him stabilized, but that's it. The poison from the snake bite isn't spreading any further, due to the antitoxin, but we have absolutely no way of getting the elements from that out of Jason Scott's blood which are causing the allergic reactions. It's as if there's something in his body that's refusing to let anything be drawn from him. To be totally honest, I've never seen anything like it."
Jason's friends, who had all drifted back unobtrusively by now, exchanged glances. Kat had at once looked for Tommy and Kim, but to her surprise the short brunette was sitting by herself, with the tall Red Ranger nowhere in sight. As Kim stood and rejoined the group, she gave her successor a small headshake and slight, apologetic shrug which the blonde Australian found herself unable to return with anything other than a little grimace which, with a lot of goodwill, could pass as a smile. She desperately wanted to know what had passed between the former couple, but this was hardly the time to give in to a fit of jealousy; even in her current state of mind Kat could see that much. Instead, she turned her back on Kimberly and focussed on Billy who was explaining to them sotto voce that it was most likely Jason's body reacting to the traumatic effect the withdrawal of the Gold Power had had. Almost as if it was a kind of immune reaction, the body tried to hold everything inside to prevent a further loss of vitality. Only perversely, this basically positive thing might kill their friend after all.
"Well … we, the Rangers that is, may have found a way to treat the condition," Justin said as confidently as he could.
"You do? What? How? There's nothing in all the medical literature that we've found, nothing on earth …" The doctor's eyes widened as he realized who exactly he was talking to. A Power Ranger. One of the group of young superheroes saving them all on a near-daily basis from crazy monsters and whatnot. Who reportedly had access to weapons and other things that were clearly not of this earth, if the media could be believed. "Now wait a goddamned minute …"
"I don't think your patient can, Doctor," Justin interrupted the man as politely as possible under the circumstances. He couldn't afford to get into an in-depth discussion on the origins of their arsenal. *Time to get on with things!* "You remember the Alien Rangers?"
Jenkins sputtered. "I … well, blast it, man … sure, I mean … of course I do! Why?" He'd have given his right arm, and maybe a leg, to have been able to examine one of the aliens during their brief stay in Angel Grove, but of course he couldn't say that, could he?
"During their time here, they not only helped the then-current team of Rangers, they also gathered quite a lot of data about humans. We contacted them from our headquarters and asked whether they might have anything in their pharmacopeia of medicines to help the young man we rescued in the desert. Turns out they did." Behind his visor, Justin grinned to himself. For once he could indulge his love for big words without getting into trouble for it. While he'd never used what Tommy and Adam had labelled 'technobabble', he still had to be careful, especially being a 12-year-old in high school. The too-smart ones who showed off tended to get clobbered by less intellectually-gifted students. But he was pretty sure the doctor would understand. He reached for his belt, to which he'd clipped the carry-case Billy had handed him. Unfastening the container, he handed it to Dr. Jenkins.
"This is a serum that will purge all non-indigenous substances from your patient's system," he explained. "I do not know how it works, precisely, but our Aquitian associates assure us it should work on humans."
"What do you mean, it should work?" Jenkins asked suspiciously, his trained mind picking up exactly on the thing Justin and Billy had hoped would be overlooked in the relief of having a treatment at all. "Don't they know?"
"Well … it hasn't exactly been tested on an earth human yet," Justin was forced to admit. "The serum in its basic form works perfectly on most known humanoid races, and the Alien Rangers' research was quite thorough, they made all the appropriate modifications, but …"
"But they don't know for sure." Jenkins glared at the Blue Ranger, torn between hope and chagrin.
"No."
"What if it doesn't work? What will be the effects, anyway?"
"The serum should produce a very high, but very short fever-like condition. Theoretically, the elevated body temperature should eliminate all foreign substances from the patient's bloodstream."
"Theoretically. And in practice, a very high fever which we can't treat in order for it to do what it's supposed to do may cause serious damage. At best, he'll just have a couple of seizures. At worst, he'll develop Serum Sickness, which can be fatal since it can lead to kidney failure or cause bleeding in the brain."
The assembled friends gasped and traded alarmed looks. Would this be a case where the cure was more damaging than the illness?
The physician sighed, opening the carry-case and taking out a vial. The pale green liquid sloshed slightly as he shook the clear container. So much hope in so small a thing … and so much danger, too. He looked back at Justin, shaking the vial in his visored face.
"What you're telling me is that this is an experimental drug of extraterrestrial origin which has never been tested on a human. What if the Alien Rangers made a mistake? Miscalculated something? Do you really believe it's worth the risk? The young man barely holding his own in that room over there may well die from the treatment if they have."
Justin swallowed, very glad the man couldn't see the panic he was feeling. *I don't know! I can't deal with this!* But he had to. His friends depended on him. He made his voice as firm as he could.
"I believe that our Aquitian friends would never do anything to harm an innocent being," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.
Jenkins stared hard at the opaque visor, wishing he could read something, anything in the Ranger's eyes. But of course that was impossible, hidden inside the helmet as they were. If only he could ask the guy to take it off … but no. The Rangers had never revealed their identities to anyone; it was vain to hope they'd do it now. He looked at the serum once more. It was what he'd been looking for ever since Jason had been admitted and all known treatments had proved ineffective. If he only dared using it …!
"I really don't know …"
"Doctor, do you have an alternative?" the Blue Ranger asked reasonably. "What will happen to your patient if you don't find another remedy soon?"
The older man shook himself, swallowed hard, then made himself say what he knew he must.
"If we don't do something soon, the stabilizing measures we are using right now will slowly lose their effectiveness. And once they do, either the anaphylactic shock from the antitoxin will kill Jason, or the snake poison will start working again. Resulting in damaged kidneys and heart failure."
"Which will be ultimately fatal, too, right?"
"Yes," Jenkins admitted grudgingly.
"Then … do you really have a choice?"
The doctor inhaled deeply. Squaring his shoulders, he looked at the Blue Ranger.
"No. I don't. But I won't do anything without getting permission from the family. And I want you to explain to them who's going to be responsible if this cure fails and kills their son that much faster."
Justin barely prevented a horrified shudder. This wasn't going the way he thought it would at all! Why the heck had Billy and Adam given him the task to do this? He couldn't!
But he had to. Closing his eyes briefly, Justin called on every ounce of determination he possessed.
"Very well."
"I'll get Mrs. Scott," Adam said quietly, slipping away to go to the chapel where he knew the blonde woman was praying for her son's recovery. Trini was still with her; she would know how to support her. He hoped.
"I'll call Jason's dad," Zack murmured, wandering off towards the payphone down the hall. He really didn't want to make that call, but somebody had to.
The others just looked at each other in stunned silence. They'd had such high hopes when Billy had come, bringing what they'd thought would be a miracle. Now it seemed that that miracle might carry a price which was far too high.
The friends instinctively drew together in a tight circle. Kat and Tanya were clinging to each other, eyes filled with tears, and Kimberly blindly reached out, to find her hand captured unconsciously by Tommy's. The two didn't glance once at each other, but it was obvious that they drew comfort from the contact. Rocky and Zack both looked as if they needed someone to hug, too, and Billy was quietly desperate, wishing there was something more he could do. Unfortunately, this was a situation where he couldn't construct a device of sorts in a flash; it left him wondering what good all his intellect was if he couldn't help his oldest friend.
David, however, was watching only his brother. He saw the pallor wash over Tommy's face, observed the chocolate-brown eyes grow empty and dead. In this instant, he began to understand what it would mean for Tommy if Jason died. He'd lose not only his best friend, his chosen brother, but a part of his soul … and David wasn't sure if he, or anyone else, would ever be able to heal such a wound.
~*~
"I can't make such a decision!" Joe Scott protested vehemently when Dr. Jenkins and Justin explained the situation to him and his wife half an hour later. "You're asking me to agree to let our only son to be used as … as a lab rat? No way in hell!"
"Joe," Helen shook his arm, tears running unhindered down her chalk-white cheeks. "I don't want Jason to be experimented on, either, but … I also don't want him to die," she sobbed quietly, despair radiating off her.
"You heard what the doctor said, Nell," Joe rasped, vacillating between anger and hopelessness. He was a man very much given to physical action, like Jason himself. To know his hands were tied was driving him crazy at a time when he needed all his wits to decide what was best for his son. "This alien wonder drug may kill Jason even faster!"
"But it may also save him!" A mother's hope, reaching for the tiniest chance to protect her child, grown up or not.
"We don't know that!"
Helen drew calm around herself with a visible effort. She knew she needed to be strong now. "No, we don't," she admitted in a mere whisper, dabbing at her face with a damp tissue. "But the Rangers have always saved people. They have never done harm to anyone. I trust them not to start now." Her blue eyes swerved briefly to Justin. "So did – does – Jason," she added, almost inaudibly. Joe Scott looked helplessly at his slender wife. He wanted to trust, wanted to save his son, to spare Helen the inevitable grief if he did nothing, but …
"I don't know what to do," he confessed roughly at last. It came hard to him, but it was the plain truth. "I only know I want Jason to live."
"I don't like taking such chances with my patients' lives, either," Dr. Jenkins said quietly. "But right now, I have nothing else at all to offer you. Just this." He showed them the vial of serum. The Scotts stared at it, indecision written all over them. Finally, Joe looked up again.
"If there was only someone we could ask to help us make up our minds," he groaned. "Can't you test the stuff first, or something?"
Jenkins shrugged helplessly. "I wish. But frankly I have no idea what I'd even be looking for. I've never had an alien concoction in my hands before. Besides …" he sighed deeply, "I'm afraid we're running out of time. The longer Jason is left untreated, the lesser the chance that any kind of treatment will help. He's deteriorating – not rapidly, but steadily."
Mr. Scott blanched. "H-how long?" he breathed.
"Until it's too late? Morning," the medic stated matter-of-factly, not without sympathy for his patient's family. But it had to be said, no matter how much he hated this part of his job.
Helen pressed her hands against her mouth, uttering a choked little cry as the meaning sank in. They were going to lose Jason in a few hours if nothing was done?!? That couldn't be! It just couldn't! Her husband drew her into his arms, but right now even such a loving embrace was cold comfort.
"Honey … I'm so sorry … God, I wish …" Joe whispered into her blonde hair, at a loss for words. But she understood what he was trying to express.
"Me, too," she replied in a tear-roughened voice, hugging him back, trying to draw strength from their closeness. "But wishing won't help Jason …"
Helen sighed unhappily, then disentangled herself, to glance around her. Searching her surroundings for she knew not what, or whom. Help, support, guidance … all of it. But who could give them what they needed?
A little distance away, she saw Jason's friends, watching them, waiting for a decision, hope and anguish clearly visible on each young face. Zack, Trini, Billy, Kimberly … she'd known and liked them for years and was grateful for their silent, unstinting support. The friends Jason had made since coming home from Geneva were there, too – not quite as familiar yet, but also already well-liked. Adam, Rocky, Tanya, Katherine … and a little apart stood David Trueheart, Tommy's brother, whom she'd only met a scant 48 hours or so before. Helen stiffened suddenly. There was one face missing in the group – the one she could have sworn would be there.
"Where's Tommy?" she asked. "He's as close to Jason as if they were brothers; I want to hear what he thinks!"
Everybody looked up, startled. Somehow or other, at one point Tommy had managed to sneak away from the group without anyone noticing.
Well, that wasn't quite true.
"He went back in to be with Jason," Kimberly spoke up, her voice soft and her doe eyes full of compassion.
"He's back in Jason's room," David murmured almost simultaneously, blushing as his quiet comment raised a few questioning eyebrows among the group of friends. He couldn't blame them; after all, what he'd told them earlier about his feelings was a marked contrast to the neutral tone he now used. But having seen his brother's inner turmoil as he steeled himself to enter the sick room, he could no longer feel any resentment. He understood now why Tommy had stayed, why he needed to be at his best friend's side. Jason's fate still hung in the balance; none of them could know for certain if he would survive the night – Aquitian serum or not. And if he should lose his life, Tommy would be totally devastated. David just couldn't begrugde either any time they might have left together. He quirked his mouth in an almost-smile, trying to be reassuring.
"I'll go get him."
On near-silent feet, he approached the off-white door. Drawing a fortifying breath, he reached for the handle and carefully opened it, easing inside.
It took a few moments until David's eyes adjusted from the bright lights in the ward corridor to the muted glow permeating the room, most of it coming from a shielded lamp above and behind Jason's bed. The first thing he could make out was Jason's still form, lying motionless against the pillows and hooked up to all sorts of machinery. David had no idea what the various blinking and beeping displays monitored, but he assumed it was stuff like heartbeat, blood pressure and so on. It didn't matter. What mattered was that the dark eyes were closed, that the broad chest was moving in slow, shallow breaths … and that Tommy was sitting hunched over on a stool next to the bed, holding one of Jason's hands in both of his.
David waited a few moments, but Tommy didn't seem to notice his presence at all, his attention solely focussed on Jason. Swallowing, David went forward and when even that went unacknowledged, gently touched his brother's shoulder. Tommy didn't so much as flinch. He continued to stare at the pale face. At last, David quietly murmured his name.
"Tommy."
The Red Ranger shuddered once, briefly. Without turning around, he spoke – hushed, as if he were afraid to disturb his friend.
"He doesn't even know I'm here …"
It sounded so forlorn, David had to close his eyes. Opening them again, he squeezed Tommy's shoulder once.
"Maybe he does."
Tommy shook his head once, his thumbs absently rubbing circles on the large hand. As if he hadn't heard, he continued.
"If something doesn't happen soon, we – I – will lose him. I dunno how I know, but I do."
"That's why I'm here, Tommy," David replied gently. "Your friend Billy has brought a cure, via the Blue Ranger. Jason's parents want to talk to you about it."
Desperate brown eyes finally looked up, to meet David's compassionate gaze. "I can't stand the thought of losing him, Dave. I just can't. Jase is as important to me as my folks, or you. If he should die, it'd be my fault."
That was something David hadn't expected to hear in a thousand years. Here he had barely been able to let the others convince him Jason's injury wasn't entirely his responsibility, and now Tommy was feeling guilty? The irony made him snort softly.
"How do you figure that?"
Tommy gulped and lowered his head. "If I hadn't insisted on this hike … Jase wouldn't have been anywhere near a snake."
*Oh boy.*
"Right. And if our last name was Gates, we'd be millionaires several times over. Don't do this to yourself, brother. Your friends just spent a lot of effort telling me it wasn't really my fault; I still don't fully buy that, but I do know you're not responsible for anything." The calm conviction in David's voice seemed to reach Tommy, because a hint of color crept back into his cheeks.
"You think so?" he murmured.
"I know so," David answered. "Now come on, the Scotts want you."
"For what?" Tommy asked, reluctantly letting go of Jason's hand and standing up. He ignored his aching legs; the stool he'd sat on really wasn't made for his tall, lanky frame.
"I'll let them tell you." David tried to steer Tommy towards the door, but he stepped once more to Jason's bed. Reaching out, he brushed a strand of dark hair away from his forehead, the gesture curiously tender between two young men barely out of adolescence, but somehow not inappropriate at all; even David could see that. And felt only a deep compassion for both.
"Don't die on me, Bro," Tommy whispered. "I need you."
The, he inhaled a deep, shuddering breath and finally allowed David to guide him out into the corridor.
~*~
"So what do you think, Tommy?" Helen asked him tearfully, after they had laid out the situation for him. "Do you think we should do it – treat Jason with an untested, alien drug?"
He took his time to digest the information. A long, unobtrusive glance at Billy wasn't much help; the former Blue Ranger spread his hands in a helpless 'I-don't-know-for-certain-either' gesture, but the greenish eyes were steady and open.
*Billy has never let us down – both the Rangers and his friends. I can trust him implicitly not to harm us. I do. And Delphine wouldn't do anything to harm another living being, either – it'd go against everything she stands for.*
Tommy was as certain of that as of himself.
*But the drug Billy's brought IS untested on a human. He says himself that there is a risk that it may backfire on us.*
It seemed an unsolvable dilemma. However, one question demanded to be asked.
*What would JASON want to do? Want US to do?*
The answer was so obvious, Tommy couldn't help but wonder why it had taken him so long to think of it. He looked at Jason's parents.
"I think … I think Jase would want us to use it," he said slowly. "He believed in trusting his friends implicitly, and the Rangers have never been anything but friends, to all humans. And Jase has always been willing to take a chance. This serum the Blue Ranger has brought … it is a chance. Probably the only one he has."
Helen and Joe exchanged a long look.
"Tommy's right, Joe," Helen murmured at last. "It's what Jason would want us to do."
"Maybe. But what if this substance kills him even faster than the snake venom, or the antidote?"
"That's something we'll have to deal with if and when it happens," his wife said, her voice growing stronger. "We'll never forgive ourselves anyway, no matter why."
"Damned if we do, and damned if we don't?"
"Unfortunately." Helen smiled tremulously. "Love, God knows I don't want to lose our son, but I can't stand by and do nothing, either. And I think neither can you."
Defeated, Joe Scott's broad shoulders slumped in his red-checkered shirt, so reminiscent of what Jason used to wear during his time as the Red Ranger.
"No. No, I can't." Gulping down his anxiety with a major effort of will, he reached for his wife's hand, then turned towards the doctor.
"Alright. Do it."
"Are you quite sure?" Jenkins had to ask.
"Yes," Helen answered, her voice shaky but resolute. "Give him the serum."
"Very well." Decision made, Jenkins glanced briefly at Justin, who was standing a ways off, waiting for developments. The audio equipment in his helmet allowed him to hear the physician's muttered comment quite clearly. "I just hope you know what you're doing, Rangers."
Justin sighed. It was time for him to go; he'd stayed morphed longer than ever before, and it was beginning to make him feel slightly uncomfortable. Besides, his curfew at the Children's Home would start in 15 minutes. There'd be hell to pay with the matron if he was late without a good reason.
"We will continue to monitor the situation," he promised. "Good luck for your son." Before anyone could say another word, he hit the teleport button on his communicator and vanished in a cobalt streak of light.
"That's creepy," Dr. Jenkins muttered, then shook himself. "Okay, here goes nothing."
Summoning a nurse and an intern, he purposely strode into Jason's room. Filling a syringe with the pale green liquid was routine work and quickly accomplished. Checking Jason's vitals one last time, he reassured himself that the situation hadn't changed – a slight, but steady decline towards near-certain death. He'd done everything humanly possible, he was sure; now it was time for some inhuman treatment. Wishing he hadn't thought of it in quite these terms, the doctor's hands were steady as he sought a vein and carefully injected the unknown drug into Jason's bloodstream.
"Do you think it'll work, Doctor?" the nurse asked in a hushed voice.
"I sure hope so."
"What if it doesn't?"
"I honestly have no idea, Karen."
"What do we do now?" The young intern asked, his eyes wandering between the readouts and monitors and his superior's face.
Jenkins breathed deeply.
"Now … we wait."
~*~
So, they waited. The Scotts withdrew to a corner of the waiting area, holding onto each other, mostly silent because they'd already been through all the what-ifs. At times, Helen would lean back in her chair, close her eyes and sit perfectly still for a few minutes – then turn towards Joe once more with a wobbly smile and renewed if precarious calm. Trini saw her lips move slightly on one such occasion and guessed correctly that the older woman was praying for Jason's recovery.
The others sat in a close circle, one or the other occasionally making a foray for drinks or some food to nibble on, even though none of them had much of an appetite for either. They were quiet, too, but after a while Zack started talking about Jason, calling up a childhood memory that produced a few tiny smiles. Then Kimberly chirped in with another story about their friend … Rocky followed, Billy was next … it was as if each of them tried to keep him alive simply through remembering how he'd fit into their lives.
For David, it was a revelation. He obviously had nothing to contribute to the conversation, but just by listening he gained a far more complex picture of Jason than Tommy's glowing stories had managed to paint. He'd expected the comments of how he would not stand for prejudice of any kind, how injustice made him mad or that he was always ready to stand up for the underdog. David had gotten that much from his brother.
What he hadn't expected was to hear about Jason's flaws – and there were a lot more than he'd counted on. Billy told of Jason's curiously blank spot in 8th grade Maths; Kim chuckled when she remembered that Jason, while able to appreciate beauty in nature and art, was totally hopeless at producing anything himself, be it music, painting or literature. Trini grumbled a little about his overprotectiveness and how long it had taken her to convince him she was capable of fighting her own battles, thank you very much. Zack mentioned Jason's temper – something David had first-hand experience of – and how he had to struggle not to hold grudges. Kat smirked, mentioning Jason's ineptness as a dancer, and Adam groused about his penchant for atrocious puns. Rocky, blessed (or cursed, depending on his mood of the moment) with a large number of siblings, wondered how Jason was sometimes impatient with smaller children.
All these things were hardly major character defects, but to David, who'd felt so inadequate in the face of Jason's many accomplishments, they showed that Jason was not a paragon of virtue, not the Knight in Shining Armor he'd come to expect, but simply human. Great good mixed together with a few not-so-good things. And the fact that his friends spoke about them with tolerance and affection told its own story. Jason was someone worth knowing … someone who deserved to live.
Casting a glance at Tommy, who sat between Billy and Rocky and had just listened as well, only adding a quiet word here or there, David found it in himself to offer his own prayers to the Great Spirit, begging for hope.
~*~
As predicted, Jason soon began to develop a fever. As night fell over Angel Grove, his temperature, elevated to begin with, rose to 103, then 104 degrees. His whole body was flushed and hot to the touch, and the discomfort even penetrated his coma-like state. He began to moan, and squirm restlessly in his bed.
The nurse on duty in his room watched this with a worried frown; under normal circumstances, she would have long ago given the patient some Tylenol, or at least started to put ice packs around the pulse points of his body, to cool him down externally. But her orders said clearly to let the fever run its course, so she sat by, doing precisely … nothing.
Suddenly, Jason reared halfway up, his eyes snapped open, and a gurgling sound escaped his throat. Then, he stiffened and began to thrash. Quick as lightning, the nurse hit the call button.
"Dr. Jenkins! Room 227, the patient is having a seizure!"
~*~
Within seconds, the room was a bustle of frantic activity, nurses dashing in and out, the doctor calling out orders that were unintelligible to the fear-galvanized group in the waiting area. All talk had come to a stop, and a lot of breaths were being held.
Tommy had jumped up from his seat and took a couple of long strides towards Jason's room, when he caught himself. There was nothing he could do – moreover, he rightly feared he'd only be in the way of the medical personnel doing their jobs. He clenched his fists and swayed lightly, burning eyes fixed unwaveringly on the door, as if he could will knowledge of what was happening to come to him.
After what seemed an eternity to those waiting outside but in reality had taken maybe fifteen minutes at most, the ward became quiet again. Nurses removed carts, a couple of harried-looking interns wandered off to the ER again, and lastly Dr. Jenkins emerged. He scrubbed a hand over his face, then addressed Joe and Helen, fatigue and post-adrenaline rush making him curt.
"Jason had a fever seizure; I feared this might happen. He's stable again for now, but I'm afraid it won't have been the last."
"Will it damage him?" Joe asked hoarsely.
"Too early to tell," the doctor sighed. He was weary, but the night wasn't even half over yet. He'd be at his post until morning. "We'll have to wait and see, sorry."
Helen was too tired to fight her tears. They coursed down her pale cheeks unhindered as she touched Jenkins's sleeve.
"Doctor … can't I sit with Jason? I promise, I'll stay out of everyone's way … I just need to be close to my son," she sniffled.
"I don't know, Ma'am," he hesitated. Family more often than not were a hindrance during emergencies. The light-blue eyes begged for understanding.
"Please, doctor …"
The physician sighed. Who was the idiot anyway who had called women the weaker sex? Obviously the guy never had to deal with a mother fighting for her child.
"Very well," he reluctantly gave permission. "But only family!"
"Of course. Thank you, doctor!" Helen was already pushing open Jason's door, Joe but a step behind her. Just before she let it fall closed behind her, though, she held out a hand to Tommy.
"Come, dear. You're Jason's family, too; you belong with us."
It was an invitation Tommy was unable to resist. He nodded once, took Helen's hand and let himself be drawn inside.
In the waiting area, the friends exchanged glances which ranged from frightened to resigned, with every emotion conceivable in between as well. They all wanted to be with Jason, too, but nobody even thought of protesting Tommy's right to a place with the Scotts. He had to be with his Bro.
Silently, they returned to their vigil.
To Be Continued ...