Hey! I'm already up to chapter 20!
This one is a bit short . . . I'll send in the next chap. Soon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 20:
It had been three days since the X-Men had brought Nathan back from the docks, and he still wasn't getting better. In fact, it seemed that he was getting worst every day, to everyone's grief. Every two to three hours, the younger X-Men took turns in guarding him.
Now, it was Max's turn to lookout on Nathan.
As always, the boy was attached to the metal table, IV tubes and machines strapped to his arms but no oxygen mask on his face, because he didn't need artificial breathing. It was the only good thing about his condition. Jean had arrived to take out the bullet in his chest, but it had caused a lot of damage, without counting all the injuries he had received during his fight. There were more than many.
Floating two feet above a turning metal chair next to Nathan's bed, Max just stared at the monitor, His eyes focussing on the green line moving up and down on the little screen. According to Jean, it was normal for it to be so small, because of Nathan's weak heart and bad condition. Suddenly, the line went flat. Max's eyes widened as he jumped to the floor to his friend's side. Quickly, he pressed on hard on his chest once, than twice. The line jumped, went straight for a while, then continued zigzagging up and down, still very lowly.
Max sighed as he walked to the counter. Like Jean had showed him, he took a little glass vial and a syringe and pricked through the cover. He filed it up with the translucent liquid contained in the vial, then walked back to Nathan. He held his friend's arm as the needle pricked through his skin, injecting the liquid. The line on the monitor started going slightly higher, without exactly going faster. Max sighed as he replaced the little vial on the counter shelf. It contained adrenalin, some sort of drug doctors used to reanimate people. It had a good affect on Nathan's heart, and so he was given at least two shots a day. Jean knew that they couldn't keep on doing that, because the drug wasn't supposed to be used on regular basis. It might kill him at the end, but they didn't exactly have a choice.
Max floated back to his seat and crossed his legs under himself as he continued staring at the machines indicating Nathan's physical condition. A few minutes later, Maxim noticed the monitor's line going rather high, making a little piercing sound, as if giving a warning. Max frowned as he looked at Nate's still form and then at the monitor, that was now normal again. Fifteen minutes later, the strange warning noise was heard again as the green line went up, then continued his normal route.
This time, Max decided to do something and so he floated up to the wall where a phone was hung up. He picked it up and pressed on a blue button.
"Yes, Jean?" Max asked in the receiver. "There's something going on with the monitor . . . it keeps doing those high jumps every few minutes . . . no, nothing's changing with Nate . . . okay, see you in two minutes . . . yeah, okay."
As ordered, Max walked back to his place, waiting for Jean to come investigate. His eyes ran around the room, and stopped on Nathan. Nothing had changed. He looked at his still face, and went down to his hands, wrists tied to the table. Something caught his eyes as he looked at his friend's feet, ankles tied to the table like his wrists.
Max walked forward, noticing something around the metal latches. He moved Nathan's feet to see what was going on with the latch and his eyes widened as he saw that his friend's ankles were plastered in blood. The latches had probably been too tight, and Jean was the only one that had the keys to open them. Max unconsciously moved Nate's foot, trying to see how it was placed for his skin to have been all battered by it.
Jean entered the lab and walked to Max to see what was going on. She saw him looking at the latches as he turned to face her.
"Ah, Jean," he said. "The monitor sort of did this jump thing."
"What happened before that?" the doctor asked, checking the machines.
"Well, the monitor went flat, I did the thing you showed me to do, and his heart started beating again, then I prepared the adrenalin and I gave him a shot."
"Did the jump happen long after?" Jean asked, putting her fingers on Nathan's neck to check his pulse.
"The first one was a few minutes after the dose, then the second one was fifteen minutes after that," Max said vaguely. "Hey, look at his feet."
Jean turned one of Nate's feet and looked at the latches. She frowned.
"What the hell happened here?" she asked. "Since when did this happen?"
"The latches are too tight probably," Max said. "Can't you just untie them a little?"
Jean went livid, as she looked closer at the latches.
"Max, go get the professor and possibly . . . well, also the others," she said.
"What is it?" Max asked, seeing the look on Jean's face as she placed her glasses on her nose and looked at the latches again.
"This isn't right," she said finally. "He can't have got these wounds without moving."
"You mean he struggled?" Max asked. "But how could he have?"
Jean paused, and Maxim knew she was calling the others with her power. A few moments later, they arrived. Once the professor was there, Jean asked him to take a look at what was going on in Nathan's mind.
"I can't go there Jean," he said. "You know what happened the last time, and now that it's not the safest thing to do right now. Plus he's in a coma, so it's even more dangerous."
"Professor, I'm asking you to do this because I believe Nathan is not in a coma," Jean said. "Look at these marks," she continued, pointing at the latches around his ankles. "He tried to get out of the restrains."
Looks of deep interest crossed the room as everyone tried to get a better look of the boy's ankles and at the latches which were clearly going to give up any time now. The metal had been bent in many different ways, and with just one other push or pull, they were surely going to give up.
"So . . . do you mean to say that he's alright?" Bobby asked. "He'll . . . well, he's going to stay alive?"
All the X-Men stared at Jean, eager to hear her answer.
"I don't know what's going on," she said after a while. "He's not in a coma, but he's not waking up. Could he be struggling in his sleep?"
"No, I don't think so, Jean," the professor said, directing his wheelchair towards Nathan. "Look at the monitor."
Jean walked to the machine and looked at the green line. It was zigzagging like it always did, but she noticed that something had changed in the way it went up and down.
"But this makes no sense," she said after reflection. "This would mean that he's awake."
There was a sudden silence in the room, punctured by the monitor's beeps.
"In fact, I think that he's been listening to our whole conversation," the professor said quietly. "Aren't you Nathan?"
The X-Men looked at the boy's still body, visibly all on their guards. Scott made a step forward, followed by Logan and Ororo. They stopped about two feet away from the table.
"Nathan?" the professor asked again.
There was a moment of silence as they all looked at the table.
It was to say, all the X-Men jumped as they saw Nathan open his eyes violently.
A few even backed up as he tugged on the latches, one of them bursting open. With a very quick movement, he pulled backwards, moving the whole table with him and it collided with the wall, making the three other latches burst. Now free, Nathan jumped to his feet on the table, looked at the others, and it was then that they realized that there was still something very very wrong.
His eyes were amethyst, filled with a noticeably evident malice. He smiled evilly at the X-Men, who just stared at him, shocked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi hi! I'm happy with myself right now.
I could have added the next chapter WITH this one, but I felt like making you wait a little. Suspense is good . . . HA!
P.S.: Do you want:
Nathan to stay evil
Nathan to stay normal but to be evil (eh?)
Nathan to be normal again and to control his mutation . . . but you haven't figured out perfectly what it was . . . haven't you? Yes! I like keeping the anticipation! Love it!
Well, I'm not going to tell you what d is, because it's reserved to let me know what you want to happen, other than the first three choices.
Now, Review!
P.P.S.: I didn't enter what I think I want is going to happen in 'the choice thing' (look at the first P.S.). I just want to hear what you would like to happen.
This one is a bit short . . . I'll send in the next chap. Soon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 20:
It had been three days since the X-Men had brought Nathan back from the docks, and he still wasn't getting better. In fact, it seemed that he was getting worst every day, to everyone's grief. Every two to three hours, the younger X-Men took turns in guarding him.
Now, it was Max's turn to lookout on Nathan.
As always, the boy was attached to the metal table, IV tubes and machines strapped to his arms but no oxygen mask on his face, because he didn't need artificial breathing. It was the only good thing about his condition. Jean had arrived to take out the bullet in his chest, but it had caused a lot of damage, without counting all the injuries he had received during his fight. There were more than many.
Floating two feet above a turning metal chair next to Nathan's bed, Max just stared at the monitor, His eyes focussing on the green line moving up and down on the little screen. According to Jean, it was normal for it to be so small, because of Nathan's weak heart and bad condition. Suddenly, the line went flat. Max's eyes widened as he jumped to the floor to his friend's side. Quickly, he pressed on hard on his chest once, than twice. The line jumped, went straight for a while, then continued zigzagging up and down, still very lowly.
Max sighed as he walked to the counter. Like Jean had showed him, he took a little glass vial and a syringe and pricked through the cover. He filed it up with the translucent liquid contained in the vial, then walked back to Nathan. He held his friend's arm as the needle pricked through his skin, injecting the liquid. The line on the monitor started going slightly higher, without exactly going faster. Max sighed as he replaced the little vial on the counter shelf. It contained adrenalin, some sort of drug doctors used to reanimate people. It had a good affect on Nathan's heart, and so he was given at least two shots a day. Jean knew that they couldn't keep on doing that, because the drug wasn't supposed to be used on regular basis. It might kill him at the end, but they didn't exactly have a choice.
Max floated back to his seat and crossed his legs under himself as he continued staring at the machines indicating Nathan's physical condition. A few minutes later, Maxim noticed the monitor's line going rather high, making a little piercing sound, as if giving a warning. Max frowned as he looked at Nate's still form and then at the monitor, that was now normal again. Fifteen minutes later, the strange warning noise was heard again as the green line went up, then continued his normal route.
This time, Max decided to do something and so he floated up to the wall where a phone was hung up. He picked it up and pressed on a blue button.
"Yes, Jean?" Max asked in the receiver. "There's something going on with the monitor . . . it keeps doing those high jumps every few minutes . . . no, nothing's changing with Nate . . . okay, see you in two minutes . . . yeah, okay."
As ordered, Max walked back to his place, waiting for Jean to come investigate. His eyes ran around the room, and stopped on Nathan. Nothing had changed. He looked at his still face, and went down to his hands, wrists tied to the table. Something caught his eyes as he looked at his friend's feet, ankles tied to the table like his wrists.
Max walked forward, noticing something around the metal latches. He moved Nathan's feet to see what was going on with the latch and his eyes widened as he saw that his friend's ankles were plastered in blood. The latches had probably been too tight, and Jean was the only one that had the keys to open them. Max unconsciously moved Nate's foot, trying to see how it was placed for his skin to have been all battered by it.
Jean entered the lab and walked to Max to see what was going on. She saw him looking at the latches as he turned to face her.
"Ah, Jean," he said. "The monitor sort of did this jump thing."
"What happened before that?" the doctor asked, checking the machines.
"Well, the monitor went flat, I did the thing you showed me to do, and his heart started beating again, then I prepared the adrenalin and I gave him a shot."
"Did the jump happen long after?" Jean asked, putting her fingers on Nathan's neck to check his pulse.
"The first one was a few minutes after the dose, then the second one was fifteen minutes after that," Max said vaguely. "Hey, look at his feet."
Jean turned one of Nate's feet and looked at the latches. She frowned.
"What the hell happened here?" she asked. "Since when did this happen?"
"The latches are too tight probably," Max said. "Can't you just untie them a little?"
Jean went livid, as she looked closer at the latches.
"Max, go get the professor and possibly . . . well, also the others," she said.
"What is it?" Max asked, seeing the look on Jean's face as she placed her glasses on her nose and looked at the latches again.
"This isn't right," she said finally. "He can't have got these wounds without moving."
"You mean he struggled?" Max asked. "But how could he have?"
Jean paused, and Maxim knew she was calling the others with her power. A few moments later, they arrived. Once the professor was there, Jean asked him to take a look at what was going on in Nathan's mind.
"I can't go there Jean," he said. "You know what happened the last time, and now that it's not the safest thing to do right now. Plus he's in a coma, so it's even more dangerous."
"Professor, I'm asking you to do this because I believe Nathan is not in a coma," Jean said. "Look at these marks," she continued, pointing at the latches around his ankles. "He tried to get out of the restrains."
Looks of deep interest crossed the room as everyone tried to get a better look of the boy's ankles and at the latches which were clearly going to give up any time now. The metal had been bent in many different ways, and with just one other push or pull, they were surely going to give up.
"So . . . do you mean to say that he's alright?" Bobby asked. "He'll . . . well, he's going to stay alive?"
All the X-Men stared at Jean, eager to hear her answer.
"I don't know what's going on," she said after a while. "He's not in a coma, but he's not waking up. Could he be struggling in his sleep?"
"No, I don't think so, Jean," the professor said, directing his wheelchair towards Nathan. "Look at the monitor."
Jean walked to the machine and looked at the green line. It was zigzagging like it always did, but she noticed that something had changed in the way it went up and down.
"But this makes no sense," she said after reflection. "This would mean that he's awake."
There was a sudden silence in the room, punctured by the monitor's beeps.
"In fact, I think that he's been listening to our whole conversation," the professor said quietly. "Aren't you Nathan?"
The X-Men looked at the boy's still body, visibly all on their guards. Scott made a step forward, followed by Logan and Ororo. They stopped about two feet away from the table.
"Nathan?" the professor asked again.
There was a moment of silence as they all looked at the table.
It was to say, all the X-Men jumped as they saw Nathan open his eyes violently.
A few even backed up as he tugged on the latches, one of them bursting open. With a very quick movement, he pulled backwards, moving the whole table with him and it collided with the wall, making the three other latches burst. Now free, Nathan jumped to his feet on the table, looked at the others, and it was then that they realized that there was still something very very wrong.
His eyes were amethyst, filled with a noticeably evident malice. He smiled evilly at the X-Men, who just stared at him, shocked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi hi! I'm happy with myself right now.
I could have added the next chapter WITH this one, but I felt like making you wait a little. Suspense is good . . . HA!
P.S.: Do you want:
Nathan to stay evil
Nathan to stay normal but to be evil (eh?)
Nathan to be normal again and to control his mutation . . . but you haven't figured out perfectly what it was . . . haven't you? Yes! I like keeping the anticipation! Love it!
Well, I'm not going to tell you what d is, because it's reserved to let me know what you want to happen, other than the first three choices.
Now, Review!
P.P.S.: I didn't enter what I think I want is going to happen in 'the choice thing' (look at the first P.S.). I just want to hear what you would like to happen.