"Hey, what's going on?" Adam asked breathlessly as he marched into the lab,
Emma close behind him. Looking at the droplets of water dripping from the
roots of his hair, Brennan now knew why Emma didn't just call him through
the com-link; she knew he was in the shower and had apparently finished up
as fast as he could from the looks of it. The older man's face turned
serious in immediate concern the moment he saw his unconscious protégé
stretched out on the bio-bed.
"Adam." Shalimar's eye lit up when she saw him come in. She was in front of the monitor, checking Jesse's vitals. And she was not liking what she saw. Jesse's heart rate was fluctuating; dangerously slow one second, sky-high the next. His breathing had been shallow when they brought in, so shallow he had not seemed to be breathing at all, but now, his breaths came out harsh and raspy. His brainwaves were also darting up and down crazily; his every sign of life had gone haywire.
Adam quickly went to Jesse, and on closer inspection, he frowned at the tinge of blue already beginning to adorn Jesse's extremities, a sign of oxygen-deprivation. Without being asked, Brennan covered Jesse's face with an oxygen mask.
Emma sent Adam a scared look. "Adam." When she first saw his unconscious body lying at the foot of the stairs, she had tried reading Jesse, and what she encountered filled then her with dread. At first all she got was a blank, which, well, still okay, compared to what she was sensing now.
Pain, pain and nothing but pain. She couldn't tell if Jesse was even aware of what was happening around him; in the eye of her mind, she could only see the white burst of agony.
"Oh God. . ." Shalimar swiveled around.
"What, Emma?" She snapped. "Tell me!"
Emma shook her head in helpless despair. "I don't know. . .at first all I got was a blank- but now. . ."
"Now what?" Shalimar persisted.
Emma's haunted eyes searched hers. "He's in pain. A lot of pain."
Adam gazed at her for a second. "Yes, and that's what we're trying to do now. To find out what's wrong with him and make him better." He pulled a syringe out of the drawer and drew a few milliliters of a clear fluid into it. "He fell, you said?"
"Yeah." Brennan nodded. "And he hit his head real hard too." He watched as the clear liquid disappear little by little into Jesse's arm. The drug took full effect in a matter of seconds, and soon, Jesse's heart rate and blood pressure returned to normal, but he was still breathing hard, his thorax expanding and contracting with exertion.
" He must have slipped-or something," Brennan said uncertainly, trying to convince himself that it was nothing more but an accident. But he dug deep into his pocket and his hand grasped the plastic packet in which he had kept the long strand of hair they'd found at the psionic's house.
"You said he was in pain? Where?" Adam's gentle hands probed Jesse's body, relying on his sense of touch to indicate the source of pain if he could. He felt the bump at the back of Jesse's head and grimaced at the size of it.
Emma shook her head and winced. "I can't tell. . . the pain was too overwhelming." She expelled a breath of fear. "Adam, help him."
Jesse's face was so pale his eyelids were almost translucent, and Adam began to wonder if there was something really wrong with the molecular as he pried Jesse's eyes open one by one, lifting each eyelid as gently as he could. Then he straightened up. "Could be a concussion. Pupils a little dilated, and a few burst capillaries."
He placed both his palms against Jesse's temples. "Jesse." Jesse's face remained slack, void of expression, and of any sign of consciousness.
"Jesse, can you hear me?" Adam tried again, saying out loud each word deliberately. They waited in hushed silence, each fervently wishing for Jesse to wake up. The only response Adam received was an unsteady pull of breath tightening his hitched chest.
Adam reached out a hand to pull the overhead scanner closer, placing it right on top of Jesse. An overall scan would tell them what was wrong with him. The others took a step back, giving Adam the much-needed space.
"Ready, Emma?" Emma nodded. She was about to press on the button to start scanning when she heard a sudden, low groan. She froze for a second and quickly twirled around. "Jesse!"
Shalimar forgot all about giving Adam space and instantly leaped forward. "Jesse!" She exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement.
Jesse groaned again, his head lolling weakly to one side, his face contorted as if in intense pain. With their own eyes they saw him shiver once, and crackling, marble-like tendrils spread throughout his whole body, as if by massing himself it would paralyze his pain. Apparently, it did not and expelling a shaky breath, Jesse returned to normal and the red tendrils disappeared.
"Jesse?" Adam called out his name gently. "Jesse, can you hear me?"
"Come on, Jesse, open your eyes," Shalimar pleaded.
They could see that it took Jesse a huge effort to even breathe. Emma licked her lips nervously before summoning up peaceful, soothing images. . .of the ocean, the mountains, vast green fields and quickly she projected the images into Jesse's mind, hoping that they could calm him down and make him not hurt so much. To everyone's relief, Jesse calmed down considerably and she held her breath as Jesse's eyelids flickered open slowly.
She guessed the fall had been bad; Jesse looked disoriented and his pain- filled gaze was a bit unsteady as it settled on Adam, who was looming over him, peering at him expectantly. But at least he was awake.
"Adam," he whispered weakly before closing his eyes tightly, his face scrunched up in agony.
"Jesse, do you remember what happened?" Adam articulated each word clearly.
Shalimar bit her lower lip when Jesse tried his best to shake his head. Her throat constricted painfully as Jesse writhed on the bed, whimpering. "Hurts," he gasped out, his eyes watering.
"What does? Tell me, Jesse. Is it your head?" Adam asked in concern.
Jesse closed his eyes and shook his head again, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly as he swallowed hard. "My stomach," he whispered sickly, shivering despite the warmth of the laboratory.
Frowning, Adam looked at Shalimar in confusion. Shalimar shrugged and looked at Emma, who looked like she wanted to say something.
"Jesse told me he had an upset stomach earlier this afternoon," she said worriedly. Adam nodded and began examining Jesse's abdomen. His fingers probed Jesse's middle but stopped when Jesse flinched and swatted his hand away.
"That-hurts," he gasped.
"Alright, Jesse." Adam then activated the scanner, and they waited as the light bathed Jesse from head to toe as he writhed on the bed in pain. Adam tapped a few commands into the computer and soon the scanner focused on Jesse's abdominal area. His heart seemed to stop when he saw what appeared on the screen.
That's impossible, he thought. His first reaction was to panic but his knowledge and experience got the better of him so he forced himself to calm down as he examined the image closely, hoping that it had been nothing but a simple error.
Shalimar watched in suspense as Adam deactivated the machine and activated it again. Adam scurried back toward the monitor and got it to scan Jesse again. There was nothing wrong with the machine; he had checked. But still the same image of Jesse's abdominal cavity appeared again, though blurry it may seem, it confirmed his previous prognosis.
"What is it, Adam?" Shalimar broke the hushed silence that had suddenly fallen between them. Her eyes flicked toward Jesse; his eyes were closed and his chest was rapidly rising and falling with the strain of breathing.
Adam rubbed a hand over his face, something he did very often whenever he felt something was wrong. He inhaled deeply before looking at the image in front of him again.
He recognized what the black mass obstructing Jesse's alimentary canal was.
Disturbed by his silence, Shalimar marched toward Adam. And soon Emma joined her standing beside him.
"Adam, what is it? Tell me?" Shalimar was beginning to lose her patience. She peered closely at the image on the screen. "What is that?"
"A tumor." Adam's voice sounded resigned, but they both knew that at that moment, his mind was racing.
"What?" Shalimar nearly shrieked.
"A large tumor has settled itself deep inside Jesse's digestive tract, blocking his intestines. That was what had been causing Jesse's pain," he explained in a soft voice so that only the three of them could hear. He didn't want Jesse to know. Not yet. Not until he had confirmed everything and come up with an accurate diagnosis.
Emma was horrified. "Jesse- he has-"
"Cancer? Is that what you're saying?" Shalimar asked, her eyes wild with disbelief and panic.
"Yes."
"Adam." Shalimar's eye lit up when she saw him come in. She was in front of the monitor, checking Jesse's vitals. And she was not liking what she saw. Jesse's heart rate was fluctuating; dangerously slow one second, sky-high the next. His breathing had been shallow when they brought in, so shallow he had not seemed to be breathing at all, but now, his breaths came out harsh and raspy. His brainwaves were also darting up and down crazily; his every sign of life had gone haywire.
Adam quickly went to Jesse, and on closer inspection, he frowned at the tinge of blue already beginning to adorn Jesse's extremities, a sign of oxygen-deprivation. Without being asked, Brennan covered Jesse's face with an oxygen mask.
Emma sent Adam a scared look. "Adam." When she first saw his unconscious body lying at the foot of the stairs, she had tried reading Jesse, and what she encountered filled then her with dread. At first all she got was a blank, which, well, still okay, compared to what she was sensing now.
Pain, pain and nothing but pain. She couldn't tell if Jesse was even aware of what was happening around him; in the eye of her mind, she could only see the white burst of agony.
"Oh God. . ." Shalimar swiveled around.
"What, Emma?" She snapped. "Tell me!"
Emma shook her head in helpless despair. "I don't know. . .at first all I got was a blank- but now. . ."
"Now what?" Shalimar persisted.
Emma's haunted eyes searched hers. "He's in pain. A lot of pain."
Adam gazed at her for a second. "Yes, and that's what we're trying to do now. To find out what's wrong with him and make him better." He pulled a syringe out of the drawer and drew a few milliliters of a clear fluid into it. "He fell, you said?"
"Yeah." Brennan nodded. "And he hit his head real hard too." He watched as the clear liquid disappear little by little into Jesse's arm. The drug took full effect in a matter of seconds, and soon, Jesse's heart rate and blood pressure returned to normal, but he was still breathing hard, his thorax expanding and contracting with exertion.
" He must have slipped-or something," Brennan said uncertainly, trying to convince himself that it was nothing more but an accident. But he dug deep into his pocket and his hand grasped the plastic packet in which he had kept the long strand of hair they'd found at the psionic's house.
"You said he was in pain? Where?" Adam's gentle hands probed Jesse's body, relying on his sense of touch to indicate the source of pain if he could. He felt the bump at the back of Jesse's head and grimaced at the size of it.
Emma shook her head and winced. "I can't tell. . . the pain was too overwhelming." She expelled a breath of fear. "Adam, help him."
Jesse's face was so pale his eyelids were almost translucent, and Adam began to wonder if there was something really wrong with the molecular as he pried Jesse's eyes open one by one, lifting each eyelid as gently as he could. Then he straightened up. "Could be a concussion. Pupils a little dilated, and a few burst capillaries."
He placed both his palms against Jesse's temples. "Jesse." Jesse's face remained slack, void of expression, and of any sign of consciousness.
"Jesse, can you hear me?" Adam tried again, saying out loud each word deliberately. They waited in hushed silence, each fervently wishing for Jesse to wake up. The only response Adam received was an unsteady pull of breath tightening his hitched chest.
Adam reached out a hand to pull the overhead scanner closer, placing it right on top of Jesse. An overall scan would tell them what was wrong with him. The others took a step back, giving Adam the much-needed space.
"Ready, Emma?" Emma nodded. She was about to press on the button to start scanning when she heard a sudden, low groan. She froze for a second and quickly twirled around. "Jesse!"
Shalimar forgot all about giving Adam space and instantly leaped forward. "Jesse!" She exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement.
Jesse groaned again, his head lolling weakly to one side, his face contorted as if in intense pain. With their own eyes they saw him shiver once, and crackling, marble-like tendrils spread throughout his whole body, as if by massing himself it would paralyze his pain. Apparently, it did not and expelling a shaky breath, Jesse returned to normal and the red tendrils disappeared.
"Jesse?" Adam called out his name gently. "Jesse, can you hear me?"
"Come on, Jesse, open your eyes," Shalimar pleaded.
They could see that it took Jesse a huge effort to even breathe. Emma licked her lips nervously before summoning up peaceful, soothing images. . .of the ocean, the mountains, vast green fields and quickly she projected the images into Jesse's mind, hoping that they could calm him down and make him not hurt so much. To everyone's relief, Jesse calmed down considerably and she held her breath as Jesse's eyelids flickered open slowly.
She guessed the fall had been bad; Jesse looked disoriented and his pain- filled gaze was a bit unsteady as it settled on Adam, who was looming over him, peering at him expectantly. But at least he was awake.
"Adam," he whispered weakly before closing his eyes tightly, his face scrunched up in agony.
"Jesse, do you remember what happened?" Adam articulated each word clearly.
Shalimar bit her lower lip when Jesse tried his best to shake his head. Her throat constricted painfully as Jesse writhed on the bed, whimpering. "Hurts," he gasped out, his eyes watering.
"What does? Tell me, Jesse. Is it your head?" Adam asked in concern.
Jesse closed his eyes and shook his head again, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly as he swallowed hard. "My stomach," he whispered sickly, shivering despite the warmth of the laboratory.
Frowning, Adam looked at Shalimar in confusion. Shalimar shrugged and looked at Emma, who looked like she wanted to say something.
"Jesse told me he had an upset stomach earlier this afternoon," she said worriedly. Adam nodded and began examining Jesse's abdomen. His fingers probed Jesse's middle but stopped when Jesse flinched and swatted his hand away.
"That-hurts," he gasped.
"Alright, Jesse." Adam then activated the scanner, and they waited as the light bathed Jesse from head to toe as he writhed on the bed in pain. Adam tapped a few commands into the computer and soon the scanner focused on Jesse's abdominal area. His heart seemed to stop when he saw what appeared on the screen.
That's impossible, he thought. His first reaction was to panic but his knowledge and experience got the better of him so he forced himself to calm down as he examined the image closely, hoping that it had been nothing but a simple error.
Shalimar watched in suspense as Adam deactivated the machine and activated it again. Adam scurried back toward the monitor and got it to scan Jesse again. There was nothing wrong with the machine; he had checked. But still the same image of Jesse's abdominal cavity appeared again, though blurry it may seem, it confirmed his previous prognosis.
"What is it, Adam?" Shalimar broke the hushed silence that had suddenly fallen between them. Her eyes flicked toward Jesse; his eyes were closed and his chest was rapidly rising and falling with the strain of breathing.
Adam rubbed a hand over his face, something he did very often whenever he felt something was wrong. He inhaled deeply before looking at the image in front of him again.
He recognized what the black mass obstructing Jesse's alimentary canal was.
Disturbed by his silence, Shalimar marched toward Adam. And soon Emma joined her standing beside him.
"Adam, what is it? Tell me?" Shalimar was beginning to lose her patience. She peered closely at the image on the screen. "What is that?"
"A tumor." Adam's voice sounded resigned, but they both knew that at that moment, his mind was racing.
"What?" Shalimar nearly shrieked.
"A large tumor has settled itself deep inside Jesse's digestive tract, blocking his intestines. That was what had been causing Jesse's pain," he explained in a soft voice so that only the three of them could hear. He didn't want Jesse to know. Not yet. Not until he had confirmed everything and come up with an accurate diagnosis.
Emma was horrified. "Jesse- he has-"
"Cancer? Is that what you're saying?" Shalimar asked, her eyes wild with disbelief and panic.
"Yes."