Coming Back
By: Lauren Freeman
Missing Scene: Besieged in Paradise
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Jonny Quest. I am making no money from this story!
Jonny looked down at the water, the storm coming in seemed a little too close. Secretly all he wanted was down, but that didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon. That required time, something they suddenly didn't have. Humps in the water caught his eye as hundreds of whales surfaced then swam back down. The water was remarkably clear, and from where he was he noticed a fishing net, a horrible fishing net that would and suddenly did put the whales in danger.
"Huh, it looks like that whales in trouble!" He watched for only a second as the caught whale began to struggle against the thick net.
"I've got to do something!" Jonny looked at the carbener keeping is rope and therefore him attached to the boat, took a deep breath, this was going to hurt. With that as his last thought he let himself go, unattached to his friends and relative safety. He began to float up and backwards, not where he wanted to go, but with the storms strong winds he had little choice. Jonny grabbed the strings of the parachute and began to maneuver it, much like a regular parachute, finally going where he wanted. He found about twenty feet away from the water that he was not going to get much closer. So with a ye'haw he unbuckled and dropped in into the harsh water below.
The water seemed unnaturally cold, but not enough to stop him or really even slow him down. Lightning continuously cracked in the sky, as Jonny came up for one last gulp of air. Staring at the giant flashes only getting closer, Jonny new he had to hurry. Half of the whale sat above the water, Jonny swam over to it wanting to show it he was not going to harm him.
"Easy big fellow." Jonny pet the whale who only stared at him blowing water and air though his blow hole. Taking a deep breath Jonny dove under water. The net had caught the whale by its tail fin, and the net itself was caught around a rock. Jonny looked at both trying to figure out which place would be better to untangle. Finally, he swam up to the tail fin and began to pull, using up what little energy he had from lack of air. It thankfully worked and the net came off, immediately trapping Jonny under it. Already desperate for air, Jonny found himself with a new, unexpected problem. Now he himself was trapped underwater, with no air.
Jonny could feel his body weakening, he saw black dots in the corner of his eyes, a new round of determination came over him with an amazing adrenaline rush. He was not going to die here. Grabbing the net and ripping it apart wide enough for him to get through Jonny began to swim upwards. What had seemed not that far down now looked like an incredible distance up. His energy spent, Jonny took two strokes upward before the blackness covered his eyes completely. He wasn't going to make it, was his last thought before everything went black.
A white light caught his attention as Jonny felt himself detach from his body. He watched the whale he had saved carry his own body upwards. He was still in the water but he could not feel it. The white light got brighter until it was all he could see, a woman appeared.
"Mom?" Jonny choked out, tears running down his cheeks. A tall woman, with long dark auburn hair floating around her head, stepped out of the white light. She was wearing a long white dress, and seemed to radiate light from every part of her being.
"Hello Jonny." She smiled. Jonny ran up to her and smiled while giving her a giant hug. He really missed her.
"Am I dead?" Jonny asked with sudden realization of what seeing her probably meant for him.
"Jonny, it's not your time. You still have many adventures before you, but I wanted you to know that I still love you, I always have and I always will. Watch out for your father and tell him I love him as well."
"I love you too, mom." Jonny said a tear running down his face. He then watched as his mom took a step back, into the light and disappeared. He felt a tug and was suddenly thrust upward, moving faster with every second, Jonny watched in wonder as his best friends were doing CPR on his own body. A strange site if he had ever seen one. Then he was back, his chest was sore and he vaguely could feel himself throwing up water. Sensation came back to his limbs like a thousand pinpricks, his throat felt sore. Concentrating on breathing on his own, he opened his eyes and looked up at his best friend and brothers scared faces.
"I thought we had lost you." Hadji looked incredibly tall standing over him. "We owe a dept of gratitude to our satiation friend." Jonny heard the sound of a whale before his eyes were to heavy to keep open and he fell asleep, still breathing ruggedly. Jessie ran over to the radio and picked it up with shaky hands.
"Dr. Quest, come in." Jessie said stopping herself from yelling.
"Yes, Jessie, there's a huge storm coming, you need to come in." Dr. Quest said urgently. Jessie nodded though she knew he couldn't see her.
"We are, but we had a situation. We need an ambulance at the docks waiting for us." Jessie said, knowing how that would sound. Dr. Quest came back a moment later sounding panicked.
"They're on their way, what happened?"
"I'm not sure, Jonny drowned! We had to do CPR to get him back..." Jessie sobbed. "He's breathing again, but it seems hard for him. He keeps drifting in and out of consciousness." Jessie told him. There was a long moment before Dr. Quest came back.
"We will be waiting for you at the dock." Was all that was said. Jessie nodded before going to sit by Jonny to try and make him comfortable.
Jonny came back to awareness once again; just as they were pulling up to the dock. Red and blue lights could be seen reflecting off the boats sides. Jonny looked around to find himself still in the boat with one blanket under his head and another covering him up. He was cold, and his entire body hurt. Breathing hurt his throat and chest. He didn't even want to try and talk. He looked over at Jessie who was sitting beside him, his hand in hers and noticed she was speaking to him. He concentrated on listening.
"Just hold on, Jonny. Emergency teams are coming on board now, their going to take you to the hospital. However, before the paramedics could get to him his father did. His mothers' face appeared in his mind, and the memories of his less then a minute with her rolled to the front of his brain. His father took Jessies' place as she was helped off the boat; a paramedic took position on the other side. Jonny looked at his father.
"Dad." Jonny croaked out.
"Everything's going to be alright, Jonny." His father reassured. Nevertheless, Jonny already knew that.
"Mom says she loves you." Jonny whispered before falling asleep again. He missed the look of shock and fear that crossed his fathers' face.
When Jonny woke again he was relived to find he felt much better. But there was something strange covering his face, and what felt like stickers were covering his chest. A slight sting could be felt on the back of his right hand, his middle finger was abnormally heavy, and someone was holding his left hand. Slowly, Jonny opened his eyes and immediately found it was an oxygen mask covering his face. An IV was hooked to his hand along with a sensor on his middle finger. Electrodes measuring his heart rhythms covered his bare chest, only covered by a warm blanket, and his sleeping father was holding his left hand. Jessie suddenly appeared with flowers in the doorway.
"Jonny, your awake!" Jessie whispered coming up on Jonny's right side. Jonny nodded.
"How long have I been here?" Jonny whispered back, his voice still sounded weird.
"A week." A rough voice startled them both. Dr. Quest was now awake and smiling. "You were having trouble breathing and were a bit hypothermic. You have bruised and a broken rib, your throat will be sore when you come off the good pain medication. You had some fluid in your lungs, so the doctors wanted to keep you asleep for a day or so, so that they could properly take care of it." He spoke softly. "I'm just happy you're alive." Dr. Quest squeezed Jonny's hands. Jonny lay there letting that information run through his mind, and sink in. He nodded, then yawned.
"You should go back to sleep if you're tired." Jessie smiled, placing the flowers at his bedside. Jonny nodded.
"Thanks for the flowers."
"Your welcome." He fell asleep, smiling.