Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) are property of 'Saban', who are in some strange way related to Disney, who run the show on ABC. No infringement is intended.

ROARING ON THE WIND

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Twenty-Seven: the Rift Between Heaven and Hell

Dana Grayson had not heard from her husband in exactly one week. For the first few days, she had told herself that he was just busy with whatever was happening across the country in Reefside. Then the worry and panic began to set in and it became a challenge for her to take the kids to daycare and go about her normal routine at work. She had tried calling both his cell phone and Tommy's house, but got no answer. Then she had resorted to all the other phone numbers she happened to have for the others she believed were there. The results had been much the same. So when she received a phone call from Leo earlier today, she had been both relieved and more panicked. She remembered the conversation verbatim.

She had just arrived home from work with Cory and Heather. The kids were sitting in the living room playing before dinner when the phone had rung. Between her already heightened state of panic and the fact that she was trying to fix dinner, it had been hard for her to answer the phone and balance everything else.

"Hello?" she had asked.

"Hey, Dana," a familiar voice came. "It's Leo."

That had put all thoughts of fixing dinner out of her mind immediately and put her full attention into the phone call. "Leo!" she had said, almost too eagerly. "What's going on?"

"Carter's in the hospital," he had explained.

That sent her plummeting into an imaginary world where all kinds of horrible things had happened to her husband. She had clutched the phone, black spots dancing before her eyes and the kids' noise becoming a mere hum in the background. "Is he all right?" she had whispered.

"According to the doctors, he's going to make a full recovery, but it will be slow."

"Thank God," she had breathed.

"But this is what I'm really calling about—Mr. Collins wants you and the kids to fly out here immediately. He has tickets waiting for you at the airport and he'll have a limo at the Reefside Airport to bring you guys directly to the hospital."

Dana hadn't even thought twice. She was already calculating the fastest way to pack herself and the kids, feed them and get to the airport. "When's the flight?" she had asked.

"Eight your time," Leo replied.

She looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was already almost six. She was going to have to hurry if they wanted to make the flight at all.

"Your tickets will be at the counter," Leo added. "I'll see you then."

He disconnected the call and Dana hung up the phone. She did not have a moment to spare. If she hurried, she could get them packed and to the airport with enough time to get a bite to eat before their flight. Faster than she could have ever thought possible with a three-year-old and an eighteen month old, she had packed them the bare essentials, figuring that most things, if forgotten, could be purchased in Reefside.

"Where're we goin', Mama?" Cory had asked as she strapped him and Heather in the backseat of the car.

"To Reefside to see Daddy," she had replied.

"Ooo," Cory said with wonder in his small eyes. "That's in that big state far away!"

"Uh huh," she replied. "You have to be extra good, because we're going on an airplane to get there. You'll need to help take care of your sister."

"Okay," the small boy had said with a large grin. Dana had smiled at him before getting in the driver's seat and driving as fast as she dared to the airport. Cory reminded her so much of Carter… he was the exact image of his father and had serious moments that were exact duplicates of the ones Carter had. The little boy was a constant reminder of her husband when he was away.

Rush hour traffic slowed them down and she barely got to the airport, got the tickets and their baggage checked, got the kids some food before it was time to board the plane. Cory had immediately claimed the seat by the window, even though it was dark and he wouldn't be able to see much. Heather, whose bedtime it was, fell asleep after a brief crying spell when the plane took off. Cory soon followed suite and the two children slept the entire way to Reefside.

It seemed like an eternity before they were finally in Reefside. Dana had to carry the sleeping Heather and dragged along a half-asleep Cory. Neither child was very happy with being forced to move, but it was a necessity. She soon found the bag that she had packed all of their clothing in and, trying to balance Heather, the diaper sack, her purse and the suitcase along with dragging Cory, found the waiting limo, just like Leo had promised.

"Let me get that for you, Mrs. Grayson," the driver had said, relieving her of all the bags except her purse and ushering her and the kids into the limo.

Heather remained asleep the entire time in the limo, but the novelty kept Cory up and staring at all the new sights in the strange city. Soon enough, the driver pulled up in front of the local hospital. Leo was standing outside waiting for them.

"Hey, Dana!" he said with a smile, kissing her cheek and taking the suitcase and diaper sack from her as she carried Heather in one arm and held Cory's hand with the other.

"Hey, Leo," she replied. "Where's Carter?"

"Follow me," he said.

"Hi, Uncle Leo," Cory stated belatedly.

Leo laughed, looking down at the small boy. "Hey, squirt," he replied. She followed him down the hallway and soon they came across Kendrix sitting in the waiting area in front of a room. Kendrix smiled and took Heather from her.

"We'll take the kids to the hotel," she said with an easy smile.

"Thanks," she said, grateful that Cory's godparents were willing to help them. She leaned down and kissed Cory's forehead. "Be good," she said. Cory just gave her one of his signature grins and grabbed Leo's hand as the Corbetts led them down the hallway and out of sight. Dana took a deep breath and entered Carter's room.

What she saw there made her gasp. Tears began to run unchecked as she moved across the room to her husband and gently took his hand. Carter looked like he had been blown apart and sewn back together. Bandages wrapped around his chest and she could see braces there to keep his rib cage from moving too much. He was in a neck brace and both his wrists were in braces—usually used for a sprain. One of his legs was in a cast up past his knee. He had an IV in his left arm and both his eyes were blackened.

"Oh, Carter," she breathed to his still, sleeping form. She gently brushed his hair away from his forehead, more in the way that he normally parted his hair, and planted a kiss on his forehead. "I'm here," she whispered. Squeezing his hand as tightly as she dared, she went around to the end of his bed and picked up his chart, reading through it quickly. There were recommendations there for his leg to be amputated and then a record of detailed reconstructive surgery as the amputation advocate had been overruled. He had extensive broken bones and sprained bones, along with suffering at least one concussion. The records showed a deep cut across his back, but no damage to his spine. No wonder Leo had told her that the recovery would take a while. He would have to be in physical therapy to get over a lot of these breaks. The IV was what was keeping him asleep and the doctor had recommended to let him wake up tomorrow morning.

Wiping at the tears that blurred her vision, she pulled a chair close to his bed and gently took his hand. "I'll be here when you wake up," she said softly.

Carter groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. The light was unusually bright. He could hear soft voices talking somewhere far off. He blinked against the bright light and tried to open his eyes completely. Where was he?

"Morning, Carter!"

He turned his head slightly to the left and saw Dana sitting by his bedside. Dana? He looked around and realized that he must be in a hospital somewhere. Then the events came flooding back to him—being beaten by Mesogog's minions.

"Dana?" he said weakly, his voice harsh and dry. He tried to sit up but was immediately plagued by a pain that seemed to rip through his whole body. Dana immediately moved to help him get into a semi-sitting position. He smiled at her and tugged her towards him with one of his braced hands. She gingerly allowed him to hold her for a moment.

She moved away from him, a tender smile on her face. "Hey there," she said softly.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Wes found you on that island," she replied, as if someone had told her all of this. "You were Life Flight-ed here."

"And Jen?"

Dana shook her head. "She's in a coma," she said softly. "The doctors don't know if she'll ever come out of it."

Carter fell silent. That had happened to Jen because she had been trying to help him, when he had already been injured.

"Carter, don't brood about it," Dana reprimanded him. "Jen would be happy to know that you're all right."

"I know," he replied softly. "Are the kids here?"

Dana smiled and nodded. "They're outside with Leo and Kendrix. Want me to go get them?" He nodded and she got up and went to the door of the room. Seconds later, Cory bounded into the room, followed by a tottering Heather. Leo and Kendrix brought up the rear. Cory ran up to the edge of his bed and stood on his tiptoes. Dana gently lifted him up and the little boy settled himself, sitting next to his father. Carter ignored the pain in his ribs. His family was here and that was all he needed. Cory didn't say anything, he just sat next to him. And that was the way it was between him and his son—they didn't need words to communicate.

He looked up at Kendrix as Dana sat Heather on her lap in the chair. "Are you all right?" he asked the Pink Galaxy Ranger.

Kendrix blushed slightly and nodded, her hands going over her stomach even though she wasn't showing. It had become a well-known fact over those on the island that Kendrix was pregnant and had been placed somewhere else by Mesogog. Leo wrapped an arm around his wife. "Yes," Kendrix replied, smiling. "Apparently they didn't inject me like they thought they had."

"We owe a lot to Mr. Collins," Leo added. "He's taken care of all of this."

Carter just nodded. All seemed to be right with the world once more. He briefly thought to ask about Ashley and Andros and everything involved with that.

"Cole has fever," Kendrix said. "But his temperature is back to normal and the doctors are confident he's going to make a full recovery. And Karone is fine along with her parents."

Carter smiled and carefully wrapped an arm around his son. He was glad that he was still alive and would be fine with time.

Cole groaned as the sunlight poured through the window. He felt like a million bucks—green and wrinkled. A pinching sensation was coming from his arm and he had a strong urge to just rip away whatever was pinching him. He opened his eyes and saw an IV in his arm. Oh God… he resisted the urge to rip it out. He hated needles. He looked across from his bed, realizing he had to be in a hospital. Eric was sitting in his room and… Alyssa?

"Alyssa!" was the first thing that came out of his mouth and he realized just how ridiculous it sounded. Of course it was Alyssa and both her and Eric knew that.

She smiled at the sound of his voice as they both turned to him. "You're awake!" she replied, crossing the room to him. She gently leaned over him to give him a hug and planted a firm kiss on his lips. He held her awkwardly with one arm, trying to keep the arm with the needle as far away from him as possible.

"Get a room, guys," Eric muttered.

"I thought this was a room," Alyssa retorted at him. "Besides, you'd be doing the same thing if Taylor were here."

"She is not my girlfriend!" Eric said emphatically, using the book he had been reading as an indicator of the veracity of his statement.

"And the only reason she's flying out here this afternoon is because…" Alyssa let the statement trail off. Eric glared at her and went back to reading the book. Cole laughed at the pair of them.

He suddenly realized how weak he felt. He looked up at Alyssa as she pulled her chair over the side of his bed. "What happened?" he asked her.

"You've had a really high fever," Alyssa replied. "But the doctors say you're over the worst of it and you'll be fine."

"And Kaye?"

Alyssa gave him a searching look, before realization dawned on her. "She's fine. In fact, her parents will probably want to know you're awake."

"Forget that," Eric said interrupting them. "Think you can walk, kid?" he asked.

Cole wasn't sure, but he nodded anyways.

"Good. We've got a red ranger meeting in Carter's room in five minutes."

"Why in Carter's room?" Cole asked. "What happened to him?"

Eric rolled his eyes. "The short story is, he can barely move." He paused. "Let's go. It'll take you five minutes to get down the hallway."

Cole shrugged as Alyssa helped him get into a bathrobe, with one arm off for the sake of the IV, and slippers. He then shakily stood up, leaning heavily on Alyssa and Eric as they slowly made their way down the hallway and into Carter's room. The room looked like everyone had decided to congregate in there. Carter looked like he should have been in a body cast for all the casts he had on. Cole looked around as Alyssa sat him in a chair with the IV on a spiffy rolling thing next to him. The others of the nine red rangers who were part of the distress signal were there. Eric sat down next to Cole. The Wild Force Ranger quickly took in the faces all around him. Most looked normal, except for Wes who looked sad and haunted. Cole didn't have time to dwell on it, because Tommy started the meeting.

"We are here to decide if Conner McKnight should be allowed to join the red ranger distress signal group," he said. "All for it say 'aye'."

There was a loud cry of 'aye!'

"All opposed say 'nay'."

There was not a single sound heard in the room.

"All right," Tommy said. "The motion passes." He went out to the hallway and told Conner that he could come in. The young red ranger came in, grinning from ear to ear. The others dispersed except for him and Jason and Carter's family came back in. He quickly programmed Conner's contact information in his cell phone, giving Conner his in case some of it changed. (Eric explained that he had taken the liberty of buying a new charger for Cole's cell phone and charged the thing.) Jason gave Conner his information and took down Conner's.

"Welcome to the distress signal, kid!" Jason said after they explained to him that if the distress signal were activated, Cole would call him and he would, in turn, call Jason.

Jason and Conner went off, as Alyssa came back in and helped him get back to his own room. She gently settled him back in bed and tucked the covers around him.

"Are you tucking me in?" he asked, playfully.

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "Someone's got to take care of you and it might as well be me."

"When I called you," he started, his eyes already drooping shut. "What were you going to tell me?"

Alyssa smiled and leaned close to him. "That I love you too." She gently pressed her lips to his and he held onto the sweet, soft kiss as long as he could. She sat next to him on the bed, gently stroking his messy hair and lulling him to sleep. He didn't know when it was that he finally fell asleep, but when he woke up, she was beside him. He smiled to himself knowing that this was right. This was where he needed to be.

Wes wandered back down the hallway to Jen's room after the red ranger meeting. He didn't really care in the long run whether or not Conner was a part of the distress signal. He felt like a dark cloud had settled over him and nothing was going to lift it. The others' lives were going back to normal. His would never be normal again. First of all, he wasn't going back to a solitary life in Silver Hills. He had thought he would be going back to life with Jen and he was, but she was in a coma and non-responsive.

He entered her room. She was still, just she had been when he left her. She wasn't going to stay like this. There had to be some hope for her. He choked back a sob that was rising in the back of his throat. It wasn't fair!

"Hey."

He turned quickly to see Conner entering the room. "Hey Conner," he said flatly. "Did you need something?"

"No," he said softly. "I just came to say 'I'm sorry'." He paused. "About Jen. I didn't know her very well, but I liked her."

"She was a likable person," he replied.

"Don't say 'was'!" Conner said sharply. "She's alive! She was a determined person from what I saw of her. I mean she came back on a time ship illicitly just to be with you. She'll make it out of this! I know she will!"

Wes smiled at Conner's fervent statements. "Thanks, Conner," he said softly, clapping a hand on the teen's shoulder. Conner returned the gesture with a smile.

"Anytime," he replied. He glanced at the clock in the room. "I've got to go," he said with a grimace. "I'm grounded until further notice, as my mother told me."

"She grounded you?"

Conner shrugged. "Just because she was scared. She'll get over it. I had to get my older sister to drive me over here because my mom took away my car."

Wes just smiled and shook his head. "Take care, Conner."

"You too, Wes," he replied, leaving the room.

Wes sighed and pulled a chair over to the edge of Jen's bed. Even though her hair had been cut off at odd angles for the surgery, she still looked beautiful. Hell, those doctors could have shaved her head and she would still look good. Even from the first time they met and she berated him about being irresponsible and that his descendent, Alex, would never be like that, he had thought she was beautiful and looked even more so when she got mad.

"Hey, son."

His thoughts were interrupted as his father entered the room. He didn't reply as his father came to stand next to him.

"I was thinking," his father said slowly. "I can have Jen moved back to Silver Hills with care at home." He paused. "It might be easier for both of you if you came home."

Wes nodded, knowing that his father was right. His apartment was no place for someone in a coma and there were facilities and things available at the mansion that he just couldn't get at his apartment. His father was right. As much as he had resisted moving back home, he knew that it was the sensible thing to do now.

"I'll do that," he answered softly.

His father nodded. "I'll have your things brought to the house so that everything will be there when we get home."

"Okay."

His father gently clapped a hand on his shoulder, before leaving him in the room. He thought of the ring he had seen a while back that he had thought would have been perfect for Jen. He thought of all the plans he had briefly made—they could get married in Vegas and go on a honeymoon somewhere exotic (he had been planning on conning his father into making that a wedding present) and then they could live in Silver Hills in his apartment. All of it seemed dead now.

Now, only time would tell what the future would bring.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Aw! The reviews from the last chapter were so sweet! I love you guys bunches! And for anyone expressing regret during the last update about there being only one more chapter, be happy! There is one more chapter. It's more of an epilogue than anything else, but those of you interested in the TF issues would do well to stick around. (Plus they all get drunk... a must see!) Thanks for all the great reviews! --EK