Hey me again. Sorry this has taken so long to update. Holiday was hell but I loved Paris! We have no internet at home so thank goodness for SAAFA Libraries and their policy of free internet access! I don't know when I'm going to be able to update again - it might be another two weeks or more! I also have no credit on my mobile so to my friends that are reading this - I'm not ignoring you! Just can't contact anyone, I feel so isolated!
No shout-outs this week, limited time etc. Thanks for all your brill reviews.Enough from me - this is whatyou want, Chapter 9! Asusual, read, enjoy and review!
Wakening
Pain was the first thing Conner registered. Not a sharp pain, just a dull ache that seemed to consume his entire body. Where was he? Memories began to drift back, had he really been that stupid? The answer was clearly 'yes'. Voices started to penetrate his consciousness.
"I like you Trent, but I didn't realise how much Conner meant to me until he was gone. And now I might never be able to tell him. He thinks I hate him – I just want to tell him I love him."
Kira? Could it be true, what she was saying? Kira loved him? He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids felt like they had lead weights attached to them. He tried to focus on what they were saying. A male voice – it had to be Trent – was trying to comfort her. Then Conner heard the worst thing in the world: Kira crying. He longed to take her in his arms and tell her he was ok, that everything was fine, but he couldn't move. His arms and legs were heavy and, try as he might, he couldn't even twitch his finger. Panic set in as his mind struggled to make his body obey its commands. Calm down Conner he thought. You're not getting anywhere by doing that. Concentrate, one thing at a time. He felt Kira's soft lips brush his forehead and he heard her whispered plea. Conner tried to speak, to ask her not to leave, but his throat was dry and he couldn't even groan. He heard the door shut as they left.
Conner managed to calm himself down and concentrated hard on his right hand. There was a feeling of satisfaction and relief as he managed get his hand to curl up into a ball. Now, if he could open his eyes…
Kira sipped at her drink as she waited for Hayley to bring over their lunch. Ethan had joined her and Trent and the two of them were making light conversation, mainly about some computer game and the latest comic book. There were a lot of uncomfortable silences. It was Ethan that finally broached the subject they had been trying to avoid.
"So… how is he?" There was no need to ask who 'he' was.
"Still unconscious," Trent said, glancing at Kira.
"Have the doctors said anything?"
"No, only what we already know; Conner's in a comatosed state and he's still breathing through a tube."
Ethan gulped, "I might go and see him this afternoon…" He was cut off as Hayley arrived with their food.
"Dr. O wants to see you all this afternoon," she said in a low voice.
"What about?" Trent asked.
Hayley lowered her voice even further, "Emergency meeting. We've got a lot to work out."
"Like what?" Ethan said, snapping a little.
"Like how we're going to deal with Mesogog's monsters when we're one man down," Hayley shot back. She looked at the three rangers' faces, "What, you don't think that Mesogog is just going to sit back and wait for Conner to get better did you? Now is the perfect time for him to launch an attack, and we have to be prepared – no matter what our personal feelings are." Those last words were aimed at Kira.
"Don't worry about me," Kira managed to say in a strangled voice, "I'm willing to fight whatever Mesogog throws at us, with or without Conner being at our side."
Hayley nodded, "Good girl. You guys eat up and make your way to Dr. O's. I'll meet you there."
Daylight finally flooded into Conner's world of darkness as he forced his eyes open. The room was very bright and very white – definitely a hospital. He squinted against the painful brightness until his eyes adjusted. Now that he was awake he could feel the tube that was supposed to be helping him breathe down his throat, and retched. He began to choke, and that made him panic when he found he couldn't breathe. Conner sat up and tried to fight the foreign object in his airway. His struggles set off an alarm and a nurse hurried in.
"Shh," she said, putting a hand on his chest and pushing him firmly back down. "Calm down, relax."
Conner tried to, but all he could think about was that he couldn't breathe. The nurse removed the tube and replaced it with an oxygen mask before going out to get a doctor.
A few minutes later the door opened again and a doctor entered, followed by his mother and father. Joy and disbelief was clear on their faces.
"Conner?" his mother whispered.
Ethan, Trent and Kira soon found themselves in the Dino Lab, discussing with Dr. O the best thing to do if or, more correctly, when Mesogog attacked.
"Surely it isn't any different from what you were going to do after you sacked Conner," Kira said, a slight accusing undertone in her voice.
Dr. O looked at his hands, "I 'sacked' Conner without really thinking of the consequences," he admitted.
"We'll just carry on fighting with the four of us until Conner's ready to fight," Ethan said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Hayley and Dr. O exchanged glances. How were they to explain that Conner might not regain consciousness to three scared teenagers? "The thing is…" Dr. O began, but was cut off by a shrill ringing from his house above. "I'd better answer that," he said with a sigh and made his way upstairs.
The others left down below could only make out snatches of conversation as Dr. O talked to the person on the phone, "Yes… I understand… Yes, I'll let them know… Thank you for calling me… Goodbye."
They waited expectantly as Dr. O came back down the stairs with an unreadable expression on his face. "That was Mr McKnight on the phone from the hospital," Dr. O began.
"Is Conner ok? He hasn't…" Fear made Kira's voice catch in her throat.
"No he hasn't," Dr. O reassured her. "He actually called to say Conner's awake and he wants to see us."
