Ch. 2 Conner the Popsicle

Hayley ran a sponge down the long counter of her Café, glancing up she watched Davia chat with a boy her age who sported a green polo shirt and khaki shorts. Hayley's communicator beeped; as she ducked back into the supply room, she said,

"Yeah?"

"On my way Tommy." As she stepped out it dawned on her that she still needed to keep an eye on Davia. Hayley walked over to Davia and said,

"Um excuse me Davia, but I have to run to the store for a while. Can I drop you at home or something?"

"I can give her a ride home," said the boy in green.

"And you are," said Hayley a bit maternally.

"This is Chad Greyson, he just moved here from Mariner Bay, with his parents," interjected Davia.

"Are you sure," asked Hayley.

"Yes. Conner would approve of Chad. And I'm a big girl Hayley; I know what I'm doing." replied Davia.

"I'm here," said Hayley as she burst down the stair to that led from the Oliver House to the Dino lair; to find Dr. O, Kira, Ethan, and Trent crowded around the block of ice which encased Conner. "What happened?"

"A new creature of Mesegog's named Aquatica, froze Conner," explained Dr. O.

"Was he in his ranger form or civilian?" asked Hayley.

"Ranger," said Kira.

"Tommy, I need all the blankets, towels, um and heating pads that you own, as well as for you Kira, Ethan, and Trent," said Hayley snapping into action. "We need to defrost Conner and quick."

Ethan, Kira, and Trent quickly ran into action, as they headed up the stairs, Dr. O called after them,

"Kira, upstairs, in the closet across from the bathroom."

"Is he going to be okay?" Dr. O asked Hayley as she pounded codes into the computer.

"Well, according to his biorhythms, his heart is still beating, so that's a good thing despite the fact that his body temperature is extremely low," replied Hayley with a sigh.

"What's the temp?" asked Dr. O as he lifted his gaze from Conner's frozen form to Hayley sitting in the captain's chair before the data bank of computers.

"Two hundred and eighty degrees Kelvin," said Hayley softly, her bottom lip quivering. Dr. O strode over to her.

"That's thirty- nine degrees Fahrenheit. It's a miracle his heart is still beating,"

Dr. O said as he enveloped Hayley into a hug. "We'll save him, I promise." He pulled her close and held her tightly, then pressed a kiss onto the top of her head.

"I know," said Hayley melting into his arms, and buried her head into his chest. Suddenly a siren shrieked. Dr. Oliver and Hayley flew apart from their passionate embrace.

"I'm getting strange energy readings from outside the Café," said Hayley as she tapped in some commands on the computer. The screen narrowed in on two people, an adolescent girl and

boy. A split second later Tryannadones attacked. The two people began to fight them rather than run away.

"Ohmigod, that's Davia and Chad!" gasped Hayley in surprise.

"Who?" said Dr. O. "Ethan, Trent get to Cyberspace ASAP!"

"Davia McKnight and Chad Greyson," replied Hayley. "Davia is Conner's sister."

"Conner has a sister?"

"Yeah a triplet."Hayley tapped some more keys into the computer as Kira reemerged from the top of the house laden with towels, blankets and hot pads/water bottles. "I've recalibrated the laser beam that was used to free Tommy from the amber," said Hayley.

"Let's do it," said Kira. Hayley punched a button and an intense precise heat ray hit the block of ice melted in an instant; Conner collapsed to the floor shaking and shivering violently. Dr. O picked him up and laid him down on a cot as Hayley said,

"His clothes are soaked, we need to get him out of them and then slowly warm his body up, for if we warm him up to quickly he'll over heat. Get him out of his clothes Tommy! His heart beat is erratic. Kira call this number 1-214-678-4423, got it ? Ask for Dr. Dana Mitchell-Greyson. Tell her it's Hayley and tell her to come to 1992 Valencia Rd at top speed. Now!"

Dr. O replaced Conner's clothes with heated towels and blankets. Kira laid down th phone and said,

"She'll be here as soon as she can.

"Good," said Hayley. " will you rub Conner's hands and feet for they will help get his circulation flowing again."

As Kira rubbed Conner's feet and hands with towels vehemently, a sudden loud whine filled the air.

"What's happening ?" exclaimed Kira. Dr. O yanked the blanket's covering Conner's chest and began CPR.

"Conner!"cried Kira her eyes growing wide. Dr. O blew a strong breath into Conner's lungs.

"His heart's beating again!" said Hayley, as the whine was replaced by a steady beeping sound. Dr. O blew another strong breath into the youth's lungs.

"Come on Conner," Kira begged, as Dr. O blew yet another breath into the boy's lungs. Then Conner began to cough, water bubbled out of his mouth. He coughed violently and more water poured out of his mouth. Dr. O rolled Conner to his side as more water dribbled from his mouth to the floor. When he was done Dr. O carefully rolled a very weak Conner back on to his back. He then covered Conner back up with warm blankets and placed a hot water bottle on top of Conner's head.

"Do you remember what happened?" asked Hayley coming over. "Don't talk just yet," she stuck a thermometer into Conner's mouth. When she took it out she smiled and said,

"Your body temperature is still low but you're out of danger. Let's get some hot liquids into you."

"Davy," Conner said weakly.

"Is fine," said Ethan as he and Trent entered the Dino Lair. "Hey dude you're okay." Conner blinked in confusion.

"Your sister is one hell of a fighter," said Trent. Conner looked at him. "Your sister and the guy she was with were kicking T-drone butt."

"Do you remember any of our fight with Aquatica?" asked Dr. O

"The fish?" rasped Conner.

"You were encased in a block of ice bro," said Ethan.

"You almost died, Conner," said Kira. Conner's eyes widened.

"He did?" exclaimed Trent and Ethan. Kira nodded and said,

"You were so cold that your heart stopped beating and Dr. O had to give you CPR. Don't do that again."

Hayley came back down the stairs with a woman who was in her late thirties.

"This is Dr. Dana Mitchell-Greyson. She's going to give you a quick go over Conner, so then you can go home," said Hayley.

"I'm Dr. Tommy Oliver," said Dr. O shaking hands with Dr. Mitchell-Greyson.

"I know," said Dr. Mitchell-Greyson, with a smile. "You worked with my husband, Carter."

"Wait you're–" started Dr. O as he wrapped an arm around Hayley's shoulders.

"Yes, Tommy, I am," replied Dr. Mitchell-Greyson with a smile. "Now," she said addressing Conner. "What happened?"

"He got encased in a block of ice for about half an hour, with a body temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Once we released him from the ice his heart stopped beating and Tommy had to perform CPR," said Hayley.

"I see," said Dr. Mitchell-Greyson. "I have a son about you're age Conner. He's always getting himself into scrapes."

After Dr. Mitchell-Greyson gave Conner an exam, she said,

" Since your body temperature was so low, I am going to prescribe you a week in bed with minimal physical exertion."

"But Freshman Orientation is tomorrow" exclaimed Conner in a weak raspy voice. "It's my freshman year at UC Reefside, I have to go."

" Sorry," said Dr. Mitchell-Greyson. "If you do any serious movement before your body temperature is back to normal and your body recovers. You will be hospitalized."

"I do however know the dean of UC Reefside, and I will write the note to your parents explaining your condition," Dr. Mitchell-Greyson added.

"I got it Mom, go back to sleep," called Davia from the living room of the McKnight House, as the doorbell rang. She got up from the couch and opened the door.

" What happened?" Davia exclaimed to find Kira and Ethan propping an almost comatose looking Conner up at the door. "Is he drunk?"

"No," said Kira. "Conner doesn't drink. None of us do."

"There was a boating accident and Conner almost drown," said Ethan.

" Right," said Davia, her mind clicking away trying to decipher whether they were lying or not. "Mom's sleeping, so I can take him. Thanks for getting him and the mustang home safely." Davia grabbed her brother around the waist then shifted her weight to compensate hisr as she dragged him across the threshold.

"Do you need help getting him upstairs?" asked Ethan. Davia shook her head and said,

"No, I got it , but thanks anyway. Goodnight." She shut the door.

"Davy?" mumbled Conner.

"Shh," his sister replied. "Let's get you upstairs."

"Can't walk," Conner mumbled again.

"It's okay," said Davia hoisting her brother into a fireman's lift and carrying him upstairs.