Chapter 13

Omi jumped through the rift in space onto the temple grounds, right behind Master Fung. The master turned around at his student waiting anxiously for news. Omi had grown much taller since he had become a teen. Now 5'3, he stood as tall as his teacher and looked him in the eye. "Master Fung, there is no time for chat-chit. We must get to the hospital at once!"

Seeing the urgency in his eyes, he knows something is wrong. Omi had grown since he had left the temple, but three hours ago. Not so much in physical appearance, but his mental outlook and maturity had deepened. His brown eyes had a void in them, that had been filled with too much, too soon. Something had happened in this latest showdown, that had burned into the young monk's mind forever. Somehow he knew what it was…

Looking at the claws in Omi's right hand he sighed in sorrow, "Lead on, Wudai Warrior."

Omi scarcely looked back as he shouted "GOLDEN TIGER CLAWS!"

Dojo landed near the hospital and quickly transformed. Clay and Kimiko didn't look back to see if he caught up, as they rushed into the ER.

Kimiko caught the first nurse she saw. Speaking Chinese she explained that her friend needed immediate attention. The nurse recognized her Xiaolin uniform, but thought her a hoax because she was a girl; girls were not in the Xiaolin arts.

As she was about to turn away, Kimiko yanked her head down by her hair. She spat, "Now, this time…pay attention! My friend needs help, and you and this hospital had better give it to him, or I'll make sure none of you ever work in medicine ever again! I don't care what it costs; just get a gurney here stat!"

The nurse listened this time and called the doctor and another nurse with a gurney table over. Clay laid Raimundo down on it and the doctor quickly examined him. His face went grave as he began to call more doctors. "Prep him for emergency surgery!"

The place began to get really busy as they stuck in IVs, put on breathing masks, and cut clothes. They rolled him through a pair of double doors as Kimiko followed with her eyes. She felt Clay take her shoulders gently, and lead her to a chair in the waiting area. She sat down and began to pray for Raimundo's life.

Clay looked at her for a while, and then went up to the front desk. The woman, who sat there, smiled a smile of sympathy. "I'm sorry about your friend; it must be hard for you and the young lady. Is it okay if I ask you some questions? We could wait till later?"

He shook his head, wet drips flying. "Naw, thank ya' but that's what I came up here for."

She smiled that sympathy smile again, than asked, "Patient's name?"

"Raimundo Alejandro Diego Vega"

"Age?"

"17"

"Blood type?"

"Negative, AB"

"Ooh, rare. What about parents or guardian?"

The questions kept coming and Clay answered them as best he could, naming himself, Omi, and Kimiko as Rai's family, and Master Fung as his guardian. When it came to payment he said quickly but firmly, "All his bills are to be taken out of my account.", giving out his account number, as she looked up to him astounded at the gesture.

"Half of his payment will go to Clay Ranger, the other half will be put on the Asukura account." Kimiko said behind him.

Clay turned around to protest, but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. The amazed girl shakily gave the form to them. "You will have to both put your signatures on there, Mr. Ranger and Ms. Asukura."

They quickly signed, and turned around to see Omi and Master Fung rush through the doors. Rainwater ran down Omi's short-cropped hair into his pleading eyes, "I am sorry I did not get here sooner my friends, how is Raimundo?"

"They took him in for emergency surgery." Kimiko said gravely, her eyes downcast.

Clay put a hand on her shoulder, "He hasn't come out yet, but heck, hell will freeze and cows will sprout wings before Rai ever gives up on a fight! Even if it's a fight for his life…"

Master Fung led them to the chairs in the waiting room. "Why don't we sit down to hot tea, and all of you can tell me of what happened in the mountains."

Dojo peeked out of Omi's sleeve where he'd been hiding. "I have cups!" he said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. He placed them on the table in lightning speed. Omi smiled, "I have no idea where you kept them Dojo, but I care not. I'm more surprised that you did not break them." The others laughed lightly as Dojo frowned in response, but secretly, he was glad for the break in the mood.

Omi waved his hand, and water from the atmosphere collected and dropped into the cups. Clay placed a hand on the floor; it cracked open, down to the foundation. Herbs grew from the soil at an accelerated rate. After a minute, he grabbed up the ripe plants, crushed them in his hands and spread them out among the cups into the water. With a wave of his hand, the floor closed up as if it had never been touched. Kimiko stretched out a finger, and from it came a spout of white flame. The spout separated into five different other branches that hit each cup evenly. In a few seconds she stopped, and the cups were full of steaming tea.

The entire party took up their cup and began to tell the story. First Omi, than Clay, then Dojo, and finally Kimiko told the tale. The whole story had taken two hours to tell, and before they knew it, it was the wee hours of the morning.

Master Fung began to ponder out loud, "So, Wuya is dead, and by the very hand she tried to crush; an ironic and fitting end for one such as her. Yet, these new truths surrounding Raimundo will take further reflection on my part. For, if what he says is true, I have made a grave mistake…"

"We all have…" Omi settled.

Kimiko sighed, she knew what Rai had said was the truth. She had seen it in his eyes. It was the same look of simple truth that was in his eyes, when he had called her his 'love'…

A hand went on her shoulder and she jumped, startled. Looking up into the face of one of the doctors from before, he smiled, "Sorry to have startled you Ms. Asukura."

Everyone jumped up at once, inquiring about Raimundo. The doctor held his hands up to ward off their questions. "Hold on, one at a time. Your friend, Mr. Vega's, condition is critical. He suffered from a deep stab wound to the left auricle of his heart, as well as the collapse of his left lung. To be honest, I've never seen anyone with damage to both those major organs and live! We had to operate right away and stop the internal bleeding, as well as get the heart to perform normally until it fully heals. He entered a coma halfway through the operation, and his brain activity has been bizarrely up and down. Other than that, he has a complete fracture of ribs three, four, and five. Also he has a few clean fractures in his fourth and fifth left hand phalanges. On top of all this, he has a partial fracture to his right femur, broken cartilage and nasal bones, as well as many major and minor lacerations across his body and major bruising on his face and abdomen. As to the question of 'will he make it', time is the factor here. If he makes it through the night with no problems, there is a good chance he'll live and come out of his coma soon. But the boy is obviously young, was he in an accident?"

Master Fung came forward, "I'm Lao-Tai Fung, from the Xiaolin Temple, Raimundo's guardian. Raimundo was injured in a fight. A knife was pulled and the right authorities took care of it. Bringing him here was faster than sending for an ambulance."

The doctor nodded understandingly, then looked back at his notes, "Oh yes, I forgot. Some of the knife's blade was broken off, probably by a rib, and shifted down to his right ventricle. We tried to remove it, but we met with a peculiar obstacle. Somehow, nerve growth in that part of the heart has hugely accelerated! The piece was covered in nerve tissue! So much in fact that we couldn't take it out, to do so would kill him by stopping his heart. Fortunately, it wasn't a very big piece and shouldn't harm or impair him in the long run. The nervous system has slowed down now, and we have no danger of his heart being overgrown with nerves. It must have been a sudden mutation of some sort."

"Can I see him now?" Kimiko asked pleadingly.

He looked at her with compassion; she was obviously the girlfriend of the patient, "I can allow immediate family only, for today and tomorrow, and only two visitors at a time."

Clay saw the look in Kim's face, "Doc, we are his only family. He's an orphan with no bros or sisters. Please can ya make an exception?"

The doctor looked into the eyes of the group that surrounded him. All of them, pleading silently with those keen eyes. For with all their power, he was the one person they looked to for hope.

"Yes, I guess I can. His room is two doors down, past the swinging double entrance, Rm. 304."

The group nodded with happiness as he went away, shaking his head at the heavy burdens, placed on such young shoulders.

Omi and Master Fung (and secretly, Dojo) went first, paying their respects and laying small gifts of jade, next to Rai's bed, to bring good health. Omi turned to his master, "Master, do you think he will make it?"

The man simply looked at his young, broken, pupil. "I don't know, Omi. Raimundo is strong, stronger than even I imagined, but is he strong enough to resist the power of the Four Dragons' Soul? And even then, is he strong enough to carry it with him the rest of his life?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember, the doctor said that a piece of the knife broke off inside of Raimundo's heart? And that they could not take it out, because a lot of nerve tissue had grown over it?"

"Yes? Wait! Rai pulled that blade out cleanly! It wasn't broken. And I thought nerve tissue didn't grow?"

"It doesn't, but I think the Four Dragons' Soul has something to do with it. Its mere presence in his body for so long, must have triggered it."

"But what about of the piece in his heart? If it's not part of the blade, then what is…" Omi stopped as the thought hit him, "The Dragons' Soul!"

Master Fung nodded, "It's the Shen Gong Wu that's covered in the nerve tissue. And he will carry it in his heart for the rest of his days."

Omi looked back to his friend. They had had their differences, but really, they were more alike than they had liked to admit. They were both determined at their goals, and would fight hard to reach them. They were also both pig-headed jerks at times, and got on each others nerves, but what friends didn't? The one thing they had always been, was…friends.

When the two came out without a word, Clay decided to go next; and if necessary, spare Kimiko of anything she didn't need to see.

When he went in, he was relieved to see that Rai was not as marred as he had thought. Going closer to him, he laid his hand across his friend's heavily scarred face. That—was when he knew what had unruffled Master Fung and Omi…

A feeling of cold—and lifeless—desertion shrouded Raimundo…

It was the feeling of one, who was standing at the boundary between the living and the dead, and was deciding whether or not to cross that irrevocable line…

He picked up his hat, which had been laid on the bedside table by the nurses, and hung it on the edge of the headboard. "Rai, you fight it. You're the scrappiest fighter among us, and you don't like to give up. Don't give up now, partner. I told Kimiko that you'd make it. I promised her! Don't make me a liar. Don't break her heart. We're in this together, and we'll always be there for you."

He listened to the reassuring steady beep of the heart monitor for a few seconds, and then, silently, he left the room.

Kimiko came in last, her eyes taking in everything. The IV's in both his arms, the breathing mask over his face, the heavy bandages on his torso and abdomen, and the casts on his legs and hands. She could hear the steady drip of fluid into the IV, as well as the beep of the heart and brain monitors. Pulling up a chair, she sat down by his side and touched his hand.

She drew her hand back with sudden swiftness, feeling the same icy dread Clay had. All the emotions she had been storing up that night, released themselves. Tears began to run down her face, shaking her vigorously, she took a vicious grip on the bed sheets, "No you don't, Vega! I lost you once because of my stupidity! Let me be struck down now if I let you get away again." The hot tears fell onto his hand and slid down his bronzed skin, warming on impact.

Kimiko laid her head by his side and silently wept, "Don't do this to me, please! We need you Raimundo…I need you…I love you…"

Her exhaustion and sadness set in and she cried herself to sleep. The brain monitor began to pick up pace, as the cold miasma surrounding Rai, vanished.