Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

When the Grim Reaper Knocks

Chapter II

Sky was still thrashing about. Drool had begun to flow from the corners of his mouth. Now his head started to violently jerk from side to side. Bridge recalled what Kat said Sky's temperature was.

"32.3 degrees Fahrenheit? Isn't that freezing?" Bridge asked not taking his eyes off of the blue ranger.

Indeed Syd, Z, Jack, and Cruger were wondering the exact same thing once Kat had indicated Sky's temperature. The thought of Sky becoming an ice cube was a scary thought that they tried to push out of their minds. Kat didn't answer at first which made Bridge wonder if she had even heard his question.

"Not quite. Water changes from a liquid to a solid at 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius, but not any sooner," Kat responded.

Still, a difference of three-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit wasn't much of a difference at all. Kat's answer certainly didn't ease anyone's worry the least bit. Syd seemed to recall something about seizures from when she had received medical training. She noticed that Sky was strapped into the stretcher. That was it. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed that before. She must've been too focused on Sky's condition to pay attention to that. She had never witnessed someone having a seizure before. Nobody in the room had until now that is.

"Why do you have Sky restrained? You're not supposed to restrain him! You're supposed to let a seizure take its course or else you could risk injury!" Syd shouted while unfastening the restraints that held Sky down on the stretcher.

Everyone else in the room looked at Syd in awe. They had no idea she knew anything about seizures. Sure all cadets were required to receive medical training, but an opportunity never presented itself where their medical training would come in handy, so without being able to practice it in a real emergency, the information was soon forgotten. Nobody expected Syd to be the type that remembered little details like that.

Syd turned her attention to Kat. "How could you forget a vital detail like that? You're a doctor for crying out loud!" Syd exclaimed visibly upset with Kat.

Kat was rendered speechless. Syd had a point. She had forgotten a crucial piece of information and by doing so may have put Sky in even more danger. Kat inwardly cursed herself for not remembering that a patient having a seizure was not to be restrained. She was glad that Syd apparently knew more about seizures than she did. It would help keep her on track. Nobody had thought to take note of when Sky's seizure had started, so they had no idea how long he had been having a seizure. Sky displayed more symptoms of a seizure as his eyelids started to flutter. His vitals were no longer normal as his heart rate rapidly increased. These new developments had caused everyone except Syd to congregate around Sky to get a better look.

"No! Stay back! Don't crowd around him! He needs his space!" Syd yelled. Everyone did as Syd had asked. Kat inwardly cursed herself for forgetting that when someone was having a seizure, it's a bad idea to crowd around the individual. It wasn't long after Sky had developed these new symptoms that his seizure had subsided. His heart rate returned to normal. Syd walked over to Sky and rolled him on his side. She then pulled out a tissue from a box on a nearby table and wiped the saliva from Sky's mouth. Everyone else in the room was left in sheer amazement. Syd was just full of surprises.

"Is it ok to be near Sky now?" Z asked Syd. Syd didn't verbalize her answer, but rather just nodded her head in the affirmative. The very next moment, everyone had gathered around Sky. This was certainly a horrifying experience for them. They had never been this scared before in their whole lives. They were afraid for Sky and just plain afraid. Thank goodness for Syd. Everyone else was frightened beyond belief yet Syd had remained calm and recalled everything she was taught about seizures.

Kat had recalled another mistake she had made while Sky was having his seizure. "I wasn't supposed to place anything in his mouth while he was having a seizure was I?" Kat asked already knowing what the answer was going to be.

Syd glared at Kat. If looks could kill, Kat would have lost one of her nine lives. "No you were not!" Syd exclaimed. She then turned her attention to Sky who was unconscious. Syd put a hand to Sky's forehead. Its temperature made Syd yelp.

"I take it he's still cold?" Bridge asked.

Syd shook her head yes. Z burst out in loud sobs. She turned to Jack and buried her head in his chest. Jack held Z in his arms and with his hand massaged Z's back in a circular fashion. It wasn't a surprise that Z was crying. Sure Z had a tough exterior. She had to be tough back when she was living on the streets. However, watching a teammate, a friend having a seizure was very scary and it was only a matter of time until somebody reached their breaking point.

Much like the others, Cruger was very concerned about Sky. "Jack, Z, Syd, and Bridge, I want the four of you to do a five mile run through the mud course. It'll help you to take your minds off of Sky," Cruger commanded.

The four rangers didn't bother to hide their disapproval as they groaned. They didn't want to leave Sky, but an order's an order. They dragged their feet across the floor as they exited the infirmary and headed out to the training area. Kat also stepped out of the infirmary, but returned moments later with some blankets that she covered Sky up with hoping that would warm him up. Cruger had left to do some research on Sky's clinical history. Kat rolled Sky on his back and took the blankets off of Sky's arm so that she could take a blood sample. First, she put on some gloves. She then attached a blood pressure cuff on his upper arm and squeezed the pump. The cuff tightened and exposed the veins on Sky's arm. Kat picked a spot on Sky's forearm and rubbed the location with an alcohol swab. She then wiped the location with a dry gauze pad. Kat stabilized the vein by holding the vein between her index finger and thumb. With her other hand, she inserted the needle and drew a sample of blood. After she had collected enough blood, she withdrew the needle and unfastened the blood pressure cuff with one hand, while she took a dry gauze pad and applied pressure to the puncture site with her other hand. Sometimes she hated being the only doctor at the Academy. There were times when she could really use an assistant but unfortunately, nobody else had the knowledge or if they did, they didn't remember it.

2-2-2

In the meantime, the other rangers were running the mud course. They were running in silence. All of them were deep in thought. The one thing that was on all of their minds was Sky. Why did this have to happen on his birthday of all days? The only sound that could be heard was the mud squishing beneath their running shoes.

Bridge was the first to break the silence which wasn't too surprising. "I can't believe Cruger made us run five miles! It's not just five miles, but five miles through the mud course! Five miles. That's 26,400 feet. That's 316,800 inches. That's…" Bridge started to say before being interrupted.

"We get it Bridge!" the other three shouted at him. Bridge quickly became silent. The rangers had now reached the part of the course where they had to crawl on the ground beneath a net that was only about a foot off the muddy ground. The net was about fifty feet long and fifty feet wide. Needless to say, this was their least favorite part of the course. They got on their stomachs and began wriggling their way under the net. This is how their clothing, faces, and hair got so dirty while running this course. The rest of the course would get their running shoes dirty and their pant legs, but that was about it. Syd's hair got caught in the net.

"Guys, help me! My hair's stuck!" Syd screamed while trying to detach her hair from the net. From the way they had entered the net, Bridge was the only one who was in a position to help Syd as he was to her left. After a bit of a struggle, Bridge managed to free Syd's hair from the net. They proceeded to worm their way under the net.

2-2-2

In the infirmary, Kat had already applied a bandage to the puncture site. She was now putting away her equipment. Now that she had both hands free, it was much easier.

"This doesn't make sense at all. Sky's never had a seizure before. There's nothing in his medical records that indicate a history of any type of disease or illness of this nature. In fact, his medical records indicate that Sky's as healthy as can be, so why is this happening?" Cruger asked after returning from consulting Sky's medical records.

"That's what I intend to find out. I'm going to take this blood sample to the lab and analyze it. I need you to stay here with Sky and keep an eye on him. If anything, anything at all goes wrong, I want you to send for me," Kat answered.

Cruger nodded his head signaling that he understood as Kat took the sample of Sky's blood to the lab. Cruger pulled a chair over to Sky's stretcher and sat down beside him. He reached under the blankets and held Sky's hand in his own. After Gruumm had been defeated, Cruger thought that S.P.D. was out of danger. Now Sky was fighting an enemy that had no face and he was fighting this enemy on his own. For the first time in Cruger's life, he felt helpless. He looked over at Sky and saw that he was still unconscious. Cruger hoped that Sky would wake soon and everything would be ok. Then they could celebrate his twenty-first birthday like they were supposed to.

2-2-2

It wasn't long before Kat was in the S.P.D. lab. She grabbed a P-200 micropipette and turned the dial to 100 microliters. Kat applied a yellow tip to the micropipette. Next, Kat depressed the plunger on the P-200 to the first stop and held it in this position. She inserted the micropipette into the sample of blood. Kat slowly released the plunger drawing fluid into the tip in the process. With her other hand, she grabbed a microscope slide. Placing the tip of the micropipette on the slide, Kat slowly depressed the plunger to the first stop. Once it had reached this position, she continued to depress the plunger to the second position. She held the plunger in this position and as she removed the micropipette from the slide, Kat depressed the large blue button located at the top of the P-200 and ejected the tip into the trash. She laid the micropipette on the table then properly applied a cover slip to the microscope slide and put the slide on the stage of a compound light microscope. Kat fastened the slide in place with the stage clips. She looked through the eyepiece while using the coarse adjustment knob to raise the stage. She fiddled with the fine adjustment knob until the image came into focus. She then switched over to the high power objective lens. She used the coarse adjustment knob to raise the stage so that the slide was just beneath the lens. After adjusting the fine adjustment knob, the image came into focus. Something caught her eye. Something that wasn't supposed to be there.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Wow! Thank you guys so much for reviewing my fic. It means so much to me to come back from class to find that my fic had been reviewed. Just to clear up any confusion, this disease is not real. (Maybe I should include that in my disclaimer though it does sound kind of weird to say that I own a disease.) So while you can compare it to any diseases that are known all you want, just know that I made this disease up for the sake of my story. As far as the medical and scientific information that I present is concerned, I will do some research beforehand so the information I present is at least somewhat accurate. However, if it is not fully accurate, forgive me and keep in mind that I am neither a scientist nor a doctor but a lowly college student. Please read and review my fic. No flames please. Thanks.