Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
Dissension within the Ranks
Chapter 6
The next morning, Kat made her way to the infirmary and found Cruger standing at Sky's bedside. Sky was in a hospital gown. He had a bunch of tubes coming out of him and he was hooked up to various machines one of them being life support. Kat put a hand on Cruger's shoulder.
"You didn't sleep last night did you?" Kat asked.
"Sleep? Of course not! How can I sleep at a time like this?" Cruger replied.
"Have you left his bedside at all?" Kat inquired.
"No," Cruger answered.
"Doggie, I don't think staying up all night at Sky's bedside is good for you. You should get yourself some fresh air and some sleep," Kat said.
"Why did it have to be Sky? Why did he do this?" Cruger asked.
"He did it to make sure Bridge and Z would be ok," Kat answered.
"I feel like Sky is my own son. With A-Squad M.I.A., Sky is my longest serving cadet. Even when his father was a ranger, Sky was at the academy since he had lost his mother at a young age. Then, when his father had served his term, he left taking Sky with him. I thought I would never see Sky again. Years later, I was delighted to find that Sky had joined the Academy. He quickly became friends with Cadet Dru Harrington. He was so different back then. Nothing like he is now. He was a mischievous party animal that liked to cause trouble. He didn't care about work. All he cared about was having fun. Then, about three years ago, Cadet Dru Harrington was assigned to the Nebula Academy leaving Sky without a best friend. Shortly after, Sky found out that his father had passed away. That's when I noticed a change in him. He started to become cold, distant, aloof, some might even say anti-social. He forgone any relationships with anybody and buried himself in his work. He lived, breathed, ate, and slept S.P.D. I believe he did it so he wouldn't have to deal with the pain and sorrow he felt for losing both his best friend and his father. Since then, I've watched Sky become a much better fighter. His test scores are amazing. He is highly skilled in weaponry. Thanks to Syd, Z, Jack, and Bridge, especially Syd and Bridge, I think Sky is starting to finally become a shadow of the person he was back when he and Dru were best friends. He's still pig headed, stubborn, and isn't all that approachable at times, but the four of them have gotten him to loosen up a bit. Now, look at him. We don't even know if he's going to make it or not." Cruger stated.
XXXXXXXXXX
Bridge was in the cafeteria eating breakfast and he was surprised that Z wasn't eating breakfast as well.
"Hmm…maybe Z isn't up yet," Bridge thought to himself. "No wait a second. She probably is up but she probably doesn't want to see me or talk to me though I don't know why. I don't get why she's so angry with me. What did I do wrong? I didn't do anything wrong did I? At least I don't remember doing anything wrong. What exactly does one mean by 'wrong'? Wrong is such a relative word. What one person would consider wrong another person might not. So can anything ever truly be wrong?"
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in Z's room. She was lying in bed. Cruger wasn't the only one who hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Z couldn't get the sound of the explosion out of her head no matter how hard she tried. She felt so helpless, so defeated. She felt like there was something she should have been able to do so things wouldn't have turned out the way they had.
"This is all Bridge's fault!" Z thought to herself. "If he had just left once Sky and I had evacuated all the workers, none of this would've happened. But no, he had to be concerned with how many dollars in damage there would be and how many people would be without jobs! How could he do that? Life is more important than money. Life is more important than some job. Sky was still young. He had his whole life ahead of him only for it to be stopped abruptly thanks to Bridge. Stupid Bridge!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the prison section of the Academy, Jack and Syd were pacing back and forth in their prison cells. Neither of them had been able to get any sleep either last night. They had both been wondering what exactly happened to Sky. They were both waiting eagerly to be informed by somebody, anybody who actually had a clue what was going on around here.
"I can't believe this! There goes our only shot of getting out of here!" Syd exclaimed.
"Only shot? What are you babbling about?" Jack remarked.
"Sky! Something bad obviously happened to Sky and he was our only chance of getting out of here! Face it, Z isn't going to want me out because of what I did to her. Bridge isn't going to want you out because of what you did to him. Cruger isn't going to want either of us out because he confiscated our morphers for crying out loud!" Syd yelled.
"That's the second time that even though I hate to admit it, Syd has a point," Jack thought to himself.
"I need to know that Sky's alright. I don't think I can live without him. We've been through so much together and I can't stand the thought of that stopping now," Syd said.
"Hey, don't worry about it Syd. You know as well as I do that Sky's a fighter. Whatever happened to him no matter how bad it may have been, Sky isn't going down without a fight," Jack reassured Syd.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the infirmary, Kat was still taking in everything that Cruger had said not too long ago.
"I had no idea Doggie viewed Sky as his own son. Now that I think about it, he does seem pretty protective of him. I mean back when Wootox and Sky had switched bodies, he seemed extremely pissed off at Wootox. More pissed off than I've ever seen him before. Hey, that's it! Maybe that's why Doggie made Sky blue ranger instead of red ranger. To protect him. He knows that the red ranger is always the one in the most danger and he didn't want that to be Sky. Come to think of it, last night Doggie nearly bit my head off every time I suggested postponing the search for Sky. I mean it's not like I don't care about Sky too. I've known him just as long as Doggie has. He seems to forget that I've been here just as long as he has. It wasn't like I was abandoning Sky although I can see how Doggie would think that." Kat thought to herself.
Just then Bridge had entered the infirmary.
"How is he?" Bridge asked referring to Sky.
Kat shook herself from her thoughts to give Bridge an answer. "He's doing no better than he was when he found him I'm afraid," Kat responded.
"But he's alive isn't he?" Bridge asked his voice full of hope.
"Yes, but only because he's hooked up to a life support machine," Kat answered.
"His heart wasn't beating when we found him," Cruger added.
"What are you saying he is dead?" Bridge asked not realizing that he had raised his voice.
"Unofficially," Kat replied.
"No he isn't!" Cruger corrected.
"Whoa," Bridge thought to himself. "I've seen Cruger angry before, but never like this!"
"Was there something else you wanted?" Cruger asked impatiently.
"Huh? Oh yeah! I need your help with something. Z hasn't come out of her room ever since she and I got back last night. I'm worried about her. She hasn't eaten anything and I think she's been crying all night," Bridge answered.
"I'll go see what I can do," Kat said leaving the infirmary.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the prison area of the Academy, Jack and Syd finally had given up pacing and sat on their beds.
"Hey Syd?" Jack said.
"Yeah?" Syd asked.
"Since Sky's out of the picture for an undetermined amount of time, what do you say you and I hook up?" Jack answered.
"I can't believe you just said that!" Syd shouted.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Aren't you the slightest bit sad about what happened to Sky?" Syd asked.
"Hold on a second. First of all, we don't even know that anything happened to Sky at all. Secondly, even if something did happen we don't know the severity of it," Jack responded.
"I know you and Sky never really got along, but damn I never knew you were so heartless!" Syd snapped.
"Heartless?" Jack asked.
"I thought you had the hots for Z? Whatever happened to that?" Syd asked.
"It's like you said Syd. Without Sky, we're probably never going to get out of here, so we might as well enjoy each other's company," Jack stated.
"Enjoy each other's company? Dream on you sick freak!" Syd exclaimed.
"Just so you know, the way you and Z were rolling around on the floor yesterday really turned me on," Jack stated.
"Eww. I would never date you! You want to know why? You're a player Jack. There's no way in hell you could remain faithful to any one person. You salivate at any girl who catches your attention. That's why you and I could never be together! You'd probably end up cheating on me!" Syd explained.
"Gee Syd, I'm hurt," Jack commented sarcastically.
Syd rolled her eyes and lied down resting her head on her pillow that way she wouldn't have to look at Jack.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kat had made her way to Z's room and found the door to her room not only shut, but locked. She knocked.
"Leave me alone Bridge!" Z shouted.
"It's not Bridge. It's me Kat!" Kat replied.
Z pushed a button on the remote to first unlock the door. She pushed another button on the remote to open it.
Kat entered the room and made her way over to Z.
"Did you find Sky?" was the first thing Z asked.
"Yes we did," Kat answered.
"Is he ok?" Z asked hoping she'd make it two for two and get another 'yes' for a response.
"I'm afraid not. He's on life support as we speak," Kat responded.
A frown appeared on Z's face.
"Life support? You mean to say Sky is dead?" Z asked horrified.
"Not necessarily," Kat commented.
"What do you mean 'not necessarily'?" Z asked.
"Well, maybe back in say the year 2005 life support machines just simply delayed inevitable death, but now in that we are in the year 2025, those kinds of life support machines have become obsolete. Don't forget that all of our equipment here at S.P.D. is state of the art. The best of its time. My theory is that after being on life support for awhile, Sky's heart will become strong enough to beat and pump blood on its own without the use of life support," Kat explained.
"You mean, there's a chance he'll pull through?" Z asked.
"Exactly," was Kat's response.
The corners of Z's mouth bent upwards into a smile.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the infirmary, Bridge was left alone with Cruger and a seemingly lifeless Sky.
"I couldn't sleep last night. Ever since I joined the Academy, Sky's been my roommate. Every night he's been there. I feel so safe at night knowing that he's there with me. However, for the first time he wasn't there last night. I wasn't able to sleep without that sense of security," Bridge said.
Cruger just stared at Sky making Bridge wonder if he had even heard a single word that he had spoken.
"Commander, please can you tell me what happened. I don't remember. I get a distinct impression from Z that what happened last night was my fault," Bridge stated.
"Did you think that maybe the reason you got that impression was because it was your fault?" Cruger fired back.
"With all due respect sir, how so?" Bridge asked.
"If you hadn't insisted on trying to stop a bomb you had no idea how to stop, none of this would've happened. If you had thought about your teammate, your supposed best friend, instead of how costly the damage would be or how many people would be unemployed as a result of the explosion, none of this would've happened. No, you were more concerned about money, jobs, things that could be replaced instead of the life of another human being, something that cannot be replaced!" Cruger shouted.
A look of horror appeared on Bridge's face. It finally sunk in. What happened to Sky was his fault. There was no question about it. Z and Cruger both seemed to think so. It was all starting to come back to him. Bridge remembered saying those things that Cruger mentioned he had said. "Oh my God! I did this to Sky!" Bridge thought to himself. "Sky was willing to risk his life just to see to it that Z and I would make it out of the warehouse unharmed. Oh Sky, I am so incredibly sorry! How could I do this to you, my best friend?"
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the prison section of the Academy, Jack was waving his hand trying to get Syd's attention. When he saw that that wasn't working, he just spoke to her.
"Are you telling me that you have no feelings toward me at all?" Jack asked.
"God, does he ever shut up?" Syd thought to herself referring to Jack.
"Hello? Earth to Syd!" Jack said.
"Oh yes I have feelings for you Jack. Deep, passionate feelings Jack," Syd answered.
"Ha! I knew it!" Jack yelled.
"Oh, but you didn't let me finish!" Syd replied. "I have feelings for you alright, feelings of hatred and disgust!"
"Oh come on, quit denying how you really feel!" Jack said.
"What the hell is your deal anyway?" Syd burst out.
"Oh come on Syd, I'll take whatever I can get. That's my motto. It applied back to when I was on the streets stealing from the rich to give to the poor and it applies now. The only thing I can get right now is you, so I'll take it," Jack stated.
Syd was repulsed.
"You know Syd, there's nothing stopping me from phasing through my cell door and yours and getting me some," Jack smirked.
"Damn it Jack! Will you shut up and quit letting your testosterone do the speaking!" Syd yelled.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kat and Z had made their way to the infirmary after getting Z some breakfast first so she could finally get something inside her stomach.
"Look Bridge, I'm sorry for the way I reacted," Z said to Bridge upon entering the infirmary.
Bridge ran over and hugged Z and started crying.
"No Z, I'm the one who should be sorry. You and Cruger were right. This is all my fault and I am so sorry," Bridge finally got out through sobs.
Z returned the hug taking her right hand and rubbing Bridge's back in a circling motion.
"Don't say such things Bridge. It wasn't your fault. I was wrong about that. Sky's going to be fine. Kat told me that once Sky's heart is strong enough to beat and pump blood on its own, he won't need to be hooked up to life support anymore," Z explained.
"Really? That's fantastic!" Bridge exclaimed.
Cruger's ears perked up at what Z had said.
"I think I owe you an apology as well," Cruger said to Kat.
Kat looked up at Cruger and their eyes locked.
"I have been anything but kind to you last night and today and for that I am sorry. I always tell the cadets not to let their emotions get the best of them because it gives the enemy the advantage and here I didn't practice what I preached and let my emotions get the best of me," Cruger said.
"Oh Doggie, you have nothing to be sorry for. I found out today how much Sky really means to you and now I understand why you were so upset, but like Z said, soon Sky's heart is going to be strong enough so that he won't need to be hooked up to life support," Kat replied.
Cruger and Kat hugged. "I couldn't hear any better news," Cruger whispered in Kat's ears.
To Be Continued…
Note: There. Another chapter finished. I find it rather amusing how the length of my chapters have alternated between around 2,000 words one chapter to around 3,000 words the next chapter and so on and so forth. Believe me, I didn't do this intentionally, it's just the way it's been turning out which makes it that much more amusing well to me at least.. I've received nothing but positive comments so far, which I find surprising since this is my first fanfic. (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!) Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed my fanfic.