TOMMY - SIX WEEKS LATER

I sink down in a kitchen chair. I've been cleaning and doing yard work all day, combination spring cleaning, getting ready for spring break and visitors. Dar and Pina are coming to visit for a bit. Kira was invited to join them, but she turned them down. Apparently, she's seeing someone and is going to be spending time with whoever it is. I can't wait to meet them, since she's being rather secretive about it.

On top of it all, I've had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach all day. And about half an hour ago, I got a surge of something I couldn't identify through the bond. Usually, Zedd calls me when it's something minor, but then again, that's usually anger or annoyance.

My phone rings again and I sigh. This had better not be another call from the school about jumping Jacob a grade. Zedd and I have talked about it, but haven't come to a decision yet. We'd like him to get the social interaction he needs, much the same reason we even enrolled both him and his sister in school to start with, but on the other hand if he's not being intellectually stimulated he's going to start getting restless and bored. I return my attention to my phone as it rings again. I can't help but frown as I don't recognize the number. "Hello?"

"I need to speak to Dr. Thomas Oliver, please."

"This is he. Who is this?"

"This is Amanda Ross from Reefside General. Do you know Zedd Oliver?"

My heart stops. "Y-yes. He's my husband. What's wrong?"

"I don't have any details, sir, but he's just been admitted and taken to the ER, it's my understanding that he's been in an accident. My coworkers are calling the other contacts on the list in his wallet right now." Thankful that I'd made them for all of us, I know that Hayley will go and get the kids from school and keep them at her house until we know what's going on. The lists have contact information plus some basic medical information.

"I'm on my way." A quick text to Hayley to confirm that she'll get the kids, a quick change of clothes and I'm out the door. Twenty agonizing minutes later and I'm hurrying into the hospital. I hurry up to the desk. "I'm here about Zedd Oliver."

The girl looks his name up on her computer. "Hmm. Looks like he's headed up to surgery."

"Listen to me carefully. Call up there and tell them that he's not human. Tell them that I'm on my way up and if they can safely wait, please do."

She stares at me, somehow not understanding me when thankfully the older woman next to her, steps in. "Surgery is on the fifth floor, sir. I'll call them right now."

I head for the fifth floor, praying that things aren't too bad although I know that going into surgery this fast is never good news. Dana Mitchell-Grayson from Lightspeed Rescue is listed as Zedd's doctor on his wallet card, but she's not a surgeon. The only saving graces right now, really, are that she can be here in ten minutes and in the meantime, his physiology is similar enough to human that they should be able to stabilize him in spite of the differences.

I reach the right floor and cross quickly to the desk as the nurse is hanging up the phone. "Miss-"

"One moment, sir." She turns and hollers down the hall. "Anna! The Oliver guy from the accident - his doctor is on her way and she says to contain the situation as best we can until she gets here!"

"Special situation?"

"Off Earth."

"Got it." The tiny nurse disappears through a set of doors as I suck in a breath.

The nurse behind the desk turns to me. "How can I help you?"

I gesture to the doors. "Zedd Oliver. He's my husband and-"

"And you wanted to make sure we didn't accidentally do more harm than good. We're on it, sir. Dr. Mitchell-Grayson says she's already en route and she'll be here in a few minutes. I know it's hard, but please go to the waiting room over there and the emergency room doctor will be with you soon to fill you in on what we know, okay?"

Reluctantly, I do as I'm asked. I pace, unable to sit down. Everything in me screams that I should be with him, but I know that I would only be in the way. I look up when a doctor comes in. "You're here for Zedd Oliver?"

"Yes. How bad is it?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. It's bad. We sent him to surgery due to some internal bleeding and his brain is swelling. Now that could only be a concussion or it could be something more and we don't know just yet."

"Do you know what happened?"

He hesitates. "All I know is that he was in a car accident, the other driver was hurt as well and - they had to use the jaws of life to get him out."

I stop breathing for a minute. Finally I gather myself enough to say, "I know you can't tell me, but if you aren't checking the other driver's blood alcohol level, then I'd suggest that you do."

"It's standard procedure to test all drivers in this sort of thing" he says calmly. "They'll let you know when he's out of surgery."

He leaves the room and I take a deep breath. Time to call Dar and Pina. This will not be fun.

HOURS LATER

I'm pacing again. They've said that the surgery went well and that he's in recovery. This reminds me far too much of when Jason was in the hospital all those years ago. Jason's here as well as Wes, Eric, Carter and a few other people. I've pretty much had to shut down emotionally so that I don't completely fall apart.

"Here for Zedd Oliver?" I snap to attention at the nurse's query.

"Here. How is he?"

"They're going to be moving him to a room shortly, but the doctor wants to talk to you before you go see him."

She gives me a sympathetic look and walks out of the room. I can feel my hands curl into fists at the helplessness I feel at the situation. I barely hear Carter say, "He's tough. He'll pull through, Tommy."

I draw a breath, barely realizing that I'd stopped breathing, and nod at his statement. "Right."

Before I can start pacing again, a man in scrubs comes in. "Dr. Oliver?"

"Yes. Please, how is he?"

"Dr. Mitchell-Grayson is going to stay and monitor his condition for a while, but truthfully, right now we're touch and go. His injuries are pretty severe, but the surgery went well. We've had to put in a temporary shunt to drain the excess fluid out of his head. It was compressing his brain. In spite of that, he's, well, he's slipped into a coma."

"No." The word comes out as barely a whisper and my knees give out. I never hit the floor, though, as familiar arms catch me and move me to a nearby couch.

"Easy, bro. Breathe. Come on. Let me hear you." I force myself to follow the command of my one time leader. As I pull myself together, I can hear the others asking questions and the answers.

It's likely that the coma is temporary. There is some brain damage, but it's minor, restricted to relatively unused areas of the brain. Yes, he knows that Zedd's not human and that the 'normal' rules might not apply to him.

I grip Jason's arm. "Pina. Call Pina."

Swiftly, he triggers his communicator, using the others as a human shield. Quietly, he fills her and Dar in. They assure us that they are less than a day out, in fact they should be here by sunrise. Pina can fix this, I know it. I just have to hang on until she gets here.

The doctor leaves but before I can get myself together, a police officer walks in. "Oliver?"

"Dr. Oliver" I answer automatically. "Can I help you?"

"Look, I know that this is a difficult time for you and I'm sorry to intrude, but - well, to be blunt, I'm fairly certain that your insurance company is going to total the car. What do you want to do about retrieving what belongings you can before it goes to the junkyard?"

"Eric, Wes - would you go clean it out please? And get pictures for the insurance, will you?" They nod and instantly follow the officer out. Once they're gone, I turn to Jason and grab his hand. "Jason, please. I've only ever asked you to use your resources one time before, but I'm asking you again now. Find out what you can about this. Who the other driver was, what happened, were they drunk, anything. Please, Jason, I'm begging you."

"I will, bro. Just hang on." He signals Carter to take his place and slips out of the room. When he returns, he's not happy. "Both Zedd and the other driver were sober, she's comparatively fine, but she's headed for jail by way of the psycho ward. Apparently, she confused Zedd's car for her husband's. He was supposed to be at work, so when she saw the car, she thought he was out having an affair. Apparently, they'd been having problems anyway. She decided to teach him a lesson and 'mess up his pretty little car' and, well, accelerated into him." I feel the color drain from my face. "If he were a mere human, he'd- Anyway, she managed to get out of her SUV, saw that it wasn't her husband and called 911." He shakes his head. "She doesn't seem to understand why she's being arrested for attempted murder. She thinks that, because Zedd wasn't her actual target, it's just an accident." Seriously?

After another hour, they let me in the room to see him. I take a deep breath and push the door open. A few steps into the room and I can see him. Oh god, he looks so bad! He didn't look this bad after the whole Annwyl thing! And so much worse than Jason did when he'd been shot all those years ago. I sit down on the edge of the bed and take his hand. "Zedd, kalleimat, I'm here. Hang on, okay? Hang on and come back to me and the kids." I swallow hard and press a kiss to his hand. "We love you and need you."

I continue to talk to him softly, reminiscing about times that we've needed him or special things we've done for him because we love him. I don't pay attention to anything else until a hand settles on my shoulder. I look up at Dana. "I'll stay with him tonight, Tommy. You go home, try and get some sleep, make arrangements for your kids and come back tomorrow."

I stand up, kiss him gently on the temple and turn to leave. "Pina and Dar will be here tomorrow. Hopefully there's something she can do for him that, no offence, Earth medicine can't do."

"None taken. I hope so too."