Love Struck Delusion
Chapter 280 - What's happening now?
Raptor's POV, An hour later.
I opened my eyes long enough to see I was moving. Laying down with my head agonist what felt like a pillow. Turned out to be a cloak and only a few inches from me sat Zeta. She had a hand on my right shoulder to help keep me in place as we were clearly in a truck. I was stowed away in the back but I could hear plenty of others. Including Roz and my own pet dog Molly who, when I looked left caught my open eyes and let out a happy bark into my face.
"Braf! Braf!"
Instantly she began to lick me, but I was out of energy completely and just shut my eyes as I heard from Zeta who was concerned with what was going on with her.
"Stop Molly. Let him rest."
"Is he awake?" I heard Roz ask in concern as I suddenly was approached by Saff who got right alongside Molly to look at me. I opened my eyes again but very slowly and almost instantly he smiled back and replied.
"He's breathing. How are you feeling?"
I struggled to respond. The second I went to respond I felt like I got punched in the chest. Saff saw my immediate pain and urged me.
"Relax. Relax."
Saff took his time but soon exposed a syringe to me. Leaning in and giving it to me through my neck he whispered.
"Morphine. It's gonna kick in real quick. Just sleep. We're heading back to Iraq as we speak."
Zeta's POV.
Raptor fell back to sleep as soon as Saff was done giving him another dose. Once he was out of it I asked Roz who was driving.
"How long till we're back?"
"We got a few hours. I'd rest up if I were you guys."
"Okay." I mumbled as I looked back to see my cloak resting under Raptor's head. Molly curled up right on his chest and as soon as she was out I decided to join her by shutting my eyes. Hopefully by the time the sun rises we'll be home.
Raptor's POV, The next morning, Iraq capital.
When I awoke I found myself in bed. Molly was glued to my side and not another soul in the room. Looking to my right side I found a mirror. My face was covered in white bandages and again I was reminded about my lack of strength. All my powers were gone. I was back to normal. I couldn't sense anyone. I only could sense myself and all the pain I was in now that I was awake to feel it.
"Ahhhhh….hhhhhhhhh…?" Letting out two very short moans, I quickly understood I wasn't going anywhere. My legs were still broken and now that I tried I found my one arm stuck in a cast. My right hand was bandaged up to the point I couldn't move the fingers that remained.
What happened to me? Why were my powers snuffed out from me? When did it happen? I asked myself as I tried to come up with an answer. I had so many thoughts on my mind however. Despite my current state I was unsure of what else happened after my ending with Archer. I had assumed things were okay though. Our chances were good. We had to have won. We had…..?
All of a sudden my mind gave up on thinking about reality. I stopped to only question my missing powers. What happened? Why…..?
"Raptor?"
My whole body went cold when I heard that voice. Looking left I felt my mind cease to work as Shadow stood right over me. His arms crossed yet his eyes focused on mine. In utter loss for words I questioned.
"Shadow?"
For what felt like minutes he stared at me. Unmoving in all regards as I tried to come up with some sense of words that sounded good together. Yet all I could manage to ask him was this.
"What are you doing here?"
Lowering his arms he replied.
"I'm not. You just think I am."
"What?" I questioned as he started to walk around the bed. Once he was at the head of it he asked me.
"Are you still dreaming about Abbey? Have the nightmares stopped?"
Unsure of what was happening I replied.
"What are you talking about Shadow? How do you…..?" It was at that moment I looked at Molly to find her gone from my side. Shadow proceeded to walk around to my other side to ask me next.
"You really have a problem Raptor. I think you need to see someone. Get some help."
I couldn't speak. I was completely confused by what was happening. Shadow on the other hand sat down on the side of my bed to tell me bluntly.
"You can't keep having these nightmares. You're going to go crazy. Does Alicia know?"
"Yeah?" I said back unsure of how else to respond to him. Giving me a smile he replied back.
"Good. She's a great woman Raptor. You two are perfect for one another. Midnight and Ghost are perfect examples. You're parents now. You need to think about them and their future."
"What are you saying Shadow? You're dead. They're dead. What's going on?"
"Nothing buddy." He replied as he put his hand on my arm. I felt nothing as he touched me. It just made me even more confused as he slowly looked back into my eyes to urge me.
"You should stop fighting. You need to wake up and make things better for yourself. Before they get worse. Ghost is a hard kid but he loves you and I know you love him. It's hard but be what I know you can be Raptor. Be his dad."
"Wake up?" I questioned as he nodded and lifted his hand up to my head.
"Yeah…...wake up. Stop fighting it. Stop fighting me."
His smile left him and as his hand reached my head he wrapped it right under my chin and across my throat. Almost immediately he began to choke me and thanks to my injuries I couldn't fight back. Molly remained asleep on my side the whole time I saw vision leave my eyes. All I could do was gag and gag until I felt my head go light. By the time I felt like I saw the light, everything around me changed. It was like a burst of lightning. I felt my whole body get hit by it. I swear I died. Everything stopped at that moment.
Next thing I knew I was screaming as loud as I could.
"Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Iraq, December 18th, 2:30am.
Sweat ran down my face as I woke up in bed. Almost immediately I looked to my right to find Alicia asleep next to me. Then I felt like I was about to throw up. So I quickly got out of bed to be instantly greeted by that feeling and the inability to move my legs straight. I felt drunk as I stumbled out of my room and across the hall to the bathroom.
Once in there I stopped to look at the mirror just above my sink. I was sweating so bad it looked as if I just got done dunking my head into a puddle. Once I felt that rumble again in my stomach I leaned over the sink as support for my legs and began to heave into it. Once I had started I heard from across the hall.
"Raptor?"
Alicia was calling to me. Sensing she was concerned I called out from where I was.
"I'll be back in bed in just a minute, baby."
My focus went back to making sure I didn't puke. By the time it had stopped Alicia was at my side in her nightgown. She put both her hands around my shoulders and asked me while looking into the mirror.
"Another nightmare?"
Nodding my head I replied.
"Yeah."
Something wasn't right. I had this weird feeling of Deja Vu. Yet I couldn't place why. As I took my time to relax she said to me from right behind my left ear.
"You need to go back to Dr. Clamer. It keeps happening."
Reaching up to place my hand over hers I replied.
"I don't need a shrink babe. I just need some time to think."
Alicia allowed me to move. Leaving her side, I grabbed onto one of the nearby towels and began to dry my face. At which point she said to me.
"That's the third night now Raptor. Thinking hasn't stopped it since it started, and it's not about to start now."
Putting the towel down as I finished I replied.
"I know."
The wolf gave me a small smile and very gently came back into my arms for a hug. Once she had me she said to me.
"Then go see him. You two may not have gotten along before, but it's starting to show to the kids and to me. You're not well."
Pulling myself off her I replied.
"I just don't know how to cope anymore Alicia. Ever since Shadow died I just haven't been the same person."
"That's what you need to tell him, not me. Promise me you'll go in the morning."
With our eyes locked I then said back.
"I promise."
Alicia proceeded to kiss me. Once it was over she asked me.
"How about we get back to bed? In the morning I'll make you breakfast, then you can go while I'll stay home with the kids."
"That sounds good." My voice brought another smile to her face and from there she helped me back into bed.
Finding myself back under the covers, I tried my best to focus when I felt her body curl up right on mine. The heat from her body brought warmth to me, but regardless for some reason I felt like I was going to drift right back into hell. Or wherever my mind was right now. All I could think about was that Deja Vu.
Zeta's POV.
Something wasn't right. Raptor was really out of it. He was barely breathing and for some reason his body wasn't healing like it used too. What happened to his powers? Why was he so vulnerable right now? I asked myself as Molly was glued to his side on the bed.
With them both asleep, I widened my eyes when Marx and Saff both entered the room to look at us. From where I was sitting Marx gave me this small huff and a puff. Together Saff and him came to his bedside, where Marx started to look Raptor over carefully. Saff on the other said to him quietly so not to wake either him or the dog up.
"I had to give him two shots of morphine. One for the field stitching I had to do out there and another for the ride back."
"How long has he been out for?" Marx asked as he directed that question to me.
"Since we started the trip back. He hasn't been awake since then Marx. Why? What's wrong?"
Shrugging his shoulders and letting out a deep sigh, the cat replied.
"What's wrong can be a million things right now. What's concerning me is Raptor's condition. Has he done anything special since his rescue Zeta? Any of those…..powers? Has he used any?"
Shaking my head I replied.
"Not that I'm aware of, but it was a concern to me. I don't know why he hasn't done anything. He was completely out of it though when we got to him. Not to mention the morphine probably put him under. So I don't really know what's going on with him. He hasn't really had the chance."
Saff was a little lost by all this. In confusion he asked us.
"What are you two talking about? What powers?"
Marx was quick to reply.
"Nothing. It's complicated and it doesn't really matter right now. What concerns me right now is his current state of mind. Let me look at some things."
Marx proceeded to open Raptor's eyes. They looked normal, but Marx quickly took out a small pen that had a light on the top of it and began to shine it into his eyes. He did it for a lot longer than I expected but he seemed to be getting more and more concerned as time passed.
Once that was finished he began to gently try and move Raptor's only good arm up and down. Raptor had no ability to control that in his state and very gently Marx began to fool around with his reflexes. It seemed to be the only thing working when he applied some force to it. Which then turned into him pinching different parts of his body. Somewhat confused I asked the cat as he pinched Raptor's face.
"What are you doing Marx?"
Marx remained silent through the whole process. It was only after he was done that he said to us.
"Explains why he hasn't been able to do anything. He's in a coma."
"What?" Both Saff and I blurted out as Marx collected himself.
Sitting up I took action into my own hands and lifted up Raptor's eyelids. Once I did, Marx said to me.
"No response to outside light. If he was just asleep the pupils would react to it. They aren't. That also includes his reflexes and his ability to feel pain. Not once did he react to anything I did to him just then. He's in a coma."
"How?" I asked out loud as he looked to Saff to reply.
"Probably because of the morphine."
I was now standing right above Raptor. I had no idea what to say or do now that I knew what was wrong with him. Putting his hand over my shoulder, Marx gently sat me back down and stated.
"I don't know how long it'll be Zeta. Comas can range from anywhere between hours, days, weeks, months, even years. All I can tell you is he's not in any pain right now. He's okay and I'd like to keep him here in medical. That way I can make sure his body is getting everything it needs to stay funcial. Is that okay with you?"
Nodding my head I replied in sadness.
"Yeah. But what the fuck does this mean for the rest of the country? He's supposed to be the middle east's spokesman for peace with G.U.N right about now. How can he lead the country from a bed?"
Looking me over closely Marx replied.
"I don't know, but surely General Hoffer can fill in as his replacement. What's important is we make sure he's comfortable and safe. That and we need to inform everyone of his condition."
Saff who sat next to me quietly whispered.
"I'm sorry Zeta. It wasn't my intention."
Reaching out and patting his leg I replied.
"You're fine. You did what was necessary, Saff. It's not your fault. Fuck!"
The two watched as I stood up to take a few steps away from the bed. Marx allowed me to think and once I was ready I said to him as calmly as I could.
"I'll go tell Hoffer and the others. You guys can do whatever you think is best for him."
Marx nodded and watched with Saff as I left the room. On my way down the hall I spotted Linnen speaking with Hecan and Hoffer who were standing in the middle of the main lobby with Pepper, Roz, Cody, Peek, and a handful of G.U.N soldiers. When I neared, Hecan turned to smile at me. At the same time asking me.
"Good to see your okay Zeta. How's Raptor doing?"
I was chewing my own tongue at this point. Hecan saw there was something wrong in my eyes as I let out a small sigh and gathered the words. Once I had them I replied.
"He's okay, but there's a problem."
"What?" Pepper questioned as the group circled around.
"What's wrong with Voltz?" Linnen asked as I saw Zandro standing between my sister and Peek just listening as I gave out the news.
"He's in a coma. Marx declared it a few minutes ago."
"Jesus." Hecan mumbled as he lowered his head.
"For how long?" Cody asked as I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't know. Marx said it could range between hours, days, weeks, months, even years. There is no telling how long he'll be out for."
"Fuck that." Peek replied in sadness as I nodded and looked to Hoffer to ask.
"What are we gonna do?"
Hecan looked back up at me to reply.
"For right now we need to focus on getting Afghanistan back in working shape. It's important we start rebuilding. General Hoffer? What do you think?"
"I think we need to find a good replacement for Voltz. The people around here look to him for answers and for hope during dark times. Yet they have a right to know about his condition. We can't hide that."
Hecan nodded and at which point Linnen asked to be sure of what was happening.
"We're already going to tell them what happened last night right?"
"We are." Hecan replied as he looked back to me to say.
"Hoffer has a date with the media in a few hours. He's going to tell everyone out there what happened and what is going to happen. My people are already hard at work fixing Afghanistan. It's going to take a few weeks, but we need to draw up a plan of action here. Starting with letting them all know about Raptor's condition. I'm sure there will be an army of people there to support him through this."
"Agreed." Hoffer said as focus was on Hecan who suggested next.
"Then let's start getting our facts together."
Everyone knew what they had to do, but the issue was doing it right now. We were still all worried about Raptor. Once our circle started to clear up Hecan pulled me aside to say.
"You have my word I'll do this right. For him and for you. Tell Marx if he needs anything I'll make sure it gets to him. Whatever he needs to see to it that Raptor stays safe and comfortable."
"Thank you." I replied as he came in to hug me. Once wrapped around my body Hecan whispered.
"I owe Raptor my life. It's the least I can do for a man who risked everything for his worst enemy."
mT Shadow.