Lou was numb as he and his oldest brother, Wil, walked to the conference room. He already knew what the doctor was going to tell the ninja, since the doctors had first brought it up a week ago. He had asked his parents and both his brothers for advice. He even asked his childless sister and her husband what they would do in this scenario. It wasn't an easy question to answer. He knew what he should do, but he wanted to hear the opinion of Wu, Misako, and the ninja, just in case they managed to change his mind.
Morgen was sitting in jail somewhere, but Cole still was not awake, and his body was failing. The ninja had interrogated her, but she claimed there was no cure for him, since he wasn't supposed to survive in the first place. Hermes and Kelly tried talking to her, but she refused to cooperate. She knew that even though she would be charged with first-degree murder, she still won.
While they waited for the ninja to show up, for the thousandth time since Cole was admitted to the hospital, Lou thought back to when Cole was ten. He and Anna decided to walk to the corner market near their house, leaving Cole home alone. It was something they pair did all the time. The trip wasn't even supposed to be twenty minutes long. Yet, it was long enough for someone probably sent by Morgen to set fire to the house. Lou and Anna could see the smoke from the market and ran back to the house. Firefighters were already there by the time they made their way through the crowd. They hadn't realized someone was trapped in the house, and it took five people to stop Anna from running into the burning building. Cole slept for three days, but when he woke up, other than a raspy voice and some second-degree burns, he was fine. The doctors back then weren't sure if Cole would make it, just like they weren't sure now. Except it had been much longer than three days.
Lou looked up when the door opened. A doctor was ushering everyone into the room. Everyone was confused why one of the few, true triple threats in the entertainment business was sitting next to Lou. Except for Jay, who was trying and failing to hide his excitement.
"Wil Burton! Hi! Uh, I mean, hi, uh… You're here?" Jay stammered.
"… I'm just here to support my brother," Wil said.
"Brother? You… and he… so Cole…"
"Burton is just a stage name. Benny uses the same fake name I do."
"Ben Burton? You… Cole never told me he was related to celebrities! Why? He knows how much I like Ben Burton movies. I could kill him for not telling me."
Lou, Wil, and the doctor all looked extremely uncomfortable. The doctor cleared his throat.
"Yes, um, let's get started. I am Dr. Yolada, Cole's primary care physician while he's been here. The reason you are here today is because Mr. Bur…Burchin… Cole's dad wanted your opinion on the matter."
"Our opinion?" Zane asked.
"Yes. It has been eight weeks since Cole was admitted. In that time, we have tried everything we could think of to cure him. Nothing has worked. We even allowed your experimental treatment, and that too yielded no result. MRIs, CT scans, and EEG tests have all determined that his brain activity is minimal. His oxygen levels keep dropping, and last week, we placed him on a ventilator to help him breathe. Despite our best efforts, his body continues to deteriorate. Every day he does not wake up, the odds of him ever waking up go down."
"What are you saying?" Lloyd asked.
"There is nothing more we can do for him. At this point, it would be kinder to Cole to take him off the ventilator, remove his feeding tube, and let nature take its course," Dr. Yolada said.
"What? Are you nuts? We aren't going to let you kill Cole!" Kai shouted. The others voiced their agreement.
"Kai…" Wu started.
"No, tell them they're wrong, Master Wu! He could still wake up! We could try another tea, a potion, something, anything!"
"There is nothing else to try."
"But, to kill Cole? It doesn't seem right," Lloyd said.
"How long before you turn off his life support?" Zane asked.
"It's Lou's decision," Wil said.
Everyone turned to face Lou. He couldn't look at them. Everything the doctor said made sense, and he knew it was kinder to let Cole pass, but he had already lost two wives and an unborn child, now they were asking him to say goodbye to his son, the only family he had left. He didn't know if he could handle it.
"If you do nothing, how long will he live?" Misako asked.
"It's hard to say. It could be months or even years. However, you also have to consider his quality of life. Do you really want to keep him alive only to be tied to a hospital bed for the rest of his life, unable to interact with the world?" Dr. Yolada asked.
"What do you think, Lou?" Lloyd asked.
Lou couldn't speak. He wished Anna was around to help him through this. He instead focused on not crying in front of the ninja.
"He's conflicted. As a parent, you want what's best for your children. Yet something like this… If it was me and my wife having to make this decision about one of our children, I'm sure we would feel exactly the same way," Wil said, speaking for his brother.
"Morgen never wanted to have children," Lou whispered.
"Yes, erm, we will not proceed until the papers are signed and processed," Dr. Yolada interjected.
"So, there's time to find another cure," Kai said.
"There isn't another cure."
"Listen to the doctor, Kai. I've been monitoring Cole's vitals remotely, and I agree. Cole will most likely never wake up, and as painful as it is, it will be selfish to keep him here," Zane said.
"But he's our brother, Zane. And if anyone could come back from the brink of death, it's Cole. He was a ghost for a year and he came back from that," Jay pointed out. Dr. Yolada looked uncomfortable.
"Yeah, what's to say he won't pull a stunt like that again?" Kai asked.
"It has been two months already. If he wanted to return, he would have done so," Zane said sadly.
"Maybe he can't?" Jay asked.
"Or maybe we've just been delaying the inevitable," Lloyd commented.
"Lloyd?" Kai asked.
"Face it. Without modern medicine, Cole would've died back when Morgen first attacked him. You heard her. Even with his powers, he wasn't meant to survive. Cole is strong, but he's not invincible. And you know he has to be in pain, even if he can't tell us. He can't move on his own, he can't feed himself, and his breathing is labored. I don't think Cole would want to be kept alive just to suffer and never leave the hospital."
The other ninja looked at Lloyd. They hated to admit it, but he was right. Slowly, everyone but Kai murmured their agreement. Kai stormed out of the room. Dr. Yolada nodded and said he would have the papers brought up.
Lou hesitated to sign the papers. Deep down, he knew Cole was suffering, and he knew he should let Cole pass on, but he wanted just a little bit more time with his son. Lou's parents, two brothers, sister, and their families all took shifts staying with him during the day. No one was allowed to stay overnight. The ninja came every day, visiting two at a time. Even Hermes and Kelly came over to look at the grandson they never knew they had.
Everyone but Kai came to terms with what would happen and prepared themselves. Kai refused to give up. He fought with everyone, saying Cole could still wake up. He searched Wu's scrolls for a cure that was missed somehow. He visited Morgen in prison and demanded again to know exactly what she did to him and how to undo it.
A month passed. Lou decided to stop procrastinating, stop making up excuses, stop listening to the empty hope Kai possessed. He signed the papers. They removed Cole's feeding tube that afternoon. They also took him off the ventilator, though they kept him on oxygen. The nurses and doctors said it would be a few days, so everyone would have time to say their last goodbyes. The ninja piled into Cole's room. Lou didn't fight them. He couldn't. They stayed there until a nurse kicked them out when visiting hours were over. They promised to return the next morning as soon as they were allowed in.
Lou was left alone that night. He stroked his son's hair, praying for a miracle. All of the emotions he had been holding back the past three months came rushing up to the surface. He wished he could take the past twenty years back. He wished he had been a better father to Cole. He wished he had told Cole the truth. Now it was too late. In a few days, Cole would be gone. He held his son and sobbed. Morgen had won.