Lloyd sighed when no one came to the door after nearly five minutes of knocking. The ninja hadn't heard from Cole in days two and they were worried. He wasn't answering his phone, and no one had been home whenever the ninja came over. The ninja were ready to walk away again when a taxi pulled up to the house. Lou got out of the cab, paid the driver, then walked around to the other side to help Cole out.
"Cole! Where have you been? We've been calling and texting you for like two days!" Jay exclaimed.
Cole didn't respond. Even though he was standing, he looked like he was ready to pass out. Lou struggled to keep Cole upright.
"What happened?" Kai asked as he ran over to help support Cole. It wasn't easy since Cole towered over his dad and all of his friends.
"I found him passed out in the bathroom and had to call an ambulance. The good news is we know what's been making him so sick. Stick him on the couch for now, I have to get ready for work," Lou said as he unlocked the door.
"Work? You just said he was in the hospital," Lloyd said.
"Yes, and the hospital wants money, something I am low on at the moment. Therefore, I have to go to work. Bea and the General will be here soon. And if you could make sure he eats this when it's done, I would greatly appreciate it," Lou said as he put some bread into the toaster before running upstairs.
"Cole? What happened?" Jay asked.
Cole, who was already nearly asleep on the couch, groaned and opened an eye.
"Why didn't you tell us you were back in the hospital?" Nya asked.
"Not my choice. Woke up there, didn't have my phone," Cole yawned.
"What happened?" Zane asked.
"Did you know they put vengestone in anti-nausea drugs?"
"They do?" Kai asked.
"Yes. And maybe other stuff as well… Supposedly it's really effective."
"Cole is correct. Vengestone is an effective remedy for nausea and vomiting," Zane added.
"Zane, why didn't you tell us that sooner?" Jay asked.
"You did not ask, and no one was ever sick enough to need those medicines. I assumed the doctors would know to not give them to Cole, or Lou would tell them not to."
"Dad didn't even know what vengestone was until I told him. I don't know if the doctors knew it was in the medicine or not," Cole yawned. He pulled the blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes.
Everyone else made their way into the kitchen while Cole rested.
"Vengestone in medicine?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes," Zane said.
"I guess that's why Cole said he lost his powers. How long until they come back?" Kai asked.
"It is too soon to tell. We have never taken vengestone internally before, so I am unable to determine how long it will take, if it leaves his system at all."
"If? He might not get his powers back?" Jay loudly asked.
"Shh. Cole's been through enough already. I don't want him to worry about this. Right now, he just needs to get better," Lloyd said.
"Agreed," Kai said. The others nodded.
The toast popped up just then. It was completely black and starting to smoke. They threw it out and got new toast cooking, after they turned the timer down. Once it was done, Zane put butter and grape jelly on the toast and took it to the living room. Cole was asleep.
"Cole? Wake up, your dad said you had to eat," Lloyd said as he shook Cole's shoulder.
Cole groaned as he sat up. He took the plate from Zane. He stared at the toast.
"You need to eat something," Nya said gently.
"… This looks like toast," Cole said after a while.
"It is toast," Kai said.
"Your father said you had to eat," Zane added.
"Who threw away perfectly good toast?" Lou yelled from the kitchen. No one had noticed him come downstairs.
"It was burned to a crisp!" Kai yelled back.
"It was still good! Just scrape off the black parts."
"It was all black! It looked like Kai tried to cook it with the Sword of Fire!" Jay yelled.
Cole smiled for the first time in months and took a bite of toast. Lou came in, dressed in his uniform, lectured Cole about eating everything on his plate, and ran out of the house.
"Doesn't your dad know you at all? Why lecture you about eating?" Jay joked.
"Maybe because I'm six foot four and only weighed a hundred twenty pounds after they pumped me full of fluids," Cole said as he took another bite.
"What?!" Kai, Jay, and Lloyd yelled simultaneously.
"That's dangerously underweight for someone of your size," Zane said.
"I'm surprised they let you out of the hospital," Nya added.
Cole shrugged. He took another bite and put the plate down on the coffee table.
"Dude, you have to eat more than just half a piece of toast," Jay said.
"I'm not that hungry, and I'm not positive I won't get sick again," Cole yawned. He curled up under the blankets and fell asleep. The ninja tried to wake him, but this time he rolled over onto his side so he wasn't facing them. Not even when Lloyd's cellphone started to ring did he wake up.
"Hi, Dareth… Woah, slow down, I can't understand you. You're where? … Jail? … Accessory to murder? … I'll be there shortly." Lloyd sighed and looked at his teammates.
"Would you like me to come with you?" Zane offered.
"Please. The rest of you, stay here I guess."
As soon as Lloyd and Zane left, Kai found the remote and turned the TV onto the news. They had to wait for the weather report to finish, then they waited for other stories to be told, then they cut to a reporter outside of Laughy's.
"Yes, I'm here outside of Laughy's Karaoke Bar in Ninjago City owned by Dareth Brown. Brown was arrested here earlier today. The police declined to comment at this time, but an anonymous source told me that his arrest is in connection with the attempts on the life of Earth Ninja, Cole Burtchenelli. Brown is affiliated with the ninja, and they used the dojo he used to own as a place to train Green Ninja, Lloyd Garmadon. This revelation is truly shocking. We will release more information as it becomes available. Back to you, Denise."
"They can't seriously believe Dareth tried to kill Cole, right? It was Morgen," Kai asked.
"She tried to kill him in the cave, but she's been denying any involvement in the morphine incident," Jay said.
"Of course she is, but I thought that was just a mix-up."
"You weren't there, Kai. I was. A nurse came in, hooked the bag up to Cole's IV, the next thing I know, Cole can't breathe. There's no way any hospital worth its salt would knowingly give a patient a medication they're allergic to. No way that was a mix-up."
"I'm with Jay. Someone was behind it," Nya added.
"But Dareth?" Kai asked.