A/N :
GoddessOfTechnology : Thanks for letting me know, I added a sentence inbetween to clarify that the pieces of the staff were dropped and the guardians got hold of them.
Tallieho : It's not that the guardians didn't believe Jack, but that they didn't want to be the cause for Pitch hurting him furthermore. Like in the movie, when Pitch demanded the staff from Jack. Jack most likely knew that the chance of it being a trap was pretty high, but with Baby Tooth's wellbeing in mind he didn't have another chance. Same thing happened here.
I'm glad you like the relationship between Bunny and Jack! I'm all for platonic bromance, hehe.
everyone else : THANK YOU so much for all the awesome reviews! You can't imagine how much they mean to me. And wow, ya really think I'm killing off my favourite character? Nahh, I'm not that cruel...although you'll probably think differently at the end of this chapter. Ahem...
„What the hell is takin' so long?" Bunny grumbled impatiently.
None of the guardians bothered to say a word as they absent-mindedly watched him stomp up and down the corridor in front of the infirmary at Santoff Clausen. They had insisted on staying by Jack's side while the medical yetis examined him. But much to everyone's displeasure they were kicked out by the furry giants after less than two minutes.
Constantly asking if they had found anything out, if they could help him or looking over their shoulders didn't help their concentration. The buzzing sound of the Tooth Fairy's wings as she darted to and fro upset and the scrutinizing stare of their master had done the rest. They couldn't properly take care of their patient when they were surrounded by a bunch of flustered people. It made them nervous as well and that was definitely contraproductive. They took their job as serious as the rest of the yetis who were working in the toy production. Most likely even a little more, since their range of duty wasn't about items but the health of living beings.
Only a few yetis were qualified to work as medics at the North Pole. Centuries of knowledge, passed on from one generation to the next, practical experience and wisdom from the countless books in North's library contributed to them steadily refining and perfecting their skills. It had soon turned out to be a wise decision to establish an infirmary together with a team of medics. Serious illnesses or injuries were uncommon, but now and then accidents did happen and having a troop of elves around proved to be a guarantee for disaster. Especially during the months before Christmas, when the workshop overflowed with activity, one or the other yeti stumbled over something the elves had left lying around, fell down the stairs or sustained small injuries from working on the toys while being too stressed to notice their fingers were stuck inbetween parts or the likes. Bruises, scratches, concussions, burns and rare bone fractures were all no problem for the medical yetis.
When they were not needed, and that was the case most of the time, they retreated to their quarters next to the infirmary to read more about medicine, treatments and so on. Whenever they had an idea for a new device they met, discussed and worked on it until it was functioning properly. In fact, much of the medical equipment could compete with the most advanced hospitals.
If there was nothing of that sort to do or they needed a break from everything medicine related, they paid their toy-creating collegues a visit and lent them a helping hand. All things considered the medical yetis were a very important and highly regarded division of the workshop. They were reliable, skilled and knew more about the matter than the inhabitants of the whole North Pole combined.
This fact however didn't manage to make the guardians feel any better as they anxiously waited for them to finally step out of the infirmary and tell them about Jack's condition. While they dearly hoped for them to succeed at helping him and assure them he would be fine again in no time, another part of their minds kept expecting the worst. They couldn't get the image out of their heads anymore. Of him screaming out in agony, of his body spasming, of the distorted expression on his face. It was horrible to watch and them being unable to help him had made it even worse. He had protected them despite being badly injured himself. Then why couldn't they have done the same for him? They had failed.
Bunnymund hated himself more for it than the other guardians did. At least he guessed so. He should have prevented this. He should have noticed that the Nightmares pushed them towards that crevasse. He should have paid more attention and seen Pitch's attack coming. Then Jack wouldn't have left his staff unattended in order to save him. Pitch wouldn't have gotten a hold of it and wouldn't have had the chance to break it. He should have seen it coming. He should have saved his friend. He should have. But he didn't. And he would never forgive himself.
A deep sigh left his furry lips when he passed the door to the infirmary for the probably 50th time.
„It's takin' too long, what the blazes are they doin' in there?"
The other three guardians were sitting on a bench in the corridor, each of them withdrawn in their own world of thought. North groaned as he rubbed his temples. He was tired of his comrade's behaviour.
„Stop marching around, it makes me twitchy."
„Oh, sorry that I can't just calmly sit here and wait for the bad tidings ta come!"
„You think you're the only one worrying about Jack?" the Cossack suddenly spoke loudly and stood up to be at eye-level with the 6'1 rabbit.
It caused Bunny to stop dead in his tracks, incapable of a decent reply. Maybe because there was nothing appropriate he could answer. Of course the others were as worried as him, but unlike them he couldn't keep his composure better. He had to walk, he had to complain, he had to do something.
„No, but I can't hide it like ya do." the Easter spirit talked back and regretted the words as soon as they had left his mouth.
Yeah, this definitely wasn't an appropriate answer at all. It wasn't supposed to sound so offensive and yet it did. North's brows furrowed at the statement. Before Bunny could apologize the Guardian of Wonder stepped closer towards him and pointed a beefy finger in his direction. The tone of his voice was far from jolly.
„Don't you dare act like this doesn't affect us! Just because we have enough self-control to not whine about it not going quick enough for our liking!"
„Guys, please, stop it!" Tooth suddenly appeared between the two males and pushed them away from each other.
„This doesn't help the situation. Do you think Jack would want you to argue with each other?"
Both guardians hung their heads in shame, knowing very well that the fairy was right. Sandy watched them from his spot on the bench and sighed inaudibly. Emotional state of emergency, that's what he blamed for the outburst of his friends. Concern, anxiety, fear, anger at oneself, it was a horrible combination. From the outside he might have looked calm and collected as usual, but on the inside he was as troubled as the rest of them. Every minute of waiting felt like an hour, every faint sound from inside the infirmary made his heartbeat increase in expectation of the door opening any moment.
And then, finally, it did. A yeti walked out and immediately closed it behind him. Ignoring the other guardians he went straight to North and gestured for him to walk a bit away from the others so they could talk in private. Not that it mattered, because none of them was able to understand the yeti language. Once again minutes turned out to be an eternity until the furry creature left them and returned to the infirmary. Bunny wanted to hurry after him but a firm hand was placed on his chest and hindered im from doing so.
„North, what-"
„Stay here. I have to tell you what yetis found out." the big Russian spoke calmly.
There was an undertone the pooka couldn't pinpoint, but the somber expression on his face freaked him out. Silence followed in which North desperately searched for a way to explain the situation to his comrades. Apparently he was taking too much time again, because it didn't last long until an Australian accented voice made him snap back to reality.
„Mate, I swear if ya don't start talkin' soon I'm gonna-"
„I think it would be better to sit down, Bunny." the older Guardian spoke suddenly.
„Thanks, but I rather stand."
North took a deep breath.
„Yetis examined Jack thoroughly. His organs are inflamed, what is reason for fever. He's also got internal bleeding. Surgery would be too dangerous since they don't know what exactly causes it. They are monitoring his vital signs and injected painkillers as well as anti-inflammatory medicine intravenously. There's nothing else they can do for him."
Once again an awkward silence surrounded them. The information was difficutl to swallow, even though they had tried to brace themselves for it. Oddly enough Sandy was the first to 'say' something. After he had gotten the Russian Santa's attention he formed a snowflake, an eye and a question mark over his head.
„Yes, we can see him now."
The heavy wooden door was opened carefully. North was the first to walk into the infirmary with the rest of the guardians in tow. A cool breeze engulfed them the moment they set foot in it. In order to help the winter spirit fighting back his fever the yetis had opened the windows and placed a cloth with cold water on his forehead. His hoodie had been taken off and several tubes were put on his upper body, leading to a monitor next to his bed. On his left arm was another tube for intravenous infusion to deliver the liquid medicine directly into his veins. His skin was deadly pale, except for flushed cheeks. Each breath of air seemed to be a struggle as his chest heaved and sank visibly whenever he inhaled. His expression also showed that he wasn't done with battling against the agony.
„Why is he still in pain? I though they gave him medicine?" Tooth asked full of worry and without looking away from the frost teen.
The yetis, who were putting parts of the medical equipment back in the cabinets, avoided the glances Bunny and Sandy darted at them and continued what they were doing as if they hadn't heard anything. Of course they had been eager to help the injured youth and the sad truth that they were unable to do more than the lame attempt to stabilize him was troubling them, to say the least. Centuries of knowledge, experience and practice. All for nothing.
„They did..." North affirmed, his gaze not leaving the resting teen either.
„But...he's suffering...don't you see it?" the hummingbird-hybrid said urgently with tears welling up in her eyes.
„We all should know why meds ain't helpin' him..." Bunny stated out of the blue.
His gaze drifted off to the table in the corner of the room on which the four pieces of the ancient shepherd's crook were lying.
„There's a physical connection between Jack and his staff. If it's broken, so is he. He can only heal if he fixes it again."
„Yes, but...he's unconscious. And weak. How can he fix it in that condition?" Tooth cried, aware of the answer.
„He can't...and exactly that's the problem." Bunnymund replied.
„Then we have to fix it!" North's resolute voice suddenly echoed through the room.
Several pairs of either wide or doubtfull eyes were focused on him. The yetis had no clue whether this undertaking would have any chance of being successful or not. Sandy smiled and did his best to be optimistic. Tooth brushed a tear away and nodded faintly. Bunny was the most sceptical of them, even though he was the Guardian of Hope. Right now his common sense couldn't be switched off by wishful thinking
„Mate, this is Jack's staff. It's driven by his winter magic. I doubt that ya can simply glue it back together and everythin' will be fine."
„I know, but we have to try." the Cossack spoke determinedly and added :
„Is better than to sit and wait, isn't it?"
Bunny agreed he had a point Everything would be better than being useless and waiting for something to happen. Sandy floated closer to the white-haired boy in the bed and watched him with concern written all over his face. North was right, they had to do whatever they could to help their youngest, no matter if it was doomed to fail or not. Maybe it would work, maybe he would feel better, maybe it would even cure him. For the time being, at least the pain should be taken from him. Perhaps sweet dreams would be powerful enough to suppress it, if only for a while. Golden sand was sent towards the frost teen. Usually it should have transformed into whatever he liked, but now it was merely circling his head without taking shape. Sandy's eyes narrowed in concern and he created more swirls of dreamsand. Nothing changed and eventually the sand dissolved into thin air. The other guardians had witnessed the scene and were as surprised and shocked about it as the Sandman himself. After a solemn moment of silence several symbols formed over him. A snowflake, Zzzzz and an X.
„He's not sleepin'?" Bunny translated with a bad feeling in his stomach.
This alerted the yetis who hurried back to their patient's side and checked his vital signs as well as the reaction in his eyes. Soon their gestures came to a halt and one of them approached North again. Even though the other guardians didn't understand a word they had a premonition of what was going on. When the furry creature had stopped talking the Guardian of Wonder turned around to face his friends. While his expression had been mildly hopeful only a few moments ago it had returned to that dreaded concern.
„Jack is in a coma."
A/N : Don't worry, this all happens for a reason. And this is far from being over yet, in fact it will be my longest arc so far.
