Disclaimer – Think you all know by now I still do not own anything.
AN – Hello, I'm back. I hope you guys like this chapter. Originally, this would've been the last chapter, besides the epilogue, but due to length, I cut it into two chapters. So, counting the epilogue, only two more chapters left of this story.
To Jubs – I'm glad that you liked the last chapter, and you might want to keep that tissue box nearby when you read this one. Also, to answer your question, the stone has saved Hal's life twice lol.
To PearlyPink – Not sure if you've read up to this chapter yet, but thank you so much for your review! I love Hal and love writing Hal-centric fics. Hope you enjoy this chapter and enjoy the rest of Falling Skies, (though you might get really upset with season 4, season 5 is really good and has some really good Hal plotlines. Just letting you know)
Enjoy Everyone!
Look at where you are, look at where you started, the fact that you're alive is a miracle, just stay alive, that would be enough – That Would be Enough, Hamilton
"I got a pulse! He's alive, but we need to get him back to Charleston!" Anne ordered.
"Come on Hal, stay with me." Tom begged, placing his son on the gurney.
"We need to hurry! I can't do anything for him here!" Anne yelled at the Volm.
"He's coding! Lourdes get the crash cart!" Anne called out as they pushed the gurney into the operating room.
"Charging, and clear!"
Tom awoke with a start. It took him a few minutes before he collected himself, then looked at his surroundings. He was lying on a cot in the corner of a room. The blanket that was over top of him had been kicked onto the floor in his sleep. He sat up and saw Anne, who was watching him. She was standing by the hospital bed on the other end of the room, checking the machines surrounding the bed.
"How long was I out?" Tom asked.
"Only about three hours, give or take." She replied.
"How is he?" Tom asked, looking at the young man lying in the hospital bed.
"The same." Anne told him as he stood up and headed over to the bed.
Tom sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed, looking over his oldest son. There was a bandage on his head, covering the stitched cut, a breathing tube going into his mouth making sure oxygen reached his lungs, and an IV, which Anne called a central line, going into his chest, right by his heart. As he looked down at his son's arms, he saw the other three IV's, forcing nutrients, medication, and blood into Hal's broken and battered body. There was also a chest tube put in between his ribs to remove any air or blood that should not be there.
It had been four days since his son destroyed the power source, crippling the Espheni enough for Tom to kill the Queen, and he had paid a heavy price to do it. Hal had 10 broken ribs, one of which punctured his right lung, which had completely collapsed by the time they got back to Charleston. Not to mention, the broken bones caused massive internal bleeding, which had started to cause his left lung to collapse as well. He also had a badly bruised shoulder, and a major concussion.
By all means, he should've been dead, and he was, but not anymore, thanks to Cochise. The Volm, using the piece of the crystal somehow managed to bring back his son, though he was no where near out of the woods. But he had a better chance now than he did before.
Ever since they got back from Washington, Tom, Ben, Matt, and Maggie had kept a vigil watch on the young man, and it was only now that Tom realized it was just him and Anne in the room with Hal.
"Where are the boys, and Maggie?" Tom asked.
"I sent them to get something to eat. They've barely eaten at all in the last few days, and the last thing that they need is to get themselves admitted into the hospital." Anne explained, moving over to crouch down by Tom.
"You should go get something to eat too, take a breather." Anne suggested. Tom instantly shook his head.
"No, I'm staying here." Tom responded, keeping his eyes on his son.
"Tom, he's in a coma. There isn't anything you can do for him. You've barely slept and barely eaten. Making yourself sick isn't going to help him. At the very least, go get some fresh air. I can have someone bring up a tray for you. I'll watch Hal." Anne told him.
Tom looked up at her, then back at Hal before nodding. He got up from his chair, gave his son a quick kiss on his forehead, then left the room. Once he was gone, Anne sat down in the chair Tom had just vacated. She kept a watchful eye on the young man lying limp on the hospital bed, wishing there was more she could do. Unfortunately, it was all up to him right now.
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Ben stared at the food on his plate, pushing it around with his fork. Every now and then he took a bite, but only because he knew he needed to eat, not because he actually had an appetite. Every few seconds, he looked up across the table at his younger brother, who, as far as Ben could tell, had not taken a single bite.
"Matt, you should eat." Ben told him.
"Not hungry." Matt mumbled, voice so low that Ben barely caught it.
"You've barely eaten in the last four days, you need to eat." Ben tried to persuade him. Matt's only response was to glare at him, as though daring his older brother to make him. The blonde opened his mouth to say something else, when Lourdes, Deni, and Lexi appeared with their own trays, and sat down beside the brothers.
"Hey, how's he doing?" Deni asked Ben. Over the last four days, she had given her friend and his family their space. While she wanted to help and comfort them, she knew that they would want to be alone with Hal for a while. This was the first time she had seen any of the Masons, besides Lexi, since they got back to Charleston.
"No change." Ben replied, looking down at his food as Deni just nodded, knowing what her friend was saying. While the family had been given their privacy, word of how badly injured the President's oldest son was spread through the city like a wildfire.
"Where's Maggie? I thought Anne sent her down here too." Lourdes wondered as she got Lexi settled into her chair.
"She came in with us, smelled the fried chicken the cooks were making, and ran the opposite direction to the bathroom." Ben answered. Lourdes nodded, placed her tray on the table before heading towards the bathroom in search of the missing woman.
"Is the food really that bad? Is that why you two aren't eating?" Lexi asked, looking down at her own plate cautiously when she saw that her brothers weren't eating. Ben couldn't help but smile at her naivety.
"No, the food's fine. Matt and I aren't really hungry, that's all." Ben told his little sister.
Deni smiled at Ben, though he didn't notice. Even though Hal was still in the hospital, badly injured, it was good to see Ben smile again. The last time she had seen Ben, he was definitely not smiling. He had just come back from helping kill the Espheni Queen only to find his older brother dead. He looked as though his world had just crumbled, tears silently falling from his eyes, in too much shock to move or make a sound. So, she wrapped her arms around him, and it was then that she heard his heartbroken sobs as he returned her embrace, his fingers clutching the back of her jacket as though he needed something to hold on to.
When Ben looked away from his little sister, he saw Deni smiling at him. When she saw that he had caught her, she quickly turned her head back to her plate. She grabbed her fork and started eating. Ben was about to do the same when he noticed Matt had dropped his fork and was glaring at the food as though it was the source of all his problems.
"You got to eat Matt. Starving yourself isn't going to help anyone buddy." Ben told him. Matt looked up at him with pure rage and a hint of fear in his eyes.
"Don't call me that! Just leave me alone!" Matt yelled in angrily. He instantly got up from his chair and stormed off, leaving Ben, Lexi and Deni in shock and confusion.
"What was that about?" Deni asked, turning to look at Ben.
Ben stared at his younger brother's retreating form, trying to figure out what he had said would've caused such a reaction from Matt. The words he said ran through his head until he focused the very last word. Buddy. He called him buddy. Right from day one, that was always Hal's nickname for Matt, and Ben used it.
"Oh crap." Ben muttered as he stood up and ran from the table after his younger brother.
"Why is Matt angry?" Lexi asked when Ben was gone.
"Well Lexi, sometimes when people are scared or worried, they get angry, because they are unhappy with the situation. It's their way of trying to be strong, and expressing themselves. Matt's angry because he doesn't like that Hal is in the hospital, and he doesn't like that he can't do anything to help." Deni tried to explain. Lexi furrowed her brow in concentration, as though she was trying to understand what she was just told.
"I don't like Hal being in the hospital, or Matty being angry." Lexi said after a moment.
"I don't either." Deni replied, then continued eating.
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"Matt, Matt stop!" Ben called out, running after his younger brother who was still walking away, stomping his feet as he went.
"Matt, stop, please." Ben pleaded. Matt slowed to a stop, but didn't turn to look at him. When Ben got to his brother, he put his hand on Matt's shoulder and turned him around.
"What?" Matt practically screamed in his face. Everyone that was in the hallway started to leave, not wanting to witness what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean it like that." Ben apologized, then saw the slight tremble in Matt's lower lip, and the tears building up in the kid's brown eyes.
"Matt? Matt, what's going on?" Ben asked, bending down so he was eye level with Matt.
"You didn't see him. You didn't see his eyes wide open, didn't see him stop moving, stop breathing." Matt told him, tears starting to fall down his face as the memories of his big brother's death replayed in his mind.
Ben felt his stomach drop all the way down to his feet as his concerned expression turned to one of horror. No, he wasn't there when Hal actually died. He remembered coming up behind his Dad, seeing Hal lying limp on the ground while Maggie cried over him and Matt cried in Anne's arms. He knew instantly what had happened, and he completely froze. It was as though he had forgotten how to think, and breathe. It wasn't until Deni somehow appeared in front of him, and pulled him into her arms did he realize that tears were streaming down his face. It was then that he broke, but he wasn't there to witness his big brother take his last breath.
But Matt was. Matt, his baby brother, the one their Dad, Hal, and himself had all tried to keep safe, keep innocent of all the horrors of war, was the one who watched Hal die. With tears of his own starting to slip past his eyelids, Ben pulled Matt into his arms as Matt fully broke down into sobs.
"It's okay Matt. It's going to be okay. Hal's going to be okay." Ben tried to comfort his little brother. He wasn't sure how many times he whispered those sentences into Matt's ear before Matt finally spoke.
"Can we just go back, to see him? Please?" Matt begged, his sobs starting to subside. While Ben knew that Matt hadn't eaten anything at supper, that he really should get his younger brother to eat, Matt needed to be with Hal, needed to see his brother alive more than he needed food. They could get him to eat later, maybe just bring up a tray for him.
"Yeah, course we can. Come on." Ben replied, and with one arm still wrapped around Matt's shoulders, Ben led his brother back to Hal's hospital room.
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Maggie had just sat back away from the toilet which she had been leaning against while she emptied her stomach, when there was a knock on the bathroom door.
"Maggie?" Lourdes voice came from the other side.
"Yeah?" Maggie replied, and the door slowly opened, revealing the young doctor.
"Are you alright?" Lourdes asked, coming to kneel down beside her friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Still feeling the effects of that stupid flu." Maggie answered, moving so she was leaning against the wall.
"How long have you been throwing up?" Lourdes wondered, knowing that the flu had run its course through Charleston a while ago.
"I don't know, two, three weeks?" The soldier responded, closing her eyes as her exhaustion started to settle in.
"Maggie, the flu that we got hit with doesn't last this long." The doctor informed her. The blonde's eyes shot open at hearing that. Lourdes laid the back of her hand against Maggie's forehead, checking her temperature.
"And you don't have a fever." Lourdes muttered.
"Then, it's probably just stress." Maggie suggested, pushing her friend's hand away from her head.
"Not going to deny that's a possibility, but have you ever been effected by stress like this?" Lourdes inquired. Hesitantly, Maggie shook her head when she realized that stress, while did cause her to feel a little sick, never made her throw up, and most definitely not to this extent.
"Maggie, when was the last time you had your period?" Lourdes questioned, her voice low. Maggie opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped when she realized she couldn't remember. She turned her gaze back at the doctor, who gave her sympathetic look.
"Come on, let's get you checked out." Lourdes said, as she helped Maggie to her feet and over to the infirmary.
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Tom stared at the starlit sky and breathed in the fresh air. After leaving Hal's hospital room, he walked in a small daze until he made his way outside, by the Liberty Tree. People were walking around, doing something, but he barely noticed, and no one seemed to notice him. Well, almost no one.
"Tom?" He looked up to see Marina coming towards him. When she stood right in front of him, she asked, "How's Hal doing?"
"No change." Tom answered, looking at the branches and leaves of the metal tree. How many leaves, how many names were on that tree? What were the odds his son's name might still end up on one of those branches?
"Well, that's better than him getting worse." Marina pointed out. Tom only gave a small nod, though still looked worried. Marina did not blame him.
"The crystal gave him healing abilities, didn't it?" Marina questioned.
"Yeah, but when Hal destroyed it, he lost that ability. Anne and I wondered if the other piece of the crystal, the piece Cochise used to bring him back, would give him that power back, but so far, it doesn't look like it." Tom responded.
"Hal's strong, he'll be okay. And you take all the time you need, okay? Weaver, Cochise and I can handle taking care of the city and the soldiers." Marina told him.
"How is everything going? Anything from the rest of the Overlords?" Tom asked. He was still technically the President and should be taking care of stuff like this, but he couldn't say he truly cared at the moment. All his thoughts and worries were still with his son.
"Well, our soldiers and the Volm managed to kill a lot of the Overlords that were in Washington. But there are still a few of them out there. Some not even on this continent. Luckily, with the power source destroyed, they don't have access to their spaceships, so they can't get anywhere fast. The Volm think they still might try and attack, but with no Mechs, no beamers, and with lot less skitters under their control, I doubt it. The Overlords are fish in a barrel. Cochise said the Volm will help us continue to destroy them, and from what we can understand, the rebel skitters are helping that were free from the Overlords control." Marina explained.
"What about the harnessed kids?" Tom wondered, still keeping his eyes on the ground.
"It looks like they were freed too. Cochise has also agreed to help escort them here, and we can use the Volm de-harnessing device to get the harnesses off. The ones who became fully skitterized though, we're still trying to figure that out. But again, don't worry about it. Weaver, Cochise, and I can handle this. Right now, you just worry about Hal." Marina told him. Tom gave a nod of acknowledgement, then headed back inside to the hospital.
When Tom arrived in Hal's room, he saw Ben standing by the door and Matt sitting in the chair beside Hal's bed, holding Hal's hand in his. He looked over at his middle son, and saw from his expression, that something was wrong.
"What happened?" Tom asked, keeping his voice quiet so that Matt wouldn't hear.
"He's really worried about Hal, he wants to stay and make sure he's still here. He apparently actually saw Hal," Ben stopped his sentence, unable to force the words out. Luckily, his Dad got what he was trying to say and his face turned to one of sudden realization and shame. Apparently, he had forgotten that Matt was there to actually see it happen just like Ben did.
"Did he at least eat anything?" Tom questioned. Ben shook his head and before Tom could respond, a nurse, Lisa, came in carrying a tray.
"Anne said to bring this to you." Lisa said, handing Tom the tray.
"Thanks Lisa." Tom replied, grabbing the tray and placing it down on the table.
"Oh Ben? Anne wants to talk to you." Lisa added, then left the room. Ben quickly took a glance at Matt, who didn't seem to even hear any of them, then looked back at his Dad.
"You go, I'll stay here with Matt and Hal." Tom assured the blonde.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Get me if anything happens?" Ben asked, moving towards the door.
"I will." Tom promised, and Ben left the room. When he was gone, Tom turned to his youngest, who still hadn't so much as flinched since he entered the room. The father went over to Matt and knelt down beside the chair where he was sitting, putting his hand on Matt's shoulder.
"How you doing?" Tom asked. Matt's only response was the shrug of his shoulders.
"Matt, he's going to be okay." Again, no real response from his youngest, "You really do need to eat something." Tom told him.
"I don't want to leave." Matt finally answered. Tom lifted his hand from Matt's shoulder and placed it on Matt's head, fingers running through his son's short hair.
"Who said anything about leaving?" Tom wondered, then moved to push the table that had wheels on it towards Matt, who turned his head to look at what his Dad was doing. Once the table was in front of him, his Dad handed him the fork.
"Eat." Tom ordered, feeling as though he was talking to a stubborn three-year-old. Matt gave him a small smiled and slight shake of his head, then looked up in confusion.
"But what about you?" Matt asked.
"Don't worry. I'll eat later. You, just finish that." Tom replied. Matt sighed, but did what he was told.
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Ben sat down in one of the chairs in the hallway once he was done talking to Anne. She wanted to check to see if the spikes were still working and if they were, if they would have any limits now that the power crystal was destroyed. However, it looked like they were completely dead, not that it was a surprise to them.
What they were still unsure of, was what would happen if they were in same area as an Overlord. Since the Overlords still had some control on the skitters due to their harnesses when they were close together due to their exposure to their power source, Anne and Kadar, who was also there, wondered if the spikes would reactivate if they were with an Overlord.
That was a question no one knew the answer too, and since they didn't have access to an Overlord, and they were planning on killing them all anyways, Ben didn't care. All of his thoughts were still on his brother, who currently needed a machine to help him breathe.
"Hey." Ben glanced up and saw Deni, coming over to him. She, and all the other kids who still had their spikes were there when Anne and Kadar questioned them about their spikes and offered to take them out if they wanted to have them out.
"Hey." Ben responded as his friend sat down in the chair next to him while he turned to look back at the floor.
"How are you doing?" Deni asked.
"I'm fine." Ben replied.
"Bull. You look like crap. You know that with our spikes not working, the whole not needing sleep doesn't work anymore." Beni pointed out.
"I know." Deni frowned at Ben's reply. He wouldn't make eye contact and he wasn't even trying to prove that he was okay.
"Ben? Come on, what's going on inside that head of yours?" Deni questioned.
"It's just, my brother is in the hospital, still fighting for his life, and Anne and Kadar are asking me about my spikes and coming up with theories of what we can do and what the risks are and if we should have them taken out or not. My brother literally died, don't they care about that?" Ben asked angrily, finally lifting his head but still not meeting her eyes.
"They care, okay? Of course they care. The thing is though, Hal is not the only person who was affected by what happened in Washington. There are soldiers who did die in that battle, and those who were injured. And all of us, with our spikes, were affected by that crystal being destroyed too. Just because they are also trying to help us, and the others, doesn't mean they don't care about Hal. No one is expecting you to try and help them with their theories or answer their questions right now. They were just letting us know what they know and think so we can be prepared." Deni explained. After a moment, Ben nodded dejectedly.
"I know, I just," Ben started, then stopped, unable to think of explaining himself. Suddenly, he felt Deni grab his hand. He looked up and saw nothing but sympathy and understanding.
"It's okay. I get it." Deni told him. Ben opened his hand so he could slip his fingers through hers and squeezed it tightly. She instantly squeezed in return.
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It was late when Maggie finally managed to make her way back to Hal's room. Matt was asleep in the cot in the corner of the room while Tom was asleep in the chairs beside Hal. She hesitated when she saw them. She didn't want to wake them, but when they didn't move at all, she continued into the room.
Slowly, she made her way over to the other side of the bed, the side opposite of Tom, and sat down on the edge, grabbing Hal's IV'd hand in hers. He looked terrible. Half of his forehead was covered with a bandage protecting the stitched cut. The tube going down his throat was held in place by a Velcro strap around his head. His skin was still way too pale, IVs in his hands and chest, not to mention the chest tube going into his ribcage.
"Hey, it's me. I don't know if you can hear me but, but if you can, I need you to listen to me okay?" Maggie stopped, feeling her throat catch and tried to blink away the tears that were filling her eyes. Once she was sure that she was in control again, she continued.
"We need you to wake up Hal. Your Dad, your brothers, your sister, me. We all need you to be here, with us. I told you before that I never thought I could recover from the life I had before the war, but then I met you. You changed me Hal. You were the one thing in my life that stayed constant, you never left me, even after I told you about my past. You showed me what it was like to live, not just survive. And now, whenever I think about my future, you are the one thing that is always there. I can't imagine a future without you in it, and I don't want to." Maggie told him, unable to keep a few stray tears from slipping past her barriers.
Maggie tried to finish what she came to tell him but couldn't. She couldn't tell him while he was unconscious, and not with the possibility of Matt or Tom or even a doctor or nurse listening in. He needed to know before anyone else, and he needed to be awake when she did tell him. Maggie held his hand closer to her, accidentally letting his limp fingers brush against her stomach, and the tears started coming faster.
After taking a deep breath to collect herself, Maggie lowered herself onto the bed, and as carefully as she could, she curled up against him. Placing her head on his shoulder as gently as possible, Maggie whispered in his ear.
"Hal, I know you're hurt, but we really need you to wake up, or at least, show us that you're still here. I love you, and I need you. There's something I need to tell you. Please wake up."