Chapter 15
Everything was blurry; dim, too.
Am I blind? Where am I?
He couldn't move his right arm. His ears twitched as he heard a sound from somewhere outside the room Jak was currently in. Ignoring his pain for a moment, he concentrated on listening.
"Well, he's gonna be okay, right?" A loud and slightly squeaky voice said from behind a door.
"Jak's a fighter, Dax, whatever he's got going for him with that animal thing he turns into helps him somehow. I don't think we've got anything to worry about just yet." Torn's gruff voice answered back calmly.
Jak felt so dizzy just opening eyes. He couldn't remember anything. How long have I been out? Why isn't anyone coming in to tell me what's going on here? Turning is body slightly, he almost let out a cry of agony from the pain, but only let out a jaw-clenched grunt. His whole torso now felt stiff from his wound.
"Jak? Are you awake?" A small voice called to him, followed by a low light being switched on.
Well, at least I'm not blind….How did I get here? The injured renegade squinted his blue eyes, adjusting to the lighting and looking for the owner of the voice.
Keira walked slowly towards him, a black eye and gash across her forehead included. The bed-ridden fighter's eyes watered as he felt the pain of both his wound and memories of the invasion of Haven flooded his head. With a quivering hand, she gently stroked his face, then traced down along his neck, "I…I was so worried that…that you wouldn't wake up!" She began to cry and Jak weakly brought his left hand to meet her hand on his neck.
His throat felt so dry, but he managed to croak out a few syllables, "How long have I been asleep?"
"Two days," She sniffed.
'Two days? How did we get out of the Palace? Where's Damas?' Jak's overwhelming thoughts intensified his dizziness and made him feel sick.
Grimacing, he tried to sit up, but it was his whole body was stiff, the pain was too great. Keira gave him a worried, yet stern look.
"Don't try to get up, Jak. Your wound's infected and every time you move it starts to bleed again...and they say it's mixed with dark eco. The doctors don't…they don't know why…" Keira achingly explained, her tears splashing down on him as she leaned in closer to him, touching her cheek to his.
A knock on the door caused Keira to jump up from his side and both of their gazes to be directed at the sound. A youth with flame colored hair peeked his head in and questioned with a high-pitched voice, "Jak?"
Jak did his best to smile, and Keira saw a bit of color return to his paled face as he did.
Keira looked towards Daxter, a look of hopelessness playing clearly across her face. The animated youth took a reassuring breath and passed Keira as she quietly left, and as he made his way to his best friend's bedside.
"I wish I coulda been there, Jak, right by your side, just like you taught me, huh buddy?" Daxter chirped, keeping a light attitude in spite of the dire situation of Jak's health.
"Nah Dax, you would've pissed your pants," Jak joked, knowing full well of Daxter's true character in battle, not that it made him any less of a good person in Jak's eyes.
The injured elf's slight chuckle turned into violent cough. A trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.
The crimson liquid on Jak's pale skin caught Daxter's eye, resulting in a shiver making its way up the length of his spine. Never had he seen Jak take a hit like this one. Sure, he had had his share of scrapes and bruises, but never anything he hadn't bounced back from in a day or two. Worry crept into the youth's head.
"Should I call for a doc-" Daxter began, turning towards the door, but Jak's hand springing out to catch his wrist stayed him.
"I'm fine, Dax" He spoke hoarsely, fighting down the urge to cough and wiping the blood from his mouth. And then Jak's world went black.
King Damas stood by Jak's beside, surveying the room. On his orders, Jak had been transferred from the hospital in Haven to the one in Spargus. The more advanced technology of Haven couldn't help Jak.
A temple monk stepped into the room and bowed before Damas, speaking in a whispered tone, "My King, you have summoned me."
"Seem, I would like for you and your most experience monks to take a look at this boy. At the Baron's hands he faced some sort of dark-eco injections, from what I understand, and the infection from his wound has somehow horribly interacted with the dark eco…" Damas recited, as he had been told by the doctors many times about the condition of this mysterious fighter.
Seem's expression at the mention of dark-eco injections could only be described as aghast. She walked towards the comatose Jak, eyeing the ugly, purple stained wound.
"I cannot reverse the effects of this deadly substance, Great King. We must take him to the Temple. If he has any hope, the Oracle will tell us how to make it so," The strange monk answered, looking solemn at the young life so precariously hanging on.
"We are taking Jak to the Temple, Keira. Its may be his only chance," Damas explained to an exhausted Keira, who had barely left Jak's unconscious side in the past week since he had first woken up.
"But…if we risk moving him, it could make him worse!" Keira had no energy to cry, but the urgency in her voice pleaded with the King.
"Do you want him to live?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then you will come with us to take him to the Temple. Normally we use a Dune-Hopper, but in Jak's condition, it would be ill-advised indeed. My head Monk, Seem has seen to it that temporary bridges are built so we can smoothly transport Jak in one of the large land vehicles we have."
"When do we leave?" Keira asked, feeling a little more confident, silently praying over and over again in her head for the man she had fallen in love with.
"As soon as Jak has been safely moved to the carrier. Which is being done right this moment. Come, we will go down to the garage area and make ready to leave." The King offered a warm smile, and gently putting his large hand on her small shoulder.
The young girl nodded, standing up slowly and following the King of Spargus the small distance it was from the hospital to the city's garage.
