Chapter 5: The long wait

Her heart stopped beating.

The jet was suddenly silent; the only sound that could be heard was the shrill, straight sound of the machine. It was like everybody into the jet stopped breathing.

Jean was crying. Hank pushed her out of the way and grabbed the defibrillator from the box on the jet. He pressed it against her chest and gave her a jolt. The monitor stayed the same. He repeated the process, a look of desperation on his face. The monitor stayed the same. He tried it again; tears were falling from his face.

This monitor beeped once, and there was a heartbeat.

Everybody breathed, Shadowcat cried, but they were tears of joy. Bobby put his arm around her. I think he was crying too. Nightcrawler was praying and Neal was staring at Ororo, a smile on his face. Jean was back in position, tending to her wounds.

The jet touched down soon after. Ororo was wheeled into the operating room straight away.

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Gambit and Slipstream dragged me to the bathroom to bathe because I had sat outside the operating room for three hours. My uniform was covered with Ororo's blood, and I felt a lump rise in my throat as I thought about her. I bathed and changed into a black shirt and jeans and rushed back down to the waiting room in ten minutes.

She was still in the operating room. She had been inside for four hours now. Jean, Hank and Sean were in there while almost everyone at the mansion was in the waiting room. Almost everybody was crying, some looked like they were in shock. I just sat there, staring through the glass and into the operating room.

There operation went on for another ten hours. Jean had chased everyone back into their rooms. Nobody wanted to leave, but Jean telekinetically forced them out. I stayed on though, Jean didn't force me out and the rest didn't object. I think they knew I had to be with her.

I didn't sleep for the whole night. The operation dragged on into the night. It had been going on for fifteen hours now.

Finally Jean came out, "The operation was a success, but she is still under sedation. She should wake up in 24 hours. Do you want to go in?"

I nodded and rushed in.

She was surrounded and attached to various machines around her bed. She was still unconscious but she looked great. Again, another understatement of the year.

I sat down on the chair beside her bed and held her hand. Ok, I admit, I didn't know what to do. So I just sort of held her hand.

I guess I must have dozed off because I remember dreaming about giant toys chasing me. It's a stupid recurring nightmare I had since I was a kid. Expect that this time instead of teddies bears chasing me, Sentinels were chasing me. Instead of me running alone, I was an unconscious Ororo. I was running as fast as my legs could carry me. Suddenly, I felt Ororo moving…

Wait, that last part wasn't a dream, I was suddenly wide awake

Ororo was awake, her eyes were staring at me and there was a small smile on her face

And she whispered to me,

"I'm glad you're okay"