Scott threw his car carelessly into the parking bay outside the hospital and rushed up to the check in desk. Colonel Truman was already there. He pulled off his sunglasses and caught his son as he skidded to a halt.
"Where are they?" He yelled in a barely coherent panic.
"Calm down Scott, they're in good hands." Colonel Truman said soothingly, trying to look into his eyes and calm him down. He knew that Scott had gotten close to Flynn since they had become Rangers. He knew how worried he would be about him, not just as a team member, but as a friend.
"Where are they dad?" He asked the Colonel rather coldly. Scott hadn't been especially close to his father for a while now, especially since his brother had died during the evacuation. He had shown little, if any real emotion when it happened.
He was so distraught and angry when he realised he would never see his brother again. The cruellest thing was that his plane crash landed well outside the dome. He couldn't even bury his own brother; all he had was a small inscription of his name on the plaque dedicated to the fallen outside the military base. It seemed so cheap and trivial a way to mark the passing of a life. His dad had attended the ceremony when they unveiled the plaque, but he left quickly afterwards to return to the command centre. He couldn't even take one day to mourn the passing of his oldest son, and more importantly to comfort the son he still had. It was something Scott could not see himself ever being able to forgive him for.
"Flynn's in intensive care." He informed his son quietly. "His Ranger suit protected him from most of the damage, but there was a lot of trauma. They say he'll be fine, but they're monitoring him closely for signs of internal bleeding. He's heavily sedated so he can get some rest."
"What about Sam?" Scott asked him. His father paused for a second. "Oh God, don't tell me..."
"She's still in surgery." He interrupted the Red Ranger. "Flynn tried to protect her; if he hadn't taken that hit she'd already be dead."
Scott looked to the ceiling as he tried to stop himself from crying. He liked Sam, she was a good friend, and he knew that Flynn loved her dearly. It was why he had risked his life to try and save her. He hated to think that she was hurt, but he knew it was going to be a lot worse for Flynn when he came round and found out.
"How is she?" He asked him. Colonel Truman shook his head.
"I don't know, she's been in surgery since she arrived." He told his son. "They haven't given me an update on her condition yet."
Scott just sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting area, and his father sat next to him as he waited for news on the condition of his friends. He hated to think of them suffering, and being unable to do anything to help them.
Back at the Garage, Summer got up during the night and made her way to the kitchen, finding Dillon there playing with a rubber ball, bouncing it off the floor and the wall as she came into the room. He looked up to her with a look of concern on his face.
"How did you sleep?" He asked her. "Did you have any more dreams?"
"The pills are working fine Dillon." She told him quietly. "I'm just glad to get a few hours sleep for once."
"How long is it until your appointment?" He asked her.
"I'm going to see the therapist in a couple of hours." She informed him as she opened the fridge and looked out some pancake mix. "Where is everybody?"
Dillon looked a little uneasy as she asked this. Because of her exhaustion, she had pretty much passed out the night beforehand once she was finally able to get some sleep without being woken by images of Ronan. They didn't want to disturb her during the first decent night's sleep she'd had since they found out how serious her problems were. Especially since her first appointment with a therapist was that morning.
"Summer, something happened to Flynn and Sam last night." He began as he came over to where she was beginning to make herself some pancakes. He caught her hand and stopped her pouring batter mixture as she heard him and seemed to freeze up. He stepped back a little and made sure she didn't feel trapped by him as he explained. "Sam was kidnapped and he went to rescue her. In the battle the building collapsed on them. They've been in the hospital overnight. Scott went to check on them."
"Why didn't you wake me?" She shrieked, looking into his eyes in horror. "We need to go, there! Are they alright?"
"Scott called during the night. Flynn's resting, but they say he should be fine. His Ranger suit took the worst of the damage. They're keeping him under observation."
"What about Sam?" Summer asked him hopefully. Dillon put a hand on her shoulder for support, still a little upset he couldn't even hold her in case she panicked again.
"I haven't heard anything." He told her honestly. "She went into surgery last night. I haven't heard anything since then."
"I have to go." Summer began in a gentle whimper. "I need to go, Flynn..."
"Flynn's being taken care of by the doctors." Dillon reminded her. "Scott's there with them."
"But I..."
"Summer, I know you care about them." Dillon told her with a comforting smile. "It's one of the things I love about you, but you need to see the therapist."
"Dillon, I still have the meds, I can see the therapist any time." She told him as her tears began. "They need my help..."
"There's nothing you can do for them right now. Until the doctors have finished with them, there's nothing any of us can do." He reminded her, gently cupping her cheek with his hand and wiping away a tear. "They need you to take care of yourself."
"But Dillon..."
"Summer, you need to stop putting yourself second." He interrupted her. "You're hurting too, you know you are. There's no shame in taking some time to recover."
He leant in, kissing her softly, raising a little smile from her. He looked into her eyes.
"You need to put yourself first for a change." He told her. "Go and see the therapist."
"Do you promise you'll let me know if there's any news?" She asked him.
"You know I will." He answered. "I love you."
"I love you too." She replied, turning her attention back to the pancake in the frying pan, which by now had caught fire. She switched off the cooker and quickly beat out the flames with a dish cloth. She wiped her eyes clear and grabbed her jacket.
"Maybe I'll just get something when I'm out." She suggested.
"That would probably be safest." He agreed. "Don't worry, I'll clean up here."
"Thanks Dillon." She responded. "For everything I mean. It means a lot that you're being so patient with me."
"I told you; the most important thing for me is that you get better." He reminded her. "I'll wait as long as you need. I love you."
"I love you too." She replied, smiling at him as she left. He quickly scraped what was left in the frying pan into the trash, and threw it into the sink before making his way back to the couch and settling back into the cushions. Ziggy arrived in the room, still yawning as he came from his bedroom.
"Is there any news?" He asked the Black Ranger. Dillon just shook his head.
"Not yet." Dillon responded. "Hopefully we'll know something soon."
Meanwhile, Tenaya 7 arrived back at Venjix's main headquarters, cradling her arm to her chest. She had suffered extensive damage to her systems, but nothing she wouldn't be able to repair given a couple of hours. In the meantime, she had accomplished her main objective. She had managed to bring down one of the Rangers. She had heard the emergency vehicles as she left, so she knew there was a chance he had survived, but given the condition he was in, he would not be at full strength for some time.
"I have taken care of the Blue Ranger." She stated to the computer console. The single red eye glowed more brightly as she relayed this news. "I took one of his loved ones hostage and lured him to the old foundry. He's taken care of."
"You have eliminated him?" Venjix asked her.
"He was alive when I left." She informed him. "I was damaged in the battle, and military personnel were on the way. I had no choice but to flee."
An energy blast from Venjix's robotic eye blasted her in the chest, sending her flying into a nearby bulkhead. She pulled herself back to her feet. She was enraged by the attack, but she knew that it was pointless to resist. She was not powerful enough to destroy Venjix when she was at full strength, let alone when she was in such dire need of repair. She sheepishly bowed her head in subservience to her master. She was lucky he hadn't hit her with a full force blast; he could easily have destroyed her.
"You are in need of drastic repair; this will waste many of my resources to bring you back to full function." It reminded her. "Yet in return you cannot even destroy one Ranger. Can you give me one reason why I should not recycle you and create more useful servants?"
Tenaya shook her head without another word. This was one of the things she despised. Venjix had created her from a human, and with human emotions to make her a more effective infiltration unit. Of course this also had the side effect of giving her many negative emotions. She hated her treatment any time she had to answer to Venjix for her failures. She felt her anger growing in her and festering in her chest whenever he threatened her with her destruction. She often wished she could destroy Venjix and be free of his oppression. Of course she would never be able to do so.
"Go to the regeneration zone for repairs." It boomed dismissively as the eye glowed brighter. "And you may want to consider how fortunate you are. Next time I may not be so...humane."
Tenaya turned and left with the little dignity she still had and made her way into the regeneration area. It had been constructed especially for her. Normally if one of Venjix's constructs malfunctioned or was damaged beyond being ready for battle, Venjix would simply liquidate it, harvest it for useful parts and melt down what's left to recycle it into something useful. Of course due to her unique structure, she was often repaired when she was damaged. She was a useful asset to Venjix, at least for the time being, and since so much of her systems, the biological components, could not be replaced with technological components, it was necessary to have a way to effect repairs.
It was a small room, maybe about 10 feet by 10 feet, with no windows and only one door. In the centre was a titanium steel chair much like a dentist's chair, with heavy restraints built into the arm rests and the leg stirrups. The back of the chair had many holes in it, behind which were an array of syringes and surgical tools. Mechanical tentacle-like arms were attached to the sides of the chair carrying more. In many ways, this was the closest thing she had to what normal humans would call a bedroom. In reality it was a combination between a hospital, repair shop, torture chamber and prison.
She took her place on the seat, placing her legs into the stirrups, before using her remaining functioning arm to place her broken one into the armrest. Putting her other arm into the arm rest, she sat back as the restraints closed, sealing her into the chair. Seeing the arms raising and moving around to begin their repairs, she closed her eyes and shut down all her non-essential systems and started to dream of the vengeance she would exact on the Rangers for this indignity. She barely even flinched as the first scalpel dug into her flesh painfully.
Back at the hospital, Scott got up off the chair as a surgeon finally left the Operating Room where they had now been working on Sam for most of the night. Unsurprisingly he looked exhausted as he pulled off his robe and his mask, dumping them in a nearby bin.
"She's stable." He told the Red Ranger, anticipating his question. "Right now that's all we can say. She's still in a highly critical condition."
"But she'll be alright won't she?" Scott asked him hopefully.
"It's still too early to tell, her injuries were extensive." The surgeon replied sadly. "She suffered a heavy blow to the head. She has a major concussion and has slipped into a coma. We'll need to wait until she wakes up until we know if she's lost any of her brain functions. Her legs were almost completely crushed and broken in several places. We've had to insert metal plates just to set them. Two of her ribs were broken and her left lung was punctured. We've managed to stop the internal bleeding and re-inflate the lung. She's also broken two vertebrae."
"She broke her back?" Scott asked him. "Will she be able to walk again?"
"We had to insert screws into the vertebrae and clean some bone fragments out of the spinal cord. The spinal cord hasn't been severed, but it will be a long time before her legs and her back are strong enough for her to begin rehab. It's all up to her, but it is possible that she will never fully recover the use of her legs." He told them. "I'm sorry."
"You've done all you can for her." Scott replied, wiping his eyes dry of tears. "Thank you."
At that point, another doctor arrived from down the hall, approaching Colonel Truman.
"Flynn has woken up." He informed them. "Would you like to see him?"
Colonel Truman looked at his son with a slight look of concern. This was a nightmare for both of them. Flynn had extensive injuries himself, but he had been unconscious since the attack. They knew the first thing he would do was ask about Sam's condition. It was up to them to tell him that right now, they didn't know whether she would survive. Even if she did, there were doubts as to whether or not she would make a full recovery.
"I'll talk to him." Scott stated, turning from his father. "He needs to know."
He arrived in Flynn's room a short time later, rounding the door slowly. He forced a smile as he approached his bedside.
"Hey there." He greeted the Blue Ranger. "How are you feeling?"
"I've definitely felt better." Flynn told him, pulling himself up painfully. "I've got bruises in places I'd forgotten about."
"Is anything broken?" Scott asked him.
"No, the suit took the worst of it." He replied with a smile, beginning to turn to get out of his bed. "I'm sure Dr. K will have a few words to say about the repairs she'll have had to make to my equipment though."
"Flynn, where do you think you're going?" Scott asked him. "You might not have broken anything but you still need to be seen by the doctor."
"I'm fine Scott." He told him. "I have some bruising, a few cuts, a minor concussion and a badly bruised ego. I'll live."
"Flynn, just try to get a little rest." Scott instructed him. "Psycho robot girl did just drop a building on you."
"Scott, I need to check on Sam." Flynn told him. "Get out of my way."
"Flynn, there's no point, they won't let you in." He stated. "She's on life support."
Flynn stopped on the edge of the bed and slumped down a little and stared at him. Fear filled his heart as he thought about her. He desperately wanted to see her, to know whether or not he had succeeded in protecting her.
"She's in a coma." Scott continued, sitting on the bed with him and putting his arm around his friend for comfort. He knew that he would hear this eventually, and he thought it was best that he hear it from a friend. "They're also not sure if she'll make a full recovery."
"What's wrong with her?" Flynn asked him. Scott breathed a sigh as he looked into Flynn's tear-filled eyes, preparing to tell him the hardest thing he'd ever had to say.
"There's a small possibility she may have permanent brain damage." He informed him. "She also has a lot of damage to her legs and her back. They said that she could recover in time with rehab, but it is possible she'll never walk again."
Flynn just buried his face in his hands and wept. He loved Sam so much; he had rushed off to face Tenaya 7 on his own. He couldn't let her come to harm if he could help it. Of course, now he had the chance to think about it in the cold light of day, he knew that was impossible. Tenaya had kidnapped her because she somehow knew that he and Sam were an item. She had restrained her, preventing her from leaving when the battle started, and she had deliberately brought the roof down, knowing that Sam was in there, and likely would not survive without any form of protection.
His heart broke as his thoughts strayed to her. There was no denying the fact that she was in this situation because of him. It was his fault that she got hurt.
"When can I see her?" Flynn asked him. Scott just held him closely. He could tell how badly this had shaken him.
"I don't know Flynn." He replied. "I'll have to ask the doctors, I just don't know."
"It's my fault Scott." He sobbed, pulling into a tight hug, weeping loudly. "If anything happens to her I'll never forgive myself."
Scott just held him and let him cry, unable to say anything. He wished there was something he could do for him, some way he could spare him this pain, but he knew that the only thing that would console him would be if Sam was alright. Of course, right now no one knew if that would be the case. Right now, Flynn was alone in his anguish, and there was nothing anyone could do to make him feel better.