The morning slowly dragged on. Dana and Carter circulated between floors, keeping tabs on those who'd been injured, and sharing information with those reluctant to leave the others behind. Ethan and Kira had made multiple attempts to reach and reassure their parents, but the damage caused by the storm and continuing interference in telephone communication made making contact difficult. Ethan finally managed to leave a message on his home phone indicating that he was safe and at the hospital, and could his parents call the Fords to let them know Kira was also okay? It was the best that they could do. Dana had a nurse calling all of the phone numbers they had for Conner's parents every 15 minutes in an attempt to make contact with them.

Everyone was concerned about everybody else, and no one was taking very good care of themselves. They all tried to get each other to eat; drink, rest – but no one had much interest in any of those activities. There were a lot of half eaten sandwiches and partially finished cups of coffee lying around. People picked at their food or held their cups in their hands more to have something to do than anything else. The only one who had any success at making the others actually consume some food was Kim, though the body type rangers were less difficult to convince than others; she was steadily making her way through the rangers left in the Conner and Tommy's room. It seemed if she sat with them one-on-one they would eat. So she approached with a plate, sat down for a talk, and didn't leave until they were finished.

And so the morning went on; not much changed. The adrenaline of the early morning fight had worn off long ago, and the Dino Thunder Rangers were showing signs of exhaustion. But they fought sleep every step of the way, determined to be awake and alert for any important developments. Ethan tried to keep himself occupied sorting through data downloaded from Haley's laptop. He knew that he was basically data processing, but it was better than doing nothing. Kira had a harder time finding something to keep her focused. Sitting and watching Conner – willing him to wake up or show any sign of recovery – was important to Kira, but not very stimulating.

She knew it was silly, but she found herself imposing all sorts of rules on her behavior. She could walk around the room, but not down the hall – something bad might happen if she left Conner's side. She could hum a tune in her head, but couldn't sing out loud – though she badly want to sing "Freak You Out" over and over just so Conner would wake up and tell her to be quiet. And she absolutely, positively, mustn't fall asleep.

Kira looked around the room to see what everyone else was doing; just like she'd done a million times this morning. Carter had taken up Rocky's position near Conner's feet. Kira wasn't clear on what had happened, exactly – Rocky and Dana had some kind of fight, and he stormed out with Aisha hot on his heels. That's where the no walking in the hallway rule came from. Kira went to stretch her legs, and something bad happened. She was convinced that without Rocky, Conner's face had taken on a grayish hue even though Carter had quickly taken his spot, but no one else seemed to notice this. And she felt like since she'd left the room, and then Conner seemed to worsen (at least it looked like that to her), then it was her responsibility not to let that happen again.

Carter struck Kira as very different from the Rangers she had come to know. Oh, he was a good guy, and obviously was in for the long haul trying to help, but she just didn't feel the connection with him the way she did with the others. For one thing, he seemed kind of left out; he wasn't surrounded by his team. Kira's perceptions of Ranger teams had been firmly established over the last few days – the Wind and Thunder Ninjas, Ninjetti and Dino Thunder Rangers were in constant contact supporting one another – so watching Carter with only Dana to support him struck her as odd.

Kira's gaze drifted to the corner of the room closest to Tommy's bed. Billy and Haley were deeply engrossed in processing information from her laptop. They spoke in low tones as they worked, heads inclined toward each other. Billy sat with his left arm around the back of Haley's chair so he could sit closer to her and see the screen with greater ease. The laptop rested on both of their legs – also very close to each other. It suddenly struck Kira that they made a totally adorable couple. She smiled at the idea. Wouldn't it be cool if Haley got a boyfriend out of all of this mess?

Watching Haley and Billy work was about as interesting as watching Ethan type, so Kira turned her gaze further. Jason had taken up residence on the end of Tommy's stretcher. Though Tommy was tall, he'd curled up in his sleep, giving Jason enough room to sit. Between the return of his Dino Gem and the unwavering support from Jason, Tommy looked a hundred percent better, and appeared to be in a totally natural and pain-free sleep. Kira envied him.

Jason was talking to Kim who was seated in a chair at the foot of Tommy's stretcher. Jason was finishing off a sandwich Kim had foisted on him and she was talking earnestly with him about something Kira couldn't make out. From the few snatches Kira could pick up without being completely obvious about eavesdropping, it seemed they were reminiscing about past relationships. From the expression on Kim's face Kira got the feeling that she didn't like to hear was Jason was saying, but because it was the truth, she didn't have an argument against it.

"I've told you a million times, Kim. I know - I've been keeping track." Jason winked at Kim and she smirked as he continued. "You can only do so much in your head. In the end what it's going to take is one of you actually opening up your mouth to say something." Jason turned to look at Tommy and his expression turned grave before he turned back to Kim. "You're getting a second chance, Kim. And it's pretty clear now there's no time to waste. We can't take anything or anyone for granted. Just ask Rocky and Aisha."

Kim's emotional response to his statement and Jason's quiet and serious tone caught Kira off guard. He was talking like people were dying. No one was dying! Dr. O clearly wasn't dying, he looked so much better! And Adam…that just couldn't happen. Because if Adam could die then Conner could… Kira fought to quell a rising tide of panic, but it was impossible. Tears sprang unbidden into her eyes. She quickly turned away from Jason and Kim to check on Conner. He looked the same – quiet, pale, still. All of the machines were beeping and humming regularly. Wouldn't they go crazy if something had gone wrong?

"Kira?"

Kira gasped and her head snapped around. Kim was standing directly in front of her with a very concerned look on her face, but Kira hadn't heard her approaching. "Are you okay, honey?"

Kira honestly thought Kim was asking about Conner. "He's okay. Nothing's changed. That's good, right?"

Kim's concern deepened. Ethan leaned forward over his laptop to look at his teammate too. He was surprised to see the tears on her face – when had that happened? "Kira? What's wrong?" he demanded.

"I'm…no…fine." She explained even as she wondered where her verbal abilities had escaped to. She tried to explain herself more clearly. "No one's going to die!" she emphatically exclaimed.

Ethan sat back stunned, unblinking. Kim reached for Kira's hand and pulled her up from her chair. "We need to get you out of here, hon."

Kim got Kira nearly to the doorway before Kira realized that a rule was about to be broken. She planted her feet and tried to pull away from Kimberly. "No, no! I can't leave the room. It's a rule!"

Carter and Jason had been tracking Kim's progress and exchanged a glance behind the two petite women. Jason gave Kim a look with a gesture asking if she wanted him to intervene. She gave her head a slight shake indicating she had it under control. Kira noticed none of the byplay.

Kim placed her free hand on Kira's neck with her thumb resting on the girl's jaw line and looked into her eyes. "Kira, nothing bad will happen if you leave the room. I would just like to talk to you, and I think we could both use a change of scenery. Do you think that would be okay?"

Kira closed her eyes and two fat tears escaped from below her lids. In spite of the tears, Kira felt so much calmer standing there with Kim. Something about the older woman made her feel centered and safe. She took a deep breath and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Drawing her arm around the younger girl, Kim led Kira from the room. Kira took a quick glance before Conner was out of sight then allowed herself to be led away.

The burn unit was quiet; Rocky was grateful. He'd been in burn units just like this too many times. Often the men he'd been there to visit were screaming in pain – the morphine allotted to them had worn off and there was an eternity of time until the next dose. He'd seen grown men, men who were heroes to him, crying like babies. But not Adam. That was in his future.

The machinery surrounding Adam was much like the machinery that had been hooked up to Conner; but for Adam, everything was attached on his whole, right side - the heart and lung monitors, the morphine drip he didn't need yet. Rocky knew how the recovery would go, and his knowledge tormented him.

Adam didn't need the morphine drip yet because all of the nerve endings that would deliver the pain of the burns had been destroyed, evaporated by the explosion. It wouldn't be until the nerves started to regenerate that the real pain would kick in. The split-second exposure to the explosion would be nothing compared to the ceaseless torment of his own body repairing itself. Adam could look forward to days and nights of constant pain tempered only by the drugs administered by the attending hospital staff. Then there would be round after round of surgery and skin grafts, and if he was lucky, he wouldn't be completely disfigured by the scars he would surely bear for the rest of his life.

That was, if he lived that long.

Rocky's fists clenched at his sides as he watched the nurses tending to Adam change his bandages. The first layer of gauze came off, then the second. Adam didn't so much as twitch. In the time since they'd brought him to the hospital, he hadn't come anywhere close to consciousness. It was a blessing and a curse. Rocky wanted so much to be able to talk to Adam, but for purely selfish reasons. He wanted to beg Adam to forgive all the stupid things he'd been thinking in their last conversation together; he wanted to tell him how proud he was to be his friend. But if Adam was awake, Rocky would also have to tell him how irrevocably he'd been damaged, and he wasn't strong enough to do that.

The nurses were removing the final layer of gauze, and though Rocky tried to force himself to watch, in the end he had to turn away. With a strangled cry he spun around and slid down against the window and wall outside of Adam's room. With his hands covering his face Rocky leaned his head into his knees which were drawn up toward his chest. One of the nurses who had seen Rocky's reaction mercifully drew the curtain across the window from the inside.

Aisha, who had far less tolerance for watching Adam's injuries exposed, was watching Rocky from her post at the nurse's station. She strongly felt the echoes of his pain, but was quaking internally with pain of her own. Obviously they'd never been in a situation of this nature before, and Aisha was dismayed at her reaction to it. Her anger at Rocky for distancing himself from her was nearly as great as her fear of losing Adam. Who did Rocky think he was? How dare he act as if he was the only one consumed with pain and fear? Didn't he know that if he shared his pain, his burden would be less, and so would hers? Aisha wanted to rage at him, she wanted to storm out but she knew she'd never leave; so all she could do was seethe with anger.

Without raising his face from his hands, Rocky called out brokenly, "'Sha?" and she felt the dam break at last. He finally, finally was ready to ask for help. Aisha's anger dissipated as soon as he opened his mouth, she quickly moved to his side. Aisha slid to the floor and placed her arm around Rocky's shoulders; she felt him quaking in her embrace. He was hanging on, but just barely.

"Es toda mi avería. No miraba. ¿Cómo podría dejarlo detrás?"

Aisha gave Rocky a little shake and commanded gently, "C'mon babe…English."

Rocky barked out a laugh that got caught in a sob. "If I hadn't asked him to help me in the lab…if I'd been paying more attention. I should've done something."

"You did have your hands full with Dustin, remember? What, you were going to toss him aside and go hold Adam's hand in the fight?"

Aisha's gentle mocking startled Rocky out of his thoughts for a moment. He picked his head up and gave her an incredulous look. She had to chuckle at the expression on his face. Then she continued more seriously. "You made a promise to Tori and Shane. You swore you'd bring Dustin back to them. And you did."

Rocky looked searchingly at Aisha's face. "But at what cost?"

"Adam made a choice – you know that better than anyone."

"I tried to make him get out, 'Sha. I cursed at him and said horrible things…."

"I know, I heard. Lucky for you Adam doesn't know that much Spanish." Rocky smiled in spite of himself at the old joke between them, not quite sure how Aisha was able to lift him from his despair. He closed his eyes, leaned back into her embrace and soaked in her support for a moment. Then he continued to speak without looking at her.

"It's going to be bad, Aisha. All the guys I work with…I've never seen anyone burned as bad as Adam. It's going to be…" he sighed deeply, "bad."

In spite of Rocky's repeated description of "bad" things, Aisha took heart. At least now he was thinking beyond injury into recovery. "You know, " he continued, "I never told Adam this…but some small part of me always kinda hoped the Shaolin priest in China thing wouldn't work out. It's so far away and his life would be so different…and separate. I know thinking about things doesn't make them happen, but I almost feel…"

"No, Rocky. No, babe." Aisha gently admonished while turning his face toward hers. "You didn't make this happen. It's not your fault and it has nothing to do with the fact that you'd be lonely if Adam moved to China."

He shook his head even as emotions welled in his eyes. "It was stupid and selfish of me to think like that. I know it. Adam could live on the moon for all I care…just as long as he lives." Unable to hold himself in check any longer, Rocky lay his head in the curve of Aisha's neck and cried in her embrace. He didn't cry alone.

More Spanish translations:

Es toda mi avería. No miraba ¿Cómo podría dejarlo detrás?

It's all my fault. I wasn't watching. How could I leave him behind?

Totally random A/N – Have any of you seen Four Brothers? Not a fantastic movie, but I went into it with very low expectations, so I was surprisingly entertained. Color me shocked when Kevin Duhaney (Ethan) appeared on the screen. I was so distracted by the fact that a Ranger was in the movie I missed all of the dialogue for like 3 minutes. And by the way…no sensor button on his mouth – very distracting to hear that kind of language coming from "Ethan". Duhaney didn't have a big part, I was just happy to see him having a life after Power Rangers.

Thanks so much for all of your support. I took a lot of notes on vacation, now it's just a matter of getting them typed up in some coherent order. Thanks for sticking around.

Jenna Summers – In the condition he's in, Conner doesn't consciously feel the connection to Hunter, but it's definitely there. More on that will be explained later…

EK – Enjoy the insanity! I'm back, at least until school starts.

Funky in Fishnet – I'm glad you liked Hunter's reaction. Sometimes I find it hard to find the right balance for him, it's nice to hear I'm getting it right.

BridgetLynn – Welcome aboard! What an awesome compliment – I'm so flattered that I kept you up all night reading. I love it when I find a story that makes me want to read like that, and I'm glad this story made you feel it too.

Akume - glomps Welcome back! Nice to see you around again. Mike the EMT is not Mike from Lost Galaxy – I thought "Mike" was a fairly generic name and used it not remembering former Ranger connections. Duh!

MzDany – I'm glad you liked Hunter's reaction – you're like a "Hunter-o-Meter" for me because I know he's such a favorite of yours.