I'm not a medical expert, nor do I regularly claim to be, so please forgive any inaccuracies. the PoV changes in this one from Jason or Billy's to members of the Dino thunder team at points. These will be easier to spot because Tommy will be referred to as Dr. O in these sections.
Warnings: High emotional content, near-death, description of a severely injured person.
Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters. I merely borrow them and leave them dazed and confused holding onto each other on a street corner in the middle of nowhere.
Brother, My Brother
Part 2
The remaining team members gather around them,
forming a large, loving protective circle.
Billy,
Tommy's teammate in blue and Jason's former friend,
breaks from the circle,
squatting next to them on the mushy ground
saturated with blood...and water.
He reaches down to take a pulse
and, upon finding a slight one,
sets up a teleport back to their current base.
Jason and Tommy are first
followed quickly by Billy.
Tommy's latest team comes in a moment after that,
Trent and Conner moving to take Tommy
only for Jason to clasp him tighter and
shakily stand supported by Ethan and Kira.
All four young adults surround him,
guiding him to the med bay that Billy and Hayley had set up.
Both arrived minutes after and,
after several minutes and a shot of tranquilizer,
manage to pry Jason's stone grip from Tommy's simmering flesh.
Jason heaps on the floor in an unconscious pile
but gains no attention from anyone for a full 20 minutes
while they work vigorously to guide Tommy from the cloak of death.
The suit was first to go,
bearing the full extent of his injuries for all to see.
Anger flashes through all present,
directed at the man on the floor,
until they realize he is no longer the same person
that inflicted those wounds upon their mentor and friend.
That thought is what allows Kira to pull her focus from Dr. O
and instead move to get Jason on another bed
to be examined after Dr. O is safe.
The boys help her after they too snap out of their stupors,
most of their anger evaporating after seeing how vulnerable this
previously-evil man is once he realized just what he had done.
Once that is done and they all fully gather their wits,
they walk out of the med bay and back to the command center,
Ethan figuring out how to teleport the rest of Team Ranger back to base rather slowly.
Some of the older Rangers look as though they want to:
A. march back to the med bay and crowd around Tommy,
doing nothing but hurting him,
B. Find Jason and vaporize him after torturing him
or
C. Both A and B
but are stopped by Conner, Trent and Kira guarding the only hallway,
glares challenging anyone to try and get past them.
The older Rangers back down,
uneasily moving off to their rooms,
leaving the survivors from Ninja Storm to Samurai.
An awkward silence settles tightly,
broken enough to be comfortable
when Dustin from Ninja Storm makes a tense but appropriate joke,
and, following his example,
the rest of the teams strike conversations amongst themselves,
tension easing ever so slowly.
They all are worried, tense and weary,
from both the battle and current tensions.
Once the mood is light enough,
they divide into 10 mixed teams
to begin clearing the battle field of bodies,
friend and foe alike.
The dead Rangers, about 6 in total, are teleported back,
wrapped in sheets
and stored in a morgue-styled room with cold lockers.
The departed villains,
although they were being nice enough
by removing them from the battle field,
are not afforded the same luxury.
Conner digs crude graves about 7ft down
and the bodies are dumped in there.
They are covered back up
and after about 100 they are finally done,
with most of them being mere lackeys.
All in all it takes them 3 hours,
the sun now beginning it's slow descent to the horizon.
It is another 6 hours before anything is heard from the med bay,
the 8 younger teams setting shifts
so one person from each team is always up,
in case there is any news.
Each of the older teams send in representative as well,
the most level headed member of their respective teams.
About 14 people sit in the main room,
a clear separation between the older and younger Rangers being drawn.
Trent takes up guard duty by the hallway,
just in case anyone decided to try anything,
so he is the first to know when a throat clearing above his head
pierces the light hum of conversation.
All pairs of eyes are immediately on Billy,
searching for anything in his calm face.
Instead of addressing the wandering eyes,
Billy looks straight down at Trent,
addressing him in a leader's voice no one knew him to have.
"He is stable for right now, but I want you to get the rest of your team
and bring them back A.S.A.P., ok?"
Then his voice dips lower and quieter,
Trent having to strain to hear.
"He's really bad. Warn your team."
When mouths open as if to voice questions,
he silences them with one statement.
"He's stable."
With that he turned back down the hallway,
the automatic doors to the med bay opening and closing with a soft swoosh.
Not really even thinking,
Trent stands and jog/sprints to their shared rooms,
telling a semi-alert Kira what just happened and leaving Ethan to her mercy.
He ruefully wakes Conner,
knowing the other man had managed maybe 2 hours of sleep.
Once all involved are informed and mostly coherent,
Trent leads them to the med bay,
Ignoring the trickle of people into the residential area,
Undoubtedly about to inform their respective teams
Of Billy's one word diagnosis.
Before they are at the entrance,
The doors slide open to reveal Hayley,
her eyes dressed in red,
though it is impossible to tell if it's
from crying or sleeplessness.
A bit of both they collectively reason.
Hayley had helped Dr. O rebound after Jason both times,
And, although they did not last long either time,
It is obvious she still cares deeply for him.
She had even taken time off to play command center.
So to see her eyes still a bright, fresh scarlet had them worried.
Had something happened while they were getting ready?
Was Dr. O gone for good this time?
Questions about to choke them,
they start to speak,
only to preempted by her answering.
"He's still stable, guys.
I'm just worried."
She sighs, scrubbing her eyes for stray tears
before waving them in.
"But let's get inside. We still need to talk."
The doors part,
revealing Jason perched on his bed,
wide awake and considerably calmer,
nursing a half full coffee cup and
talking subduedly to Billy,
eyes flickering to the unconscious mummy
in the bed opposite his own.
The teens silently follow his gaze,
taking in their mentor's condition completely.
Some of the monitors and wiring look distinctly hospital
while others seem to belong on a Hollywood movie UFO,
A.K.A. normal for a Power Ranger,
and there isn't any part of Dr. O that is free from
bandages, plaster or gauze,
except possibly his lips
where a tube has been inserted,
forcing his shattered shell to breathe
and continue its feeble struggle to survive.
It is too much to stomach,
so before they both throw up,
Kira and Ethan look away,
leaving Conner and Trent to memorize every injury and bruise,
filing them away for future use.
They may have mostly forgiven Jason for what he did,
but that didn't mean he was getting off Scot-free.
The questions none of them want to ask hang stale in the air,
choking all with their heady oppressiveness.
How is he?
Will he make it?
After finishing his hushed conversation with Jason,
who sets his still half full cup on the nearby counter
and lies on the bed, back to them
curling on himself in shame,
Billy comes over,
looking at the team and Hayley with sympathy and understanding
before he draws their attention away from Tommy and onto himself.
He spends about 20 minutes babbling off medical jargon,
using the terms fractured, shattered, and comatose frequently.
Once he finishes,
Hayley and Ethan translate,
the latter only helping when it becomes too techy for Hayley.
The basics, as the non-techies understand, are
Tommy's in yet another coma,
he's messed up everything except his skull, spine, toes and pelvis
and after they de-mummify him,
he will need to be in a healing pod
to take care of the worst injuries.
How long is asked
and answered with an unknown.
Allowing it to sink in for a few seconds,
silence reigns,
contested by only quiet hissing and beeping.
"Go get some sleep, you four.
We'll tell everyone else."
Billy speaks up when he sees the conflicted gazes
jumping between Tommy's team as they mentally draw straws.
The young adults go with grateful nods and a swoosh,
leaving Billy and Hayley
with a "sleeping" Jason and a comatose Tommy.
Knowing Jason isn't asleep,
Billy walks over to him,
whispers in his ear
and leaves the sterile room,
waving a cautious Hayley out with him.
"What if he tries something?" her eyes say,
glistening with tears and distrust.
Shaking his head,
he ushers her out,
giving her a simple "he won't"
as the doors shut and lock behind him.
Please review and I hope you like it!