Chapter 8
"Why don't you have some breakfast?" Ben-Gali nudged his son, who had fallen asleep just outside the sterile room where Sahara was recovering.
"Wha…" the pumiger woke up and shook his head.
"Food. Taste good," the white tiger teased.
"Candy fruit pancakes?" Tyler asked.
"Yes indeed with a hint of butter and loads of maple syrup. Snarf was entertaining the babies and got to cooking," his father explained as he set the tray of food down on a nearby bed table. He wheeled it over and Tyler immediately began tucking into it.
"So I'm guessing that your last meal was lunch yesterday," Ben-Gali said. Tyler swallowed hard and downed some orange juice.
"That would be correct," he nodded.
"You have to do better than that son. Sahara needs you to be strong and so do Kaylee and Adohi. They love their daddy and they miss him," his father put a hand on his shoulder. His son nodded and continued to eat his breakfast. The two didn't say anything until Tyler finished his meal and stood up.
"Take the tray back to the kitchen and go spend some time with the little ones," Ben-Gali said.
"Thanks Dad," Tyler smiled slightly and took off out of the room, knowing he'd be back soon.
"I knew there was a reason I let that boy marry my daughter," Lion-O spoke up from his bed.
"Let? I would think Sahara would give you a good poke for that," Ben said.
"That she would," the lion laughed.
"She going to be ok?" The tiger turned to the window, giving him a view of her plugged into all the machines. To this, Lion-O heaved a sigh,
"I honestly don't know and it frustrates me that Jaga has seemingly abandoned me when I need him. There are so many questions and no answers."
"We'll figure it out. We always do," Ben smiled.
"That we do; I just hope its sooner rather than later," the lion nodded.
"Where is your lovely wife?" His friend asked.
"She's prepping Leo for this morning. As Queen she will have to do the honor of bestowing him with his new title. I have to admit, I can't stand being stuck in bed," the King of Thundera said.
"Better than the alternative," Ben pointed out.
"This is true," his friend nodded. At that moment, machines in Sahara's room started beeping. Ben left the King's side and rushed into the room. Medical personnel flooded into the room and pushed him aside.
"Pulse is dropping, breathing irregular," a panther said.
"Blood pressure is all over the map," a cougar added. Then suddenly Sahara bolted upright and breathed in loudly; everyone froze.
"What is happening?" Ben asked. He got no answer as she collapsed back to the bed. Her breathing returned to normal and all the machines quieted back into their normal rhythm.
"Your Majesty!" A puma cried out and everyone turned to see Lion-O leaning heavily on the door.
"I've got him," Ben said, rushing to the door and grabbing onto him.
"Back to bed with you. I know for certain there is a cheetah that would have my gonads and then my head if anything bad happened to you," the tiger told him.
"But…" the lion protested.
"Back to bed mister or I'll strap you there myself," Tygra said as he entered the room. The orange tiger quickly helped his brother get Lion-O back into bed and the former checked all his vitals. Tygra shook his head and then went into the other room to check on Sahara. He came back out and said,
"I want him hooked up to a heart monitor again. In an hour bring me the results from both machines." The group around him quickly went about doing what he wanted them to do as he pulled Ben-Gali outside.
"What's up? I know that look," the white tiger said.
"Something is hinky but I think that last blast with the Sword somehow synced up their heartbeats," Tygra told him.
"Back it up there," Ben shook his head.
"Lion-O's heart beat was regular; Sahara's was regular. Sahara's heart beat went down; Lion-O's went up. He stabled out, she stabled out. I have no explanation for it," Tygra said.
"So what do we do?" Ben asked.
"We find a way to make Lion-O's heart beat stable all the time or we're going to lose one of them," his brother said.
To Be Continued…