Jon woke the next morning to shouts and the sounds of vehicles pulling into the clearing. 'Mom! Mom!' he heard Matt shouting. 'Mom!' the boy burst into the tent. 'Mom, come quick! We found Ben and Abby!'

Anne scrambled out of bed, stopping only to put on her shoes and grab her jacket before following Matt outside. Jon leapt up and ran to the entryway, peering out. The downpour of the night before had once again tapered to a drizzle; the sky was full of steel grey clouds, but the clearing was lit by sunlight from behind them. Jon saw his father moving towards the bus next to the tent, Abby in his arms, followed by a huge man in a yellow plaid jacket bearing Ben.

'Med-bus!' Anne bellowed. She sprinted towards the bus, turning around halfway there to shout at Matt: 'Get Lourdes!'

Tom and the other man disappeared into the bus for a few minutes before reappearing. Matt returned leading a young Hispanic girl. She boarded the bus, and he attempted to follow, only to be stopped by Tom. Jon grabbed his shoes and jogged over to where Tom and Matt were waiting outside the bus, the other man having returned to the vehicles.

'Dad!' Jon called as he approached. 'What's going on? Are they okay?'

'I don't know,' Tom replied grimly. 'They have some form of hypothermia, but other than that they looked fine.'

Korrine arrived next to them, breathless and concerned. 'Is Abby in there?'

'Yes,' Tom nodded. He stopped her when she tried to board the bus. 'Let Anne and Lourdes have their space. They'll do what they can for Abby and Ben.'

Lourdes appeared in the doorway. 'Anne says to go inside. She doesn't want to have to deal with anyone else getting sick. I'll come get you once we know more.'

Tom nodded and herded the trio back to the tent. They arrived to find everyone awake. Jimmy, Harlem, Dallon, Hal, and Maggie had returned, damp, and were sitting in various places around the tent.

'Is Abby going to be okay?' Colm whimpered. He was sitting on Tom and Anne's bed again, next to Lexie.

'Anne is going to do everything she can,' Tom replied.

'Abby and Ben will be fine,' Jimmy said. 'They're fighters. They'll pull through.'

'He's right,' Maggie agreed. 'They survived being harnessed. Abby survived a year or more with the rebel skitters. They're going to be fine.'

'I hope so,' Matt murmured, looking in the direction of the med-bus.

The atmosphere in the tent grew more and more tense as the hours passed. Harlem and Dallon left to go on patrol, followed by Jimmy almost an hour later. Jeanne arrived with soup for lunch, which they accepted gratefully. Tom and Jon alternated pacing for a while, before they both finally settled down to wait. Korinne entertained the younger girls by intricately braiding their hair. Maggie and Hal went on patrol just before Harlem and Dallon returned. Weaver stopped by and settled down next to Tom.

'How's it going?' he asked.

'We haven't heard anything,' Tom replied.

'They're in good hands,' Weaver said, looking around at the worried faces in the tent. 'Anne and Lourdes'll do their best.'

'Hey,' Lourdes's voice came from the tent door.

'Well?' Tom demanded, leaping to his feet.

'Late second-stage hypothermia,' Lourdes replied. 'We're doing what we can, but we just don't have the equipment for the treatment they really need.'

'What don't you have?' Tom asked. 'I thought all you had to do was warm them up.'

'For late stages of hypothermia, patients need active internal rewarming,' Lourdes replied. 'This is done by pumping heated dextrose and saline through them. This also helps with the dehydration. We simply don't have the equipment to do this. We're sticking with active external rewarming, because that's what we have the equipment and ability to do. That's basically just keeping them dry and warm, using blankets and warm clothes. Usually, we'd use hot water bottles and the heated IV fluids, or have them inhale warmed, humidified air, but, like I said, we don't have the equipment for that. Jeanne has been helping us by boiling water, then cooling it down enough to get them to try and drink it, but there really isn't much else we can do.'

'Are they going to be okay?' Korinne asked, gripping Jon's arm tightly.

'We don't know yet,' Lourdes admitted. 'They're definitely not out of the woods yet.'

'When will we know?' Jon asked.

'I'll let you know once we have a better idea of what's going on with them,' Lourdes replied before turning to Tom. 'Tom, I need to talk with you outside, please.'

Tom nodded and followed her out. She led him to the med-bus, but stopped outside and faced him. 'Frankly, Tom, we don't know much. We're trying to raise their core temperatures back up, but it's hard without the equipment. Also, there's a chance that some of their organs failed while they were freezing. We can't see anything, so we don't know. It doesn't look good.'

Tom rested his head in his hands. 'Can I go in?'

Lourdes nodded. 'But only you. Anne doesn't want anyone else, especially not the kids, in there.'

Tom nodded in agreement and boarded the bus. Resting in the two parallel cots were two cocoons of blankets. Tom moved further into the bus. At the ends of the beds, he saw the pale faces of the two teenagers. He moved to Ben's side and brushed his fingers against his white cheek.

'Hey,' Anne murmured, resting her hand on Tom's shoulder.

'Hey,' he replied.

'Lourdes, go see if Jeanne has some water for us,' Anne instructed. Wordlessly, Lourdes left, softly closing the bus door behind her.

'What do you think?' Tom asked, turning from Ben to Abby. 'Will they make it?'

'I can't say,' Anne replied grimly. 'Their core temperatures were borderline severe hypothermia. I don't know if any of their organs shut down.'

'Any frostbite?' Tom asked.

'No,' Anne shook her head. 'Fortunately.'

Tom nodded, turning back to Ben. 'Can I stay here?'

'Not right now,' Anne replied. 'Go back and try to sleep. Lourdes and I will have to sleep eventually, and you can stay with them then.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. 'What should I tell the kids?'

'That we're doing what we can but we don't know anything for sure yet,' Anne shrugged. 'Be honest, but not too honest.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. He turned and embraced Anne, kissing her on the lips. 'You can do it.'

'Thank you for your faith,' Anne smiled wryly. 'Go. I'll come for you in a few hours.'

Tom nodded again and left the bus. He walked slowly back to the tent, trudging through the mud.

'Dad!' Matt exclaimed as Tom entered the tent. Jimmy had returned from his patrol, and was holding Mariah and Amanda on his lap. 'What's the news?'

'They don't know anything yet,' Tom replied. 'They might not for a while. Anne and Lourdes are doing what they can.'

'Can we see them?' Dallon asked.

'Not right now,' Tom answered. 'Anne doesn't want anyone to disturb them.' He sat down on the bed and pulled off his boots and jacket. 'I'm going to get some sleep. Anne wants me to sit with them while she and Lourdes sleep tonight.'

Jimmy nodded. 'We'll keep it down.'

'Thanks,' Tom replied. 'Don't worry, guys. If anyone can save them, it's Anne and Lourdes.'

'Tom?' Anne said, gently shaking him awake.

Tom looked around blearily. 'What? What's going on?'

'I need you to sit with Ben and Abby for a few hours so Lourdes and I can sleep,' Anne whispered. She stood up and stepped back, avoiding Dallon, who was sprawled across the floor.

Tom slipped out of bed, careful not to crawl on Lexie or Colm, both of whom were curled up next to him. He pulled on his boots and jacket and followed Anne to the med-bus.

'There are blankets here, which you know,' she said. 'If they start shivering, tuck another blanket around them. 'If anything happens, and I mean anything at all, come and get me right away. Especially if they wake up.'

Tom nodded. 'Blankets there. If anything happens, come get you.'

'Good,' Anne nodded and smiled. 'I'll come back when I wake up, probably around dawn. Try not to fall asleep.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. He kissed Anne on the forehead and watched her leave, shutting the bus door firmly after her. He moved to the middle section of the bus, where a metal stool was set next to Abby's bed. He moved the stool closer to Ben's cot and settled down onto it, watching his son's pale face as the blankets rose and fell with Ben's slow breathing.

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! Please leave a review; they make my day :3

To those who reviewed the last chapter: thanks so much! I don't remember what was said, but you're all so lovely ^^

Also, I got a fish. Just felt like sharing that...