Chapter LI: Breathe 2AM
Welcome back, everyone! We hope you had a merry Christmas and for our UK readers, a happy Boxing Day to you all! And a happy Kwanzaa to our African-American readers! We're sorry, again, for another delay. This again was Peach's fault as she spent quite a few days finishing a Christmas present for her parents. It involved being off the computer and staying up until 3AM Christmas Eve to finish the thing. Anyway, so here's the next chapter!
(Star Trek computer voice comes on) Last time on "Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Darkness Falls…" Visuals of the gang's graduation… And now, the continuation.
Usual disclaimer: Please check back in the past few chapters to check what we own and don't own. Thank you.
The night drifted over the academy and many parents left the school with their children. Annie hugged her parents and brother goodbye with promises she'd see them sooner rather than later. The remaining group did the same, though Scout remained at the school, prepared to do what she had to. "Jack, I'll call you... the kids are going to need me here..."
Jack nodded as he hugged his wife. "I understand, Scout... You do what you can to help, I'll hold down the fort back in Domino."
"It's going to be rough... Alex thinks it'll be tonight."
"Well... just call if you need anything, honey. Even just to talk."
"Thanks, Jack," she said, kissing him softly.
"No problem, Scout. I'll talk to you later..." And Jack got on the boat back to Domino.
"Sy... take care of Annie," Zane told his brother. "You probably already have been told... but she's going to need you through this with Bastion..."
Syrus nodded. "I know, Zane. I will..."
"And let her take care of you, too. You're gonna get stressed out and the last thing we want is Mom panicking." Zane said this with a slightly naughty smile. The Truesdale boys both knew their mother would be a nervous wreck if her youngest son and future daughter-in-law were possibly overworking themselves.
Syrus grinned. "All right, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, big bro..." he said as he hugged the taller boy.
And then, everyone who had come left the island, and the grounds were quiet. "It's almost like our own private kingdom," Annie sighed as she walked back to Obelisk with Syrus.
"It does feel pretty weird... I mean, there are even less people here than during the breaks..." Syrus agreed, holding her hand.
"Yeah... the only people left are the teachers, Blair, Marcel, Yusuke, Scout, Dr. Nakamura, the Misawas, Belowski and our entire group... I kind of like that," she smiled and then sobered. "Except for Bastion being so sick..."
He sighed both in happiness and in worry. "Yeah... And Dr. Nakamura says tonight it'll happen..."
"He's preparing us... And the worst-case scenario is Bastion's lungs are too badly damaged..." Annie had read everything she could about what Bastion was facing and it truly frightened her.
"But he said that was a low risk, right?"
Annie shivered. "Yeah... and the other thing is that the respirator could hurt him too..."
"It could?" Syrus asked in surprise.
"If it's the wrong pressure... it could be damaging to his lungs," she groaned sadly.
"This is bad..."
Annie nodded, shivering. "F-fortunately, Dr. Nakamura is one of the very best... He'll know the pressure Bastion needs..." She recognized the confused look in his eyes. "There has to be a certain air pressure for his lungs to work right. Too little and he can't breathe, and too much means his lungs will get hurt." Annie shivered again. "Sy... I'm scared..."
Syrus wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him. "I... I am too, Annie... But... it'll be okay... it has to be..."
"Yeah...I should be able to pull myself together... Doctors can't lose it like this," she groaned. Annie knew that being unable to detach herself from the situation could be a major hindrance in her preferred line of work. And yet she couldn't yet detach her emotions.
He frowned. "Annie, you're not a doctor yet. It's okay to be scared... Besides, even doctors are scared sometimes. Mom gets scared."
Annie sighed. "I know... Honey... whether or not I make it into the profession, I'm glad I have you with me..."
Syrus smiled a little. "You will make it, Annie. And I'll always be with you to help..."
They held each other for a long moment, drawing strength from each other. They headed back up to the dorm and then Annie got a smile on her face. "I just realized something..."
Syrus blinked. "What?"
"We have the entire campus to ourselves... and that includes the girls' wading pool hot springs," she said, smile broadening into a grin.
"What..." He blushed as it hit him. "O-Oh."
"Maybe we could go and soak," she continued.
"Uh, okay..."
She looked at him, noticing her fiancé's tomato red blush. "Are you okay?"
He sweat-dropped. "Um, y-yeah... Were you, er... going to wear a swimsuit?"
She blushed. "Uh... do you want me to? Or... would you prefer the traditional way?"
"Uh... uh… um..." He was blushing fire red; that wasn't a question he wanted to answer.
She blushed as red as is humanly possible. "Uh... should we... wear suits and see what happens?" 'OH CRAP! THAT SOUNDED WRONG!' her mind screamed at her. And in her mind, chibi Annie was running around, freaking out.
He face-planted. 'THAT SOUNDED WRONG!' he thought, twitching.
"Uh... oh, gosh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she apologized. "Sy, I... oh gosh!" It was times like this Annie almost wished she'd faint again.
He gave her a sheepish grin, sweat-dropping. "No, no! It's okay, Annie! It was an accident!! I know you didn't mean it… like… that..."
"Oh, I'm such a moron... I... don't know what I mean anymore..."
"Annie, we've all said stuff like that on accident..." he soothed, going to her.
She was shaking. "Sy... I... Darn..." She took a deep breath, enfolded in his arms. "Suits... definitely..."
He nodded. "Good idea."
GX GX GX GX GX
The entire gang managed to fall asleep and all was peaceful on Academy Island, but at two AM, the sound of very labored, fast breathing rang through the infirmary. "It's started," Scout gasped.
"Yeah. His lips are blue. We have to move fast," Alex Nakamura stated briskly, getting the ventilator.
Violet was awakened by the commotion and groaned tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. "What... what's going on?" she asked through a yawn.
Bastion's very shallow breathing quickly got her attention. "Hang on, sweetie, we're all here," Katai murmured. The young man's skin was turning blue with the effort of trying to breathe.
"Violet, Bastion's entered the stage where he needs the respirator," Hiro explained quickly as the girl slid out of bed.
Violet's eyes went wide. "HE'S WHAT?!"
Scout and Alex moved with the respirator. "Starting intubation procedure, and tube is anesthetized," Scout stated, surgical mask, gown and gloves in place. Alex had done the same thing and now held a metal instrument in his hands, placing it down Bastion's throat. And then Bastion stopped breathing.
"Hang on, kid," Alex muttered. "Fonda..."
"I'm on it!" she said, starting to pump the boy's chest.
Katai, desperate to do something, moved to hug Violet. "He has to go on the respirator, sweetheart..." But all Violet could see was the person she loved most in the world, and the fact that his chest wasn't moving. For the moment, shock hit her hard, and she didn't move. The shock was so great that she hardly breathed, even. But the shock wouldn't last forever...
The tube was placed, the machine started, and Bastion's chest rose and fell again. "There we are... he should wake up in a few minutes," Alex said in relief.
Violet's breath hitched in her throat, as the shock finally wore off. He'd stopped breathing. His skin had been tinged blue. Memories of her nightmares with him dead flashed through her mind, and it sent her over the edge. "He... he's dead," she whispered shakily, eyes wide.
"No...no, honey... he isn't," Katai tried to soothe the frightened young woman. "He's breathing again..."
But Violet's eyes were clouded over by what she'd seen and what she'd dreamt about. "No... he's dead! I saw him! He was blue!!" Tears began gathering in her eyes as the false reality of it hit her hard.
"Violet! Honey, he's not!" And then Katai realized. "Hiro, call Annie!" Hiro quickly grabbed the phone and dialed the landline to the couple's dorm, hoping they'd hear it and wake up.
Annie had slept fitfully so far that night, so when the phone rang, she darted back into wakefulness. She picked up the landline phone and answered, "Hello?"
"Hello, Annie. It's Hiro. I'm sorry to wake you so early, but it's an emergency," Hiro explained how Bastion had stopped breathing and was now on a respirator. "...and he's breathing normally now. But I'm afraid it scared Violet into hysterics. We can't seem to calm her down and need your assistance."
"Oh, my gosh! Of course, we'll be right there!" Annie promised, saying good-bye and hanging up shortly thereafter. "Sy, honey! We have to get to the infirmary!" she said, shaking him awake.
"H-Huh? What?" Syrus mumbled groggily as he opened his eyes, propping himself up on an elbow.
"Sy... Bastion stopped breathing and they had to put him on the respirator," she stated, grabbing her overnight bag and pulling on her leather-bottomed slippers.
"What!?" he gasped, quickly putting on his glasses.
"Yeah... And Violet's hysterical..."
"Oh, no..." Syrus groaned as he slipped on a pair of shoes and grabbed his own overnight bag. They'd both packed one since whenever Annie went, Syrus would go with her.
"Yeah... Hiro told me Bastion turned blue..." And then Annie picked up her PDA and hit the emergency beacon. And all over the academy, the students remaining woke up.
In Obelisk Blue, Adrian's eyes widened. "Oh, crap..."
Echo groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "It must have happened..."
"Yeah... we've gotta move..."
And down at Slifer, Jaden was, for once, up like a shot. "Oh, man! Lex, get up! It happened!" His eyes widened with fear.
Alexis gave a half-sigh, half-yawn as she sat up. "I'm up, I'm up! Come on, let's get going."
Within minutes, the whole group was in the infirmary. "Violet! Violet!" Annie cried out, hugging her best friend. "Bastion's breathing..."
"No, he's not!! Annie, I saw him!! HE'S DEAD!!!" Violet moaned, crying hard as her entire body shook.
"Violet, get control of yourself!" Annie moaned, hugging her tightly. "Bastion's alive! Hiro told me and I'm looking at Bastion!"
"That's it!" stated a familiar voice. Suddenly, Violet froze, and then her body slumped against Annie's.
"Mary?" Annie gasped, eyes wide. She held the limp body, and then felt it come back to life. "Is that you?"
Violet's head lifted to reveal reddish-brown pupils in place of green. "Of course. Who else would it be?"
"Do you know what happened?" Annie asked softly.
"What happened?" Mary asked for clarification.
Annie quickly told Mary what she knew. "...So Bastion's okay for now...But Violet wouldn't believe it," she concluded sadly.
Mary sighed. "Oh, boy... this is where my actions come back to bite me in the as-er, butt..."
Everyone sweat-dropped, knowing full well the word she'd been intending to use. "Mary... do you think you can help Violet calm down and see the truth?" Annie asked.
"Probably. Main reason I took over is because right now she just needs to be alone and try to calm down. Then I'll talk to her," Mary explained.
"Okay... hopefully, Bastion will wake up soon... He actually stopped breathing," Annie shivered.
"Wait, I thought that wouldn't happen!" Jaden yelped.
"It was a possibility... a slim one," Annie reiterated. "And it happened..."
"So now he's on a respirator?" Alexis asked.
"Yes, he is... It's acute respiratory distress and his lungs have been damaged... It's going to be a while before he's fully recovered," the dark-haired girl sighed, knowing the implications.
"Annie, hang on," Axel said. "How long are we talking?"
"We... may be here until August... and then, after that, he'll still have to get his strength back..."
"August?!" Jesse, as well as a few others, yelped.
Jaden's eyes widened, but he wasn't one of the yelpers. "That long? But...isn't that best-case scenario?"
"Yeah... It depends on how badly the lungs were damaged."
Jaden looked very thoughtful. "Recovery time is 6 months at the earliest... But he might be strong enough to get through the wedding and stuff by August..."
"Oh, man... this is really bad," Syrus groaned.
"It's better than what it could be," Jaden sighed. "Some people don't survive the first couple of days..."
"Yeah," Annie added. "But... he's going to make it..."
Miss Fontaine stepped out from the ICU room and said, "You kids can see him now..."
"Is he awake, Miss Fontaine?" Atticus asked.
"Not yet..." Annie quietly took Mary/Violet's hand to reassure her friend if she could.
The nurse took a breath. "It may be a little bit longer before he wakes up. His breathing was so labored... It probably wore him out..."
Mary looked at Annie, feeling the slim hand clasped around her own. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, Mary," Annie whispered back. "It's just... I know Violet would be scared, and since you're part of her... Maybe you're scared too..."
Mary raised an eyebrow. "Uh... no... If there's one thing I'm not scared of, it's death."
"But... you both care about Bastion..."
"Not the same way she does."
"No... but you are part of her, and that means you do care about him," Annie persisted softly. "So this might upset you a little..."
"I'm fine," Mary stated firmly.
"Okay... but I'm here if you two need me," the other girl answered as they stepped into the room. Bastion was lying in the bed unconscious, skin very white and a tube taped securely to his mouth. The machine that helped him breathe made a soft whirring sound and the other machines made beeping sounds.
"Private Bastion," Tyson whispered, visibly moved. Mary was probably the only one not moved or saddened to some degree as she crossed her arms over her chest. This was nothing compared to some of the numerous gruesome thoughts she'd had.
Everyone had certain degrees of distress, but Annie, though she had known the most about the disease, knew now why physicians don't treat their family members. She burst into tears. Syrus swallowed hard and moved to her, pulling her into a hug. He felt like crying too, but focused on comforting his fiancée who was like a sister to Bastion. He rubbed her back soothingly and held her close to him.
Scout moved close to her children. "He will wake up... maybe you all would like to stay in here... And if there's not enough room here, one of the classrooms could be an extra room..."
Alexis was frowning deeply. "That might be a good idea, Mom..."
"Okay... I'll help you kids set up..." As it happened, there was plenty of room in the outer hospital area as the couples didn't want to be separated. Jasmine looked nervously up at Atticus as she laid a sleeping bag on a large air mattress.
Atticus grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "Uh..."
"Do you... want to… uh..?"
"I.. I don't know... Are you... okay with it?"
"Uh... yeah... if... you are... I mean... we aren't as serious as the others... Are we?"
"Ummm.... well, we're still… only... dating..."
She nodded. "But... we'll be in separate sleeping bags..."
He sweat-dropped. "Yeah, so... it's not like we're sleeping in the same bed or anything..."
Jasmine blushed rosy red. "Uh... if you're not ready... it's okay... And I didn't mean to be so forward..."
Atticus quickly shook his head, a light blush on his own cheeks. "No, no, it's okay... You weren't forward at all."
"So... should we? Or do you want to wait?" she asked shyly.
"Well... if… you're okay with it, and... I'm okay with it... then... I guess we can... do it..."
Jasmine blushed deeply. "O-Okay..."
"I m-mean, if you don't want to..."
Jasmine nodded. "I want to, Atticus... And this is a good way to just talk..." Atty nodded, face beet red. As much as he had always bragged about girls, this was definitely new to him.
Across the room, Chazz and Mindy decided to sleep on separate mattresses but hold hands. "Mindy... it's going to take a while before I'm really ready for us to..."
"I understand," she stated gently as they got comfortable. "We'll just relax here, and someday we'll sleep closer..."
Adrian, setting up a futon, asked, "Echo, is this okay?"
Echo nodded. "Yeah, that's fine." Adrian had laid down two sleeping bags and a couple of pillows and so the two climbed in. The young man looked over at the light of the infirmary ICU, concern in his eyes. Echo caught it. "Adrian... he'll be all right. He's in good hands..."
"Yeah... but it's like when Sid was so little," he answered softly.
"Adrian... are you upset because you can't find a cure for this like you did for Sid?" she asked gently.
He nodded. "I've never liked being powerless, Echo..."
She sighed and propped herself up on an elbow, looking down into his eyes. "Adrian, you're not powerless. Even in this case."
He looked up into her eyes, and saw that she truly believed it. Even so, he asked the question. "I'm not?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. You're here, supporting Bastion and those close to him, aren't you? You are helping... without you there'd be one less shoulder to lean on. And I think they need all the shoulders they can get..."
Adrian considered that. "Maybe... sometimes that's all a person needs to do, isn't it?" he said with a slight smile.
Echo returned the smile. "Yeah. Now you're getting it."
GX GX GX GX GX
One by one, everyone got comfortable in their makeshift beds. But back in the ICU, Annie sat between Violet and Bastion's beds. 'I have to stay here,' she thought, face and eyes set.
Violet was asleep; Mary had explained to her what was going on once she had calmed down. Syrus now walked over to Annie, sitting in a chair beside her. "Are you okay, Annie?" he asked quietly.
She nodded. "Yeah... I'm glad Alex talking the Misawas into taking a rest and Scout too... I have to stay here so when Violet wakes up, she has someone to talk to."
He sighed, gently taking her hand. "I'll stay here too... I want to help."
"Okay," she smiled, squeezing the hand wrapped around hers. "I am going to owe you later..."
He smiled as well. "You don't owe me anything, Annie..."
"Not even a backrub?"
"Well.... okay."
She smiled shyly. "Yeah... you'll get sore from sitting up with me..." And then she added, "These chairs aren't exactly the most comfortable."
He sighed again. "We've spent a lot of time in hospital chairs, though..."
"Yeah... too much time," she answered, also sighing. "I just hope the next time we're in hospitals, it's for our children being born..."
He blushed a little. "Yeah..."
GX GX GX GX GX
It was well into the next morning before Bastion awoke. His eyes opened to see the people he loved around him. "Bastion... you're awake," Violet breathed. Seeing his eyes open with any remote amount of life practically made her faint with relief.
Bastion tried to speak but found that he couldn't. Annie moved to him with a pad and paper and he wrote, "What happened, darling?"
Violet frowned. "Bastion, you... you stopped breathing last night... They… had to put you on a respirator..."
"Respirator?" he wrote.
"Yeah, Bastion... your oxygen levels dropped too low and we had to help you breathe," Alex stated, coming into the young man's field of vision. "Your breathing stopped for a minute or two and we got you going again."
"Thank you..." And then... "Violet... darling, I'm sorry... You must've been terrified..."
Violet took his hand. "I… I was. But, Bastion-baby, you don't need to be sorry at all. You didn't do it on purpose... and I'm just so glad you're okay..." She felt like she could have cried.
Bastion used what strength he had to squeeze her hand gently. And again he wrote, "I know it wasn't on purpose... I just wish I hadn't done it..."
"Bastion... sweetheart," Katai soothed, coming to where her son could see her, "don't blame yourself..."
Hiro came into view as well. "Your mother is right, son. You shouldn't blame yourself for any of this. It won't help... no matter how much you feel this is your fault, it's not."
Bastion would've sighed if he could have. But he knew they were right. "So how long am I on this machine?" he wondered.
"All right, Doctor Annie, how long?" Alex asked the young woman and physician-in-training.
"Could be a couple of days, but it could be as long as a month, and if it's more than two weeks, you get a trach tube," she said to the young man in the bed.
"Not a trach tube," Bastion wrote, noting that he meant to groan.
"Uh... what's a trach tube??" Violet asked.
Bastion decided he'd write it down. "They put a tube directly in my throat, darling. They have to cut a hole about here..." And then he pointed to a point on his throat. "And they put the tube in there..."
Violet's eyes went wide and she visibly tensed. "No freaking way! You can't get one of those! It sounds painful and really uncomfortable..."
"It'll help him, though, Violet... And it'll help him breathe stronger later," Annie soothed. "See, if he's on this style of ventilator too long, it'll make his lungs weaker. And it'll be harder to get him off the respirator when it's time..."
"B-But… still... surgery?" Violet looked paler than normal at this thought.
Annie put her arm around Violet, seeing the drop in color. "Yeah... but it's very routine. They even do it as emergency procedures."
"Is... is it permanent?"
Alex took charge here and shook his head. "No, it's not. And the throat will heal and he'll be fine, but I hope it doesn't come to that point."
Violet sighed in relief. At least if it happened, it wouldn't be like that forever. "But... do you think it will?"
Alex smiled thoughtfully. "I don't think so, but we do have to watch him carefully."
"That's good..."
Bastion looked thoughtful for a moment. "Violet... think we could watch a movie?" he requested.
Violet blinked in surprise. "A movie?"
"Yes... something fun... And I'd fall asleep if someone read me a story now," he admitted.
She smiled. "All right. We can watch a movie."
"How about... 'Meet the Parents?'" he suggested with a slight smile.
She grinned. "Sure!"
And so the couple, one sick and one healthy, sat together watching the movie. Alex stood and escorted Annie and Syrus from the room. "You two need to rest now, okay? Miss Fontaine is coming on duty and Scout will in a couple of hours when I go off-duty..."
Annie sighed. "Do I have to?"
"'Fraid so, kiddo..."
"But..."
Syrus took Annie's hand and squeezed it, giving her a reassuring look. "Annie... you need to rest too, remember? We both do... They'll be okay..."
Annie looked back at her friends, and sighed. "All right..."
"Good girl... Syrus, can I talk to you alone a minute?" Alex Nakamura asked gently.
Syrus blinked in surprise, but nodded. "Okay... I'll be there in a minute, Annie."
Annie stepped away to give them privacy and Alex took her love aside. "Keep her relaxed. Annie's got the dedication to be a doctor, but she still needs to relax," Alex cautioned. "I know you've heard this before... Just keep her happy, calm and relaxed. Do whatever you need to do to accomplish that. "He took a deep breath. "She might work herself far too hard..."
Syrus nodded, but sweat-dropped on the inside. How many times was he going to be told that? He knew already. "Okay."
"She's stubborn, isn't she?" Alex asked curiously. He'd observed the girl and noticed she could be.
"Yeah... she can be sometimes," Sy admitted.
"And you've been warned repeatedly to keep her relaxed because she works herself too hard, right?" the doctor asked with a wry smile on his face. "You're tired of hearing it, aren't you?"
This time, Syrus sweat-dropped on the outside, grinning sheepishly. "Uh... yeah..."
"Well, you know what you need to do, Sy. Just make sure she relaxes," Alex stated.
Syrus nodded. "I will."
And so he walked back to Annie, who looked at him knowingly. "They're worried about me...again..."
"Well, Annie, you push yourself sometimes..."
An anger mark appeared on her head. "Again with that," she groaned softly.
He sweat-dropped and placed a hand on your shoulder. "Annie... don't be mad... You just need to worry about yourself a little more."
She calmed down, but still managed to look frustrated. "I just... I want to experience what I missed, you know?"
"Uh... no," he admitted, grinning sheepishly.
She sighed in frustration. "I missed so much being sick... And I want to push because I don't know all of what I missed..."
He frowned. "Annie... you have a long time to learn all of that. You don't need to push... There's no rush..."
She gazed at her love for a long moment as they walked out of the infirmary and onto the grounds. "I think you're right..." They walked for a long moment in silence and then Annie continued, "Maybe I just need to slow down..."
Syrus smiled a little. "You just need to think about your health too, Annie."
"Yeah... hey, honey? Would you like that back rub before we go take a long nap?"
He blushed a little. "Uh, sure."
"Okay," she answered. "Mom gave me some pomegranate patchouli body butter... and some lilac... you can pick what you want..."
They got to their dorm fairly quickly and changed into fresh nightclothes. "Okay... which would you like?" she asked, pulling out a few different body butters.
"How about the lilac one you mentioned?"
"Okay." Annie picked up the butter and the room was perfumed with the light scent. "This smells like your mom's garden," she breathed.
Syrus sighed, closing his eyes. "Yeah, it does..."
When he was clad in his pajama bottoms and shirtless, the girl clad in a pink nightshirt guided him to the bed on his belly. "Just relax," Annie murmured, getting the butter on her hands and then rubbing his back.
"Okay..." Syrus kept his eyes closed, glasses on the bedside table. His head was using his folded arms as a pillow as he breathed in and out, loving the feeling of the massage.
She was straddling him and moved her slim yet somewhat strong hands up and down his back. "Sy... maybe we should have a group movie night again..."
"Hmm?" he asked, his mind starting to drift off as her hands kneaded his flesh.
"I was thinking since we'll be here a while before the wedding that maybe we should do like we did back in Domino last year... It might be fun," she said, rubbing at his shoulders.
"Sounds… good," he mumbled, extremely relaxed.
"Yeah..." She moved down to his lower back. "You're tense here," she murmured, eyebrows knitting together.
"Maybe from sitting in those hospital chairs," he murmured back.
She moved her thumbs at one spot and felt it relax. "Better?"
He let out a heavy sigh. "Yes..."
"Good," she smiled. "Anywhere else that's sore?"
"Um... my neck... right between my shoulders..."
Annie moved up, having to stretch out her body a little so her belly was lightly touching his back. She began to rub where the shoulder met the neck. "Tell me how hard or how soft to go..."
Syrus shivered a little when her stomach touched his back, but then let out a soft groan when she started to work the muscles in that spot. "Harder..."
Annie knew logically that there wasn't a double meaning in his words, but she colored. And she rubbed harder. "Better or harder?"
Syrus couldn't even contemplate a double meaning, too lost in comfort. "Harder..." He could feel the muscles in his shoulders and neck coming loose.
She rubbed harder. "Better or more?"
Syrus opened his mouth to say "better", but out came a soft moan instead. He blushed fiercely, having not even been expecting that. Annie sensed what he meant and rubbed with the same pressure. But she was willing to guess his body was sending him the same signals her body was sending hers. "O-okay..." Her cheeks went bright red.
Syrus bit his bottom lip. His body and mind were each telling him to do something different, and he couldn't decide which to follow. She rubbed slowly and lovingly and then stopped. "Sy... where else are you sore?" she asked in a slightly nervous voice. 'Why am I nervous?' she thought, heart pounding. And then she pulled back, trembling.
He opened his eyes, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Annie?"
She panted a minute or two, getting her head together. "Was that doing to you what I think it started doing to me?" she asked finally.
He flushed. "M-maybe..."
"It's... it's all right... I mean... we should've been on our honeymoon by now," she sighed.
He rolled over, propping himself up on his elbows. "Yeah... this is normal..."
"Yeah." She lay down next to him, cooling down. "We should be... you know... But... now isn't the time, is it?"
He sighed and shook his head. "No, it's not..."
"Well, why don't we try to get some sleep?"
"Good idea... Alex did tell us to rest."
"Yeah..." They snuggled close together, and Annie breathed in Sy's scent mixed with that of the lilac body butter. "You smell so nice..." And then her cheeks pinked again.
He blushed as well. "Uh... thanks, Annie..."
"It's like last summer... all over again... but now... we have all the time in the world," she murmured sleepily.
He yawned. "Yeah... all the time in the world..." And within seconds, they were fast asleep.
GX GX GX GX GX
As Annie and Sy worked to get to sleep, Alex and Miss Fontaine set up a TV and a DVD for the two in the ICU. "There we are... one romantic comedy," Alex smiled.
Violet sat in a chair beside Bastion's bed, holding his hand and smiling happily. She was glad she could be doing something with Bastion, to keep both of their minds off of the current situation. "I love this movie," Bastion wrote when they were alone and it started.
"I actually haven't seen it before," Violet admitted, sweat-dropping.
"You haven't?" And then he drew an x and a D to indicate mirthful laughter.
Violet was glad she knew chat-speak to a degree, and grinned. "Nope. But I've heard about it and it sounds good."
"Mum and Dad saw it when she was pregnant with me. They decided what not to name me because of the movie, as a matter of fact, because of the lead male character."
"Oh? What were they going to name you?"
"Well, they had several names, but they didn't have one particular name on their list. And they said it would be torture to name a boy Gaylord..." Bastion's eyebrows quirked and he wrote, "There were some names they said they laughed over and some they actually considered... They didn't tell me all of them, but they did say they considered the names carefully... Dad got called Zero when he was in school..."
Violet grimaced. "Ouch... Sometimes names can turn on you like that. I know mom and dad thought of naming me Kara. Or, if I had been a boy... Keiffer." She shivered at this, making a rather silly-looking face in disgust.
"After Keiffer Sutherland?"
"Yeah... I'm so glad I turned out to be a girl."
"Why Kara?" he asked curiously.
She shrugged. "My dad liked the name. I'm also glad they chose Violet instead, though. I like it better."
"You wouldn't be anyone else if you weren't Violet, darling... The name suits you, my prized, beautiful Violet," he wrote. It wasn't the most eloquent thing, but Bastion meant to convey how much he loved her.
Violet blushed lightly, then smiled. "I'd still love you as much as I do now if you were named anything else, Bastion. But I love that name... my brave, handsome, strong Bastion." She grabbed his pen and quickly wrote the symbol for their love. V + B equals RG.
Bastion smiled and wrote, "A rose by any other name... And you are my rose named Violet... or Kara..." And then he drew a little face with its tongue sticking out.
Violet cracked up, stifling her giggles with a hand. Her fiancé could be even funnier when he had a pen and pad than when he had his voice. "Now why can't you make that face more often?"
"What? This?" And he drew it again.
She giggled a bit more. "Yes. That. You almost never make that face."
And then Bastion wrote, "XDDDDDDD"
And Violet couldn't help it; she burst into another fit of giggles. "Now, I know you can't make that face, but it would be hilarious if you could!"
"I'm glad I can make you laugh," he wrote happily.
She grinned. "You can always make me laugh, Bastion-baby. Just like how I can always make you laugh." And then she pulled quite the silly face on him.
And again, he wrote, "XDDDDDDDDDDD" He wished he could laugh hard. However, his eyes also conveyed his laughter.
GX GX GX GX GX
As Bastion and Violet enjoyed their movie, the different couples got up and headed back to their dorms to shower and relax. But for three young men in the group, there were no significant others. Aster Phoenix took one look at Jim Cook and Axel Brody and said, "I think we need to do something together, guys..."
"Hmmm, not a bad idea," Axel answered. "What do you think, Jim?"
Jim looked at the two boys in slight surprise, but gave a shrug. Shirley was busy snoozing on his back. "Sure. After all, it seems like we're the only blokes with nothing to do."
Axel sighed. "Well, it's not like we don't have anything to do... We could go swimming at the lagoon..."
"Sounds like a good idea. It's gettin' mighty hot outside," Jim agreed with a nod. Midday during summer on an island meant very warm weather, perfect for swimming.
"Yeah... didn't really realize how it could be here in the summer," Aster said.
"Yeah... better get out the sunscreen," Axel added as they walked to Obelisk.
Jim shrugged again. "This isn't so bad. You should see the summers we have back home. At least here you get a breeze off the ocean."
"Yeah... it can get kinda muggy where I live, Jim," Axel stated. "I live near a town in Oregon and we don't get ocean breezes, either. There is a river in Grants Pass, but still it can get warm in the summer..."
"You live in Oregon, mate? I never woulda guessed," Jim replied.
Axel smirked. "Yeah, guess I never mentioned it. But yeah, Grants Pass, Oregon. You should come visit... You too, Aster."
"Thanks, Axel," Aster answered, grinning.
"Will do, Axel. And if you blokes ever get the chance, you should come visit me in Australia," Jim stated with a broad grin. Shirley, who had woken up, grunted in approval.
The two other young men nodded. And a short time later, they headed to a small lagoon off the main beach. "Oh, man, this is heaven," Axel stated, clad in red swim trunks as he eased into the cool water.
"Yeah... dudes, this is great," Aster added, slipping in as well. He was wearing bright blue trunks with silver stripes down the sides.
Jim was wearing brown swim trunks and followed the other two into the cool water. Shirley slid in as well, quite at home in the little lagoon. However, the Australian teen still wore his hat; it was like how Tyson always wore his bandana. "I'm guessing this is the first time you mates have been in the water with a croc?" he asked with a grin. Of course it was a little joke, since most of the time being in the water with a crocodile meant it was time to get OUT of the water.
Axel nodded. Aster did too. Both were smiling. "Yeah... well, I may have swum in water with a crocodile when I was training with Dad, but there's a difference... Shirley won't try to eat me," Axel smirked.
Jim nodded. "But she WILL snap up anything that IS trying to eat us. She's great at chopping up leeches."
Aster groaned. "Yuck... Leeches... They may have medicinal uses, but man, they give me the creeps..."
Axel sighed, letting himself float on the water's surface. "Ah... well, there aren't leeches here..."
Aster started to swim out himself, doing a leisurely sidestroke. "Nope... no leeches... So Shirley, you get the day off..."
Shirley simply blinked her eyes in response, the rest of her being underwater. Jim had simply been floating and relaxing, when he suddenly grinned again. "Hey... have you blokes ever wanted to ride a dolphin?" The question seemed a bit random, but he had his reasons for asking it.
Axel turned over in the water to look at his friend. "Yeah... it looks like fun..."
"I actually did it once," Aster said. "Kyle took me to Sea World and let me do it... I was about seven... I'd love to do it again..."
Jim tipped his hat up a little as Shirley swam over to his side, getting the message. "Well then... how would you like to ride a crocodile?"
Axel and Aster looked at each other, and then at Jim. "Sure," they answered at the same instant.
"You first, Axel," Aster offered.
Axel swam over to Jim and Shirley, curious and actually excited. "Okay... so, what do I do?"
"It's a lot like riding a dolphin. Well, except not as fast and there's no dorsal fin to grab onto. Just wrap your arms around Shirley's middle, and I suggest hanging on tight. She may not be a dolphin, but crocs are still fast," Jim explained.
"Okay." Axel did as Jim said, gripping the crocodile's scaly yet strong middle. "Hey there, Shirley... Thanks for letting me ride with you...Whoa!" The "whoa" was because Shirley had started moving. And Jim was right; Shirley WAS fast. Not as fast as a dolphin, more like half that speed, but even then it was faster than a human could swim. The lagoon was pretty big, so the turns came every minute or so. The water lapped at Axel's arms and hit his face a little, and he loved it. Shirley knifed through the water quickly and gracefully, nearly as graceful as a dolphin. The young man had a smile on his face as he swam with the crocodile, enjoying every second.
And then Shirley slowed, coming to a stop near Aster. Jim smiled and swam over to them. "That was a good first run, mate! You didn't fall off."
"Thanks, Jim... and thank you, Shirley," Axel smiled back as he patted the croc's head and let go.
And now it was Aster's turn. "Wow..." He really had to stretch to grip Shirley right. "Okay... I think I'm ready..."
Shirley grunted in acknowledgement and zoomed off, going just as fast as she had with Axel. "Make sure to grip her tight, Aster! Ya don't want to fall off!" Jim called.
Aster held on as tightly as he could. He enjoyed the ride, liking the way the water came off of the pretty crocodile and how warm her skin felt against him. But it was hard to hang on. And then, it happened. Shirley came to a stop a few minutes later, putting on the water brakes. Axel had been able to hang on against the force of his body wanting to continue to move forward, but Aster...
Aster couldn't hold on because his fingers had just been barely touching. His already precarious grip broke and he flew forward, away from the crocodile and went under, swallowing a lot of water. The other two boys instantly made their way towards their friend, worried. "Aster!" Jim yelled, as Shirley dove under. The two other young men had been on the other side of the lagoon when Aster was sent flying. A few seconds later, Shirley surfaced with the silver-haired teen on her back.
The silver-blonde came up, coughing out water. "Aster, are you okay?" Axel asked, helping him off Shirley's back and to a rock "seat" in the lagoon.
"Y-Yeah... whoa... I'm... okay..."
Shirley growled softly, nudging his hand with her snout. It was a mix of an apology and worry for his well-being. Jim sighed. "That's good to hear, mate. We were worried about you for a second there."
"I'm... okay... Thanks, Shirley... Not... your fault," Aster managed, laughing a little bit.
"Next time we'll run you a bit slow. Right, girl?" Jim stated, patting the crocodile and grinning. She nodded in agreement.
Aster patted Shirley's snout again, smiling. "Yeah... that'd be good." The young men swam around for a while after that, enjoying themselves.
GX GX GX GX GX GX
As the three single guys enjoyed their swim, Tyson and Rosa took advantage of the large open Obelisk common room. "Never danced alone in here before," Tyson stated, hearing a slight echo off the walls.
"Well, we've never been this alone on the island," Rosa replied as she stretched. She was glad that they no longer had to wear uniforms, meaning she could wear a dress that didn't go with blue. So, she was currently wearing a flowing, ruffled cherry red mariachi dress.
Tyson, too, was dressed down in khaki shorts and a white t-shirt. "Yeah... it's kinda quiet... but kinda nice," he murmured, kissing her.
She gladly returned it, smiling as they pulled away. "It's nicer since it's just us..."
"Yeah... shall we dance?" he asked, offering his hand to her.
"Of course," she answered, taking the offered hand. It had been quite a while since they had last shared a dance together. Rosa was slowly but surely gaining her weight back from being trapped in the world of Darkness. Though she was still underweight, the young woman's eyes had regained their sparkle and her face had started to fill out. But even if she was still as she'd been, to Tyson, Rosadina Jimenez was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him.
"How about the Paso Doble today?" he asked.
She smirked. The Paso Doble was her second favorite dance, the mariachi being first, of course. "Sounds good. But can you keep up?" she teased.
"You bet," he grinned.
They had brought an iPod with a bunch of dance music on it and Tyson hit the button to start the music. They began to dance together to the traditional Paso Doble music. The young man felt the music overtake his mind and heart, and he did as it demanded.
Rosa sighed happily and let her body move on its own, knowing the steps like the back of her hand, though she was a little rusty after such a long period of not dancing. They spun around with the fire of youth, he the matador, she, the fictional bull. Despite her rustiness, they still moved as one.
They finished their dance and Tyson noticed Rosa was a little out of breath. "Darlin'... are you okay?" he asked.
Rosa sighed, feeling more tired than she usually would after a dance. "I'm fine, just... a little winded..."
"Let's get you over to the couch," he murmured, giving her some support to do so. He meant to help her sit down on the comfortable overstuffed couch but then... "Ouch!" They bumped heads.
She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes tightly and placing a hand to her head. They both had hard heads, and they now realized what happened when said hard heads collided. "Ah..."
Tyson blinked, seeing stars in his vision and crashed to the floor. "Dang it..." He sat up, blinked the sparkles out of his eyes and asked, "Are you all right, Spanish Rose?"
He noticed how dazed she looked. "Darlin', should I get Miss Fontaine?" he probed further, getting up to examine her forehead.
Rosa opened her eyes, shooing away his prodding hands. "No, no, I'm fine. Really," she asserted. Sometimes she hated how he was so worried for her every time the slightest injury occurred.
"Can I at least kiss it and make it better?" he asked softly.
She blinked a few times in surprise, then blushed a little and sighed. "...All right. You can kiss it..."
Tyson brushed back her ruddy-brown hair and tenderly kissed her sore forehead. "All better?" he asked.
Rosa's blush reddened a bit. "Yes," she muttered, a bit embarrassed.
"What's wrong?" he queried, sitting next to her with his arm around her.
Rosa sighed, reminding him of their conversations about him not hovering so much. "You're sort of babying me again, Ty-Ty. I know it is not intentional, but please try to watch it. I'm much better."
Tyson pulled back slightly, and grinned sheepishly. "Well, sorry, darlin'; I guess old habits die hard... But you're sure you're okay? 'Cause I know I'm gettin' a headache," he admitted, rubbing his own sore spot.
She chuckled lightly. "Well, it does still hurt quite a bit. We hit our heads pretty hard... I suppose we're lucky that we both have hard heads."
"Yeah... should we get some ice?" he asked, the spot on his head really stinging.
She sweat-dropped. "That might be a good idea." And so they headed to their room to get ice packs.
GX GX GX GX GX
On another part of the island, on the far side of the beach, Jasmine Fairbanks nervously held a beginner's surfboard. "I... am really not sure about this..." She was clad in a surfer's wetsuit, colored in shades of blue.
Atticus Rhodes grinned and put an arm around her. "Aw, come on, Jazzy! You'll do fine! Besides, I'll be right there for you the whole time."
"Okay... Just... show me what to do, okay?"
"Don't worry, I will. Here, let's start out on the sand, okay? Lay down your board."
Jasmine did. "Okay... now what?"
"Now lay down on it, like you were swimming out into the waves." Atticus laid down his board as well and demonstrated.
Jasmine followed his movement, smiling a little now. "This isn't so bad..."
Atticus grinned. "See? I told you. Now, you want to get up fast, but not so fast that you lose your balance and fall off. You do that when you see a wave coming, and you want your back to it." He again demonstrated this.
"Okay..." This time she stood up as he demonstrated, but fell to the sand. "I... think I need to try that again..."
He smiled and helped her up. "It's okay. You might not get it the first few times. That's why we're practicing on the sand first."
"Thanks for being so patient with me, Atticus," Jasmine sighed.
Atticus's smile turned into another grin. "You're my girlfriend, Jazzy. Of course I'm going to cut you some slack. Besides, even I wasn't perfect as a beginner."
The redheaded girl blushed at the thought of a young Atticus trying to get up on a surfboard and falling off. "How old were you when you started?" she queried as she tried to lie down and stand up on the board again.
"Four." He answered, standing nearby in case she lost her balance again.
And she did, falling back into his arms. "Wow... that was young... Who taught you?"
He grinned. "Well, at first, Dad tried to. But he wasn't very good at it... Then we met this surfer when we were practicing at the beach once, and he helped me. After that, he was pretty much my first idol and he taught me a lot about surfing."
"That's great... I think he was a good teacher, because you're a good teacher," she said, blushing in his arms.
He blushed a bit too. "Thanks. I was hoping I was doing this right."
"It seems right to me..." They practiced a few more times before going out on the water. She stood up as he'd taught her. "I'm doing it, Atty!"
He gave her a thumbs-up, also standing on his board. "That's it, Jazzy! Just focus on keeping your balance!"
She did pretty well until a huge wave came up behind her. "Whoa... WHOA!!" And then she wiped out.
"Jasmine!!" He dove in after her, putting an arm around her as she came up. "You okay?"
"Y-yeah... Can we... try again?" she asked as soon as she could speak.
He smiled. "Sure thing, Jazzy. You sure you're okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah..."
"All right, then. Let's get you back on your board."
"Okay." She got back on, and they caught another wave. This time, she rode it into shore.
He cheered, running over and lifting her off the ground with his hug. "You did it, Jazzy! You managed not to wipe out! And only on your second try!!"
"That's good?" she asked, letting the sun shine on her.
He laughed. "Of course it's good! It took me three tries before I got it on the fourth!"
"Beginner's luck, Atty," she said, standing on her toes to kiss him.
He kissed back, still smiling when they broke away. "Well, we'll see about that. Want to head back out and practice some more?"
"Sure, if you want to," she answered, taking up her board.
"Jazzy, I'm always up for hitting the waves," he replied, grabbing his own board. And so the couple headed back out into the ocean together.
Despite the medical drama, we still managed to have fluffiness and humor this chapter. Next time, we still have some fun left. So please join us next time for "Story Time!" Thanks and as always, please read and review! Thank you!