Chapter 20- The Transfusion

Xxxxx

Reefside High School- Dr. Oliver's Class
Reefside, CA

The current students in Dr. Oliver's class were taking an exam about the periodic table.

Tommy was sitting on a stool, grading science reports. Every five minutes, he ascended his head to make sure no one was cheating. Once seeing no one was, he would return back to the papers on his desk. He began to feel hot under his collar suddenly. He undid the top button of his red, dress shirt, hungrily inviting air to cool his neck. Still uncomfortable, he undid another one. Thankfully, his students were diligently working on their tests and not paying him any attention. Before engaging in what could only look like a strip show, however, his cheeks became red, and he felt like scalding water was thrown on his body.

One student looked up, as if the answer to the question he was working on was written above him. Finally, it dawned on him, and he circled his answer. The next question was a doozy, so he repeated the same motion, but this time, he caught a glimpse of his teacher. He intently watched, and it was obvious to him his teacher was sick. He continued viewing the uneasy movements. At this point, he thought his teacher was going to pass out. He nimbly jumped out of his seat, causing his chair to loudly bang on the tile floor and alerting the other students that something wasn't right. "Dr. Oliver," he lunged before his teacher fell to the floor.

The rest of the students hopped out of their seats, all wanting to take a look themselves. Then, one female pupil booked it to the office, another headed for the room phone, and a few students grabbed sheets of papers to create a fan in hopes of cooling him down.

Through dreary eyes, Tommy nodded listlessly that he was okay.

The female student returned with Principal Mercer—this being her last school year, and the school nurse . Mrs. Mercer was certain this had to be due to his residual powers. Tommy was an active, healthy man, who participated in various activities to remain in shape. To her, this man was a beast. There was no explanation for this little spell. As the school nurse checked on him, Elsa made eye contact, questioning if her assumption was correct. She watched him shrug.

"Dr. Oliver, I will find you a substitute. Please, take the rest of the day off," she advised him, as a friend rather than a colleague.

"That can't be right," the nurse murmured in confusion. She retook his blood pressure. The findings were still the same. "Dr. Oliver, you need to go to the hospital right away. Your blood pressure is way too high; you might have a heart attack if this isn't taken care of properly."

"No," Tommy adamantly denied. He shook his head, and his students helped him up to his stool. They filed back to their seats after that, and futilely tried to finish their exams. They were more concerned with what was happening in the front of the room. Tommy was about to say one more thing, but his cell phone began to vibrate. Defying his own classroom policy about cell phones, he grabbed for the item, and saw Tristan's daycare was calling him. This isn't good, he thought to himself. He held the item up for his boss, so he could privately take the call outside. She nodded that she would keep watch after his class. Both Tommy and the school nurse exited; male teacher remained by the lockers, female nurse headed back to the office. Quickly, he answered the phone. "Hello." Deafening wails of a toddler sounding like he or she was constantly being inflicted with pain instantly greeted him. He shoved the phone way because it was that loud, but the realization that was his son caused him to bring the phone back to his ears. "Is that Tristan," he frantically questioned.

"Dr. Oliver," the daycare teacher sounded like she had just been rescued, "Dr. Oliver, can you pick up Tristan? He's been uncontrollably crying for the past 15 minutes."

"What happened?"

"He was playing with the other kids, and then all of a sudden he dropped to the floor, rolling around left and right. We thought he was having a seizure."

"My son isn't epileptic!"

"Yes, we know. He doesn't have a history of that, but we're trained in dealing with seizures, so we wanted to help. He did stop, and the daycare teachers have tried everything to calm him down, but he won't respond to any of us. We don't know what to do."

"What is he doing now," he asked, as he reentered the room. He alerted Elsa something was wrong. He used his free hand to gather up stacks of paper, then stuffing them into his briefcase.

"He's in the corner crying right now. Dr. Oliver, I apologize to bother you at your work, but this is really unlike him," she said her sorry. "It's like some other child took over his body."

"No, you're fine. I'll be there," he said above a whisper.

"Oh, and Dr. Oliver, we tried to phone your wife first, but she didn't answer her phone."

"I'm sure she just didn't hear the phone ring," Tommy lied on her behalf. "I'll see you soon." He hung up the phone and explained what was going on to his boss."Tristan's daycare called. He's not feeling well."

That was definitely sugar coating it.

Elsa was beginning to think she was right. "Have you called your wife," she whispered back. He shook his head. "I think you should. Call her on the way when up Tristan and just go home. I already called for Mrs. Schmidt to take over your classes."

He agreed. He briefly scanned if he was missing anything, even checking his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and keys. He bid adieu to the principal. His substitute was walking his way, as he was about to leave. He graciously thanked her for filling in on such short notice. While heading to his car, so many thoughts raced through his mind. He almost fainted in class, Tristan was wildly crying and his wife didn't pick up her phone, which was attached to her hip. All of these were signs something occurred, and it wasn't good.

Xxxxx

Oliver House- Kim's Office

Stabbing paroxysms. Piercing tingles. Burning sensations.

One minute she was working on her latest design, the next minute she was physically suffering. She tried her best to stand upright but couldn't. Invisible weight held her down. "Oh God," she cried, desperately praying for this to stop. Her husband's ringtone went off constantly. She heavily breathed in and out, hoping to assuage this onslaught, but that only seemed to heighten what was happening to her. She lurched like a snake to get to her phone. She needed help—his help. Though her phone was on table, only a few feet away, it felt like it was in Angel Grove.

Suddenly, she felt constricted, unable to move at least a centimeter. Tears flowed freely, as she ultimately entered paralysis.

This was reminiscent of the time Tommy entered his coma.

Xxxxx

Cody's House
Panorama City, CA-Countryside

Though their task for the day seemed a little unconquerable, like Master Xandred fitting into a pair of woman's pantyhose, they accomplished it. With the help of Colton, Cody's dad, who provided the pivotal disc, and Cody, who concentrated all of his Symbol Power 'to tame the beast', they now had a new ally, the Bullzord. In addition, they were able to unlock Shogun Mode, which further accelerated their power from the number 10 to 100 while in Mega Mode. All the trials of this day were well worth it.

Cody, excited that he helped the Samurai rangers, eagerly babbled about how he could be of additional benefit to the team. Possibly, act as a junior ranger and help when necessary.

"Whoa, calm down, Cody," Mia brightly beamed, as she placed her soft hand on his shoulder in an attempt to pacify him. "I think you've had enough excitement for the day."

The others laughed.

"Aw, man," the extraordinary boy kicked the ground but remained happy. "I so helped you guys out," he proudly stated.

"You sure did," Jayden readily concurred.

"Are you sure you guys can't stay," Colton asked, holding up another tray of drinks for them. "I'm sure you all have the rest of the afternoon off, if you know what I mean," he insinuated with a wink. His exterior went from cold to warm, as soon as his son came home and told him what happened while he was stuck in the Bullzord. The father deeply apologized to his son for not believing him at first, and he hoped that his son could forgive him for basically making him run off. Cody didn't think anything of it, but still accepted the apology. He also saw his father's eyes held a glimmer of pride that wasn't there before.

Jayden invested his remaining time at the countryside, intently watching the father and son duo. He reminisced to himself about how his dad and him were once like that. He had envious blue eyes because he could no longer interact with his dad like he. He thought about his dad and how he amicably put his life on the line to protect the world. He remembered the strength his dad exhibited while practicing, and the love he possessed when he was teaching his sister the same moves. Maybe, one day he'll engage in that kind of fatherly, son interaction, but instead of him being the son, he'll be the dad.

Of course, that would be far in the future. Him and Mia haven't gone father than kissing, but he knew the next step would be consummation. He was falling in love with her everyday. He saw how great she was with Cody, and she's talked about her daycare experience. She loved kids, and that was obvious. She really was a great person, and he was very lucky to have her in his life. Though Mentor would constantly scold them and prevent them from getting too close, he still had hope that Ji would one day sit him down and offer relationship advice or speak of how the female species operated. He was still utterly clueless about how to be with her, and how he could keep the flame ignited between the two.

"Alright, we should-", Jayden wanted their attention, but before finishing, he felt like his chest was closing in. He tried his hardest to breath, event attempting the unconventional method of inhaling via his mouth, but it was not to no avail. He mustered whatever strength he had left and sat on the closest item. The burning sensation thunderously assailed his body. Bullets of sweat perspired on every inch too. He attempted to make a noise to alert his friends, but it was so difficult. He didn't understand how this was going on. Still tightly clenching the upper half of his body, he loudly gasped for air, successfully.

The rangers plus Colton and Cody rapidly whipped around to look at Jayden. The seven were tossed into a state of panic, after realizing he was in excruciating pain. Mia was the first to be by his side. She thoroughly checked on him, not finding a definite cause. Colton headed for the kitchen to grab a wet, wash cloth, Cody followed to get a cup of water, Kevin questioned what happened, Mike consoled Emily, who was definitely distressed, and Antonio phoned Ji immediately.

The Red ranger could no longer sit. He descended to the ground, curling into fetal position, wondering when this was going to end. It was just too unbearable.

"You got it Mentor," the Gold ranger quickly shut his phone and faced at the others. "We need to get Jayden to the hospital. Mentor is already there. Apparently, he's with a group of kids. One of them got hurt while trying to get a backpack," he updated the group.

"How did that happen," Mike questioned in disbelief.

"Do you think Jayden can make the trip," Cody nervously asked them. He thought back to when they were in the Bullzord. He supposed after he left, Jayden got hurt when fighting the Nighlock.

"Yeah, we're just gonna have to use Symbol Power," Kevin notified, a bit reluctant to use their power for personal use, but this was obviously a dire situation.

Mike and Antonio went to each of Jayden's sides and slung his arms over their shoulders. Mia and Emily stood directly behind them. Kevin faced the dad and son pair. "Once we find out, we'll give you and update," he promised them.

Colton and Cody agreed.

"Symbol Power," the Blue ranger drew the symbol, thinking the action was too familiar, but the reason wasn't. "Teleport."

In a flash of light, the Samurai rangers left.

Xxxxx

Panorama City Hospital

Once the ambulance arrived to pick up the unconscious Sophia, the paramedics immediately got to work in an attempt to resuscitate her. Her vitals were dropping at a rapid rate, so they needed to rush her to the hospital at that very moment. The paramedics were used to people getting injured because of the fights between good and evil. The persons that ran to get away from Moogers or Nighlocks would slip and fall, and that would cause a cut. The leftover bits and pieces were interesting to a majority. Curiosity caused them to want to touch or claim a piece of history and a simple burn would result. That was pretty much the norm. There were only two cases where death resulted, and it was because an enormous piece of a building unfortunately fell on them. Sophia's case, however, was vastly different—she was directly pierced from behind and suffered even more injuries when she tumbled down.

Mentor appointed himself to ride with her to the hospital. Police officers offered to call the parents of the rest of the group, but they adamantly denied it. Their wish was to go where she was going. The officers tried their best to explain that wasn't the best decision, since they believed they didn't need to see anything like this. Ji intervened and demanded for them to go to the hospital as well. He wanted them escorted in police cars, since they all couldn't fit with them in the ambulance. The older gentleman swore he'd watch after them and Sophia especially. Brennan, Rock, Kaylani, Adrian and Nadia looked at the man with admiration, since he wouldn't let them separate from their best friend and was willing to protect them all.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sophia was wheeled to one of the emergency rooms. The doctors found her right arm was broken, her back had second degree burns, and where she was bleeding profusely from was because pieces, which they classified as shrapnel, were embedded into her skin. She lost quite a bit of blood and required a blood transfusion, and several nurses were already checking to see if they had her blood type in stock. They presumed she must've hit her head also because she was in a comatose state.

Mentor kept his eye on Sophia just like he promised. There was still some black dirt on her face, the corner of her left lip's skin opened, revealing blood, a breathing apparatus was aiding her, IVs were poking her veins, and her right arm was already cradled into a sling. Underneath the covers, her leg was securely wrapped. He wasn't sure whether to scold her or cry tears of happiness, once she came to. He wanted to know what she was thinking when she ran out there to get a backpack. What was so important inside that backpack anyway, he mentally asked himself. His curious gaze fell on the pink and white item. He wouldn't dare open it. His dad taught him better than to open a female's purse, wallet or backpack. That was considered bad luck.

Intermittently, in 15 minute intervals, he alternated between Sophia's room and the waiting room. He checked on the rest of Sophia's friends. Brennan was given fresh scrubs because his clothes had splotches of Sophia's blood spattered on it. He even received some treatment because he got cut from of the fragments that was stuck in his girlfriend's skin. Naddy ate trying to gain some comfort, but would return back to crying. Lani internally berated herself for being so quick to agree to this plan and thinking this could've been prevented. Adrian was worried about how to explain this to his parents, all of their parents. Rock tried everything to comfort his sister and the rest of the gang.

As soon as Mentor saw the rangers, paying the most attention to the person he's been guarding for awhile, he reminded the younger kids to call their parents. He politely excused himself. As he walked up to them, he saw what Antonio had talked about. Jayden was fairly conscious, but it was obvious he needed prompt medical attention.

Once he left, the group of preteens got to talking.

"We should just call Uncle Tommy and Aunt Kim first," Adrian blurted, as he made eye contact with each of them.

"And what do we tell them, huh," Rock hissed. "We ditched school, took city buses by ourselves, came to Panorama City to search for your son, and oh yeah, Sophia got hurt really badly," he acrimoniously stated. "Dude, they'll kill us. Not to mention, they'll bring us back to life, so our parents could kill us again!"

"Well, what other choice is there," Naddy cried. She wiped her eyes, then she looked at her watch. At this time, they would be getting out of school. They still had some time before any suspicions were raised. However, Sophia didn't look like she was going to make a speedy recovery. "She is hurt really badly. They'll want to know."

"Maybe, they already do know," Kaylani supposed. "Animal spirits can do freaky things. Just because our powers aren't on the same level as our parents, we still possess them. They could be hearing the cry of the dove, right now, as we speak."

To this day, Tommy, Kim, Aisha, Rocky, Adam and Billy could still call on their animal spirits. For some of their sparring sessions, which they often did for exercise, they would morph into their Ninjetti robes, executing the same moves of their teen years. The 'Great Power' was also passed down to their children. As mentioned, Sophia was the Dove, and her little brother, Tristan, was the Eagle. Nadia's spirit was the Cougar, while Rock's was the Baboon. Kaylani was the Salamander and Adrian was the Bullfrog.

"Then, that gives us even more reason to tell them. We can't let them find out she's in a coma by a cry of her animal spirit," Adrian retorted, as he nervously raked his fingers through his hair. "Come on, you guys!"

"B, what are you thinking about," Rock asked, since the other guy in this group appeared to be in deep thought.

"Didn't Sophia tell us about when Uncle Tommy was in a coma, and Aunt Kim used her animal spirit to connect with his," he reminded all of them.

After Tommy was out of the amber, a domino effect seemed to occur. He couldn't demorph from his power suit. When he could, his power of invisibility was amplified, and he stayed in that way for some time. To return to normal, he offered his Black, Dino Gem to fuel the remolecularizer. Though Hayley and Billy told him the idea was dangerous, he still believed that was the only way. As a result, he became visible but the machine went haywire and ended up electrocuting Tommy. Consequently, he entered a coma. He was in the coma for about two hours before Kim, who gained enough strength back, decided to get involved. She used the Crane to link with the Falcon. Kim had to witness Tommy fight his former selves, but at least he woke up soon after.

The others nodded about that.

"So, what if all of you guys connected with Sophia to wake her up," Jason and Trini's son rationalized.

That sounded like a great idea, but Adrian thought otherwise. He analytically broke it down for everyone. "Our powers aren't as proficient as theirs," he pointed out. "Aunt Kim has had her Crane power for how long, and think about it, she's his mate. Of course, she was going to break through to him. Furthermore, it took six Ninjetti to revive Zordon. We," he pointed between himself and his sister, "are only half Ninjetti. That means there's technically only three of us. I still don't think we have enough power to help her out of this."

His sister smacked him upside the head for even referencing Zordon. "Are you stupid?! She's not dead," she angrily muttered.

"I know that, but I'm just providing facts," Adrian yelled back.

A nurse and doctor walked by with severe looks on their faces. They, the group of friends, nervously laughed as a response. The older people walked away without saying a word. A collective breath of relief came out of their mouths. They needed to be a team instead of being at each other's throats.

"You guys can do it," Brennan confidently encouraged. He faced one of his best friends, pleading with his eyes. "Adrian, this is for Sophia."

After calming down, Adrian's sister spoke. "We should at least try," Lani said, hoping for her brother to agree. "Come on."

Rock and Naddy held the same sentiment.

"Trust me, if I was a Ninjetti, I'd be with you guys," Brennan swore with all of his heart while his brown orbs wandered to the emergency room doors that led to where she was. He could admit she was stupid for running out there, but she shouldn't be punished like this for doing so. "I can't lose Sophia."

"None of us can, " Rock supported him by slinging an arm over his shoulder. "Even if we didn't use or powers, she's a fighter, and she can pull out of this. She probably just needs a little push."

"Alright, let's do it," Adrian reluctantly gave in. "How are we gonna get back there," he asked them.

Out the blue, four teenagers arrived next to them. There were three guys and one girl. They inquisitively examined the five younger people. The young people bared a resemblance to people they've seen before.

"Our, um, Ji," Antonio stumbled over his words a bit, "told us to check on you. He's with our friend."

"Oh, thanks," Brennan acknowledged with a smile. "He's really nice and has been looking out for us."

"Are you guys okay," Emily questioned, as she sat on a chair that was near them. "We heard about your friend. It's really sad."

"Yeah, we've never heard of something like that before," Mike said, upset to know that their friend was in the hospital as a result of one of their battles.

"What were you guys doing out of school anyways," Kevin somewhat interrogated, but he felt stupid after the query exited his mouth.

Emily became upset. "Kevin," she barked, "does it matter now!? Their friend is really hurt." She turned her attention back to the preteens. "What's your guys' names? I'm Emily. As you already know, that's Kevin, this is Mike, and that's Antonio."

Naddy introduced her friends. "I'm Nadia, but you can also call me Naddy. This is Kaylani-"

"Or Lani," the other girl chimed in.

"This is my brother Rocky, but he usually goes by Rock, that's Lani's brother, Adrian, and this is Brennan, Sophia's boyfriend," she concluded.

"Oh man," Mike commented and took a seat next to him. "Is it hard for you? Your girlfriend is in the hospital, and it looks like you got hurt too."

"It's nothing," B replied in a macho way. "How's your friend doing?"

"He's under stable condition now. They already did the standard tests. He's talking, breathing normally, and the doctors have classified him as being too stressed," Antonio answered, thinking that couldn't be the real reason but was willing to accept the explanation, so they could get out of there. "He should be discharged within the next thirty minutes or so."

"That's cool," Rock bobbed his head. He looked at the others expectantly.

These arrivals foiled their plans to help Sophia. They were all thinking of way to get away from them, so they could sneak to the back. They needed to devise one, since only 18 or older could be visitors. If accompanied by an adult, they were positive only one at a time could head back there.

In the next minute, Mentor, along with Mia, came back to the waiting room.

"There's an issue," Mentor revealed, as he looked at his rangers and Sophia's friends. Their curiosities were definitely piqued now. "Sophia needs a blood transfusion, but she seems to have a rare blood type. They looked in their blood storage and have ran out of her kind. They're worried if she doesn't receive the one that matches her the best, then she'll suffer a worst fate than she has now."

"What kind of blood type is she," Mia inquired about, readily willing to donate to her if she was match. She wanted to help out any way she can.

"AB negative. Unfortunately, I'm not match," Ji sadly said. He hoped the others could help though.

The rangers spoke amongst themselves, while Sophia's group privately talked about what they were informed of. Naddy and Kaylani were once again upset. Their friend was in critical condition and time was running out. Adrian, Rock and B decided to call her parents. Adrian said that was best because parents were the factors that would dictate blood type in their children.

A nurse unexpectedly came running out of the back. She whispered to Ji what she was recently told.

"He is," Mentor incredulously questioned, as he stared down at her, hoping she wasn't pulling his leg.

The nurse eagerly nodded. "While running tests on the vile of his blood, the phlebotomist was able to determine he has the same blood type as her," she elaborated. "If he's up to it, he can donate. It's vital that it happens now."

"I don't know," Mentor was wary, since they weren't sure what exactly caused Jayden to act this way. Granted, he was better now than he first arrived.

The nurse's work phone went off. "Excuse me, I need to take this call," she informed and stepped to the side.

"Mentor," Mike glanced at the kids, who were staring back at him with wide eyes. He heartily chuckled and changed his tone. "Ji," he cleared his throat next, instantly pocketing his hands in his jean pockets as an anxious quirk. "What did the nurse say?"

The rest of the rangers gathered around.

"Jayden's a match," he whispered to them.

"Can he really donate," concern was packed thickly into Mia's question. She was worried about her boyfriend. Like Antonio, she didn't buy he was stressed and believed there was a deeper issue at hand. She shook her head in fear, thinking something could happen if he did so.

After hanging up the phone, the nurse stepped to the side of Ji. "He's agreed," she simply said.

"WHAT," the rangers incredulously chorused together.

Sophia's friends were interested in what was happening now.

"Their rooms are right next to each other, and he overheard the problem. He offered to donate," she informed.

"Even if in his condition," Kevin had to get this straight.

The nurse nodded.

"Is this a safe procedure," Antonio further questioned.

"Yes, it is," she replied to the Gold ranger's inquiry and explained why. "I understand there is major concern here, but as of right now, he's vital to this young girl. She may not wake up from her coma, even with the transfusion, but a least she'll have the necessary blood circulating throughout her system."

"That's really important," Mike agreed with her. "Guys, he wanted to do this, and you know how he is."

"Stubborn as a mule," Mentor noted but smiled nonetheless. Jayden probably saved this young girl's life. He walked to Sophia's friends. "Everything's going to be okay. The transfusion will happen soon." They relaxed a bit. "Were you guys able to get a hold of your parents?"

They looked at one another, knowing they were about to be in deep trouble.

Xxxxx

Oliver House
Reefside, CA

Tommy, with Tristan in tow, returned home.

Barely an inch into the door of the preschool, he heard the raging, nonstop cries of his youngest child. He headed straight to the room, panic settling within his tall, muscular body. He tried phoning Kim on the way over there, but for some unknown reason she still wasn't pick up the phone. This was really unlike her. He arrived. Each of the daycare teachers present in the room, and the tots were clearly relieved by his presence. He slowly approached his son, as he wasn't sure what triggered this or what was to come next. Once Tristan saw him, the young boy flung himself into his dad's arms and calmed down considerably. Tommy consoled his son, whose face and eyes were red and felt extremely hot. He gathered his son's lunch pail, and they were on their way.

He placed Tristan on the wooden floor of the house, and like the speed of light he zoomed off presumably to find his mother. First, he stopped by the kitchen. She wasn't there. Next, he took a peek outside. She wasn't out there either. Her office wasn't too far, so he went there. He walked in, and he found his mom flat on the ground, one arm crossed over the other like she was protecting herself. She appeared disheveled, and her makeup was smeared.

"Mommy," he cried, while vigorously shaking her. "Mommy," he yelled this time. He continued, giving a valiant effort in trying to wake his mommy up, but she was unresponsive. He wiped his eyes, quickly back peddling his little body away from her. He helplessly stared, then he got up and ran. "Daddy!"

The Falcon assumed his wife had encountered the same fate as the two. He phoned his daughter a few times, and she wasn't answering her phone. He found that baffling. He alleged the same happened to her, but he'd figure that out, after he checked on his wife. He entered, and the sight was quite horrifying. He knelt down, placed a hand under her neck, elevated it a bit and said those famous words.

"Hey Beautiful, it's time to wake up."

Soon enough, her eyes began to softly twitch. She groaned a bit, as she unraveled her hands and twisted from left to right. The agonizing pain she had before seemingly purged. She looked up, then circled her eyes to finally see the handsome face of her husband. She curled her mouth in to a tender smile, her soft brown orbs expressing how glad she was to see him there.

He exhaled a sigh of relief. She was awake, and he brought her in for an embrace filled with his heart invested. He caressed her back, kissed her temple, and whispered his adoration for her. He signaled for Tristan to come up to them, so he could join in, and they could infuse into one big hug.

Once they parted, Kim whirled her head to the left, right, up, and down. She saw the door was open, expecting her daughter was going to barge in. When she didn't see Sophia, she frowned. Her lips began to tremble, water similar to the color of silver gleamed in her eyes. She now knew what happened. "Sophia's hurt," she declared while allowing Tristan to wrap his arms around her. She started at her son, who still needed his mommy. She began to smooth his hair.

"I'm beginning to think so too," Tommy murmured. He retracted his cell phone from his pocket and dialed for his daughter once more. All he got was her voicemail. He called ten times, sent at least double that in texts, and she still didn't respond."She's not answering." He looked at the clock that was ticking away, and he contacted the gymnastics center.

"Dr. Oliver, we were just going to call you," Clarice, the office manager, notified. "No, Sophia isn't here. We were wondering if she was sick or something. That is what happened to her right? She's sick?"

Tommy must've sounded like a fool. He didn't know where his own daughter was. "Uh, Clarice, you're right! You know me, I have a slight memory problem," he laughed it off. "Sophia is sick, and I just wanted to let you know."

"Oh... okay," she drew out her words. "Well, we hope she feels better soon."

"Bye." Tommy ended the call there, and he gravely looked at his wife and son. "Sophia's not at gymnastics practice."

"Tommy," Fear was highly bubbling to its maximum now in her petite frame. "Where could she be?"

"I'm going to call the cops," he simply said. Before he could, he received a phone call. "Rocky, this isn't a great time right now. Sophia is-"

"That's the reason why I'm calling you," the Ape interrupted with the best intentions. He took a very deep breath before informing him of what his daughter called him about not too long ago. He was very angry with his children for ditching school and being in a different city, but at least they were safe. He couldn't say the same for the Oliver's daughter though. "Listen to me very carefully."

"I don't think I can right now. I have to find Sophia," Tommy harshly stressed.

"SOPHIA IS IN THE HOSPITAL, RIGHT NOW!"

"What," the news acted like a knife and stabbed Tommy in the chest. He dropped his phone.

Kim picked it up. She saw Rocky's name on the screen, so she resumed what Tommy couldn't finish. "What happened, Rocky?"

"Sha and I still don't know everything, but from what we were told, Sophia's hurt pretty badly and in critical condition," he knew a flurry of questions were going to come his way. He added more information. "She's in Panorama City, and we're going right now. Adrian, Kaylani, and B are also with my son and daughter. You can only imagine what they were doing in that city."

"Shit," Kim loudly cursed, snapping Tommy out of the shock.

"Brennan called his parents, and they informed Adam and Tanya. We're all going."

"We'll be there too," she hung up the phone. "Come on, we gotta go to Panorama City."

"Is that where Sophia is? What's our daughter doing in Panorama City," Tommy finally questioned, picking up Brennan and following Kim, who suddenly regained her strength.

The both ignored their cell phones that were ringing off the hook.

"Think about it," she dismissively responded, as she went to gather items before they left. She intentionally cut him off because there were no time for questions.

Xxxxx

Panorama City Hospital

Sophia was laying peacefully on the bed. The machines around her rhythmically beeped. For the most part, she was fine. A nurse came in. She examined the patient to see where the drip should be put. She found the right arm would suffice. In the crook of that arm, she pricked, and then used a syringe to draw out some of Sophia's blood. Placing those utensils down, she grabbed the central line, connecting that to the drip and finally hooking it up to a bag from the donor. The AB negative blood began to trickle down.

The nurse watched for a moment to make sure the process was going along smoothly. Already knowing this was a four hour process, she decided she'd check in every 15 minutes. She left her patient's room and made sure to close the door quietly.

The crimson liquid dispersed throughout her body, languidly awakening the Dove, who was in the same condition as her human. Each pump of the blood, filtered into the Dove as well. Thinking she had the strength, the Dove attempted to wake her human. She tried fluttering its wings, but her wings felt like they were still snapped in two. She desperately tried once more, but was only able to soar a foot or two, then fell back down, as if shot by a bullet. She inhaled a bit, remaining persistent. She attempted to soar out of there again, in hopes of waking up her human, but she couldn't. She was extremely hurt- they were extremely hurt. She shrilly shrieked for help from the Falcon, the Crane, or even the Eagle.

She couldn't do this alone.

Though ordered to remain in his bed from given up pints of blood, and even if he was tired, Jayden slipped into Sophia's room undetected. He had to admit curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to know the identity of the person, who needed his blood supply. He felt bad for the young person, and he believed her life just couldn't end at the age of 12. That's why he wanted to help.

As he silently watched her, he began to think the two crossed paths before. The face, though with a gash and a cut lip, seemed eerily familiar to him. After staring for a few minutes more, he remembered. She was the brave teen that aided him when fighting against an army of Moogers. His heart really went out to her. She was a great kid, in his opinion. He was about to leave, but something unnatural was occurring right before his eyes. Her body became encased in pink, she was glowing pink. He witnessed this in shock, completely freaking out that he potentially caused this.

His Symbol Power must have caused this, he mused.

He regretted it. He wanted to apologize, even place a hand on her to stop this from happening to her, but he was restrained from doing so, as ribbons of red energy began to swirl around his body, penetrating his skin. Power began to course through his system. He, then, heard the strong, loud cry of a bird cawing in his ears. The call was so overwhelming he crumpled. He attempted to get up, say something, anything, but that was deemed an impossible feat. A red, fiery Phoenix emerged out of his body. His mouth gaped wide, staring at the grand bird that he thought only appeared in comic books.

The bird, engulfed in raging flames, made eye contact with its human, staring directly into his blue pools. Before Jayden could venture into saying anything, the bird flew right into Sophia's chest, halting the pink glow.

With a deep gasp, Sophia awoke. She quizzically gazed around, though still in great pain. She winced, as she tried to shift herself around, but saw she was connected to machines. She supposed it was best to remain in place. She heard a rattling noise and peered down in the direction of where it was coming from. Right there, on the floor, she saw the long, lean body with brown hair, sapphire eyes and was dressed in a long gown like hers. She stared.

"Jayden?"