A/N: It's been a while. I have no excuse other than another fandom has sucked me right into its magical clutches. Hopefully I'll be able to balance my writing by switching between my stories once more again...
Healing
Jim woke up several times.
The first time was when there were quiet voices around him. A loud yawn, the soft whisper of his mother telling Toby that school was closed that day...
The second time he came to with a very unpleasant twinge from somewhere between his ribs. Opening his eyes with a groan, he saw that his friend was also awake and looking at him with an intense gaze.
"Tobes?"
"Yeah. Go back to sleep. But I- um. Your mom's probably asleep now, so that wouldn't be a problem. I-"
"It's okay, Tobes. You have your dentist's appointment, right? You go ahead. I'm feeling much better, so I'll be able to take off the armor soon."
"Really? That stone is so awesomesauce! When I'm back, you really need to tell me all about what happened. I'm so glad you're alive, Jimbo!"
When Toby pressed against him for a moment in a halfhearted hug, Jim had to pull himself together not to groan in pain. Instead, he smiled.
"Yeah, me too. Thanks for lying down with me."
"That's what you have a sidekick for." Grinning, Toby peeled himself out of the duvet and then meticulously pulled it back into place. But now it was unmistakable that Jim wasn't in bed with his normal clothes on. He could only hope that his mom was truly fast asleep after this long and exhausting night.
"By the way, I have to agree with you, Blinky is really cool. He gave me a good luck horseshoe for you. I put it on your desk. Oh, and one more thing. Apparently, school is closed today. So, you can get some undisturbed rest."
"I will, don't worry..." Jim mumbled, trying not to laugh hysterically as he felt sleep already reaching for him again.
The next time he woke up, he felt a strange sensation in his stomach area. Whether it was hunger or because Bular had thrown him through the air with a punch in the stomach when he had been too slow to react, he couldn't say, because otherwise an overall warm feeling had spread through his body, which was very pleasant, but didn't exactly make thinking easier.
And so, Jim lay in his bed, waiting for his head to not feel like a black hole that seemed to swallow all his thoughts. With effort, he managed to turn his head enough so that he could look at his alarm clock. The fact that it was around lunchtime made him wince guiltily. What was his mother going to eat when she woke up? And how much would she worry given the fact that Jim hadn't prepared anything and was still in bed!
For several minutes he concentrated on flooding his body with oxygen with deliberate deep breaths. Then, as his body felt lighter and his head clearer, he braced himself up on his elbows and was about to push his legs toward the edge of the bed when the Amulet gave off an abrupt glow. Jim paused in mid-motion and waited a moment. When nothing else happened, he continued to rise, ignoring the dull pain in his rib area that suddenly made itself known again. But then the artifact hummed, growing heavier all at once.
"What the-" Jim barely had time to say in disbelief as the weight on his chest pinned him down, effectively binding him to the bed.
"Uuuuh..." he groaned, reaching for the Amulet. But when it lit up in a blue-orange hue this time, giving Jim a slightly passive aggressive feeling, he quickly lowered his arm again.
'Okay, I understand,' he thought, and apparently the Amulet or the Heartstone or both had understood him, because the pressure on him eased and if he had wanted to, he could have moved again now.
But instead, he just lay there for a while, staring at his ceiling while trying to pinpoint each pain. It wasn't easy and only now did he feel how much every limb, muscle and fiber of his body actually hurt. At that moment, he realized why the numbing warmth had spread all over his body when he had woken up.
"Thank you," he whispered, closing his eyes. It was strange to be talking to that piece of Heartstone, and even though Jim had very mixed feelings about Merlin - which was strange, he had never met him in this reality after all - he was glad for the information the old wizard had given him on the way to New Jersey about these primal stones of magic. That might have literally saved his life now. For he could be wrong, but Jim was sure that he had been bleeding internally. A tearing sensation inside followed by an explosion of pain could be nothing else to his knowledge...
Again, he put his hand on the Amulet, but this time with a benevolent slight smile on his lips. "Thank you for helping me," he repeated softly. "I don't understand everything yet, and from the looks of it, I've already managed to make my troll friends suspicious..." Glancing over to his desk, which he knew had the gaggletack on it, Jim sighed. "I definitely have a lot of work to do. Please give me strength to get through it all. And to get everyone through this in one piece," he spoke pleadingly, and for a moment he felt as if the warmth was heating up from within him.
Exhaling deeply, he tried to relax and sink deeper into his bed. For one thing was clear, the inherent magic of the Heartstone would not let him get up then and there. Unless Jim would deactivate the Amulet. But then he wouldn't have access to the magic anymore and that wouldn't do his battered body any good right now. And so he just hoped that his mother would sleep some time longer and not check on him soon and find him in his armor. Because, how he was supposed to explain all this at this point in time wasn't clear to him. And if she saw his injuries, she would find some way that Merlin's artifact wouldn't come back to him. Of that he was certain.
Then a thought occurred to him and he tried to focus solely on the Heartstone in his Amulet.
"Hey... I don't really have any idea how you work, Heartstone, but I'd really appreciate it if you could heal the injuries in my chest and legs first. Because, no idea how long Bular will be out of action, but I'll definitely have to face Draal and the others. And then I'll have to be able to move fast again," Jim directed his words to the Amulet, receiving a warm pulse over his heart. Jim almost sighed in pleasure, but then the warmth started moving and traveled to his neck and on into his head. Hissing, he drew in the air between his teeth as a throbbing headache spread through his skull all at once. He felt dizzy, and for a moment the ceiling above him spun before Jim closed his eyes with a groan.
A few hours later, Jim was awakened by his bladder reminding him in no uncertain terms that he was human and had needs accordingly. Holding his breath, he concentrated on taking inventory of his pain again. But moments later, he found that the painful throbbing had diminished not only in his legs, but everywhere else as well.
"By Deya's grace..." he muttered to himself as he placed a hand on the artifact. "I don't know if you understand me like a human, but I thank you. Once again! It feels like I could walk normally again. With your permission, I'd like to go to the bathroom. It's really… much needed."
When the Amulet didn't respond, Jim quickly made the armor disappear. For a brief moment, this caused him to slump back into the mattress, startled. But then, grinning, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Placing the Amulet in the drawer of his table, he walked slowly and with very deliberate steps to the bathroom.
After he had relieved and refreshed himself, he was walking down the stairs five minutes later when he heard a yawn coming from his mother's room. With wide eyes he quietly quickened his steps and hurried to see what was available that he could process into a quick belated lunch. That he could bend, stretch and turn without any problems really amazed him and made him think while his muscle memory guided his limbs into preparing something tasty.
'I'll have to write down everything Merlin told Troll-Jim as soon as possible,' Jim thought. Trying to think about his weird dream he couldn't help but notice that some of the memories were slowly but surely fading, and details were becoming blurred the more time passed since waking up with those memories. At the same time, he was still fascinated that his idea had worked so well. Although... Basically, the Heartstone was also a stone like all the others that his predecessors had put into the Amulet to use their special abilities. But why had they never used it? They must have realized that it had healing power. After all, they had always built their dwellings near these ancient sources of power whenever they could. Or had it been too sacred for them to use even a small part of it to heal wounds in this way?
Swirling the pan slightly to spread the quickly prepared egg mixture evenly, Jim frowned unconsciously. Whatever the reason had been, he would have to ask Blinky to find out. And that wasn't advisable at this stage unless he would be prepared to say where he got his knowledge from.
"That smells wonderful, Jim."
Startled, he winced and almost dropped the pan, ruining the omelet.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, honey. Are you okay?"
His mom's hands gently stroked over his back for a moment and he breathed deeply, enjoying the reassuring feeling. "Everything's okay. I was just lost in thought and didn't hear you."
"I know what you mean… I'm so glad you and Toby were safe! You can't imagine what was going on. It felt like the whole town was gathered at and around the hospital!" Shaking her head, his mom set the table, and with skillful movements, he slid the first omelet onto her plate when it was ready.
"But no one died?" Jim asked hopefully. Fortunately, his mother shook her head again while she filled their two glasses with orange juice and Jim prepared a second dish.
"No, thankfully not. But in addition to the sometimes really crazy hallucinations caused by the gas leak, many also had bite and scratch wounds from animals that haven't yet been identified. To be honest, I've never seen gas make animals rabid."
"That's really strange," Jim agreed, glancing over his shoulder at her. "I've heard that some of my year have been injured too. How serious were the injuries?"
His brain immediately supported Jim with the image of the unconscious and pale Claire in Douxie's arms and he struggled to suppress an annoyed groan.
"Don't worry. No one was hurt so badly that the wounds won't heal completely after a few days of rest." Her lips formed a small smile and with a mischievous glint in her eyes, she rested her chin on her clasped hands. "Are you asking about a certain person?"
"No," Jim replied immediately and turned to his pan again. "What makes you think that?"
"Jim, I may be absent a lot because of my work. But let me tell you, I still know who's in my son's mind. I'd have to be blind not to see the pining look you wear whenever Claire's name is even mentioned. The other day you almost ran into a lamppost when she came toward us pushing her baby brother's carriage." Chuckling softly, she came to him and held a plate next to the pan as he turned off the stove.
They ate together in silence for several minutes and Jim enjoyed the unusual togetherness at this time of day. But he wasn't allowed to rest for long. At some point, his thoughts began to run in all sorts of directions again and a feeling spread through him that quickly became overwhelming.
"Tomorrow is the tryout for Romeo and Juliet and Claire wants to audition for the role of Juliet," Jim blurted out in a rapid torrent of words when he could no longer suppress the feeling. "She's perfect for the part, Mom! There couldn't be a better Juliet and if she can't take part because of some injuries, that would be…"
At a loss for words, he ran his hand over his face. When Jim's eyes met his mother's, he then knew why it felt so overwhelming to share his thoughts and emotions about Claire with her. Before this dream, which had mentally aged him three years overnight, he had been embarrassed to talk to his mother about the girl of his dreams. But her smile and the gentle, knowing look with which she was now gazing at him made Jim realize how much he needed to share such things with his mother. It was the same expression she had worn when he had promised to walk her down the aisle, where his teacher, mentor and friend would be waiting. Clearing his throat quickly, Jim looked down at his plate as he felt tears trying to gather in the corners of his eyes.
"Hey..." Her hand came to rest on his and when he once more met her gaze, her eyes had become even softer. "Claire's fine physically. I didn't see her again because I had other patients after your teacher, but she was okay, Jim. When school reopens tomorrow, she'll be able to attend the audition. And..." Her face took on a more serious expression. "And I know it's not easy being a teenager with all the thoughts about the future, the stress of school, and the feelings for a potential partner that are starting to set in. The road to adulthood isn't always easy. But whenever you need to talk, no matter about what, Jim, I'm here for you. Okay? You can confide in me about anything. Heartbreak, arguments with your friends... Whatever. Do you hear me?"
By now she was holding both of Jim's hands in hers and looking at him as if she was waiting for him to tell her a big secret. And in fact, he almost started talking about much bigger problems than lovesickness. But something she had said was nagging at him too much.
"Which teacher did you have to doctor?" he asked instead.
"Ah. Your teeny bush telegraph hasn't gotten that far yet?" Amused, she raised an eyebrow and patted his hand reassuringly. "Mr. Strickler was downtown yesterday when all this happened. He took Claire and her friend to the hospital, even though he was injured himself. And you don't have to worry about him either, Jim."
"Okay," he muttered. Then he took a deep breath before looking his mother straight in the eye. "Speaking of lo-" Something made him hesitate at the last moment. Was it too quick to drop hints? All these years, she had never even slightly mentioned that she found anyone interesting. And all those years, Jim had always assumed that the subject simply no longer mattered to her after her husband had left them both. But considering how quickly her heart had opened up to his teacher, the decision was actually quite easy.
"Love you mean?" The corners of her mouth pulled upwards and a short, amused laugh followed.
Jim felt himself blush and continued quickly before his courage failed him. He simply couldn't let this opportunity pass him by! "You've been alone for so long now, Mom. You know that if you meet someone you develop feelings for, I'll be very happy about it, right? I won't stand in your way."
"Oh, Jim..." Sighing, she took him in her arms and he savored the feeling of being surrounded by her gentle strength. "I'm sorry about all the injuries the people sustained last night, but if an incident like this leads to us having this kind of open conversation we haven't had in a long time, I can't help but see something positive in it."
Seconds passed into long moments. At one point, Jim heard a whispered "thank you" near his ear and his heart broke at the fear that his mom hadn't dated anyone for his sake all these years.
"I'm serious, you hear me?" Sniffling, Jim released himself from their embrace and looked at her seriously. "Go out, Mom. Fall in love again. Life's too short to just go to work all the time and then fall into bed dead tired!"
"Since when did my little Jim become so wise?" Her hand stroked his cheek, and, in that movement, he felt all her love for him. "Take your own advice though, okay? And if you want to take some from your mom... You know, we live in a modern world, and a relationship should always be based on respect and equality. But while they want their partner to see their strengths and not underestimate them, girls today still want to be courted nonetheless." With a wink, she stood up and put the dishes away.
"Oh, I know that..." mumbled Jim and when he saw his mother looking at him questioningly, he quickly shook his head. "Nothing, nothing. Hey, I'll be gone for the afternoon. Toby had a dental marathon and when I pick him up, we want to hang out. You'll be okay?"
"James Lake Jr.! Didn't I just tell you not to underestimate the female sex? Of course I'll be fine."
"That's different, you're my mom!" the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could hold them back.
Again, he found himself in her embrace, but this time it only lasted a few seconds before she patted him on the head, laughing softly.
"I love you too, honey. Now go and pick up Toby. And you two keep your eyes open. Who knows if that gas leak was completely repaired so quickly..."
"I promise."
But when he left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to get his bag, his smile was gone. After meeting with Toby, Jim would face a fight in the realm below them. One that he was sure of because his fighting partner would surely still be very very angry with him...