"Jay!" yells Cole, as he lands beside his friend, Jay looks at him blankly, trying to figure out if he is dreaming. Suddenly Cole's face is right up close to his own, hand on his shoulder, warm breath on his cheek. "Jay, can you hear me? Are you ok?"
"Cole?" he asks weakly. I'm still breathing, Cole found me, mission complete.. His eyes start to flicker shut as he continues to shake.
"Shit, you don't look so good, but you have to stay awake ok? I need to get you out of this rain.." says Cole, with some panic in his voice. "Hold on."
Cole's arms start to glow, the earth trembles again, and then Jay is dragged into a small newly formed cave and put in a seated position on the back wall, finally separated from the rain's onslaught. Cole then places a hand on Jay's forehead and chest trying to assess his friend's condition. Jay is shivering something fierce, but at least he was still conscious. "Zane is on his way with the chopper. Shit, are you alright?"
"Inhaler?" Jay manages to gasp, deciding it probably isn't a dream. His breathing wasn't awful, but he vaguely remembered needing it earlier, and it normally helped him feel better. He didn't feel so good right now.
"Right." Says Cole, getting one out of his pocket, shaking it up and removing the cap. He passes it to Jay, who fumbles it with his numb fingers, which Cole notices have hints of blue. Cole picks up the inhaler, "Here, I'll do it." He says, holding it to Jay's mouth. "On the count of three, one, two, three." The timing was easier to manage when Jay does it himself, but some meds were better than none. "Gee, I know you're the blue ninja, but isn't this taking it too far?" says Cole, gesturing to Jay's hands.
"Sorry." Says Jay weakly, continuing to tremble.
Cole's stomach turns hearing Jay apologise, I should be the one apologising to him! "It was a joke silly." says Cole as he crouches down next to Jay. He needed to focus on the task at hand, there would be time for apologies later, once Jay was ok. He unwraps the thick waterproof jacket from around his waist, and puts it on Jay. "I heard you forgot your jacket." He thought about removing the wet clothes first, but decided it would take too long, this was only temporary, until they got him back home. Zane would be here any minute.
He sits down next to Jay, "One more?" he asks, holding up the inhaler.
Jay nods, and they repeat the procedure. Jay gives a couple of coughs and pulls his legs up to his chest, trying desperately to get warm, but he winces in pain when his ankle shifts position. "You hurt somewhere?" asks Cole with a frown.
Jay nods, "ankle." he says.
Cole moves over to Jay's foot, and carefully removes his boot. "Yeah, it's pretty swollen," he says, gently tracing his fingers over the joint, and cold "No obvious break.. Hopefully just a sprain." He whips out a bandage from the first aid kit, and quickly wraps up the ankle. "There, now is there anything else I can do while we wait for Zane?" He needs to get Jay warm, but his options for that are limited out here. He was also concerned Jay could have more injuries, it was quite a long way he had fallen. He was covered in mud, and the tears on his clothes likely correlated to scrapes underneath.
"Notebook." croaks Jay.
"What?" Cole frowns, suddenly worried Jay has a concussion.
"My noe'book?" He says again, arm trembling as he points out of the cave.
Cole sticks his head out of the cave, he looks down seeing where the notebook is stuck. "Jay, it looks pretty ruined, why don't I get you a new one when we get back?"
"Please." begs Jay.
"Ok, fine!" says Cole. "But no dying while I'm gone." There is the sound of shifting earth, and then Cole quickly reappears with the sodden book. "Like I said, it looks pretty ruined."
"T'ank you.." says Jay, whose eyes start to flicker shut.
"Hey, none of that, you gotta stay awake!" Cole jostles Jay's shoulder gently, and Jay opens his eyes once more.
"So cold.." Jay stammers.
"I know buddy. Zane will be here any minute. This hill is a bit steep to land, which means we're gonna have to winch you up."
Jay didn't like being winched up, tossed around by the wind. Once strapped into the seat in the chopper, earmuffs were placed on his head, which helped to drown out the sound of the whirling blades. He hears his friends talking about him through the headpiece.
"How is he?" Asks Zane.
"Cold, very cold." Replies Cole, "He's barely conscious, slurring his words.. should we take him to the hospital?"
"No, the monastery is closer. The sooner we can get him warm, the better."
It sounded serious, he knew he should be worried, should be freaked out, but everything felt kinda hazy, like he was watching it happen to someone else, like he was stuck in a dream. He closes his eyes again, just resting them for a moment. Cole jostles his shoulder. "What did I say about falling asleep?"
Jay frowns, trying to remember. "Not.. yet."
"That's right, not yet, gotta get you warm first."
"Meanie." Mumbles Jay.
"Ha! Yup, that's me, the big ol' meanie trying to keep you alive."
The flight to the monastery was quick. When they land, the two rescuers help to support Jay, one on each side, his arms over their shoulders, as they take the muddy, wet ninja to the bathroom. Jay tries to help by hopping along with his good foot, but it is still numb, so mostly just drags along the ground. They sit him on a stool in the middle of the room.
"What do we do now?" Asks Cole, "run him a warm bath?"
"No." Says Zane, "if we warm him too quickly, he can go into shock. You start getting those wet clothes off and I will fetch some dry ones."
Cole takes off the jacket, revealing the wet muddy gi underneath. "Ok, time to clean you up." He says as he undoes the sash, peeling off the top. As he does so he reveals a massive bruise along Jay's right side. "Why didn't you mention this before? When I asked if you were injured?" Says Cole with a frown.
"Forgot." Says Jay through chattering teeth.
Cole grabs a nearby towel, drying off Jay's upper body and wiping off what remained of the mud, thankfully most of it was stuck to his clothes. "Forgot? Jeeze Jay, you might have broken a rib."
Jay shakes his head. "That'd hurt more."
Zane comes back with a pile of dry clothes, they pick out a shirt and warm jacket, helping Jay into them.
"Ok, time for your pants." says Zane.
"Do it m'self." says Jay stubbornly.
"Buddy, you couldn't even hold your inhaler, just let us help you." says Cole gently.
"Not a doll.." grumbles Jay weakly, but he doesn't resist as his friends help him change, they wrap a towel around his waist to give him some privacy. After a couple of swaps between sitting on the stool, and leaning on Cole, the wet clothes are all removed, and he has on some nice dry sweat pants.
"There, doesn't that feel better?" says Cole admiring the now mostly dressed Jay who is still shivering. Jay gives a small shrug. "I s'pose."
"I'll be right back." says Zane, ducking out of the room once more.
Cole looks over his friend, eye catching on the dirty bandage he applied earlier. "Lets clean up your feet." He fills a bucket with warm water, takes a face washer and uses it to gently wipe dirt off Jay's good foot. He then dries it off and puts on a nice thick bed sock from the pile of clothes. Moving onto the injured foot, he gently removes the now damp and dirty bandage, before cleaning the foot in the same way, taking extra care to not cause Jay any more pain. Once done he applies a fresh bandage, then rumages for the matching sock and slips it over the bandage. Now the only dirt left on Jay was the clumps of mud in his hair.
Zane comes back holding a large blanket. "Briefly warmed in the dryer." he says before wrapping Jay up. "Your core temperature is already starting to increase. How are you feeling?"
Jay wanted to say embarrassed, foolish, pathetic, but instead he says "tired."
"Yeah, still no sleeping ok?" Says Cole before turning to Zane. "Can I wash his hair?"
"That should be fine, use warm water, nothing too hot. I'll fetch a warm beverage."
Before Zane leaves, he helps Cole lift Jay and his blanket burrito into the bath, head sticking over the edge so Cole can wash it.
Jay gives a little sigh, it feels ridiculous having his friends help him do such simple things.
Cole empties the bucket from earlier, replacing it with fresh water, checking it isn't too hot. He scoops some out with a cup, pouring it over Jay's hair, watching dirty brown water flow back into the bucket. He starts gently massaging Jay's hair with his other hand, but stops when Jay flinches. "Ow.."
"Don't tell me you banged your head too?" Says Cole, seeing a small amount of blood drip into the bucket below.
Jay shrugs. "I fell off'a cliff, what d'you expect?"
Cole smiles, that was the longest sentence he had said so far, which must be a good sign. "Good point. This might sting a bit, but I need to clean it up." Warns Cole.
"Fine." Jay sighs again.
Cole continues pouring water through Jay's hair, more gently removing clumps of blood and dirt from the tangled locks.
"Cole?"
"Yeah buddy?"
"I fell off a cliff."
"Yeah, I saw."
"In the rain."
"Yeah, buddy, real wet out there."
"That's so stupid! I'm so stupid.."
"Hey now, don't you go insulting my friend like that."
Jay pauses, trying to understand Cole's reply.
At least the talking meant he was awake. Once the water was coming out clean, Cole grabs a towel and gently pats dry Jay's hair. He then starts parting the hair around the section he found the blood, looking for the wound. There was a small gash that had started to ooze a bit from the cleaning, but it wasn't actively bleeding.
"Am I going to die?" Asks Jay, catching Cole off guard.
"What? Not today. This head bump is pretty minor, not sure if it even needs bandaging." He rubs in some antiseptic cream and applies a bit of clean gauze, planning to hold pressure till the bleeding stops completely.
"Oh, ok." Says Jay quietly.
A terrible thought crosses Cole's mind. "You did fall right? You didn't, um, jump?"
Jay frowns, "What? Why would I jump?" Cole lets out a sigh of relief. Jay seems too hazey to be lying right now.
At that moment Zane comes back in with a tumbler that has a straw. He holds it up to Jay's mouth, as his hands are stuck in the blanket burrito. "Cocoa." Says Zane.
Jay obediently takes a sip. "Mmm."
"Where's mine?" Asks Cole hopefully, he had been so focused on Jay that he hadn't even started cleaning up his own muddy legs. Zane passes over a second cup. "Yes!" Says Cole, grasping it in his free hand before taking a big slurp.
Jay also takes another slurp from the straw before saying. "Risky move, giving me cocoa if I'm not s'pposed to sleep."
Zane raises an eyebrow. "He's talking more?" He asks Cole.
"Hey, 'm right here!" Grumbles Jay, still slightly groggy.
"Yeah, motormouth is back." says Cole cheekily, while removing the gauze to see if it's still bleeding.
"Aren't you supposed to be nice to me, since I'm, um, hurt?" Asks Jay voice fading on the last couple words. "Why does everything hurt?" He was still shivering, but not as strongly as before.
"You fell off a cliff, what do you expect?" says Cole with a smirk.
"Define everything." Says Zane, giving Jay his full attention.
"Um, like my hands and feet mostly."
"Let's take a look." Zane puts down the cocoa and unwraps Jay enough to examine a hand.
"Hey look," says Cole, "the blue is gone."
Zane squeezes a finger, checking the circulation. The pinkness returns relatively quickly. "Oww" complains Jay.
"The pain is good." Says Zane, "It means blood flow is returning to your extremities, and your nerves are still intact."
"Great, just great." Grumbles Jay, gritting his chattering teeth. "Could it do that without feeling like they are on fire?"
"Unfortunately not, it will pass." Says Zane, offering more cocoa.
Eventually Jay stops shivering, his limbs stop hurting, and Zane declares him "Back in normal temperature range."
"Does this mean I get to sleep?" Asks Jay hopefully, he is absolutely exhausted.
"Should we take him to the hospital?" asks Cole, "Like, he hit his head, and has been a bit out of it."
Zane looks towards Jay, runs a scan and declares. "He has no internal bleeding."
"Since when can you do that?" asks Cole.
"It is an upgrade I have been working on, to increase my medical abilities. Today has been the perfect opportunity to test out my new skills."
"So, sleep?" asks Jay again.
"Yes, you can sleep." Says Zane.
They help him to his room and he passes out almost as soon as his head hits the pillow.